However, she was wrong.
How could there be such a person? She shook her head, somewhat bewildered, yet she could feel the person under her hands still trembling violently.
"Qiu Shui... no, it's not like that!" the person uttered in a confused and urgent whisper.
What isn't it? It's been eight years already. Even if there were some twists and turns, shouldn't it be clear by now? How could such a smart person have gotten themselves into this state? She shook her head and suddenly saw tears welling up in the other person's tightly closed eyes. She was slightly startled: This was an expression that the usually carefree person would never have when sober.
She sighed: It's time to wake him up.
"Hey, Huo Zhanbai... wake up." She placed her hand on his altar, patting it rhythmically, and whispered his name in his ear, "Wake up."
The person under her shuddered, and with a splash, water surged violently. Suddenly, a wet and hot hand gripped her tightly, almost pulling her into the water.
"What are you doing?" She was startled and was about to lash out when she saw that the other person hadn't even opened their eyes yet, which made her pause in surprise.
Still reeling from the nightmare, before he could even open his eyes, he instinctively grabbed whatever he could—clutching it so tightly it was like a drowning man grasping at his last straw. She didn't react, simply letting him hold her hand, feeling his breathing gradually calm, as if the long nightmare had finally ended.
Someone is calling him... At the end of the darkness, someone is calling him, peacefully and gently.
"Uh..." Huo Zhanbai let out a long breath, his vision gradually clearing: in the rising steam of the herbal soup, a face floated, and a pair of bright eyes were looking at him. A very beautiful woman—she seemed vaguely familiar?
"Huh?" He suddenly snapped out of his daze and blurted out, "How come it's you?"
He was startled to find himself gripping the fierce woman's hand tightly. He quickly pulled away, fearing she would attack him again, and tried to jump out while holding onto the side of the tub, but suddenly froze—
His hands can actually move now?
"Put on a robe before you come out," he said coldly, leaning against the wooden tub in a daze, until a cloth was thrown at his face. "There are only women here."
Greenie blushed and turned her head to giggle.
"You brat, what are you laughing at?" Xue Ziye spat, then turned and poked her forehead. "Instead of hiding here watching the show, why don't you go to Qiuzhiyuan and keep an eye on the patients over there! Or I'll break your legs!"
Greenie fell silent, quickly packed her medicine box, and slipped away.
As soon as she finished cursing and turned back, Huo Zhanbai had already quickly put on his robe and jumped out, lying back on the couch. However, having suffered such a serious injury, any movement aggravated his wounds, causing him to wince in pain.
"Let me see." Xue Ziye sat down on the edge of the couch expressionlessly and pulled open his robe.
The treatment was a success. The medicine spurred the growth of tender, pink new flesh, and the large, stitched wounds stopped bleeding. She pressed her fingers against each wound, meticulously checking for any remaining bruises—this time his injury was far more serious than before, not something that could be easily dismissed.
"Sigh." Huo Zhanbai couldn't help but sigh.
Xue Ziye rolled her eyes at him: "What is it now?"
"Looking and touching like this, if I were a woman, I'd die if you didn't take responsibility." Huo Zhanbai reverted to his usual frivolous self, lewdly leaning closer. "How about it? I still owe you hundreds of thousands in consultation fees anyway, why not settle the debt with your body? A fierce and greedy woman like you, no one but me would dare to want you."
Xue Ziye's expression remained unchanged as she coldly said, "I don't think you're worth that much money."
"..." Huo Zhanbai was speechless with anger.
"Alright." After a short check-up, she pulled the blanket up for him and said casually, "The injury on your chest needs another acupuncture session, but everything else is fine. I'll prescribe some blood-tonifying and qi-nourishing medicine, and after a month or two of rest, you should be almost healed."
"One or two months?" His expression changed, and he sat up abruptly. "That's too late!"
Xue Ziye turned to look at him in surprise.
"Mo'er's health is getting worse and worse. For the past month, she's been kept alive by ginseng. We can't wait any longer!" he murmured, then suddenly looked up at her. "I've found the Dragon Blood Pearl—now that all five ingredients on the prescription are ready, you should be able to refine the pill, right?"
"Huh?" She was startled, as if she didn't know how to answer. "Oh, yes, yes... it's all there."
—They actually found them all for him!
The Seven-Leaf Bright Mushroom at the bottom of the Sacred Lake of the Moon Worship Sect, the Azure Phoenix Flower of the White Cloud Palace of Bicheng Mountain in the East China Sea, the Dragon Tongue on the cliff of Junshan Mountain in Dongting Lake, the Snow Poppy of Muztagh Ata, and the Ten-Thousand-Year Dragon Blood Crimson Cold Pearl of Qilian Mountain... any one of them is an extraordinary treasure that has driven the entire martial arts world to fight madly for it.
And this person actually traveled all over the world in eight years and got everything.
What kind of force is supporting him to fight and compete so recklessly?
"Then, could you please have Miss Xue refine it as soon as possible?" He sat up on the couch, bowed properly to her, and there was no hint of joking on his face. "I promised Qiu Shui that I would return to Lin'an with the medicine within a month."
“This…” She took out the dragon blood bead from her sleeve, but didn’t know how to put it. “Actually, I’ve always wanted to tell you: about Mo’er’s illness, I…”
"Please." As if afraid she might say something hurtful, he immediately looked up at her and whispered, "Please... if even you can't save him, Mo'er is doomed. It's been eight years, and we're almost there!"
She gripped the bead tightly and let out a silent sigh.
As if admitting defeat, she sat down at the medical desk and began writing a prescription. Huo Zhanbai smiled apologetically, "Once Mo'er's illness is cured, I will definitely pay back the consultation fee I owe you slowly... You've never been to the Central Plains, so you don't know that Huo Qi Gongzi of Dingjian Pavilion, besides being handsome and having excellent swordsmanship, also has an excellent reputation for integrity."
She was writing the prescription, but her brows were slightly furrowed; it was unclear whether she had heard it.
"However, although you are fierce and greedy, your medical skills are really excellent..." he began to flatter her.
She put down her pen, thought for a moment, then abruptly tore it up and began writing the second sheet.
"I know you charge high prices to support the people in this valley—they're all abandoned children or orphans, aren't they?" he continued, rambling on, "I also know that although you charge martial arts masters 100,000 for consultations, you're always delivering medicine and treating the people in the surrounding villages—don't let your fierce appearance fool you, you actually..."
Her pen finally stopped, and she looked up at the rambling person under the lamp, somewhat surprised.
How did he know these things?
“Take good care of yourself,” she finally said, gently patting his shoulder. “I’ll try.”
Huo Zhanbai let out a long sigh of relief and slumped back into the bed.
Having suffered such a severe injury, the moment he relaxed, he felt he could no longer hold on. Lying on his sickbed, he felt his limbs trembling with pain, but he forced a lazy smile: "Hey, I also know that you're so picky about patients' appearances, it must be because your lover is also... ah!"
A silver needle flew over and pierced his pressure point where he was unconscious, trembling slightly.