"Are you in the Moonless Palace now?"
"Hmm, is there a problem?"
"Unlike you, having to face someone you genuinely hate every day, don't you think that's self-torture?"
I feel guilty about this question, and I also feel conflicted. Do I really just dislike Nangong Ling?
"Also, are you being watched by the people of Peach Blossom Valley?"
Why did we suddenly get onto the topic of Peach Blossom Valley again? I hadn't processed his question, so I just stared at him blankly.
"Although it was very faint, it still couldn't escape my nose. Peach Blossom Valley is full of flowers and plants, and the pollen is too strong, but it also has a kind of light fragrance, so it is very unique. Only people who live in the valley all year round will have this kind of fragrance."
Peach Blossom Valley? ...Oh right, could it be that guy who spoke rudely to me at the martial arts tournament?
"They must have been following you for a while now, so why haven't they made a move yet?" He thought for a moment, then muttered to himself, "They're probably afraid to act rashly because they're wary of the people around you, but how could Nangong Ling not have noticed?"
I remembered the eerie figure I saw in the middle of the night last time. If it was from that time...
“...Nangong Ling is having a tiff with me.”
He Xiuqi looked over, his eyes filled with disdain, "You're the one who's having a tiff with him, aren't you?"
Honestly, did you have to be so direct in exposing me? I had just thrown her a reproachful look and hadn't even said a word when my senior sister brought in the prepared medicine.
"Rong Lian is coming up the mountain with me to gather herbs. I'll have her deliver the herbs tonight." He Xiuqi stood with his hands behind his back, gave the instructions, and then left on his own.
"Go up the mountain to collect herbs?" The senior sister was a little surprised. "The mountain path is difficult to walk at night. Otherwise, I would have gone up the mountain to get them tomorrow morning."
“Delaying it by one night is not a big deal, but He Xiuqi is a man of his word. If we go against his wishes, he might not save the person.”
"These old folks are all so eccentric," the senior sister said, her eyebrows furrowing slightly. "Are you really alright?"
I waved my hand and said I could walk through Yanxing Mountain with my eyes closed, then slipped away under her not-so-believing gaze.
Chapter 41
The difficulty in treating sesame mushroom poisoning lies in the fact that it requires extremely precious and rare medicinal materials. It is very difficult to prepare a complete antidote, and other medicinal materials cannot be used as substitutes, otherwise it will only accelerate the toxin's erosion. Among them, the most troublesome and helpless is the ancient ginseng. As far as I know, He Xiuqi only has one and a half pieces in his private collection.
"Go and take care of the grove of anemones behind the house."
They had only reached halfway up the mountain when He Xiuqi suddenly threw out a remark.
"You don't have to do everything yourself when it comes to planting flowers and grass, so I don't have the leisure to water and prune them for you."
"If you don't appreciate the easy job I'm offering, then go and take care of Shi'er for me."
"Then I'll take care of the anemones instead."
This guy knows I hate kids, yet he still tries to force his troublesome daughter on me.
By the time I reached the mountaintop, I was so out of breath I could barely speak. I hadn't expected the poison to have such severe consequences. No matter how much I tried to improve my internal energy, my body was never as refreshed as before. I felt incredibly weak and tired all the time. Just as I was wiping away my sweat and about to sit down, an unidentified object suddenly flew out from the side. I tried to dodge, but my legs wouldn't obey me, and I could only watch helplessly as the white object crashed into me.
I was so shocked by the impact that I saw stars, and I was so angry that I grabbed the lump of stuff and ripped it away.
"Dream Picking!" A cold voice gradually approached.
"You vixen, what brings you here again!"
He Xiuqi's five-year-old daughter was kicking her little feet, but unfortunately I lifted her high up so her kick didn't hit me.
"He Mengyan, keep your sister in check!" I shouted, holding my breath, before everything went black.
"Why are you so out of breath after just climbing a mountain?"
He Mengyan took his sister from him and spoke with a chilling tone.
"Mind your own business." I tried to get up, but a sharp pain suddenly shot through my back.
"What's wrong?" He Mengyan asked, taking a closer look.
Just like last time, I couldn't find the source of the stinging pain no matter what I tried.
"Your back problem has flared up again? You absolutely refuse to take your medicine, what did you bump into this time?"
While writing the prescription, He Xiuqi kept nagging.
I waved my hand, telling him not to worry about it, he'd be fine after a couple of days of rest anyway.
He shook his head, knowing that he couldn't persuade me otherwise when it came to taking medicine, so he stopped talking about it.
"...Yan'er, go to the back and get the medicine according to this prescription."
After taking the prescription, He Mengyan gave me a suspicious look before carrying his sister, who was baring her teeth and claws at me, to the backyard.
"If you were in Anting, why didn't you see Nangong Ling? Qionghua, who was with him, was also an unfathomable figure. The medicinal cuisine hall of Wuyue Palace had just as many precious medicinal herbs as mine, so it would be no problem for them to cure the poison of the sesame mushroom. Why did you go to such lengths instead of coming here?"
"Poison Fairy's next target is Yue Linghe. How could he still stay in Anting? He would have rushed back long ago." I didn't realize how sarcastic my tone was when I said this.
“I see. Well then, keep it to make money for me.” He rarely forced a stiff smile. “Have you ever heard the saying that the poison of the sesame mushroom is worth a thousand pieces of gold? It’s no wonder that old man down the mountain is going to be ruined this time.”
He either has a blank, expressionless face when he doesn't smile, or his smile is extremely sinister.
"This is his family's business. Hey, don't you feel uncomfortable having that face glued to your face every day?"
"You can't pick them if there are outsiders around."
What do you mean? Are you saying I'm an outsider? But that doesn't make sense either; it's not like I haven't seen his true colors before.
Just as I was wondering what was going on, a figure burst through the door. Once I saw who it was, I knew why.
"You're still alive."
The person who came was stunned when they saw me. Their face turned white, then red, then green, then purple, a series of colorful flashes before they finally managed to return to normal.
"You, you, you...you can't see me, you can't see me..." he muttered to himself, as if he had seen a ghost and was chanting a spell.
"Did you get a shock?" I asked He Xiuqi.
"No, I just saw a plague god."
"Oh..." I thought about it again, and then realized something was off. "What do you mean by indirectly calling me a jinx?!"
He took a sip of tea, turned his face away, and ignored my question.
How do you allow him to come and go from your territory?
He Xiuqi was extremely sensitive about the boundaries of his territory. In his mind, the entire Yanxing Mountain belonged to him, and in fact, outsiders also thought so. He always disliked unfamiliar people stepping into his territory, and those who violated this rule would usually be tormented by drugs to the point of banging their heads against the wall. Over time, no one dared to approach the foot of the mountain, let alone dare to climb it.
"Although I enjoy the quiet life in the mountains, I have to understand the affairs of the martial world. When you reach a certain position in a certain field, there will inevitably be people who come to cause trouble. I must have a thorough understanding of them and be prepared to drive them away. Moreover, with the information he gives me, I can naturally know what rare and precious medicinal materials each sect has. Why not do something that is beneficial to me and harmless?"
"Okay, but was he doing it voluntarily?"
“I saved his life before, and then I drugged him. He has to come back every two months to take the life-saving pills I give him before the poison takes effect, or he will die.”
These people are all so treacherous. I must never offend him in the future. But I was so mean to his daughter... no, it's that his daughter always acts like she's seeing an enemy whenever she sees me. It's not like I started it.
"Luckily, Nangong Ling rushed to save Yue Linghe's life, otherwise you might not even have seen the moon tonight." I teased him, and unsurprisingly, his face lit up again.
"Bai Xiaosheng, you're blocking the way."
A cold voice came from behind him. Bai Xiaosheng jumped in surprise and turned to the side, where he saw He Mengyan holding He Mengshi in one arm and a packet of medicine in the other.
Chapter 42
He Xiuqi is twenty-four years old this year, with a five-year-old daughter and a thirteen-year-old son. But neither of them are his biological children. When he was seventeen, he rescued He Mengyan, who was only six years old at the time and was almost frozen to death, at the foot of the mountain. When he was twenty, he went to collect herbs near a mass grave and found He Mengshi, who was about one year old at the time, abandoned on a grave mound. Of course, the names of the two children were given to them later.
"Take the medicine over before it gets dark, and come back up tomorrow morning."
Why the sudden change of mind? "You're not plotting some earth-shattering conspiracy, are you, and that's why you're sending me away?"
He Mengyan gave me a look that said, "Are you sick?" and shoved a packet of medicine into my hand.
He pushed me outside the door, and I looked back suspiciously, only to see He Xiuqi's perpetually stern face before the door closed right in front of me.
Something's wrong. The martial arts tournament has just started, and the martial arts world is already in turmoil? I walked down the mountain with the medicine in my hand, and couldn't help but think of Jun Guan, whom I met at the inn earlier. He seemed to have said that something had happened to the Martial Venerable, so he made a special detour to see what was going on. Who on earth spread this rumor? And what is their purpose?
The more I thought about it, the more uneasy I felt. I had a vague sense that something was wrong, and I was afraid that a storm was about to break out.
Back in the garden, Zhiyu came out carrying a basin of water, her head bowed and her brow furrowed with worry. She didn't even notice me coming in.
My heart skipped a beat. "Senior sister, why do you look so pale? Did something happen to senior brother?"
She looked up, saw me, her eyes flickered, and a look of delight appeared on her face.
"No. It's good that you're back so soon, it saves me from having to go pick you up in the dark later."
"What?"
"It's all because your senior sister was worried about you. Fourth and fifth junior brothers aren't in Anting, and your senior sister has to take care of third junior brother, so she couldn't possibly ask Master to pick you up. That's why I'm the unlucky one. But now that you're back, I'm out of the picture, hahaha..."
So all that worrying about her was because of this. Is it really necessary to make you so upset?
"Is that medicine in your hand?" she asked, laughing for a moment before leaning closer.
I nodded.
"Okay, come with me."
"what?"
"Go to the kitchen and brew the medicine." She rolled her eyes at me. "I know you, Miss, can't do it. Come and help me out."
The kitchen was small but very clean. Zhiyu opened the medicine packet and was stunned after taking a look.