La pluie écarlate submerge la ville

Chapitre 67

He noticed the faint bloodstains on my stomach. I pressed my hand against it, exhaled, and said, "It's just a superficial wound, not deep."

He stared at me for a long time in the orange glow, and finally, without saying a word, helped me walk back. Only after we reached the bottom of the corridor did he ask me, "Why?"

That's the same question I've been asked all along.

I didn't know how to answer, so I remained silent. After waiting for a while, he asked again, "Why did you risk your life to save him?"

"You saw it?" I asked instead of answering. Did he see everything that happened in the main hall just now?

He didn't answer me, but kept asking me, "You like him, don't you? Otherwise, you wouldn't have taken this knife for him..."

I pressed on the wound on my stomach, feeling dizzy from the pain, and said with a weak breath, "This knife wasn't for him, it was for myself."

"You yourself?"

Yes, for my own sake.

Baoze only wanted to avenge Jinglian. I handed him the dagger in the main hall. Yan Shu was already dead. I was returning the favor by killing Jinglian with the knife he used.

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"Huh?!" Shen Qing stared at me in shock. His hand, which was applying the medicine, involuntarily tightened, causing me to cry out in pain. He quickly released his grip, saying, "I'm so sorry, I was too excited..."

"What are you getting so worked up about!" I collapsed on the couch, wishing I could strangle him.

He kept clicking his tongue, "You just let Baoze stab you and then agreed to let you take Yan Shu's body away? There's no reason for that... You don't even love Yan Shu, how could you do something as noble as carrying a knife to your death!"

I was in so much pain that I broke out in a cold sweat, and weakly said, "Who said I was going to die for him? This knife wasn't for him."

"Nonsense, if it wasn't for him, then who was it for?" Shen Qing glanced at me sideways.

I sighed and said, "This blow is something I owe Jinglian, and I will repay it sooner or later..."

"So you just went and told them, 'Go ahead and stab me in the back,'" Shen Qing scoffed at me.

I lay on the tatami mat, looking at the bright light streaming in through the window, and squinted as I exhaled. "If... if I said that the people in this world I feel most guilty towards, the people I want to treat with the most sincerity, are Baoze and Jinglian... would you believe me?"

Shen Qing paused in applying the medicine, remaining silent.

“Even I don’t believe it…” I smiled, pressing my forehead. “You’ve underestimated Baoze. If I’m not mistaken, he already instructed the palace maids to tell the guards to take Yan Shu’s body there as soon as we leave the pharmacy.”

Although I couldn't guess what he had ordered, the little palace maid in green suddenly came and said something to the guard, which was definitely not a good thing. How much Baoze hated Yan Shu, he would have disemboweled Yan Shu before Ruan Bicheng and Miaoshou could act.

Since there is a most direct and effective method, why go to the long way around? Isn't that what Ruan Bicheng said?

"So you..." Shen Qing frowned as she looked at me, "This is a ruse?"

No, it doesn't count. Regardless of whether Baoze sent a palace maid to instruct the guards to do it, I wanted to do it anyway. I would take this knife just to put my mind at ease.

From now on, I owe no one anything.

Shen Qing frowned at me and sighed, "You're really courting death..."

I shielded my eyes from the bright sunlight and smiled as I looked at my gleaming fingertips. "He couldn't bring himself to do it. He's too kind... Unlike me, you haven't seen his eyes. Even now, they're still so pure and innocent."

“You…” Shen Qing looked at me in astonishment.

"Do you really think I'd be foolish enough to court death? Just for Yan Shu?" I smiled, narrowing my eyes. "If I wasn't certain he wouldn't be able to bring himself to do it, why would I go?"

My fingers gleamed in the light, a warm orange hue. I was certain he wouldn't stab me, which was why I handed him the dagger.

He is kinder and softer-hearted than I am.

Author's Note: I updated before midnight! 4,600 words! I'm even moved by my own diligence!

The female lead is... not so innocent after all. Do you think she had any other intentions in saving the priest?

79

King Licheng agreed to let Miaoshou take Baoze back to Medicine King Valley for slow treatment, and also followed Miaoshou's request to search for the heart needed for the medicine in Licheng.

According to Ruan Bicheng's plan, Miaoshou would take Baoze back to Medicine King Valley, while he would take my and Yan Shu's corpses and leave the palace directly back to the Central Plains.

They set off that afternoon.

Baoze set off lightly, accompanied only by a green-clad palace maid and two nannies. The Prince of Licheng personally saw him off outside Licheng, his eyes red with tears as he gave him some instructions.

We went together to see them off. Ruan Bicheng and Miaoshou said something to each other, while Shen Qing stood beside me, giving me a cold look.

I nudged him and asked, "Are you sure you don't want to go back with your senior brother?"

"Those who walk different paths cannot make plans together." Shen Qing said coldly, "His medical practice is different from mine. If the two of us stay together, there will only be one outcome: he dies or I perish."

Indeed, it's quite dangerous for two fellow students who never agree to be together.

I asked him again, "So what are your plans?"

He exhaled a puff of white breath and said, "Reporting to the Sahara Sect."

"You're going back?" I was a little surprised.

He laughed through the misty air, his breath forming white clouds, and said, "After going around in circles like this, I still prefer staying in the Saro Sect. Someone like me is only suited to a demonic sect without rules and regulations. Besides, I was only implicated by you. Someone as talented as me, the old sect leader and the young master would love for me to go back!"

I then remained silent.

He shook his head and sighed, "Things have changed. If only the Saluo Sect were still the Saluo Sect it was back then..."

Standing in the mist beneath the blue bricks and gray walls, I suddenly recalled the first time I saw Ruan Lianhua. Under the quiet moonlight amidst the fragrant grass, he smiled like a pure lotus in full bloom, its fragrance spreading for miles.

At that time, I didn't even know his name...

At that time, Yan Shu was still the arrogant Yan Shu...

I hadn't seen Ruan Bicheng again by then...

Those were good times...

The most hurtful thing in this world is nothing more than the phrase "things have changed, people are no longer the same," which makes all the past die in memories, and one dares not look back.

Shen Qing patted my shoulder, raised his eyebrows and smiled, "We'll part ways here. When we meet again in the martial world, I hope you'll treat me the same way you did the first time we met." He tugged at my lips, "Cheer up!"

I smiled at him, and he glanced at the skilled hand conversing with Ruan Bicheng in the distance, then said, "I'm leaving now. Don't disturb the Medicine King, lest he nag me." He bowed to me, then crouched down and tried to slip away.

"Shen Qing," I called out to him, turning around, "If you see Chang Huan, please tell him for me that I'm fine and he doesn't need to worry." I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank him."

"Don't make it sound like a deathbed message." Shen Qing glanced at me. "You tell him these things yourself. I'm not going to pass on the message." He turned his back and waved at me, saying, "I'm leaving."

Without waiting for me to say anything more, they slipped away as if fleeing.

I watched his figure disappear into the mist for a long time before Ruan Bicheng and Miaoshou finally arrived.

"Where is my junior brother?" Miaoshou asked me.

I pointed in the direction Shen Qing disappeared and shrugged, saying, "She's gone."

"Gone?!" My ears trembled as Miao Shou exclaimed in surprise. "How could he just leave? Where did he go? How could he leave me all alone like that..."

I covered my ears and took a few steps back. Ruan Bicheng grabbed me and asked softly, "Do you want to go say goodbye to Baoze?"

I jumped over his shoulder and saw the carriages already prepared to depart by the roadside. After thinking for a moment, I nodded.

Two old women stood on either side of the carriage. I looked at the front of the carriage and said to the person inside through the heavy purple curtain, "I'm leaving too. I don't know if we'll ever have the chance to meet again after this farewell..." I didn't know what else to say. All the words I wanted to say in the end were just, "Take care."

As I turned to leave, the carriage curtain suddenly swayed.

"Wait a minute." Baoze called out to me from inside the car, lifted the curtain, and handed me a small, white medicine bottle.

I stood there, stunned, staring at the small medicine bottle, feeling a heavy weight pressing on my throat and heart, making me feel uneasy.

Then Baoze said in a muffled voice from inside the car, "Are we... still friends?"

At that moment, I suddenly felt extremely dirty and despicable. The self hidden in my chest had never made me feel so ashamed.

Holding that small mutton fat bottle in my hand felt like holding a red-hot branding iron, burning from my fingertips to every part of my body.

Friend...am I worthy?

"Su Xie?" Bao Ze called out to me tentatively.

I took the small medicine bottle and said with a faint smile, "As long as you're willing... we'll be together for life."

I dared not linger any longer and turned to leave.

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We left Licheng that afternoon without any problems.

I rode in the same carriage as Ruan Bicheng, while Yan Shu's body was placed in another carriage behind us. As we left Licheng, it grew dark, and the city appeared desolate in the twilight and mist.

The child was fast asleep, wrapped in a fox fur coat, lying in the swaying carriage without waking up.

I leaned against the carriage, absentmindedly fiddling with the small bottle of mutton fat medicine. A cold wind whipped up the curtains, brushing against my face intermittently, carrying a slightly damp and cool sensation.

"Are you feeling unwell?" Ruan Bicheng reached out and touched my forehead.

Almost instinctively, I reached out and grabbed his wrist. He was slightly startled. I pushed his hand away and said, "It's nothing." Then I said nothing more.

He didn't even bother to stop, and after a long while, he reached out and tucked the curtains in.

I looked up at him and asked, "When will Yan Shu wake up?"

"He'll wake up after taking the antidote." He leaned back into the cushion and said calmly, "Don't worry, I'll give him the antidote when we get to the Central Plains."

I looked at him, leaned against the car window, and laughed. "Are you afraid I'll be scared?"

He didn't answer, but instead took a fox fur cloak and draped it over my knees, saying softly, "Yes, I'm worried that you'll disappear again and I'll never find you again."

I looked at the fine fox fur coat, and when I looked up I met his eyes, which were as deep as the night. He looked at me and said softly, "I know you are still wary of me, but it's okay, I have the patience to take it slow."

Take it slow? I understand Ruan Bicheng's thoughts less and less. What value do I still have for him to take things slowly? Compensation?

I fiddled with the small medicine bottle, not looking up at him, and said, "Ruan Bicheng, I only agreed to go back with you to see that thing you mentioned..."

"I know." Ruan Bicheng interrupted me, gently patting the sleeping child, and smiled lightly with a thin corner of her lips: "It's already very kind of you to agree to come back with me. I owe you something."

My fingers paused, and I felt a little scared looking at him... He was like a soft thorn, invisible yet embedded in my flesh and bone, causing occasional, subtle pain.

I could never figure out what he was thinking. Every word he said seemed to be meticulously planned, without a single flaw or mistake, leaving me completely defenseless.

Now I can understand every word he says, but I don't understand every sentence. I sat up straight, just about to say something, when the child suddenly burst into tears.

Ruan Bicheng hurriedly picked her up, gently patted her back, and coaxed her. With one hand, she lifted the curtain and looked outside. The night was pitch black; we had walked for so long.

"Are you hungry?" I asked Ruan Bicheng. She had been crying so much and had slept for so long, she must be hungry.

Ruan Bicheng nodded and said to the attendant driving the carriage, "Let's find a house nearby to rest."

The servant responded, whipped the horse, and soon stopped at the entrance of a village.