Overjoyed, he lunged at the wall and peered through the small opening, where he saw a pair of clear, bright eyes: "Sister Xiaoye! It's you who came to see me?"
“Those damned adults said your eyes could kill, but why am I okay after looking into them?” Tears welled in those eyes, brimming with the urge to sob. “You were imprisoned because of me—I told Xuehuai that if, if they really gouged out your eyes, we’d each gouge one out for you!”
Looking out from the cave entrance, tears streamed down the back of those clear, black and white eyes.
He stared, mesmerized. He had been locked in a dark room since he was six, and hadn't seen her for the next seven years. Even during his brief escape a few days ago, he hadn't seen her clearly now—to him, Xiaoye was simply the pair of bright eyes that peeked out from behind the gap every day: bright, gentle, caring, warm… clear-cut, like the white mountains and black waters of the north.
Sister Xiaoye... Xuehuai... In that instant, he, who had been imprisoned for seven years but had never shown weakness, broke down in tears in the darkness.
Where are you from?
A voice seemed to ask him from the darkness, "Meiji, where do you come from?"
It's fake... fake... it's all fake! He's just fallen into another illusion, similar to a pupil technique!
The instant that voice echoed in his mind, those bright eyes grew increasingly blurry. He cried out to himself inwardly, desperately resisting the images that kept flashing before his eyes. It's fake! Absolutely, absolutely do not believe it… it's all an illusion!
"Meisuke, Meisuke!" Someone called his name in his ear, pressing down hard on his hands that were reaching for the back of his head. "It's alright...it's alright. Don't be like this, it's all over..."
He opened his eyes in the darkness and saw a pair of bright eyes, clear and distinct, right next to him.
"Sister Xiaoye?" The memory suddenly overlapped with what was before him. He grasped the hand of the person in front of him, and suddenly felt tired and weary, murmuring, "It's all fake...it's all fake..."
“It’s not fake. It’s me, it really is me,” she said, gripping his hand tightly in the darkness. “I’m back.”
"..." His mind was still stuck in the dream. He opened his eyes and stared blankly at her, reaching out as if to touch her cheek to confirm her existence. However, his hand slipped halfway down and he drifted back into a deep sleep.
Xue Ziye stood up, added a handful of incense to the golden lion's incense burner, and glanced at the sleeping person.
The golden needle on the plate gleamed with an eerie light—she had unlocked a portion of his sealed memories. However, before his body recovered, she couldn't rashly pull out all three golden needles at once, otherwise Mingjie might go completely insane from the shock.
It seems that we can only take it one step at a time.
She turned and closed the door, heading towards the Winter Mansion, preparing to keep her appointment to drink.
In Mohe, in the far north, the sky is always gray even during the day, with the sun hanging pale and weary on the horizon.
Xue Ziye directed the maids to dig out the urn of "Laughing at the Mortal World" that had been buried last year from the snow under the plum tree. In the waterside garden of the Winter Pavilion, a small red clay stove was warmly burning, heating a pot of amber wine. The aroma of the wine filled the air, making the snow hawks on the perch murmur incessantly and scratch incessantly with their claws.
"Let it have a sip first." Xue Ziye smiled and turned her head, poured a cup, and casually flicked it. The cup flew out in an arc, and the snow hawk swooped down with a "fluttering" sound, caught it perfectly, flew back to the shelf with satisfaction, tilted its head back, and gulped it down, making a happy cooing sound.
"Wow, that's amazing!" Even though she had seen it a few times, she couldn't help but exclaim in amazement, "What kind of bird do you keep?!"
"Like master, like bird," Huo Zhanbai said, taking the opportunity to boast.
Before the words were finished, the cup fell to the snow with a "thud." The snow hawk swayed drunkenly for a few moments before tumbling head over heels. Just before it hit the ground, its right foot managed to grab it, and it began to swing like a Western clock.
“Of course, the master’s alcohol tolerance is a thousand times better than itss!” he quickly added.
The two lay on two couches under the plum tree, drinking and chatting. He loved wine, and so did she. The "Laughing in the Mortal World" brewed in Medicine Master Valley was a rare delicacy. So, for the past eight years, every time his injuries improved, he would eagerly ask for it, and she, as the hostess, would gladly offer him the fine wine.
—Of course, the agreed price was fifty taels per urn.
"Your alcohol tolerance is really good," Huo Zhanbai, who considered himself a heavy drinker, couldn't help but admire, recalling how the two previous drinking contests had ended in a draw. "I didn't expect you to enjoy it too."
“I fell into Mohe when I was fourteen and caught a chill, so my lungs have always been bad,” she said, taking a sip of her drink. “The wine in the valley is brewed with medicinal herbs. My master told me to drink a pot of it every day to improve blood circulation and nourish my lungs.”
"Oh." He gazed thoughtfully at the distant lake, seemingly casually. "How did you fall in?"
Xue Ziye raised an eyebrow, snorted, and did not answer.
Realizing he had run into a wall, Huo Zhanbai sighed helplessly, drank a few cups in silence, and then changed the subject: "You've never left the valley, have you? Once I've finished this matter, I'll take you to the Central Plains to broaden your horizons, so you won't always doubt my abilities."
“Ah,” she drank her second cup, her cheeks slightly flushed, “I originally came from the Central Plains.”
Huo Zhanbai was slightly startled, but said sarcastically, "So the Central Plains can actually produce a heroine like you..."
"I was originally from Chang'an. When I was seven, my mother and I were exiled to the northern frontier," Xue Ziye said, her lips loosening as if she had drunk some wine. She swirled her wine glass, gazing at the sky. "The Xue family of Chang'an—have you ever heard of them?"
Huo Zhanbai gripped the wine glass tightly, took a deep breath, and hummed in response, trying not to reveal too much of his shock.
—How could I not have heard of it!
The Xue family, renowned physicians of Chang'an, is a prestigious lineage of doctors with a history spanning hundreds of years. Residing in the capital, they have always served as imperial physicians, with the head of the family holding the position of chief physician in the Imperial Medical Academy for generations. However, unlike the Mo family of Dingjian Pavilion, the Xue family holds themselves in high esteem and rarely associates with martial arts practitioners. The only precedent is said to be a woman from the Xue family who once treated the master of Tingxue Tower a hundred years ago.
“That year, the ten-year-old crown prince died. His grandfather, who treated him, was flogged to death on the spot, his family was confiscated and exterminated. The men were beheaded, and the women were exiled three thousand miles away to serve as slaves to the armored soldiers.” Xue Ziye murmured, her eyes seemingly looking into the far distance. “How ridiculous… a palace conspiracy, yet they claim to the outside world that the imperial physician made a mistake in prescribing medicine. Serving the emperor is like serving a tiger; a hundred years of honor can be lost in a single day.”
She swirled the wine in her glass, gazing at her own reflection in her eyes: "Back then, I really envied the Mo family, who roamed the martial world."
"Did you meet the Valley Master of Medicine Master Valley during your exile?" he asked, suppressing his surprise.
"No." Xue Ziye leaned back on the couch, gazing at the sky. "My mother and I were being escorted, and we passed through a remote village called Mojia. Later..." She suddenly stopped, as if she had noticed something, and turned her head to look directly at Huo Zhanbai: "What, trying to trick me into telling me something?"
He was stumped by the question, paused for a moment, and then said only, "I want to know how I can help you."
"Hmm?" Xue Ziye propped her chin up and looked at him, her expression changing before she suddenly narrowed her eyes and smiled. "Alright, then you'd better hurry up and make more money to pay back this 600,000 yuan consultation fee. There are a bunch of people in my valley who are waiting for food to cook!"
This question stumped him, and he scratched his head somewhat awkwardly: "Well... you could actually make up for it by seeing just a few more patients! If you're so stingy and love money so much, why won't you see a few more patients a year?"
“Um,” she said, grabbing a piece of dried fruit and popping it into her mouth, “my body can’t take it.”
He fell silent, somewhat surprised: In his memory, this woman had always been strong and active, capable of staying up all night to care for patients, treating wounds with more agility than a first-rate swordsman, and commanding a large group of maids around her. Even the master of Dingjian Pavilion and the abbot of Shaolin Temple had to obediently submit to her.
No one could tell that the doctor himself was actually a patient.
"Besides, I don't like these江湖人 (jianghu people)," she continued to mutter, completely ignoring the person lying next to her. "People who waste their lives on meaningless struggles are not worth saving—I'd rather spend that time treating people with colds and fevers in the surrounding villages!"
Huo Zhanbai was somewhat flattered: "Then... why were you willing to save me?"