Intelligence Ultime

Chapitre 58

"sorry!"

"Yes, hero—ah?" Zhu Huihui's eyes widened, not understanding why he said that.

Feng Xuese said slowly, "I thought you had left, so—I'm sorry!"

He was an upright man. Although he didn't say it out loud at the time, he did have doubts in his heart and felt quite sorry for Zhu Huihui, so he apologized to her.

"Ah, no...it's nothing!"

Even though Zhu Huihui had an incredibly thick skin, she felt extremely ashamed. The skin on her cheeks started to burn. Fortunately, Feng Xuese's eyes were blind; otherwise, even in the dark, he would probably have seen through her guilty conscience.

However, as ashamed as she was, she wasn't foolish enough to admit that she had actually intended to abandon him and run away. She cleared her throat and changed the subject: "Ahem, by the way, sir, are you hungry? I brought back some food!"

She retrieved the things she had taken from the village from the horse, wiped her hands on her clothes, picked up a steamed bun, and handed it to him: "Hero, please!" She added, "I've already washed my hands."

She was simply taking advantage of Feng Xuese's blindness, so she blatantly lied as well. Wash her hands? She did wash them, but it was at noon!

Feng Xue knew she was lying, but she didn't seem disgusted. She took the steamed bun and asked, "Where did this come from?"

"It was taken from a family in the village below."

Feng Xue's face darkened: "Stolen?"

As Zhu Huihui peeled a salted egg for him, she casually replied, "Anyway, it can't be considered a gift."

Feng Xuese slowly put the steamed bun down.

Zhu Huihui looked up and thought he was complaining about the food, so she advised, "Hero, I know this steamed bun is made with coarse flour and high in alkali, so it doesn't taste very good. But we're lucky to have anything to eat right now. Please don't be picky and just make do with it!"

Feng Xuese said calmly, "I don't eat stolen food."

"Huh?" Zhu Huihui almost choked on her own words. What? She didn't even mind that he dragged her into this mess, and he dared to accuse her of stealing!

"Fine, don't eat then! I'll eat it myself!" Damn it, you pretentious old man, starve to death!

In a fit of pique, Zhu Huihui grabbed a steamed bun and took a bite: "Mmm, this steamed bun may not look very appealing, but it tastes really good. It's made with the freshest flour this year, so fragrant and sweet! Oops, the egg yolk oil has dripped onto my hand. And this dried fish, although it's small, is smoked so well..." She ate while praising it endlessly, deliberately trying to provoke Feng Xuese!

Feng Xuese calmed down, closed her eyes to rest, and remained silent.

Zhu Huihui, having sung his monologue for half a day, gradually grew bored and stopped talking. After a while, he spoke again, "Great hero, if you don't want to eat, can you at least drink water?" He handed the water bottle to him.

Feng Xuese did feel thirsty, and after a slight hesitation, she drank a few mouthfuls of water from the spout of the pot.

Zhu Huihui waited for him to finish drinking, then took the water bottle and sat far away from him to avoid being beaten later. Then she said with a grin, "Great hero, I forgot to mention, this water bottle was also stolen!"

Maple Snow Color: "..."

He ignored her and began meditating.

His internal energy circulated in his dantian, and his true qi rose along his meridians, reaching his eyes, trying to force the poison out. However, the poison was so fierce that the stronger his internal energy became, the more intense the poison's backlash became. His eyes felt as if they were being gouged out by a knife, throbbing as if they were about to pop out of their sockets.

He had tried several times, but every time he channeled his internal energy to the poisoned area, his eyes would ache terribly. Helpless, he had no choice but to withdraw his internal energy and sigh inwardly.

Meanwhile, Zhu Huihui, exhausted from a long day, finally couldn't hold on any longer and closed her eyes to fall into a deep sleep, where she then had a long nightmare.

In her dream, she was blind and being chased everywhere. The old man, a loyal friend, held her hand and, with a single swing of his longsword, killed her pursuers. But there were too many hunters, and they angrily lined up, offering their heads for the old man to chop off. He beheaded one after another, thoroughly enjoying his decapitation spree, until finally, his arms ached with exhaustion. Finally, he angrily abandoned her, leaving her, a blind woman, standing there blankly in complete darkness. She reached out and groped her way forward, and as she walked, she accidentally fell into a well…

She tossed and turned on the floor, her sleep extremely restless. A hand gently covered her forehead, sending a cool breath into her body, and her chaotic mind finally calmed down...

With her tense body relaxed, Zhu Huihui turned over and fell asleep peacefully.

In the darkness, a warm smile appeared on the lips of a maple-colored face, then the smile faded, turning into a soft sigh.

Zhu Huihui slept for a very long time. Finally, she was full and yawned, rubbing her eyes as she got up from the ground.

Feng Xuese sat at the cave entrance, deep in thought. Hearing the noise behind her, she tilted her head slightly and asked with a smile, "It's dawn, isn't it?"

Zhu Huihui was overjoyed: "Huh? How did you know? You can see now?"

Feng Xuese shook her head slightly, turned her face to the rising sun, and said, "The melodious birdsong, the fresh air, the warmth of the sun, and the scent of grass and trees all tell me that it is already morning."

Zhu Huihui stared at him blankly.

Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the grass covering the cave entrance, illuminating his handsome face. His fair, jade-like face seemed to be coated with a faint yellow hue; his expression was serene, his spirit radiant, and his entire being seemed to glow.

Feng Xuese suddenly turned around and faced her: "What?"

Knowing he couldn't see, Zhu Huihui still blushed. "N-nothing!" she said慌乱地, "Great hero, please wait for me!" She then pulled up her sleeve and wiped her mouth. How embarrassing! The great hero isn't a steamed bun, why was she drooling in front of him!

Zhu Huihui arrived at the cave entrance and looked around.

“There’s no one around,” Feng Xuese said directly, as if she knew what she was doing.

Although he could no longer see, his other senses became more acute, especially his hearing.

When his mind is calm, he can hear the breathing of the surrounding trees, the sound of a small flower quietly blooming dozens of feet away, and even sense a hawk swooping down on a titmouse high in the sky...

Zhu Huihui said, "Great hero, I'll be right back after I go out for a bit."

Don't worry, she has already figured out what to do, so this time she won't abandon him and run away alone.

Feng Xuese nodded, sat down at the cave entrance with his sword in his arms, and instructed, "Don't go too far." If something unexpected happened, he might not be able to get there in time to rescue you.

Zhu Huihui agreed and went out of the cave, but it took her quite a while to run back.

"Hero, I just went to wash my face and brought back a handkerchief for you. Please wipe your face." Zhu Huihui handed a handkerchief to Feng Xuese's hand.

Feng Xuese smelled the scent of grass on the handkerchief and asked curiously, "What's that smell?"

"It's nothing!" Zhu Huihui said ingratiatingly. "Are you feeling unwell, sir? Shall I help you wash?" She boldly reached out to touch Feng Xue's fair face. Hehe, the hero's face is so handsome; she'd wanted to touch it for a long time…

Just as she was about to succeed, Feng Xuese suddenly raised his hand, grabbed her palm, and quietly said, "I'll do it myself!" What is this girl up to? He thought to himself as he washed his hands and face with a handkerchief.

Zhu Huihui stared at him, almost bursting out laughing.

Haha! My mom says that the herbal juice from *Lao Chi Huang* (a type of herb) will turn your skin yellowish and it's very difficult to remove. Now Grandpa's face and hands are a burnt yellow, like smoked bacon, hehe!

"Oh, by the way, sir, why don't you wipe your neck while you're at it!"

The old man's neck was so white, a completely different color from his face, it looked like it had been sewn on.

Feng Xuese nodded and wiped her neck as well. Although she thought the handkerchief was too much, she didn't care about such formalities at this moment.

Seeing that a handsome young man had turned into a sickly person, Zhu Huihui couldn't help but chuckle.

"Sir, please wait a moment while I go feed the horse, so it won't sluggish later." This horse also needs a good grooming! What can you do? Both it and its master act so important!

Feng Xuese nodded in agreement.

His eyesight was impaired, and he couldn't see at all that the horse Zhu Huihui had brought back had turned into a dirty, mangy, grayish-brown horse.

Zhu Huihui vigorously swung her arms, exclaiming, "It wasn't easy! I was up early this morning, hungry, rubbing herbs to extract juice! Mother said the juice from the fruit of the purple coix seed can dye fingernails and lips, the 'crow's wing' can dye cloth black, and the juice from the blue feather turns hands brown... Luckily, we can find several kinds of herbs around here! But this horse is so big, dressing it up is really difficult, my arms are aching! Sigh! Even with the makeup, this horse is still too tall and imposing. If I wasn't worried about its strength, I really wanted to feed it some laxatives, and make it turn into a sick horse no matter what..."

"Sir, your clothes are torn, please change them!"

The old man's attire was too conspicuous; that white outfit was clearly a signal, beckoning people to come and chop him up! Luckily, she had planned ahead and took out the clothes she had taken from the village yesterday for the old man to wear over them. Although they didn't fit him perfectly, it was still much better than him wearing that "white lookout outfit"! However, she didn't dare tell him that the clothes were stolen, lest he become picky and cause trouble.

Feng Xuese naturally didn't know what was going on, but she felt that what she said made sense, so she changed her clothes.