Мир боевых искусств — это яма

Глава 170

"Run! Why not run! I'll run even if I'm exhausted!" Zi Jin quickly tied on the sandbags, glanced at Xiao Bai's house, and ran swiftly towards the bamboo forest. "Master!" When she saw Cheng Qingsong about to go in, Zi Jin finally couldn't help but speak up.

Cheng Qingsong turned around: "What?"

Zi Jin looked at Cheng Qingsong and after a long while, she said with difficulty, "...Tell Xiaobai...I'm still here."

"I know, I know." Cheng Qingsong waved his sleeve impatiently, hiding the reluctance in his eyes, and quickly walked inside.

In the evening, Zi Jin returned to the bamboo hut, barely alive. Her hands and feet trembled as she started a fire to cook porridge and prepare medicine. By the time she had finished, she didn't even have the strength to hold a bowl, and she watched helplessly as Cheng Qingsong took the bowl of food and medicine away. After the meal, Zi Jin regained some strength and walked shakily toward Xiao Bai's room, only to find that the room was already locked.

Cheng Qingsong said with a sly grin, "He's asleep."

Zi Jin gritted her teeth, her eyes brimming with tears. Watching Cheng Qingsong stride away, Zi Jin hurriedly, her hands and feet trembling, leaned over to Xiao Bai's window, peering at his sleeping face through the bright moonlight. He seemed to be sleeping restlessly, his brows tightly furrowed, and his eyelashes still seemed to be stained with undried tear stains.

Seeing this scene, Zi Jin felt as if her heart had been twisted violently. Xiao Bai was so badly injured; he must be incredibly anxious not seeing her. He must be afraid of making her angry, so he dared not say anything or ask anything. At noon, she had spoken to her master outside, hoping he would hear and know she was there. He must be overthinking things, thinking she didn't want to see him, which was why she hadn't come to see him. He was sad, anxious, and fearful, but afraid of her anger if she found out, he had been holding back, obediently drinking his medicine and eating his meals, only daring to be sad and cry when no one was around…

Little Bai, Little Bai, why do you always make my heart ache, make me reluctant to let go, and make me unable to let go...?

This went on for countless days. One sunny morning, as Zi Jin was happily chopping firewood, mistaking it for Cheng Qingsong, a voice suddenly rang out from behind her.

"My good disciple, from today onwards you no longer need to cook."

Upon hearing this, Zi Jin was overjoyed and reflexively turned around, but her body remained frozen in place.

In the morning light, a figure with flowing silver hair, possessing a rare and dreamlike beauty, with delicate, feather-like eyelashes fluttering gently, and eyes as warm and gentle as dark jade filled with tenderness and joy, stood by the door, her rosy lips pressed tightly together, gazing silently at Zi Jin for a long time: "Little Zi..."

Instantly, Zi Jin's eyes reddened. Suddenly remembering Cheng Qingsong's words from that day, she quickly turned her face away, not daring to let Xiaobai see the tears in her eyes.

“I didn’t let you see him these past few days because I was afraid he would be heartbroken because of you. Now, although he’s not fully recovered, he’s much better. You… if you want to cry, then cry. Don’t hold it in.” Cheng Qingsong came out from behind the door, shaking his head and sighing.

Upon hearing this, Zi Jin slowly turned around and walked step by step towards Xiao Bai. Xiao Bai's dark, jade-like eyes sparkled, his eyes were slightly red-rimmed, and a smile played on his lips as he gazed intently at Zi Jin as she approached. Standing before Xiao Bai, Zi Jin looked at his slightly gaunt face again and again, then slowly wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in the crook of his neck. Unable to suppress the worries and longing of the past few days, Zi Jin finally sobbed.

Xiao Bai wrapped his arms around Zi Jin, gently pressing his face against hers, his hand softly stroking her back: "I'm here... I've always been here, don't be afraid... don't be afraid..."

The soft morning light shone on the two of them, casting a gentle glow and warming the morning...

October 2nd: See what the author has to say below!!

Love and hate leave no trace, deep affection is hard to wait for; the descendants of the gods, three lifetimes of karmic entanglement, their fates altered on the Stone of Three Lifetimes (Part 3)

Changing Fate on the Stone of Three Lives (Part 3) Before we knew it, the bamboo outside the courtyard had turned green, and the peach blossoms in the valley had all bloomed overnight.

Xiao Bai's injuries healed quickly under Zi Jin's meticulous care, but his once formidable martial arts skills were gone forever. Now, Xiao Bai's stamina is no match for that of an ordinary person, and even the slightest exertion makes him breathless.

Zi Jin tossed and turned, unable to sleep, constantly questioning Cheng Qingsong about why he was still so weak and how he could regain his martial arts skills.

At first, Cheng Qingsong patiently explained: "With all eight meridians severed, it would be difficult to recover to the state of an ordinary person, and you can forget about practicing martial arts again in this lifetime." Later, Cheng Qingsong became so annoyed by Zi Jin's stare that he would close his eyes and pretend to sleep whenever Zi Jin asked him questions.

Besides this, Zi Jin was also worried about something else: although she had made up her mind to no longer have anything to do with Xiao Bai, she was still very afraid that Xiao Bai would forget her again. Therefore, ignoring Cheng Qingsong's ambiguous gaze, Zi Jin moved into Xiao Bai's room under the pretext of taking care of him. But even though the two slept together every day, it did not alleviate her panic in the slightest; on the contrary, it made her panic worse day by day.

Zi Jin was at a loss. She knew she shouldn't and couldn't act this way, yet she couldn't control her heart. Xiao Bai's internal injuries had largely healed, and he had been taking medicine daily, but Zi Jin's heart grew colder with each passing day. She knew clearly that if Xiao Bai was fully recovered, the day to send him out of the valley would be near, but Zi Jin couldn't bear to leave him. Even if Xiao Bai's internal injuries were completely healed, his broken body was destined to stay with him for life.

At this point, Xiao Bai couldn't even stand for long. He often stumbled and fell while walking because his limbs were weak, and he never dared to let me know when he was injured, hiding his wounds. If I found out, he would look at my face ingratiatingly and quickly shake his head, saying, "It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt..."

At these times, Zi Jin felt as if a knife had been ripped from her heart, causing her unbearable pain. She resented her own lack of skill and secretly vowed to heal Xiao Bai completely. In the days that followed, Zi Jin would rise before dawn to study medicine, continue to suffer Cheng Qingsong's abuse during the day, and adjust various medicinal herbs at night, staying up late every day.

In the early morning, Cheng Qingsong yawned and looked up to see Zi Jin sitting outside the bamboo grove reading a book. He unconsciously stroked his beard and narrowed his small, beady eyes into slits: "My good disciple, come back for dinner!"

Zi Jin frowned slightly, put away the book in her hand, and walked quickly towards Cheng Qingsong: "Master, keep your voice down, Xiaobai hasn't gotten up yet."

Cheng Qingsong stroked his snow-white beard and replied innocently, "He's setting the table."

Zi Jin's eyes widened: "What?! You made him..."

“It wasn’t me, he did it himself,” Cheng Qingsong immediately explained.

Zi Jin glared at Cheng Qingsong resentfully, then turned and went into the bamboo house.

Inside, Xiao Bai was dressed in a slightly short gray cloth robe, revealing half of her arms. Her long, snow-white hair, reaching her knees, was casually tied up with a thick strip of cloth. Xiao Bai was intently distributing food among the three of them. When she saw Zi Jin enter, she tilted her head and gave a sweet smile.

Zi Jin felt a pang of sorrow in her heart. Xiao Bai had never suffered such hardship since he had been raised in luxury. In order to save her, he not only became physically weak and lost all his martial arts skills, but now he had also put aside the status of a king to take care of household chores.

Zi Jin lowered her head, not daring to look at Xiao Bai, and silently sat down at the table. Picking up the dry steamed bun, which was harder than a rock, Zi Jin's face darkened even more. She shouted at Cheng Qingsong, "Master! You've been eating dry steamed buns and pickled vegetables for months, aren't you tired of it? Even if you aren't, look at this steamed bun, it's all moldy and as hard as a rock. If you used it to hit a dog's head, it would definitely cause it to bleed. How can a person eat this?! Besides, his health is not yet recovered. How are you going to help him recover like this?"

Xiao Bai turned her head to look at Zi Jin, her eyes slightly narrowed: "It's not bad."

Upon hearing this, Zi Jin dared not turn around, her heart aching even more, and she glared fiercely at Cheng Qingsong.

Cheng Qingsong stared at the hard, dry steamed bun in his hand, his face contorted with anger, his beard flying wildly with each breath: "Why can't people eat it?! Look at that idiot, isn't he enjoying it immensely? I've given him so many precious medicinal herbs to help him recover! Isn't that enough?!"

Xiao Bai held a steamed bun darker than her own hand in her slender hand. She took a small bite, sipped water, and looked at the panting master and apprentice glaring at each other. She then said ingratiatingly to Zi Jin, "Xiao Zi... doesn't like it... let's find a rabbit..."

“Okay!…” Cheng Qingsong replied immediately with a happy expression, but was interrupted by his precious apprentice.

"Oh no! He's in this state now, and you want him to hunt wild game? Do you want him to die? There's not a single vegetable left in the kitchen, not even a grain of rice. How can you be someone's master!"

The two glared at each other, neither willing to back down. After a long while, Cheng Qingsong finally lost his temper. His small, beady eyes flashed with a dangerous light, and he roared, "If you don't want to eat, then you don't have to! And you don't have to fetch water today either!"

Zi Jin was slightly taken aback, then her heart filled with secret joy. From carrying twenty buckets of water three months ago to two hundred today, she hadn't had to do anything else all day but carry water. She had resisted many times, but each time she had succumbed to the tyrannical power of Cheng Qingsong, who refused to stop taking his medication. Cheng Qingsong's expression clearly said, "I'm going to torture you to death," which was truly infuriating, or at least exhausting. She thought this hardship wouldn't end, but today he suddenly showed a change of heart… Had he lost his mind in anger?

"Today, all we need to do is cut down the bamboo in the northwest corner of the valley." Cheng Qingsong said, munching on a dry, hard steamed bun, looking like he was giving alms.

"Valley... Valley bottom... West... Northwest corner?!" Zi Jin dropped the dry steamed bun in her hand with a thud, her face filled with shock, and stammered as she asked. The dry steamed bun bounced a few times and rolled out the door.

In the northwest corner of the valley, there is a vast expanse of fiery red bamboo. When the breeze blows, the bamboo rustles, and occasionally, cute little animals like bamboo snakes glide freely across the bamboo stalks.

Cheng Qingsong smiled smugly, nodded, and continued eating his steamed bun.