After noon, the girl came to inform him that Xuan He wanted to see Yin Wuxiao in the clinic in the east wing.
Neither Baili Qingyi nor Yin Wuxiao asked any further questions, but they exchanged a glance and both knew what was going on.
So the two followed the swollen-faced girl through several corridors and headed towards the east wing.
The three of them remained silent the entire way. Halfway through, Yin Wuxiao suddenly asked, "Miss, are you feeling unwell?"
The swollen-faced girl stopped in her tracks and gave her a strange look. "What do you mean?"
"You always walk with a slight stoop, and you have a very strong smell of medicine on you, but I don't know what kind of medicine it is?"
Yin Wuxiao smiled and said, "I really like the smell of this medicine. May I take a look at it?"
The girl with the swollen face then lowered her head and pulled out a small sachet from her waist.
Yin Wuxiao unfolded the sachet and saw a small handful of dried fruit. It looked very familiar, but she couldn't remember what it was called. She used to read a lot of miscellaneous books, but now that she needed it, she couldn't recall it.
Seeing her frown, the swollen-faced girl said, "This is a medicine prescribed by the divine doctor. He said it's called Rouge Bean, and it's good for cooling the blood and beautifying the complexion."
Rouge Bean. Yin Wuxiao was secretly startled; it really was it. Rouge Bean, whose real name is Malabar spinach, is indeed cool-blooded and beautiful, but why would Xuan He be so kind?
She couldn't help but glance at the swollen-faced girl with a strange look. She remembered that Malabar spinach also had another use: abortion.
Baili Qingyi also gave her a deep look, then gathered the sachet together and said, "Let's hurry up and leave, lest we keep Physician Xuan waiting."
Upon arriving at the east wing, the swollen-faced girl waited outside the door, gesturing for the two to enter.
The room was dimly lit and filled with a strong medicinal smell. Xuan Hegu's expression was not visible in the shadows, but he gestured to Yin Wuxiao to sit down.
"Why is the divine physician's personal maid left outside the door?" Baili Qingyi suddenly asked.
“I never allow them into the consultation room; too much stuff is bad for the medicine.” Xuan He said without looking up.
"Please show your pulse, young lady."
Yin Wuxiao pulled open his sleeve, revealing his right forearm.
"Shouldn't a divine physician inquire about the symptoms before taking the pulse?" Baili Qingyi asked again.
Xuan He snorted unhappily, "I have been practicing medicine for over thirty years. Do I need a young man like you to teach me how to diagnose patients?" He reached out and pressed directly on Yin Wuxiao's wrist.
Baili Qingyi, quick-witted and agile, used Xuan Hegu's falling finger as a springboard and smiled slightly: "The divine physician is too impatient."
Xuan felt a jolt in his arm and his expression changed slightly.
He stiffly withdrew his fingers, slowly gripping them with his other hand, sweat dripping from his forehead.
If that press had been placed on Yin Wuxiao's hand, Yin Wuxiao would likely have suffered meridian disorders and reversed blood flow, at least crippling him if not killing him. But when it was placed on Baili Qingyi's hand, it was as if she had encountered an impenetrable wall. Xuan Hegu's true energy backfired, shattering two of her fingers.
"Tell me, who ordered you to do this?" Baili Qingyi grabbed Xuan Hegu's shoulder.
Xuan's beard trembled, he opened his mouth, then closed it again without saying a word.
Baili Qingyi tightened her grip, her eyes flashing with even more ferocity: "Speak!"
Yin Wuxiao, unaware that he had narrowly escaped disaster, stared at Baili Qingyi with a bewildered expression.
Xuan He's face turned ashen, yet he clenched his teeth, refusing to utter a sound. Seeing this, Baili Qingyi felt a surge of respect for him. So he released his grip and called out loudly in the room:
"Master Mu, please come out and meet me."
No one spoke.
Baili Qingyi smiled and said, "The Northern Desert Qiong Sect has always been straightforward. Why are they resorting to such underhanded tactics now? If Sect Leader Mu has any advice for Qingyi, wouldn't it be better to say it face to face?"
The Northern Desert Qiong Sect rarely engages in such threatening and sabotaging acts. Such a flawed trap could only have come from the Qiong Sect.
"Master Mu, I heard that after you killed You Antai, you took your anger out on one of your maids, beating her until her face was completely disfigured. Is she the one standing outside the door?"
The swollen little girl by the door moved slightly.
Suddenly, a sound like metal clashing against metal rang out, and the bookshelves on both sides burst open. Two people walked out from inside: Mu Wanfeng and her subordinate Wuguo.
"Young Master in blue is indeed exceptionally perceptive. It's all this old fool's fault for being too hasty and revealing his true colors." Mu Wanfeng strolled over as if chatting casually.
Yin Wuxiao frowned and looked at Baili Qingyi. She knew that Xuan He's behavior was deceptive, but she didn't expect how Baili Qingyi had seen through it.
Seeing through her thoughts, Baili Qingyi said, "If his fingers had really touched your pulse and injected his internal energy, you would be half-dead right now."
"Young Master in green, you flatter me. I merely had the divine physician use his unique technique to seal this girl's acupoints. She won't die." As if she had bestowed a great favor, she smiled radiantly: "Even if you are Ruan Wuyou's daughter, this sect leader cannot let you ruin our grand plan."
Baili Qingyi glanced at Xuan Hegu indifferently: "The renowned Doctor Baiwen, I never expected that he would also become a pawn of Master Mu."
Xuan was extremely embarrassed and turned his head away slightly.
He was an extremely proud man, and it was clear that he was unwilling to be forced by Mu Wanfeng. However, when Baili Qingyi put pressure on him just now, he remained silent, which showed that what Mu Wanfeng used to blackmail him was something that was very important to him.
“Young Master in green, please don’t blame him. He has no choice but to obey my orders because of the black armored snake he’s raised for twenty years as a medicinal ingredient.” Mu Wanfeng tapped the table beside him. “As for you, Young Master, I have no choice but to offend you.”
Before the sound of "了" was even finished, Xuan He slapped the inkstone on the desk with a loud thud. As the inkstone sank, Yin Wuxiao's feet were instantly suspended in mid-air, and the next moment she was completely submerged.
"Hundred miles..." The last two words were no longer audible.
"Xiao'er!" A green shadow flashed, following Yin Wuxiao as they fell into the underground cave.
With a whoosh, the floorboards slammed shut, as if they had never been opened at all.
"What...what are you doing..." After a long while, Yin Wuxiao finally spat out the dirty water in his mouth and uttered a few words intermittently.
She always believed that when you reach the lowest point in the world, the next step is always to turn things around. But the problem is, you never know when you'll actually hit rock bottom. Often, what she thought was the bottom is just the beginning of another downhill climb.
"The cult leader clearly said he wanted to offend you, so why are you taking it out on me?"
At this moment, she and Baili Qingyi were standing in a spacious underground palace. Below the hole they had fallen into was a muddy pool of water, and around the pool were seven or eight passages leading in different directions.
Ever since Baili Qingyi pulled her out of the underground swamp, she felt that the smell of a toad lingered in her mouth for a long time.
"Are you alright?" Baili Qingyi approached with a frown.
"Stop!" She stared at his advancing foot in alarm, as if facing a formidable enemy. "I stink."
This is unfair. She felt like she had just swum through a cesspool, while he only got his sleeves dirty when he pulled her out.
Baili Qingyi's lips curled up slightly, but seeing her face grow increasingly pale, she quickly concealed her smile.
"Uh... when I held you at Chuxiu Manor, you smelled really bad."
She heard him say that.
Is this supposed to be considered a consolation?
She rolled her eyes, twitched her leg, and fell towards him, her voice tinged with impatience: "Ah..."
Baili Qingyi stretched out her arms and embraced the soft, fragrant jade—no, the soft, "stinky" jade.
Sigh, doesn't this girl realize that she's the one who's suffering the most?
Yin Wuxiao felt much more comfortable when she saw the black marks all over his clean blue shirt from her embrace.
Looking up along the black mark, she saw Baili Qingyi's raised eyebrows.
"It really hurts," she said shamelessly, pointing to her right leg.
Baili Qingyi smiled and began to examine the condition of the cave.
Following his gaze, Yin Wuxiao narrowed his eyes.
“This place is not simple.” She pointed to the regularly shaped crystals embedded in the ceiling.
"The underground should be pitch black, but light is shining through here. It must be because each section of the tunnel is fitted with crystals to bring outside light into the underground."
"Then, following these crystals, we should be able to find the exit," Baili Qingyi pondered.
"Not necessarily. It looks like no one has been here for many years. Who knows what the exit looks like? Besides, even if light can get in, people might not be able to get out."
"We should at least give it a try." Baili Qingyi carefully helped her move forward.
After a long while, Yin Wuxiao murmured, "You shouldn't have jumped down with me just now. Someone had to go out to get reinforcements."
Baili Qingyi glanced at her. Of course, he could abandon her and go out to get help, but if she fell into the dark passage alone and was not mobile, she would surely die.
"Did you not take our promise to live and die together to heart at all?" Baili Qingyi questioned her.
Yin Wuxiao was taken aback.
Then he chuckled twice. Baili Qingyi was clever as she was, but she was still just a human being, and she would occasionally do foolish things.
For men, turning a fool into a smart person gives them a great sense of accomplishment, but for women, turning a smart person into a fool gives them an even greater sense of accomplishment.
Yin Wuxiao feels a great sense of accomplishment right now.
In the consultation room above the underground palace.
"Dr. Xuan's movements are so swift and efficient," Wu Guo said coldly from behind Mu Wanfeng.
"Master Mu, my underground palace is full of traps and mechanisms, and if they fall in, they won't be able to get out for at least ten days or half a month," Xuan Hegu said with a careful, apologetic smile.
"Oh?" A cold laugh rang out. "Dr. Xuan, you've really gone to great lengths. Since that's the case... Lianhua!"
"Yes," the girl outside replied respectfully.
"Go and administer the intestinal-breaking powder to the water flowing into the underground palace. Don't let the divine doctor's efforts go to waste."
"Master!" Xuan He exclaimed in alarm, "They are already trapped, why bother with this unnecessary action?"
"The leader's order is not to be questioned," Wu Guo said coldly as he passed by him.
Xuan paused for a moment, then slumped down with his hands hanging limply.
Mu Wanfeng sneered, "Xuan He, do you think I can't see through your intention to protect that girl?"
Xuan felt a chill run down his spine.
"I don't know why you're protecting that girl from the Yin family, but I now have two more bargaining chips. Are you still not going to hand over the 'Sacred Poison Scripture'?"
Xuan He gritted his teeth and said, "Master Mu, I have said this many times: I burned the 'Sacred Poison Scripture' twenty years ago."
"Burned?" Mu Wanfeng clearly didn't believe her. "Fine, wait until I kill those two down there, then you can tell me if it really burned."
Xuan He shivered.
No one noticed the strange glint in Lianhua's lowered eyes as she stood by.
Chapter Thirteen: Sharing a Bed to Sleep Facing the Mountains (Part Four)