At the beginning of the Shen hour, the sound of hurried, light footsteps echoed throughout the bamboo groves of Chuanliu Courtyard, as relentless as a death knell.
It was time for the medicine again.
A faint, bitter aroma drifted through the various small courtyards, like a bleak melancholy seeping into every corner.
Inside a dim room, the person on the bed raised a hand to set aside an empty glass medicine bowl, yet he did not hear the usual movement from the person who had delivered it. The potency of the drugs combined with a high fever had dulled his five senses; he turned over heavily to look, only then discovering that the woman had returned to the room at some unknown point.
Qin Jiuye did not speak, standing silently in the darkness. Li Qiao lowered his gaze, and after a long silence, he spoke in a low voice.
"Don't blame Auntie Xiong and the others. I was the one who insisted on drinking it."
She couldn't blame Auntie Xiong, nor could she blame the patient—so who was left to blame? Herself?
Qin Jiuye was angry.
She had been seething since morning. If this continued, she would die of a stagnant liver qi before anything even happened to him.
The late afternoon sun spilled through the window, illuminating a barren corner of the room. For a fleeting moment, it felt as if they were back in that cramped, dilapidated room at Guoran House. However, the youth on the bed seemed to sense something terrifying, instinctively shrinking back into the shadows.
Watching the slight trembling of his back, the anger in Qin Jiuye’s heart dissipated as quickly as it had come. She walked to the bedside and, as if nothing had happened, pulled out her own wound salve to apply it to him, asking softly, "I’m already here, so why are you still drinking their medicine?"
He remained silent for a moment before answering. "It is precisely because you are here that I must continue to drink it."
Because she was here, he could not afford to make another mistake. Otherwise, what if he lost control again? What if he hurt her? What if the nightmare of that night at Guoran House repeated itself?
Compared to hurting her, hurting himself was nothing.
Qin Jiuye’s fingers paused mid-application.
"You lost control back then because that Teng Hu tampered with you, wanting to test you..." she explained with a hint of urgency. He listened in silence until she finished her last word.
"But it would have happened sooner or later. I will eventually become like that, Sister."
*No, you won't.*
She desperately wanted to say those words firmly and irrefutably, but she couldn't bring herself to speak them.
She still had no certainty that she could end all of this, no certainty that she could pull him out of this hell.
His skin’s heat radiated against her fingertips, vigorous and full of life, just like the heartbeat she had felt when he stood with her atop the city gates that day.
She could not imagine a day when this vivid life would rot and wither before her eyes.
Her hanging hand slowly clenched into a fist. Qin Jiuye felt a sense of powerlessness more intense than ever before, a desperate urge to do something to change it all.
"Did Sister see Gongzi Yan? Did he say anything to you?"
Perhaps sensing her silence, Li Qiao finally asked in a soft voice.
Though she knew he would eventually ask, Qin Jiuye did not answer immediately.
Gongzi Yan would not have told her about Ding Miao’s past for no reason. Why would a man who stopped at nothing to achieve his goals waste his precious remaining time telling her these truths as his life neared its end?
The answer was simple: he wanted to use hatred to push her and Li Qiao completely to the opposite side of Ding Miao, leaving them no room for retreat in the coming battle until one side was dead or a victor was decided. This "fanning of the flames" was malicious yet effective. However, for Li Qiao, knowing of Ding Miao’s existence meant facing a past riddled with scars—a process akin to peeling back a scab, full of pain and shame.
After hesitating for a long time, she told him the truth, but stopped abruptly after mentioning Ding Miao’s name, leaving the power of choice in his hands.
"If you wish to know everything, I will tell you all that I heard. But I want you to understand that I am telling you this not so you can pursue these old grudges or become a tool in Gongzi Yan’s hands. None of this was your fault; you don't have to choose to carry it."
The youth listened quietly, then whispered, "Whether it is Ding Miao or Gongzi Yan, whatever they want to reclaim from me is not important. For everything they have done to me, I have received another form of compensation."
Qin Jiuye paused, momentarily confused. "What compensation?"
"You." The youth pulled her hand—the one she had used to apply the medicine—to his face, his slightly feverish cheek and soft hair rubbing gently against her palm. "If they hadn't plotted against me and harmed me, I might never have met you that day. Whenever I think of that, nothing I’ve experienced seems quite so terrible anymore."
A thousand words, mixed with a sour ache of emotion, clogged her throat, finally dissolving into a sigh.
"In the future, do not take medicine recklessly without my permission. Alright?"
"Alright."
He agreed without hesitation and was rewarded with a comforting gesture.
She used her other hand to pat his back gently, just as Auntie Yang used to comfort her when she was a child.
His body, trembling from pain and illness, slowly calmed down, just as it had that night in the Hall of Listening Wind.
Unknowingly, night fell outside the window. The woman on the bed watched the youth’s profile as he fell into a deep sleep, then she carefully shifted her limbs, rolled off the bed, and left the room soundlessly.
***
In the bamboo grove’s infirmary, the busy figures of the day had all vanished. From behind the boiling medicinal cauldrons came a rustling sound, like a rat stealing rice.
In front of the unguarded medicine cabinet, a round, stout "giant rat" was pacing back and forth, occasionally letting out a frustrated mumble. A pair of dark claws constantly rummaged through the sorted herbs, turning everything into a mess.
"I wondered who was performing sorcery back here; turns out it’s you, Fox Immortal."
The woman’s voice rang out suddenly. The shadow by the cabinet froze, then finally stepped out from the darkness. He had a cloth tied around his head—the kind used when brewing medicine—and his small eyes glinted with a fierce, vicious light as he glared at her.
"Where is my *Xiangjiapi*? What did you do to it?!"
Qin Jiuye let out a yawn, looking so tired she could barely keep her eyes open, seemingly not at all surprised by what she saw.
"I merely swapped it for some *Wujiapi*. *Xiangjiapi* shouldn't be taken for long periods. I thought I’d try a different direction for the prescription—consider it expanding your horizons. It saves quite a bit of money, too. Master Teng Hu should really be thanking me."
There weren't many people with high-level skills who were deeply invested in researching the Secret Formula. Once she guessed the identity of the "manager" who hadn't shown his face at the infirmary, she had taken action. She had tampered with the herbs during their small drinking session the other day. *Xiangjiapi* and *Wujiapi* were similar in appearance; she had replaced a small amount, just enough to fool the workers in the infirmary, but not enough to fool the person behind the scenes. Given his picky and domineering nature, he surely wouldn't be able to tolerate it. She only had to "wait for the fox" here.
"Gongzi Yan has been afflicted by the Secret Formula for years. Even if his internal strength is profound and his situation differs from others, he still needs someone to guide his medication. These past few days, I’ve carefully observed the decoctions given to the patients in the courtyard and found the formulas to be sixty to seventy percent similar to the ones you used for your experiments at the shipyard. If I couldn't see the clues by this point, wouldn't my time suffering under you have been in vain?"
She was kindly "answering his questions," but Teng Hu believed he had been played. He ripped the cloth from his face and stormed over to her in a few strides.
Having not seen him for a month, he looked considerably more haggard than before. Now, sitting across from her in front of several large pots, his face was pulled so tight it looked as if it might crack at any moment.
"If you’ve come to settle scores, why don't we just fight to the death right now and see who is superior?"
People of the *jianghu* were truly different. Even if she were to get into a heated brawl with the manager of Huichun Hall in Jiugao City over business, she would never have "fighting to the death" on the tip of her tongue.
Qin Jiuye stared at his huffy face and couldn't help but let a laugh squeeze through her teeth.
"How shall we fight? By poisoning each other?"
Teng Hu laughed too, his small eyes narrowing sinisterly.
"I’m afraid you can't afford to lose. If your skills are inferior, just admit it. If you beg me properly, I might even leave you with an intact corpse."
Threats lost their effect after being heard too many times. Qin Jiuye picked at her ear, looking like a dead pig that didn't fear boiling water.
"I am a businessperson. What benefit is there for me in poisoning each other? Is there silver to be earned by winning?"
Teng Hu stood frozen for a moment, then raised his noble head.
"A vulgar village doctor, short-sighted and incapable of great responsibility. It was only because I fell on hard times that I worked under the same roof as you for so long."
Qin Jiuye couldn't be bothered with his affected posturing.
"Then I wonder, Master Teng Hu, have you made any progress since leaving me? Or perhaps you’ve already found a way to break the Secret Formula?"
"Why don't Shopkeeper Qin speak first? You took a trip to the scenic sights of Ju Chao; surely you had some unexpected gains?"
This was the extent of their magnanimity—not even a palm’s width between them. They both insisted on prying something out of the other first, otherwise they would feel they had suffered a great loss.
It was the middle of the night; wasting time in this dilapidated infirmary wasn't a solution. Qin Jiuye gritted her teeth and stingily conceded half a millimeter.
"I went to the place Li Qingdao pointed out, right in the heart of the ancient kingdom of Ju Chao."
"The Lord of Broken Jade didn't come and go with you, so it seems something went wrong." The fox-like eyes narrowed, having already spotted the clues in her guarded narrative. "Seeing as you are still lingering here, you likely didn't find the cure in that territory either."
Qin Jiuye didn't answer but immediately sought to gain an advantage.
"Did you write the prescriptions in the infirmary? You clearly have a way, so why did you let those patients deteriorate and die back at the shipyard?"
"Because they were going to die anyway. The medicine in the infirmary is just a means to suppress the onset—drinking poison to quench thirst. I am a disciple of Zuo Ci; I do not deign to deceive myself or others."
Teng Hu was cunning, but Qin Jiuye was no fool. She immediately guessed the truth.
"So you collaborated with Gongzi Yan. On one hand, you help him stabilize those patients, and on the other, you research the Secret Formula's medication. Once you have a new formula, you use those people as test subjects."
"You should be grateful to me, shouldn't you? If not for me, that half-dead pretty boy of yours might have kicked the bucket already."
He was likely telling the truth. At the thought of the youth’s condition, Qin Jiuye still felt a surge of irritation. After trying to calm herself, she asked, "It’s been over a month since we last met. What about the *Ye Fuji* you took from me? Did you use it in a medicine? I’ve looked at the medicine you gave Li Qiao; it shouldn't have anything to do with *Ye Fuji*."
As soon as she said this, the air went silent. A moment later, he said dryly, "You mentioned it casually that day, so I felt like trying it on a whim. It’s not some miracle elixir; in the end, I had to return to my Master’s orthodox line of thought."
However, Qin Jiuye instantly caught the anomaly and was determined not to let it go.
"Previously, when I asked if *Ye Fuji* was mentioned by Zuo Ci, you didn't deny it. Now you’re in such a hurry to distance yourself from it—could it be that after trying it, you found it was all for nothing?"
This time, the expression on Teng Hu’s face turned ugly.
"What do you know? Mere *Ye Fuji*, a thing of ghosts and spirits—how could it possibly break my Master’s lifelong achievements!"
Truly, concern leads to confusion. She hadn't even said anything yet, and he was already rushing to take the blame upon himself.
Qin Jiuye didn't want to be as stubborn as him, so she continued patiently, "I simply saw many plants and insects in the heart of Ju Chao. If *Ye Fuji* really doesn't work, perhaps we can try some new ideas..."
However, though she was willing to take a step back, he acted as if his tail had been stepped on.
"Don't think that just because you’ve been to that hellhole Ju Chao and hold some mystery that you have the right to shout at me here. The only reason Li Qingdao could find that place was because my Master pointed the way for her! All these years, even Di Mo didn't dare act recklessly. If he hadn't known my Master was dead, how would he dare stir up such trouble in the *jianghu*..."
His exasperated words were stifling, but Qin Jiuye caught some information from his outburst.
Li Qingdao was able to go to the heart of Ju Chao because Zuo Ci pointed the way. This matched her previous judgment—Zuo Ci must have also deduced from a physician’s perspective that this strange disease was transmitted from some living creature. Li Qingdao had found that cave with that purpose in mind.
But what role did Di Mo play in all this? According to Gongzi Yan, the Secret Formula did indeed originate from the Peerless Manor. Why was Li Qingdao secretly captured and taken to the manor by Di Mo? Was a map of Ju Chao really worth that much? Or did Li Qingdao accidentally stumble upon one of Di Mo’s secrets, and the latter, trapped by their past friendship, couldn't bring himself to kill her and could only imprison her?
Li Qingdao was no ordinary person, and Ju Chao was a dangerous, remote place. Assuming the only person who knew Li Qingdao’s movements at the time was Zuo Ci... everything seemed to tell her that Li Qingdao did not die from the torture of the Peerless Manor, but from betrayal. A betrayal by a close friend.
"Could it be that you knew all along?" Qin Jiuye narrowed her eyes, her gaze sharp enough to cut through the man’s bloated face. "You know that the current Secret Formula is actually what Di Mo brought out of Ju Chao back then. Did your Master tell you? Or did your Master have a hand in what happened back then? To think I once believed Zuo Ci sent those letters because he trusted Di Mo to keep his promise. Thinking about it now, perhaps the Secret Formula of the Peerless Manor was your Master’s handiwork. They’ve had private dealings all these years, which is why Di Mo was able to take the notes before us back on Qionghu Island..."
"Shut up!" Teng Hu’s voice became shrill, his face twisting with extreme rage. "How dare you... how dare you slander him like this!"
The most terrifying old poison-user in the *jianghu* was on the verge of losing control, like a hive that could explode with a swarm of venomous bees at any moment. Yet Qin Jiuye did not retreat; she pressed on with a series of questions.
"Is it not so? I found it strange from the start. You keep saying Zuo Ci exhausted himself researching the Secret Formula, but you never mention specifically how he researched it, nor where he found patients. After all, everyone assumed that after the battle of Ju Chao, the Secret Formula vanished in that mountain fire. Or perhaps the notes you covet so much were just armchair theories and empty talk? Maybe Zuo Ci was ashamed of this, which is why he locked himself away. Perhaps there were never any notes from the beginning..."
With a loud *clang*, Qin Jiuye’s voice stopped abruptly.
The massive medicinal cauldron had been kicked over, and the scalding medicinal broth spilled everywhere, hissing and emitting white steam on the ground.
"So, you traveled thousands of miles to Yuzhou and recklessly entered Ju Chao just to come before me and seek death."
Teng Hu’s voice was colder than the fresh frost in the courtyard. Sparks from the furnace flew into the night, and his silhouette seemed to grow massive and terrifying in the darkness.
Qin Jiuye pressed down her trembling hands, forcing her voice to sound normal. "If that’s the case, why haven't you made a move yet?"
He hadn't made a move not because he couldn't, but because he didn't want to.
This was a fact she had considered before "keeping her appointment" tonight. She hadn't provoked him out of a moment of impulse. During her previous two visits to the infirmary, she had paid close attention and noticed that the prescriptions Auntie Xiong and the others were preparing had changed slightly. According to her previous deduction, there were no physicians in the infirmary, so it could only be that the person behind the scenes was giving instructions.
Teng Hu was clearly in the courtyard but had never shown himself, which meant he had likely been observing her in secret these past few days. Even if he still looked down on her medical skills in his heart, he was bound to be at least somewhat curious about her trip to Ju Chao.
Thinking of this, she spoke plainly. "If you want to move, then bring it on. If my skills are inferior and I die by your hand, I will make sure the people in this courtyard announce to the *jianghu* before I die that you were jealous of my superior medical skills and feared I would become your nemesis, so you struck me down in secret. If I neutralize your poison, I will announce to the world that the closed-door disciple of Zuo Ci is nothing special, that the White Ghost Umbrella is just a rotten mushroom under my feet, and the sign of Guoran House will shine brightly without even being polished."
The broken cauldron on the ground mirrored her current mood. Having said all this in one breath, she simply sat down and used the remaining heat in the furnace’s ash to roast two sweet potatoes for herself.
A warm aroma spread through the infirmary. After an unknown amount of time, his voice came from the darkness again.
"Did your Master never warn you that no matter how brilliant your medical skills are, you won't amount to much if you don't live long?"
Qin Jiuye rolled her eyes and looked at him, checking his mood. "My Master died early. He left me after showing me the door. Not like Zuo Ci, who handpicked you and held you in his palm like a treasure."
These words were clever; they sounded like a quip but subtly flattered his ego. She felt a chill of disgust at her own words, but to her surprise, Teng Hu actually let out a laugh.
"Do you know why my Master took me as his disciple back then?"
Qin Jiuye assumed he was going to start boasting again and said with a mix of distraction and mockery, "Naturally because you have some talent, and a lonely, arrogant, and obsessive personality. Your Master was also a freak who couldn't fit in with the crowd and was only fit to seek answers in this world. Seeing you was like seeing his younger self..."
As she spoke, she felt a bit nauseous herself. Teng Hu rolled his eyes toward her, a strange smile appearing on his face.
"The fact that you can get along with a freak like me shows that you are a freak at heart, just like me."
Qin Jiuye looked up while poking at the ash, retorting unhappily, "I’m only doing this out of necessity, for the sake of the big picture. I am the most simple and easy-going person; I believe in coming from the people and going to the people. In the entire Dingong Village, from one end to the other, there isn't a single person who doesn't greet me when they see me."
Teng Hu curled his lip, sharp words flowing out instantly. "They naturally want to stay on good terms with you because you are a physician; your skill is healing the sick and saving the dying. They like the profession you practice, not you as a person."
Qin Jiuye was speechless. She wanted to find a word or two to refute him, but the more she thought about it, the more she felt he had a point.
"How can there be so much liking or disliking between people? Most of the time, it’s just because we need to deal with each other that we have to put on a different face."
It was just a bit of crooked logic she had tossed out, but he fell silent after hearing it. After a long time, he whispered, "So that’s how it is. Master also took me as his disciple because he needed me, not because he admired or liked me."
Qin Jiuye was somewhat stunned. She couldn't understand this sudden self-pity and could only offer honest comfort. "If your Master didn't like you, there was really no need for him to trouble himself so much."
After all, it wasn't as if there were no children with both good temperaments and talent; why give himself a headache?
The comfort sounded a bit off, but he didn't seem to notice.
"Before me, Master had never taken a disciple. But unlike Li Qingdao’s casual nature, it was because he was picky; he felt no one in the world had the aptitude to inherit his mantle except himself. But after the battle of Ju Chao, he changed his mind."
Seeing that he was suddenly in the mood to talk about Zuo Ci’s past, Qin Jiuye became curious and couldn't help but lean forward. "Could it be that you are also from Ju Chao and possess a body immune to all poisons, which is why he chose you?"
The veins on his forehead throbbed. Teng Hu said through gritted teeth, "I am from Quzhou. What does that have to do with that hellhole Ju Chao?"
"Then why?"
Teng Hu tucked his hands into his sleeves, his shoulders hunching slightly. Only his eyes glinted with a cold light in the darkness, making him look like a fat owl perched on the stove.
"From the first time he came into contact with that Secret Formula, all his principles were shattered. He finally understood that there are indeed invincible things in this world, answers that cannot be found even if one exhausts their entire life. However proud, confident, and invincible he had been before, he became just as bewildered, uneasy, and self-doubting afterward. He realized he might not be able to solve this mystery in his lifetime, so he had the idea of taking a disciple. I was simply the best choice he had at the time."
"You mean your Master took you as a disciple just so someone could inherit his legacy and solve the mystery of the Secret Formula?"
"At first, perhaps. But even if I was his best choice, I was far from meeting his requirements. I suffered a lot to gain his approval, but until the very end, he still did not pass everything he had learned into my hands."
*Wasn't her dead Master the same?* More than half of his lifelong skills had rotted in his belly, and only his bookkeeping skills had been fully passed on to her.
"Perhaps it was because there were things he himself wasn't sure were right or wrong. Since the world loved to treat his words as gospel, passing such things down would have been irresponsible." At this point, she couldn't help but think of the appointment on Qionghu Island. "Xu Qiuchi said Commandant Qiu received the letter five years ago; you should be about the same. Since you received your Master’s letter early on, why didn't you come looking for him sooner? Why wait until the day of the Sword Appreciation Assembly?"
Teng Hu was silent for a moment, then said word by word, "Because Master did not allow it."
Qin Jiuye didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this answer, but on second thought, she felt he was a bit pitiful.
Teng Hu, the White Ghost Umbrella, indeed had extremely high talent. He had gained the recognition of many, but he had never gained the recognition of his Master. In his heart, his Master didn't even want to see him before he died.
Qin Jiuye didn't know if he would listen to her, but she chose to speak anyway.
"He didn't refuse to see you. Perhaps he just couldn't face you, or didn't want to leave that version of himself in your memory."
Teng Hu’s silhouette shrank. After a long while, he said sullenly, "I am willing to spend time telling you this not to hear your sycophancy, but to tell you: my Master was solitary by nature, but he never betrayed a friend. The greatest mistake he ever made was that, as someone who was used to seeing life and death and traveling through the scenes of hell, he still hadn't abandoned the heart of a physician who chose to save people. He wanted to find a medicine that could cure all diseases and rid the world of illness forever."
If Zuo Ci and Di Mo were not in league, then the rest of the Black Moon likely didn't know either. That left only one possibility: bringing the Secret Formula out of Ju Chao was Di Mo’s decision alone. That might be the real reason Li Qingdao was imprisoned in the manor.
"There is no such thing in this world," Qin Jiuye spoke softly, her gaze drifting toward the furnace ash. "There are only physicians who travel lonely, bitter paths, risking everything to conquer thousands of malignant diseases."
Like Zuo Ci, like Xu Qinglan, like her Master, like those whose names were unknown.
Compared to the Secret Formula itself, those physicians were the true "miracle medicine."
As if knowing what she was thinking, his voice rang out relentlessly the next moment. "Do not compare my Master to those failed barefoot doctors."
Qin Jiuye smiled, her heart no longer as repulsed as before. "The more you care about what I just said and refuse to face the truth, the more it confirms your thoughts about your Master. Deep down, you also believe your Master failed in the end, don't you?"
"He did not fail! He just... he just..."
He just didn't get more time, didn't wait for an opportunity, didn't manage to add one more stroke to the myth he had written with his life.
No one in later generations would know the final destination of the Ghost Physician Zuo Ci, and he would not announce what he had seen on Qionghu Island to the world. His Master should have a perfect, transcendent ending, rather than resting forever in a cold lakeside cave, guarding a secret he couldn't decipher until death, turning into a pile of withered bones in regret.
His voice gradually weakened, but the woman spoke up to continue.
"Of course he didn't fail. The Great Clan of Qu tasted a hundred herbs and wrote the pharmacopeia, only to die from poison—can that be considered failure? Xu Qinglan entered Ju Chao and died of the disease while saving people—can that be considered failure? How many nameless physicians spent their lives saving the dying and healing the wounded, yet never left their names in the records—can that be considered failure?" The images of the gods who had turned to white bone in the great mountains and black waters were vivid in her mind. Qin Jiuye advised from the bottom of her heart, "The reason you are unwilling to accept all this is because you have put him on a pedestal as an infallible, omnipotent god and cannot believe he eventually met a mortal’s end. But in the end, he was just like you and me—one of the many living beings."
As her words landed, the entire infirmary fell into a long silence once more.
The sweet potatoes sizzled in the ash, and a faint scorched smell filled the air. Finally, the figure on the stove spoke again.
"So what if he was? There are differences even among mortals. I intend to be the extraordinary one among mortals. I will let the world know that even if Master couldn't achieve it all, the person he chose did."
"So, let’s join forces." Qin Jiuye clapped the ash from her hands and reached out toward the shadow in the darkness. "Admitting we are but mortal flesh doesn't mean we’ve lost. When it comes to the experience of being a superior person, I am indeed inferior to you. But when it comes to the experience of using the small to overcome the large and the weak to defeat the strong, you are inferior to me. You won't lose out by joining forces with me."
Teng Hu stared at her for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter.
The laugh was terrifying, enough to make one’s skin crawl. "My hand isn't something just anyone can touch."
Qin Jiuye did not flinch. "This is a union of interests. You don't need to feel ashamed for repeatedly tolerating me, and I won't take advantage of your tolerance. To be honest, if I didn't want to see you again, why would I have lured you out this time? Let’s not despise each other. In the end, as long as the matter of the Secret Formula isn't finished, we are destined to meet again."
Sailing a ship through wind and waves requires linking boats to cross the river; people in danger similarly need to overcome difficulties together. She bet that he, like her, desperately needed an ally.
But before that, she had to confirm his intentions—confirm that he, like her, only wanted to defeat the Secret Formula itself, rather than using it for some terrifying scheme like Ding Miao. She could hardly imagine what the Secret Formula might become if Ding Miao had Teng Hu’s pharmacological knowledge and experience with poisons.
In the end, the human heart was harder to guard against than floods, beasts, or plagues.
After an unknown amount of time, just as the cold wind through the hall was about to dry the sweat on her palm, he finally moved.
His dark-tinged fingertips were unusually cold, hard, and rough. That pair of hands was as skilled at manipulating venomous insects and poisons as it was unskilled at the gesture of a handshake.
Of course, Qin Jiuye didn't want to hold it for a moment longer. The two of them touched briefly and quickly pulled apart.
"To show sincerity, shouldn't we exchange our progress from these past days?"
She guided him patiently, but he remained as arrogant as ever. "With your dull aptitude, it might take until dawn for you to hear it all."
When it came to the ability to endure through the night, Qin Jiuye believed she was second to none. She refused to show weakness and began to "discuss the Way" with Teng Hu. The two of them argued from moonrise to moonset, and by the end, it was unclear who had raised the questions and who had provided the answers.
***
When Qin Jiuye emerged from the infirmary, the sky was indeed beginning to brighten.
The night-long debate was exhausting, especially since the other person was someone who spoke without restraint. She felt like a master chanting sutras to subdue a demon; every word spoken in their maneuvering felt like it was written in blood. Her hair felt as if it had turned white from worry overnight.
Dragging her feet through the bamboo grove in the early morning, she felt like a wandering "lonely ghost." The moment she stepped into the secluded courtyard, she saw another "lonely ghost" under the large tree.
"Sister..."
He sat under the tree wearing only thin clothing. The withered leaves shaken down by the autumn wind throughout the night had fallen on his hair and shoulders, but he was completely unaware, staring blankly toward the courtyard gate.
"I thought... I thought you..."
He thought she didn't want him anymore. He thought everything from yesterday was just a dream.
He couldn't go on, and his head bowed.
The rustling sound of footsteps on fallen leaves rang out, and someone reached out to pick a leaf from the top of his head.
It was just a leaf, but for some reason, it felt as heavy as a thousand catties. The moment it left his body, he felt a sense of weightlessness.
She still carried some chill—the frost and dew she had gathered while hurrying through the bamboo grove—but her breath falling by his ear was warm, mixed with the scent of medicine and mint, enveloping him.
"...A hug is enough."
Her voice sounded muffled against his shoulder.
Unlike the urgency of his own seeking, the woman’s embrace was always much gentler. But in this gentleness, there was an unbreakable firmness—a firm choice, a firm protection, a firm finding of his lost self. Just a fraction of this firmness was enough to make him weep.
Qin Jiuye sensed the trembling of the person in her arms and couldn't help but raise her hand to gently pat his back.
This was the magic of a hug; while she was comforting him, was he not also giving her warmth?
Their heartbeats gradually merged, and the bizarre conspiracies, exhaustion, and unease of the entire night were swept away.
It didn't matter. As long as he was still alive, as long as there was a glimmer of hope, her efforts in moving through the rugged obstacles, the frustrations of not getting what she sought, and the long road of repeated verification were all worth it.
Even someone as brilliant, persistent, and tenacious as Zuo Ci could not escape a mortal’s end.
Teng Hu might be the same, and she might be too.
But before she saw the finish line, she firmly believed she could go on forever and ever.
As long as he was in her arms.
***
