Chapter 118: I'll hug you and it will pass.

The person on her back muttered words of hatred towards her intermittently, but Jiang Yuhuo had heard them so many times that she felt nothing. It would have been better if his hands on her shoulders hadn't been so forceful.

She had been nearby the whole time, but Li Mengbai hadn't noticed. If he had opened the window of his room and looked out, he would have seen her sitting on the rooftop not far away.

He was under the influence of that poison, and she really didn't want to be alone in a room with him. But on the surface, they were lovers who had eloped, and having two rooms would arouse suspicion.

Jiang Yuhuo had also heard of that kind of poison, a poison that makes people fall in love with the person they see at first sight, controls their mind, changes their feelings, and makes one person willingly become another's slave.

She didn't need Li Mengbai's affection, nor did she want to control him, and she especially didn't want to see the hazy, moist lust in Li Mengbai's eyes.

During the day, in the private room, Jiang Yuhuo asked him about the antidote. Li Mengbai looked at her with a deep gaze, a painful struggle flashing across his face, which was quickly covered by a kind of longing.

After a long silence, he uttered a single word: "You."

She didn't quite understand. Li Mengbai's eyelashes trembled, her fingers pressed against the wall, trying hard to control herself from getting closer, and she even looked away.

His face grew increasingly flushed, and he lowered his head and whispered, "Have intercourse with me, satisfy me, and completely soothe the lust poison in my body."

Jiang Yuhuo naturally refused.

Li Mengbai suddenly became angry, "Why not?"

He stood up and approached her, questioning, "I am beautiful enough, I have always been chaste and clean, and I am willing to make love with you. What's wrong with that? In this world, can you find another person like me?"

As he said this, the face of the merman sect leader flashed through Li Mengbai's mind for a fleeting moment, but the next instant he realized that the merman had had a partner, something that had been used before—how could he compare to him? Therefore, only he was Jiang Yuhuo's best choice.

Having figured this out, he no longer suppressed his desires and boldly approached her. Heaven knows how toxic the drug was, and heaven knows how much he wanted to be close to her.

Jiang Yuhuo thought his body must be burning up, so much so that she could feel the heat rising around her even from a distance. As Li Mengbai approached her, she chopped him unconscious with a single chop.

Her eyes, brimming with longing, finally closed, and those unfamiliar eyes startled her.

People can be controlled by drugs and become completely different from themselves, which can twist someone as arrogant as Li Mengbai into begging for her affections.

Jiang Yuhuo was even a little scared. Fortunately, she had taken precautions and fortunately, she was not the one who was poisoned. Li Mengbai's intention to control her with the love poison was so sinister.

So when Li Mengbai woke up and went out, Jiang Yuhuo was watching from the rooftop. She originally wanted to watch to see what other tricks he would play.

As a result, even when those vagrants pinned him down, he couldn't do anything; he seemed utterly powerless to resist.

Because of his wickedness, she almost forgot that Li Mengbai, after losing all his spiritual power, was just a pampered, fragile, and delicate young master.

For a moment, she actually felt a little sorry for him. This was a feeling she shouldn't have had towards Li Mengbai, this venomous snake, but at that moment, it just happened.

So she stepped in and saved someone she should have loathed.

In the dead of night, a torrential downpour struck the city of Shannan.

In a secluded corner, where no one knew, several people groaning with broken bones were gone, replaced by piles of mangled, rotting flesh, washed away by the rain and scattered into mud. The bodies were washed away, revealing a delicate white porcelain bottle buried beneath the ground.

Jiang Yuhuo sat by the window, in the place furthest away from the bed and the person on it.

She pretended not to hear the occasional painful groans coming from the bed. The night rain, like a waterfall, pounded on the green tiles, which could have masked many sounds. If it weren't for her exceptional hearing, she probably wouldn't have heard them at all.

After bringing the person back, she didn't go to the roof because of the heavy rain. Thinking that she could leave tomorrow, she decided to endure it for the night.

Jiang Yuhuo took out the Ji family's token, trying to clear her mind of her chaotic thoughts. During the half-day Li Mengbai was unconscious, she found the Ji family's contact point. The manager there, seeing her with the token, realized she was a friend of Ji Yun. When he heard that she only wanted to go to Yanling City, he immediately laughed.

"Does the young lady truly have no other requests? Holding this token, yet only asking for a farewell, do you know what treasures someone once took from the Ji family with this token?"

Jiang Yuhu shook her head, showing no interest in the Ji family's treasures. "What might be a small favor for you is a great help to me."

The steward smiled and said, "It is truly rare for Miss Seven to have made a friend like you. Miss, please bring your companions tomorrow. Miss Seven and Young Master Thirteen happen to be in Yanling City. They will surely be very happy to see you."

He had barely finished speaking when Jiang Yuhuo suddenly changed his mind, "Perhaps, could you help me save one more person?"

The torrential night rain couldn't stop Li Mengbai's restless body and emotions. Listening to the rushing rain, he felt as if he had been thrown into boiling water, enveloped by scalding desire. Bubbles burst around him, clamoring for him to approach the person who had planted poison in his body. His head was spinning, and in his hazy world, only one figure remained.

She was just sitting there, only her profile, yet she was like a bright flame, constantly radiating light, attracting him to rush over.

By the time he realized what was happening, he was already in front of her.

Hold me.

He didn't know how he managed to move over despite the pain in his ankle; all he knew was that he craved her, desperately.

"Jiang Yuhuo, hug me."

Seeing that she didn't move, Li Mengbai got anxious and took a step forward to hug her, but his uncooperative ankle cramped up at that moment, and he fell down at her feet.

He heard her sigh helplessly, then she stood up, scooped him up, and he immediately clung to her, wrapping himself around her like a vine, drawing warmth and breath from her.

Jiang Yuhuo carried him back to the bed, but Li Mengbai refused to let go.

She pushed him away, but he held her tighter. He pressed against her, breathing softly, his body almost overflowing with a sigh of pleasure.

He whispered a pleading tone in her ear, his words dripping with seduction, "You really don't want me? I'll make you happy, shall we try?"

His kiss landed gently on her neck, wanting to travel upwards to pluck the sweetest fruit, but he soon found himself unable to move.

Jiang Yuhuo grabbed his neck with her hand, and with just one hand, she threw him onto the couch.

"If you can't control yourself, I don't mind knocking you out again."

The calmer she remained, the more embarrassed Li Mengbai felt. In her presence, he was like the cheapest prostitute, dominated by the desires he once despised, shamelessly using his body as a bargaining chip to seduce others. Her unmoved demeanor only served to highlight his baseness.

When embarrassment accumulates to a certain point, anger will inevitably follow.

"You're the one who made me like this! If you hadn't insisted on killing that emperor, none of this would have happened. If you had gone into the city earlier, we would have been at Yanling by now! You should have taken responsibility for me!"

He started making wild accusations, roaring and trying to justify his embarrassing behavior, his beautiful eyes brimming with tears. He even wondered, if Wen Yizhan were begging him now, would she still refuse him so readily? In the end, she simply didn't have feelings for him!

“If it weren’t for me, you would have been dead long ago.” Jiang Yuhuo looked at him coldly. “As for what you’re like now, it’s your own fault!”

Seeing her turn to leave, Li Mengbai instinctively grabbed her sleeve, his anger instantly extinguished, leaving only a deep sense of unease.

"Are you going out again? It's raining so hard outside, where are you going?" he asked cautiously, his humility a stark contrast to his former self.

"Stay away from me." Jiang Yuhuo turned her head away, unable to bear looking at him like this. She seemed to have changed without realizing it, becoming easily soft-hearted towards him. "Li Mengbai, let go."

"You know perfectly well that I can't live without you. Are you trying to drive me to my death? I don't want this to happen, but I have no choice now. I'm in so much pain."

He covered his face with her sleeve and wept, his thin body trembling slightly, as if the rain was falling not outside, but on his head, like a butterfly with its wings wet by the rain.

Jiang Yuhuo looked up and sighed. After a long while, he finally sighed and said, "Stretch out your left foot."

Li Mengbai was overjoyed and immediately looked up, "You're not leaving?"

She nodded slightly and squatted down. "Let me take a look at the injury on your wrist."

Li Mengbai let her do as she pleased, sitting quietly on the edge of the bed with his sprained left foot hanging down, letting her hold his ankle. Even if she wanted to break his ankle, he couldn't refuse.

In the candlelight, her eyes were gentle and calm; just looking at her had a calming effect, and Li Mengbai's restlessness seemed to be soothed. Sometimes he wondered how she could always be so calm, both inside the spirit-sealing array and in the hunting camp. Was it innate, or had she experienced something even worse?

Li Mengbai lowered his head, his gaze lingering on her face. Beneath her pert nose were her full lips; a gentle touch would reveal their softness and sweetness. He had only managed a fleeting glimpse during the day, and even in his chaotic state, the sensation still thrilled him. He stared at her, lost in thought, the thoughts that unconsciously escaped his lips.

I want to kiss you.

"You're just poisoned, it'll pass." Jiang Yuhuo didn't even lift her eyelids. "Just bear with it."

A sharp pain shot through his ankle, and Li Mengbai heard a muffled thud from his bones. He was in so much pain that he collapsed onto the couch, curling up in agony.

Jiang Yuhu patted his ankle. "Twist it and see if it's better?"

Li Mengbai turned around and found that the sprain had indeed been repositioned, but the pain from the sprain had not yet subsided. "It hurts so much."

He patted the empty seat next to him, "Can you stay here with me? I swear I won't touch you."

"Just three... five days. After five days, the love poison will dissipate, and I will be able to return to normal. Just let me get close to you during these five days, that's enough... I just can't help myself."

He originally intended to say five days, but changed his mind. He drank a whole bowl of cheese, which must be due to severe poisoning to cause his current reaction. Perhaps he really does need five days to completely eliminate the poison.

The night was already very deep, and dawn would soon break, but the heavy rain made the darkness seem endless. Jiang Yuhuo extinguished the candle, placed the quilt in the middle of the bed to separate the two spaces, and lay down with her back to the other person. "Sleep."

Li Mengbai, who had been knocked unconscious by her during the day and slept for half a day, was now wide awake. He gazed at her in the darkness, his hands quietly clutching the blanket tighter, inhaling her scent as if he were holding something other than a blanket. She was quite far away, almost at the edge of the bed, but a few strands of her hair still fell in front of him. He carefully stroked the ends of her hair, wanting to speak to her.

Why don't you tell that mortal your name?

Why are you asking this?

In the darkness, Jiang Yuhuo opened his eyes, waiting for him to continue.

"They call me Mrs. Wen."

That was a really disgusting name for him.

Jiang Yuhu paused for a moment, "That happened many years ago."

"Don't worry, after tomorrow, no one will call you that anymore." She closed her eyes again, hiding her weariness. "Tomorrow we can go back to Yanling City."

Li Mengbai was suddenly stunned, realizing that she had already contacted the Ji family.

He could return to Yanling now. He could have a trusted physician treat his injuries and remove the spiritual seal on his body, and he would become the young master of the Li family again. But he was also somewhat afraid, and he knew very well why—returning to Yanling meant that she would soon be leaving.

He had already started to feel anxious before even setting off. Even with the person lying right next to him, he seemed unable to stop missing them.

Seeing her again was so terrifying. At this moment, he couldn't imagine life without her by his side. He thought about everything about her and felt that there was nothing wrong with her. Even her indifferent face seemed to be etched in his heart.

He had a vague feeling that there was no one in the world who suited him better than her.

Even if there were, it wouldn't be Jiang Yuhuo.

No, I can't think like that. Li Mengbai abruptly closed his eyes, refusing to look at her anymore.

As she said, he was just poisoned and it would pass.

We must go there.

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Author's note: This part is almost over.