Chapter 158 Thoughts "...Of course."

Lin Feiran was very puzzled, but Ru Xian obviously had no intention of explaining. She simply raised her chin and spoke.

"What are you looking at me for? Aren't you coming along?"

Just as Lin Feiran was about to go over, she heard a familiar sword cry coming from below the city. Suddenly remembering something, she quickly said, "My Lord, please wait for me for a moment!"

Ru Xian quickly understood what she meant, nodded, and after seeing her roll down, she leaned against the wall and watched silently.

Lin Feiran landed below the city gate, passed through the few pedestrians, and walked to a light, ethereal figure.

She looked at the man, clasped her hands in a fist and bowed, saying, "Thank you so much for today, senior. Whether it was guiding me to the Sword Realm or helping me out, I will always remember this kindness."

"What kind of favor is this? With one sword, one can only help one person and can't do much more."

Li Changfeng leaned on his sword with his right hand, tilted his head back to drink, his face flushed, and squinted at her.

"You look somewhat familiar. Have we met before?"

Lin Feiran's gaze shifted slightly.

She had heard about Li Changfeng's deeds since she was a child and longed to follow him. However, during the Flying Flower Gathering, he seemed dejected and did not stop people from dying in front of him, which made her feel a little sad.

But seeing each other again today, after all that has happened, how can my feelings not be complicated?

She said, "I have indeed seen it. When you first came down from the mountain, you flew to Luoyang City on your sword..."

"You were the little girl who followed me on the sword?" Li Changfeng reacted almost immediately, looking surprised, but quickly brushed it off.

"I thought I had encountered all the people in the world who possessed the sword bone, but it turns out it's the same one."

"I've wanted to practice swordsmanship for a long time, and when I traveled with my seniors on swords, I longed for it even more..." Lin Feiran suddenly stopped.

Upon hearing her words, Li Changfeng's expression remained unchanged, but his gaze became quiet and sorrowful.

“Little girl, the one who once roamed with you is no longer here. The one standing here now is nothing but a drunkard, a drunkard who cannot wield the Haoran Sword.”

Lin Feiran paused for a moment, about to voice the question he had kept hidden for so long, but then immediately swallowed it back.

"Therefore, there is no need to care about the kindness of an insect. I only have a sword that can do nothing and can't save anything. Just give me a pot of 'Jade Liquid Immortal', a specialty of the Demon Capital."

Jade Liquid Immortal is a fine wine specially brewed by the Ginseng Clan and offered to Ru Xian. It can nourish the body and replenish spiritual energy. Lin Feiran had seen it before, and its sweet and fragrant aroma could be smelled from ten miles away.

However, Ru Xian did not like wine, only occasionally sipping a cup, and sealing the rest in the treasury to be used as incense.

Upon hearing his words, Lin Feiran suppressed her questions again. Just as she turned to look at the city wall, she saw a dark shadow fly over and land right in her hand.

It was a jade porcelain jar sealed with gold dust.

She looked up, as if she were leaning against the wall looking in this direction, but her back was to the light of day, so her expression was not very clear.

She thanked him silently before turning to Li Changfeng and handing him the porcelain jar.

"Senior, I can give you the wine, but this kindness will not be erased."

Li Changfeng looked at her, the gloom in his eyes vanished, and he couldn't help but say, "I never expected that a dignified demon lord would also like to eavesdrop on the conversations of insignificant people like us. That's quite strange."

"I'll gladly accept this fine wine; let's forget everything that happened today."

He lifted the clay seal, and an intoxicating aroma wafted out. He laughed and took a big gulp before turning and leaving.

"A thousand cups in hand, yet the path to immortality ends..."

As Li Changfeng staggered away, Lin Feiran felt a pang of melancholy. But before he had gone ten steps, Li Changfeng suddenly swayed and fell straight down in the street, though the wine in his hand remained unharmed.

Lin Feiran: "..."

Almost the instant he fell, Zhang Siwo appeared out of nowhere, a tabby cat tucked under her arm. She bent over and looked around like a petty thief, then grabbed Li Changfeng by the back of her collar, winked at her subtly, and then darted away.

Lin Feiran raised her hand and then withdrew it.

She couldn't understand Zhang Siwo's strange behavior, but knowing he wouldn't do anything bad, she let him be.

Back on the city wall, Lin Feiran continued their previous conversation: "Lord, where are you taking me to be disciplined?"

Ru Shan raised an eyebrow: "You seem very excited?"

Lin Feiran didn't actually know what discipline was, he just nodded hesitantly, then quickly shook his head.

"I just want to know where I went wrong, whether I really did something wrong. It's like reading a book; if I can't find the answer, I'll naturally keep it in mind."

"Then you'll keep thinking about it." Ru Xian looked away without amusement, her eyes crinkling as she gazed at a certain spot in Xingzhi Palace. "Go to your room."

Lin Feiran's robes were tattered and she needed to change into something else. She had no objection and didn't find the so-called discipline particularly frightening.

But as she walked past the cargo, she stopped and looked at the person on its back.

"What are you looking at?" Ru Xian asked abruptly.

After speaking, she raised her hand and patted Wei Changzai's head. The person who seemed to be sleeping suddenly opened her eyes halfway, and her outstretched hand also rose up, hooking her fingers into a claw, and attacked her side of the neck without hesitation. The small sword in her sleeve also flew out.

Lin Feiran skillfully dodged to the side. After exchanging seven or eight moves with one hand, she finally captured the small sword. He recognized the person in front of him, so he silently murmured something before closing his eyes and falling asleep.

Lin Feiran quickly put the small sword into his pocket and then explained it to Ru Xian.

"When he was injured, he appeared to be motionless, but in fact he usually retained a sliver of consciousness. If you helped him up, he would be fine, but if anyone tried to attack him, he would retaliate in this way, and Duan Tianguang would immediately fly out to protect him."

I'll wake him up first and remove his sword, so that the ginseng children won't accidentally injure him when they apply acupuncture and medicine to him."

"No wonder you're childhood sweethearts." Ru Xian responded softly, her words carrying a deeper meaning. She then walked to Lin Feiran's side, her gaze falling on her wrist. "Why is he holding you so tightly?"

Lin Feiran followed his gaze, showing little surprise: "Actually, I've never quite understood either. Maybe he was afraid that I would abandon him after he fainted, so he just comforted him."

Facing Wei Changzai now, Lin Feiran no longer had the same mindset as before. She only patted him on the back a few times, with uneven force. After Wei Changzai shuddered twice, his slightly furrowed brows relaxed, and he loosened his grip on her hand.

"That's fine."

Lin Feiran stood up, rubbed the chubby man's head again, and took out a gold ingot to feed him: "If he wakes up, you must stay away from him, otherwise he will draw his sword."

The hamster nodded, then let out a cheerful shout, chewing on the gold ingot, and carried Wei Changzai away, bouncing up and down.

Finally, after seeing the person off, Lin Feiran felt a great weight lifted from his heart and let out a breath: "Master, let's go."

She turned around and met a pair of deep, emerald eyes.

Ru Xian indeed had a pair of extremely beautiful eyes. When her eyes were slightly lowered, her eyelashes and pupils complemented each other, like fine snow covering grass, but without any vitality. Instead, they had a strange indifference and languidness.

He had somehow gotten to sit on the city wall, his hands supporting him on either side, tilting his head to look at her with focused attention.

After a moment of eye contact, he stood up, not mentioning what had just happened, and went with Lin Feiran to her residence, during which he spoke.

"Lin Feiran, have you noticed that no matter who you spend a lot of time with, they are easily spoiled?"

Lin Feiran was puzzled. She considered herself a person with principles, so how could she tolerate anyone?

Ru Xian didn't explain, but simply followed her as they jumped down, looking towards the familiar courtyard: "We've arrived."

Lin Feiran stopped asking questions and quickly returned to her room to change her clothes. Ru Xian then stood in the courtyard, gazing at the golden ginkgo tree.

Like a hailstone, it leaped up, shooing away two birds, then landed on a branch, cradling a ginkgo nut, its fingertips twirling above it, its eyes conveying a deep meaning that was difficult to discern.

With a creak, the door opened, and Lin Feiran had already changed into another set of robes.

The two stared at each other for a moment, then he leaped down and entered the house with practiced ease. To Lin Feiran's surprise, he pulled out a large stack of books from his storage bag and placed them back on her desk in their original positions.

He glanced at her sideways, raised an eyebrow, and said, "I'm bored in seclusion, so I'm reading some of your leisure books to pass the time. Is that not allowed?"

"……sure."

When Lin Feiran entered the room, he found a large section of the table empty. He thought that some thief had broken in while he was away in Jihai, but it turned out that he had taken the books.

"sure."

She added something else, albeit strangely.

The room suddenly fell silent. Even the birds that used to chirp by the window were nowhere to be seen. It was as if only one's own breathing could be heard.

Lin Feiran subconsciously slowed down, but then, feeling it was deliberate, she sped up a bit more, making it even more obvious in an instant.

Ru Xian couldn't help but chuckle, then turned and sat down at the table, with a large expanse of sunlight spreading out behind him.

“We’ve been in the same room for a long time, why are you being so reserved today? This is your place.”

After being reminded of this, Lin Feiran suddenly realized it.

If you think about it, although she and Ru Xian haven't seen each other for several days, they're not that estranged, so why be so nervous?

"I wasn't too reserved... Perhaps it was because today was too chaotic and we fought for so long that my body was a little tense."

She paused for a moment, then looked around. The once simple little room was now filled with the fragrance of incense, the stools were now padded with soft cushions, the bed was extra soft, and the bare walls were adorned with elegant murals...

I don't know when it started, but traces of hail have become everywhere.

Lin Feiran felt awkward standing or sitting, and in her confusion, she took the initiative to bring up another topic.

"My Lord... what did you mean when you said I made a mistake?"

Ru Shan smiled, his gaze drifting to her, and said, "Come here."

She suddenly felt a sharp pain running down her spine, her muscles and meridians were dislocated and intertwined, her muscles were sore and weak, and a thin layer of sweat appeared on her forehead in an instant.

"..."

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!"

Lin Feiran pursed her lips and endured for a moment, but finally couldn't help but cry out in pain. She pressed down on her wrist, which was as sharp as a hailstone, with one hand and gripped the side of her clothes tightly with the other.

Ru Xian let her press down, but stopped using force under her palm. With her other hand, she took out a ribbon and quickly tied the loose ends of her hair together.

"After fighting for so long and suffering so many injuries, you survived only with the help of pills and even broke through two realms. Your spiritual veins were impacted by such a powerful spiritual force... You were able to hold on until now entirely thanks to your good physical constitution."

The pain is all pressing on every acupoint; if I don't dissipate it, in another two days he'll be vomiting blood and coming to me for help.

Upon hearing this, Lin Feiran naturally dared not move again. Seeing that she had endured it, Ru Xian sighed softly and began to massage her gently.

Spine, lower back, arms...

Each one was no less severe than the death penalty.

Only after finally smoothing out the acupoints along the spine and seeing Lin Feiran's brows relax slightly did Ru Xian slowly speak.

"When I asked you about the situation outside, you told me to focus on refining the pills and then fight against the cultivators in the Free and Unfettered Realm on my own."

One of their mistakes was deceiving me.

Secondly, he was riddled with injuries and illnesses.

The third mistake...

In just a few words, he listed Lin Feiran's "crimes," but his tone was not as cold and hard as his words; instead, it had an indescribable meaning.

Lin Feiran finally realized, but then heard him stop speaking. She couldn't help but continue to ask, "What is the third one?"

Ru Xian lowered her eyelashes and withdrew the hand that she had unconsciously grasped, revealing a red ring on the back of her hand.

He simply stroked it and whispered.

"Thirdly, you still haven't understood that your own life should always be above the lives of others..."

He paused again at this point.

He always speaks frankly, and pausing twice in a single sentence is quite rare for him, but he still can't help but consider and weigh his words, for fear of hurting this sincere heart.

To make Lin Feiran selfish is to turn her upside down.

"...At least until you are strong enough to take on the lives of others, you should think of yourself first."

Admittedly, he never needed anyone to protect him, nor did he care about it. But upon closer reflection today, he felt an indescribable joy, like the night sea washing over the rocks, rushing in suddenly and then slowly receding.

For him, this was an extremely strange feeling.

But he still wanted to say it that way.

"I still have a few Cloud Soul Rain Spirit Grasses. Even if I don't refine them this time, there will be another time."

Lin Feiran knew he was trying to distract her, so she endured the pain and replied.

"I just feel that you have been searching for a cure for this stubborn disease for many years, and it has been a long and difficult journey. Now you are only one step away from it. It would be a great pity if you give up halfway."

Ru Xian looked at Lin Feiran, knowing in her heart that she was not deliberately saying nice things to coax him.

Even if it were Xun Feifei, Bi Qing, or someone else who refined the pills today, she would still do it anyway.

Amidst sighs and lamentations, a sense of helplessness and amusement lingered. The light in his eyes shifted repeatedly before finally settling on a feeling of deep emotion.

He took out a crimson porcelain bottle and placed it to Lin Feiran's lips.

"When I was removing the curse for you, I was searching for a remedy that could relieve pain in your muscles, bones, and meridians, and also calm your mind. This bottle of herbal juice is red in color, non-toxic, and has an excellent pain-relieving effect, but it has some minor side effects."

Want to give it a try?

Lin Feiran had complete faith in his medical skills, and since it was harmless, it probably wouldn't cause any damage to her body.

She nodded: "Okay, I'll let you test the medicine..."

“No need to test the medicine, I’ve already tried it.” Ru Xian poured the medicine into her mouth. “How was it?”

Author's Note: Supplements