Xuanru

A few days later, the mountain path leading to Yakushi Valley was shrouded in mist.

Gu Jinghong, dressed in a neat blue robe, walked hurriedly, pondering how to bring up the topic to Xuan Ru.

Turning a corner around a rocky outcrop, a figure leaned against an ancient tree. He wore a pink robe, his face was deathly pale, and he carried the signature jade flute at his waist—Xie Yan.

He tilted his head back slightly, closed his eyes, and slowly, with an almost erotic focus, licked a small, glistening amber-colored sugar cube between his fingers.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves, falling on his excessively handsome yet melancholic face. His focused expression held a childlike purity, yet also revealed an eerie sense of satisfaction that sent chills down one's spine. A very soft, blissful sigh even escaped his throat.

Gu Jinghong stopped abruptly, her stomach churning.

It's him again! Every time she sees him so engrossed in his own twisted world, it sends chills down her spine.

Xie Yan seemed to sense it and slowly opened his eyes. His beautiful phoenix eyes still held the hazy, watery light from licking the candy. When he saw that it was her, his eyes lit up with a light like that of someone who had discovered a new and interesting toy.

He curled his lips into a smile, his tongue lingeringly sweeping across his lower lip before scooping up the last bit of sugar and putting it in his mouth, a gesture that was deliberate and unsettlingly intimate.

"Oh~ Isn't this my Grand Secretary Gu?"

He straightened up, stretching like a lazy leopard, his gaze lingering on Gu Jinghong as if admiring a prized possession. "What a coincidence. Look, my throat isn't fully healed yet, it's itchy like a cat's scratch, so I had to come to Sister Xuanru to ask for some candy... cough, some medicine."

He pronounced the word "sugar" very lightly, his tongue still seemingly savoring the sweetness from before, while his eyes were fixed on Gu Jinghong with a playful gaze, silently reminding him who had made him this way.

Gu Jinghong suppressed the urge to kick him, her face cold: "Get out of the way!"

Xie Yan not only didn't give way, but instead took a step forward, instantly closing the distance. The oppressive aura, tinged with a sweet scent, washed over him. He tilted his head slightly, as if pondering some interesting question, his eyes gleaming with the fascination of a cat playing with a mouse.

"However, Grand Secretary Gu, what's the reason you're here at this hour on this road that only leads to the Valley of the Medicine Master? It can't be that your 'little spiders' told you I'm here licking candy, so..."

He paused deliberately, his tongue licking the corner of her lips again in an ambiguous way, his eyes fixed on hers. "...You came here specifically to see me, didn't you? Want to taste...what it's like?"

The last few words, spoken lightly, carried a blatant provocation and a malicious test.

Gu Jinghong was furious at his shameless and vulgar association. "I think you've really gone mad. You're the one who's been following me like a disgusting shadow, haunting me relentlessly. Tell me! Are you stalking me again?!"

Her eyes were sharp as knives, fixed on his face. Her voice was low, but every word was icy, "Are you really stalking me?! Are you crazy? Haven't we caused enough trouble already? I just removed your name from Nanfeng's list, and you're already courting death? And you want to drag me down with you?!"

Xie Yan was scolded by her, but instead of getting angry, he seemed to have heard a wonderful joke and chuckled softly, his shoulders shaking. His hoarse laughter echoed on the mountain path, carrying a kind of morbid pleasure.

After he had finished laughing, he raised his eyes, which were shimmering yet unfathomable, revealing an undisguised, almost greedy, possessiveness.

He looked down at Gu Jinghong as if looking at a bird leaping in his palm but unable to escape, his smile bright yet cold: "Tsk tsk tsk, my Grand Secretary Gu, still so prone to getting angry. Didn't you tell the Lord that I forcibly kissed you? I say, Ah Hong, if you weren't interested in me, why would you make up such a lie?"

Gu Jinghong was taken aback. That was a fabrication she had to make up to avoid the questioning of the sect leader. When did Xie Yan find out?

He reached out a finger, seemingly wanting to touch her flushed cheeks, but Gu Jinghong slapped it away abruptly.

He didn't care, instead his smile deepened, carrying a cruel naiveté and a rogue's certainty: "You talk so much, analyzing things so logically, you've even made yourself angry, how tiring..." He spread his hands, shrugged, and his eyes suddenly became extremely aggressive, "But, what's the use? You—can't beat me."

He took another half step forward, his powerful aura almost enveloping Gu Jinghong, his voice soft yet like a viper's hiss, "So, now, you can only let me... follow you? Hmm?"

Gu Jinghong trembled with rage, wishing she could poison him and make him mute a hundred times over! But reason told her that confronting this madman head-on would only cause more trouble. She glared at him fiercely and squeezed out two words through gritted teeth: "Madman!"

He turned and strode towards the Valley of Medicine Masters, as if trying to shake off something dirty.

Xie Yan followed her closely, like a piece of chewing gum that she couldn't shake off, leisurely keeping half a step behind her.

He stopped speaking, but stared intently at Gu Jinghong's tense back and neck with his eyes, which held a sickly smile, as if he were enjoying her suppressed anger. His tongue unconsciously licked the corner of his lips again, savoring the candy and her annoyed expression—this seemed to bring him more "pleasure" than the candy.

The two, one after the other, rushed into the Valley of Medicine Masters with an eerie, low-pressure aura.

In the Valley of Medicine Masters, several slender, thin figures were busy gathering herbs. Xuan Ru, dressed in gray clothes and a hat woven from herbs, with her sleeves rolled up, was squatting in front of a herb garden, carefully watering a poisonous plant. She watched intently as the water streamed down, silently counting to five...

"Sister Xuanru!"

Xie Yan's voice suddenly rang out, and Xuan Ru's hand trembled involuntarily. She immediately straightened the watering ladle in her hand, her originally clear eyes turning sinister, and she almost gritted her teeth as she said, "Xie Yan... have you come to destroy the house again?!"

When she got up and turned around, she saw Gu Jinghong standing half a step away from Xie Yan, smiling at her.

Xuan Ru's previous sinister aura vanished instantly. She tossed the spoon in her hand onto a stone table and strode towards Gu Jinghong. Gu Jinghong also ran towards Xuan Ru, laughing. The two friends, who hadn't seen each other for many days, laughed and hugged each other, spinning around in circles. Sunlight shone on them, and their laughter almost echoed throughout the entire Medicine Master Valley.

Xie Yan's usual malicious smile twitched upwards very subtly for a moment when no one was watching, so quickly it was like an illusion, before being covered by gloom again.

After circling around a few times, Xuan Ru suddenly turned around, her shoulders trembling almost imperceptibly. She quickly rubbed her eyes hard with the back of her muddy hand, and when she turned back, her eyes were obviously red, but she forced a harsh tone: "Gu Jinghong! You still know how to come?!"

Gu Jinghong was slightly taller than Xuan Ru. At that moment, she looked down at Xuan Ru's aggrieved little expression and said with a smile, "It's my fault."

Xuan Ru snorted and pointed at Xie Yan: "Gu Jinghong... can you control this mad dog of yours? You're pestering me to treat his throat, and you won't even pay for the consultation!"

As she spoke, her tone was full of resentment, "You know how hard it was for me to accumulate this little bit of wealth! One shop after another went bankrupt! These medicine and consultation fees are my capital to make a comeback, and I can't afford to lose a single penny!"

Gu Jinghong chuckled, knowing her friend's stubborn nature all too well.

Xuan Ru was exceptionally talented, and her medical and poison skills were largely inherited from her mother, who was skilled at using poison to treat illnesses but ultimately received mixed reviews. However, she disliked this destiny of healing the sick and loved to leave the Medicine Master Valley and find another way to make a living.

Unfortunately, fate played a cruel trick on her. Every penny she painstakingly saved from practicing medicine disappeared without a trace when she invested in the business world. In the end, she always had to return to this medicinal herb garden.

Gu Jinghong took out a money pouch and placed it in Xuan Ru's hand, saying softly, "I know, I know, here, the consultation fee and medicine fee, not a penny less."

Seeing the interaction between the two, Xie Yan immediately changed his expression, instantly suppressing his oppressive gloom and adopting an almost coquettish and aggrieved look. He pointed to his throat and brought it close to Xuan Ru's face, his voice soft and hoarse.

“Sister Xuanru, look at her… She poisoned me and made me mute, and she’s still not satisfied. My throat still hurts… It feels like ants are crawling on it… Of course, Gu Jinghong should pay for the consultation.”

His eyes were wet, and combined with his face, it was incredibly deceptive, as if the dangerous and perverted man from just moments ago wasn't him at all.

Xuan Ru rolled her eyes dramatically, too lazy to expose him, and casually pointed to the stone table next to her: "Take that bag on the table with the 'Dumb Grass' label. Boil three bowls of water down to one bowl, force it down your throat, shut up for a day, and then get out of here immediately! If I see you wandering around my valley again, I guarantee that no one in this world can save you next time something happens!"

Xie Yan picked up the medicine packet, but acted as if she hadn't heard the words "get lost." Instead, she smiled and naturally squeezed next to Gu Jinghong, her arm almost touching hers, and said to Xuan Ru, "Don't chase me away, Xuan Ru. Look, Jinghong's face is still red; she must be angry. I'll just sit here and soothe her..."

Gu Jinghong felt disgusted by him and got goosebumps all over. She took a big step to the side to create distance, ignoring the madman, and spoke directly to Xuan Ru: "Aru, I have something important to ask you."

Seeing that her expression was off, Xuanru also suppressed her anger and clapped her hands: "Speak."

Gu Jinghong took a deep breath, trying to ignore the intensely probing and amused gaze beside her, and spoke as calmly as possible: "Um... Aru, I have a question for you, if someone is poisoned by 'Warmth Powder'..."

Before the words were even finished, the entire Valley of Medicine Masters seemed to have been frozen in time. The rustling of the wind through the herbs, the whispers of the children in the distance, even the sound of sunlight streaming through the air, all vanished in that instant.

Xuan Ru hadn't even let out a gasp.

"Snap!"

The medicine packet containing "dumb grass" in Xie Yan's hand was crushed to pieces by his unconsciously tightening fingers, and brown powder fell from between his fingers.

The nonchalant, almost coquettish expression on his face froze and shattered instantly. It was replaced by a chilling, menacing rage!

The phoenix eyes that had just been filled with a watery smile were now like an abyss frozen in ice, fixed on Gu Jinghong's profile, churning with disbelief, furious anger at the invasion of his territory, and a trace of... a deep-seated panic that even he himself had not noticed.

The air seemed to be sucked out instantly, and a chilling killing intent silently permeated the air.

Xuan Ru also gasped sharply, looking at Gu Jinghong in shock, her eyes filled with astonishment that "you're in big trouble." At the same time, her body subconsciously took a half step back, and one hand silently pressed on a bulging leather bag at her waist.

Gu Jinghong was startled by Xie Yan's sudden terrifying aura, and instinctively tensed up, her fingertips silently sliding towards the poisoned hidden weapon in her sleeve.