Inside the meditation room, the lamplight was dim.

After taking a pill given to her by Yan Zhuoxu, Shen Zhiyi's cough and wheezing subsided considerably.

He was still barely breathing, lying on the couch.

She glanced sideways at the gold thread wrapped around her wrist.

My gaze followed the path outwards, landing behind the screen on a figure sitting upright on a prayer mat.

Tall and imposing, like a solitary pine tree standing firm.

She moved her fingertips with some curiosity.

"Benefactor, please do not move," Yan Zhuoxu said in a deep voice, holding the other end of the gold thread.

His voice was calm and even, yet it carried a powerful force.

It makes people obey involuntarily.

Shen Zhiyi lowered her eyes and stopped making any rash moves.

A glint of light flashed in his eyes.

Just as rumored, this Master Kongchen was celibate, even...

They avoided women like the plague.

When a doctor takes a pulse, although he doesn't directly touch the skin, he still puts a handkerchief on the wrist so that he can get close enough to feel the body temperature and look at the face.

He's fine, though.

They simply set up a screen and used a suspended thread to diagnose the pulse.

I can't even see it.

I can't touch it.

Shen Zhiyi sighed very softly.

The gold thread trembled slightly.

Yan Zhuoxu pressed her fingertips together, easily discerning her pulse from the subtle fluctuations.

It floats weakly, like sand flowing in a shallow stream, lingering and penetrating to the bone.

His slender fingers paused slightly.

Yan Zhuoxu opened his eyes slightly, his cold expression softening a little.

Indeed, as she said, it was a congenital weakness.

It is likely that he was murdered along with his birth mother before he was even born.

Given her symptoms, it's likely that her mother has already passed away.

Yan Zhuoxu's brow twitched slightly.

Suddenly, I remembered what Shuofeng had said.

The elder sister steals the bride's hand in marriage.

Rumors and stigma.

Shen Zhiyi's frail figure flashed into my mind in an instant.

He easily depicted her neglected situation, her humble survival as a concubine's daughter in the inner quarters of the house.

The high level of vigilance in my heart eased a little.

She wasn't the type to go to great lengths to get close to him.

We can treat her as an ordinary person; there's no need to harbor such great hostility and suspicion towards her.

Swallows hang down their golden threads.

With his wrist resting on his knee, he said calmly, "Your cough is caused by catching a cold and being overworked. It must be because you knelt in the hall for too long today."

"I have two prescriptions here. Take one today and take the other home. Drink it for three days straight, and it will keep you healthy for years, and you will no longer cough or wheeze."

"After you finish your medicine, descend the mountain immediately."

Shen Zhiyi coughed softly twice more.

"Thank you, Master."

Her voice was very soft, like a night breeze, gently caressing the heart, yet carrying a hint of delicate breathiness, like an ant crawling into one's heart.

The candlelight on the wall flickered for a moment.

Yan Zhuoxu lowered his eyes, his emotions unreadable.

Shen Bi pleaded anxiously, "Master Kong Chen, my young lady is frail. How can she possibly descend the mountain in this condition?"

"Please, Master, grant the young lady the privilege of spending the night in this meditation room..."

“Chen Bi.” Shen Zhiyi interrupted her with a light cough, “The master has already saved my life, so you should not bother me any further.”

"But it's still raining heavily outside!" Shen Bi said anxiously.

Shen Zhiyi struggled to sit up and lay on the couch. "I told you, the master prefers quiet, so we mustn't... cough cough... disturb him..."

Boom—

Thunder rumbled, clouds pressed down, and rain was imminent.

The lightning illuminated the meditation room for a fleeting moment, casting her delicate, half-crouched figure onto the screen.

Her black hair cascaded down, and her neck was slender and graceful.

Her shoulders and back were as thin as butterfly wings, and as she bent down, they outlined a fragile yet breathtaking curve.

It looks just like a delicate flower trapped on a screen.

Yet it is resilient.

The gold thread, which had just relaxed, tightened again because of her movement.

A faint pulse could be felt under Yan Zhuoxu's fingertips.

It is no longer the stagnation of pathogenic factors.

Instead...

Her breath trembled, the subtle rise and fall of her blood vessels, and her soft, lingering panting could be heard.

Following this thread, it all seeped into his senses.

The gold thread felt inexplicably hot.

Yan Zhuoxu lowered his eyes and focused his mind, but his brows furrowed almost imperceptibly for a moment.

This feeling of unease is unfamiliar and... transgressive.

He made a slight movement in his throat, then suddenly let go.

"Master...?" Shen Zhiyi was puzzled by the sudden tightening and loosening of the force.

Her soft voice clearly indicated weakness and exhaustion.

But for some reason, even torrential rain couldn't flood it.

"When Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva was practicing the profound Prajnaparamita, he perceived that the five aggregates are all empty, and thus transcended all suffering and distress..."

Yan Zhuoxu twirled his prayer beads, his eyes lowered deeply.

When I looked up again, my gaze was clear as ever, as if that moment of distraction had never happened.

"This place is quite far from my meditation room."

"Please do as you please, benefactor."

After he finished speaking, he stood up, put his hands behind his back, and left.

A joyful smile spread across Shen Bi's face as he bowed to Yan Zhuoxu's departing figure, saying, "Thank you, Master!"

The young novice monk exclaimed happily, “That’s wonderful, benefactor! This is the first time Master Kongchen has allowed someone to stay here overnight!”

"You all rest well, I'll go get the medicine."

Shen Bi gratefully saw him out: "Thank you, young master."

The footsteps faded into the distance.

The door was closed.

Shen Zhiyi gathered her clothes and stood up, leisurely putting away the gold thread on her wrist.

Although her face was still pale, she no longer showed any of the frailty she had just displayed.

Suppressing her joy, Shen Bi walked up to her and whispered, "Just as Miss predicted."

Her face once again showed a look of heartache.

"But it's still too dangerous for Miss to use her own body to set up a scheme."

"You almost scared me to death."

Shen Zhiyi gave a reassuring smile: "Don't worry, I'm fine."

This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!