Chapter 31
Ashina Yu half leaned in Shen Aheng's arms, her consciousness had been blurred by the poison, she felt that her internal organs were burning, and every breath was painful.
He heard Shen Aheng's words "Okay, I promise you", the voice was light, but it was like a piece of ice hitting his heart.
She had clearly promised him the night before that they would "never separate", so why did she change her mind the next day?
Ashina Yu used up the last bit of her strength, gently raised her hand, and her cold fingertips tightly grasped the corner of Shen Aheng's clothes, then slowly moved upwards, finally grasped her fingers, pulled them towards her, and asked in a hoarse voice: "Why...why?"
Shen Ah Heng's body suddenly stiffened. He didn't dare to look him in the eye. He hurriedly turned his face away, frowned, and made up a lame excuse: "You... your Central Plains dialect is too bad. On weekdays, we can't even talk smoothly. In the future... it will be inconvenient."
Ashina Yu's eyes flickered, not sure whether he didn't have the energy to think about it or he didn't want to believe it.
He looked at Shen Aheng's tense profile, and the little light left in his eyes dimmed little by little, like a candle blown out by the wind. The strength of his grip on her fingers gradually loosened, and his fingertips slipped from her palm and fell weakly to her side.
Seeing this, the Yaochen Sect disciple next to him immediately stepped forward to support him and walked out of the yard.
Ashina Yu hung his head, his pale face becoming increasingly dazzling in the sunlight. He didn't even have the strength to resist, and was eventually half-supported and half-lifted into a black cloth carriage parked outside the yard.
After many days, this thorny matter was finally settled. Na Luozhen's heart, which had been hanging in the balance for many days, finally settled down. He put on a hypocritical smile and turned to Shen Ahheng and said, "Don't worry, young lady. We will treat the spirit servant... no, treat the 'Sacred Blood Spirit Holder' like a distinguished guest. We will never let him suffer any injustice."
After saying this, he raised his hand and waved. The disciple behind him immediately handed him a heavy cloth bag. He took it and handed it to Shen Ahheng. "Miss, here are three hundred taels. You... have worked hard in taking care of the 'Sacred Blood Spirit'. Please accept this."
The tone was reluctant, but the look in his eyes was full of casualness, saying, "This much money is enough to get rid of you, right?"
Shen Ah Heng's gaze was still fixed on the carriage curtain, staring intently at the half-pale profile of Ashina Yu revealed through the gap in the curtain. It wasn't until a Yaochen Sect disciple reached out and lowered the curtain that the familiar outline was completely covered by the black cloth, no longer visible. She slowly withdrew her gaze and raised her eyes to look at Na Luo Zhen. There was no trace of the previous fragility in her eyes. She just said lightly: "Five thousand taels."
The smile on Na Luozhen's face froze instantly, his hand still suspended in mid-air, as if he hadn't heard clearly. "What did you say?"
He really didn't expect that the girl was protecting the spirit servant like a little wolf the moment before, not allowing anyone to get close to her, but the next second she opened her mouth like a lion, showing no mercy at all.
Seeing that he was hesitant to answer, Shen Ah Heng lowered his eyes, and said with a bit of nonchalant sarcasm in his tone: “If you can’t afford it, don’t pretend. Where is your dignity just now?”
As she spoke, her voice rose a little, losing its previous sluggish tone: "Do you think I've served him for so long in vain? He was sick and dying, and I brought him home to treat his illness. He even ate my food and wore my clothes. Without me, he would have died long ago. How could you have come to take him back?"
As soon as she said this, several disciples of the Yaochen Sect nearby frowned, with a hint of contempt in their eyes.
Just now, she was seen protecting their "Holy Blood Spirit" with red eyes, looking very affectionate and loyal. But now, she keeps saying "money" like a beggar asking for reward, without any mention of gratitude at all.
As if he didn’t see those contemptuous looks, Shen Ah Heng put his hands on his hips and raised his chin slightly: “You, the sect, snatched him as a treasure, five thousand taels, to buy me a few months of hard work, is it too much?”
Na Luozhen's mouth twitched fiercely, his face turned pale and blue, and he stared at Shen Aheng for a long time. Finally, he gritted his teeth, turned around and growled at the disciple behind him: "Go! Get the banknotes on the car and give them to her!"
A disciple quickly brought a bulging money bag and threw it at Shen Aheng's feet with a "dong". The sound of the copper coins colliding was particularly harsh.
Shen Ah Heng glanced at the heavy money bag and frowned: “Change it into silver notes. I can’t carry so much money.”
Na Luozhen was already filled with rage, and his expression darkened upon hearing this. However, he had no other choice but to grit his teeth and growl at his disciple, "Go! Get the banknotes and give them to her!"
“Yes.” The disciple did not dare to delay, turned around and ran back to the carriage to get the silver note, this time he did not dare to throw it at her feet, but handed it to Shen Aheng respectfully with both hands.
Shen Ahheng reached out to take the banknote, quickly scanned the amount on the note, and only after confirming that it was correct did he fold it and put it in his arms.
Na Luozhen watched her take the banknotes. Without another word, he waved his hand fiercely and shouted in Western dialect, "Go! Everyone, go!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around with his disciples and walked out of the alley without looking back, and soon disappeared outside the courtyard.
Even the officers and soldiers guarding outside the courtyard gate followed suit and evacuated in formation, and the footsteps gradually faded away.
Soon, Shen Ah Heng was the only one left in the huge yard.
The wind blew the fallen leaves in the yard. Although the sun was warm enough to dry out her clothes, she felt inexplicably empty, as if a piece of her heart had been taken away.
Shen Aheng stood there with his hands hanging down, his fingertips unconsciously touching the cuffs of Ashina Yu, who had just helped him. There was still a faint trace of his cool medicinal fragrance, which was soon blown away by the wind.
-
A few days later, Shen Aheng returned to Qingxiu Town alone, carrying the silver bills in his arms, and returned to the mountain temple where he and Ashina Yu had escaped.
The place was still the same as when they left. There were obvious signs of a fight in the yard. Broken pottery jars were scattered on the ground, the door panel was leaning crookedly against the wall, the ground was covered with dust mixed with dead grass, and even the half-broken firewood in the corner of the yard had not been moved.
Apparently, no one had been here since they left.
Shen Ahheng walked inside. The temple door was ajar, and it made an old "creaky" sound when he pushed it. The hall was covered with thick dust, and the Buddha statue in the shrine was covered with thick layers of spider webs on its eyebrows and eyes, making it look desolate and deserted.
Shen Aheng stood at the door of the hall for a long time before turning around and walking towards the backyard.
The backyard was even messier than the front yard. The medicine plaques that were originally placed on the bamboo racks for drying medicine were overturned on the ground one by one, and the medicinal materials inside were scattered all over the ground. They had been dried to dry residue and covered with a thick layer of dust.
The door of the wing room where she originally lived was open, the bedding inside was pulled to the floor, the medicine mortar on the table was overturned, and even the medical book she hid under her pillow had pages scattered and was covered with dust.
The same thing happened with the room next door where Ashina Yu had lived. There were several large holes in the window paper, and sunlight shone through the holes, making the floor a mess.
Shen Aheng retracted his gaze and went around to the kitchen again, where he saw a layer of black ash accumulated on the stove and an iron pot overturned on the ground.
Fortunately, the large water tank in the corner was not overturned. Shen Ahheng walked over and opened the wooden lid. She saw that there was still half a tank of clear water left in it, reflecting her shadow.
Shen Ah Heng then found an unbroken pottery basin, scooped half a basin of water, and dug out an old cloth from the woodshed. He wet it and started cleaning.
She first swept the black ash on the stove to the ground, and then wiped it over and over again with a wet cloth. Her movements were slow, as if she wanted to clean up the mess in the yard at once.
Shen Ahheng started cleaning up in the morning. After wiping the stove, he swept the yard, gathered the scattered medicine residues on the ground and threw them away. He also struggled to put the fallen door panels back in place, and even picked up the torn and scattered medical books in the wing room and sorted them out page by page.
By the time the entire mountain temple was almost cleaned up inside and out, it was already dark.
The moonlight leaked in through the window, casting fine silver light on the ground.
She walked to the door of the room where Ashina Yu had lived, looked at the cleanly made bed inside, was silent for a moment, then reached out and gently pulled the wooden door closed and locked it from the outside.
His stomach had been growling with hunger for a long time, and he felt anxious because his stomach was empty, but Shen Ah Heng stood at the door of the back kitchen, looking at the clean stove inside, but he didn't even have the strength to light a fire.
In the end, Shen Ah Heng did not go to the kitchen. He simply washed his face with the water in the tub and walked straight back to his room. He felt his eyelids were too heavy to lift, so he lay down on the made bed without even taking off his coat.
As soon as my head touched the pillow, I felt sleepy and soon fell into a deep sleep.
-
Shen Ah Heng woke up the next morning because he was hungry.
Her stomach was growling and her head felt a little dizzy. She rubbed her eyes and sat up. Remembering that she hadn't eaten last night, she simply washed up and walked to the kitchen in her slippers, her steps unsteady.
The kitchen was still cleaned up last night. Shen Ah Heng rummaged around the stove but didn't find any ready-made food. However, he caught a glimpse of a bamboo basket in the corner.
That was the basket Ashina Yu picked from the mountain the day before they left, and there was still some dirt on the edge of the basket.
Maybe it was placed in a hidden place and was not destroyed by that group of people.
Shen Ah Heng walked over and picked it up. Some of the vegetables inside had wilted and turned black, rotten and stuck together, while some were dry and shrunk into balls, turning into dried vegetables.
Shen Aheng squatted down, picked out the rotten vegetable leaves that were too bad to eat and threw them away. He picked up the remaining dried vegetables that were still edible and stacked them neatly on the stove. He then rummaged through the wooden cabinet next to him. The cabinet door creaked open, and inside was a stack of steamed cakes. They were steamed by Ashina Yu earlier and wrapped in cloth. Although they were a little hard, they were not moldy.
Shen Ah Heng picked up a steamed bun, and his fingertips seemed to be able to feel the warmth remaining on the cloth. He was stunned for a moment before putting the bun back in its place and turning around to add water to the pot.
I picked a few dried vegetables, scooped water from the water tank and washed them several times, cut them into a few pieces, threw them into the pot, and started cooking.
The flames licked the bottom of the pot, and the water soon boiled. The vegetable leaves rolled in the water. Shen Ah Heng tasted it. There was no salt or oil, and it was extremely bland. But he was so hungry that he didn't bother to pick it.
After it was done, Shen Ah Heng brought the vegetable soup and half a steamed bun to the front hall, found a clean wooden bench to sit on, and swallowed it mouthful by mouthful of bun and soup.
The biscuits were too dry, and her cheeks felt sore from chewing them. The soup was tasteless and had a bit of an earthy smell. It was nothing compared to Ah Yu's cooking skills in the past, but she still chewed slowly and finished everything.
After Shen Ah Heng finished eating, he took the bowl to the back kitchen, rinsed it twice with clean water, and turned it upside down by the stove to drain.
She remembered that when she was cleaning up yesterday, she found the rocking chair with a broken leg in the corner of the woodshed. She had nailed it back together with wooden strips last night, so she turned around and moved the rocking chair to the door of the front hall.
You can overlook the entire yard from here, and the view is just right.
Shen Ahheng lay down on the rocking chair, which swayed "creakily". His eyes fell on the empty space in the yard that was trampled and bare. He didn't know what he was thinking.
From the time when the sun was so high in the sky that it was impossible to open one's eyes, to the time when the light gradually dimmed, and then to the time when the western sky was burning with an orange-red sunset glow, she just lay there, without even changing her posture.
It was not until the yard was dyed golden by the setting sun and my stomach started to growl again that I slowly sat up.
Shen Ah Heng walked to the kitchen with a frivolous step. Seeing that there was still half a pot of vegetable soup left from the morning, he added some firewood to heat it up again.
The vegetable soup still had no taste, even more bland. Shen Ah Heng drank the soup in a few mouthfuls with half a steamed bun.
After the meal, Shen Aheng rinsed the bowl clean and sat back in the rocking chair at the door of the front hall. The sky gradually darkened and the wind was a little chilly. Shen Aheng wrapped his coat around himself and stared at the moonlight in the yard for a while, until he yawned, then he got up, bolted the temple door from the inside, and went back to his room in the dark to sleep.
The next few days were the same. When Shen Ah Heng woke up in the morning, he would go to the kitchen, grab some dried vegetables to cook a pot of soup, and fill his stomach with the remaining steamed cakes. After eating, he would either tidy up the yard or move his rocking chair to sit at the door, watching the sun rise from the east to the west and the clouds drifting around. He was so lazy that he didn't even say a few words.
Until this morning, Shen Ah Heng habitually picked up the bamboo basket, poured the last handful of dried vegetables into the pot, and then turned to look for steamed buns in the cabinet. He fumbled in the cabinet for a long time, lifted the lid and saw that the cabinet was empty, with only some bun crumbs left.
She had already eaten the last piece of steamed bun yesterday.
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