Chapter 64 The more pitiful he was in the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers and Butterflies, the more Gu Shanyue wanted to torment him...
Gu Shanyue scoffed, his feet barely touching the ground as he flew away with Qi Baitong in tow. More and more butterflies and insects swarmed onto his face. The air was humid, and the valley was close at hand.
A huge crack in the mountain wall, as if cleaved by an axe, revealed a vast expanse of vibrant flowers swaying in the wind, their fragrance rich and intoxicating.
Gu Shanyue said, "Hold your breath."
Qi Baitong nodded, Gu Shanyue covered his mouth and nose, stepped on the tree trunk like a bird and slid into the mountain wall crevice, his clothes never touching the sea of flowers.
After a few leaps, dodging traps and poisonous creatures, the view suddenly opened up, revealing a vast expanse of grass and fields.
With a "whoosh," as Gu Shanyue flew over a towering ancient tree, the net was hoisted up. If she hadn't pulled her legs back quickly, she would have been caught in the net.
Gu Shanyue rolled on the spot to protect Qi Baitong's head, and the two fell onto the soft grass.
Gu Shanyue spat out the grass leaf in his mouth and said loudly, "Gu Shanyue has come here to request an audience with the Valley Master!"
After he finished speaking, there was no response.
Gu Shanyue helped the crooked Qi Baitong up. He was already struggling to support himself, and the fall had left him dazed. His eyelids drooped down, covering most of his pupils, and he leaned pitifully on Gu Shanyue's shoulder.
Gu Shanyue glanced at him, then looked at him again, and kissed his slightly parted, pale lips.
The more pitiful he looked, the more Gu Shanyue wanted to torment him.
Qi Baitong trembled slightly, unable to open her eyes, and her ears turned slightly red.
Even if it was inappropriate, he couldn't bear to refuse.
As for Gu Shanyue, she didn't think anything was inappropriate; she always did whatever she wanted.
A low cough sounded, and a child of about eleven or twelve years old covered his eyes with his hand, peeking at them through his fingers.
Gu Shanyue recognized him: "...Red Hair?"
The little boy said, "...My name is Mao Hong'er."
Although her name was wrong, Mao Hong'er was still very happy: "You still remember me?"
"I remember, I was there when you wet the bed and Bai Zhen spanked you."
Gu Shanyue spoke in a casual, nostalgic tone, and Mao Hong'er immediately jumped up, her face flushed, and waved her hand at her, saying, "Oh dear, let's not talk about such trivial things!"
Gu Shanyue chuckled for a moment, but Qi Baitong was still leaning weakly against her in her arms. She immediately said, "Where is the Valley Master? The Needle-Piercing Gu has reappeared. I would like to ask him to save people."
Upon hearing about the Needle-Threading Gu, Mao Hong'er's face turned serious: "The Valley Master has gone out and sent word that he will return tomorrow. You should stay in the valley for now."
Gu Shanyue helped Qi Baitong up, and Mao Hong'er led the way, curiously peeking at Qi Baitong and asking, "A-Yue, is he poisoned by the Needle-Threading Gu? How can this poisonous insect still exist in the world?"
"He took Gu worms when he was young, more than ten years ago, and has been living by suppressing the activity of Gu worms for a short time. Back then, the needle-threading Gu did not disappear with the destruction of the Blood Mirage, but was instead taken over by the court. I'm afraid everyone in the Imperial City Guard carries Gu worms."
Although Mao Hong'er was just over ten years old and only reached Gu Shanyue's chest, Gu Shanyue did not treat him as an ignorant child and answered him very seriously.
Upon hearing this, Mao Hong'er's face scrunched up. After a moment of contemplation, she said, "The Imperial Guard? Master Bai Zhen used to work in the Imperial Guard. Perhaps he can help you."
"Bai Town is in the valley?" Gu Shanyue asked in surprise.
Back then, Bai Zhen and Wu Shanyu were close friends. After Wu Shanyu died, he disappeared without a trace, and Gu Shanyue never saw him again for decades.
“He just came back a few days ago,” Mao Hong’er led Gu Shanyue to the small courtyard where she used to live, then hurriedly went out again, “I’ll go call him!”
Gu Shanyue and Wu Shanyu once lived in this courtyard. Later, Gu Shanyue also stayed there when she brought Li Yuheng to detoxify. Now, she and Qi Baitong are the ones living here.
Gu Shanyue's lips twitched. It was always the people around her who got hurt and poisoned, while she was as tough as steel. It was better for her to be "unharmed".
The courtyard was cleaned and tidied up regularly and kept very clean. Gu Shanyue helped Qi Baitong into her usual room, took off his outer clothes, and let him lie down on the bed.
Qi Baitong's eyes were half-closed, and dense red spots were faintly visible on her skin. Her muscles twitched from time to time. If she didn't receive treatment soon, the Gu worms would become uncontrollable.
All of Gu Shanyue's emotions turned into worry. She squeezed her hand between Qi Baitong's not very nimble fingers and intertwined her fingers with his.
Qi Baitong's eyelids trembled, and he gripped her hand tightly in return.
"...Ah Yue, don't be afraid."
His voice was like a stretched string, weak and low, yet he still tried to comfort her even in this state.
Gu Shanyue brushed away his sweaty bangs and whispered, "It's you, don't be afraid."
Just as she finished speaking, footsteps sounded in the courtyard. Gu Shanyue turned around and her gaze met Bai Zhen, who strode in.
Ten years had passed, and he had aged considerably, with striking white hair at his temples. Yet, he remained unrefined, walking over with a folding fan in hand, and said with a smile, "Long time no see, Little Yue'er has grown into a beautiful young lady."
“You’ve got gray hair,” Gu Shanyue remarked, but this wasn’t the time for catching up. She quickly stood up to make room for him. “Come and take a look at him. He’s been afflicted with the Needle-Piercing Gu. He’s already taken the antidote to suppress the Gu worms this month, but the Silver Bell has reactivated the Gu worms. What should we do?”
Gu Shanyue explained the situation succinctly. Bai Zhen stepped forward, fanning himself with a folding fan. The moment he saw Qi Baitong's face, he exclaimed in slight surprise, "Qi Baitong? What's he doing here?"
"You know him?" Gu Shanyue instantly recalled what Qi Baitong had said. "By the way, you're his master who taught him swordsmanship?"
"I guess so. Back when I was in the Imperial City Guard, I saw that he had talent, so I casually taught him a few moves."
Bai Zhen frowned slightly, snapped his folding fan shut, stuffed it into Mao Hong'er's arms, and immediately sat down to take Qi Baitong's pulse.
Gu Shanyue stood aside, waiting for him to examine the medicine before anxiously asking, "How do we treat it? Can these Gu worms be completely removed?"
“Suppressing the Gu worms is not difficult. Although the Gu worms’ activity cycle is affected and their toxins are disordered, I can prepare an antidote.”
Bai Zhen pondered for a while, then took Qi Baitong's pulse and examined the condition of his muscles and tendons. He shook his head and said, "But it is not easy to cure the needle-piercing gu. If you want to cure it completely, I am helpless. I can only wait for the Valley Master to return."
This was exactly what Gu Shanyue expected.
She seemed to make a decision without even asking the patient's opinion, saying, "Then prescribe him some medicine to relieve his pain."
Bai Zhen nodded, his gaze shifting between Qi Baitong and Gu Shanyue. He narrowed his eyes and said, "It seems you've taken a fancy to my cheap apprentice and lured him away from the Imperial City Guard."
“Yes,” Gu Shanyue admitted without hesitation, then curled her lips in disdain, “The Imperial City Guard uses such underhanded methods to control the secret guards. What’s the difference between them and the Blood Mirage? What’s the point of keeping such a place around?”
Bai Zhen chuckled, took out a charcoal pencil and a piece of paper, and wrote a prescription as he said, "I thought you were going to spend the rest of your life clinging to A Yu's tombstone. Turns out you do have moments of worldly desires."
His words were ambiguous, and Gu Shanyue, impatient with guessing his thoughts, frankly said, "What worldly desire? I am just a mortal, and he is my lover."
On the bed, Qi Baitong's fingertips twitched, and his eyes weakly turned to her.
After writing down the prescription, Bai Zhen casually handed it to Mao Hong'er and said jokingly, "Get the medicine ready and start brewing it. You must protect Xiao Yue'er's lover."
Gu Shanyue, seeing how efficiently he worked, didn't hold it against him and asked with her arms crossed, "You've been nowhere to be found all these years, why are you suddenly back?"
“Wanhua Diegu is my hometown. No matter how far I wander outside, I will always come back,” Bai Zhen waved his hand, not wanting to talk more. He asked Gu Shanyue, “You and Qi Baitong are lovers. Can Li Yuheng be willing to accept that? I don’t think he is the kind of gentleman who would give someone up so easily.”
He turned to look at Gu Shanyue, seemingly very interested in the matter.
"Does he even deserve to give up his position?" Gu Shanyue scoffed and said decisively, "I can choose whomever I want and be with whomever I want. What does it matter to me whether others are willing or not?"
Bai Zhen unfolded his folding fan and started waving it again: "Didn't you call her Yu'er before? Now it's someone else. Can he stand it?"
Gu Shanyue pursed her lips, not happy: "Bai Zhen, if you want to take care of him, no one will compete with you. I'm enough to take care of his life, nothing else is my business, and I don't want to take care of anything else."
"He's the crown prince, and his father is the emperor. It's not my place to take care of him," Bai Zhen laughed self-deprecatingly, then teased, "Judging from your expression, Li Yuheng has angered you again?"
Gu Shanyue was annoyed just thinking about it. She pointed to the white lacquer on the bed and said, "He did it. If I hadn't gotten back in time, he probably would have killed someone."
Bai Zhen paused, his waving fan stilling, and his brows furrowed slightly.
Gu Shanyue met an old acquaintance and said a few more words: "How could such a good person as Senior Sister give birth to a child like Li Yuheng, who speaks nonsense and is heartless and ungrateful? Could it be that I corrupted him?"
Bai Zhen's eyes held a complex expression, and his smile faded slightly: "It's not your fault. He's not like Ayu; he's like the emperor."
Gu Shanyue paused for a moment, then said, "You're right."
Although I hate to admit it, it's true.
Even though Li Yuheng is the only bloodline left by Wu Shanyu in this world, and even though his smile is so much like Wu Shanyu's, he is more like Emperor Yong's child.
Thinking of this, Gu Shanyue couldn't help but feel frustrated.
Bai Zhen's expression was also not good. After a while, he asked, "I received news that Li Yuheng left Shengjing. Was he chasing after you?"
Gu Shanyue nodded.
Seeing Bai Zhen's complicated expression, Gu Shanyue suddenly understood why Bai Zhen had appeared.
Qi Baitong once told him that Bai Zhen taught him to be patient. What does someone like Bai Zhen need to be patient about? At the time, Gu Shanyue found it strange, but now that she has a lover and is troubled by Li Yuheng, the things she couldn't understand suddenly became clear.
What else could it be?
To make a free-spirited wanderer willingly enter the imperial city and become a lowly pawn under the emperor's power.
Perhaps it was for his senior sister.
That's why Bai Zhen came to the Imperial Guard Division, so close to her, and patiently protected her.
After his senior sister died, he left the palace and never returned.
Upon returning this time, I received news that Li Yuheng had left the capital. Even though Li Yuheng was the emperor's child, he was still my senior sister's child.
Bai Zhen, like her, was protecting his life.
Thinking of this, Gu Shanyue frowned and looked at the lacquered white cypress on the bed.
Even when he was in a deep sleep, he held her hand tightly, as if afraid of being abandoned.
Compared to Li Yuheng, Qi Baitong was like a withered weed in the wild, unnoticed by anyone, yet she persevered and grew into the shape she liked today.
How could they be so pitiful?
Gu Shanyue sighed, then leaned down and kissed him on the face again.
Bai Zhen: "..."
His emotions turned to embarrassment. He grabbed his fan and ran off, muttering to himself, "Why don't they know how to avoid people?"
Gu Shanyue ignored him. When Mao Hong'er returned with the prepared medicine, Qi Baitong was lying unconscious on the bed.
Gu Shanyue helped the man up, leaned him on her shoulder, pried open his mouth, and blew on the cooled medicine to pour it into his mouth.
Perhaps having tasted bitterness, Qi Baitong subconsciously pursed her lips.
Gu Shanyue pinched his cheek, leaned down and whispered in his ear, "Qi Baitong, open your mouth."
Mao Hong'er scratched her head and kindly reminded him, "He's dizzy, he can't hear you..."
Before he could finish speaking, he was shocked to see the unconscious Qi Baitong tremblingly open her lips.
Mao Hong'er was stunned. Gu Shanyue was terrifying; he could actually make people obey even in their sleep.
Gu Shanyue's lips curled up slightly. Then she fed Qi Baitong the bitter medicine. A splash of color appeared on his pale face. His long eyebrows were furrowed. He couldn't control his expression when he lost consciousness. He looked unhappy, but when Gu Shanyue pinched his cheek, he opened his mouth and became incredibly obedient.
After he finished drinking a large bowl of herbal soup, Gu Shanyue rubbed his ears and praised him in his ear, "Good boy."
Qi Baitong's ears slowly turned red, and she shrank her face closer to her chest.
Mao Hong'er stared in disbelief: "Is he really unconscious?"
"Don't worry about so much, kid," Gu Shanyue handed him the bowl and instructed, "Go and brew the medicine."
Mao Hong'er was in a daze. Would things turn out like that if a man and a woman got together?
That's really scary.
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