Chapter 85: Residual Poison and Six Desires Emerge, Only One Remaining; Life is Difficult, Death is Even More So…
When Xu Qingqing took her former boss's pulse in front of her current boss, she had very mixed feelings.
Xu Qingqing's feelings became even more complicated after she detected her former boss's strange pulse.
She was an apprentice at the Qiantang Medical Clinic. The clinic was closed for the Lunar New Year, and she went home before the snow fell. As soon as she entered the clinic, before the stove was even lit and before she could even sit down, Jin Suiqing pulled her over to take Jin Shiyu's pulse.
Jin Suiqing asked anxiously, "What's going on? What exactly happened?"
Xu Qingqing's ears turned slightly red as she glanced back and forth between Jin Suiqing and Jin Shiyu. "The situation is a bit complicated... Who should I talk to?"
Jin Suiqing saw Jin Shiyu with his head down and shot him a sharp glare. For some reason, Jin Shiyu suddenly raised his head, and Jin Suiqing's expression changed instantly. He grinned at him.
Jin Shiyu's eyes darkened, and he turned his head away from her.
Jin Suiqing stomped her feet in anger, no longer wanting to talk to him, and pulled Xu Qingqing to the window, "Tell me, he'll definitely know."
Xu Qingqing kept stealing glances at Jin Shiyu. After a pause, as if making up her mind, she leaned close to Jin Suiqing's ear and whispered, "Young Master Jin, is your health depleted? Is there something wrong with your health in the bedroom? Did you eat anything particularly nourishing?"
Jin Suiqing was bewildered. "Huh? I didn't understand a single word?"
“He probably took those… those kinds of drugs when he came,” Xu Qingqing said with disgust in her eyes. “We talked about it before at Zhanxing Tower. Jin Shiyu doesn’t discriminate between men and women, his life is chaotic and dirty. His body is weak, so he takes drugs. It’s just that the drugs are too strong, his pulse is erratic, and his symptoms are severe.”
Jin Suiqing stared at Xu Qingqing, her mouth half-open, unable to utter a single word for a long time.
Xu Qingqing was naive, and Jin Shiyu's image was completely tarnished in her mind. She frowned and said, "I heard that he used to be Suiqing's brother?"
Jin Suiqing nodded.
Xu Qingqing was indignant and said sharply, "His body is dirty and his heart is dirty too. Jin Suiqing, don't be fooled by his handsome face, he doesn't deserve you!"
She pulled Jin Suiqing away.
Jin Shiyu suddenly looked up and stared at Xu Qingqing. Xu Qingqing was not to be outdone and glared back. Jin Shiyu could only try to comfort and explain, and she was in a flurry of activity for a while.
Finally, she had no choice but to whisper the reason in Xu Qingqing's ear, telling her the whole story about the aphrodisiac. As Xu Qingqing's face turned from red to green, she looked at the two siblings in disbelief, as if they were madmen who had escaped from a mental hospital.
Jin Suiqing was somewhat troubled, rubbing her hands awkwardly. "Leaving aside the mess from before, he caught a chill today and can't be exposed to heat. How should we get rid of the cold?"
Xu Qingqing pouted, "It's not that I can't stand the heat."
Jin Suiqing winked and asked, "Doctor Xu has a prescription?"
Xu Qingqing shook her head, "There's no prescription. Just drink two bowls of herbal tea and slowly let the remaining toxins out."
"Leak...leak out?"
“It’s about losing yang essence.” Xu Qingqing was used to it and treated it as prescribing medicine for a patient. She blindfolded herself and offered a treatment plan. “If a person gets cold, they still need to take a hot bath. Otherwise, the cold wind will penetrate to the bone, and they will suffer when they get old.”
Xu Qingqing rummaged through the medicine box. "Besides, his reaction was so strong that it probably wasn't entirely due to the residual poison from the Hehuan Powder."
Jin Suiqing hurriedly asked, "Are there any other reasons?"
Xu Qingqing rolled her eyes. "Go ask him yourself."
After saying that, Xu Qingqing slammed the herbal tea recipe on the table and strode away.
Jin Suiqing felt a sudden panic. She looked at Jin Shiyu, wanting to ask for the reason, but Jin Shiyu pursed his lips and once again quietly avoided her eyes.
One second, two seconds, three seconds.
Instantly, the gold shattered and the blue light shone, and her cheeks flushed red.
The two remained silent and lowered their heads simultaneously.
After a long silence, Jin Suiqing, her face flushed, finally spoke up, "Has it been like this for the past three years?"
Kim Si-ok nodded.
Jin Suiqing asked again, "Didn't you try to solve it yourself?"
Jin Shiyu's hand, which was resting on the table, froze, then stopped moving, but her eyelashes trembled incessantly. "I dare not."
"What's there to be afraid of?"
Kim Shi-ok slowly raised his head, his honey-colored eyes filled with a mixture of confusion and rationality, desperately trying to push the other person down and take the high ground.
Over the course of three years, Kim Si-ok became addicted, wanting to do whatever he pleased but unable to vent his frustrations.
Only thinking of Jin Suiqing and holding the clothes and belongings she left behind could offer him some solace.
That's not enough, far from enough.
Until one day, Kim Si-ok realized that indulging in it would only make the emptiness worse.
He could give up all six human desires: seeing beauty, hearing praise, smelling fragrance, tasting delicacies, and enjoying comfort. Only one remained: the desire for love and attachment.
Love and desire are like twin flowers growing together; when one withers, the other must also fade.
But Jin Suiqing gave him something to look forward to.
A marriage certificate caused his love to grow wildly, and his desires to surge wildly, making him wish he were dead.
After figuring this out, he rarely went out except to handle necessary matters.
He feared that every new, nostalgic, bustling, or desolate place he encountered would remind him of her.
Seeing him deep in thought, Jin Suiqing was extremely curious. She stepped forward, lifted his face, and looked down at him, saying, "Tell me, what is it that you're afraid of?"
Kim Shi-ok closed his eyes.
Jin Suiqing had a sudden thought and did what she had wanted to do for a long time: she used her thumb to brush his eyelashes, which were long and fluffy, and tickled her fingertips.
After she had patted him enough, she gently blew on his cheek and coaxed softly, "Tell me, Kim Shi-ok."
Jin Shiyu shuddered and said, "I'm afraid I won't be able to resist coming to find you, or being able to tie you up again. I wish I could keep you by my side."
He even wanted to devour her, but Kim Shi-ok didn't dare say it.
Upon hearing this, Jin Suiqing's hand trembled, and she quickly released him.
His eyelashes trembled again, but he suppressed the urge to open his eyes. His ears followed her movements, listening to her moving further away as he quickly backed away.
With a creak.
She pushed open the door and left.
Kim Shi-ok closed his eyes, his face was calm, but his heart was numb and lonely.
He had locked her up, bound her, and threatened her. He clearly knew the outcome; Jin Suiqing would always find a way to escape. She didn't like it, so why shouldn't she run away when she heard him speak?
How could he be so stupid? He couldn't even keep quiet, ruining this hard-won reunion.
"Jin Shiyu!" Jin Suiqing rushed in carrying large and small bags.
Kim Shi-ok opened his eyes, a flicker in his gaze.
"Since all hot water won't work, how about half cold and half hot?" She piled all the items on the table in front of him; upon closer inspection, they were towels and soap. Jin Suiqing put his hands on his hips and said, "There's a hot spring behind the mine, and it's snowing now, so half cold and half hot is fine, right?"
*
Jin Suiqing stripped down to her undergarments. She wanted to take more off, but when she glanced at Jin Shiyu's increasingly serious expression, she silently suppressed her restless hands, took two steps back, hugged her knees, and with a "whoosh," jumped into the hot spring.
With no one appearing for a long time, Jin Shiyu's heart leaped into his throat. He quickly took off his clothes and ran towards the hot spring. Before he could jump in, Jin Suiqing floated up in front of him. "Hehe, were you scared?"
Jin Shiyu sighed, "Jin Suiqing, could you please not make jokes like that next time?"
"No." Jin Suiqing brushed her damp hair aside and laughed, "If I didn't make this joke, when were you planning to take your clothes off?"
Kim Shi-ok remained silent.
Seeing that he was only wearing silk trousers, Jin Suiqing became even more unconcerned. She scooped up a handful of water and splashed it at Jin Shiyu. After splashing, she crossed her arms and lay down on the bank. "Come down quickly. Aren't you cold with your upper body bare?"
Kim Si-ok hesitated to make a move.
Jin Suiqing wore a white undergarment, which was thin and close-fitting. When it got wet, the view underneath was clearly visible. Jin Shiyu didn't know where to look, so he could only look at the top of her head. "You're not cold."
Jin Suiqing sneered, "Are you coming down or not?"
"You can make it yourself."
Jin Suiqing cursed him as a coward in her heart, and climbed ashore with the stones in her hands. "What a spoilsport. Since you're not going to swim, then I won't either. Let's go back."
Jin Shiyu, worried that she would catch a cold, offered to wrap her in a cloak, but Jin Suiqing fell back into the water and raised her hand to refuse, saying, "You're not cold, so why should I be? Besides, my clothes are already soaked, what's the point of wrapping me in a cloak?"
Having finished speaking, Jin Suiqing moved around Jin Shiyu, intending to jump back onto the shore.
Jin Shiyu decisively conceded defeat, sighing, "Be careful not to catch a cold. Don't get up, I'm going into the water."
Jin Suiqing changed her cold expression and chuckled as she watched Jin Shiyu fold clothes.
Jin Shiyu folded up the clothes that Jin Suiqing had carelessly thrown and placed them on the nearest rock. The rock was high enough that it wouldn't get wet from the water, and Jin Suiqing could reach it with a simple reach.
After getting ready, he walked around Jin Suiqing for a short distance and entered the water at a certain distance from her. Fortunately, the pool was not large, and although it was shrouded in mist, it did not obstruct his view.
Jin Suiqing swam in the water for a while, then dived back down, taking the opportunity to swim closer to him before surfacing, shaking off the water like a puppy, and rubbing his face.
Seeing that Jin Shiyu had closed his eyes, Jin Suiqing's eyes darted around, and after struggling a couple of times, he cried out in pain, "Ouch, brother... brother, my leg is cramping, it hurts so much!"
Sure enough, Kim Si-ok opened his eyes instantly, splashed water and walked towards her, reaching out to put his arm around her waist.
Having succeeded in her scheme, Jin Suiqing pounced into Jin Shiyu's arms, wrapped her arms around his neck, stepped on his instep, and stood on tiptoe to bite his earlobe, which was already as red as it could possibly be.
She said playfully, "I've got you, brother."
Jin Shiyu could no longer hide, so he could only lower his head to look at the person in his arms.
Damp, tousled hair clung to her cheeks, glistening droplets of water clung to the tip of her nose and lips, and her slender white neck, after a playful tussle, had her collar pulled open even wider, revealing just the edge of her light purple camisole underneath. The damp white silk, like a thin mist, seeped through the pattern of her inner garment.
Birds flit among the clouds, and the pattern he chose features two warm, small, and perfectly round full moons.
Kim Shi-ok's Adam's apple bobbed, and the love and desire that had been building up in his chest burst forth at this moment, becoming impossible to suppress.
He lowered his head and kissed Jin Suiqing deeply.
He had longed for her for a long time, like an addict who had been off the hook for a long time and then relapsed. He had already tasted the sweetness and could hardly control himself. He lifted Jin Suiqing's back, turned around and pressed her against the stone, and kissed her forcefully.
Jin Suiqing also gripped his neck tightly.
The water splashed loudly, and my breathing became increasingly erratic.
At this moment, the withered twin flowers fell into the fertile soil and grew wildly with their breath.
Author's Note: Here I am! For being late, I'm apologizing with twenty small red envelopes as punishment for this chapter.
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