Chapter 127
"My martial uncle likes you too."
These few simple words, when heard by Yin Qiu, were like a mountain breeze sweeping across all things, petals falling to the sky, and she was enveloped in a hazy spring mist amidst the gentle breeze and rain of flowers.
Their eyes met, and the two gazed at each other silently, each carefully observing the other's expression. Suddenly, the white mist in the room thickened, veiling their eyes with a moonlit veil, creating a distance that seemed both near and far, a distance that could be swept away with a wave of the hand. This concealed what was unspoken yet about to be revealed, transforming into an indescribable palpitation.
For a moment, Yin Qiu almost succumbed to those words, but when she reached out and cleared the smoke in front of her eyes to see Man Jiangxue's face, her chaotic thoughts quickly returned to calm.
The "like" that my martial aunt mentioned refers to her liking for a younger person.
Yin Qiu thought so.
Although she desperately hoped that the affection he felt was different from what she imagined, she knew very well that it was highly unlikely that she would get her martial uncle to like her.
Does my uncle ever like someone?
If so, what would it be like?
Yin Qiu couldn't imagine it.
But will the person who can win over her martial uncle be able to love him as much as she does?
Yin Qiu was a little worried again.
Man Jiangxue is good in every way, except that she is completely clueless when it comes to love. Although Yin Qiu is just as clueless, she has already figured out the ways of the world at her age, while Man Jiangxue has not made a move yet.
Having known each other for so long, apart from Yin Qiu subtly inquiring about matters of the heart, Man Jiangxue almost never mentioned them herself. It seemed as if love and romance didn't exist in her world. She had few hobbies and seldom associated with people. Sometimes Yin Qiu felt that Man Jiangxue was somewhat lonely, but she never said anything, so Yin Qiu couldn't be sure if she was truly lonely.
So Yin Qiu could only spend as much time as possible by her side so that she wouldn't feel lonely or isolated. But even though she hoped to be with Man Jiangxue for the rest of her life, life is so long, and Yin Qiu couldn't predict whether she would be the one to stay with Man Jiangxue until the end.
More importantly, would she be the one Man Jiangxue would be willing to spend his life with?
As Yin Qiu's thoughts wandered aimlessly, she couldn't help but feel a pang of melancholy.
The steam from the steamer soaked Man Jiangxue's clothes. She stared at Yin Qiu for a long time as she watched her suddenly become lost in thought. Then Man Jiangxue let go of her hand and covered Yin Qiu's face with a handkerchief from the rack.
"If we don't get out soon, the water will get cold."
Yin Qiu's wandering thoughts were pulled back by the sudden darkness. She slowly lifted the handkerchief, glanced at Man Jiangxue, and said, "Then, Martial Aunt, please wait for me behind the screen."
Man Jiangxue immediately got up and went behind the screen to wait, making sure her back was to Yin Qiu.
The candlelight cast her shadow on the screen, just like that day in Yunjian City, when Manjiangxue's figure was clearly projected into Yin Qiu's eyes, like a watercolor painting completed in one stroke.
Yin Qiu looked at her and, just like that day, raised her hand. In a place where Man Jiangxue couldn't see, she traced her outline in the void for a while. After a short while, she walked out of the pool, painstakingly dried herself off, and then closed her eyes to put on her thin undergarment.
With the doors and windows tightly closed, the white fog grew thicker and thicker. Yin Qiu felt dizzy and had trouble breathing. Only then did she believe the doctor's words: bathing during a serious illness really does wash away one's strength.
She can't stay in this house any longer.
"Uncle-Master..." Yin Qiu steadied himself by holding onto the frame, his vision blurred with stars.
Upon hearing the call, Man Jiangxue quickly came out. As soon as she saw Yin Qiu's weak and powerless appearance, Man Jiangxue took her coat and wrapped it around Yin Qiu, then picked her up by the waist and hurriedly kicked the door open, leading her into the corridor.
A chilly night wind suddenly swept in, and Yin Qiu finally got some fresh air. She breathed deeply and leaned against Man Jiangxue's chest, feeling weak.
Man Jiangxue carried her back to the room, gently laid her down on the couch, and then opened the window furthest away halfway.
Yin Qiu was still a little dizzy, but she stubbornly kept her eyes open, looking at Man Jiangxue.
"Wait for me," Man Jiangxue said, taking out her own clothes from the wardrobe. "If you're really not feeling well, you can go to sleep first."
Yin Qiu nodded, but said, "I'll wait for you."
Man Jiangxue patted her head and stayed by Yin Qiu's bedside for a while. Seeing that Yin Qiu had fallen into a deep sleep, she took her clothes and went to the bathhouse to take a bath.
When she returned, Yin Qiu was already fast asleep. Man Jiangxue turned off the light, took off her clothes and got into bed, watching Yin Qiu's peaceful sleeping face by the moonlight shining into the room.
After this serious injury, Yin Qiu lost a lot of weight. She was already on the thin side, and Man Jiangxue never felt heavy when she held her. This time, she was even lighter, and Man Jiangxue could hold her for a long time without getting tired. On the contrary, she was so thin that she was hard to hold, and it was heartbreaking to hold her.
The moonlight was soft and gentle, illuminating the room perfectly. Man Jiangxue kept looking at Yin Qiu. After a long while, she raised her arm and pulled her into her embrace, gently kissed Yin Qiu's forehead, and fell asleep next to Yin Qiu's head.
·
The next day, as dawn broke and the hour of Chen (7-9 AM) was almost over, the two people sleeping in each other's arms on the bed were still asleep.
Ji Wanshu and Bai Ling left on business, and the remaining disciples felt as if they had lost their backbone. They got up early every morning, but dared not easily wake Man Jiangxue and Yin Qiu, especially since Yin Qiu was still ill. The disciples were even more undecided. They prepared hot water and breakfast as soon as it was light, but no one dared to knock on the door, for fear of disturbing the two inside.
In the days since Yin Qiu fully woke up, she has been quite sleepy. Lacking energy, besides taking medicine and meditating, she can only rely on sleeping to recover. Man Jiangxue, needless to say, is the one who truly loves to sleep. She's fine when there's something to do, but otherwise she's lazy all day long, always looking like she can't wake up. Moreover, these past few days, to take care of Yin Qiu, Man Jiangxue has been sitting by her bedside day and night, watching over her, so she's been sleeping even more soundly than before. In short, unless someone comes to wake them, neither of them can wake up.
The disciples waited outside for a while, calculating the time and estimating that Man Jiangxue and Yin Qiu would sleep until noon, so they all planned to leave. But before they could move, the tightly closed door was suddenly pushed open gently, and then Man Jiangxue appeared in the doorway.
"Uncle-Master is awake?" The disciples hurried to greet him. "You're up early today."
Man Jiangxue put her index finger to her lips, making a "shush" gesture. The disciples followed her to a side room at the end of the corridor. After washing up with hot water, Man Jiangxue sat down and asked, "Is the doctor in the guest room still there?"
One of the disciples replied, "He left last night. He said that Senior Sister Yin's injuries were no longer a big problem. As long as she takes care of herself and avoids further injury, she can recover slowly. So he wrote a prescription and went back to the pharmacy."
Man Jiangxue then asked, "Where are the medical disciples?"
"They're brewing medicine in the kitchen."
"Go and call over the best doctor."
Upon receiving the order, the disciple immediately ran to the kitchen and invited a medical disciple over.
"What are your instructions, Uncle-Master?"
On the table were freshly boiled water and prepared tea leaves. Man Jiangxue brewed the tea herself, looked at the medicine disciple, and felt that he looked somewhat familiar. She said, "Are you Elder Xu's chief disciple?"
The disciple seemed surprised that Man Jiangxue recognized him, and replied with a mixture of surprise and trepidation, "Reporting to Martial Uncle, it is indeed me."
“That means your medical skills are quite good,” Man Jiangxue said. “Where do you rank on Wenxin Peak?”
Upon hearing this, the medical disciple showed a hint of shame on his face and lowered his head, saying, "Although I am Elder Xu's top disciple, my medical skills are not outstanding. I am only ranked fifth on Wenxin Peak, and I am not even as good as Junior Brother Meng who came later."
Man Jiangxue paused for a moment and said, "Fifth place is also quite remarkable, there's no need to belittle yourself. I called you here to ask you something." As she spoke, she blew on the teacup in her hand, "In the medical books you've read, are there any records of cases of injuries caused by the sound of a flute?"
Upon hearing her words, the medical disciple immediately looked up and asked, "Is the sound of the flute harmful?"
Man Jiangxue looked at him: "You know?"
"This disciple is not knowledgeable enough to know, but Junior Brother Meng was also investigating this before he disappeared," the medical disciple said. "He flipped through many medical books and ancient texts, and even looked at many obscure books, but he found nothing. Now, even Martial Uncle is asking about this matter. Who was injured by the flute music?"
Man Jiangxue did not answer him.
That night, before Ji Wanshu left, he specifically told her that Wen Chaoyu had mentioned a flute player, and that the person had asked her to go to the bamboo forest to rescue Yin Qiu. Man Jiangxue hadn't paid much attention to it at first, as she couldn't deduce any useful clues from just the words "flute player." However, the day before yesterday, when the doctor prescribed medicine for Yin Qiu, he inadvertently mentioned that Yin Qiu seemed to have other injuries. When Man Jiangxue asked how they came about, the doctor couldn't explain it clearly. He only said that Yin Qiu seemed to have shown signs of vomiting blood before, but he couldn't find anything. In the end, he only vaguely said that it didn't seem like the work of martial arts practitioners, but rather that it was more like being injured from a distance by something, and that the person must have profound internal strength.
With this incident, Man Jiangxue naturally became suspicious when he connected the act of injuring someone from afar with the flute player.
Now that the medical disciple says that Meng Jing has been investigating this for a long time, it means that Yin Qiu was indeed injured by someone using the sound of a flute, and it is very likely that Meng Jing was being chased because of this incident.
Why didn't Yin Qiu tell her?
Upon realizing this, Man Jiangxue fell into deep thought.
The flute player wanted to injure Yin Qiu, yet he also wanted Wen Chaoyu to save Yin Qiu. On the surface, this seemed contradictory, but upon closer examination, it can be deduced that he and the Dark Guard disciples were not on the same side. Furthermore, the fact that he knew the Dark Guard disciples wanted to deal with Yin Qiu proves that, like Meng Wugui, he must also know who the other murderer who destroyed the Ruyi Sect was. At the same time, he and Meng Wugui were not on the same side either.
So, what were the reasons behind his actions towards Yin Qiu?
Is it because he didn't want her to die at someone else's hands, but instead wanted her to die at his own?
But he didn't actually kill Yin Qiu; he only injured her with the sound of his flute. If we consider this as a form of torture, who would have such a deep hatred for the naive Yin Qiu?
The tea steamed, and Man Jiangxue's pensive face appeared somewhat profound in the mist.
The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The disciples held their breath in perfect unison, not daring to make the slightest sound.
Man Jiangxue pondered for a moment, then suddenly raised her eyes.
That's right. Yin Qiu is inexperienced in the ways of the world and has no contact with people in the martial arts world. There are very few people who want to deal with her, except for the people behind the secret guards.
In this way, after excluding the Nine Immortals Hall, only the Ziwei Sect remains. However, Nangong Min also has no motive to deal with Yin Qiu, and she would not use such a despicable trick. Yin Qiu has no enemies, and the flute player may not have been targeting Yin Qiu at all; his target must be someone else.
Seeing Yin Qiu being plotted against but being helpless, who is the person who feels the most sorry for her and can suffer the most? Besides herself, Man Jiangxue can't think of a second person for the time being.
Based on the layers of speculation, the piper could only have come for her.
She was being secretly controlled by both the secret guards and the flute player who appeared out of nowhere.
At this moment, Man Jiangxue's heart was as clear as a mirror.
·
The room remained silent for a long time, and the atmosphere became inexplicably heavy. The disciples all kept quiet, not daring to break the silence.
After a long while, Man Jiangxue finally came to her senses, nodded, took a sip of tea, and said, "You just said that Meng Jing didn't find anything?"
The disciple in charge of medicine nodded: "We couldn't find anything at the time. As for the current result, Junior Brother Meng is currently in Cang County, so we disciples have no way of knowing."
Man Jiangxue pondered for a moment and said, "Then you should go to Cang County immediately and bring Meng Jing back as soon as possible. I want to discuss this matter with him in detail."
The disciples readily agreed.
Man Jiangxue frowned, put down her teacup on the table, and got up to walk to the door. Just then, she heard the medical disciple say from behind, "Uncle-Master, please wait. I've been racking my brains for a while now. Being able to injure someone with the sound of a flute is actually unrelated to medical skills. It's a rare skill. To be honest, I traveled outside the Great Wall for a few years when I was young. I had heard a little about this skill before, but it was just some fantastical rumors. Is it possible that the person who knows this skill actually comes from outside the Great Wall? In any case, we in the Central Plains rarely hear of anyone being injured by the sound of a flute."
Upon hearing this, Man Jiangxue paused in her leg-raising motion.
Outside the pass?
Immediately, a bright, sunny day flashed through her mind. As a young girl, she first encountered martial arts in the training ground of the royal villa under her mother's tutelage. At that time, many martial arts heroes from the Central Plains came to the villa, all of whom were her mother's old friends. Man Jiangxue served tea to everyone. Although she did not call them "master," each of them said that out of respect for her mother, they would teach her all their martial arts knowledge.
There was only one person who sat outside for a long time, and his mother always acted as if he didn't exist, and wouldn't let Man Jiangxue go over to talk to him.
The next day, the man came again. He quietly found Man Jiangxue and said to her, "You are a martial arts prodigy, a one-in-a-million talent. It would be a real pity if I didn't teach you. Your mother doesn't allow you to associate with me. Do you want to learn from me?"
Man Jiangxue remembered her mother's words and replied, "You are not from the Central Plains. My mother said that she forbids me from touching any martial arts from beyond the Great Wall."
The man was not angry at her words, but just smiled. He had a bamboo flute on his waist, and he played a tune lightly with it. The next moment, a bird fell from the top of Manjiangxue's head and died when it hit the ground, with blood still dripping from its beak.
“This isn’t a skill that just anyone can learn. Your mother looks down on the area outside the Great Wall, saying it’s a heretical and unorthodox practice,” the man said, leaning down and staring at Man Jiangxue. “What do you think?”
Man Jiangxue remained silent, only looking down at the bird.
The man bent down and picked up the bird, saying, "When you reach my level, music becomes a deadly weapon. Unless you are a master with profound internal strength, ordinary people simply cannot withstand it. I have taken in a few people with good aptitude before, but none of them had the comprehension I wanted, and they only learned half of it."
Man Jiangxue said, "Half-baked?"
"It all comes down to Gu poison." The man pulled out a dark, unremarkable pill from somewhere. He opened his palm, and the pill magically transformed into an eight-legged worm, wriggling and turning endlessly in his hand.
At the same time, a faint medicinal smell permeated Man Jiangxue's nostrils.
Man Jiangxue looked at the long snake and said indifferently, "What my mother said is true, it is indeed a heretical and crooked path."
The man laughed again: "If you learn kung fu to kill, then don't worry about high or low status. If you look down on it too, then forget it, I won't force you."
Man Jiangxue waited politely for him to finish speaking, then turned around resolutely and left decisively.
That year, Man Jiangxue was not yet seven years old.
It happened more than twenty years ago, and it was just a small episode in her martial arts journey. The dust of time covered it so deeply and thickly that Man Jiangxue had long forgotten it. If it weren't for the words of that medicine disciple that woke her up from her dream, Man Jiangxue probably would never have remembered it in her life.
So, was the piper the one she and her mother had both turned away from back then, or was he just a half-baked apprentice?
At this moment, the inexplicable medicinal smell on Yin Qiu's body came back to mind. From Yao Dingcheng to now, that medicinal smell on Yin Qiu has never dissipated.
That would make him a half-baked apprentice.
Man Jiangxue remained silent for a moment, then, without further thought, turned and headed towards the room where Yin Qiu was.
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