Chapter 170
The torrential rain of the past few days washed away the snow in the mountains and forests. At night, there was no snow on Yunhua Mountain, but a clear night sky with no stars or moon.
The bedchamber remained dimly lit, with lanterns under the eaves swaying in the wind. The faint light cast only hazy shadows of the two people on the bed, and the continuous dripping of water sounded like a light rain.
His internal energy was exhausted, and his strength was rapidly disappearing like the receding tide. Gongzi Fan withdrew his hand and leaned against the bedpost, panting heavily. He coughed softly, and blood kept flowing from between his fingers covering his lips, soaking his front.
Several figures flashed past the window, and a disciple of the Brahma Heart Valley dressed in black tiptoed in, lifting the curtain as he entered.
"Godfather, Man Jiangxue just came out of the library. You're here... Godfather!"
Blood slid down the back of his hand, and a small pool of blood had already accumulated on the floor in front of the bed. Gongzi Fan took out a handkerchief with trembling hands and wiped his face, saying weakly, "Clean it up as soon as possible, don't leave a trace. Open the window and light the incense."
Time was of the essence, and the disciples had no time to offer much concern; they quickly divided the tasks and carried them out.
A female disciple used a damp cloth to wipe the blood off Yin Qiu's face and neck, and then changed her into a clean set of clothes. Everyone quickly tidied everything up, and then Gongzi Fan took out a pill from his pocket and fed it to Yin Qiu.
"Wenxin Peak isn't very close; it takes at least half an incense stick's time to walk there," the female disciple asked. "Will Miss Yin be able to wake up before Man Jiangxue returns?"
Gongzi Fan stood up, his vision blurring, and replied, "I don't know either. I never expected to be able to hide anything from Man Jiangxue. Let's go."
The female disciple looked at him with sorrow and said, "Father's power... is it gone forever?"
Gongzi Fan closed his eyes and walked forward by instinct, waving his hand as he went: "Now is not the time to talk about this." He took two steps and looked back at Yin Qiu. "While the effects of the medicine are still there, I can still leave on my own. If the effects wear off, I will have to trouble you to carry me back."
After he finished speaking, he smiled at Yin Qiu's peaceful sleeping face, and walked unsteadily out of Chenxing Palace. Several disciples followed behind, watching the situation and wiping away the bloodstains left by Gongzi Fan one by one. Only when the group was far away from Chenxing Palace and entered the maple forest did the disciples breathe a sigh of relief and become less tense.
"What about the effects of the medicine that Godfather mentioned earlier?" The female disciple, who had fallen to the back of the group, asked a male disciple beside her in a low voice.
“It’s the Cold Fragrance Pill,” the male disciple said worriedly, staring intently at Gongzi Fan’s back. “My godfather’s old illness is not cured and his power is insufficient. The Cold Fragrance Pill can raise a person’s power to the peak of their life in a short period of time. This medicine is mostly used in critical moments and cannot be taken too often. Once the effect of the medicine wears off, the person will suffer a backlash and will be extremely difficult to recover from.”
Upon hearing his words, the female disciple was stunned and asked, "What backlash?"
"You are also a martial artist, so what kind of backlash do you think it will cause?" The male disciple sighed, looking up at the sky. "If someone is healthy and without injury, the backlash will naturally be their internal energy. No matter how much they have increased, they will be doubly weakened after the medicine's effects wear off. But if someone is sick or injured..."
"My godfather has given all his power to Miss Yin tonight!" the female disciple exclaimed in shock. "According to what you're saying, senior brother, the only thing my godfather can use to turn against me is his life?!"
The male disciple frowned and remained silent for a long while before finally saying, "Before we set off, my godfather gave me the young valley master's seal..."
Before he could finish speaking, the female disciple, her eyes red, rushed to Gongzi Fan's side and said urgently, "Father, let's go straight to Wei City and find Master Meng! The Nine Immortals Hall encompasses all kinds of wonderful martial arts in the world, and their medical skills are also extremely outstanding. They must have a way to save you!"
The night wind was chilly, yet it couldn't stir Gongzi Fan's clothes. He felt dizzy and lightheaded, barely managing to keep going. Gongzi Fan said, "It's New Year's Eve now, and the guards in Yunhua Palace are lax, which is why we can come and go freely. But it's different in Shangyuan City. The chief disciple is personally stationed there. Tonight, we can only hide in the mountains and wait for their shift change before we can find a chance to leave. How can we possibly have time to go to Weicheng? I'll die on the way."
"What should we do then?" the female disciple asked anxiously. "Once the effects of the Cold Fragrance Pill wear off, Godfather will surely be in grave danger. He should have told us to come and help with the antidote for Miss Yin. Godfather, you are really something!"
"Good girl, stop arguing," Gongzi Fan patted her and laughed, "If you keep bothering me and getting angry, I'm going to faint. Will you carry me away?"
"I'll bear it, I'll bear it!" The female disciple wiped away her tears, feeling both heartbroken and unwilling. "She's just the daughter of an old friend, how could my godfather go to such lengths? We are also your sons and daughters, we can bear this sin too!"
The disciples were all holding their breath, and seeing that the female disciple was speaking frankly, they all stood there with complicated expressions, refusing to leave.
"What are you doing? Do you have to pressure our godfather at such a crucial time?!" the male disciple said angrily. "You're all so ignorant, a waste of our godfather's kindness! Leave now! We can talk about it later. Anyone who dares to cause trouble again will not be spared!"
After saying this, he angrily helped Gongzi Fan up, and the two walked ahead hand in hand. Seeing that their senior brother was angry, the disciples dared not say anything more and followed Gongzi Fan.
·
Yin Qiu gasped in the darkness and sat bolt upright in bed.
The strong taste of blood still lingered in her mouth, but the pain in her chest had disappeared. She looked around blankly, but did not see Gongzi Fan. The Chenxing Palace was empty, and there was no one else around except for herself.
The scenes that had unfolded since Gongzi Fan's arrival flashed before her eyes. Yin Qiu's thoughts were in turmoil, and her heart was filled with complex emotions. After sitting blankly for a moment, she jumped off the bed in a hurry and rushed straight to the maple forest.
The shadows of the trees swayed and the branches intertwined, and apart from the omnipresent cold wind, not a single person could be seen. Yin Qiu called out "Godfather" in a low voice a few times, but received no response. She knew in her heart that Gongzi Fan must have already left, but she still hurriedly searched the entire maple forest. When Yin Qiu returned to Chenxing Palace dejectedly, she suddenly realized—she had just used her lightness skill.
She can use light-footed kung fu now?
Realizing this, Yin Qiu belatedly pressed her chest, only to discover that all her old injuries had completely healed. Not only that, she was also full of vital energy and vitality. The illness she had been suffering from these past few days had vanished, leaving her radiant and with a rosy complexion, as if she had never been injured at all.
Yin Qiu stood frozen in disbelief at the corner of the corridor.
Was it because Gongzi Fan cured her of the Gu poison?
He even healed her injuries?
Even Elder Xu was helpless against the Gu poison. What method did he use? And what price did he pay?
Is Gongzi Fan a good person or a bad person?
A series of questions surfaced in her mind, but she couldn't find any answers. Yin Qiu felt restless and didn't know what to do. She slid down against the wall, her mind a complete mess, feeling lost and helpless, her expression blank.
Should I tell my martial uncle? Yin Qiu pondered silently.
But Gongzi Fan has repeatedly emphasized that he would never harm her. If Yin Qiu reveals his affairs, will it affect him?
But she had already become suspicious of Gongzi Fan tonight. Even though Yin Qiu was saved by him, those doubts could not be ignored because of this favor. If Gongzi Fan really killed Ye Zhilan's people, then he was very likely the mastermind behind the secret guards. No matter how you look at it, you can no longer hide this from Man Jiangxue.
Saving a life is one thing, but his true identity is another. If he still doesn't tell Man Jiangxue now, and something unexpected happens in the future that leads to irreversible consequences, it's something Yin Qiu simply can't bear.
Thinking of this, Yin Qiu immediately made up her mind to tell Man Jiangxue the truth. She suddenly got up and turned to walk out of the corner of the corridor. Before she had taken two steps, she saw Man Jiangxue walking from outside the courtyard. The moment the two looked at each other across the distance, Yin Qiu inexplicably backed down.
How should she bring it up?
Having secretly been seeing Gongzi Fan behind Man Jiangxue's back for so many years, how would Man Jiangxue react once she finds out?
Yin Qiu paused, her expression shifting several times, before finally stopping under the eaves.
·
"What are you doing standing outside?" Perhaps because the light was too dim, Man Jiangxue did not see the fleeting expression on Yin Qiu's face. She lifted her skirt and went up the steps, standing at the door and waving to Yin Qiu.
The lanterns swayed wildly in the wind, their weak, dim light shifting. Man Jiangxue, dressed in white, stood where the light and shadow intersected, her appearance unchanged by time, clean and elegant.
Yin Qiu walked slowly toward her.
"Why aren't the lamps lit?" Man Jiangxue took Yin Qiu's hand and led her into the hall. "When did you wake up?"
Yin Qiu glanced at her and said softly, "It's been a while... Has Martial Aunt gone to see the Sect Leader?"
Man Jiangxue hummed in agreement, fumbled for a tinderbox on the table, and said, "It's the New Year, after all. It'll be too lonely without lights. Are you hungry?"
Yin Qiu said, "I'm not hungry." She glanced at Man Jiangxue again, "Where's my martial uncle?"
“I’m not hungry,” Man Jiangxue said. “Why are you always peeking at me?”
Yin Qiu lowered her eyes guiltily, fidgeting with the hem of her clothes, hesitant to speak.
The candles were lit, and the room gradually brightened. Man Jiangxue turned around, looked at Yin Qiu, and asked, "Is something the matter?"
Yin Qiu didn't intend to beat around the bush with her. After all, Man Jiangxue never missed her little schemes, not to mention that she was currently incredibly conflicted and unable to calm down. So Yin Qiu took a deep breath and said, "I have something I want to tell you."
Noticing Yin Qiu's preoccupied expression, Man Jiangxue frowned slightly, about to ask a question, when she suddenly caught a faint scent of incense. She turned her head towards the bedchamber and asked, "Is someone inside?"
Yin Qiu was taken aback, then quickly ran over and lifted the curtain, looking around and saying, "Nobody's here, what's wrong?"
"No one's here?" Man Jiangxue entered, holding a lamp, and looked at the incense burner on the table. "You don't light the lamp, but you remember to light the incense. Did you light this incense?"
After waking up, Yin Qiu was so focused on finding Gongzi Fan that she didn't even notice the incense burning in the room. Yin Qiu was a little dazed. Man Jiangxue put down the lamp, stood with her back to Yin Qiu for a moment, then turned back and asked, "Has someone been here?"
Yin Qiu thought to herself that Man Jiangxue was really too perceptive. She originally wanted to confess on her own initiative, but unexpectedly, Man Jiangxue noticed it first. In this way, Yin Qiu went directly from turning herself in to admitting her guilt.
"Hmm..." Yin Qiu shrank into the corner, her eyes darting around, "Someone has been here."
“This fragrance is meant to mask the smell of blood, but you didn’t clean it properly; you must have been in a hurry,” Man Jiangxue said, her expression turning serious. “What happened? And who was here?”
Even Yin Qiu herself didn't know who lit the incense; she didn't even smell blood. Yin Qiu stared in disbelief, stammering, "I..."
Before she could answer, Man Jiangxue approached Yin Qiu and examined her thoroughly, turning her over like a pancake. After confirming that Yin Qiu was unharmed, Man Jiangxue's face darkened, and she said in a low voice, "Aren't you going to talk?"
Yin Qiu hesitated for a long time, then said, on the verge of tears, "I don't know how to say it..."
Seeing her stammering, Man Jiangxue knew something serious must have happened. She was already feeling conflicted because of her conversation with Meng Jing, and was naturally a little anxious. Man Jiangxue said, "Just say it. Someone came to Chenxing Palace, and they're injured. Who is it?"
Yin Qiu stood with her head bowed, ramrod straight, and hesitated before saying, "It is...it is Young Master Fan."
Man Jiangxue paused for a moment, as if she hadn't heard what Yin Qiu had said, and asked, "Who?"
Yin Qiu's hands were almost crumpled from holding the hem of the clothes. She wished she could find a crack in the ground to jump into, and said with her head down, "Young Master Fan."
Man Jiangxue remained silent for a moment, then asked again, "Which young master Fan?"
Yin Qiu's forehead was practically touching the ground, but upon hearing this, he could only grit his teeth and continue answering, "It's...it's the Valley Master of Brahma Heart Valley..."
Suddenly, the lamp on the table made a crisp sound, the flame burst open, and a few drops of candle wax splashed onto the table, which quickly solidified into a few specks of white wax.
Both of them fell silent at the sound.
After a long while, Yin Qiu cautiously raised her head and found that Man Jiangxue was looking at her silently, without any expression on her face.
Yin Qiu felt a chill run down her spine and quickly buried her head back down.
After an unknown amount of time, Man Jiangxue's voice rang out, asking, "What brings Young Master Fan here?"
Yin Qiu's whole body stiffened, her neck felt like it was about to break. She stared at the tips of her shoes, her thin, mosquito-like feet barely visible, and said, "He came to find me..."
Upon hearing this, Man Jiangxue knew that there would be a lot to talk about that night. She reached out and touched Yin Qiu's chin, gesturing for her to straighten up. Then she turned around and sat down on the wooden chair in front of the screen, gesturing for Yin Qiu to "please".
Seeing this, Yin Qiu knew she was doomed tonight. She walked towards Man Jiangxue with her head down, not daring to sit as an equal with her, but instead sitting on the cushion next to the low table, looking like she would obediently lower her head and listen to a scolding.
Man Jiangxue originally wanted to sit down as well, or ask her to get up, but then she thought about how many things this girl had been hiding from her, and she also wanted to teach Yin Qiu a lesson, so she let her go.
"Then tell me," Man Jiangxue leaned back in her chair, blending into the swirling smoke from the incense burner. "Do you know Gongzi Fan?"
Yin Qiu didn't dare to look at her and responded in a low voice.
Man Jiangxue asked, "How did you meet?"
Yin Qiu said, "The year I entered the palace, he found me in the new disciples' courtyard and said he wanted to teach me kung fu, and that's how we met."
Man Jiangxue did the math for a moment and said calmly, "Very good, you kept it from me for six years."
Yin Qiu sat with her knees bent and her arms around her legs. She choked for a moment when she heard this, and said, "It's not that I intentionally kept it from you for so long."
“If hiding it for six years isn’t intentional,” Man Jiangxue said, “then how could it be unintentional?”
Yin Qiu was speechless.
"Why did he approach you?" Man Jiangxue asked.
Yin Qiu said, "He is an old member of the Ruyi Sect and knows my mother. He said that if my uncle hadn't found me first, he originally planned to take me to the Brahma Valley."
Gongzi Fan is actually a former member of the Ruyi Sect? No wonder he asked Yin Qiu to keep this a secret.
“You were not even eleven years old when you entered the palace,” Man Jiangxue said. “You didn’t understand anything back then. Aren’t you afraid he was deceiving you?”
Yin Qiu recalled for a moment and said, "He had a letter that my mother wrote to him. I compared it with the Ziyin Heart Sutra, and it was indeed my mother's handwriting. Moreover, my martial uncle was not in the palace at that time. He went to Jincheng with the mission given by the sect leader. I met with him a few times and felt that he did not seem like a bad person. In addition, I really wanted to learn kung fu from him, so I agreed."
"How long did you study?"
“I studied under him until the new disciples’ meeting ended.”
How will you meet?
“Every night around midnight… he would come to find me, and we would practice swordsmanship on the back mountain of the disciples’ courtyard.”
Man Jiangxue fell silent.
She recalled Yin Qiu's performance that year and immediately understood many things.
“No wonder you made such rapid progress back then, it turns out you had someone else teaching you,” Man Jiangxue said. “And no wonder you were always dozing off during the day, it turns out you weren’t getting enough sleep at night.”
Yin Qiu pursed her lips, thought for a moment and said, "He was very good to me and taught me kung fu with great care. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have gotten second place in the new disciple competition."
Man Jiangxue looked at Yin Qiu, secretly recalling the past in her heart. She suddenly remembered a small matter and said, "That year, after I returned to the palace, I went to see you in the disciples' quarters. I found a lot of medicine bottles in the cabinet in your room. At that time, you said that Fu Xiang asked someone to take them. Now it seems that they were also taken by Gongzi Fan?"
Yin Qiu said, "It's him."
“If that’s the case, then it explains why he appeared at the Ziwei Sect’s headquarters at the same time as Meng Wugui back then,” Man Jiangxue said. “You knew all along why he saved you, but you’ve been lying to me all along, and you even pretended to be stupid when I was analyzing his intentions.”
Yin Qiu felt extremely guilty. She rested her chin on her knees and said softly, "He said that if you found out, you would definitely find out his true identity and might stop us from seeing each other. To avoid any complications, it's better to keep it from you."
"Do you know his true identity?" Man Jiangxue asked. "What is his relationship with the Ruyi Sect?"
Yin Qiu looked up at her twice, then said dejectedly, "I...I don't know yet."
We've known each other for six years and still don't know each other's background.
Man Jiangxue said, "Are you trying to drive me crazy?"
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