Chapter 185 Cui Yuqing:
Shen Bingsi stopped fastening her buttons and looked at Cui Xingmiao: "Oh? What is it?"
Cui Xingmiao pursed her lips: "You must stay on the mountain and be my medicine apprentice for three years... no, five years."
Patients with no money or power who are cured by medical practitioners voluntarily stay to serve as medicine apprentices for them, which is also a way of repaying the kindness. Cui Xingmiao's condition is not too unreasonable.
But Shen Bingsi wasn't unable to afford the consultation fee; in fact, he didn't beg Cui Xingmiao to treat him.
"Let's forget about it. I'm getting on in years. It's not appropriate for me to be a medicine boy." Shen Bingsi continued fastening the buckle.
"You know what I mean! For the next five years, you are not allowed to leave Yunshan Sect. You must stay by my side. Only then can I guarantee that the person I saved at all costs isn't an ingrate!" Cui Xingmiao gritted her teeth. Saying such words of weakness was really not her style, but this Shen Bingsi was really too difficult to deal with. Even though he was clearly at a disadvantage, he put on an attitude that he didn't care about his own life at all.
"Then you'd better not save me," Shen Bingsi said, fastening her shirt and sighing. "Open the barrier and let me out. I promise I won't expose you."
"..." Cui Xingmiao choked with anger. She stared at Shen Bingsi rummaging through the golden fish-patterned bag. Remembering what Xiao He had told her before she came, she suddenly calmed down. "Fine, I'll open the barrier and see how many steps you can take? In your current state where you could collapse at any moment, do you really think you can walk to Cui Yuqing alive?"
Shen Bingsi froze, as if lost in thought.
Cui Xingmiao laughed, feeling a sense of accomplishment at having Shen Bingsi under her control again: "What, not leaving? Think it through. Five years is just the time it takes for a cultivator to go into seclusion once. Being my medicine boy isn't anything shameful. How about we change our title to 'guard'? You can be my guard for five years in exchange for a long life. This deal is incredibly worthwhile."
Shen Bingsi remained silent.
"Or are you worried that Brother Rong will have a problem with it? It's just five years, in exchange for your life. If he really cares about you, he should be thanking me, not criticizing you." Cui Xingmiao stroked the pattern on her sleeve. "If he can't even wait five years, then he doesn't deserve your special treatment. What, you don't even have this much faith in him?"
Shen Bingsi stared at the pants in his hand for a long time, and finally sighed: "Do you really have to watch me change my pants?"
Cui Xingmiao exclaimed "Oh dear!" and turned around.
A rustling sound came from behind her, and Cui Xingmiao's ears burned: "That's not what I meant. Don't slander me. I've seen at least eighty, if not a hundred, adult male corpses of your size. What's so interesting about that?"
"Oh? That's good." The rustling stopped. "I've changed. Well then, farewell."
"Wait, stop!" Cui Xingmiao shouted.
Shen Bingsi had already darted a zhang away, heading towards the barrier.
"Are you really not afraid of death? This barrier is protected by a forbidden spell. Try touching it! With your current frail body, you think you can fight a losing battle?"
"Then please help me open the barrier, Miss Cui." Shen Bingsi made a "please" gesture.
Cui Xingmiao stomped her feet in anger: "You really don't know what's good for you. I'm trying to save you, and you're courting death. Fine, you won't listen to reason, so I won't open the barrier for you. You can just stay here obediently. When you've thought things through and agreed to my conditions, then I'll let you out."
Shen Bingsi's expression darkened: "Oh? Is Miss Cui going to force me?"
“I’ll force you, so what? I can knock you down with one finger right now. You have no room to negotiate.” With that, Cui Xingmiao quickly walked around the spirit-gathering stone and headed up the hillside. A few steps ahead was the entrance to the barrier she had just entered.
Shen Bingsi glanced at Cui Xingmiao's back, then at the barrier shimmering with a blue light in the sunlight, and quickly made a judgment. He flew after Cui Xingmiao and caught up with her before she reached the entrance.
Cui Xingmiao was no ordinary person either. Hearing the sound of wind behind her, a cold smile appeared on her lips. Without turning her head, she unleashed a wood-based spell, sending vines lashing out at the person behind her.
Shen Bingsi groaned, and a heavy thud came from the ground.
Cui Xingmiao's heart tightened. He thought that Shen Bingsi's meridians were damaged and she could not use her spiritual power. He was completely defenseless against her attack. Could she have been injured?
As Cui Xingmiao was about to turn back, a hard object radiating coldness pressed against her back, instantly sending a chill down her spine: "Shen Bingsi! You're so treacherous! I tried to save you, and this is how you treat me?"
"If you want to save me, open the barrier in front of you." Shen Bingsi's breath was heard behind Cui Xingmiao's ear. Clearly, he had also taken a real hit and was not in as good a condition as he was pretending.
"You really have a death wish!" Cui Xingmiao said angrily. "I think it's questionable whether you can even get out of here alive."
“You can take a look,” Shen Bingsi nudged Cui Xingmiao, “Hurry up.”
"Ugh!" Cui Xingmiao felt a tingling sensation in her back acupoint, and her whole body felt extremely uncomfortable. She cursed, "Fine, if you want to die, then die!"
The cyan character "Cui" reappeared in the void, and the forbidden zone barrier spread out like ripples, revealing a hole in the middle large enough for one person to pass through.
Shen Bingsi thus took Cui Xingmiao hostage and left the forbidden area behind the mountain.
"Can you let me go now?" Cui Xingmiao said angrily. "Are you going to stab me to death with the Shengxie Sword?"
The cold, hard object was still pressing against Cui Xingmiao's back. Shen Bingsi chuckled, "Wait a minute, I have some questions to ask you."
"I'm not going to tell you how to get to Cui Yuqing's grave. Forget about it!" Cui Xingmiao said coldly.
Shen Bingsi's body visibly stiffened. He took a breath and asked softly, "He... he's already dead?"
"Hmph." Cui Xingmiao turned her face away and did not answer.
"Fine, I'll find out for myself. But..." Shen Bingsi took a breath, then asked breathlessly, "Where is Rong Xie?"
"What?" Cui Xingmiao asked in surprise, "How did you know—"
She realized she'd let something slip halfway through her sentence, and Cui Xingmiao wanted to pinch her own mouth. Letting something slip with Rong Xie was one thing—after all, Rong Xie was incredibly perceptive—but how could she have let something slip with Shen Bingsi, that straightforward blockhead?! She'd fallen into the same trap twice in one day!
"Hey... It's only been half a day, and you've described my symptoms so clearly, you even know why I came here," Shen Bingsi laughed, seemingly very happy. "If I hadn't met Rong Xie, would there have been any other possibility?"
"You!" Cui Xingmiao realized she had been too hasty. But it didn't matter. These two scoundrels were so in sync, they were like an ironclad block, no one could get in between them. She didn't care anymore! Cui Xingmiao sneered, "That's right, he's on this mountain too. It's a pity. Everyone knows about your relationship. When you die from the backlash and your body is discovered by the patrolling guards, he will inevitably be implicated. Originally, you could both have been safe. After I healed you, I could have easily found an excuse to send him down the mountain. Alas, it's a pity that the opportunity is gone now."
Hearing Cui Xingmiao's sarcastic remarks, Shen Bingsi's breathing became even heavier. Cui Xingmiao smelled the blood in the air and knew that he was furious with her, but so what? He asked for it.
“As long as I don’t get caught, he’ll be fine.” Shen Bingsi gave a heavy laugh. “I understand. Thank you, Miss Cui.”
Shen Bingsi suddenly shoved Cui Xingmiao, who felt her back go numb and her limbs become immobile. She stumbled forward and almost fell to the ground. In that instant, a gray figure disappeared into the grass, rustling a few times before disappearing into the depths of the forest and never to be seen again.
Cui Xingmiao slowly sat down on the ground and pounded the ground hard.
Suddenly, she realized that someone seemed to be missing.
"Xiao He? Where has that brat Xiao He gone again?"
"Cui Xingmiao." A deep, gentle voice, yet brimming with immense power, rang out, "You get over here!"
Cui Xingmiao felt as if she had been doused with ice water; this time, she was numb from head to toe. She looked up in the direction from which the sound came and saw a tall, middle-aged woman holding Xiao He by the back of her collar in one hand and a giant pestle in the other, standing at the end of the hot spring complex, her gaze fixed on Cui Xingmiao with piercing eyes.
"Big, big aunt..."
The weather in the mountains is always unpredictable. It may be sunny in the morning, but by the afternoon, it will rain heavily. The sky may seem to have turned into a thick, dark stone, pressing heavily on the treetops.
With a loud clap of thunder, a torrential downpour began, the rain pounding against the treetops all around, creating a crackling and popping sound.
A figure stumbled through the woods, nearly falling several times before grabbing onto tree trunks to pull himself back. The massive tree roots were obstacles that required all his strength to climb over. His clothes were soaked through by the rain, and there were mottled bloodstains on his chest and cuffs.
Shen Bingsi leaned against the tree trunk, catching his breath for a while. When the tearing pain in his chest subsided, he thought of Rong Xie again. He knew he shouldn't be thinking of Rong Xie at this critical moment, but the thought that Rong Xie was also in this mountain, and that they weren't thousands of miles apart, made Shen Bingsi feel warm in his heart, yet also very painful.
Several times, Shen Bingsi felt like he was about to collapse, and if he did, he might not be able to get up again. So he tensed up, not wanting to let himself fall. It didn't matter if he was caught, because Rong Xie was here. He couldn't let Rong Xie be punished because of him.
For him, Rong Xie had already suffered a great deal, both after his Dao Heart was shattered and before. All of Rong Xie's sorrow and grief in this life stemmed from him. He didn't want to see him show even the slightest sign of pain again, from now on...
From now on, their life as Daoist partners has just begun. How could he stop here?
Shen Bingsi wiped her face, forced herself to cheer up, and continued walking in the direction she remembered.
Suddenly, lights appeared at the end of the dark woods. Shen Bingsi perked up and moved towards them, stumbling along the way.
That's the right road. If he's not mistaken, if he walks a few more miles, he'll see the courtyard where he lived as a child.
He lived in the courtyard with his mother and Cui Yuqing when he was a child.
Cui Yuqing...
"Who goes there?!" A sharp shout rang out from Shen Bingsi's right rear, and in an instant, several patrol guards holding torches surrounded her.
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