Chapter 25 Flute Under the Moon
After a long while, Mu Yao finally felt safe, and her crying gradually subsided. She loosened her grip on Qin Wuyan, wiped away her tears, and noticed that her sleeve was damp. She tilted her head and looked carefully in the moonlight before she could see clearly...
That's blood... How could there be blood?
She thought she was injured, but she didn't feel any pain and there were no wounds on her body.
She looked up abruptly, "Master!"
Mu Yao stared at his right hand behind his back: "Are you injured?"
Qin Wuyan said, "No, I'm fine. Let's go, it's not safe here." As he spoke, he pushed her forward with his left hand.
Mu Yao refused to give in and tried to pull his right hand. Qin Wuyan didn't want her to see it, so he pulled back against her. In the struggle, Mu Yao's hand accidentally pulled his wound again, and he couldn't help but pause and groan.
In that brief moment of hesitation, Mu Yao grabbed his arm, pulled him close to her eyes, and lifted his sleeve. When she saw the wound, she froze in shock.
how so?
She just bit Qin Wuyan's arm?
The person who held her captive and prevented her from escaping wasn't that terrifying red-eyed man, but Qin Wuyan?
She stood there stunned, vaguely remembering that he had called her name at the beginning, but she was too scared and bit down without thinking.
Now, the wound was soaked with blood and teeth marks. The bitten area was only held together by a tiny bit of skin. She trembled, afraid to touch it, lest it fall off...
It turned out that he had protected her from the beginning, which was why she wasn't hurt.
Thinking of this, Mu Yao immediately turned around behind him, her breath catching in her throat.
Five bloody welts stretched from his shoulder to his waist. His clothes were torn, and the exposed skin was covered in blood. Even though it was night, she could still clearly see how deep and painful the wounds were...
She finally understood where the blood on her sleeve came from.
It got wet when she was holding him.
Looking at the wounds, tears welled up in Mu Yao's eyes.
If he hadn't protected her, all these injuries would have been on her body, and yet she bit him, biting him so deeply and so hard...
My body doesn't hurt, but my heart aches terribly.
"Yao'er!" Qin Wuyan was most afraid of her crying, so he quickly said, "It's just a minor injury, I'm really fine."
"Master..."
She cried even harder, tears streaming down her face: "Master, protect me... I even hurt you, Master... Waaaaah, I didn't mean to, Master... Waaaaah..."
Qin Wuyan felt both heartache and amusement, and pulled her into his arms again. "I know, I know you didn't mean it. You didn't see it was me. I know, Master isn't in pain. We'll just put some medicine on it when we get back. Don't cry, okay? We need to hurry back to Fox Ridge Mountain."
Mu Yao continued to cry, saying fiercely, "You're lying! With so many injuries and such big wounds, how could it not hurt?"
She knew how hard she had bitten him, and she saw how badly he had been injured protecting her. How could he say that it didn't hurt just to comfort her?
Hearing her words, Qin Wuyan found it both amusing and helpless. He simply took out the wound medicine he always carried with him and handed it to her, saying, "Then can you apply the medicine for me?"
He shook the medicine bottle and smiled, "It's not too much for me to ask you to apply medicine to the wound you bit, is it?"
For the first time, Mu Yao was stung by his smile. Such a deep wound, so painful, yet he could still smile.
She didn't speak, took the medicine bottle, and continued to stare blankly at him.
Seeing this, Qin Wuyan sat down and extended his arm to her.
She knelt beside him, lowered her head, and carefully sprinkled the medicine on the wound.
"Does it hurt?" Although she knew it was a pointless question, Mu Yao couldn't help but ask him, afraid that she might hurt him again.
Qin Wuyan smiled and said, "It's alright, I'm tough, this little pain is nothing."
Mu Yao's eyes welled up with tears. She gazed at him quietly for a while, then suddenly leaned over and gently kissed his cheek.
Qin Wuyan was stunned.
The moonlight reflected in Mu Yao's eyes, making them clear and bright. She smiled and said, "When I was sick and in a lot of pain, my mother would kiss me and say that it would make the pain go away."
Even though he knew it was just a child kissing his cheek, Qin Wuyan was still stunned for a long time. After all, she didn't know who he used to be, but he knew clearly that she was Biyao...
The thought that she was Biyao, and that she had just kissed him, made Qin Wuyan feel dizzy, as if he were dreaming.
Mu Yao didn't notice anything unusual about him and continued to gently apply the medicine to him.
Her focused expression was quite different from her usual spoiled demeanor. Qin Wuyan gazed at the girl's serene and beautiful face. Although her cheeks still had some baby fat, her features were almost identical to those of the former Biyao.
The thought of the danger she had encountered filled him with worry. If he hadn't arrived in time to stop the attack from the man in black, she might already be... He closed his eyes slightly, not daring to think about it.
He couldn't continue to be passive like this; he had to do something.
In this life, he must never let her be hurt again.
After treating his arm, Mu Yao went behind him to apply medicine, but the wound was too big, and a bottle of medicine only managed to cover a single bloodstain before it was gone.
Mu Yao was extremely sad and couldn't help but want to cry again, but she was afraid that her tears would fall on him and aggravate his injuries, so she tried her best to hold back.
"Master," she called softly, "is there any more medicine?"
Qin Wuyan said, "That's all. I only took one bottle with me when I left."
Mu Yao stood up and took his hand: "Then let's go back quickly."
"Alright!" Qin Wuyan gathered his spiritual power, intending to carry her on the wind, but he felt that he couldn't mobilize the power in his body. He tried to recite the earth-遁术 (earth-遁术 is a type of magic spell), but it was no use at all; his whole body felt as if it were locked up by something.
"Master, what's wrong?"
"It seems I can't use magic for the time being." He suddenly loosened his belt, took off his upper garment, and said, "Yao'er, take a closer look at the wound on my back. Is there anything unusual?"
Mu Yao rushed over to look. She had only seen that his skin was bleeding from being scratched, but now that all his clothes were off, she realized that the wound was black and that something like scales had grown around it.
Mu Yao exclaimed in shock, "Master, it seems...it seems like you have grown a lot...a lot of scales on your back..."
She didn't know how to describe it. The scales, some blue and some black, looked like fish scales, densely packed, and even undulating. Under the moonlight, they were extremely eerie and terrifying, making her scalp tingle.
Knowing she must be scared, Qin Wuyan turned around, quickly pulled up his clothes, and said, "It's the Azure Scale Technique."
Mu Yao asked, puzzled, "What is the Azure Scale Technique?"
"It's hard to explain in a short time. In short, it's a high-level spell that can temporarily deprive a person of their cultivation, making them unable to use any spells. If they cultivate to the highest level, they can even absorb the cultivation of others to enhance themselves. However, the Azure Scale Technique has harsh cultivation conditions, so it is very easy to go into qi deviation."
He held Mu Yao's hand and noticed it was trembling. Knowing she was worried about him, he reassured her, "Don't worry, I'm not in any danger. It's just that I can't fly you back now. I'm even more worried about you getting lost on your own. For now, I'm afraid we'll have to walk back."
Mu Yao asked, "Where are we now? How long will it take to walk back to Fox Hill?"
Qin Wuyan said, "It might take a day to get from Poisonous Snake Valley to Fox Ridge Mountain."
Mu Yao was startled. She had heard Qin Wuyan mention this place before. It wasn't far from Fox Ridge Mountain, but the place was teeming with poisonous snakes and insects. Qin Wuyan was injured, and if something else happened to him, she really didn't know what to do.
For the first time, she felt the importance of strength, and for the first time, she also felt so weak that she couldn't protect herself, let alone him.
She used to enjoy his protection and thought that as long as she was by his side, even if she didn't know anything, she wouldn't be afraid because he would always protect her and nothing would happen to her.
But now she understands that he will protect her, but he will also be hurt because of her.
Mu Yao secretly vowed that once she returned to Fox Hill, she would cultivate even more diligently. She didn't want to see him get hurt again, and she couldn't rely on him or depend on him for protection forever.
As she was deep in thought, Qin Wuyan suddenly took a pill from a medicine bottle in his waist pouch and handed it to her.
"This is a poison-avoiding pill. The Valley of Poisonous Snakes is full of poisonous insects and snakes. We won't be able to get out for a while. If you get poisoned, it will be troublesome."
Mu Yao obediently swallowed the pill and opened her eyes wide to look around. It would have been better if she hadn't known; once she realized where she was, she felt an eeriness permeating everything, sending chills down her spine. Suddenly, she felt something cool crawl up her leg. She reached out to grab it and was instantly terrified: "Ah!! A snake! Master, Master, save me!"
She quickly threw the snake away, and in fright, she clung to Qin Wuyan, pressing herself tightly against him.
Qin Wuyan embraced her with one arm, his voice steady: "Don't be afraid." With his other hand, he took out the Demon-Controlling Flute, his thin lips parted slightly, and the clear and sharp sound of the flute rang out in the mountains and forests, like the cries of monkeys in the mountains, a mournful howl, and like the babbling of flowing water, free and unrestrained.
The rustling sounds in the woods rose and fell, but the sounds dared not approach the two and gradually faded away.
Mu Yao nestled in his arms, looking up at him. The moon hung high in the sky, and the man before her was bathed in its light, like a crane standing alone on a sandbar, with a majestic bearing and elegant demeanor.
It was the first time she had heard him play the Demon-Controlling Flute, yet she felt as if she had heard it many times before. Fragmented images flashed through her mind, and in the hazy light, she saw him standing under a peach tree, his handsome face accentuated by the vibrant blossoms. She heard the clear voice flowing from his lips, yet it carried an indescribable sorrow.
A familiar voice echoed in his mind: "Disciple of the Poison God, why is there a sense of desolation and sorrow in this flute music?"
Why does it sound so much like her voice?
Was it her? But she had never said anything like that.
Who is it? Who exactly is it?
Mu Yao racked her brains, trying to find some clues, but suddenly her head started to ache terribly, and all the thoughts that had just flashed through her mind vanished completely.
All that could be seen before him was the jade flute Qin Wuyan held to his lips, and all that could be heard was his ethereal and melodious flute music.
Mu Yao came to her senses. At this moment, Qin Wuyan's flute music slowly stopped. His voice, which was both majestic and arrogant, rang out above her head: "These little things, after so many years, actually dare to offend me."
He looked down and saw that Mu Yao looked blank. He thought she was scared, so he gently patted her head and smiled, "It's alright. The things in the Poisonous Snake Valley may seem scary, but as long as you have the Demon-Controlling Flute, they are nothing to fear. When we get back, I will teach you how to use this flute to control these poisonous creatures."
Mu Yao nodded thoughtfully, then, recalling the words that had just crossed her mind, asked, "Master, who is the Poison God?"
Qin Wuyan's expression hardened. He didn't recall ever mentioning the Poison God to her, but since there were many former disciples of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect in his sect, he figured she might have heard about it from somewhere. So he said, "The Poison God is my master. Why are you asking about him?"
Mu Yao stammered, "N-nothing, it's just that the name suddenly popped into my head."
Qin Wuyan said, "When my master, the Poison God, was still alive, the Poisonous Snake Valley was his territory. The poisonous creatures here were raised by him for many years, so it is possible that some of his consciousness remains."
Upon hearing Qin Wuyan's words, Mu Yao also felt that what she had just experienced was some kind of illusion, and stopped thinking about it.
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