Chapter 22: Guarding in Secret
As autumn deepens and frost falls, the Lotus Tower slowly moves forward in the wilderness.
Li Lianhua sat in the car, wrapped in a thick blanket, still coughing uncontrollably. Each cough seemed to shake her fragile body, and her face was pale, almost transparent. Fang Duobing, worried, offered her a bowl of medicine, but Li Lianhua waved it away.
"It's useless." Li Lianhua said softly, "The poison of the green tea has already entered the heart meridians. Ordinary medicine is useless."
Su Xiaoyong, who was sorting herbs nearby, looked up when he heard this and said, "Doctor Li, the Medicine King Valley is just ahead. Perhaps there's a way to detoxify it there?"
Li Lianhua forced a smile: "Medicine King Valley...Okay, let's try our luck." Although she said that, there was not much hope in her eyes.
Over the past few days, they have been tracking down clues to the remnants of Nan Yin, but Li Lianhua's health has been deteriorating. Fang Duobing and Su Xiaoyong have tacitly slowed down their journey, seeking out warm places to rest whenever possible, but the attacks of the green tea poison have become more frequent and severe.
That night, the three of them stayed in a dilapidated temple. A chilly wind poured in through the broken windows, and Li Lianhua huddled by the fire, still shivering from the cold. Fang Duobing threw his own outer robe over him, but it was no use.
"This won't work!" Su Xiao said anxiously, "Dr. Li's cold energy is too strong!"
Fang Duobing gritted his teeth and said, "I'll go get some more firewood."
While the two were busy, no one noticed a dark shadow sneaking into the temple silently.
The sound of the flute faded into the darkness. Looking at Li Lianhua's pale face, he unconsciously clenched his fists. He had originally decided not to ask about it because of the hatred he had for the sword he had struck that day, but he couldn't let it go and secretly followed her all the way.
Seeing Li Lianhua's painful expression due to the attack of the cold poison, all his resentment instantly disappeared, leaving only heartache.
After Fang Duobing and Su Xiaoyong finally fell asleep from days of exhaustion, Di Feisheng quietly approached. He gently placed his palm on Li Lianhua's back, slowly transferring his warm internal energy into her.
In her coma, Li Lianhua unconsciously moved closer to the heat source, clinging to Di Feisheng like a drowning man grasping at a piece of driftwood. This unconscious act of dependence softened Di Feisheng's heart, and his movements became gentler.
"You are so fragile, yet you insist on holding on..." Di Feisheng sighed softly, and his internal energy continued to flow into Li Lianhua's body, dispelling the raging cold poison.
Until dawn, Li Lianhua's face became slightly rosy, her breathing became much calmer, and the sound of the flute quietly disappeared, as if it had never appeared.
The next morning, Li Lianhua felt unusually better. He puzzled over the rare warmth he felt within his body, but simply assumed it was the medicine finally taking effect.
"How do you feel today?" Su Xiaoyong asked in surprise.
Li Lianhua chuckled, "It seems better. Perhaps the poison of this green tea has its ups and downs."
This happened again and again. Whenever Li Lianhua's cold poison struck and she felt the excruciating pain, it would inexplicably ease at night. Sometimes, when she woke up in the morning, she would even find that she had been moved to a more sheltered location and covered with an extra cloak.
"I am sick, but you still add clothes for me at night?" Li Lianhua asked one day.
Fang Duobing shook his head blankly: "I slept deeply and never got up."
Su Xiaoyong pondered, "Could it be that there is a master helping me secretly?"
Li Lianhua frowned, lost in thought. Occasionally, in his half-awake state, he seemed to sense a familiar internal energy coursing through his meridians, warm and powerful, a striking resemblance to him... but then he shook his head in self-mockery.
That person hated him to the core, so how could he help him secretly?
Little did he know, every night after he fell asleep, a pair of eyes silently watched over him. Di Feisheng even sneaked into the town to steal rare medicinal herbs, secretly mixing them into his medicine bag; when he shivered with cold, he did not hesitate to expend his own internal energy to ward off the cold for him.
One night, a heavy snowfall strands the Lotus House in the wilderness. Li Lianhua suffers a severe attack of her cold poison, leaving her body icy cold as if she's fallen into an icy cave. Fang Duobing and Su Xiaoyong are terrified, but there's nothing they can do.
Late at night, when both had fallen asleep from exhaustion, the sound of a flute drifted in through the snow. He generously channeled his pure internal energy into Li Lianhua's body, until her body warmed up, while his own lips turned pale from the excessive internal energy consumption.
"You never know how to take care of yourself..." Di Feisheng gently stroked Li Lianhua's sleeping face, his tone helpless and distressed, "If I really let go, what will you do?"
Just as she was about to leave, Li Lianhua suddenly muttered in her dream: "A Fei... don't go..."
Di Feisheng's whole body was shocked, but he saw that Li Lianhua was still immersed in her dream, with a tear sliding down the corner of her eye. He paused for a long time, and finally leaned over and placed a kiss as light as a snowflake on Li Lianhua's forehead.
"I'm here," he whispered back, knowing the other person couldn't hear him.
The next day, Li Lianhua woke up and was surprised to find a jade hand warmer in his arms, which was just the right warmth. He picked up the hand warmer and examined it carefully. He saw that the jade was lustrous and the carving was exquisite. It was definitely not an ordinary item.
"This..." He was full of doubts.
Fang Duobing came over to take a look and exclaimed, "Isn't this warm jade? It's said to generate heat on its own and is priceless! Where did it come from?"
Li Lianhua remained silent, her eyes sweeping across the snow outside the window. Besides Fang Duobing and Su Xiaoyong's footprints, there seemed to be another shallow trace, but it was blurred by the falling snow.
One day, the three of them were attacked. Li Lianhua was nearly shot by an arrow due to exhaustion, but at the critical moment, a stone flew out of nowhere and accurately deflected the arrow.
Su Xiaoyong supported Li Lianhua and looked around cautiously: "Someone just helped me!"
Li Lianhua looked towards the distant woods with a sense of something, and saw a figure in black clothes flash by. The back of the figure was so familiar that it made his heart palpitate.
"The sound of a flute..." he muttered to himself.
"What?" Su Xiaoyong didn't hear clearly.
Li Lianhua shook her head: "Nothing, maybe I saw it wrong."
He didn't dare to hope, for fear that he would become even more desperate if his hope was dashed.
However, that night, he felt that warm inner strength again in a state of half-sleep and half-wakefulness. This time, he forced himself to stay conscious and slightly opened his eyes.
In the dim moonlight, he could vaguely see a familiar silhouette sitting beside him, his palm lightly touching his back, and his internal energy flowed into his body like a warm current.
"A Fei..." Li Lianhua called out unconsciously.
The figure froze noticeably, then immediately withdrew his hand and tried to leave.
Li Lianhua suddenly grabbed the other person's sleeve and said, "Don't go..."
As their eyes met, time seemed to stand still. Countless emotions flashed through Di Feisheng's eyes: surprise, struggle, heartache, helplessness...
Finally, he gently pried open Li Lianhua's fingers, tucked the corner of the quilt for him, turned around and disappeared into the night.
Li Lianhua stared blankly at the slightly swaying door curtain, the warmth of her palm still lingering from the touch she had just made. This wasn't a dream.
At that moment, he suddenly understood many things: the inner strength that kept him warm every night, the inexplicable appearance of the warm jade, the help in times of crisis...
It turns out that person never really left.
At first light, Li Lianhua found a small jade bottle beside her pillow. Inside the bottle were three red pills, emitting a strange fragrance. Attached to the bottle was a note, written in sharp handwriting:
"One pill a day can suppress the toxicity."
There was no signature, but Li Lianhua recognized the handwriting.
He gripped the jade bottle tightly, and a long-lost smile unconsciously appeared on the corner of his lips.
Outside the window, a figure in black saw the smile from afar and finally left with peace of mind.
This game of secret protection seems to be going on for some time.
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