She opened her mouth, making a hissing sound.
Liu Sandao handed her lip balm and applied it to her chapped lips before she said in a hoarse voice, "Xiao... Chen..."
"I am here."
I leaned closer and smelled the mixture of Chinese medicine and hospital disinfectant in her hair: "Please don't speak, rest first..."
"Don't lie to me..."
She suddenly gripped my wrist tightly, her nails digging into my flesh: "My own body... I know..."
Liu Sandao turned his face away, looking at the wall elsewhere, but his legs kept shaking.
Yuan Ying's gaze fell on the Thunderstrike Sword at my waist, and she suddenly smiled.
The wrinkles at the corners of his eyes furrowed: "Lin You's matter... is it all settled?"
I was stunned. Remembering that she was still worrying about this before she fell into a coma, my throat felt even more sore.
"When the remaining limbs were all found, she was very calm during the ritual."
"That's good……"
Yuan Ying nodded, and the IV fluid suddenly flowed backward: "Human hearts are more ruthless than ghosts... Remember that..."
She was breathing heavily, so Liu Sandao quickly raised the headboard.
Yuan Ying pointed to the back of my neck: "The mole from the Li trigram... it's showing..."
As she spoke, she raised her hand and touched the back of my neck, her fingertips tracing the mole, gently stroking it as she had when she taught me to draw talismans.
"This mole... is a 'yin eye'... In the future... don't show it easily..."
The electrocardiogram monitor suddenly emitted a rapid "beep beep" sound.
Her hand slipped limply to the ground, but her eyes remained fixed on me.
Liu Sandao gasped for breath, blurring his reddened eyes.
“Yingniang, just say what you have to say. This kid is listening. If he dares not to listen, I’ll dismember him.”
Yuan Ying took a deep breath, and her voice suddenly became clearer.
"On the third floorboard in the study... there's a metal box... inside are my savings... take it for shop expenses..."
She paused, coughing up bloody phlegm: "Remember, whatever you do, whatever you do, don't open that coffin in the warehouse, don't... cough cough cough..."
"Yingniang, please stop... I would rather die than open it."
I looked down at the age spots on her hands and remembered the first time I met her; she was weak but very strong.
But how much time has passed? Half a month?
How did it turn out like this?
I remember when Lin You came to see me, she was perfectly fine. How could she suddenly be unable to do it?
"You'll get better. Once you're discharged from the hospital, I'll take you on a trip."
"Silly child..."
She squeezed my fingers with all her might: "My life... has actually been worth it."
She suddenly looked out the window; raindrops were pounding on the glass. "It's raining... Water without roots... Good..."
The electrocardiogram monitor emitted a long beep.
Liu Sandao suddenly stood up and turned off the alarm.
I saw Yuan Ying's pupils gradually dilate, but she was still staring at the mole on the back of my neck.
Her hand slowly loosened, and as the last trace of warmth disappeared from my palm, a thunderclap boomed outside the window.
Rainwater streamed down the glass, forming small puddles on the windowsill.
Water without roots will never enter the mortal world again.
Liu Sandao stood up and stomped his leather shoes on the ground: "She left calmly because she knew you were coming."
I nodded and straightened Yuan Ying's cuffs.
The rain outside the window was getting heavier and heavier, and I suddenly remembered what she had said: "The most ferocious thing is not a ghost, but the human heart."
Now that she's gone, I'm left alone to discern the true nature of people's hearts and minds in this world.
"Brother Liu."
I stood up, the Thunderstrike Sword at my waist slightly warm: "Let's handle Yingniang's funeral according to the rules of our Taoist sect."
Liu Sandao nodded: "It's all prepared. She even chose the coffin, but she specifically instructed that it shouldn't be a big affair."
He sniffed and suddenly laughed: "Let's go, don't let Yingniang lie here anymore, she hates troubling others more than anything in her life."
I picked up Yuan Ying's pillow, where strands of her hair were still on it.
As I passed the nurses' station, I overheard people talking about the torrential rain, saying that the rain had flooded the streets.
I took out the silver bracelet from my pocket. Zhang Xixi's "Eternal Union" inscription gleamed coldly in the rainy night, while Yuan Ying's warmth still lingered in my palm.
It turns out that some people really are like water without roots, leaving without a chance to say goodbye.
But the skills she left behind, and that saying "human hearts are more ruthless than ghosts," will probably stay with me for a very long time.
...
Three days later, I sat in front of a wonton stall on the street.
The steaming hot wontons were placed in front of me, but I was a little distracted.
Yuan Ying has been gone for three days. In accordance with her last wishes, there was no grand funeral.
It was just Liu Sandao and me. We found a pickup truck, hired a few workers, transported the coffin up the mountain, found the pre-reserved spot, and buried it.
Everything is very simple.
Just like when I first met Yuan Ying, and her sudden departure, it was all simple.
What I find surreal is that, until my death, I was never able to truly call her "Master."
Just as I was lost in thought, my phone suddenly "dinged" and sent me a news notification.
The title is extremely shocking: "Shocking! Young woman living alone was brutally murdered in her home; the gruesome sight of her skin being peeled off is appalling."
I intended to just scroll past it, but these kinds of attention-grabbing headlines are constantly popping up online.
But the corner of the mink coat in the picture made me pause.
Suddenly, the image of the unfaithful man's first wife, the woman in the mink coat, that Zhang Xixi had mentioned flashed into my mind.
Could it be such a coincidence?
Out of curiosity, I clicked in to take a closer look.
The news reported that a young woman was found dead in her bathtub in an upscale residential community in the city.
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