Chapter 81 The life I was given is all I have...
Compared with his casual words at this moment, all the true and false rumors downstairs seemed compassionate and gentle.
Young Master Jin Sheng must have been eager to ask this question for a long time. With his complex mind, who knows how many possibilities he's secretly deduced and how many layers of probing he's laid.
He kept pestering her senior brother like this again and again, and even though Qing Guiyu was a big-hearted person, she was still a little annoyed.
This guy had orchestrated this massive mess, dragging everyone into it, only to act like he'd been let down and question an innocent, unfortunate person like her. How could this be justified?
What a beautiful venomous snake that can never be tamed. She cursed fiercely in her heart.
To avoid falling once again into those eyes, so serene and profound, she decisively chose to flee. With a light flick of her bamboo flute, she traced a crisp arc and turned toward the door.
"Young lady,"
The voice behind her also followed, still gentle, but like a hanging thread covered with ice, delicate and stubborn, trying to linger around her wrist again.
"Since you're looking for the Warm Jade Needle, you must be using the Yellow Emperor's unique needle technique of 'life for life'."
Shen Jiansheng had already reached her side, the distance between them no more than ten fingers. He tilted his head slightly, his face, which looked even more elegant under the inn's light, still showing a quiet and gentle expression.
"Now, Lu Guiyan's body is severely damaged and his life span is nearing its end. Do you also plan to use it again?"
He leaned down slightly, and his black hair fell down with the golden thread. A few strands of hair brushed against her cheek, bringing a cold and itchy touch, like a poisonous snake spitting out a tongue with a cold fragrance.
"Just like... when you saved me."
It's like recounting an old story that has nothing to do with me.
Qing Guiyu finally stopped and raised his eyebrows.
"Yes." Shen Jiansheng lowered his eyelashes and even smiled lightly, with a wavering sadness.
"Miss Qing really does care."
"But," he was silent for a moment, then hesitantly said, "You...almost died then."
Qing Guiyu finally turned around and met his misty eyes. "So?"
The engraving sound paused for a moment, and the hand wrapped in gold thread slowly rose up, its fingertips vaguely tracing her outline in the air, but never falling.
"Seven years ago, in Medicine King Valley," his voice suddenly became deep, as if he was retrieving memories one by one from a deep well of memories, "When I woke up, the first person I saw wasn't you."
He turned his head blankly and raised his hand.
"What I saw was Miss Qing's senior brother. He was holding you."
"Yes. He held you, Miss Qing." Shen Jiansheng's fingertips traced the air beside her cheek. "You looked like you were about to die. You were covered in blood, and your breath was so weak that it was almost imperceptible."
He paused, a cruel calmness appearing on his overly handsome face. "But I've never seen anyone cry like that."
These blood-stained memories were engraved in the air again by him in the calmest voice, stroke by stroke.
"He wanted to kill me." Shen Juansheng smiled calmly, "Your senior brother stood right in front of me, sword in hand. But, in the end, he didn't make a move."
"Maybe because he's scared."
Even after seven years, that chilling murderous intent could still be clearly conveyed through his gentle tone.
"I'm afraid that I, whom you exchanged half your life for, will be killed so easily by a single sword. If he kills me—"
The young man in black leaned forward again, his pupils so close to her that she could almost see the light sinking beneath the icy film.
He smiled at her and said, "Your hard work has been wasted."
"But as for me," he slowly raised his head and said calmly, "I was thinking..."
He then lowered his eyelashes, letting the long shadow fall across his face, and continued steadily, "I was thinking at the time, it turns out there are people who are willing to sacrifice their own lives for Miss Qing."
"So, being favored and having your life saved is something that can... drive others crazy with jealousy."
At this point, Shen Juansheng seemed genuinely pleased, a faint, distant smile playing across his lips. The tangled strands of hair and the golden thread all fell silently.
"Miss Qing," he was too close, so close that he could see his eyelashes trembling with his breathing. The young man paused for a moment, raised his hand, and gently stroked his blind eyes with his fingertips.
“And then,” he said softly, as if discussing a pathology, “well, I realized I couldn’t see anything.”
The cold hand slowly lowered itself, and the fingers gently clasped together in front of him.
"That young lady who injured herself and nearly lost her life in order to save me..."
The voice was very low, like the private whispers of lovers.
“…That’s mine.”
"In these seven years, Miss Qing, I have nothing. This little thing, the fact that you exchanged your life for me, is all I have."
Young Master Jin Sheng slowly turned around, took a few steps back, and slumped back into a nearby chair. He lowered his head, his hands nervously twisting the gold wire around his wrists.
"Now, are you going to give this only thing of mine to someone else again?"
The golden thread began to tremble slightly along with the owner's mood. He suddenly raised his head and stared at her blankly with his empty eyes.
"Are you going to die for someone else again, Miss Qing?"
Qing Guiyu has a bit of a headache.
This guy... is probably having another attack, just ignore him.
Wait.
Wait a minute.
"Chen Juansheng," she turned her head suddenly, "Why are you willing to tell me this at this moment?"
Shen Juansheng seemed startled by her sudden questioning, his body stiffened slightly, and the sorrowful look on his face suddenly disappeared. This young master Jin Sheng lowered his head and said calmly and concisely,
"It must be because after Miss Qing found the Warming Jade Needle, before she planned to use it to save your senior brother, I wanted to find a way to kill him first."
This shocking confession made Qing Guiyu choke with anger. The words were still stuck in his throat, but Shen Juansheng seemed to be afraid that she would misunderstand him, so he suddenly continued to speak in a panic, his tone was so urgent that it seemed like he was making an excuse.
"...If the situation were reversed, I'm sure your senior brother... would act the same way."
He suddenly stood up, stumbled a step, and hurriedly reached out to grab her wrist. His eyes, now blind and icy, were instantly filled with confusion and fear.
"...Even so, Miss Qing, will you still hate me?"
Very good, it is worthy of being the poisonous snake she rescued. It even spits out its tongue before biting people. When asked if she is afraid, she asked if she is afraid.
Qing Guiyu sighed inwardly, feeling that all the good temper she had accumulated in her life would be wasted on Shen Juansheng. His demeanor was simply an attempt to soften her heart, to draw her closer, or perhaps to reveal the secret of the Warm Jade Needle to him.
But she was no longer the silly girl in the medicine house, and she certainly wasn't completely unimproving. The secrets of the two cold exercises, and even the secrets of Huangdi's ultimate needle, might all be in her hands.
"Sound of engraving," she sighed, raised one hand, and placed it on the back of his hand that was holding hers. Her hand was cold and trembling. She pried open his fingers one by one.
"Why should I hate you?" She asked calmly, her voice clear and bright in the silent room.
"You kill because you think you deserve it. You scheme because you're the only one who can scheme. It's like a wolf wants to eat meat and a bird wants to return to its nest. It's in your bones. Why should I hate you?"
Shen Juansheng's hand trembled violently, as if hurt by her words, but he did not refute it.
Qing Guiyu finally took his hand completely off her wrist, and then held it with her backhand to prevent him from taking it back.
"You're right," she looked at him, her eyes sparkling. "Seven years ago, I almost died. To save you."
"I've also thought about this. If something really happens to my senior brother, should I use the 'life for life' method again, just like I did when I saved you?"
As soon as these words came out, Shen Juansheng's face turned even paler, and his lips, which had no blood color to begin with, began to tremble violently.
He seemed to want to say something, his Adam's apple rolling, but she spoke first.
"But, Shen Tianji," Qing Guiyu seemed to be thinking, "You seem to think that this is the only way I can save people through medical practice."
She exerted force on her hands, took his hand, and pulled him, forcing him to stand up from the chair and stagger to her.
The young man couldn't see and could only be passively led by her, seeming a little confused.
She raised her head and continued irritably,
"The Three Needles of the Yellow Emperor are not meant for suicide."
He pursed his lips again and pointed at the noisy gangsters downstairs.
"My life, Qing Guiyu, is not meant to be used as a touching addition to your stories about heroes and beauties."
She raised her head, her bright eyes looking straight into his beautiful yet empty eyes, understanding every word clearly.
"I treat illnesses and save lives with my brain, my skills, my medical advice, and the exhaustion of my life's knowledge, trying every possible method under the sun. I don't rely on banging my head against a wall and using my life to fill another hole."
She suddenly let go of her hand, took a step back, and looked at the young man in black clothes in front of her with her arms folded.
"Master Jinsheng, you can put aside your 'I'm going to kill him to prevent you from rescuing him' trick. Because I have no intention of doing that at all."
"As for my brother's injury, and your poison..." She looked him up and down, the disdain in her eyes undisguised, "I'll think of another way."
Although the young man in black clothes could not see her, he still stared at her direction stubbornly, blankly and motionlessly.
Seven years.
For a moment, the conceited and cheerful girl in the medicine house back then suddenly raised her head amidst the layers of calculations and shadows.
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