Chapter 47 Leaving
Cheng Ying slept very soundly, and when she woke up again, it was already broad daylight.
She recalled what had happened last night and subconsciously looked towards the spot opposite the bed.
The snakes and insects from last night were all gone, not even the strange, dark blue worm. Only Big Yellow was sleeping sprawled out beside her, as if what happened last night was just her imagination.
Cheng Ying sat on the bed in a daze for a long time. She heard the sounds of roosters crowing from the village outside the window. She raised her watch on her left wrist and saw that it was about 7:30. She wondered if Long Buxi had returned yet.
She yawned, did a quick wash, and went downstairs.
"Good morning, did you sleep well last night?" The second floor was filled with smoke as Long Buxi cooked porridge by the stove.
His face was even paler than Cheng Ying had seen yesterday, and there were heavy dark circles under his narrow eyes, clearly because he hadn't rested well.
Cheng Ying felt something was off and walked over, saying, "I didn't sleep well last night. A lot of insects entered my room in the middle of the night. Luckily, your Gu worm appeared—that ghostly blue worm—and saved me. Why are you back so early? Have you finished your work? Didn't you sleep last night?"
“Alan has already told me about what happened last night.” Long Buxi pointed to the Orchid Insect sleeping on the dining table on the left side of the living room with her slender finger. “I know you were in danger, but something happened in Lizhai last night, and I really couldn’t get away to come back and protect you. I could only send Alan back. By the time I got back, it was already dawn.”
The pale blue insect named Alan raised its little head when it heard him speak, and let out a weak squeak, looking like it hadn't slept well either.
This was the first time Long Buxi admitted to having Gu worms, and the first time he openly displayed Gu worms in front of Cheng Ying.
Cheng Ying wasn't too surprised and asked directly, "What happened to those bugs last night?"
Long Buxi stirred the boiling white porridge in the pot with a spoon. "Someone wants to use you to divert my attention and force me out of Lizhai."
"What do you mean?" Cheng Ying frowned. "Are there internal divisions and conflicts among the people in your village?"
The boiling porridge gradually sank to the bottom, indicating it was cooked. Long Buxi put down her spoon, set the cooked porridge aside, and turned to look at Cheng Ying, her eyes filled with weariness: "Wherever there are people, there is conflict. I am not popular in the village, and many people have always opposed me becoming the young clan leader. The old clan leader's health is deteriorating, and he may pass away at any time. They don't want me to be the next clan leader, so they inevitably try every means to coerce and entice me, trying to prevent me from becoming the next clan leader. This has also made the old clan leader increasingly disgusted with me, ultimately leading to my removal from office."
After he finished speaking, he asked Cheng Ying, "Last night, you weren't bitten, were you? You weren't hurt, were you?"
"I'm fine, and I wasn't bitten." Cheng Ying shook her head. Seeing his thin body, he looked unsteady on his feet. She quickly went over to help him get his bowl and chopsticks, without asking what he was doing in Lizhai or why he looked so tired.
As soon as she approached Long Buxi, Long Buxi's expression suddenly changed, and he looked up at her, saying, "You've been bewitched."
It wasn't a question, nor a doubt, but a confirmation that she had been bewitched.
Cheng Ying raised an eyebrow, "How did you know I was bewitched?"
"I smell an unfamiliar Gu worm." Long Buxi sniffed in front of her, his expression growing increasingly grim. "It's a Heart Gu! Who would dare to use such a forbidden Gu worm on you?!"
His gaze darkened as he looked at the orchid-scented insect on the table behind her. "Ah Lan, I told you to keep an eye on her, and you just stare at her like that?!"
Alan felt his gaze and jumped up, slumped onto the table, her chubby little body kneeling in a gesture of worship, her head bowed, not daring to look at him, and making two soft squeaks, looking pitiful as if she had done something wrong.
Long Buxi stared at it intently for a long while before muttering to herself, "You said you were disturbed by a phantom Gu and didn't notice any Gu worms approaching her..."
Illusion Gu, what kind of strange Gu worm is that?
Cheng Ying interrupted him, "Didn't you cast the spell on me?"
Long Buxi looked at her, a hint of mockery on his handsome, jade-like face. "I've said it before, I won't use any spells on you. If I wanted to use a spell on you, it would be a love spell, making it impossible for you to leave me. Why use a heart spell, which can completely control a person's mind and turn them into a boring piece of wood? What would be the point of having a person like that?"
Cheng Ying was shocked and gasped, "If it wasn't you who cast the heart-cursing spell on me, then who did it, and what was their purpose?"
"They probably want to use you to deal with me, to take my life." Long Buxi's lips curled into a cold smile. "There are quite a few people in the village who want me dead."
Cheng Ying fell silent as she recalled his past.
Long Buxi is seen by the people of Pucang Village as a monster who murdered his father, mother, and brother. Yet, he is also a prodigy in Gu cultivation, with an extremely eccentric and aloof personality. He is unwilling to interact or get close to the people in the village. The old clan chief insists on making him the next clan chief. The people in the village consider him a cold-blooded monster who kills without blinking an eye, and there are many who fear him, envy him, and hate him.
As the old clan chief's health deteriorated, those in the clan who opposed him inevitably developed other intentions, not unlike the power struggles of those who sought to seize power in ancient times.
Cheng Ying didn't completely believe what Long Buxi said. Having experienced the Central Gu, she was wary of everyone in Pucang Village.
She didn't want to pry into what Long Buxi had been doing these past two days, and said directly, "I've stayed at your house for too long. I feel like I'm almost fully recovered. I can't neglect my postman job, so I'll leave after breakfast and get back to work. Thank you for saving my life. You've treated me to good food and drinks and even brewed medicine for me, which helped me recover so quickly. I can't repay your kindness. If you ever come to town, I'll treat you to a meal."
"You're leaving?" Long Buxi frowned slightly. "Your injuries haven't fully healed yet. You'll need to stay for another three days before you can move around in perfect condition."
“My injury has healed, and I’m leaving to go back to my job,” Cheng Ying insisted.
Long Buxi sighed almost imperceptibly, "You can leave if you want, but you have to take the medicine I made with you before you go. You have to apply it to your body every day for three days in a row."
Cheng Ying thought for a moment and didn't refuse, but asked with some concern, "Is there anything wrong with your medicine?"
Long Buxi understood the implication in her words and said helplessly, "Cheng Ying, can you please not think of me as so bad? If I wanted to harm you, why would I save you? The day you fell off the mountain, I might as well have watched you die."
Cheng Ying said expressionlessly, "I'm a postman. On my first day on the job, I was running the mail route in your village when I fell down there. You saved me just because you were afraid I would really die in the village and cause trouble for your village. You didn't do it out of any kindness."
Long Buxi was speechless after hearing her words, and rubbed her temples with a headache, saying, "I can't argue with you, so take off your clothes."
Cheng Ying:
Long Buxi said, "If you're going to leave, won't you remove the Heart Gu before you go? How am I supposed to know if the Heart Gu has been planted in your heart if you don't take off your clothes and let me check?"
"Thank you. The Heart Gu has been cured by your aunt, Mei Shu," Cheng Ying said indifferently.
Long Buxi seemed to know that she had gone to see Mei Shu, and was not surprised: "It's strange that she would kindly remove the curse from you."
Cheng Ying didn't speak, but stared at him intently, her eyes conveying what she wanted to say.
Long Buxi's eyes were innocent: "I don't get along well with my aunt. I thought she didn't like me, and your father had a past with her. I was sure she wouldn't help you if you were bewitched. I didn't expect this..."
He paused for a moment, then continued, "I really want to leave the village and visit where you live, but unfortunately, I am the young clan leader, and I bear the responsibility of protecting the entire village. I cannot leave the village and go outside at will. I'm afraid I won't be able to eat the meal you're going to treat me to."
Perhaps because he hadn't slept well, or perhaps because he knew Cheng Ying was leaving, Long Buxi was in a bad mood. He didn't eat breakfast and stayed at his medicine station, pounding medicinal herbs with a stone mortar and pestle.
He didn't finish grinding all the medicinal herbs until Cheng Ying finished her breakfast. He prepared a three-day supply, put it in a large medicine jar, wrapped it in a piece of cloth, and placed it in Cheng Ying's parcel. He repeatedly reminded her to remember to apply the medicine.
Before Cheng Ying left, he took out a deep blue sachet and handed it to her. "Take this. It has insect-repelling properties. With it, you won't be bitten by snakes, insects, or rodents on the road, and you can also avoid most of the Gu worms in the village."
Cheng Ying: ......
She was reluctant to accept it, not wanting to owe Long Buxi another favor, but the roads she traveled on to deliver mail were so remote and desolate that she would always encounter snakes, insects, and wild beasts. She didn't want to be bitten by those snakes and insects, delaying her mail delivery, nor did she want to be cursed by the villagers again when she came to Pucang Village to deliver mail. After hesitating for a moment, she still accepted the sachet.
She thanked Long Buxi, slung her mailbag and crossbody bag over her shoulder, took Dahuang (her dog) with her, and left the stilted house, heading towards Ayi Mountain along the road leading out of the village.
As she walked along the pebble path lined with irises, she suddenly remembered that she had placed the irises by her bedside this morning. Three days had passed, and they should have gradually withered, but one of them showed no signs of wilting and was as vibrant as if it had just been picked. Suspicion arose in her heart, and she couldn't help but turn back to look at Long Buxi's stilted house.
He turned around and froze.
Long Buxi stood on the second-floor corridor, looking at her with a deep gaze.
It rained last night, but today is a bright sunny day. The bright sunlight shines on the corridor, and Long Buxi stands in the halo of light, making his cold, white, and exquisitely beautiful face even more beautiful, like the purple-blue irises blooming in the valley, both enchanting and aloof.
Long Buxi stood there alone, her long, jade-like hands resting on the corridor railing, silently watching Cheng Ying leave without saying a word. For some reason, she gave off a sense of vulnerability, being lonely and helpless.
When he saw Cheng Ying turn around to look at him, his dark eyes lit up, and a smile gradually appeared in them, like a bright and kind star in the night sky, so bright that it was impossible to ignore.
Long Buxi stretched out her long arm, waved to Cheng Ying, and called out loudly, "Goodbye, Cheng Ying, take care on your journey."
He clearly appears as a boy who is an orphan, hated and disliked by everyone, yet still sunny and cheerful.
Cheng Ying felt a pang of sadness and waved to him, "Goodbye, Long Buxi. Go back now. I'll bring you some delicious food next time you come."
Long Buxi's lips curled slightly, her smile exceptionally bright. "Okay, I'll wait for you."
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