Great Zhou World
Xiao Ziyi's bedroom was well-ventilated. Though it only had one door, it was flanked by four or five tall, narrow side windows. The night breeze blew through the hall, carrying the coolness of the courtyard's vegetation but also a touch of warmth. Ten days after bringing Ning Yangyang back home, this bed, untouched by the hustle and bustle of the night, was finally tainted by the scent of others. At this moment, he lay flat on a couch covered in dark brocade, his shoulders half exposed, his posture stretched out like a resting tiger, deliberately creating an air of casual relaxation. Yet, the sweet warmth of the calming incense burning perfectly on the table, combined with the faint, faint blush on his cheek, illuminated by the candlelight and like the smudge of fine rouge, betrayed a hidden, sinister intent.
Nangong Xi knocked her knuckles on the door three times, but the only response she got was the whimper of the draft. She hesitated for a moment, and finally pushed open the heavy wooden door that seemed to isolate her from another world. The man on the couch had his eyes closed, his breathing was long and steady, and he seemed to have fallen asleep. She quietly placed the warm tea she brought on the table, her eyes swept across his sleeping profile, then she collected her thoughts and approached lightly. Su Bai's fingers twisted out a few silver needles that gleamed with cold light from the small cloth bag. Her left hand was suspended in the air, her fingertips moving slightly, searching for the most precise acupoint. However, the man's seemingly unconscious head shook slightly, which added a bit of trouble.
The cold fingertips with thin calluses gently supported Xiao Ziyi's forehead. This was a very common touch for a doctor, but at the moment when the skin touched, an invisible fuse was ignited. The eyes of the two met unexpectedly - Nangong Xi's drooping eyelashes were focused and cold, while Xiao Ziyi's half-open eyes were filled with a bottomless vortex. Before the silver needle on Nangong Xi's fingertips fell, his wrist was grasped tightly by a hot and powerful hand! The feeling of suffocation suddenly came over him, and Nangong Xi's fair face flushed instantly, and a small muffled groan came from his throat.
"Miss Nangong is here, why don't you say anything?" Xiao Ziyi's voice was low and smiling, with a hoarseness from just waking up, but his eyes were as sharp as a knife. He passed over Nangong Xi's shoulder and pierced straight into the corner outside the window that he thought was hidden. "I thought it was... some ignorant and unruly citizen who wanted to assassinate me at night." The strong and pungent incense outside the window, which was incompatible with the night wind, had already exposed the existence of the "eavesdropper".
Their sleeves tangled as they tugged at each other. The bitter, lingering scent of herbs from Nangong Xi's body wafted into Xiao Ziyi's nose, strangely loosening the grip of his fingers for a moment. Nangong Xi seized this fleeting opportunity, violently breaking free from the iron-like shackles. She stumbled back a step, her breath coming in short gasps. "It's a cool, windy night. I'm afraid I'll disturb His Highness's sleep. Let me go close the window first." She turned and ran towards the offending window, almost as if fleeing.
"Snap!" The window closed quickly and fiercely, leaving only a piece of Ning Yangyang's gorgeous collar stuck in the gap.
"Xiao Ziyi! You definitely did it on purpose!" Ning Yangyang's exasperated scream came through the window paper, with a comical feeling of being muffled, "Okay! I'll watch the moon here tonight! Oh, the moon is so big and round tonight!" She deliberately raised her voice, and her voice echoed in the empty courtyard.
The flickering candlelight cast the cold gleam of a silver needle deep into Xiao Ziyi's half-lidded eyes. He leaned back against the soft couch, the dark brocade making his complexion appear even colder and paler. Beneath his languid posture lurked a palpitating sense of oppression. The bitter yet warm aroma of angelica and mugwort mingled with Nangong Xi, who sat upright before the couch, struggling to calm his beating heart.
"There are so many doctors in the mansion, but you insist on borrowing my people. Xiao Ziyi, I'm going to report you to Xiao Yuhuan and accuse you of raping a girl!" Ning Yangyang's voice once again served as the voice-over, but this time it was accompanied by difficult gasps from someone whose neck was strangled, sounding more like a bird that was being dragged up and flapping its wings in vain.
Nangong Xi took a deep breath, suppressing the panic in her throat, and forced herself to refocus on the silver needles at her fingertips. Grandpa's teachings echoed in her ears: The acupuncturist must calm their mind and breathe deeply. She picked up the last slender silver needle and fixed her gaze on his tense solar plexus. Her cool, calloused fingertips were about to find the acupoint—
"Doctor Nangong's hands..." Xiao Ziyi didn't raise his eyelashes, but his low voice was like a hook soaked in honey, abruptly sliding into the deliberately maintained silence, "He has saved countless lives by practicing medicine... but I don't know if he can save this 'terminally ill' person in front of him?" He dragged the last word very slowly, and his breath brushed against the inside of her wrist, which was close to her, causing a small, uncontrollable shudder.
"If you are sick, take medicine! What's the point of teasing the doctor!" Ning Yangyang's "voice-over" sounded dutifully, almost shouting at the top of her lungs, for fear of missing any line that could be used to complain.
"Ning Duoyu," Xiao Ziyi's voice suddenly turned cold, carrying the chill of utter irritation. "You truly live up to your name—an eyesore." Before he finished speaking, the figure on the couch, without moving, flicked his fingers! A stone shot out like lightning, with a soft "puff" sound, precisely piercing the window paper, barely glancing off Ning Yangyang's right neck, leaving a burning sting.
Outside the window, silence fell instantly. Ning Yangyang was clearly shaken by this merciless "warning," finally realizing the disparity in their power. She cursed bitterly, yanked her collar free with a sharp, snapping sound, and ran. Before she left, she frantically signaled to Nangong Xi with her eyes—that bowl of medicine! Don't forget the one with the added ingredient!
Nangong Xi was bewildered by Ning Yangyang's winking and blinking, but when she followed the direction she'd been staring at, her eyes fell on the bowl of dark brown medicine, and she suddenly understood. She took a deep breath, as if mustering the courage to die, and nodded ever so slightly but firmly in the direction Ning Yangyang had disappeared.
Xiao Ziyi didn't even lift her eyelids from beginning to end, as if she was just brushing away a speck of dust. Nangong Xi quickly cleared up the remaining panic and a barely perceptible trace of guilt on her face. The man on the couch still looked calm and indifferent. Her fingertips paused imperceptibly, and the silver needle hovered just a fraction away from his skin. She forced herself to look at her nose with her eyes and her heart with her nose, focusing only on the subtle pulsation of the blood vessels under her fingers, as if the teasing and threat just now had never happened. Only the thin blush that quietly spread from the ears to the neck, like rouge spread on the snow, revealed the shock of her heart - perhaps, it was more of a strong uneasiness about the "wrongful deed" that was about to be carried out.
"Your Highness and your Princess, your brotherly love is truly admirable." Her voice was as clear as the clash of jade, her movements steady as a rock. The silver needle pierced the acupuncture point with swiftness and a touch of professionalism. "However, when it comes to headaches, the most important thing to avoid is excessive thinking and impulsive anger." She withdrew the needle, turned, and took the medicine jar from the small charcoal stove nearby. She poured out half a cup of thick, dark brown medicine. A bitter aroma instantly filled the air, a white mist veiling her drooping eyelashes, but strangely, it failed to completely dispel the invisible heat that lingered in the air, stirred by his words.
A faint, cold curve curved the corners of Xiao Ziyi's lips. He finally lifted his gaze, resting heavily on her lowered profile. The flickering candlelight outlined her slender, fragile neck and her lips, pursed into a straight line. The effortful concentration and detachment she maintained were more difficult to decipher than the most complex and treacherous secret reports he had ever reviewed. He watched as she steadily held the medicine cup to his eyes, yet made no move to take it.
"The medicine is bitter." He stared into her eyes, his tone filled with unquestionable willfulness, and also seemed to contain a test laced with poison. "I heard that Doctor Nangong's magic hands can turn decay into something magical... Is there any way to make this bitter water that pierces the intestines produce some tempting sweetness?" His eyes seemed to have substance, roaming over her face, capturing every subtle change.
Nangong Xi's hand holding the medicine cup was steadily suspended in mid-air, but her fingertips were slightly white due to excessive force, and the joints were clearly visible. The steaming medicinal vapor blurred the struggle and determination that flashed in her eyes. She was silent for a moment, then raised her eyes again, her eyes clear and open, with the awe-inspiring manner of a doctor, and met his bottomless eyes that seemed to want to suck people in: "Good medicine tastes bitter but is good for the disease. Your Highness is wise and should know this. If you only crave sweetness, the medicine may not be effective and will instead undermine the root cause." Her voice was still steady, but every word was clear, like a drop of gold and stone, with unquestionable authority, "This medicine must be taken while it is hot, otherwise it will lose its effect when it is cold. Your Highness, please." She steadily pushed the medicine cup forward another half inch, her posture respectful, but she built an invisible barrier called duty.
The bowl of dark brown medicinal soup, like a scalding rock, hung heavy just inches away. The steaming heat silently sawed and dissipated where their eyes met. Xiao Ziyi's gaze slowly shifted from the unpleasant liquid to her stubborn, clear eyes, as icy as a pond. Those eyes clearly reflected him at that moment—deep, tentative, and tinged with a hint of displeasure at being disobeyed. Her words, "Erosion at the root," were like a tiny, icy needle, precisely piercing a hidden corner of his heart.
He suddenly chuckled softly, his chest vibrating slightly. The sound of his laughter was particularly clear amid the heavy medicinal aroma, and also particularly... dangerous. He finally reached out and took the warm medicine cup. As he took it, his fingertips, intentionally or not, extremely slowly brushed against her knuckles, where she had been holding the cup's rim. The touch was brief but searing, like the edge of a red-hot iron, causing Nangong Xi's fingertips to jerk back, nearly dropping the cup. Fortunately, she managed to steady herself in time, preventing the cup from spilling.
"Doctor Nangong's words are like pearls of wisdom, like a revelation." He stroked the warm wall of the cup, but his eyes were still like poisoned hooks, firmly locked on her face, which had suddenly lost its color. The undercurrent in his eyes, like a deep pool, was surging, stirring with unspeakable emotions. "But no matter how bitter this medicine is, when it is served by Doctor Nangong himself, it seems... to have a different 'flavor'." Before he finished speaking, he stopped looking at her, raised his head, and his Adam's apple rolled up and down neatly, drinking the thick, black, pungent medicine in one gulp! The sound of swallowing was infinitely amplified in the silent room, so clear that it was palpitating.
A domineering bitterness instantly exploded in his mouth, conquering the city, yet not even a frown twitched, as if he had drunk not a bitter medicine but a nectar. The empty cup was casually tossed onto the low table, making a crisp "ding" sound, particularly piercing in the silence.
"Alright." Xiao Ziyi leaned back heavily on the couch and closed her eyes. The brief trace of relief between her brows, brought on by the effects of the drug, was quickly dragged into a deep, bottomless slumber by the powerful sleeping pills. Her breathing became heavy and drawn out.
Nangong Xi almost held his breath as he carefully packed up the silver needle cloth bag, picked up the empty medicine cup that was still warm, and quietly left the bedroom filled with the aroma of medicine, incense, and invisible gunpowder as if he was holding a hot piece of evidence.
Returning to her simple room, Ning Yangyang was still awake, pacing back and forth not far away like an anxious little animal. Upon seeing Nangong Xi, she rushed over like an arrow, grabbing her shoulders with both hands. Her gaze was like a searchlight, carefully scanning her from head to toe, front to back, several times. After confirming that this "little white rabbit" was indeed intact, with not a single hair missing, she breathed a long, exaggerated sigh of relief, hugged her in her arms, and rubbed her cheek against her hair, which smelled of medicine: "You scared me to death! I'm glad you're back safely! Come on, go to sleep!"
"Little sister has fallen asleep?" Nangong Xi was a little breathless in her hug and asked softly.
"Yeah, he's sleeping soundly!" Ning Yangyang agreed, pulling Nangong Xi towards the bed, but her mouth seemed to open as if it had opened a floodgate. "Look at my brother! Isn't he exactly like what I described before? Irritable and capricious! Obsessed with lust! A wolf in human skin!" Speaking of Xiao Ziyi's "bad words," Ning Yangyang instantly became energized, her sleepiness completely gone. Her voice rose an octave, her tone firm and filled with the certainty and disdain of someone who had experienced it firsthand, as if stating an irrefutable truth. This highly inflammatory description made Nangong Xi frown slightly, and his impression of the prince was cast a shadow again.
"Your Highness...is he really that kind of person?" There was a subtle hint of hesitation and confusion in Nangong Xi's voice.
"I swear!" Ning Yangyang immediately raised three fingers, facing the non-existent god, with a face full of confidence and righteousness, "If I tell even a single lie, let me... let me buy pastries filled with bitter melon next time!" This oath was already quite "vicious" to Ning Yangyang, who loved sweets.
Suddenly, Ning Yangyang seemed to remember something crucial. She grabbed Nangong Xi's wrist and asked anxiously in a low voice, "Oh, right! Are you sure your distant relative on the southwest border is there? Is he in the right place?"
Just now, Ning Yangyang's mind was struck by the cold reminder of a new mission: [Escort Nangong Xi to the Southwest Border]. This mission instantly filled her with gloom. Although she remembered that the "Heaven-Heaven Shifting Talisman" in the system's item library could easily solve the long journey, the problem was that she had just spent almost all of her remaining compensation on a pack of powerful sleeping pills and a "Quick Learning Music, Chess, Calligraphy, and Painting Gift Pack"! Now her pockets were empty! Buying props? Forget it! And right now, the main storyline was progressing at a snail's pace! And the male protagonist's one-sided affection was so rapid... Ning Yangyang was practically going insane. This mission was simply adding fuel to the fire! Adding fuel to the fire! Adding icing on the cake? Ugh!
Ning Yangyang was truly "worried" to the point of being unable to sleep—worried about the missions, the points, and the ridiculously slow plot! But wait! Suddenly, an idea flashed through her mind! A forgotten extra mission popped up! It seemed... easier to complete?
"System!" Ning Yangyang called out anxiously in her mind, "That guy from the fantasy world has now traveled to our ancient world. Are his spells that can control the wind and rain still there? Isn't this setting of yours purely to cause trouble for me?!" Ning Yangyang's scalp tingled at the thought of that guy who might have buggy abilities running rampant in the plot.
"...Unknown. There is no precedent data to refer to." The system's cold electronic voice was silent.
"Then you should report it quickly! Let the higher-ups handle it!" Ning Yangyang was so anxious that she jumped up and down (in her mind).
"The vulnerability was caused by an operational error by the user 'Ning Yangyang'. After reporting and handling, the user will bear the main consequences." The system logic is clear and the blame-shifting posture is standard.
"You!" Ning Yangyang was furious, and a sense of tragic heroism surged in her heart, "Okay! Fine! The two of us! Let's go together! Follow this broken basket! Destroy it! Die together!" She let out a silent roar in her mind, waved her fist fiercely at the air, then threw herself into the quilt in frustration, staring at the ceiling of the tent, as if she wanted to burn through it with her mind.
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