Chapter 49, 049: "Buddha above, forgive me, forgive me."...
The little poisonous creature's long eyelashes fluttered like the wings of a butterfly, as if a pebble had fallen into a deep, still pool, causing a ripple to spread rapidly and instantly turn into a raging storm!
The person stirring up trouble at the eye of the hurricane gave a fleeting, light kiss and then withdrew. The little poisonous creature was only stunned for a moment before quickly reacting. Its eyes suddenly changed, and it tried to chase after the fallen snow, but its clothes slipped through its fingers. Jiang Ling'er ran forward a few steps, then suddenly stopped and reached out to catch the falling snow.
The snowflakes melted instantly in my palm.
"It's snowing!"
I don't know when it started, but the sky began to snow heavily again.
Jiang Ling'er cheered excitedly, her almond-shaped eyes sparkling. Besides being happy about the snow, she was also thrilled because she had always vowed to clear the old镖头's name and avenge him, yet she remained trapped in a vortex of confusion, unable to escape. This sudden snowfall was like a ray of light; she, who had been lost in a tangled mess, unable to see her way forward or backward, suddenly had light and direction.
Although she was skeptical of Yang Dalang's words, regardless of whether this little Taoist priest was a little immortal or a little charlatan, she was one step closer to the truth.
Since Zhao Xiao, He Yong, and everyone else all say that the old镖头 (bodyguard/escort) has been hiding the "Longevity Manual," and since everything is because of this damned "Longevity Manual," then she will go to the source of this damned thing and find out. She will definitely... definitely be able to clear the fog of mystery and vindicate her father!
As if a huge boulder that had been weighing on her heart had loosened slightly, Jiang Ling'er felt a long, long time since she had felt so carefree! She chased after the snowflakes, which were as big as goose feathers, for a while longer, until she suddenly could no longer feel the Netherfire on the little poisonous creature's body. She was shocked and decided that she could not take another step forward. Only then did she realize that the little poisonous creature had not caught up with her.
She turned around and saw a blinding white light in the distance, and there was the little poisonous creature kneeling on one knee, its hand clutching its chest… She paused:
"What’s wrong with you?"
Jiang Ling'er was stunned for a moment, then rushed over, but the little poisonous creature raised its hand to stop her first: "...I'm fine."
He struggled to his feet, shook his head, and then walked in the opposite direction.
Jiang Ling'er was stunned: "Isn't the Lingxiao Sect located in the Great Lonely Mountain in the north...?"
The little poisonous creature paused, glancing sideways at her. Her beauty was as pure as snow, her eyebrows sharp as blades, her eyes like daggers.
"Who said they went to the Lingxiao Sect?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Jiang Ling'er stood there stunned.
Only after the little poison creature had gone far away, the sudden loss of her Netherfire power made her shudder and almost fall to the ground. She then snapped out of her daze and jogged after the little poison creature.
"Shouldn't we be going to the Lingxiao Sect?"
The little poisoner's thin lips were pressed into a line. Perhaps it was because the snow was too cold, but the little poisoner's profile was cold and frosty white, a sickly paleness, just like when they first met in the dungeon, pale as a ghost.
The little poisonous creature ignored her and continued walking forward, its long legs moving extremely fast.
Jiang Ling'er hurriedly caught up with him, but the little poisoner was so tall and had long legs that she had to jog to keep up with his pace.
When no one paid her any attention, she went around to the other side of the little poisonous creature and kept chattering:
"If we can find the little fairy, we'll definitely be closer to the truth..."
The little poisonous creature finally gave up, and stopped. It glanced at her sideways.
"The truth? What is the truth? What does it have to do with me?"
Jiang Ling'er paused, stunned. She wanted to open her mouth to argue, but in the end, she only opened her lips in vain, silently swallowed the rest of her words, and said nothing more.
His hands, hidden in his sleeves, were clenched into fists.
Yes, he's right.
What does it have to do with him?
Everyone is eager to obtain the "Longevity Manual," and they have already offended the Demonic Sect. At this moment, she is hated by everyone and doesn't even dare to show her real name. It's obvious to anyone that her future is uncertain and full of danger. So why should she ask him to risk his life to accompany her to find the truth?
On what grounds?
The snow was heavy and vast, and soon I was covered in snow.
Just now I felt that the snow had illuminated the way forward, but now I only feel that the distant trees are shrouded in mist and clouds, and the empty mountains are desolate with snow and moon.
There was no way forward; all I could see was a vast expanse of white earth... What road was there?
At that moment, she was like a lost child, standing there blankly, letting the snow fall all over her shoulders.
The little poisoner glanced at Jiang Ling'er again, his fist clenched in his sleeve, his brows furrowed slightly before relaxing, and he turned his head away hurriedly, saying:
"Let's hurry and find a place to stay before nightfall."
After saying that, he took the lead and left. Jiang Ling'er stood there in silence for a while before finally getting up to follow him, but she always lagged behind the little poisoner by one step. The carefree smile on her face had vanished, and she didn't speak for a long time afterward.
Hearing the slow footsteps following closely behind, the little poisonous creature's tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly, but quickly furrowed again. He walked faster and faster, his back to her, channeling his energy into his palms to press acupoints all over his body, but he still couldn't stop the excruciating bites of the Gu worms...
He gritted his teeth and struggled to hold on, exerting so much force that his knuckles turned white and his eyes reddened. After a long while, he finally let out a soft breath, and the pain from the Gu worms biting his body subsided. He glanced behind him and saw Jiang Ling'er following closely behind, her head lowered and kicking the remaining snow at her feet in a muffled manner.
The little poisoner twitched its lips slightly, then suddenly remembered the kiss from earlier... and couldn't help but wipe its lips with its thumb.
With his right hand behind his back, he couldn't help but rub his fingertips together again, as if the soft touch from before was still there.
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The moon, like a hook, hangs coldly and quietly on the branch.
The snow is still falling.
The two finally found a dilapidated temple to stay in before nightfall.
Outside, snow was falling heavily, but inside, a bonfire blazed, illuminating the small, dilapidated temple. The red glow of the fire cast indistinct shadows of two tall, thin figures.
Stirring the firewood with a stick, Jiang Ling'er, who had been silent all day, finally couldn't help but speak, saying dryly:
"It's so cold today."
The little poisonous creature didn't reply, but instead leaned against the dilapidated Asura Buddha statue with its eyes closed, feigning sleep.
The firelight cast shadows on his overly handsome, pale face, making him look as exquisite as a doll made by Fire Dance.
No, it's far more exquisite than those puppets.
It's far more popular than those puppets!
Jiang Ling'er would rather he be as sarcastic and irritating as before, someone who could drive people crazy with his words, than have him pretend to be mute and deaf.
She wondered, she... hadn't provoked him, had she? Was he still angry about the time she challenged Qing on her own and angered Huo Wu by disobeying him?
After waiting for a long time without receiving a response, Jiang Ling'er angrily took a bite of her dry rations, and, unwilling to give up, tried again:
"Where...where are we going?"
The little poison responded with silence.
He's pretending to be dead with his eyes closed.
Jiang Ling'er: "..."
Jiang Ling'er: "…………"
Sparks crackled and popped as Jiang Ling'er stirred the flames with a wooden stick while glaring angrily at the little poisonous creature. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, she threw the stick into the flames, walked over to the little poisonous creature who was pretending to sleep under the Buddha statue, stood in front of him, and stared at him.
She didn't believe she could sleep like that!
"...Hey, I'm asking you a question."
The little poisonous creature remained asleep with its head turned to the side, its long, dense eyelashes like seaweed, without even a ripple.
"Hello!"
Jiang Ling'er was impatient and was about to shake him awake, but before her hand could even touch a corner of the little poison's clothes, the little poison suddenly collapsed.
With a "thud," it fell to the ground.
Jiang Ling'er's hand was still frozen in mid-air when she was suddenly startled. She quickly pulled the little poisonous creature up and let him lean on her shoulder.
When I touched the little poisonous creature's skin, I found that his whole body was stiff and cold, but his palms and neck were burning hot, and his face was pale with two sickly red blushes. This was not a sudden illness; he had obviously been sick for a long time.
“You’ve been acting strange since this morning… no, you haven’t been acting right these past few days…” Jiang Ling’er paused suddenly, as if remembering something.
This situation involving small poisonous creatures has occurred once before.
It was on the eve of his battle against Huo Wu that he revealed that the old poison master had planted a Gu worm in his body, which would flare up on the fifteenth of every month, causing him to have a poor constitution, with alternating chills and fever.
But it was nowhere near as serious as it is today.
"Besides, today isn't the fifteenth..." Jiang Ling'er murmured, gently patting the little poisonous creature's flushed face, "Wake up, wake up..."
As I touched it, my cheeks felt increasingly hot, but my body felt increasingly cold.
She untied the package and took out all the clothes inside to cover the little poisonous creature, but it was still not enough, far from enough.
The crimson flames reflected on the little poisonous creature's dazed, fragile, and handsome face. A thin layer of sweat covered his forehead, like raindrops beating on a lotus flower, as if he were about to be broken in someone's hand at any moment.
Jiang Ling'er pressed her lips tightly together. No, this can't go on.
She held the little poison creature in one arm and took the initiative to undress with the other, just like last time. Last time, she also undressed and hugged the little poison creature. Although she didn't know the principle behind it, once their skin touched, just like last time, the little poison creature would definitely be able to use the rising body temperature to apply acupuncture and subdue the Gu worm!
Thinking this, she dared not delay any longer. Jiang Ling'er knelt down, letting the little poisonous creature rest its head on her legs. She untied the belt around her waist and was about to take off her outer garment when suddenly her wrist was grabbed.
The handsome face, like a lotus flower, resting on her lap, suddenly opened its dark eyes and stared intently at her:
"Go away, it's no use."
Jiang Ling'er paused in her act of unbuttoning her clothes: "But you..."
Seeing that he couldn't hide it any longer, Little Poison decided to stop hiding it altogether.
"The Gu poison in my body is no longer the same as it used to be. It used to flare up once a month, then once every seven days, then once every three days... Now, I don't even know when it will flare up again. Perhaps..." The little poison suddenly paused, a cold smile appearing on its lips, "The old man doesn't want to keep me anymore, the old man wants to kill me."
Jiang Ling'er had no idea what deep-seated hatred existed between the master and disciple; what angered her was—
Why didn't you say so sooner!
"Tell you?" The little poisonous creature scoffed, glancing at her. "What can you do to help me?"
Jiang Ling'er paused, "..."
His face turned green.
The little poisonous creature snorted coldly, its pale, sickly face grim, and with considerable difficulty and swaying, it propped itself up from Jiang Ling'er's legs:
"Don't worry, I'm not going to die anytime soon..."
Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly collapsed with a thud and lost consciousness.
Jiang Ling'er: "..."
Jiang Ling'er walked to the unconscious Little Poisoner's side and saw that his face was covered with a sickly red blush as if he was about to smoke. His eyebrows were furrowed in pain. She looked down at the sickly beauty for a while before squatting down. She reached out her hand but stopped. After thinking for a moment, she still poked Little Poisoner's forehead fiercely!
"...You're so stubborn!"
--
Winter nights are cold.
The north wind howled and blew fiercely. The temple was already dilapidated, offering neither wind nor rain protection. With no one tending to the fire, the once blazing bonfire was quickly reduced to a tiny flame.
The little poisonous creature awoke once in a daze.
When he woke up, he was greeted by a pair of fair yet supple and strong arms tightly embracing him.
For a moment, he thought he had returned to the illusionary realm of poison, back to when he was seven years old.
He nestled in his mother's soft, fragrant embrace.
No... it's still not quite the same.
His mother's embrace, though warm and fragrant, was like a faint firelight quenching thirst in a snowstorm, a sweet and cloying illusion. But the embrace of the person behind him, fragrant and rich, contained a resilient strength, like a lone log supporting him in a vast ocean, or a slender yet tenacious reed swaying in the breeze under the setting sun.
The little poisonous creature was suddenly startled. Why... did it suddenly think of reeds?
The person holding him murmured softly, their soft lips lightly brushing against his fine hair:
"I've wanted to say this for a while now, the fire within you seems to have... warmed up..."
Although Jiang Ling'er did not wake up during the three days she was in a coma, she knew that she could feel a ball of fire embracing her, which was why she recovered so quickly.
Now it's her turn to embrace this flame.
"And those stitches, did you sew them yourself? They're so ugly..."
So she... knew.
The little poisoner was thinking vaguely when it subconsciously moved its fingertips, only to touch something soft, smooth and slippery... It suddenly stopped.
But he had no time to think about it. Soon the Gu worms flared up again, each time more severe than the last. This time he almost couldn't hold on and spat out a mouthful of blood onto the incense table under the Buddha statue.
Jiang Ling'er, who was feeling drowsy, was instantly jolted awake.
They huddled together tightly as if seeking warmth, but both were covered in sweat. Jiang Ling'er felt warm and comfortable all over from the warmth of the fire in front of her, while the little poisonous creature was suffering from the venomous insects inside its body.
Jiang Ling'er stared intently at the person sleeping in her arms, and after a while, she finally noticed something amiss.
A tiny bump protruded from the slender neck of the little poisonous creature; it was a Gu worm swimming about. It had been hidden deep inside its body all along, but now it felt as if it was about to burst out.
Obviously, it can't be allowed to come out. The more the Gu worm moves, the more uncomfortable the little poisonous creature becomes. Now, its face is almost bloodless. If Jiang Ling'er hadn't seen the three raging Netherfires on its body, she would have really thought this guy was dead.
Although Jiang Ling'er still only had a superficial understanding of witchcraft during the time she had been following the Little Poison Master, she roughly knew that Gu worms could be manipulated at will. Just like how the Little Poison Master could control the Gu worms inside the bamboo flute at will, and how the reason why the Little Poison Master was able to control the Gu worms in his body last time was probably because he did something to make the Gu worms dormant in his body.
Jiang Ling'er stared at the little poisonous creature's long, dense eyelashes, which resembled seaweed, and said something as if possessed:
"We need to do something else to make you forget about the Gu worms..."
She murmured, then suddenly clasped her hands together, looked up at the broken Buddha statue, and whispered devoutly:
"Buddha above, I have committed a sin."
After speaking, as if having made some kind of decision, she gently exhaled, then looked down at the pale profile of the sleeping little poison creature, at his raised neck, the Gu worm moving to his protruding Adam's apple. Jiang Ling'er leaned down and kissed that bulging Adam's apple, that thin layer of skin, down...
Outside the dilapidated temple, the wind howled and snow raged.
Inside the dilapidated temple, spring was in full bloom.
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The author's note: ① This is from Zhang Kejiu's "Zheguiling: Leaning on the railing, I cannot fully comprehend the rise and fall of dynasties".
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