Chapter 3
The morning mist at the border always carries a biting chill, but it melts into a moist warmth in the steamy air of Shuyu Courtyard.
As soon as Su Yan's fingertips, dipped in medicated oil, touched the scar on the back of Su Zhelan's neck, he trembled violently like a startled animal, his body instantly tensing like a bowstring.
The mark has faded somewhat compared to three days ago, and the redness and swelling at the edges have turned into a light pink. However, it still causes a burning sensation when the Gu poison is dormant. The strange, brand-like shape, which looks like it was forcibly destroyed, was once so clear that it was terrifying when the Gu poison flared up violently.
Although it has faded now, it still stubbornly reveals its ominous origin. Su Yan's gaze darkened. As a doctor, he could clearly discern the abnormality of the scar: the surface was an old, severely burned mark with twisted edges, obviously caused by someone; but beneath that burn, the outline of another, more ancient and sinister mark was faintly revealed, as if it had been brutally covered up.
More importantly, this scar is deeply connected to the insidious and cunning Gu poison within the boy's body. When the Gu poison is active, the scar pulsates and turns red like a living thing; when the Gu poison is suppressed, the scar reveals a lifeless pale pink. This is no ordinary scar, but a mark left by some evil power that has penetrated deep into the bone marrow, the root of pain that runs deep into the marrow.
The cotton wool soaking in the copper basin was changed three times, and the water color faded from dark brown to light yellow, indicating that the activity of the Gu poison was weakening.
On the open page of "The Mysterious Record of Insect Gu," a certain page had a wrinkled edge from tea stains, a mark left by Su Yan during his previous visits to consult the solutions.
Since Su Zhelan was carried into Shuyu Courtyard, he has hardly slept a full night. The dark circles under his eyes are as deep as ink stains, and his outer robe is also slightly disheveled.
"Let me do it, you take a rest." Gu Linzhao's voice suddenly came from the doorway. His black outfit was stained with fresh grass juice and mud—he had just bought the herbs Su Yan wanted, and the cloth bag was still dripping with morning dew.
Before Su Yan could respond, she strode forward, snatched the cotton swab from his hand without a word, tested the water temperature with her fingertips, and then pulled a hand warmer from her pocket and stuffed it into Su Yan's loosely clenched palm: "The medicine is cold, I'll go and brew it again."
Su Yan then looked up and noticed a fallen leaf stuck to Gu Linzhao's temple, clearly from rushing on his journey.
He wanted to say "no need," but Gu Linzhao firmly pressed his shoulder with his palm, pressing him back onto the soft stool with irresistible force.
“Your hands are steady, but your eyes are unfocused.” Gu Linzhao’s fingertips, calloused, lightly brushed over the dark circles under Su Yan’s eyes. “You stayed up until 1-3 AM last night. If you keep going like this today, it will be my turn to give you acupuncture.”
"I'm watching the medicine stove," Gu Linzhao said without looking up, but precisely pulled out a still-warm osmanthus cake from his sleeve. "It's freshly made in the kitchen, have some to tide you over. If you dare to ruin your health again, I'll take all your precious herbs and feed them to the horses."
Su Yan held the still-warm pastry and relaxed a little.
Watching Su Yan swallow the last bite of osmanthus cake, Gu Linzhao pushed the warm teacup towards him: "Have some tea, then take a nap for half an hour. I'll keep an eye on the medicine stove; nothing will go wrong."
Su Yan finally succumbed to sleepiness and obediently leaned against the soft couch, closing his eyes and casually draping the thin blanket that Gu Linzhao had handed him over.
Amidst the sound of water dripping from the copper basin, one could hear Gu Linzhao busily working by the medicine stove—first adding a piece of silver charcoal, then finely grinding the herbs into powder, his movements all very gentle. The warmth of the hand warmer seeped through his cotton robe into his back, and the fatigue of the past few days actually dissipated somewhat.
About the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, when Su Yan opened his eyes, Gu Linzhao was filtering the brewed medicine into a porcelain bowl.
"How are you feeling?" Gu Linzhao handed him warm water, his gaze falling on the slightly faded dark circles under his eyes.
"He won't die." Su Yan took the bowl of water, his fingertips touching the thin calluses on Gu Linzhao's palm. He heated the silver needles over the candle flame until they were hot, then took a fresh cotton ball to wipe his hands. "Pass me the book; we need to find the acupoints before the Gu attack."
Gu Linzhao handed over the book as instructed. As Su Yan bent down to take the needle, Gu Linzhao casually tucked a stray strand of hair behind Su Yan's ear and neatly retied his loose braid.
In the morning light, Su Yan's hand holding the needle was as steady as a rock. Just as the needle tip was about to reach Su Zhelan's fingertips, Xiao Qiyun's footsteps could be heard outside the window.
"Mr. Su, excuse me." A light knock came from the door. When Xiao Qiyun walked in carrying a food box, he saw Su Yan pricking the boy's fingertip with a silver needle and squeezing out a few drops of dark purple blood.
Strange ripples instantly appeared in the clear water of the copper basin. Su Yan frowned and sprinkled in the herbal powder he had prepared beforehand. Only then did the water gradually become clear.
“Mr. Su,” Xiao Qiyun placed the food box on the table, his voice soft so as not to disturb the treatment, “In the border defense map we studied today, I felt there were some gaps in the defenses of the valley. General Sheng said you used to practice medicine in that area, could you perhaps…”
"Let me deal with his Gu poison first." Su Yan's gaze remained fixed on Su Zhelan's acupoints, his fingertips rapidly pressing on the acupoints on the boy's wrist. "This Gu will take effect every time it's Yin hour. If it's not suppressed, even if his leg is saved, he will be left with a lifelong ailment."
As he spoke, he suddenly noticed Xiao Qiyun's "Border Defense Essentials" placed next to the food box. The pages were covered with annotations, and his tone carried a rare hint of approval: "Your Highness is more attentive than that brat Sheng Xuan."
Xiao Qiyun smiled but didn't reply. Instead, he looked at the young man on the soft couch.
Su Zhelan's left eye opened a crack at some point, the murky light falling blankly on the tent ceiling. Her lips were dry and cracked, but when Su Yan pressed on a certain acupoint, she made a very soft "hmm" sound in her throat.
"He's awake?" Xiao Qiyun's eyes brightened slightly, and he subconsciously leaned forward, but Su Yan stopped him.
"I was woken up by the pain; my eye condition hasn't healed yet, and I can't see clearly."
“Then shall I read something to him?” Xiao Qiyun picked up the medical book on the table. “I found it very interesting when the doctor talked about it a few days ago.” He turned the pages, his clear voice flowing in the fragrance of medicine. Occasionally he would pause to carefully tuck Su Zhelan in, or to bring warm water and gently moisten Su Zhelan’s dry, chapped lips with a cotton swab.
Just as Xiao Qiyun bent down to tuck the blanket around Su Zhelan, his movement inadvertently loosened a corner of the gauze wrapped around the back of the boy's neck. The protective covering slipped off, revealing a pale pink, strangely shaped, complex scar underneath.
Xiao Qiyun froze instantly, his clear, melodious reading abruptly ceasing. His pupils constricted sharply, and for the first time, the gentle facade on his face crumbled, revealing a deep shock and scrutiny beneath: "Sir! His injury..."
He pointed to the back of Su Zhelan's neck, his voice strained with a deliberately suppressed tension, "This scar... is definitely not from an ordinary weapon! The shape..."
Su Yan reacted with lightning speed. Almost the instant the gauze slipped off, he acted, his fingers forcefully pulling the fabric back into place, perfectly covering the grotesque secret. His movements were characterized by an almost brutal decisiveness.
"Your Highness!" Su Yan's voice suddenly turned cold and hard, and his sharp gaze pierced Xiao Qiyun like a knife. "You came to the border to train by imperial decree. You are here to learn how to deploy troops and how to protect the people and defend the border, not to study these flesh and blood scars."
Without any hesitation, he steered the conversation back on track, his tone carrying the authoritative air of a doctor, "I will take care of this child's injury. If you have some free time, why don't you think about where the defenses in Gu are lacking? That's your real business."
As he spoke, he almost defensively pulled Su Zhelan's collar up even higher to ensure that the back of her neck was no longer exposed.
Sheng Xuan flicked the sweat from his riding whip, the brass ring on the handle gleaming coldly in the morning light. He had just finished sparring with his personal guards in the drill ground, and his undergarment beneath his silver armor was soaked with sweat, clinging coolly to his back. He had intended to go back to his room to change into dry clothes, but inexplicably, he turned towards Shuyu Courtyard, his muddy military boots leaving conspicuous wet footprints on the clean bluestone slabs.
Before even stepping into the courtyard, one could hear Xiao Qiyun's clear and melodious voice coming from inside, like a jade flute soaked in water: "...This 'Xu Duan' can set bones and tendons together, you need to take good care of the injury on your leg."
Sheng Xuan raised an eyebrow and lifted the soft curtain of the hanging flower door.
Xiao Qiyun was sitting on the edge of the couch, holding a medical book in one hand and a cotton swab in the other, carefully wiping the medicine stains from the corner of Su Zhelan's lips.
The person on the couch was dressed in a moon-white soft silk nightgown, the wide sleeves slipping down to the elbows, revealing thin, pale forearms. He lay on his back, his left eye half-open, the murky light following Xiao Qiyun's hand blankly. His pale cheeks even had a porcelain-like smoothness in the morning light—Su Yan had cleaned the blood scabs off his face the day before, and he was indeed much more pleasing to the eye than when he was first brought here.
"Oh, so Your Highness has switched careers to become a medicine boy?" Sheng Xuan leaned against the door frame, the end of his riding whip tapping the ground provocatively, making a "tap-tap" sound. "Instead of learning military strategy from your brother, you're here serving this 'sickly child'?" He deliberately emphasized the last three words.
Xiao Qiyun looked up at him, his gaze calm and unwavering: "Second Young Master, you must be tired from your morning exercise. Mr. Su said that talking to him more would help with your recovery, and I was just reading a book on the side."
He closed the book. "Are you here to see him too? His high fever subsided last night, and the doctor said he's recovering better than expected." As he spoke, his fingertips unconsciously hovered a few inches above Su Zhelan's wrist, feeling the subtle yet gradually strengthening pulse.
“If Second Young Master is free,” Su Yan’s voice came from beside the medicine stove, the pestle in his hand grinding the herbs, making a dull “crunching” sound, “why not go to the front yard and help me chop a couple of loads of firewood? It’ll be a good opportunity to stretch out your ‘precious’ muscles.” He didn’t even look up, but he accurately hit Sheng Xuan’s sore spot, “so you won’t be wandering around here, getting in the way.”
Sheng Xuan wanted to turn around and leave, but his feet seemed to be nailed to the spot by invisible nails. He glanced at Su Zhelan's hand resting on the edge of the bed, which was completely different from his own hand, which was made of knuckles that were clearly defined from years of holding a sword. It was pale and almost transparent, and the wrist was so thin that it looked as if it would break at the slightest touch.
"Hmph, you're pretty tough." He uttered a polite remark, but his gaze was involuntarily and intently fixed on the newly changed, tightly sealed white gauze around Su Zhelan's neck—the outline beneath the bandage looked particularly striking in the morning light, and the edges seemed to faintly reveal an unnatural color. This wound was definitely not an ordinary arrow wound or knife mark; it seemed... to be hiding something that couldn't be exposed to the light.
Sheng Xuan turned around abruptly, cracking his riding whip in the air: "Who cares about your disgusting appearance!" As he stepped out of the courtyard, the muddy soles of his military boots scraped hard against the threshold, leaving a dirty mark.
"Take care, and don't bother seeing me off." Su Yan's voice drifted from behind, carrying a hint of mocking laughter.
Sheng Xuan gritted his teeth and quickened his pace toward his courtyard. Morning light pierced through the carved window frames of the long corridor, casting dappled shadows on his silver armor. He raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his face, inexplicably recalling the way Su Zhelan had squinted at Xiao Qiyun earlier.
"Pah, what am I thinking!" he muttered under his breath, shaking his head to try and get rid of the thought, but he didn't notice that his fingers, which were tightly gripping the riding whip, unconsciously loosened their tension.
In the following days, Sheng Xuan would deliberately pass by Shuyu Courtyard "inadvertently". Sometimes it was when she returned from her morning exercise and she would catch a glimpse of Xiao Qiyun carrying a bowl of medicine into the courtyard; other times it was when she was strolling around in the afternoon and she would hear Su Yan scolding Su Zhelan for "touching her wounds".
The scar on Su Zhelan's neck had faded to a light pink color, and the new ointment Su Yan had prepared had a faint pearly sheen when applied. Each time the dressing was changed, Su Zhelan was unusually silent. When Su Yan's fingers touched the edge of the scar, he would unconsciously hold his breath, as if the fingertips carried a scorching flame.
The gauze was his lifeline; except for changing his dressings, he would never allow the back of his neck to be exposed to anyone's sight for even a moment.
Su Zhelan knew all too well that the "cult" was frantically searching for him—he was their perfect vessel for refining poison, and it was their discovery of his whereabouts while he was practicing medicine that led to this near-fatal ambush. Now, in the General's mansion, he had to make good use of this protection; any exposure could bring utter destruction.
"Just bear with the itching." Su Yan used silver tweezers to pick up a cotton ball and gently wiped the scab on the knife wound on Su Zhelan's shoulder.
After days of careful dressing changes, the deep, bone-revealing wound has grown tender new flesh. Although it is still hideous, it has lost its initial putrid odor.
He noticed that Su Zhelan's left eye could barely open. Although the pterygium was still thick, it looked brighter than the day before. He couldn't help but say, "After applying the medicine for three more days, your left eye might be able to see people clearly."
Su Zhelan didn't speak, but his Adam's apple bobbed slightly. Since he was able to barely eat rice porridge, his pale cheeks had regained some color, and his jawline appeared lean and sharp under his clean skin.
Xiao Qiyun was wiping his hands with a handkerchief, his fingertips touching the thin calluses on his palms from years of gathering herbs. The boy's fingers were slender yet had distinct knuckles. Xiao Qiyun's gaze fell on those calluses and fingertips with a scrutinizing and secretive interest, and he gently brushed the calluses on his fingertips with the corner of the handkerchief.
It wasn't until he touched a shallow scar on his ring finger that he realized his actions were too intimate. His fingertip trembled slightly, yet he inexplicably let his fingertip linger on the shallow scar for a moment longer, as if tracing a secret mark.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
