When she turned him over and saw his deathly pale complexion, Mei Lin paused for a moment. Instead of checking his breath as she had before, she immediately threw herself onto him, pressing down on his stomach to expel the water from his abdomen. She then undid his soaking wet clothes and vigorously rubbed his chest, which had lost all warmth. Only when she felt a faint but unmistakable heartbeat did she stop.
She hastily gathered a pile of firewood and reached for the fire starter in her pocket, only to find it had been soaked through—lighting a fire was now impossible.
Pressing her lips together, she felt around and discovered that her dagger was still there. Without much thought, she picked up a hard stone nearby, gathered some dry moss and dead leaves, and struck the stone with the back of the dagger. Sparks flew, and before long, the dry moss and leaves caught fire.
The fire was burning now, with a layer of pebbles beneath it.
She collected a heap of dry twigs and laid them by the fire. Then, she stripped the unconscious man of his clothes, hung them up to dry, and dug a pit about half a person deep near the riverbank. She lined the pit with stones, filled it with water from the river, and stopped it when it was about eighty percent full. After all that, the man was still unconscious. Even after spending a long time by the fire, his body remained cold except for a slight warmth at his heart.
She didn’t bother trying to wake him. Instead, she moved the fire to another spot and used a stick to transfer the heated pebbles into the water pit. Before long, the water began to steam, becoming hot to the touch.
She placed the man into the water, then undressed and got in herself. Holding him from behind, she massaged his chest and back.
The pit was large, but with both of them in it, it felt a bit cramped. The water rippled up to Murong Jing He’s neck. Mei Lin, being shorter by a head, had to kneel to avoid being submerged.
At that moment, even though she was holding a naked man in her arms, her mind was completely focused on saving him, with no room for any other thoughts or emotions.
Perhaps it was the hot water, or maybe her stubbornness paid off, because the man in her arms finally let out a barely audible groan. Though he didn’t wake up, it was enough to lift her spirits.
Mei Lin instinctively tightened her embrace, resting her forehead against the back of his neck, and slowly exhaled. It was only then that she realized her chest had been tightly clenched the entire time, to the point of faint pain.
Once the water cooled, she lifted him out and dressed him in the now-dry clothes by the fire. After tending to herself, she sat down beside him and took in their surroundings.
They were in a river valley, flanked by steep mountains with dense forests behind them, seemingly deep within the mountains. The river made a sharp bend here, creating a triangular patch of land where they had washed ashore, likely the reason they survived.
Mei Lin sighed and looked up at the cloudless blue sky and the sun nearing its zenith. Now that the initial excitement and frantic concern had passed, she suddenly felt a bit lost.
Before being trapped in the stone forest, her plan was simple: find a secluded place, hide, and find a way to cure the poison in her body. That was all. Although she had promised Yue Qin, it was more of a perfunctory agreement—she never really intended to look for him. In fact, according to the rules set by Muye Luomei, as long as they left Zhongshan, Yue Qin would be free, but her situation was different. Not only Muye Luomei and the others, but even those from her origins might not easily forgive her for her betrayal. She didn’t want to drag that innocent boy into her mess.
But now… now she felt confused, as if something had changed.
This man… ah, this man…
The sudden crackling of the fire snapped Mei Lin out of her thoughts, and she realized she had been lost in useless, messy thoughts. Smiling wryly, she stood up, planning to head into the forest to see if she could find any useful herbs or food.
After taking just two steps, she felt something was off, and her heart began to pound. She stood still, hardly daring to believe it, but with a mix of hope and anxiety, she tried circulating her inner energy. She felt a faint stream of energy slowly rising from her dantian. Though it was far weaker than before, it was continuous and discernible—it was real.
Mei Lin's heart tightened as she tried again, confirming it wasn’t her imagination. She felt dazed, almost questioning if this was all just a dream. How could her inner energy have returned without any apparent reason? No wonder she hadn’t found it too difficult to move Murong Jing He earlier.
Shaking her head, she decided not to dwell on it—strange as it was, it was a good thing. She focused on gathering what they needed. Despite the added injuries from the fall and reopened old wounds, making her look more battered than before entering the stone forest, she felt more confident than ever.
On her journey, she had often longed for her lost martial arts skills, never imagining they would return. To her, this was a gift from the heavens, giving her the courage to face the uncertain and perilous future ahead.
Two days later, Mei Lin, carrying the still-unconscious Murong Jing He, arrived at a remote village. The village, called Lao Wozi, was located in an almost isolated mountain valley. The land was barren, the villagers were poor, and only one path led out of the valley. However, there was an old man there who knew how to treat injuries and illnesses.
Mei Lin had been brought there by a hunter she met in the mountains. The hunter had been dangling from a cliff when she, out picking wild fruits, stumbled upon him and saved him. The hunter, from Lao Wozi, noticed her injuries and the sick man she was carrying and led them back to the village.
The village had only twenty or thirty households, most of which were clustered on the flat land in the center of the valley, with a few scattered in the mountains. The old man lived alone at the edge of the village in two shabby, drafty thatched cottages. Mei Lin was startled when the hunter brought them there.
The old man could only treat minor ailments and wounds. He applied some herbal medicine to their external injuries and didn’t charge them, but he was helpless against Murong Jing He’s internal injuries and didn’t notice the poison in Mei Lin’s body.
Mei Lin hadn’t expected much, so she wasn’t disappointed. However, the hunter felt sorry for them, so when he heard she wanted to stay, he eagerly helped arrange it. He spoke to the village chief and all the villagers, gathered some people to help repair an abandoned house, and within a day, Mei Lin and Murong Jing He had a place to stay.
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