With a forceful push, Huo Zhan Bai burst through the rusty door and darted into the library.
— "Xue Zi Ye!" — he shouted in alarm as he saw the woman in purple slumped over the desk.
Half of the bookshelves were emptied, and the table was in complete disarray, cluttered with rare medicinal herbs such as the Dragon Blood Pearl and the Qingluan Flower. In addition, the desk was piled with books: Secret Essentials of the Outer Platform, Jinlan Meridians, The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon, Formulas from Behind the Elbows... The stacks were so tall that some had collapsed, burying her under them, almost completely obscuring her.
He called out to her, but there was no response. Panic surged through him as he rushed over to support her.
Under the eternal lamp, her face, pale and gaunt, tilted upward as she fell limply into his arms.
— "Xue Zi Ye!" — he called her name again, this time closer to her ear, placing one hand on her back and sending a surge of his internal energy into her weak heart meridian. — "Wake up! Wake up!"
Her head lolled lifelessly with his movements, and in her hand, she still tightly clutched a scroll of Ling Shu.
— "Mistress!" — Shuang Hong and Xiao Jing arrived at the door and gasped in unison.
Could it be… the events of twenty years ago were repeating themselves?
— "Quick, come help me hold her!" — Huo Zhan Bai barked out, closing his eyes to focus. After a brief pause, he pushed his palm gently against her back. A soft, wave-like force surged into her body, filling every limb. Xue Zi Ye's body trembled.
Huo Zhan Bai immediately switched from his palm to his fingers, quickly pressing twelve acupuncture points along her spine, channeling his internal energy to unblock her stagnant blood flow. Initially, he moved swiftly, but as he progressed, his fingers slowed. White steam rose from his head, and his brow became tinged with a faint red, as though he were focusing all of his internal energy into the tips of his fingers.
With each point pressed, color returned to Xue Zi Ye’s face. When he finished the twelfth point, her lips parted slightly, exhaling a gentle breath.
— "She's going to be alright!" — Shuang Hong, who had been monitoring the Mistress’s pulse the entire time, exclaimed in joy.
The idle young master… he really had such remarkable abilities?
— "Mistress, wake up!" — Shuang Hong, usually so composed and steady, was now on the verge of tears.
— "Ah... Hong?" — Xue Zi Ye murmured softly, her fingers twitching slightly as she slowly opened her eyes. — "What happened to me? Don’t cry, don’t cry… I’m alright… Did I actually fall asleep while reading?"
She struggled to sit up and, upon seeing Huo Zhan Bai, was startled.
— "Why are you here too? Go back to the Winter Pavilion and rest! Who let you wander around? Where’s Lü-er, that lazy girl? Why didn’t she keep an eye on you?"
Huo Zhan Bai frowned, shaking his head as he looked at the woman who had just woken up and was already barking orders.
— "You’re lacking in medical skill," — he teased, flicking away the finger she had pressed to his forehead. — "You came here for some last-minute cramming?"
Her expression darkened as his words hit a sore spot, and in anger, she grabbed the nearest medical book and hurled it at him, only to immediately regret it.
— "Wait… here, in Ling Shu! I just saw—" She snatched up the scroll she had been reading, her face lighting up momentarily. But before she could continue, a cold sensation spread through her chest, and she began coughing weakly, struggling to breathe.
— "Mistress! Mistress! Stop pushing yourself!" — Shuang Hong hurriedly pressed a warm brass hand warmer into her hands. Xue Zi Ye clutched it as if it were a precious treasure, not daring to let go for even a second.
She was unable to speak, her chest feeling as though a large block of ice had been placed inside, leaving her gasping for air.
Just then, Ning Yi arrived with a second hand warmer, her face filled with worry.
— "You’re pushing your body too hard. You need to rest. I’ll head to the pharmacy and prepare your medicine right away."
— "Alright," — Xue Zi Ye grumbled, suppressing her cough. — "Use the usual prescription I take."
At the age of fourteen, she had fallen into an icy river and drifted for an entire night, developing a condition known as "cold blockage." The cold had entered her Shaoyin meridian, leaving her pulse deep and tense, her lungs chilled. She frequently suffered from cold intolerance. Her master, Liao Qingran, had prescribed her a formula for daily use, but over the years, her hard work and strain had caused the illness to worsen, embedding itself deep in her bones. Even the formula had lost much of its effectiveness.
— "It might not be enough this time," — Ning Yi frowned as she examined her complexion. — "This is more serious."
— "Then… add five qian (a Chinese weight measurement) of white tiger root," — Xue Zi Ye suggested between coughs.
— "Tiger root is too strong a stimulant. How could someone as weak as you endure it?" Ning Yi responded bluntly. She thought for a moment before suggesting, "Let’s remove cinnamon from the formula and replace it with one liang of Sichuan lovage root and six fen of magnolia vine. How about that?"
Xue Zi Ye pondered for a moment, then nodded.
— "Very well. Add the Guiling pills to support the treatment."
— "Understood." Ning Yi nodded and left to carry out her orders.
Shuang Hong, listening from the side, was struck with awe. She had followed the Mistress for many years, receiving her personal guidance, and had thought herself well-trained. But to her surprise, the medical knowledge of this old woman who swept the floors far surpassed her own!
— "Cough, cough… cough…" After watching Ning Yi leave, Xue Zi Ye turned to Huo Zhan Bai with a faint smile, her voice raspy from the cold. — "Cough, cough, don’t worry. As for Mo’er’s illness… it won’t be impossible to cure…"
— "I’m used to your scolding," — Huo Zhan Bai replied with a smile. — "But you should take better care of yourself."
"Heh..." Xue Zi Ye covered her mouth with a smile. "You still owe me sixty thousand... cough, cough... how could I just close my eyes?"
However, before she could finish, a violent fit of coughing overtook her, and blood seeped from between her fingers!
"Mistress! Mistress! Stop talking!" Shuang Hong exclaimed in shock, rushing to support her as her body swayed. "Huo Seventh Young Master, please help me take the Mistress back to the Summer Pavilion! The hot springs there will help her the most!"
* * *
Warm water slowly enveloped Xue Zi Ye's cold skin, inch by inch.
Lying in the hot spring of the snowy valley, her pale face gradually regained some color, and the icy feeling in her chest began to melt away. Around the spring, lush green plants thrived, and ferns shaded the grass along the edge of the water. Long branches of the trees bent toward the surface of the water, covered in butterflies that fluttered gracefully, resting on the branches in clusters, their wings trailing down to the water.
This was a scene typical of the dense jungles of the southern lands, yet here it appeared in the depths of the snow valley.
When Xue Zi Ye opened her eyes, a silver-white nocturnal butterfly was fluttering past her, like a drifting snowflake.
“Ah…” She let out a long breath from deep within her chest, her eyes slowly opening. She found herself submerged in the warm water, the air around her scented with a calming fragrance. Moving her limbs slightly, she began to recall how she had ended up back in the hot spring of the Summer Pavilion.
“Well, you’re finally awake?” A large smiling face suddenly appeared in front of her, leaning in close. “Here, take your medicine!”
"Ah!" She cried out in shock, instinctively ducking into the water and slapping out at the intruder. "Get lost!"
Huo Zhan Bai, unprepared, was struck hard. The bowl of medicine in his hand clattered to the ground, scalding him as he let out a yelp.
“Ah Hong! Lü-er!” Xue Zi Ye shouted, hiding deeper into the water. “Where on earth are you? Letting the patients wander around?”
“Mistress, you’re finally awake!” Xiao Jing emerged from the nearby pavilion, her face lit with joy, nearly in tears. “You fainted in the library and scared everyone to death! The others all rushed off to the herb garden and pharmacy. No one has had time to look after the patients.”
As memories of the library returned, Xue Zi Ye’s expression softened. “What a fuss over nothing.”
“How long was I unconscious?” she asked, gesturing for Xiao Jing to pass her the long robe from the white stone beside the spring.
“A little over a day,” Huo Zhan Bai replied, frowning. The snow hawk cooed as it swooped down, carrying a purple brocade robe embroidered with cloud patterns and dropping it by the water’s edge. “You scared everyone half to death.”
“Heh…” She lowered her head with a faint smile. “It’s not that easy to die.”
“Do you think you’re invincible?” Huo Zhan Bai snapped, growing angry. This woman was truly reckless. “Ning Yi said that if I hadn’t used my Jingshen Finger to push your blood through the meridians in time, you could’ve been dead before anyone could save you! And yet, here you are, boasting!”
“…” Xue Zi Ye lowered her head, knowing that Ning Yi’s medical skills were no less than her own.
“Fine, I get it. You saved my life this time, so you want me to reduce the debt of sixty thousand, right?” she teased with a playful smile, attempting to shift the conversation.
“That’s not what I meant! You, stubborn woman, from now on you better—" Huo Zhan Bai began, still irritated.
“Enough! Get out!” she snapped, pointing toward the garden gate. “I need to get dressed!”
Left with no choice, Huo Zhan Bai turned and headed for the exit. Before leaving, he paused at the door. “I’m telling you, in the future, you really should—"
“Still looking?!” A fragrance burner came hurtling through the air, smashing at his feet and making him jump back three feet. “Get yourself back to the Winter Pavilion and rest! I’ll check on you tonight!”
Huo Zhan Bai couldn’t help but chuckle bitterly as he turned away. From the looks of it, she didn’t seem like someone destined for an early death after all.
0 Comments