Chapter 681: Chapter 231 Going Up the Mountain_4
She seemed so familiar with Luomei Peak, knowing every medicinal field well.
Lu Tong "hmm"ed in response.
Pei Yunmeng lifted his eyelids, "When you were with your master in the past, what kind of person was he?"
"You ask too many questions."
"It’s you who say too little." He squinted his eyes, his dark pupils harboring a trace of inquiry, "Why do you never talk about yourself?"
Lu Tong rarely spoke about herself.
Most of the time, he asked, and she would answer. Even then, her replies were vague, stingy with words. The past of Changwu County was mentioned only briefly, and he knew nothing about the Lu Tong from Su Nan.
Even though the Qi Family case had concluded and she no longer bore a great vengeance, Pei Yunmeng could still faintly detect that she seemed to harbor a secret, a deeper one, one she did not wish to be discovered.
She was too cunning, and well-practiced in endurance; no matter how he probed and interrogated, she did not reveal a single flaw.
The young man’s gaze was too sharp, piercing even through the cover of a black cloth, as though he could see right through a person.
Lu Tong turned her head, as if to change the subject coveringly, "That’s not important. On the contrary, you, I might not be able to find the redwood vine. Aren’t you afraid of being trapped to death in the mountains by following me?"
"Not afraid." Pei Yunmeng spoke nonchalantly, "After all, you brought enough supplies."
"What if I can’t find the way?"
"Then I’ll just die with you."
Pei Yunmeng glanced at her with a smile and passed her the water flask, "After all, you said before at the medical hall that you wanted to die with me."
Lu Tong paused in surprise, momentarily forgetting to take the water flask from his hand.
It seemed that earlier, at the Benevolent Heart Medical Hall, he came to settle the score with her over the corpse that had appeared at Mount Wangchun, accusing Duan Xiaoyan. Ill-intentioned and full of schemes, each word and sentence were tests and clashes. She then threatened to die with Pei Yun, who responded neither hastily nor slowly, with a smile, "To share the same quilts in life, and the same grave in death is something I would only do with my wife."
What was once a sentence filled with probing and schemes, now spoken, carried an entirely different meaning.
Still dazed, she heard the sound of Pei Yunmeng’s light chuckle nearby.
"Doctor Lu, if you can’t find the way out, today, we really could end up sharing a grave after death."
He said it flippantly, but Lu Tong reacted as if a cat whose tail had been stepped on, jumping up in an instant, "Who wants to die with you?"
Pei Yunmeng was taken aback, confused, "It was just a joke, why are you so agitated?"
She pulled down the black cloth from her face, suppressing the anger in her heart as she glared at him.
Pei Yunmeng sat under a tree, also removing his cloth covering, gazing at her with eyes that flickered slightly.
The lightness of the moment was abruptly shattered, leaving the surroundings in a momentary stillness.
"This isn’t funny." After a standoff, Lu Tong said coldly, "Don’t joke about life and death."
Pei Yunmeng: "You..."
Without a word, Lu Tong turned away, bowed her head to pack the water flask, shouldered her medical box, and walked ahead without looking back, "Let’s hurry along."
She rose swiftly, and Pei Yunmeng, after contemplating for a moment with downcast eyes, said nothing, picked up the bundle he had set aside, and followed her.
The snow on Luomei Peak was vast and boundless. Apart from the omnipresent red plums, it was hard to discern one part of the mountain from another. No wonder Cai Fang and Lin Wenhu repeatedly warned that ordinary people entering the mountain at this time would most likely get lost.
The snowstorm was growing heavier.
The snow on the mountain came faster than at the base, with flurries howling towards them, nearly blinding their eyes. Lu Tong, not paying attention for a moment, stepped into a snow pit and stumbled.
"Be careful."
Pei Yunmeng steadied her, and once Lu Tong was standing still, she suddenly felt a momentary dizziness in her head. This vertigo was so overwhelming that it nearly brought her to her knees, and she had to grasp his arm to stabilize herself.
Pei Yunmeng lowered his gaze: "What’s wrong?"
Lu Tong shook her head, suppressing the discomfort of that instant, and when her gaze swept ahead, her eyes suddenly lit up.
"We’ve arrived."
In front of them, not far away, there indeed was a winding stream, its waters completely frozen and blending into the snowy landscape, indistinguishable at a casual glance. Only someone extremely familiar with the area could detect any difference.
Lu Tong, with a medical box on her back, hurried over.
Pei Yunmeng followed close behind her: "Slow down."
Upon approaching, they could indeed see to the north of the stream a steep cliff face, now thickly covered by snow.
Lu Tong looked at the cliff, her heart filled with apprehension for a moment.
Luomei Peak was vast, and the herbs and poisons varied in different areas. Lady Yun always made her run around, and during those years, she etched every plant and tree of the mountain in her memory. She had indeed harvested redwood vine here several years ago, but she didn’t know if it still existed now.
She walked up to the cliff and covered it with the palm of her hand, feeling a bone-chilling cold for an instant.
Pei Yunmeng looked at her, pulled her aside, and brushed the snow off the cliff himself.
The cleared part of the cliff was empty; there was nothing there but a cluster of withered wood with half of a vine stump attached, all shriveled up, clinging to the cliff.
Lu Tong hesitated for a moment, then bent down to pick up the withered wood.
The withered vine lay in her hands, devoid of life, like a rotten rope coiled in her palm.
She stiffened for an instant, then looked up at Pei Yunmeng.
Pei Yunmeng was startled: "What’s wrong?"
"...It’s dead."
Lu Tong muttered, "The redwood vine here has withered away."