Liu Jiang Fusheng finally understood why Ziying had lost her vibrant color in an instant, becoming ashen and dull.
It was because the poison had attacked so fiercely, leaving no room for recovery.
Liu Jiang Fusheng immediately turned back into the inner chamber, adjusting his robes and sitting cross-legged on the stone platform, beginning to meditate and use his spiritual power to resist the surging heat.
The treasure-seeking mouse curiously swished its tail, jumping onto and off him, chirping worriedly. Seeing him with his eyes closed and brows furrowed, unresponsive, it listlessly lay down by his thigh, staring at him.
Outside, Ziying saw Liu Jiang Fusheng's expression change drastically. He had swallowed all the potentially useful pills from his storage ring and then turned to sit in meditation, just like her, realizing he might have been poisoned too.
“Shi, Shixiong, aren’t you cold?”
Her tongue was so frozen that her words were disjointed and unclear.
She was trembling from the cold due to the poison, but how could she see him… sweating?
Liu Jiang Fusheng was indeed sweating, a large patch on his collar soaked with sweat. His lips were red as if about to bleed from the heat.
It wouldn't stop.
Why wouldn't it stop?
At this moment, Ziying, finding meditation useless except for consuming spiritual power, curled herself up tightly again.
Ziying observed him for a while, then seemed to understand. She stretched out her tongue and said excitedly, “Shi, Shixiong, are you very hot?”
He suddenly opened his eyes.
His expression was as cold as frost.
His moist eyes, with their naturally upturned outer corners slightly creased, were framed by long, beautiful lashes, with shimmering water beneath.
He wore a fitted, soft, and light blue robe made of Yunche material. His waist, which could be held in a single grasp, was tailored to be elegant and exquisite, with a beautiful and graceful silhouette. His long, black hair cascading over his shoulders and neck shimmered with a faint light.
At first glance, it was a clean and aloof asceticism, but upon closer inspection, it revealed a seduction born from ultimate purity.
Who could withstand such an appearance?
Ziying couldn't either, only feeling that in her icy daze, a warm stove was beckoning her.
She mumbled, her lips stiff and frozen, “Please, I’m so cold… if you’re hot, we can cancel each other out…”
She stooped and crawled towards him.
The next second, with a “clang,” the stern immortal sword was thrust straight into the ground before her. The ground cracked and split into pieces. Its blade was surrounded by a cold mist, emitting a chilling murderous intent, strikingly similar to the venom-filled eyes of Liu Jiang Fusheng.
His hoarse, raspy voice was bone-chillingly cold, “Scram—”
After saying this, he gasped for breath.
His senses were abruptly awakened.
Ziying drooped her head, quickly scrambling back to her original spot, retreating while crying, tears falling.
She didn’t want this, but this coldness from within wasn’t something she could fight with willpower alone. She felt as though it was hollowing out her body, and she would soon fall into an abyss without a bottom.
Tears that slid down her cheeks froze into ice.
She didn't even dare to cry now.
Liu Jiang Fusheng was no different. He uncontrollably tugged at the collar of his robe, revealing a patch of fair, smooth skin. He stopped meditating and instead lay on the stone platform, pressing his palms against the stone surface, absorbing its slight coolness.
Ziying didn't understand. Wasn't he also about to die from the heat?
She was about to die from the cold.
Wasn't this simply a matter of mutual assistance? Was he determined to die rather than compromise?
Liu Jiang Fusheng and Ziying naturally did not know that the "Yin Chi Yang Du" (陰赤陽毒, roughly "Dark Red Yang Poison") could be cured if one could endure the painful period.
If compared to life, wasn't such persistence foolish?
In the end, Ziying's face was covered in a thin layer of frost, her lips frozen purple. Unable to bear it any longer, she tried to crawl towards him multiple times, drawn by the heat, but each time she was repelled by the sword energy of the immortal sword.
Grabbing her stiffening, ice-chipped hair, she cried out in despair, “Liu Jiang Fusheng, you are a man, you don’t need to guard chastity, why won’t you let me come near? Can’t you save both of us?”
In the end, she didn't even know what nonsense she was spouting.
“Your, your A Yi, after you die, she will immediately throw herself into Senior Brother Danya’s arms. Ha, ha, you’ll have died for nothing!”
“Wuwu… you, for a woman who doesn’t love you, aren't you stupid? Why don’t you, pity, pity me.”
Liu Jiang Fusheng’s head felt like boiling lava, and hearing her words, he was even more furious.
He unceremoniously swung his palm, sending her flying.
However, in his current state, the attack was actually weak and couldn't inflict serious injury. Ziying rolled a few times before crashing against the wall with a “thump.”
But now her limbs were numb with cold, and she couldn't feel any pain.
However, with this collision, she lost the last of her spirit and energy, curling up in despair in that position, ready to die.
At this moment, a gust of wind from an unknown source blew past, and a faint, veil-like silhouette appeared, layering upon itself to form a blurred figure.
She walked out, bent down, and lightly tapped Ziying’s ancestral acupoint with a fingertip.
Her head tilted, and she fell into a deep sleep.
Because Ziying’s spiritual power was weak, the poison’s entanglement was not strong, and thus, though fierce, it dispersed quickly.
Left unattended, she would gradually warm up as she shivered.
The immortal sword stood like an insurmountable guardian, not allowing anyone to encroach upon its master, until it saw someone who shouldn't be there, yet inexplicably was.
Huh?
No shadow.
…Perhaps not human, because she had no physical form either.
It was utterly stunned.
Had the master’s wife… died?
Gu Junshi seemed to already know that the immortal sword could speak and directly asked it, “Do you want to save your master?”
Her tone was gentle and mild, as if she were genuinely asking.
The immortal sword wanted to ask why she was here, but her question immediately captured its attention. It exclaimed in surprise, “Of course, I do! Can you cure the poison?”
It could feel its master Fusheng’s pain and weakness, but unfortunately, the cold sword energy it emitted could not touch the master to cool him down.
“I can restore him to normal, but I have a condition.”
The immortal sword didn’t find negotiating terms unusual. It trusted its master, and its master favored her, so it naturally had no doubts about her.
“What condition?”
“Don’t mention meeting me here to him.”
“…Why?”
Gu Junshi didn’t tell it why, only asking, “Do you agree?”
The immortal sword hesitated for a moment, then agreed.
Anyway, Master Fusheng usually didn’t talk to it, so it didn’t matter if it wasn't mentioned.
But, why?
“Remember, you know nothing.”
The immortal sword had a straightforward way of thinking. It couldn't quite understand, but it obediently moved aside, allowing its master’s wife’s "soul body" to enter the inner chamber.
Clang!
The stone door of the inner chamber was closed by someone.
Before this, the treasure-seeking mouse from the inner chamber was thrown out. It landed on all fours, its back slightly arched, staring dumbfoundedly at the immortal sword.
Curing poison… does it mean they’re to be locked outside and not allowed to watch?
But, why?