Chapter 18: Waterwheel

Voices rose in a deafening clamor.

In this village, which just ten days ago was littered with corpses and dead silence, now the unimaginable clamor of voices fills the air.

If the soldiers who abandoned this village had seen the scene now, they would be shocked, jaw‑dropping in regret.

At the far end of the village is a not‑very‑high cliff, beneath which lies a blue lake. This flowing lake is the village's only water source.

At the cliff's edge, voices roar.

In the past, villagers had to walk several miles each day, just to carry two buckets of half‑filled water to sustain the village's livelihood and irrigation.

Before, some even tried every method to dig a well in the village, but the soil was dry and sandy, making drawing water impossible.

Once…

Suddenly, a deafening cheer erupted from the cliff's edge. The cheer was like a bomb, a puff of smoke, instantly bursting and spreading through the village.

"Village chief, we succeeded!" a good‑natured young man shouted, trembling as he lifted the clear water, his eyes sparkling with surprise and excitement. "This really is water, the water we just hauled up from the lake!"

An old man, his face lined with wrinkles and his body weathered, trembled with tears in his eyes and said, "Excellent! Truly thanks to the gods' protection! Linhu Village is saved!"

Someone nearby snorted disdainfully, "What gods' protection? When we were living worse than dead, which god ever cared about our lives?"

"If it weren't for the divine doctor and Shui Guniang, we would have died of illness or hunger long ago!"

The good‑natured youth sprang up cleverly and shouted, "Village chief, I'll go tell Shui Guniang right away!"

Without waiting for a reply, he sprinted out.

"Qingzi, don't recklessly scare Shui Guniang…" the old man called from behind, but the good‑natured youth had already run far away.

Qingzi ran a long way before finally finding a sleeping child under a tree shade.

The girl lay quietly on a massive rock, the harsh afternoon sun bleaching the ground around her to a dazzling white. Yet the dappled light filtering through the trees fell gently on her, turning soft and harmonious, as if she were a natural spirit merged with all things.

Qingzi approached cautiously, as if fearing desecration, and examined closely. The girl's face was crystal‑white, and the few scars crossing it were strikingly bright red.

Even so, to Qingzi she was more beautiful than any mortal woman. In their eyes, the scars became the most mysterious and lofty sigils.

From days of toil, her thin lips were dry and cracked, lacking color, yet she stubbornly pursed them. Long lashes framed her face, casting a beautiful silhouette.

The girl slept so quietly that one would think she was merely asleep, without dream, sorrow, or smile—just curled thinly, wholly merging with the afternoon sun.

Qingzi felt their heart suddenly pound, and their hand instinctively reached out to tuck back the wind‑tossed hair.

Before the hand could reach halfway, a cold, haughty, emotionless rebuke yanked it back.

"Don't touch her!"

Bu Sha, clad in dazzling black, stood coldly askew, his night‑black eyes not even glancing at Qingzi, and he simply gazed at the sleeping girl beneath the shade.

Strangely, the black‑clad, black‑eyed figure, still as night, was dazzling in this utterly ordinary village yet somehow imperceptible.

Qingzi watched the bone‑chilling cold in Bu Sha's eyes, shivered, and could not move, staring as he passed by, hoisting the girl over his shoulder, then leaving as if she were invisible.

During that, his expression was like dead water, no ripple, yet it unnerved Qingzi inexplicably.

Until his distant figure vanished from sight, Qingzi remained stunned, unable to comprehend…

Bu Sha carried the girl through the bustling crowd; wherever he went, people automatically yielded a path.

Not only because Bu Sha and his two companions are the village's saviors, revered as deities, but also because his gaze, expression, and aura are so icy that no one can approach.

Two bright‑faced, delicate girls whispered to each other as they walked forward. Their cheeks were apricot‑red, eyes like peach blossoms; one wore a teal dress with a green skirt, slender; the other in light pink, looking even more delicate than a flower.

Though dressed as maidservants, their fabrics instantly revealed their master's high rank. Compared with the plain villagers, they were dazzling scenery.

What they said is unknown; suddenly the girl in the teal dress flushed red and scolded the one in pink. Not wanting to lose face, she whispered a few words, and the other instantly turned shy, unable to speak.

Bu Sha stopped them, coldly asking, "Where is Qi?"

The two giggling girls were startled, their smiles frozen by Bu Sha's surrounding chill.

After a long pause, the girl in teal finally steadied her trembling voice, pointed to a hall behind and said, "In… in the inner room, treating our lady's illness."

Bu Sha ignored the stunned girls, kept his pace, and entered a house that, though a bit shabby, was still far more luxurious than the surroundings.

Inside.

A stunning woman sat upright on an intricately carved wooden chair, one jade‑white arm leisurely supporting her head, the other gently resting on a brocade‑cotton cushion. Her eyes, like rippling autumn water and peach blossoms, now gazed deeply at the gentle youth taking her pulse.

This woman is King Yin's most beloved daughter, his treasured jewel, Yin Tianxue, the full sister of Yin Ziheng.

Since childhood, basking in the favor of her father the king and her royal brother, she never learned needlework, but loved literature and the arts—especially music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. She wasn't masterful, yet she was certainly refined.

After hearing the Fourth Prince recount the contest at Wangjiang Tower, she became obsessed with the three members of the Wu You Group, dreaming of meeting them and testing herself against them.

Through her extensive network and relentless determination, she eventually discovered their trail in a small village, Linhu Village, some thirty‑plus li from the capital.

At that time, a massive plague broke out around Linhu Village, and King Yin and the Fourth Prince naturally forbade her from risking it.

When both soft and hard tactics failed, she made a decision she later regretted but now greatly appreciates—sneaking out of the palace with Hong'er and Cui'er.

Disguised as men, they hired a carriage and traveled day and night; unfamiliar with the terrain, they took many detours, yet finally reached Linhu Village within a day.

The day she arrived coincided with the third day of the Wu You trio's stay in the village, the most dire moment. Though she had imagined the plague‑stricken village countless times, the reality still stunned her.

Before reaching Linhu Village, she saw corpses strewn across the hills like desiccated bodies, not a drop of blood left. Crows periodically descended, cawing as they pecked at eyes and entrails.

Many corpses had already rotted, maggots swarming; insects and ants crawled in and out of their hollow eyes, and the mouths and noses exhaled a nauseating stench.

In fact, she, Hong'er, and Cui'er vomited on the spot, eventually emptying their stomachs, even bile. She could not understand why the Wu You trio would come to such a cursed place.

Having been pampered since childhood, the exhausting journey, shock, and vomiting overwhelmed her; upon reaching Linhu Village she collapsed, and Hong'er and Cui'er, who had never known hardship, fell likewise.

Worse, she contracted the legendary dreadful plague, remained comatose for seven days with a relentless fever, nearly losing her life.

In a daze, she constantly felt gentle, cool hands caring for her. Upon first waking, seeing that peerless visage, she wondered if she were already dead to encounter such a celestial being.

Later, as she truly regained consciousness, she learned that the youth was one of the Wu You trio, famed as the peerless divine doctor. Staring at his faint smile, she was too embarrassed to speak; her brother's words echoed in her ears: "People say his 'peerless' refers not to his medicine but his looks—yet it's more than mere surface."

The focused youth suddenly lifted his head, dazedly peeking at Yin Tianxue, a sudden heat spreading from his face down his neck. Just as he was about to speak, he realized the boy was not looking at him but at the slightly ajar wooden door.

Suddenly, the door was kicked open without warning; a black‑clad, black‑eyed, indifferent man carried a petite girl into the room, not even glancing at her, only looking at the gentle, peerless youth.

Qi Ran rose, took the sleeping girl from Bu Sha's arms, and, helpless yet pained, gently brushed her gaunt cheek, scarred and ugly. He said lightly, "That foolish girl must be exhausted, huh? She's gone three days without sleep over that waterwheel."

The girl in his arms seemed to sense something, a faint smile appearing at her lips; her petite body nestled deeper into his embrace, finding a comfortable spot to keep sleeping. Yet that smile lingered.

Qiran gazed at her eyes, growing gentler, his heart feeling a faint sweet-and-sour like the taste of filled happiness. He knew that Bingyi, when asleep, was always calm and indifferent, as if guarding against everything in the world. Only in his embrace would she relax, revealing a hint of an innocent girl's smile.

Bu Sha gazed at the two of them, a hint of tenderness flickering in his eyes, yet he remained expressionless as he said, "The water wheel has been tested successfully."

"Is that so?" Qiran embraced the girl in his arms, his gaze deep with a bone-deep tenderness that could drown any woman in the world, "I don't know where she gets all those strange ideas."

He deliberately smiled and glanced at Bu Sha's black sword. Who could have imagined that the sidearm of the world's top assassin, renowned far and wide, the "blood-absorbing", had actually been modified by a girl into a bladeless "reverse blade" sword.

Although called bladeless, it's not entirely so, for the blade still bears an edge several times sharper than that of an ordinary sword. It's just that this edge is not on the black sword's body but on its back, hence the name reverse blade.

When the reverse blade sword was successfully tempered, all I heard was her proudly saying, "Who told you your martial arts are so high? When we spar on the platform, if you accidentally kill someone, you'll bring trouble upon yourself with endless enemies."

"This sword is called the "reverse blade". I used heat treatment to make the blade edge extremely sharp, yet I had the old master set it on the sword's back, leaving the sword's body bladeless; as for the sword's tip, it is a movable sleeve fixed with coarse threads, which can be flipped and reloaded at any time. If one day you encounter an opponent that the "reverse blade" cannot defeat, just flip it over and it becomes your original "blood-absorbing". How's that, not a bad idea?"

Bu Sha smiled wryly, yet he had to admit this was a sword very suited to him, at least it could reduce his unwarranted killings. He curled the corner of his mouth and said, "Let her sleep; I'm heading out first."

(End of Chapter)