Chapter 162: Meeting Liu Yaoyi Again in Liangcheng

Since this is a journey of experience, the pace naturally cannot be too fast; seeing the various hardships and joys of the world along the way is exactly what a practitioner should experience. If one is in a rush to reach a destination, how can one even speak of accumulating life experience?

Furthermore, even if there were a rush to reach the destination, in Xin Yi's view, it is entirely unnecessary.

For one, since they are all descending the mountain for experience, Liu Xia certainly will not be moving very fast; perhaps he may not have chosen the same path as the three of them, but it is reasonable to think that even if he reached Cangzhou, he would still stay at home for some time.

Secondly, if they travel slowly, the scenery and people they encounter along the way should be enough to make Wuyang think less about the City Lord's wife. After all, he rarely leaves home, and the complexities of this world are already enough to dazzle him; how could he have the heart to think of other things?

Upon hearing Xin Yi's thoughts, Long Qi was naturally in full agreement; although they had been sleeping in the mountains and wilderness for these days, it had indeed caused the worry between Zhao Wuyang's brows to diminish significantly.

However, Zhao Wuyang was, after all, accustomed to a life of luxury; from childhood to adulthood, he had never even scraped his skin, and even while practicing at Jiuque Mountain, he had not suffered much. Now, having to sleep in the open like this was truly more than he could bear.

At first, Zhao Wuyang was very excited; he had never had the experience of spending the night in the wild, and now that he had encountered it, it was his very first time, so he was naturally extremely happy.

But as luck would have it, it happened to be the Grain Rain season...

When the three of them first set out, it was not very warm, but it was still considered dry. Yet, after walking for only two days, a light, drizzling rain began to fall.

This was no small matter, as it proceeded to rain incessantly, one downpour after another.

Long Qi and Xin Yi had been accustomed to hardship since they were young, and because they had practiced martial arts and taken beatings since childhood, their bodies were naturally much stronger; although the wilderness was damp and sticky, they could still endure it.

But Zhao Wuyang could not; on the second day of the rain, he developed a fever. His forehead felt scorching to the touch, and he was burning so badly that he began to talk nonsense, constantly calling out "Mother, Mother" in his mouth.

Seeing Zhao Wuyang like this, Long Qi was both anxious and heartbroken. He had always treated him like a younger brother, and now that his brother was in such a state, how could he still have the patience to travel slowly?

Although Lingxiang was well-versed in pharmacology and medicine, she had not taught a single bit of it to him or Xin Yi. Now that they had encountered this situation, he truly missed her a little.

If she were here, a single Pill would surely solve the problem.

This was, of course, just Long Qi's wishful thinking. Even weeding a field requires waiting for the Fufang Powder to take effect, and now it was a living person; no matter how miraculous a medicine might be, it still needs time to take effect, doesn't it?

While Xin Yi was also anxious inside, he was not as distraught as Long Qi. When Zhao Wuyang was delirious from illness, he made a prompt decision to travel faster, and while traveling, he would occasionally rummage through the grass.

Seeing him like this, Long Qi was very puzzled. Wuyang was already sick to this extent, yet he still had the heart to play in the grass? Did he still think he was a three-year-old child?

Just as Long Qi was about to speak, he saw a look of joy on Xin Yi's face, and he actually squatted down to cut a handful of wild grass.

"What are you doing?" Long Qi was greatly puzzled and hurriedly asked.

"There is no village in front and no shop behind us here, and now that Wuyang is in this state, if we don't take some measures, I fear his body will suffer," Xin Yi said, while tearing off a corner of his garment to wrap up the pile of wild grass.

"This wild grass is called plantain. When I was young, I followed my father to the battlefield. During marches, if those soldiers encountered a fever or cold, they would boil this grass in water and drink it. If their constitution was sturdy, after drinking a few bowls of the soup and sleeping for a day, they would be seven or eight parts better."

Xin Yi found a rock and kept smashing it against the cloth wrapping the plantain grass; before long, he saw the grass juice seeping out of the cloth bundle.

"It is impossible to start a fire and boil it now, so it is better to feed this grass juice to Wuyang. I think it should at least have some effect," Xin Yi said, not stopping his hands, and signaled for Long Qi to pry open Zhao Wuyang's mouth.

Although Long Qi was skeptical, this was indeed a method with no other options. Wuyang was already burning deliriously; doing something was better than doing nothing and just worrying.

Long Qi followed his instructions and pried open Zhao Wuyang's mouth, and Xin Yi hurriedly squeezed the juice into it.

The coolness of the juice dripping onto the back of Long Qi's hand, contrasted with the scorching heat of the skin on his palm, made him feel slightly more at ease.

Perhaps this method would work, he comforted himself in his heart.

Xin Yi squeezed the juice from the cloth bundle until it was dry before stopping. He shook the grass juice off his hands and said to Long Qi, "This is only a temporary measure and may not necessarily work. Liangcheng is not far ahead; it is more proper to hurry and find a doctor in the city."

Long Qi nodded upon hearing this, carried Zhao Wuyang on his back, and began to run...

Liangcheng...

I wonder if I will still be able to meet the two brothers Lu and Wei...

Although the Wangyou Tavern in Liangcheng had not opened its doors for a long time, it was said that the proprietress, Yao Yi, did not intend to close the tavern. A few days ago, someone even saw her, but it was unknown if it was because she was exhausted from taking care of Mr. Zhuang; the people of Liangcheng always felt that her complexion was not as rosy as before.

However, even in such a state of a "sick beauty," it made a crowd of lechers even more obsessed with her beauty.

Fortunately, as long as she went out, Mr. Zhuang would always be by her side, and these lecherous people were somewhat wary—Mr. Zhuang still had some prestige in Liangcheng.

But people are just like that; everywhere there will be those local ruffians. These people were not like those desperate criminals who would commit murder or arson, but they were capable of oppressing the common people. Although such people's actions could not be called heinous, they still made the people feel miserable.

And such people were mostly lecherous...

And so, just when the proprietress Yao Yi and Mr. Zhuang went out, they happened to encounter such people.

If it were in the past, Yao Yi would naturally not be afraid; a casual flick of her fingers would be enough to make these people suffer. But she had promised Mr. Zhuang to be an ordinary couple with him and never again use Witchcraft or the like, especially not to take human lives.

Why else would they say scholars are pedantic? If Lingxiang were here, she would probably argue with Zhuang Wei: even deadly poison has times when it can be used to save people; even if it were sorcery, so what? There are thousands of types of Witchcraft in the world; they are not divided into good or bad. Only the people who use them are good or bad.

But Mr. Zhuang's concerns this time were also reasonable; after all, they had lived in Liangcheng for many years and still had to live here in the future. If they were seen by someone with ulterior motives, it might invite trouble.

But he was just a weak scholar; encountering such a thing, let alone protecting Yao Yi, he probably couldn't even protect himself.

"Yo! I wonder who this is; isn't this the proprietress of Wangyou? I haven't seen you for many days, why are you so haggard? It really makes my heart ache!"

Mr. Zhuang had taken a fancy to a White Jade Flowing Cloud Hairpin at a stall and was pulling Liu Yaoyi to try it on, when suddenly someone pressed in from the side, speaking in a Yin and Yang tone.

"Could it be that you've exhausted yourself because of Mr. Zhuang's illness! Oh my, how could this be!"

The man was wearing silk robes and had a horsewhip hanging from his waist. He looked like the second son of some wealthy family, but his appearance was somewhat unbearable to look at: thin eyebrows, narrow eyes, an upturned nose, large ears, long mouth, and bulging cheeks.

This was clearly the appearance of a pig! He looked just like a pig with shiny hair.

Moreover, there were several people behind him, burly in stature and with fierce expressions.

Seeing that the situation was bad, Mr. Zhuang hurriedly pulled Liu Yaoyi and tried to leave, but the man would not give up. With a signal from his eyes, those men who looked like bodyguards surrounded them.

"I say, proprietress, why bother living with this sick weakling? It would be better to come back to my mansion with me. I will definitely let you eat well and live well in the future; it's better than suffering the life of a widow, isn't it?"

This sentence was extremely lewd. Upon hearing it, Liu Yaoyi's hand had already formed a fist, but she was blocked by Zhuang Wei.

Seeing that they could not escape the situation, Mr. Zhuang cupped his hands and said, "Brother, speaking like this is an insult to refinement..."

But before he could finish, he was pushed away by the man and subsequently restrained by his attendants.

"Go, go, go. I am talking to the beauty; where is your place to interrupt?" As he spoke, he reached out to touch Liu Yaoyi's face. "What does the beauty think?"

Seeing her husband being bullied, Liu Yaoyi was already furious. If Mr. Zhuang hadn't called out to her, she would have almost struck this fat man.

And just as the man's hand was about to touch Liu Yaoyi, he suddenly let out a miserable scream.

A young man in blue was seen holding the man's wrist with one hand, seemingly without any effort, and twisted it until it broke. On the back of this blue-clad youth was another person.

This blue-clad youth was none other than Long Qi.

"You probably never look in a mirror on a daily basis, you gluttonous pig, yet you still dare to come out and harass someone else's wife."

That man's wrist was twisted and broken, and in his pain, he rolled on the ground, shouting at the group of guards: "Are you all dead?! Why aren't you moving yet! Beat him to death for me!"

Those regular guards received the order and immediately attacked Long Qi all at once; it was at this moment that a black shadow flashed by, and these men were instantly knocked to the ground.

The guard who had been restraining Mr. Zhuang saw that the situation was unfavorable, so he hurriedly released him, helped the fat man up, and ran away; as the fat man ran, he kept shouting at Long Qi:

"You stinking brat! You just wait for me!"

Just then, a stone flew in from who knows where and struck the man squarely in the face, instantly knocking his front teeth out.

That settled it; he couldn't say a word now, so he could only cover his face and run away.

Seeing that everyone had run off, Long Qi turned to look at Liu Yaoyi, but the moment he saw her, he immediately exclaimed:

"Why is it you!?"

……

After the doctor's diagnosis and treatment, followed by a Medicinal Bath, Zhao Wuyang's body was finally no longer burning to the touch; he was now sleeping soundly and no longer talking nonsense.

Compared to a few months ago, the Jingwei Study had not changed much; it was still as leisurely and elegant as before, only now, the clear sound of reading could no longer be heard within the study.

After Lingxiang and her group had visited last time, Mr. Zhuang no longer taught; the study was now entirely the residence of the couple, and even those regular servants and attendants had been dismissed, leaving only one gatekeeper—an elderly man who had never once spoken a word.

Now that the couple had to do many things themselves, it was inevitable that many humorous situations would arise, yet the two of them felt that this was the joy of living life.

Just then, Mr. Zhuang had finished seeing the doctor out and returned to the hall.

Seeing Mr. Zhuang return, Liu Yaoyi immediately went to greet him; the two of them looked so affectionate, like newlyweds, that Long Qi felt quite envious, even wondering in his heart if he and Lingxiang would be like this in the future.

As he thought about this, he recalled the earlier events; Long Qi was very curious, for last time, in order to save Mr. Zhuang, Liu Yaoyi had clearly crushed her own Demon Core to pieces, and although she had been saved by the Life-Prolonging Pill fed to her by Lingxiang, she shouldn't have been able to take human form in just these few short months.

Hearing Long Qi's question, Liu Yaoyi smiled: "Miss Lingxiang fed me two Pills at the time; it must be because of this second Pill that a new Demon Core condensed within my body, which is how I was able to take human form. It is just that now I only have one Demon Core in my body, so I can only barely maintain my human form and cannot do anything else."

Hearing her say this, Long Qi suddenly realized; no wonder Mr. Zhuang would not allow Lady Zhuang to use demon arts—he must have been afraid that she would accidentally reveal her original form, and if others were to find out, there would be no place left for the two of them in Liangcheng.

People in this world, for the most part, cannot tolerate those who are different...

Seeing that he had served tea to everyone, Mr. Zhuang apologized and went out to buy food.

The food the couple cooked was barely edible for the three of them in the house; now that they had guests, they couldn't possibly let them eat that, could they?

Liu Yaoyi watched Mr. Zhuang walk out the door, but she did not turn back, as if she were thinking of something; after a long while, she asked Long Qi: "Why didn't Miss Lingxiang come this time?"

Long Qi explained that this trip was for the purpose of training; upon hearing this, Liu Yaoyi only lowered her head and said nothing more.

This was a bit strange...

Seeing her like this, Xin Yi hurriedly asked: "Is there something you would like us to pass on for you?"

Liu Yaoyi hesitated for a long time, but in the end, she only said a word of thanks.

After drinking the doctor's medicine, Zhao Wuyang was able to get out of bed the next day, but since he had been through an illness, the three of them stayed at the Jingwei Study for two more days, just to ensure his body could recover steadily.

By the fourth day, Long Qi saw that the color on his face had recovered by seven or eight parts, so he decided to bid farewell to Mr. Zhuang.

Since they were out on training under the orders of their master, Mr. Zhuang naturally did not try to keep them, but he prepared some common medicines for them to prevent such situations from happening again on the road, so they would be prepared.

Long Qi thanked Mr. Zhuang and Liu Yaoyi profusely as he said his goodbyes; just as he turned to leave, he was called back by Liu Yaoyi.

"When you see Miss Lingxiang in the future, please pass on a message for me."

Everyone was a bit confused upon hearing this; although Lingxiang had saved Liu Yaoyi's life, they weren't exactly close—it was merely a chance encounter, so what could there be to pass on?

"If you see Miss Lingxiang, please tell her this: The Suspended Thread Returning to Heaven can never return, and the dreamer's words are all in vain."

Long Qi looked puzzled upon hearing this; he looked at Xin Yi, but the latter also did not understand what Liu Yaoyi meant.

Suspended Thread Returning to Heaven? What was that?