Chapter 84: The Seeds of Doubt Blown by the Wind

Complaining aside, could we really let the heaven‑destined male lead corpse in the wilderness? Then does their novel world, which relies on the male and female leads, still need to exist? There's no way; although Shi Ran is extremely unwilling, she still resigns herself to urging Chi Tong to speed up.

The wind and snow still raged; as far as the eye could see, it was all a white expanse, heaven and earth a lone sand gull; Shi Ran felt she was that sand gull!

Chi Tong carried Shi Ran and Gu Yusheng swiftly across the icy snowy wilderness, relying on memory to find last night's cave in the vast snow; although outside it was bitterly cold, once inside the cave it was warm as spring.

The firelight flickered, as if speaking of these endless thoughts; a pot sat on the fire, gurgling, emitting a scent of rice.

"You're back, Junior Sister Shi!" Ruan Xinli, who was feeding Qi Chengshuang porridge, turned and smiled charmingly: "The pot's still keeping your porridge warm; hungry? Have a bite first!"

No wonder that dead author paired Ruan Xinli with Gu Yusheng, that big-tailed wolf; she's so gentle and thoughtful, whoever marries her is blessed! Shi Ran glanced at Qi Chengshuang leaning against the cave wall, head down drinking porridge, and snorted, "Having survived a great disaster, you'll surely have future blessings—cherish it!"

"No rush, no rush!" Shi Ran leapt off Chi Tong's back, saying, "I didn't find any food outside, but I picked up Junior Brother Gu; Senior Sister Ruan, could you take a look?"

Luo Changfeng was still meditating; hearing this, he opened his eyes, doubting he'd misheard: "Who did you pick up?"

Shi Ran didn't answer, she patted Chi Tong; Chi Tong understood, its leopard body jerked and threw Gu Yusheng straight down.

Poor Gu Yusheng rolled twice and ended up at Ruan Xinli's feet, his face pallid, his clothes disheveled, looking as if dead; Ruan Xinli jumped in fright, hastily setting down her bowl, while Qi Chengshuang, shaking with anger, pointed at Shi Ran and coughed: "Cough, cough, Shi Ran! You cough cough cough! You cough cough!"

"What‑what‑what's wrong with me!" Shi Ran calmly ladled a bowl of porridge, took a cautious sip; the hot porridge warmed her belly, spreading comfort through her body. She couldn't understand why, if one cultivates, one cultivates, why avoid grains—food is such a wonderful thing in the world!

After a few sips, seeing Qi Chengshuang's face flushed red, she finally realized this sick‑person's porridge was for him, and honestly admitted her mistake: "Enough, enough, Second Senior Brother, don't get angry so easily—with your explosive temper, I really feel it's a waste for Senior Sister Ruan; you ought to change a bit!"

Qi Chengshuang's coughing grew worse; "What nonsense is this dead girl spouting!" He and Ruan Xinli were innocent; if she spoke like that, Ruan Xinli wouldn't know what to think of him! Thinking this, Qi Chengshuang furtively glanced at Ruan Xinli, only to find her thoughts were nowhere on him, but rather one hand rested on Gu Yusheng's wrist, lost in thought.

Shi Ran finished the porridge in a few gulps, saw Luo Changfeng and the two others gathered silently around Gu Yusheng, feeling a bit bored, she stroked Chi Tong's big ears; Chi Tong blinked, then obediently twitched its ears. Shi Ran felt amused, yet also pained that Chi Tong had been unable to move at all in the cave last night; she thought, then directly sent Chi Tong into her sea of consciousness, now she should be able to play landlord, and she let out a sigh.

Just then, Ruan Xinli also finished taking his pulse; Luo Changfeng was very anxious: "Junior Sister Ruan, what's wrong with him?"

Ruan Xinli remained silent for a moment before saying: "Junior Brother Gu's body contains clashing ice and fire spiritual forces; it seems he was struck heavily by a palm, his internal energy is now disordered, the situation is not good!"

"He wasn't with A Xue, so how could he suffer such a grave injury?" Luo Changfeng continued asking, and moreover, given Gu Yusheng's cultivation, how could anyone hit him with fire‑type spiritual power, a fire spiritual root? Luo Changfeng fixed his gaze on the leisurely wandering Shi Ran and asked: "What on earth is going on?"

Luo Changfeng's gaze wasn't very friendly, but Shi Ran didn't take offense—does concern breed chaos? After all, they'd grown up together as fellow martial brothers, so Shi Ran recounted to the three the incident of again meeting the gray‑robed person in the snow, merely concealing her dialogue with that person.

But once the seed of doubt is planted, come wind or rain, it will surely grow into a towering tree; at this moment Luo Changfeng simply didn't realize it yet: "How strange this gray‑robed person is, why does he persistently follow you? What exactly is his background?"

Shi Ran blinked, then shook her head: "I'm not sure about that, Senior Brother; I think we should wait until Junior Brother wakes before talking about it."

Luo Changfeng gave Shi Ran a doubtful glance, didn't pursue the question further, sighed, and continued to care for Gu Yusheng: "Junior Sister Ruan, will this state affect his cultivation? When will he wake?"

Inside the cave the firelight flickered warm as spring, yet it left everyone's faces alternating between light and gloom; Ruan Xinli placed her hand again on Gu Yusheng's wrist, her brows tightening tighter, and after a while she finally let out a relieved breath, confident in her plan.

"Fortunately, although Junior Brother Gu's internal spiritual forces are in conflict, they happen to be balanced, and luckily his physique is strong; all we need to do now is expel the fire spiritual power from his body, and this injury won't significantly hinder his cultivation."

Ruan Xinli took out the golden needle and continued: "Just expelling the fire spiritual power must be done swiftly; otherwise, even if my master came, it would be hard to turn the tide!" She glanced around and said, "Just what about this setting?...."

Shi Ran rolled up her sleeves: "How much more fire do you need? Tell me—whatever amount you need, we've got it!"

Luo Changfeng slapped Shi Ran away with one palm, then asked: "Junior Sister Ruan, what else do you need? Let's see if we have anything in our storage bags."

Ruan Xinli smiled, began counting on her fingers: "I need a bathtub, half a tub of hot water, I have the medicinal herbs ginseng and angelica here; I'm only missing a precious medicinal guide and a person."

"What is it!" Luo Changfeng, Qi Chengshuang, and Shi Ran exclaimed in unison.

Ruan Xinli sighed: "The medicinal guide is the blood of the Majestic Dragon; as for the person...." Her gaze slowly shifted toward Shi Ran.

Shi Ran blinked, then clutched herself tightly: "What are you doing? What are you up to? I—I—I—I—I already have someone I love!"

Qi Chengshuang snorted: "Just stop pretending—your beloved is none other than Gu Yusheng; at this moment you're probably thrilled inside, why put on airs!"

Shi Ran protested: "I may have once fancied Junior Brother Gu, but that was eight hundred years ago—right now I don't like him at all; are you asking me to sacrifice myself for him?!" She turned her body: "Unless I die!"

"Actually, there's no need for that...." Ruan Xinli weakly defended.

"Shi Ran, I know that Junior Brother Gu and A Xue have been treating you poorly lately, you hold a grudge!" Luo Changfeng advised: "But our sect's first precept is mutual aid; now that it's a matter of life and death, senior brother hopes you'll give it proper thought."

Shi Ran covered her ears: "Don't try to persuade me, I have someone I love and intend to keep myself pure for him! Gu Yusheng trying to take advantage of me while he's gravely injured is utterly impossible!" She looked at Luo Changfeng: "Senior Brother, since you're so understanding, why don't you strip down and soak in the tub with him?"