Xie Lin had drained the poisonous blood completely, yet he still held onto Jiang Yunshu’s ankle, refusing to let go.
The two of them remained in that position, sharing the act of sucking out the venom.
Jiang Yunshu sat on a large rock, while Xie Lin knelt before her on one knee, his face level with her foot.
Of course, Jiang Yunshu knew that kneeling on one knee had no proposal connotations in ancient times, but still, she was momentarily stunned.
Her heart raced, and she couldn’t quite pinpoint why. Was it the snake venom? The life-or-death moment? Or was it because this was the first time she had seen Xie Lin from this angle—his immortal-like face looking up at her?
Xie Lin slowly stood up.
The poison would spread faster the more they moved.
The mountaintop was just within reach, but neither Jiang Yunshu nor Xie Lin had the strength to climb it themselves.
Behind them, guards were carrying a stretcher. Whether going up or coming down, they were supposed to wait in place for the stretcher to arrive, so the guards could carry them.
The imperial physician was also among the group behind. Jiang Yunshu knew the doctor carried commonly used medicines—but she didn’t know if there was an antidote for snake venom.
Getting bitten by a snake in the mountains must be a common accident, right?
Jiang Yunshu silently hoped the physician had anticipated this and prepared the necessary remedies.
Hurry... hurry up...
Jiang Yunshu sat on the big rock, gazing at the winding mountain path below, her heart burning with anxiety.
Xie Lin said, “Sitting idle won’t help, Your Highness. Would you be willing to walk a bit along this smoother path with me?”
Jiang Yunshu looked at him in surprise—they were both very likely poisoned...
“Walking now will only speed up our deaths,” she said.
Xie Lin asked, “Are you afraid to die, Your Highness?”
Jiang Yunshu thought to herself, Isn’t that obvious?
“Does the ruler not fear death?” she retorted.
Xie Lin replied candidly, “No.”
How could anyone not fear death? At first, Jiang Yunshu thought Xie Lin was just putting on a brave front, but when she met his gaze, she realized he was telling the truth.
His eyes sparkled like stars, as if... filled with hope.
What was he hoping for? A chill ran down Jiang Yunshu’s spine.
Suddenly, Xie Lin smiled. “Don’t worry, we won’t die.”
“Why not?” Jiang Yunshu asked.
With a relaxed tone, Xie Lin said, “Haven’t you heard the saying?”
“Good people don’t live long; villains leave a legacy for a thousand years.”
“Both Your Highness and I are villains, so we’re bound to live long lives.”
Jiang Yunshu frowned deeply. She didn’t see herself as a villain—she was clearly a good person. But according to Xie Lin...
He suddenly leaned closer, locking eyes with Jiang Yunshu. “Are you scared now?”
“Then all the more reason to walk with me.”
“I’ll take you to see your final resting place—it’s a beautiful sight.”
“After seeing it, perhaps you’ll no longer fear death.”
Jiang Yunshu: ".............."
Even if she were buried in a five-star scenic spot after death, she was still terrified of dying!
Having died once before—transported from the modern era to the Great Qi Dynasty—she especially feared death!
If she died a second time, what if she was sent back to the distant ancient times? She definitely didn’t want to live a life of primitive survival!
But Xie Lin had already made up his mind—he would take Jiang Yunshu to see her burial place.
He bent down and effortlessly lifted her into his arms, then began walking forward.
“Palm... the royal seal...” Jiang Yunshu jumped in fright, pressing herself against Xie Lin’s chest, frozen in place, even slowing her breathing.
Even though Xie Lin was a formidable warrior, carrying her like this while moving forward would take effort—and it would only speed up the venom’s spread!
Xie Lin truly didn’t fear death...
A storm of emotions surged within Jiang Yunshu. Everyone knew the Ninth Young Master killed without hesitation, but who would have guessed he was so indifferent to his own life?
Xie Lin carried Jiang Yunshu along a winding mountain path until they stopped beneath a cliff.
Jiang Yunshu caught a faint scent of peach blossoms. She looked up and saw the cliff above was covered with blooming peach trees.
This was a quiet, secluded spot, shaded by trees, caressed by a cool breeze, surrounded by the gentle murmur of a stream.
Xie Lin circled around to the back of a large tree. Jiang Yunshu noticed a small stone—no, a stone tablet.
Gently, Xie Lin set Jiang Yunshu down, bent over, and brushed away the wild grass before the tablet, revealing four characters—
“The Tomb of Wen Lin.”
Surprise flashed across Jiang Yunshu’s face. “Wen Lin? Your names share the same character.”
As the words left her mouth, she bit her lip nervously. Suddenly, she realized why Xie Lin came to Mount Wu every May—to pay respects to this person.
The one resting beneath this modest tombstone must be deeply important to Xie Lin.
No wonder Xie Lin grew irritable and violent every May.
She shouldn’t have been so curious about why the person in the tomb shared the same character “Lin” in their name. Even if curious, she should have kept it to herself instead of blurting it out...
Jiang Yunshu stole a glance at Xie Lin’s expression. He didn’t look angry, but he didn’t answer her question either.
He simply stared quietly at the tombstone.
Jiang Yunshu stood silently beside him, her thoughts drifting farther and farther away.
She thought about how rumors painted the Ninth Young Master as extravagant and wasteful. Indeed, the Weiyang Palace overflowed with lavish spending; the treasures Xie Lin gave her arrived by the cartload.
So why did he come every year to Mount Wu to honor someone buried with only a handful of earth and a simple stone tablet?
Xie Lin could easily have built a grand, luxurious tomb for this person.
Jiang Yunshu had no idea who was buried here. If the person shared Xie Lin’s surname, it would be easy to guess—they were probably relatives.
But their names shared a character, yet their surnames were different: Xie Lin and Wen Lin... Jiang Yunshu simply couldn’t figure out their relationship.
Xie Lin seemed lost in thought, but he had long cultivated sharp senses. Every move Jiang Yunshu made was recorded in his mind.
Her fixed gaze on the tombstone could only mean she was thinking about the question she had just asked.
Xie Lin was too lazy to explain.
In truth, this trip to Mount Wu was only because Xie Lin couldn’t bear to leave Jiang Yunshu alone in the palace, especially with the scheming Empress Dowager around. So he just happened to bring her out.
He merely wanted to show her the green mountains and clear waters; whether Jiang Yunshu wanted to climb the mountain or not was entirely up to her.
Originally, Xie Lin hadn’t planned to bring Jiang Yunshu here to pay respects to Wen Lin.
After all, Wen Lin didn’t know Jiang Yunshu, and Jiang Yunshu didn’t know Wen Lin.
At this moment, Jiang Yunshu standing before Wen Lin’s tomb was purely by chance.
Jiang Yunshu being bitten by the snake was an accident, and Xie Lin sucking the venom from her wound was also an accident... Since it would take a little while for the sedan chair to arrive, he brought Jiang Yunshu here in the meantime.
But he had no intention of satisfying her curiosity.
Xie Lin looked at Jiang Yunshu and said, "Didn't you bring some food with you? Take it out."
Jiang Yunshu opened her small bag — after traveling through time, she realized that ancient times actually had bags, and they were quite exquisite and beautiful. The scenes in costume dramas where people pull out a bunch of things from their sleeves? All lies!
Because on the carriage, Jiang Yunshu almost had nothing to eat. When she climbed the mountain, she had brought a little bit of food with her, not asking anyone else to carry it.
Unfortunately, she hadn’t eaten a single bite herself; now, everything was handed over to Xie Lin.
Xie Lin glanced at Jiang Yunshu. Why did she guard her food like a little dog?
The delicate snacks Jiang Yunshu carried were indeed fresh.
Xie Lin placed the food offerings in front of Wen Lin’s tombstone, silently thinking, "Today, I’ll let you taste something fresh."
Xie Lin’s way of paying respects was casual—he roughly pulled out some weeds from the grave and carelessly added a couple of handfuls of soil.
He struck a firestone to light incense.
Just as the incense began to emit thin wisps of smoke, Xie Lin, with the extraordinary hearing of a martial artist, heard people approaching from behind.
“The sedan chair is here,” Xie Lin said to Jiang Yunshu.
Jiang Yunshu stood still, not moving. She thought Xie Lin was going to burn the incense properly.
Unexpectedly, Xie Lin casually stuck the incense into the grave mound and turned to leave.
Jiang Yunshu was stunned. Xie Lin came to pay respects every year on this day; the person buried here must be extremely important to him. How could he be so careless with the incense?
Xie Lin turned back and urged, “Are you just standing here waiting for the poison to take effect, Your Highness?”
Jiang Yunshu hurried over to Xie Lin’s side. As she left, she glanced back, wondering if Xie Lin’s use of the little snacks she brought as offerings was a bit too casual.
That glance caused a misunderstanding in Xie Lin’s mind—he thought Jiang Yunshu was reluctant to part with her food.
Xie Lin said, “You won’t lose out, Your Highness.”
Xie Lin had sucked the venom from Jiang Yunshu’s wound because he remembered what Wen Lin said ten years ago.
A small bag of snacks could buy a little more time.
Jiang Yunshu was not at a loss.
The guards and palace servants arrived behind them. When they learned that Jiang Yunshu had been bitten by a snake, their faces changed drastically. Upon hearing that Xie Lin had sucked the venom from her wound with his own mouth, they were so frightened they nearly knelt down!
If anything happened to the Imperial Seal, these “lackeys of the Imperial Seal” wouldn’t survive either!
The palace servants carefully helped Xie Lin and Jiang Yunshu onto the sedan chair.
The imperial physician hurried over to examine the snake that Xie Lin had killed. Among them was an expert in detoxification, who immediately changed expression upon seeing the patterns on the dead snake’s body.
This snake’s venom was extremely potent!
Though not instantly fatal, every year there were many who died from this venom if not treated promptly and properly.
The sedan chair carried Jiang Yunshu and Xie Lin swiftly and steadily up the mountain; in less than half the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, they arrived at the mountaintop residence.
Once inside, the imperial physician immediately performed bloodletting on Jiang Yunshu’s ankle. Seeing that her blood was bright red, the swelling was not severe, and there was no discoloration, the physician secretly let out a sigh of relief.
The imperial physician had already carefully prepared the antidote—gathering the herbs, boiling the medicine...
Xie Lin’s dosage was heavier than Jiang Yunshu’s.
The physician’s heart was filled with both worry and fear, for Xie Lin’s condition was far more perilous than Miss Jiang’s.
Jiang Yunshu had been bitten by a venomous snake, but the timely application of a tourniquet and thorough bloodletting, combined with the fact that the bite was on her ankle—the part farthest from her vital organs and head—meant she was in the best possible condition after such a bite.
But the poison mark was a different matter entirely.
The poison mark was sucked by mouth, and since the skin inside the mouth was delicate, the venom could penetrate more easily.
If the poison entered through the mouth, it was far too close to the head, making death far more likely!
Even if one survived, the venom could easily cause blindness, as the mouth and eyes were closely connected.
The physician shuddered violently at the thought. Whether the poison mark died or went blind, he couldn’t decide which was worse.
For the physician, the only difference was this: if the poison mark died, he would have died at the hands of the poison mark’s enemy; if the poison mark went blind, he would have died at the poison mark’s own hands.
The physician waited as Xie Lin and Jiang Yunshu took their medicine, then advised them to eat light, easily digestible food.
In the physician’s view, Xie Lin and Jiang Yunshu should sleep in separate rooms that night, making it easier for him to keep watch by their side.
But Xie Lin refused to let the physician stay by his bedside.
The physician wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve. So this was what it meant—no one could watch over the bedside...
And Xie Lin wanted Jiang Yunshu to sleep in the same bed with him.
This must mean that he didn’t want the bedside to be empty either...
The physician and the palace attendants could only keep watch outside the door, guarding a room full of people.
Upon learning that Xie Lin’s condition was even more dangerous than hers, Jiang Yunshu’s heart grew heavy and conflicted.
But Xie Lin seemed surprisingly calm, as if the danger wasn’t happening to him at all.
Jiang Yunshu thought: Xie Lin really isn’t afraid of dying.
That night, Jiang Yunshu’s worst fear came true—Xie Lin’s fever spiked.
At first, she hadn’t noticed. She had been exhausted from the day’s exertions and fright, and poisoned by the snake.
Though she worried for Xie Lin, she still fell into a deep sleep.
It wasn’t until Xie Lin’s murmured words roused her.
Jiang Yunshu reached out to feel his forehead—it was burning hot!
She hurriedly called for the physician.
The physician and palace attendants filed into the chamber, the room brightly lit, but Xie Lin still hadn’t woken.
“Snakes... so many snakes!”
“Don’t come near! Don’t come near!”
Hearing Xie Lin’s frightened muttering, Jiang Yunshu froze. Was he having a nightmare? Dreaming of snakes?
His voice was full of terror. Could it be that Xie Lin was afraid of snakes?
She recalled how calmly he had slain the snake earlier, his face never betraying a hint of fear... Would someone afraid of snakes act like him?
She couldn’t understand.
The physician administered a fever-reducing decoction, spoon by spoon, into Xie Lin’s mouth.
Still, he did not awaken. The physician explained that forcibly waking him now would do more harm than good.
There was nothing more the physician could do—though he did not say so outright, Jiang Yunshu understood his unspoken message: now, all they could do was do their best and leave the rest to fate.
Jiang Yunshu sat by the bedside, studying Xie Lin’s sleeping face. His brow was tightly furrowed, and he looked utterly restless in slumber.
Could Xie Lin fall asleep like this and never wake up again?
Rationally, Jiang Yunshu trusted the imperial physician’s words, but emotionally, she refused to believe it.
Good people don’t live long; troublemakers haunt a thousand years.
Xie Lin would be safe, she was certain of it.
Jiang Yunshu reached out, gently smoothing the furrow between Xie Lin’s brows.
But soon, the frown returned. She smoothed it again.
Frown again... smooth again...
She didn’t know what she was stubbornly fighting against, as if by easing the crease on his brow, his nightmares would cease.
What was Xie Lin dreaming about?
Just now, in his dream, Xie Lin had become a boy from over a decade ago.
He dreamt of that snake pit—a large hole in the ground, into which hundreds of snakes were first thrown, then he was tossed in after them.
The snakes were mildly venomous; a bite or two wouldn’t kill, but too many bites meant certain death.
This was the trial his foster father set for them—not even the toughest one.
Yet it was the one Xie Lin feared the most.
He wasn’t even this afraid when facing a tiger.
His grip on the sword was tight, knuckles white.
The sword he carried day and night was his only reliance; through relentless practice, he hoped to carve out a path to survival.
Suddenly, a voice full of youthful vigor rang in his ear.
“Eleven!”
“Xie Eleven!”
“Call me ‘brother’ once, and I’ll help you.”
