Help, I’m Being Forced to Marry a Frail and Sickly Immortal Doctor! 19

Chapter 19: A Sword’s Startling Appearance

“It’s a reward.”

The moment Ning Ruoque picked Yin Buran up, the latter skillfully wrapped her arms around her.

Not the least bit polite.

For Ning Ruoque, she could walk on the cliffs as if on flat ground even while carrying a huge boulder.

But holding the very light Yin Buran, her steps were even more cautious.

Stepping on the shattered mountain path, flipping over collapsed buildings, she soared straight up like a hawk, without even panting.

After reaching the top, she immediately put Yin Buran down, hesitating to speak.

Yin Buran glanced at her. “I called you before, but you didn’t respond. Were you cultivating again?”

Ning Ruoque hesitated for a while, then decided to say it to her face.

“Yin Buran, why did you rub against my hand?”

“…”

Yin Buran fell into silence.

When she had done this back then, Ning Ruoque had never asked such a question.

She smoothed a strand of white hair to her chest, concealing her belatedly reddened earlobes.

She said nonchalantly, “Just coaxing you.”

Not exactly acting cute.

Ning Ruoque was stunned. Coaxing someone, can it be done like this?

Her heart skipped a beat. She frowned slightly. “But this is too intimate.”

Yin Buran’s expression didn’t change. “Then I’ll bite you next time.”

“…”

Thinking of this person’s previous record, Ning Ruoque didn’t dare to speak.

The sun had already set in the west, and thick clouds hung in the sky.

The wind swirled with fallen leaves and sand. The broken tiles and branches were left unswept, making the once magnificently carved Brightlight Tower look exceptionally dilapidated.

Yin Buran took out the Mirage Pearl as usual, tugged on Ning Ruoque’s sleeve, and motioned for her to lead the way.

Only two cultivators at the Dust Cleansing realm guarded the outside of Brightlight Tower, and both were staring blankly, their postures lazy, as if they were daydreaming.

It was effortless to sneak in.

And on the next few floors, the highest-ranking guard was only at the Form Transformation realm. None of them could see through the mist of the Mirage Pearl.

Although the restrictions they encountered were troublesome, it only took a little more effort and was no difficulty for Ning Ruoque.

The higher she went, the more incredible she felt it was.

Although Brightlight Pavilion was a small sect, the Pavilion Master lived here. It shouldn’t be so easily invaded.

As if seeing Ning Ruoque’s concerns, Yin Buran said faintly, “His state doesn’t look like a sect master, more like a discarded pawn. Perhaps the impact of the Fei Zhi’s backlash was too great, and it’s difficult for him to recover.”

Then what role did Xu Chuo play in this?

The two of them reached the top floor almost unimpeded.

When they came during the day, the scent of sandalwood here was thick, making Ning Ruoque feel irritated.

Now, the sandalwood was still there, but there was an additional clear and pleasant floral fragrance by her side, which both calmed the heart and cut through the cloying scent.

She saw Yin Buran looking around, completely ignoring the half-dead old Pavilion Master in the room, and couldn’t help but ask, “What are you looking for?”

“A secret door.”

Those with strong spiritual souls were more likely to detect hidden mechanisms and restrictions.

And among cultivators of the same rank, medical cultivators’ spiritual souls were the most condensed and sensitive. As long as Yin Buran wanted to, Brightlight Tower would have no secrets.

After observing for a while, Yin Buran reached out, and a translucent celestial silkworm silk glove flashed past.

She patted the incense burner in the study without any pattern, then listened with her ear.

Ning Ruoque couldn’t bear to watch. “It’s easy to encounter traps this way.”

Yin Buran turned her head. The surrounding shadows were flickering, but only her pair of glassy pupils were clean and clear.

“Don’t move around. Let me do it.” Ning Ruoque subconsciously softened her tone, trying to pull Yin Buran away.

However, before she could make a move, Yin Buran had already pressed down on the incense burner.

The mechanism turned, and the grating sound of gears meshing rang out. Ning Ruoque only had time to utter a single word.

“You—”

The next second, the floor under Yin Buran’s feet suddenly disappeared. She fell like a bird with a broken wing, in a completely uncontrollable posture.

Ning Ruoque was shocked. Her instincts were faster than her brain, and she jumped in without thinking.

A wind carrying the scent of decay and yin coldness brushed past Ning Ruoque’s ear.

She had no time to discern her surroundings. All she could see was Yin Buran’s fluttering white robes and the thick, bottomless darkness behind her.

The silver-threaded lotus patterns on the hem of her clothes shimmered, but its owner was pale and fragile.

Ning Ruoque’s five senses were magnified to the extreme. In the whistling wind, she accurately captured her own heartbeat.

It could be so flustered.

She adjusted her posture, and the moment she reached Yin Buran’s wrist, she pulled the person into her arms and held on tightly.

Yin Buran didn’t struggle at all. After a brief moment of stunned silence, she hugged her back.

This secret passage was not long. Seeing a glimmer of water below, Ning Ruoque landed silently, without even stirring up a speck of dust.

After the panic, came the anger of being played with.

After all, a certain person could have reminded her, but she just didn’t say anything, preferring to wait for her to save her in a panic.

After confirming that the surroundings were safe, she pushed the person away with a blank expression.

Relying on others was not a good habit.

Ning Ruoque secretly swore that if there was a next time, she would definitely let Yin Buran take a fall!

She had just turned away coldly when she heard a few suppressed coughs from behind her.

Ning Ruoque secretly ground her teeth, but still silently went back. “Are you alright?”

Her tone still carried an unconvincing concern.

Yin Buran shook her head, lowered the sleeve covering her lips, and a bright smile appeared on her face.

“I just had a relapse of my old illness and need to avoid using spiritual energy. It’s not that I can’t use it.”

She seemed not to see Ning Ruoque’s awkward hand fumbling with her clothes and looked straight ahead. “In this situation, I can still land safely.”

Two light words poured down, and Ning Ruoque’s anger dissipated with a “poof,” not even leaving a wisp of smoke behind.

She silently followed behind Yin Buran, deeply reflecting. It was she who had overthought it and misunderstood Yin Buran.

Strange, why did she always think that Yin Buran was teasing her?

Ning Ruoque was still lowering her head, struggling with her thoughts, when she heard Yin Buran chuckle, “Hand.”

The familiar words successfully pulled Ning Ruoque back to reality.

She swept her gaze over Yin Buran’s face with extreme vigilance and did not do as she was told.

“It’s a reward,” Yin Buran said slowly.

Her movements were fast, accurate, and ruthless. She grabbed Ning Ruoque’s hand and forcefully stuffed something into it.

It was so sudden that Ning Ruoque couldn’t push it away. She held up her hand in a daze and examined it in the faint light of the Mirage Pearl.

It was a black pill.

Before it even entered her mouth, she could already smell the sour and bitter taste.

Beneath the secret passage was a cave, leading to who knows where.

Seeing that Yin Buran’s hem was about to melt into the darkness, Ning Ruoque quickly followed.

“What exactly is this medicine?”

Yin Buran was in a good mood and was happy to answer, “I made it myself. It might have some side effects like itching all over and facial paralysis.”

“…”

Ning Ruoque glanced at her, then glanced a few more times, confirming that she hadn’t seen wrong.

This person’s eyes were clearly filled with mockery. She was clearly just teasing her.

She was quiet for a while, then couldn’t help but ask, “Why are you rewarding me?”

This was also a question Yin Buran had never heard before.

The old Ning Ruoque would just take what she was given. Where did all these “whys” come from?

Could it be that her memory was damaged, and her feelings had been reshaped along with it?

Yin Buran walked on her own, not paying much attention to the path. Then her foot slipped, and she was suddenly swept up by Ning Ruoque and brought to a higher rock.

She was put down by Ning Ruoque in a daze, her hand still unconsciously clutching the other’s sleeve.

Ning Ruoque’s lips curved unconsciously.

Yin Buran, who was suddenly lifted high and became dazed for a moment, was very cute.

It was rare, so she cherished it and couldn’t help but want to see it a few more times.

Of course, Ning Ruoque thought that apart from being a little rude, there was nothing wrong with such thoughts.

Just like some cultivators liked to pinch cat paws and touch bird tails, it was a common human thing.

She still treated Yin Buran as a friend.

When the people from Azurefall Creek came to meet them, she would find a chance to slip away.

In just a few breaths, Ning Ruoque forcefully pulled her thoughts back to the right track. The situation before her did not allow for any more distractions.

The narrow cave had come to an end, and what lay ahead was a huge, artificially excavated site.

A sliver of daylight fell from above, illuminating the strange stone pillars and—

The un-decomposed corpses.

There was a layer of sticky blood on the ground. Yin Buran would definitely not be willing to step on it, which was why Ning Ruoque had suddenly brought her up.

The thick corpse qi forced Yin Buran to cover her mouth with her sleeve, her brow furrowed.

She didn’t want to move, so Ning Ruoque had no choice but to go down herself and check in the faint light of the Mirage Pearl.

The dead were of different ages and had different fatal injuries, but their expressions were all consistently ferocious and distorted.

With such a corpse pit, no wonder Linjiang City was plagued by living corpses.

She shone the Mirage Pearl on them once and squatted down to carefully observe the clothes of the corpses.

Finally, she said in a hoarse voice, “They are all Brightlight Pavilion disciples whose cultivation was drained by the Fei Zhi.”

Some of them looked to be only sixteen or seventeen, and should have had a bright and brilliant future. But they were lying in this cold and gloomy place, their eyes empty, never to see the light of day again.

On a young girl’s wrist, there was still a red string with a peace knot.

Ning Ruoque clenched her fists.

She thought, she still needed a sword.