Help, I’m Being Forced to Marry a Frail and Sickly Immortal Doctor! 66

Chapter 66: Plucking a Plum Blossom for Whom

“But my affection for you is a little more than my dislike…”

Ning Ruoque subconsciously wanted to refuse.

But the words of refusal were stuck in her throat and could not be spoken.

So Yin Buran took advantage of her daze, raised her hand and hugged her, with a posture that she would not let go if she didn’t hug her.

Afraid that Yin Buran’s emotions would fluctuate too much and she would get angry again, Ning Ruoque had no choice but to lie down.

She felt as if she were entangled by an eight-clawed cat.

A head was buried in her chest, her waist and back were held by Yin Buran, and her legs were also pressed down, unable to move.

The sweet fragrance lingered in her breath, the gentle wind swayed the crabapple blossoms outside the window, and the candlelight was dim, the quilt was unbelievably warm.

She listened as the heartbeats of the two people gradually overlapped, and for a rare moment, she felt a trace of sleepiness.

Ning Ruoque thought of the memory she had just recovered.

At that time, she was disguised as a refugee, holding a bowl of thin porridge and gobbling it down.

Yin Buran was wearing clean fine cloth clothes, speaking to her in a gentle and soft voice, and helping her get porridge. Like a cloud in the sky, a moon in the water.

She thought that the two of them were just strangers who had met by chance and would eventually go their separate ways.

She had never thought that one day, she would hold the young lady of the Yin family in her arms.

The person in her arms was quiet for a moment, then suddenly rubbed against Ning Ruoque’s chest, her hand also probing at her waist.

The fabrics rubbed against each other, making a rustling sound.

Ning Ruoque was so frightened by this action that she quickly grabbed Yin Buran’s wrist. “You… don’t move—”

Yin Buran snorted coldly. “So domineering, you won’t even let me move?”

Perhaps because she was wrapped so warmly, her complexion was much better, and there was a lively blush.

The corners of her eyes were slightly raised, and even though she was looking up at her, her pride was not diminished, which made Ning Ruoque stunned.

She easily pulled her hand out, and while fumbling, she frowned. “What are these things on you? They’re poking me. You’re not allowed to wear outer clothes to bed next time.”

Ning Ruoque: “…”

The young lady of the Yin family fumbled around her waist, and wherever she touched, it began to get hot, and a wave of itching came.

She couldn’t help but want to hold Yin Buran tighter, her hand hovering over the back of Yin Buran’s neck, hesitating to land.

Until Ning Ruoque’s whole body was almost burning hot, Yin Buran finally stopped.

She disdainfully untied the Sudden Rain sword and the storage bag and threw them behind Ning Ruoque. Then she took out a sachet from Ning Ruoque’s belt.

The fabric of the sachet was of good quality, but the embroidery was extremely abstract, with only a few green threads and a messy ball of white thread.

At that time, at Brightlight Pavilion, when Yin Buran had given it to her, Ning Ruoque could only make out the two characters for “peace,” and could not understand the rest at all.

But now that this sachet was held in Yin Buran’s hand, she suddenly understood.

The green was bamboo, and the white was the moon.

Back then, Yin Buran had sent her a green bamboo and bright moon sachet, and Ning Ruoque had returned it before she went to her death.

Now that the sachet was nowhere to be found, she had been carrying this simplified version with her all along.

Thinking about it carefully, Yin Buran was good at the zither and painting, so how could her embroidery be bad? She was just angry that she had forgotten and had deliberately embroidered it in a mess.

Ning Ruoque watched as Yin Buran pressed her lips together, a hint of loneliness hidden under her eyelashes.

Yin Buran stuffed the sachet into her lapel, and she herself also rubbed against it, her fluffy head resting by her neck.

She said calmly, “I hate you.”

Before Ning Ruoque could react, she hugged her even tighter.

Like hugging her beloved hot water bottle, or a very secure pillow.

Yin Buran’s voice was still soft.

“But my affection for you is a little more than my dislike.”

Ning Ruoque opened her mouth, speechless.

How could someone say “like” so naturally?

She began to feel itchy again, but this time it was not her waist and back, but the bottom of her heart.

Her mind was a blank, and only the breathing of the person in her arms was so clear, from a little rapid to regular and gentle.

The wind blew down the crabapple blossoms, and the bright moon quietly hung on the treetops.

Yin Buran had fallen asleep, one hand still clutching Ning Ruoque’s lapel.

Ning Ruoque hesitated for a while, and in the end, she still chose to let go of her embrace.

She did not pull Yin Buran’s hand away, but slowly covered it with her own, and then held it.

She had an unspeakable thought.

A voice in her heart was saying, Don’t cultivate. Why don’t you count Yin Buran’s eyelashes?

Ning Ruoque was ashamed of her offensive behavior, but she really couldn’t take her eyes off her.

So she could only be ashamed while tracing Yin Buran’s features in the dim candlelight.

However, this tranquility did not last for long.

Accompanied by a sharp hum in her ear, the tearing pain of her spiritual soul, which had been suppressed for a long time, appeared again.

But Ning Ruoque did not make a sound, not even her fingertips moved.

She still remembered that before she fell into the depths of her sea of consciousness, she had clearly sensed a part of her spiritual soul fragments, like a barrier. There were even fragments that had actively repaired her memory.

Perhaps the damage to her spiritual soul and her amnesia were greatly related.

Ning Ruoque endured the pain and tried to make her spiritual soul sink into her sea of consciousness. Every time she moved, all the bones in her body felt as if they had been shattered.

But at the same time, some mottled images gradually appeared in her mind—

Without exception, they were all of Yin Buran.

Yin Buran eating persimmon cakes, Yin Buran turning her head and smiling at her, and Yin Buran carefully bandaging her…

Ning Ruoque took a deep breath without a sound, and without controlling her strength, her hand suddenly clenched.

The person in her arms moved, as if she were about to wake up.

Ning Ruoque instantly held her breath and stared at her without blinking.

Fortunately, it was just a false alarm. Yin Buran soon fell into a deep sleep again, obediently nestled in her arms, her sleeping face serene.

In Ning Ruoque’s perception, if one was injured, one should cultivate hard in order to get better quickly.

Perhaps for Yin Buran, sleeping was the same.

She got up at an extremely slow speed, pulled over a soft pillow and stuffed it into Yin Buran’s arms, and finally let go.

Before she left, she paused for a moment, went back, and put a small grass-woven bird under Yin Buran’s pillow.

She also hid the box of unfinished persimmon cakes under Yin Buran’s storybook.

Only then did she go down the mountain under the cover of night.

*

Yin Buran slept until the sun was high in the sky.

It was rare for her to sleep so comfortably, and she hadn’t woken up once in the middle of the night.

She stretched in bed, squinted her eyes, and pushed the quilt and pillow to the corner of the bed, letting out a long breath.

Then she turned over and met Qin Jiangli’s expressionless face.

Yin Buran: “…Why didn’t you knock when you came into my room?”

Qin Jiangli placed a bowl of medicine by the table and answered calmly, “I did. There was no response. I thought something had happened to you.”

Yin Buran got up, and her peripheral vision swept over the storybook by her pillow. She silently tidied her clothes.

She didn’t touch the medicine on the table, and she heard Qin Jiangli suddenly say, “She’s been here, right?”

This “she” was not specified, but the answer was self-evident.

Yin Buran frowned, her expression a little gloomy. “No.”

She looked as if she were angry at someone, but Qin Jiangli unhurriedly brought the medicine to her.

“You used to shrink into that corner of the bed when you slept. Today, you’re lying in the middle.”

Yin Buran’s shoulders stiffened.

Qin Jiangli did not smile and said with a straight face, “What, are you planning to save this bowl of medicine and wait for Ning Ruoque to come back and coax you to drink it?”

“…”

A certain person began to sulk.

She snatched the medicine in a fit of anger, took a gulp, and then took out the persimmon cake hidden under the storybook and took another bite.

One mouthful of medicine, one mouthful of persimmon cake. She was like a squirrel with its cheeks stuffed full. This made the corners of Qin Jiangli’s mouth twitch, and a hint of a smile appeared.

“You know your own physical condition. Before you’ve fully recovered, don’t think about going out. Senior Medicine King and my master will be worried.”

After Qin Jiangli finished speaking, she paused and sighed softly. “Of course, I will too.”

Yin Buran glanced at her from the rim of the bowl, finished the medicinal soup in a few gulps, and handed the bowl back.

“I know,” she nodded in agreement, and then took out a persimmon cake and put it in Qin Jiangli’s hand. “The Immortal Alliance might have a big move recently. We shouldn’t get involved.”

Seeing that Yin Buran’s head was lowered and she looked extremely well-behaved, Qin Jiangli’s smile was sincere. “Alright. I’ll handle it. You don’t have to worry.”

She tore open the persimmon cake in her hand and took a small bite.

The outside of the persimmon cake was sprinkled with a thin layer of powdered sugar, and the inside was soft and golden, sweet but not greasy.

This workmanship, even compared to Azurefall Creek’s Eight Treasures Pavilion, was not much worse.

“Is this considered a bribe?”

Qin Jiangli tilted her head and gently patted Yin Buran’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. I won’t let her go.”

Yin Buran instantly bristled.

“Senior Sister!”

However, it was useless. Qin Jiangli turned and left, her dark green back menacing, as if she were going to seek revenge.

Yin Buran pouted and took a large bite of the persimmon cake in anger.

What a loss!

If she had known, she wouldn’t have shared it with Qin Jiangli!

*

So Ning Ruoque cultivated for a whole day. When she returned to Suwen Peak in the evening, she found that not only had the security on the outskirts been strengthened, but a barrier had also been specially set up on the back mountain.

It was very likely that Qin Jiangli had already discovered that she had snuck in, but Ning Ruoque still wanted to take the risk and go up.

If possible, she wanted to sneak Yin Buran out and take her hunting nearby to relax.

After careful consideration, Ning Ruoque chose to go through the main gate this time.

She found an oil-paper umbrella, removed the handle, and stuffed her sword inside. Just like that, she carried the umbrella-sword on her back and walked to the foot of the mountain as if she were taking a stroll.

The two women in charge of guarding the gate were chatting.

The woman in green gossiped, “I heard that the Immortal Alliance caught a bear demon in the Tiangong Workshop. It was disguised as a human. I wonder how long it’s been hiding!”

The other woman in yellow exclaimed, “Scary! The Tiangong Workshop didn’t even discover it?”

Just as the woman in green was about to chat more, she suddenly straightened up warily and looked around.

“Wait, I think I just saw Junior Sister Qingtong walk by.”

The grass and trees rustled, and only bamboo leaves were fluttering on the mountain path. There was not a single person in sight.

She had some concerns, and just as she was about to go up and see, she was pulled by the woman in yellow beside her.

“I saw her too. It was indeed her. Maybe she’s sending medicine to Little Senior Sister.”

The woman in green said suspiciously, “That’s not right. Didn’t they say that apart from the Medicine King and Senior Mo Jue, no one is allowed to visit?”

“Senior Mo Jue is just a person with a sharp tongue but a soft heart. How could she bear to leave Little Senior Sister alone? Even Senior Sister can go up and send medicine.”

“The only one we have to guard against is this sword cultivator.”

After the woman in yellow finished speaking, she took out a scroll and unrolled it.

On the scroll was a pretty face, with bright eyes that reflected the brilliance of the starry sky.

Beside it was a carefully drawn black sword.

The woman in green stroked her chin and sized it up. “This portrait says she can disguise herself.”

“Isn’t that right? That’s why her sword is drawn. I heard that she never leaves her sword. If we catch someone with a sword, it’s definitely her!”

“Then what was Junior Sister Qingtong carrying just now?”

The woman in yellow said with certainty, “It’s her umbrella.”

The woman in green: “Hmm…”

Why does it still feel not right?

While the two heads were discussing, the front suddenly darkened, and the light was blocked by something.

The two of them were so scared that they looked up at the same time. After seeing the person clearly, they bowed respectfully. “Senior Sister.”

Qin Jiangli nodded. “Have you found anything unusual?”

The woman in yellow said with great confidence, “No.”

“Is that so…”

As soon as her voice fell, a small, green snake drilled out from Qin Jiangli’s sleeve, flicked its crimson tongue, and wrapped itself around her wrist.

Her robes were fluttering in the wind. Without a word, she directly chased up the mountain path.