Help, I’m Being Forced to Marry a Frail and Sickly Immortal Doctor! 67

Chapter 67: Plucking a Plum Blossom for Whom

…rubbed her cheek against Ning Ruoque’s with her lips.

When Ning Ruoque stepped into the small courtyard, she happened to hear Yin Buran talking to someone.

That voice was like a stream in early spring, with the ice and snow not yet melted, calm yet bone-chillingly cold.

“Why can’t you find it? This letter can’t have flown here for no reason. There must be someone who handled it.”

Ning Ruoque also recognized the person on the other end. It was Qingtong.

She lowered her voice, as if she were talking to someone in her quilt. “Little Senior Sister, you should lower your voice. If Senior Sister finds out, we’ll both be in trouble.”

“Brightlight Pavilion was in such a mess at that time. The people with high cultivation were either dead or imprisoned. We really can’t find any more clues.”

Ning Ruoque stood in front of the window and knocked on the windowsill. Yin Buran then glanced at her.

She climbed into the house through the window. A transmission talisman was hovering in front of Yin Buran, and the conversation between the two junior sisters was not yet over.

“What about Xu Chuo? Didn’t the Immortal Alliance take her away for interrogation?”

Qingtong couldn’t help but complain, “There’s no news either… The Immortal Alliance’s efficiency is really too low. We might as well do it ourselves.”

“Then let’s do it ourselves.”

There was a hint of anger in Yin Buran’s voice.

At first, she thought it was just an ordinary demonic calamity, but she didn’t expect it to involve so many things.

She had originally thought that the demonic art of cultivating with a demon core was the work of a demonic cultivator.

But the various signs that followed showed that this matter might be related to the demon race.

The sentence “Wait for my emperor’s return” that the nine-tailed fox had said before it escaped made her even more anxious.

The emperor of the demon race was the Demon God that had been killed by Ning Ruoque a hundred years ago.

Noticing that her mood was not right, Qingtong quickly and earnestly advised, “I know, Little Senior Sister, you must not be anxious. If your condition worsens, your ‘release date’ will only be indefinitely postponed.”

Yin Buran snorted lightly and hung the grass-woven little bird in her hand on a flower branch.

She looked at Ning Ruoque and raised her chin. “Did you bring me persimmon cakes again?”

Ning Ruoque covered her face and coughed lightly. She was a little uncomfortable talking about these things in front of Qingtong. She always had the feeling that she was doing something bad.

“No, I want to take you hunting.”

The transmission talisman flickered, and Qingtong spoke faintly, “Little Senior Sister, if you’re caught escaping from prison, your sentence will be doubled.”

While they were talking, Ning Ruoque quickly stuffed the food box into Yin Buran’s arms, but she herself scraped out of the house like a gust of wind.

In less than half a minute, the door was knocked again.

The transmission talisman turned to ashes. Yin Buran stuffed the food box into her quilt before she responded, “Come in.”

As soon as her voice fell, Qin Jiangli pushed the door open and entered. Her gaze swept around and finally settled on Yin Buran.

The small snake on her wrist stood up and flicked its tongue at Yin Buran.

Qin Jiangli walked up to Yin Buran, her expression indifferent, while Yin Buran’s expression was blank, and she did not say a word.

After the two of them looked at each other for a moment, the latter frowned, took out the food box from her quilt, and opened it for Qin Jiangli to see.

The food box contained a few pieces of jujube cake, and the fragrance of red dates and walnuts rushed to her face.

Before she could even put it in her mouth, it was as if she had already tasted the clear sweetness of the jujube cake.

She still handed a piece to Qin Jiangli, her movements slow, with a bit of reluctance.

Qin Jiangli did not take it this time, but just smiled. “Remember to take your medicine.”

There was only a little residual aura in the room and courtyard. Ning Ruoque herself was long gone.

Qin Jiangli did not hesitate, turned around, and chased out along the aura.

A quarter of an hour later, Yin Buran, along with the medicine, slowly finished a piece of jujube cake.

The window creaked open, and a black shadow climbed in.

She patted the grass leaves off her clothes, then shook her head, shaking off the water droplets in her hair.

By the time she walked up to Yin Buran, the water vapor and coldness around her had already dissipated.

Yin Buran tilted her head and sized her up. This person looked as if she had rolled around in the grass and stream, and her aura was so faint that it was almost non-existent.

Ning Ruoque squatted down, and the first thing she said was still the same, “Do you want to go hunting with me?”

Her eyes were also as if they had been washed by water, just like the bright moonlit night sky.

When she looked at her eagerly, she could see her own reflection in them.

It was hard to refuse.

But this made Yin Buran involuntarily think of the old things from the past.

She took a deep breath and narrated as calmly as possible, “Back then, after you gave me the persimmon cakes, you also invited me to go spring hunting.”

That time, Yin Buran had specially worn a set of clean and neat cuffed sleeves and deerskin short boots, and her long hair was also tied up with a hairband.

Her storage bracelet was filled with a thin blanket, osmanthus rice wine, and some sweet desserts.

She didn’t expect that the easy and pleasant spring hunting activity that Ning Ruoque had mentioned was actually hunting a deer demon.

The deer demon was good at running, and Ning Ruoque had taken her on her sword and chased it for two thousand miles.

In the end, Yin Buran had stood in a muddy swamp, watching as Ning Ruoque fought with the deer demon, and with one sword strike, she had split the deer demon in half, and bloody things flew everywhere.

Then it rained heavily, and the two of them had no choice but to find a damp and dark cave to take shelter from the rain.

Ning Ruoque had even cooked a pot of colorful mushroom soup, planning to eat it with steamed buns.

And she had promised with great certainty, “Although it’s poisonous, it’s edible, and very delicious.”

They were both cultivators, so eating a little poisonous mushroom was fine.

With this in mind, Yin Buran had drunk a whole bowl of mushroom soup.

As a result, on the way back, many dancing little people suddenly appeared before her eyes.

She could only grit her teeth and swallow the detoxification pill, and also sent a bottle to Ning Ruoque.

“It was truly a memorable spring hunt.”

After calmly recalling, Yin Buran propped up her head with one hand and commented as such.

Ning Ruoque: “…”

She didn’t remember this at all.

If it were true, then what she had done was really inappropriate.

The swamp is so dirty. How could she let Yin Buran go?

She should have taken Yin Buran to the crater to hunt a Chongming bird. The bird’s feathers could even be used to make a cloak.

Ning Ruoque lowered her head, but from time to in time, she would raise her eyes and carefully observe Yin Buran’s expression. She would use this to decide what to do next.

She heard Yin Buran ask lazily, “Not hunting anymore?”

She still wanted to know where Ning Ruoque was going to take her hunting this late at night.

Ning Ruoque hesitated for a few seconds, and in the end, she still shook her head. “Not going.”

She was afraid that if Yin Buran knew that their prey tonight was a kind of burrowing fire rat, she would be so angry that she wouldn’t be able to eat the jujube cake.

Ning Ruoque nonchalantly changed the subject. “I’ll give you some flower seeds. What kind of flowers do you want?”

However, this time, Yin Buran did not answer.

Her knuckles tapped the tabletop rhythmically, one after another, crisp and pleasant.

Giving persimmon cakes, hunting, giving flower seeds. After all this, this person was still compensating her.

A flame rose in her heart, burning at the tip of her heart, both painful and wronged, and she didn’t know where to vent it.

She was so angry that she wanted to bite Ning Ruoque, but she couldn’t help but recall that spring hunt.

Outside the cave, the rain was pouring down. Ning Ruoque had filled a water pouch with hot water and handed it to her for warmth.

She had brushed her wet hair behind her ear and apologized with a red face.

“Sorry… I didn’t control my strength when I was killing the deer demon just now. I must have scared you, right?”

And after receiving the detoxification pill, this person had given her a bag of flower seeds in return, but after that, she had never let her drink mushroom soup again.

A lamp flower burst with a pop. Yin Buran suddenly came back to her senses and met Ning Ruoque’s pair of apprehensive eyes.

Yin Buran fiercely pinched Ning Ruoque’s face, rubbing it flat and round, using all her might.

She said hatefully, “Don’t you understand? Whether it’s persimmon cakes or hunting, these are not important. What’s important is—”

She suddenly paused, and the force in her hand loosened, and she instead wrapped her arms around her neck.

Yin Buran lowered her eyes. “The most important thing is, to be with you.”

Anything is fine, as long as Ning Ruoque is there.

She really couldn’t hold it back. As she nestled into Ning Ruoque’s arms, she turned her head and sniffed lightly, as if searching for a flower. Finally, she rubbed her cheek against Ning Ruoque’s with her lips.

Like the wind brushing past a spring flower, soft, moist, and incredibly gentle.

The latter was instantly stunned.

Just as Yin Buran was about to continue rubbing, she noticed the abnormality in the person under her.

Ning Ruoque was as if she had been hit by some kind of curse. Her whole body was as stiff as a rock, unable to move, and she couldn’t even blink!

Her whole person was in a dazed state, with no reaction at all.

Yin Buran clicked her tongue and frowned, pinching Ning Ruoque’s face. “What are you thinking about? Are you listening to me?”

Ning Ruoque did not feel any pain. In comparison, what was more obvious was the heat on her face and her heart that was about to jump out of her chest.

She gently pushed Yin Buran away, scrambled to her feet, and stood by the windowsill, looking as if she could run away at any moment.

Yin Buran’s face immediately fell, and she stared at her coldly.

And after noticing the other’s heaving chest and the action of covering her face and turning her head, her eyes widened a little.

Ning Ruoque’s gaze flew everywhere.

After that wave of emotion that made her blood rush, she began to feel that Yin Buran’s actions just now were extremely cute.

Now, watching her serious expression, it was also extremely cute, making her unable to help but clench her sword.

She still did not change her position, and from several tens of feet away, she asked out of the blue, but from the bottom of her heart—

“Yin Buran, how did we… get together back then?”

This question had been bothering Ning Ruoque for a long time.

She was very poor, and she was also dull. Even her looks were not the most outstanding in the cultivation world. Why did Yin Buran choose her?

A few petals of snow-white crabapple blossoms flew in from the window and landed on Ning Ruoque’s shoulder. She did not brush them off.

Yin Buran stared at her for a long time without blinking, then lowered her head and took a sip of tea.

Only then did she say calmly, “You liked me very much, pursued me actively, and wanted to become my Dao companion.”

Ning Ruoque was so shocked by this answer that she was almost speechless. After a long while, she finally managed to find her voice.

She was actually so bold!

She confirmed in a daze, “…Really?”

Yin Buran was serious. “Of course it’s true.”

Ning Ruoque forgot to breathe.

She awkwardly clutched the hilt of her sword and threw all the messy thoughts that were constantly appearing in her mind out.

Then she said as naturally as possible, “There’s one more thing. When I was recovering my memory, I sensed a fragment of my spiritual soul.”

“My lost memory and the damage to my spiritual soul, perhaps as you thought, are closely related.”

It was even very likely that her spiritual soul had been torn apart by herself. So that she could hide those real memories in the depths of her sea of consciousness.

But she didn’t dare to say it, afraid of making Yin Buran angry.

Yin Buran acted very calm, not very surprised.

“There are some books about the spiritual soul in the innermost part of my study. On the top shelf of the bookshelf, you can take a few to read. When I get better, I’ll continue to treat you.”

Ning Ruoque nodded in agreement. “No hurry.”

She climbed out of the windowsill, and just as she was about to leave, she suddenly turned back.

She said in a low voice, “Yin Buran, good night.”

Only then did she leave with peace of mind.

Not long after she left, she heard a knock on the door.

Qin Jiangli pushed the door open and walked in. Her sleeves were stained with the night dew, which made them a little wet, and she looked chillingly cold.

Yin Buran was eating a jujube cake and flipped a page of the storybook.

She said without looking up, “The wind is strong at night. Why don’t you put on more clothes? You can rest here for a while before you leave.”

After a few breaths of silence, Qin Jiangli let out a long sigh. “No. You should rest early.”

After speaking, she closed the door and window for her and went down the mountain with the wind.

On the other side, Ning Ruoque was still unaware of what had happened after she left.

She was still in Yin Buran’s study, looking for books about the spiritual soul.

In the innermost part of the study, what was piled up were not some commonly used books, but messy and obscure medical books.

Some were so broken that they didn’t even have a cover, and the paper was thin and brittle, requiring them to be handled with care.

Ning Ruoque held a night-luminescent pearl, stood on her tiptoes, and carefully shone it on the top shelf of the bookshelf, pulling out a few to look at.

These few looked relatively new. In the bright white light of the night-luminescent pearl, the large characters on the cover were incomparably clear.

“Introduction to Dual Cultivation,” “Flower Branches Tremble,” “Cloud Tresses Wet”…

Ning Ruoque’s movements paused, and then she gently put these few back.

She chose the one in the corner, with the most normal-looking title, “On the Spiritual Soul and the Sea of Consciousness,” and put it in her bosom.