Chapter 114: Towards the Mortal World p1
“If anything happens to you, I won’t…”
Ning Ruoque: “…”
I knew this would be the result!
Many medical cultivators had come from Azurefall Creek this time, and the leader was actually the Sleeping Jade Peak Master, Mo Jue.
Qingtong had naturally come along. She was worried about her Little Senior Sister’s safety and held Yin Buran, sizing her up for a long while, before she was reluctantly called away by her master.
Before she left, she reminded Ning Ruoque a thousand times, “You must make Little Senior Sister drink her medicine. The medicinal soup is at least better than the pills!”
This made Ning Ruoque very troubled. Yin Buran did not like bitter tastes, and coaxing her to drink a mouthful of medicine was more difficult than fighting a Jiegou.
So Si Mingyue had finished her treatment and had gone back to her room, but Ning Ruoque was still standing there with a bowl in her hands, looking foolish.
The person before her was leaning against a soft pillow with a weary face. Her white hair had lost its luster, and she looked thin and weak.
Her eyes were half-closed, giving one the illusion that it would be very easy to hold her and then force the medicine into her mouth.
But in reality, it was not so. Experience told Ning Ruoque that if she tried to trick a cat into taking medicine, she would definitely be scratched by the cat.
She chose her words for a long time, but in the end, she could only persuade her in a simple and unadorned manner, “Drink some. It will help you recover faster.”
Yin Buran turned around and shrank into the quilt, her back to her. “I don’t want to drink it. It’s so bitter.”
Ning Ruoque: “Have a piece of maltose after you’ve finished.”
But Yin Buran was still unwilling. “The candy has also become bitter.”
From her tone, it was as if she had been greatly wronged. Drinking medicine was an unbearable torture, and Ning Ruoque was the executioner.
Ning Ruoque was so helpless that she almost crushed the bowl. The medicine would be even more bitter if it got cold.
How on earth should I coax her?
She went through all the methods she usually used to coax people in her mind, and her ears became as red as the fingertips holding the bowl.
Hesitantly, but she still said it, “After you’ve finished, let’s… kiss a little.”
She was very embarrassed, and a perfectly good sentence was made as sticky as maltose by her.
Yin Buran sat up again and bargained with her with a blank expression, “One kiss, and I’ll drink a mouthful. Kiss me first.”
Whether the price was fair was another matter. Ning Ruoque secretly let out a sigh of relief. At least the person was willing to drink the medicine. She thought for a moment and decided to do as Yin Buran said.
She dropped a kiss on Yin Buran’s lips, as light as a dragonfly touching the water. Then she eagerly brought the medicine bowl to Yin Buran’s lips.
Yin Buran squinted her eyes, as if she were slightly dissatisfied with a certain person’s behavior, but she still lowered her head to drink the medicine.
Ning Ruoque saw the medicinal soup ripple, but very soon, Yin Buran turned her head away and refused to move again.
Ning Ruoque: ?
Just that little bit? At most, it had just wet her lips, and the water mark on the medicine bowl hadn’t even changed!
Ning Ruoque felt that she had been tricked. “You… you—”
She had been tricked, but she was helpless against her and couldn’t bear to complain. She could only frown and mutter in a small voice, “It won’t be as bitter if you drink it quickly.”
She leaned over and wanted to kiss Yin Buran’s face again, but she found that a certain person had buried her face in the pillow, and there was a faint curve on the corners of her mouth.
It was unknown what she was laughing at.
Ning Ruoque was dejected and pretended to be fierce, putting on a straight face to threaten, “If you don’t drink it now, it will be even more bitter later.”
Who would have thought that Yin Buran would laugh even more, and her muffled laughter in the pillow was like a soft feather, making Ning Ruoque’s ears itch.
She really wanted to cover Yin Buran’s mouth to make her drink the medicine obediently.
She took a deep breath and condemned her own dark thoughts in her heart, then persuaded her as gently as possible, “Another mouthful?”
After Yin Buran had laughed enough, she picked up the bowl herself, and one mouthful after another, in the end, there was still a layer left at the bottom of the bowl, and she really couldn’t swallow it.
She suddenly and without any warning hugged Ning Ruoque’s waist, pressed her face against it and rubbed, and kept burrowing into the other’s arms.
She kept muttering, “Ning Ruoque… Ning Ruoque.”
“So bitter.”
How could Ning Ruoque resist? She scrambled to take out maltose and mint drink from her bag.
But Yin Buran did not let go, nor was she willing to look up at her, and just buried her head and hugged her.
She forced Ning Ruoque to suck in her stomach and pretend that she was a cat-scratching post.
Is it really that bitter?
Ning Ruoque did not believe it. She drank the last of the bowl herself and smacked her lips.
The bitter taste spread from the tip of her tongue to the root of her tongue, and it was also a little sour and astringent. It was even so bitter that her mouth went numb, and it was really hard to swallow.
But Yin Buran was hugging her, and she was breathing along with her, so close that they were indistinguishable. So Ning Ruoque quickly threw the bitter taste to the back of her mind and hugged her back.
She stared at Yin Buran’s hair whorl, and the latter suddenly looked up. Her eye corners and cheeks were flushed, and even her eyes were covered with a watery mist.
This state was clearly not normal.
Ning Ruoque was so frightened that she quickly went to feel her forehead. It was hot, but her hands were exceptionally cold.
In just a short moment, Yin Buran had actually started to run a high fever!
Ning Ruoque was not sure if this was a plague or if she was just tired. She quickly held Yin Buran down and was about to stuff her into the quilt.
This person was clearly soft and had no strength, but she clung to her like a water plant, from her waist to her neck, her gaze dazed and wet.
“Ning Man… Ning Ruoque…”
She said in a hoarse voice, “I should have known not to let you kiss me. What if I infect you?”
“It’s fine. I’m in good health. I’m not afraid of these.”
Ning Ruoque wrapped the person tightly in a cotton quilt and was about to go out and call for someone.
“Don’t go.”
Her hem was tugged by someone. When she turned her head, Yin Buran was staring at her without blinking. Her arm hung limply, and she probably didn’t even have the strength to scratch someone.
Ning Ruoque decisively held Yin Buran’s hand back. “Alright, I won’t go.”
She used a transmission talisman to contact Qingtong, and as soon as it was connected, she said directly, “Ranran is running a high fever.”
Qingtong said without any hesitation, “I’ll be right there.”
After hanging up the communication, Yin Buran was still staring at Ning Ruoque.
Half of her face was covered by the quilt, and only a pair of somewhat dazed eyes were exposed.
She said directly, “I want to look at you.”
But this time, the illness seemed to have come even more fiercely.
Her eyelids seemed to be as heavy as a thousand jin, and she couldn’t open them no matter what. Although her breath was burning hot, she still couldn’t control her shivering.
She finally closed her eyes and called out with a trembling voice, “Ning Ruoque.”
Ning Ruoque was so scared that her heart stopped.
Compared to this kind of delirious and clingy whining, she would rather Yin Buran give her orders with a proud air.
Yin Buran’s lips moved, and as if she had used a lot of effort, she finally squeezed out a sentence intermittently.
The murmur was as fine as the frost shaken off a plum branch, but Ning Ruoque heard it very clearly.
She said, “…Don’t leave without saying goodbye again.”
“Otherwise, I will never forgive you.”
The topic had changed too quickly, and Ning Ruoque took a moment to react.
After a long while, she finally agreed with a complicated expression, “Alright.”
Just saying these few words had almost exhausted all of Yin Buran’s strength. She could no longer hold on and fell into a deep sleep.
Leaving Ning Ruoque kneeling silently by the bed.
A sword cultivator’s intuition had always been sharp. She had felt Si Mingyue’s faint gaze several times.
And in connection with the other’s mysterious and unclear actions, it was actually not difficult to guess that the matter that Si Mingyue wanted to stop was most likely related to her.
The goddess had once said that the Demon God was immortal. As long as the desires of the world still existed, it would always descend upon the human world again.
This was clearly very important news, but the two of them had chosen to “ignore” it in unison.
Like travelers walking together under a biting cold, they were greedy for the residual warmth of a bonfire for a moment and were reluctant to take this step.
The wooden door was slammed open with a “bang,” and a night wind poured into the room, and the candlelight flickered wildly.
Qingtong rushed into the house in a hurry and pounced on the bed. “Little Senior Sister!”
Behind her, a woman dressed in black with a white veil covering her face came slowly and glanced at Ning Ruoque lightly.
Noticing the other’s gaze, Ning Ruoque silently moved to the side.
For some reason, she always felt that Senior Mo Jue seemed to dislike her a little.
After a brief pulse-taking, Mo Jue made a diagnosis, “It’s not a plague. It’s due to excessive worry and overwork.”
She used a spiritual energy with a faint medicinal fragrance to ease Yin Buran’s pain, wrote three or four prescriptions, and also took out several bottles of pills.
Then she let out a long sigh. “These all need to be taken on time and in the right amount.”
Qingtong, without a word, took the prescription and went out to get the medicine for Yin Buran.
And Ning Ruoque stared at the bottles and jars on the desk in a daze.
She lowered her eyelids and asked reservedly, “Ranran doesn’t like to eat bitter things. Are there any sugar-coated pills?”
Mo Jue sneered, “Heh, if you don’t want to eat bitter medicine, then don’t get sick.”
These words were not polite. Ning Ruoque could tell that she was not really blaming Yin Buran, but was vaguely hinting at her.
She felt that what Senior Mo Jue had said was very right. It was indeed that she was not strong enough. No matter how much she tried to remedy it afterwards, it was not as good as not letting it happen in the first place.
So she couldn’t help but clench her sword and apologize with a guilty expression, “I’m sorry. I didn’t take good care of her.”
“…”
Ning Ruoque’s apology was sincere, and her usually bright eyes had also dimmed, and she looked dejected.
Afraid that Mo Jue would misunderstand that she was just saying it, she quickly added, “I’ll go and help Qingtong brew the medicine.”
After speaking, she walked towards the door.
Seeing the empty medicine bowl on the desk and the thick cotton quilt on Yin Buran, no matter how much resentment Mo Jue had towards her, at this moment, she had no temper.
She sighed again. “Forget it. You don’t have to blame yourself too much. There are many things in the world that you can’t handle. If you always think of carrying them on your own, in the end, it will be Ranran who suffers.”
Ning Ruoque paused for a moment, answered in a muffled voice, and still went out on her own, still thinking about brewing medicine for Yin Buran.
A light and impatient “tsk” came from behind her. “Come back. Where are you going?”
Ning Ruoque subconsciously stopped in her tracks and lowered her head, like a student being lectured.
She even secretly complained in her heart, Why does Senior Mo Jue seem to have a bit of a bad temper?
“Stay here. She can’t be left alone now.” Mo Jue packed up her medicine box and got up with a cold face.
Ning Ruoque was suddenly enlightened. “Then Senior, you—”
“I have other patients.”
Mo Jue dropped this sentence and left without looking back.
How can this sword cultivator be so single-minded, and so talkative, so long-winded!
The wooden door creaked shut, and the candlelight returned to peace. The room was once again left with only the breathing of the two people.
One was unhurried, her breathing steady, and the other was even weaker, and would occasionally become rapid.
Ning Ruoque stared at Yin Buran’s sleeping, sickly flushed face for a long while, and then simply sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed, planning to cultivate.
When you don’t know what to do, just cultivate.
After a cycle of breathing, she caught a faint murmur.
“Ning…”
Yin Buran in the quilt shrank, until she was nestled in a corner of the wall, curled up into a ball, a faint crease between her brows that could not be smoothed out.
Ning Ruoque was instantly unable to cultivate and instead went to test the temperature of Yin Buran’s forehead.
It was still very hot, and in addition, the effect of the spell that Mo Jue had cast before had dissipated, and Yin Buran began to feel uncomfortable again.
Her head was dizzy, and her limbs were sore and weak, so she subconsciously sought the comfort of the person closest to her.
Just as Ning Ruoque was about to pull her hand back, she took the initiative to cling to it, holding on and refusing to let go.
So sick and thin, so pitiful.
And with an unconscious rub of her face, the ice and snow in her features all melted into spring water.
Ning Ruoque’s heart softened into a mess, and she immediately decided not to cultivate.
She lay down in the quilt, pulled Yin Buran into her arms, and held her tightly. The familiar scent mixed with the medicinal fragrance, as if it were even more calming.
She patted Yin Buran’s back, and the person in her arms did not struggle at all. The faint crease between her brows gradually loosened, and she finally fell into an even darker and sweeter dream.
Temporarily putting aside the old things, Ning Ruoque actually had a peaceful night’s sleep and had a rare good dream.
*
