Help, I’m Being Forced to Marry a Frail and Sickly Immortal Doctor! 24

Chapter 24: Crane Returns to the Green River

“I’m not acting cute!”

Do not look at what is improper. Ning Ruoque didn’t dare to make a move.

She turned her head away, not looking at Yin Buran, and sat up straight, saying with a serious and proper tone, “You should put on your clothes first.”

In contrast, Yin Buran’s voice was soft. “My hands are weak. I don’t want to move.”

Very self-righteous.

However, Ning Ruoque was unmoved, still standing there like a block of wood.

Yin Buran lowered her eyes, her dense eyelashes fluttering slightly like butterfly wings.

Her voice was very low, light and airy, like a fragile, falling flower. “I don’t have a single bit of spiritual energy left. My whole body hurts.”

But this flower, just like that, floated into Ning Ruoque’s heart, pressing down on her with an inexplicable sourness.

Ning Ruoque thought to herself that Yin Buran’s illness was partly her fault.

After all, she had fought the Fei Zhi with her life, and now she was still alive and kicking. But the one who could only lie in bed, curled up in pain, was Yin Buran.

In the past, she would also help her injured companions with their wounds. Now, it was just putting on clothes. It should be fine.

Ning Ruoque let out a breath, leaned over, and carefully reached for the tie on Yin Buran’s right lapel.

The sweet floral fragrance filled the air, and the thin white ribbon wrapped around her fingers.

Before she could tighten it, Ning Ruoque’s movements paused, her attention unconsciously drawn to a small, dark mole on Yin Buran’s left waist.

Like a drop of ink on a snowy ground, the contrast between black and white was too striking for her to ignore.

She only lingered for a breath, then quickly averted her gaze and tied a slipknot. Then she expressionlessly pulled Yin Buran’s clothes down a little.

Showing no sign of anything unusual, Ning Ruoque stood up and walked to the wardrobe. “Which one do you want to wear?”

Yin Buran seemed to smile, the end of her voice curling up like a cat’s tail. “The parasol-green outer robe.”

The exquisite carved wardrobe was opened, and before Ning Ruoque’s eyes was a row of various dresses, cloaks, and silk ribbons.

Most of them were in refreshing white and green, but there were also a few particularly eye-catching light pink and light purple ones. The intricate embroidery and patterns dazzled her.

Ning Ruoque didn’t dare to touch them and honestly asked, “Which one is parasol-green?”

Heaven knows, for the convenience of fighting, she had been wearing the simplest black all year round. How would she remember the colors of flowers?

Yin Buran sighed softly. “Forget it. I’ll wear whatever you pick.”

This put Ning Ruoque in a difficult position.

She was not good at these things, but she also knew that clothes should suit the person.

So her peripheral vision swept over Yin Buran, then back to the clothes. She hesitantly picked up a white outer shirt.

The fabric was soft and close-fitting, but it was too thin. Yin Buran would probably be cold.

She put the clothes back and picked out a dark green one. She held it up from a distance, but then felt that the color was too heavy and would make her look even more sickly.

Yin Buran watched her pick and choose in front of the wardrobe. She had already yawned several times before the person finally brought over a green outer shirt.

Ning Ruoque was still hesitant, but she still shook out the outer shirt and showed it to Yin Buran.

“Is this one okay?”

The fabric was woven from moon-cloud silk, and embroidered on it were not Azurefall Creek’s lotuses, but a few fat, fluffy sparrows hopping on the branches of a white crabapple tree.

Yin Buran tilted her head. “You like this kind?”

As her voice fell, the sword cultivator’s ears were about to turn red. She tried her best to hold back and not wrinkle the clothes.

What did she mean, she liked it? She just thought this one suited Yin Buran very well.

Ning Ruoque answered ambiguously, “There are many sparrows on Mount Xuansu.”

They were one of the few small animals that she would share a portion of her food with in her leisure time.

The smile in Yin Buran’s eyes deepened. “This one then.”

She slowly sat up, waiting for Ning Ruoque to put it on for her.

“Swish—”

The wind lifted Yin Buran’s hair, and then the light dimmed. Ning Ruoque directly put the outer robe on her, clean and neat, without any hesitation.

Naturally, she didn’t touch Yin Buran’s body in the slightest.

After she was done, she silently sat back down in a place not too far from the bed.

She seemed to have her own code of conduct and would try her best to avoid any improper behavior.

Yin Buran gritted her teeth without a sound.

Ning Ruoque’s hands were placed flat on her knees, as dull as a puppet. She would only move when Yin Buran gave an order.

Now, the room was quiet. A ray of sunlight slowly climbed to the front of Yin Buran’s bed, bright and dazzling.

Yin Buran squinted. “If I don’t speak, will you be in a daze like this all day?”

Ning Ruoque was about to answer when she was interrupted by Yin Buran. “Alright, you don’t have to say it. I know you’ll cultivate.”

Her little thoughts exposed, Ning Ruoque’s gaze shifted to the window.

She just wanted to work for Yin Buran to pay off her debt. If she could find time to cultivate, that would be even better.

Yin Buran leaned against the soft pillow, her expression indifferent. “Go to the library and find me a book to read.”

Having received a new order, Ning Ruoque stood up to leave.

But her body stiffened, and under Yin Buran’s naked gaze, she sat down reservedly.

She was just suddenly a little curious. In Yin Buran’s memory, what did she do when she was alone with her? Would the two of them also be so silent?

Curious, but she didn’t ask.

Ning Ruoque opened her mouth and said in a low voice, “I…”

Yin Buran waited patiently for the rest of her sentence.

“I found my life-bound sword, although it’s only a part of it.”

Yin Buran’s pupils dilated slightly, and she reluctantly assumed a posture of listening to serious matters.

She didn’t even need to respond. The sword cultivator herself began to talk endlessly about how she had obtained this fragment of her life-bound sword.

The originally dull block of wood suddenly grew a mouth.

Ning Ruoque talked about her resonance with her life-bound sword. “If it weren’t for this fragment, I probably would have had to spend more effort to kill the Fei Zhi.”

Thanks to the blade slicing off a realm from the Fei Zhi, otherwise, she would have had no chance of winning.

She directly summoned the sharp blade and held it up to Yin Buran’s face, explaining her analysis of the fragment.

“Looking at the pattern, it should be the part near the hilt. There are no nicks on the blade, the material has not deteriorated, and it has not been contaminated by demonic creatures.”

She stroked the blade with great cherish, and a rare gentleness could be seen. “I plan to look for more. If I really can’t find the other parts, I’ll use it as an embryo to reforge my life-bound sword.”

She talked a lot with great interest, until the sunlight was bright enough to illuminate the entire room and also made the sparrows on the hem of Yin Buran’s outer robe look lifelike.

Only then did Ning Ruoque realize that Yin Buran might not be interested in all this.

She immediately apologized, “Sorry… I just…”

Suddenly wanted to share the joy of finding her life-bound sword with Yin Buran.

“If you’re bored, I’ll go get you a few books to read.” She was about to leave after saying that.

But when she looked up, she saw Yin Buran propping up her head, staring at her intently, her glassy pupils filled with a shallow amber light.

As if she had been listening very seriously.

Ning Ruoque felt as if she had been gently rubbed, an inexplicable itch.

Seeing that she had finished, Yin Buran began to analyze slowly.

“Hmm… this fragment should have been deliberately driven into the Fei Zhi’s heart. Perhaps we can start from here to find the remaining blades.”

Ning Ruoque nodded along and sat down obediently again.

Her hands were still placed flat on her knees, but her eyes were sparkling, making Yin Buran see a vision of Ah Wang from the next mountain, who had been rewarded with a meat bone.

She couldn’t help but curl her lips and took out a few transmission talismans from her storage bracelet and handed them to Ning Ruoque.

Ning Ruoque consciously activated them with her spiritual energy.

Before long, Qingtong’s voice came from inside. “Little Senior Sister? You’re awake!”

Even through the talisman paper, her cheerfulness could be heard. “Is there anything you need me for? I’ll be right there. We can talk face to face.”

Yin Buran said lazily, “Can you help me ask Yan Huaifeng if she was the one who injured the Fei Zhi?”

Qingtong answered without thinking, “I asked before. Elder Yan denied it. She only fought with the old Pavilion Master.”

This result was clearly within Yin Buran’s expectations. She showed no surprise.

Yin Buran continued to ask, “What about the three urgent letters sent to Azurefall Creek?”

It was because of these three urgent letters that Qingtong had set off for Brightlight Pavilion.

This time, Qingtong hesitated for a moment.

“Elder Yan doesn’t know either. When the letters were sent, she had already been imprisoned by the old Pavilion Master for a long time.”

Now, not only Ning Ruoque, but even Yin Buran frowned.

The one who had injured the Fei Zhi with a broken blade and caused the old Pavilion Master’s backlash, and the one who had sent the letters to attract Azurefall Creek, were very likely the same person.

To be able to do this so secretly, this person’s realm must be at least “Heart Fasting.” In most immortal sects, this was already the level of a sect master, or even a sect-guarding elder.

Was it a coincidence, or was the mysterious person doing it on purpose? Did the other party know that this was the blade of Ning Ruoque’s life-bound sword?

Or perhaps…

Did he know that Ning Ruoque would come?

The smile on Yin Buran’s lips disappeared. She rubbed her brow, her fatigue visible to the naked eye.

“Go and investigate. We must find the person who sent the letters.”

Qingtong answered “yes,” and then the transmission ended amidst a flurry of footsteps.

The transmission talisman burned with a flame and was instantly reduced to ashes.

Yin Buran covered her mouth and suddenly couldn’t stop coughing. She coughed until her shoulders trembled and her cheeks were a sickly red.

Ning Ruoque was so frightened that she wanted to bring her water, but was afraid that she would choke and cough even more.

So she didn’t care about etiquette anymore and walked over in a few steps, patting her back with some clumsiness.

She listened to Yin Buran’s coughing and caught a glimpse of the teardrops at the corners of her eyes. She felt as if the days were years, as anxious as a clumsy bird that couldn’t find its way out.

“Little Senior Sister!”

A familiar voice sounded. Ning Ruoque was greatly relieved and quickly retreated, making way for Qingtong.

Qingtong skillfully tapped a few acupoints, and after a few breaths, Yin Buran’s coughing finally stopped.

She leaned against the pillow listlessly, a few strands of hair still stuck to her neck.

“Master said, you can’t worry too much.” A gentle and mellow reminder came from behind her.

Ning Ruoque turned around and saw a woman in dark green clothes standing behind Qingtong.

She had a dignified and serious appearance. When she wasn’t smiling, the corners of her eyes drooped slightly, and her lips were pressed into a straight line. This made her seem a little indifferent, like an unattainable flower on a high mountain.

Noticing Ning Ruoque’s gaze, Qin Jiangli nodded in greeting.

Ning Ruoque also nodded and uncontrollably took a step back.

She recognized this person, the Senior Sister of Azurefall Creek, also respectfully known as “Young Yu Lord,” and was as skilled in poison and gu-sorcery as the former Yin Buran.

And she only used poison.

But Ning Ruoque was a little afraid of her, not because she used poison.

It was just that at a certain banquet, her friend had nothing better to do and went to ask Qin Jiangli, “If you don’t study medicine, then why did you become a medical cultivator?”

Not all talented people would become medical cultivators.

Qin Jiangli was serious and answered very directly, “To take a shortcut. The lightning tribulation for medical cultivators is easier to pass.”

At that time, everyone was silent. Ning Ruoque still remembered it vividly.

After Yin Buran recovered, Qingtong brought out a bowl of black medicine.

But before she could hand it over, Yin Buran turned her head away. “I don’t want to drink it.”

Qingtong was suddenly anxious.

“Little Senior Sister!”

Yin Buran ignored the bowl of medicine, clutched her chest, and curled up in discomfort.

Ning Ruoque frowned, and was about to persuade her when she heard Qin Jiangli speak calmly.

“She used to drink it obediently. Now that she’s throwing a tantrum so openly, she probably wants you to coax her.”

This “you,” of course, referred to Ning Ruoque.

The room was instantly terrifyingly quiet. Even a pin drop could be heard.

Yin Buran pulled up the quilt and buried half of her face in it without a word.

Qin Jiangli continued to sigh as if no one was around, “Ranran rarely acts cute even in front of the Medicine King. This is really rare.”

In an instant, Yin Buran and Qingtong spoke at the same time:

“I’m not acting cute!”

“Senior Sister, don’t say it!”

The atmosphere froze a little more. Suwen Peak, which was like spring all year round, was now colder than deep winter, and yet it seemed hotter than the dog days of summer.

Ning Ruoque quietly shrank into the shadows, trying to reduce her presence.

Qin Jiangli’s thick brows furrowed, a little puzzled. “Hmm? Is this not to be said?”

Soon, she came to a conclusion on her own.

“The Sword Venerable can’t beat me now. I can say whatever I want. She can’t control me.”

Ning Ruoque wanted to run away, but it was already too late.

Qin Jiangli turned around, faced her, and said with a chuckle, “You just moved. Are you very worried about her? It seems this move is indeed effective.”

“…”

Seeing Ning Ruoque as dazed as a wooden chicken, her face flushed red, and Yin Buran only showing half of her face, her expression cold, but her ears were completely red.

Qingtong could only cover her face and sigh with a complicated expression.

“Senior Sister, I still have medicine simmering on the stove. Let’s go back quickly.”