Help, I’m Being Forced to Marry a Frail and Sickly Immortal Doctor! 38

Chapter 38: Short Are These Bitter Days

“My rebirth, does it have something to do with you…”

Ning Ruoque secretly pondered Yin Buran’s words.

The Heavenly Dao controlled the rules and order of the world, and its existence was absolutely not to be defied or disobeyed by all things.

Cultivators were barely within the rules, but even so, they would be struck by lightning tribulations.

And Si Mingyue, who occasionally spied on the Heavenly Dao, would be unlucky for two or three days at best, and at worst, she would suffer a backlash and be bedridden.

“Not tolerated by the Heavenly Dao,” just by its literal meaning, it seemed to be a more severe punishment than being struck by the Heavenly Dao’s backlash.

However, the art of life and death was too heaven-defying, so it was not strange to have such a punishment.

This was just a small interlude, but Ning Ruoque’s gaze quietly fell on Yin Buran’s white hair, and she was lost in thought.

A hundred years had passed in a flash. The most obvious change in Yin Buran was this snow-like white hair and her abnormally frail body.

The outside world rumored that Yin Buran had made a mistake in her cultivation and had gone into qi deviation. Ning Ruoque did not believe it at all.

It was more reasonable to say that she had touched some secret art to save someone and had harmed herself.

She suppressed the unease in her heart and turned her attention back to Pengpeng.

Chu Xuan casually took out a three-foot-long tube, the black tube body still gleaming with a metallic luster, and waved at Pengpeng with a smile.

“This is an improved version of the spiritual energy cannon. It can be used to shoot big moths. Do you want to play with it?”

Qingtong snatched the long tube from Chu Xuan’s hand and protected Pengpeng behind her. “You’re not allowed to let a child play with such a dangerous thing!”

Chu Xuan just laughed, not at all displeased that her thing had been snatched, and she didn’t look like a high-ranking sect master at all.

While the two of them were bickering, Pengpeng, who was hiding behind Qingtong, poked out her small head, her dark, round eyes staring at the old woman beside Qieyu.

Apart from being a little foolish, the old woman was breathing and could speak, no different from a normal person. Qieyu had brought her all the way and really couldn’t bear to leave her behind.

Pengpeng trotted to the old woman’s side, pulled her thick hand, and her small face was filled with obvious pity. “Was Auntie also captured by the bad guys and brought here?”

Ning Ruoque walked over, squatted down, and made her line of sight level with the child’s.

She asked directly, “Where did the bad guys come from?”

Perhaps because her words did not fit the image of a “fool,” Pengpeng was stunned for a moment before she turned her head and answered slowly.

“My sister said that there is a very bad person in Xiaochi Village. She captures people everywhere, and the people who are captured will become foolish…”

“And then, they will turn into monsters.”

Ning Ruoque understood. Just like that old woman, one moment she was fine, and the next she had completely turned into a mindless Shirou.

And this change seemed to be irreversible.

The child’s buns had come loose before, and now they were just tied up casually, messy.

She was also thin and small. Only her face had some flesh, but her body was like a bamboo pole, and the cotton-padded jacket was a size too big for her.

Ning Ruoque thought of the half-pancake she had given her and couldn’t help but stroke Pengpeng’s head.

Then she said softly, “Pengpeng feels that these people are very pitiful, so you brought them all home? Aren’t you afraid that the monsters and bad guys will come and catch you?”

The child shook her head obediently. “I’m not afraid. My sister will protect me.”

Hearing her mention her sister several times, she must be a very important family member.

Ning Ruoque found it hard to imagine how two ordinary people with no strength to even truss a chicken could survive in Xiaochi Village.

“Then where is your sister?”

Pengpeng’s delicate brows furrowed, and she looked a little sad. “My sister was also captured by the bad guys. She can only come back at dawn.”

She suddenly ran to grab Qingtong’s sleeve, looked up pitifully, her pair of eyes clear and moist.

Her voice was soft and glutinous as she pleaded, “Can Sister Qingtong drive away the bad guys and save my sister? I can trade all my treasures for it.”

Qingtong had no resistance to this, and her heart instantly turned into a marshmallow.

She took Pengpeng’s hand, led her to the kang in the inner room, and coaxed her, “Alright, alright. But it’s too late today. Children have to sleep obediently to grow up.”

Leaving Qingtong and Qieyu to take care of the child, Chu Xuan set up a barrier on the other side of the room.

There were only two rooms in total. The other room was a kitchen and a woodshed, and it was also crowded with foolish people.

It was fine for her and Ning Ruoque to stand in the courtyard, but Yin Buran was afraid of the cold, so she couldn’t let her freeze. They had to make do.

Pulling over three chairs, Chu Xuan sat down with her legs crossed. “What do you think?”

In comparison, Yin Buran sat up straight.

She took out a teacup, and the lid was lifted a crack, revealing a small ball of bloody Shirou inside.

Ning Ruoque felt uncomfortable all over, as if she were watching her own beautiful white cat playing with a mouse.

She suddenly had the urge to throw the teacup away, just to keep Yin Buran away from the dirty thing.

But her reason was still there, so she could only hug her sword and sit awkwardly to the side, her eyelids half-lowered.

Yin Buran put away the teacup and said faintly, “Instead of turning into a monster, it’s more like the body is gradually being assimilated by the Shirou.”

“The Shirou born this way has no demonic aura, only human life force. It’s too dangerous.”

Hearing that her voice was very light, like a gentle breeze brushing past flower petals, Ning Ruoque knew that she was also tired and needed to rest.

Yin Buran’s energy was also like a cat’s. She had to sleep at least seven or eight hours a day, otherwise, she would be listless and have no energy.

Chu Xuan didn’t notice that Ning Ruoque was daydreaming at all and was still stroking her chin, analyzing to herself.

“What Pengpeng said is most likely true. There is a perverted demonic cultivator who is capturing people everywhere and stuffing their souls into ready-made demon bodies to experiment.”

“Perhaps it’s just a psychological distortion, or perhaps it’s to… bring the dead back to life, and then become immortal.”

No one refuted her. After all, the temptation of immortality was too great.

Compared to mountains and rivers, the lifespan of ordinary people was like dew and lightning, not even as good as a monster’s.

So throughout history, many people had embarked on the path of immortality or sought secret methods just to live as long as the mountains and rivers.

“Bringing the dead back to life,” Chu Xuan squinted and chuckled, “Ten days ago, I would have just taken it as a joke. But with such a big living example standing in front of me, I have to believe it.”

She suddenly jumped up, carefully observed Ning Ruoque’s face, and pulled at her hand, trying to find some clues on the other.

“You couldn’t have been resurrected with this kind of strange method, right?”

“Or is it that you didn’t actually die back then? You were just unconscious in some crack in the ancient battlefield for a hundred years?”

Ning Ruoque brushed her away like a fly and explained with a straight face, “I thought so too at first, but it’s not likely.”

She simply removed her disguise. The pretty face dissolved like ink, and in its place was a completely different face.

Her brows were slightly raised, and her eyes were like stars, as if a line of sword light was contained within, with an indescribable sharpness. Even the aura around her became sharp.

Only the contours of her cheeks and the corners of her eyes were slightly rounded, showing that this was still a young and inexperienced person.

She said unhurriedly, “Because after my rebirth, I’m using my body from when I was about eighteen.”

Chu Xuan was stunned for a moment, and after studying her for a long while, she suddenly reached out and pinched Ning Ruoque’s cheek.

And she let out a sigh of admiration, “So tender! If you had been this well-behaved back then, I wouldn’t have had to worry about you accidentally killing me.”

A faint red spread over Ning Ruoque’s earlobes. She forcefully slapped Chu Xuan’s hand away and put on a serious and earnest expression.

“In short, I did come back to life after I died. Apart from my cultivation and body age regressing, I haven’t found any other abnormalities.”

Chu Xuan was still teasing her, coaxing her like a child, “Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, call me sister, and I’ll treat you to candy.”

Ning Ruoque: “…”

Can’t stand it for a second.

She directly put her scabbard on Chu Xuan’s neck and threatened in a deep voice, “Say that again?”

The scabbard was not sharp, but her eyes were cold enough. Chu Xuan was so stimulated that she shivered, but she laughed out loud.

Then she sighed, “Ah, it’s a pity that only her body has become smaller.”

It would be more fun if her mental age had also become smaller.

Just then, Yin Buran spoke, “If you want to argue, go outside. I want to sleep for a while.”

As soon as her voice fell, Ning Ruoque sheathed her sword and sat back down, while Chu Xuan said hello.

“I’ll go out for a walk and see if there are any other clues.”

She couldn’t sit still at all. It was absolutely impossible for her to stay in the room and do nothing.

Ning Ruoque actually wanted to go too, but someone had to guard Yin Buran.

She watched as Chu Xuan left with a dashing air and silently lowered her eyes.

Who would have thought that a hand would suddenly reach out from the side, and a cool finger would pinch her chin, forcefully lifting it to the side.

Ning Ruoque’s brows furrowed, and she was forced to meet a pair of glassy pupils.

Yin Buran sized her up without any reservation, her gaze as if it were tangible, tracing over her brows and eyes, every stroke exceptionally careful.

In the end, she couldn’t hold back and also pinched Ning Ruoque’s face. It was smooth and soft, and the feel was indeed not bad.

Normally, Ning Ruoque would have brushed away the hand holding her and then dodged far away in a fluster.

But this time, her ears were completely red, and her face was also hot, but she still did not resist.

Just like that, she obediently held up her face and let Yin Buran do as she pleased.

Yin Buran was curious. “Hmm? Why aren’t you resisting?”

For a rare moment, Ning Ruoque did not avert her gaze and met Yin Buran’s eyes.

After a few breaths of hesitation, she asked the question she had been thinking about for a long time with a complicated expression.

“Yin Buran, my rebirth, does it have something to do with you?”