Chapter 47: Plucking a Plum Blossom for Whom
Ning Ruoque knew in her heart that Qin Jiangli had deliberately told her these things.
Yin Buran had never mentioned them, perhaps because she was afraid of burdening her.
But as the Senior Sister of Azurefall Creek, Qin Jiangli naturally couldn’t bear to see her junior sister being wronged.
It was understandable for her to probe and test her attitude in various ways.
Ning Ruoque was just a little bewildered.
Because she had no idea where Yin Buran’s affection for her came from.
In the vast cultivation world, there were plenty of people with better temperaments than her, and a great number of people with more wealth than her. Why did Yin Buran only like her?
But Yin Buran was not yet awake. No matter how anxious Ning Ruoque was, she had no way of knowing the cause and effect.
She waited patiently for a long time, until the sun was setting in the west, before she saw Qingtong walking over, holding her skirt.
Ning Ruoque asked eagerly, “Where’s Yin Buran?”
“Senior Sister sent her back to Suwen Peak first. You come with me to brew the medicine.”
As her voice fell, Qingtong missed a step and almost fell down the stairs.
Fortunately, Ning Ruoque was quick to grab her sleeve and pull her back.
Ning Ruoque looked her up and down.
The young girl’s face was pale, with dark circles under her eyes. It was obvious that she had been working non-stop for the past two days, her energy was overdrawn, and she was about to collapse.
Ning Ruoque said with a serious face, “Miss Qingtong, you should go and rest.”
Qingtong rubbed her brow. “Wait until I’ve brewed Senior Sister’s medicine…”
Her mind was full of Yin Buran. Ning Ruoque did not persuade her further and silently followed her to the small courtyard at the foot of Suwen Peak.
Only after Qingtong had prepared the medicine did she take the pestle from the other’s hand.
“I’ll do the rest. Just teach me what to do.”
Seeing Ning Ruoque’s serious face, Qingtong pouted, but in the end, she did not try to be brave.
She found a chair with a backrest, and as soon as she sat down, she began to yawn, her eyes almost unable to stay open.
She could only direct Ning Ruoque on how to brew the medicine while propping up her cheek and dozing off.
She sighed listlessly, “Sword cultivators are really energetic. After so many fights, aren’t you tired?”
Ning Ruoque followed her instructions and ground some of the medicinal herbs into powder.
Then she replied casually, “This is not even a tenth of my usual training.”
Not to mention the training in the ancient battlefield, even compared to her daily routine on Mount Xuansu, these few days could be considered relaxing.
“…”
In the bright candlelight, the sword cultivator’s shadow was cast on the wall, tall and straight, unyielding.
Qingtong tilted her head. It was said that a sword had to be tempered a thousand times before it could be incomparably sharp. It seemed that sword cultivators were the same.
For a rare moment, she was curious and asked, “Did you only practice the sword in the past?”
Ning Ruoque looked at the fire in the small clay stove and answered without looking up, “Mm.”
Qingtong couldn’t imagine what kind of life that was.
“Don’t you go to the garden to admire flowers, go shopping, and set off fireworks with your junior sisters during festivals?”
Ning Ruoque’s expression was indifferent. “I don’t have any junior sisters, and I rarely play.”
“Master said that the Great Dao is ruthless. If you want to ascend to godhood, you must abandon all external things and not indulge in…”
She did not finish, feeling that something was strange.
Her drunkard master shouldn’t be able to say such literary words.
Qingtong also frowned as she listened.
The medicinal soup was boiling, bubbling with a gurgling sound.
The thick, bitter smell spread with the steam, as if the whole person was soaked in bitter medicine.
Ning Ruoque added the last few herbs, waited for a few minutes, and then ladled it out into a small bowl.
This was just the first decoction. It had to be decocted a second time.
Qingtong leaned over and sniffed, nodding in satisfaction. “The medicine is ready. You can leave it for now and feed it to Little Senior Sister after she wakes up. If she doesn’t want to drink it, you should persuade her more.”
Then she added in a very loud voice, “Don’t force-feed her while she’s asleep!”
Ning Ruoque listened obediently. It wasn’t urgent now, so of course, she wouldn’t directly stuff it into Yin Buran’s mouth like last time.
Qingtong continued to ramble, “Also, she might have sore limbs. You remember to rub them for her.”
“It’s rubbing, not pinching, and certainly not pounding!”
After two consecutive reminders, Ning Ruoque probably understood what a clumsy image she had in Qingtong’s eyes.
She didn’t mind, after all, she thought so too.
The medicine was almost ready, and Qingtong planned to go back and rest.
Before she left, she wished she could stick to Ning Ruoque’s ear and remind her, “If she wants to take a bath, you carry her to the hot spring behind the house.”
Ning Ruoque was stunned. This kind of thing, would it be inappropriate for her to do it?
Just as she was about to say something, Qingtong misunderstood her meaning.
“What’s with that expression? You’re not willing?”
“If you’re not willing, I won’t force you.” Qingtong glared at her and pointed in a direction. “There’s a small hut on the next mountain. You can go and sleep with Ah Wang!”
Ning Ruoque quickly pretended to add charcoal to the small clay stove and did not dare to speak for the time being.
After a few minutes, she asked in a small voice, “Ah Wang… is it a dog?”
Qingtong did not answer, only snorted coldly and left with a flick of her sleeve.
At the door, she suddenly turned back and first invited awkwardly, “This New Year’s Eve, why don’t you spend it with us?”
Without waiting for Ning Ruoque to speak, she immediately warned fiercely, “But if you want to cultivate that ruthless dao, then leave early and don’t bother my Little Senior Sister anymore!”
After she finished speaking, she left, leaving Ning Ruoque stunned on the spot.
This change of face was really faster than flipping a book, but it was so vivid that it was not annoying.
Ning Ruoque ladled out the last bowl of medicinal soup, put it in a food box, and brought it up the mountain.
The wind swayed the flowers, and the snow flew everywhere. The white crabapple blossoms in the small courtyard were as they had always been.
Ning Ruoque pushed open the door and saw Qin Jiangli, dressed in dark green, guarding the bed.
Hearing the movement, the latter calmly nodded to her, left without a word, and gracefully departed.
After checking that the windows and doors were tightly closed, Ning Ruoque sat down by Yin Buran’s bed.
The Divine Pivot Lord, who usually wouldn’t even wrinkle a single dress, was now squeezed into a corner of the bed with her quilt in a mess.
Like a cat, the smaller the space, the more secure she felt.
Before long, Yin Buran spoke as if in a dream, “Ning Ruoque…”
She turned over and reached out to Ning Ruoque. “It hurts.”
It seemed that she was still running a fever, and her voice was also hoarse, very pitiful.
Ning Ruoque felt it was incredible. This person clearly hadn’t even opened her eyes. How did she know that someone had changed?
She hesitated for a few breaths and thought of Qingtong’s instructions.
In the end, she steeled herself and held Yin Buran’s wrist, carefully massaging her arm.
Yin Buran was on the thinner side, and she could feel her bones with a light squeeze. In addition, her skin was too fair, and a little force would leave a red mark.
Ning Ruoque carefully controlled her strength, feeling that massaging Yin Buran was much more difficult than killing a monster.
She would glance at Yin Buran’s expression from time to time, and seeing that she was always frowning, her heart became more and more uncertain.
“Did I hurt you?”
Yin Buran finally squinted open a slit, with the dazed confusion of just waking up.
She subconsciously grabbed Ning Ruoque’s sleeve and once again made a request in a hoarse voice, “Hold me.”
“…”
A lamp flower burst with a “pop.”
Yin Buran refused to let go, and the two of them were in a stalemate just like that.
After a long while, she finally closed her eyes and hugged a corner of the quilt, wronged.
She didn’t make a fuss when her request wasn’t met and would comfort herself.
Ning Ruoque couldn’t stand to see Yin Buran like this, and her heart ached.
She took off her outer robe, got onto the bed, and with a determined heart and a sweep of her arm, she pulled Yin Buran, person and quilt, into her arms.
As if sensing a familiar source of heat, Yin Buran consciously returned the hug, her face pressed against her chest, and her legs shamelessly pressed against Ning Ruoque’s legs.
Like hugging a pillow, she clung very tightly, wishing she could stick herself to Ning Ruoque.
Ning Ruoque’s whole body was stiff, and she didn’t even dare to adjust her posture, afraid of pressing on Yin Buran’s hair or touching something she shouldn’t.
When Yin Buran moved, she became even more flustered.
The cries for help in her heart grew louder and louder, and the urge to fly away became stronger and stronger.
Hugging is one thing, but why is she also rubbing against me?
Yin Buran was a classic example of pushing her luck, acting without any scruples. She rubbed her fluffy head against her chest and slowly hooked her calf with the back of her foot.
She was still muttering, “Ning Ruoque…”
It was inexplicably heart-throbbing.
Ning Ruoque pretended that she was dead, not even breathing.
Her ears were so red they could bleed, and the heat spread from her neck to her face. She kept comforting herself not to argue with a patient.
Yin Buran is delirious with fever. She probably doesn’t know what she’s doing.
“Ning Ruoque.” Yin Buran’s slender fingers clutched Ning Ruoque’s lapel, and she rubbed against her neck like a small animal.
She said, “Don’t leave me.”
Ning Ruoque blinked, and a different kind of soft touch suddenly came from her neck, itchy.
Then this itching spread throughout her body at an extremely fast speed, making her heart race and unable to move.
Even the originally sweet and clear calming incense made her feel dizzy.
Yin Buran pulled away a little and tilted her head to observe her.
Different from the usual bite, this was a genuine, lingering kiss.
Ning Ruoque felt that her spiritual soul had been so scared that it had rolled off the bed, but for some reason, her body was still on the bed.
She was dazed for a few seconds before she reacted and scrambled to free herself from Yin Buran’s “entanglement.”
“Yin Buran, this is not right!”
Yin Buran didn’t know what she was talking about. Yin Buran just wanted to hug her now.
She clung to her by feel, insisting on sleeping in Ning Ruoque’s arms to feel secure.
It was just that this time, Ning Ruoque was on guard.
She directly pulled over the quilt, wrapped her up with an irresistible force, and soon had her tightly wrapped and pushed to the side.
Suwen Peak was as warm as spring, but she was so hot that her mouth was dry. She hurriedly got off the bed and poured herself a cup of cold tea.
The slightly bitter taste diluted the dizziness. She stroked the teacup and took a while to recover before she dared to turn back and face Yin Buran.
The latter had given up struggling and was still wrapped in the cotton quilt, her gaze vacant.
Only when Ning Ruoque walked towards her did her eyelashes tremble, and she finally closed her eyes in peace.
Ning Ruoque watched for a while and couldn’t help but straighten her and tuck in the quilt. When she was about to pull her hand back, a corner of her sleeve was caught by Yin Buran.
So clingy.
Ning Ruoque was helpless, but she let Yin Buran hold on to her like this.
After a long while, a barely audible sigh sounded in the room.
“How am I worthy of you doing this?”
