Help, I’m Being Forced to Marry a Frail and Sickly Immortal Doctor! 6

Chapter 6: A Sword’s Startling Appearance

Just what kind of person could make Yin Buran…

Ning Ruoque wasn’t actually picky about where she cultivated.

She had meditated in secret realms where the spiritual energy was so dense it could condense into clouds and rain, and she had also regulated her breathing on ancient battlefields littered with corpses.

Even without a sword, she could practice to her heart’s content with just a tree branch.

However, cultivation would cause fluctuations in spiritual energy, which would inevitably affect others.

Ning Ruoque didn’t want to disturb Yin Buran’s rest.

She estimated the distance between the cool couch and the bed and sat down cross-legged with peace of mind.

Before she began circulating her cultivation technique, she took a special look. The bed curtains in the inner room had already been drawn; Yin Buran must be preparing to sleep.

She extinguished the candle and began to silently recite her cultivation mantra with practiced ease.

This place was truly worthy of being a residence for esteemed guests, countless times better than that simple guest house.

The spiritual energy was clean and pure, greatly increasing the efficiency of her cultivation.

Ning Ruoque’s five senses were already sharp, and even more so during cultivation. After circulating her spiritual energy for a few cycles, a few soft sounds came from the otherwise silent room.

She almost instantly pinpointed the source of the disturbance—

It was a familiar aura.

Although her eyes were closed, she could clearly “see” that ball of aura approaching silently and standing in front of her for a long while.

There was no malice, so Ning Ruoque didn’t want to interrupt her cultivation.

Then, the aura slowly moved to her side and settled in one spot, remaining still.

Amidst the countless mottled specks of spiritual light, that ball of aura rose and fell with each breath, continuously emitting a faint but constant warm light.

Time flew by during cultivation. When Ning Ruoque opened her eyes again, moonlight streamed through the window, scattering across the floor and illuminating everything.

The fragrance of plum blossoms drifted in on the wind, mixing with the original calming incense to create a uniquely sweet and clear scent.

She was stunned for a moment, then, like a stuck puppet, slowly turned her head.

The five-foot-long cool couch, of which she had only occupied one side, was now inexplicably crowded on the other.

It was Yin Buran.

Yin Buran, who should have been sleeping soundly in the large bed, was now curled up asleep beside her.

She was huddled in a ball, person and quilt together, half of her face buried in the pillow, which had coaxed out a rare flush of red. Her white hair was a tangled mess.

This sleeping posture reduced some of the distance between them, making Ning Ruoque steal a glance at her, shift her gaze back to the floor, and then look again.

Hmm, she looks like a small, defenseless animal with a messy sleeping posture, or a soft little cotton ball.

This made Ning Ruoque subconsciously slow her breathing and silently condemn her own overly impolite associations.

However, the sleeping face before her was so serene that she couldn’t help but start to wonder, Just what kind of person could make Yin Buran so concerned?

So much so that she would wrong herself by sleeping on a small, cool couch just to seek a sense of security.

Even if she ate a mountain of poisonous mushrooms, she would never confuse the person in Yin Buran’s memory with herself.

The cool wind blew away the chaotic thoughts in her mind, and Ning Ruoque composed herself.

The wind was strong here, which could potentially worsen Yin Buran’s already fragile health.

If her cultivation hadn’t fallen, she could have created a barrier that completely blocked the wind.

Unfortunately, the current Ning Ruoque was not capable of that.

She thought for a while, torn between waking the person up and carrying her to the bed. In the end, she chose to add two more brocade quilts for Yin Buran.

Thus, a tall mound appeared on the originally cool, low couch.

Ning Ruoque did her best to spread the quilts over the entire couch, even thoughtfully stuffing pillows against the wall, striving to let not a single wisp of wind through.

At this point, Yin Buran’s face was completely hidden.

After doing all this, she carefully stretched her hand out of the window, leaving the protective range of the Mirage Pearl.

The owner of the pearl did not wake up.

The sword cultivator in black leaped out of the window with nimble movements, not stirring up a single speck of dust.

Her aura was suppressed to the extreme. Like a shadow, she moved along the base of the wall and quickly slipped out of the small courtyard.

The person in charge of guarding the gate was still staring at the sky in a daze, completely unaware that something had darted past him.

Ning Ruoque was focused on her journey and naturally didn’t know that not long after she left, in the “nest” filled with brocade quilts, Yin Buran was woken up by the stuffiness.

She smoothed her hair in the darkness and struggled to pull herself out.

Then she called out in a daze, “Ning Ruoque?”

The room was silent. No one answered.

***

Disguise and concealment were secret arts of Ning Ruoque’s sect. Ning Ruoque had relied on them to escape death countless times.

Xu Chuo wouldn’t waste too many resources to monitor a minor Spirit Induction realm cultivator.

Therefore, her cultivation was both her weakness and her best protection.

She returned to the guest house almost unimpeded.

After confirming that there were only two dozing guards, she vaulted directly into Yan Lingge’s room.

Yan Lingge didn’t see the figure clearly and was startled. “You—”

Before she could cry out, Ning Ruoque swiftly covered her mouth.

“Shh,” she narrowed her eyes and whispered, “It’s me.”

Recognizing Ning Ruoque’s voice, the terror on Yan Lingge’s face instantly turned to surprise. “Senior?”

She never thought Ning Ruoque would come back.

After all, whether it was following Yin Buran or leaving alone, both were better than bringing along a useless ordinary person.

Ning Ruoque saw the doubt in her eyes and said directly, “I told you, if you don’t want to stay here, I’ll take you away tonight.”

She had always kept her word. Besides, too much had happened tonight. Brightlight Pavilion was no longer safe.

The young girl was stunned for a moment, then nervously clutched the hem of her clothes. “I…”

She was still hesitant, her eyes darting away, not daring to look at Ning Ruoque.

Clearly, she was unwilling to leave.

This puzzled Ning Ruoque a little. A timid and cowardly person shouldn’t be able to make such a decision.

She sighed softly and simply sat down to explain patiently.

“You saw it too. Xu Chuo’s behavior is too deliberate. Those two living corpses are likely connected to Brightlight Pavilion. If you insist on staying here, I’m afraid your life will be in danger.”

“…”

A gentle wind rustled the bamboo leaves and tapped against the window. The sky gradually brightened from dim to light.

There wasn’t much time left.

Yan Lingge knitted her delicate brows and answered in a small voice, “I know.”

She took out a jade bracelet from her bosom and pushed it towards Ning Ruoque. This was the promised gift of gratitude.

Then she spoke slowly and deliberately.

“My mother, while gathering herbs, happened to save an immortal from the Upper Realm. They fell in love, and then there was me.”

Yan Lingge had just begun, but Ning Ruoque already realized that this was probably a cliché story.

The mortal realm was fond of the lingering love stories between cultivators and mortals and was never stingy in giving the lovers a happy ending.

But reality was often the opposite, filled with fleeting affairs and heartless lovers.

She didn’t interrupt, but lowered her eyes and listened quietly.

Yan Lingge rambled on about her past.

“But, the immortal abandoned my mother. From then on, she became obsessed with ‘becoming an immortal’.”

“This spring, she heard that Brightlight Pavilion would open its gates and accept disciples, so she always hoped that I could enter the sect to cultivate. She made many preparations for it, clean clothes, enough silver…”

Towards the end, her voice inevitably became choked with sobs, even more stagnant than the wind outside the window.

“But, she was attacked by a living corpse on the first morning of winter and passed away.”

“…”

Ning Ruoque subconsciously reached for her sleeve, but couldn’t find any candy or sweet wild fruits to offer as comfort.

She became flustered again, staring intently at the fish-belly white of the dawn sky, afraid that a slight turn of her head would meet a pair of teary eyes.

Yan Lingge didn’t notice Ning Ruoque’s odd behavior. She was busy wiping away her tears. “With my constitution, I’m afraid no immortal sect will take me.”

“Senior Sister Xu promised me that she would bring me into the sect. That’s enough.”

Ning Ruoque held back for a long time before finally finding a suitable opportunity to speak.

Without a word, she stuffed the bracelet back into the young girl’s arms and said quickly, “I have many friends with strange constitutions. Some can’t be exposed to sunlight, some are born with deficient spiritual veins.”

They all sounded as miserable as Yan Lingge.

And thus, it piqued the other’s curiosity.

She really couldn’t refuse Ning Ruoque and could only take back the jade bracelet before eagerly asking.

“Then they…”

Ning Ruoque thought of her several friends who held high positions and wielded great power in the cultivation world, and her tone immediately became much more natural.

“They still walked a long way on their own paths, even far surpassing those cultivators with normal constitutions.”

“Perhaps the road will be difficult, but we are already going against the heavens. If we don’t have enough resolve, how can we fight for our destiny against the heavens?”

She looked up, her gaze burning, with a sincerity and seriousness she couldn’t have imagined herself possessing. “If you are only trying to fulfill your mother’s last wish, why must it be Brightlight Pavilion?”

Yan Lingge was stunned. “I…”

After a few seconds, she quickly averted her gaze, her lips pressed tightly together. It was unclear whether she was considering it carefully or was unwilling to talk about it anymore.

There was only half an hour until dawn. Ning Ruoque let out a breath of turbid air and patted her clothes, preparing to leave.

“Forget it. I’ll be staying here anyway. If you change your mind, you can come find me anytime.”

Yan Lingge exclaimed in a low voice, “Senior isn’t planning to leave?”

“Mm.”

She immediately covered her mouth. “Is it because of that beautiful white-haired older sister?”

“Mm… hmm?”

Ning Ruoque had been considering what to eat for breakfast.

She was hungry and planned to go to the mountains of Brightlight Pavilion to find some wild fruits and pheasants. If all else failed, poisonous mushrooms would do.

Hearing Yan Lingge’s tone, a strong sense of crisis immediately arose in her.

“Is she Senior’s friend?”

Before Ning Ruoque could answer, Yan Lingge began to mutter to herself, “The way she looks at you is so focused. She must care about you a lot. She went out of her way to stand up for you, and she healed your injuries, and—”

Seeing Yan Lingge’s words becoming more and more outrageous and strange, Ning Ruoque blushed from her neck to the tips of her ears.

Fortunately, the sky was dim, so Yan Lingge couldn’t see clearly.

She quickly covered the young girl’s mouth and stammered out an explanation, “W-wait, it’s not like that!”

What is all this? How did the conversation turn to me and Yin Buran?

It was clearly just an accident. How did it become so ambiguously meaningful in Yan Lingge’s mouth? As if Yin Buran cared about her that much.

Ning Ruoque was eager to distance herself from Yin Buran to avoid any misunderstanding from the young girl.

“I’m not that close to her. I’m staying purely because—”

She racked her brains for a reason, and finally, under Yan Lingge’s curious and admiring gaze, she was forced to squeeze out a sentence:

“Protecting medical cultivators is our sworn duty!”