Help, I’m Being Forced to Marry a Frail and Sickly Immortal Doctor! 71

Chapter 71: Plucking a Plum Blossom for Whom

“Kiss me first.”

Ning Ruoque wandered around Azurefall Creek in a daze.

After thinking about it carefully, she still couldn’t bear to let Yin Buran go with her to the ancient battlefield.

But Yin Buran would be angry.

For the time being, she couldn’t find a way to have it both ways, and she had nowhere to go, so she found a corner at the foot of the mountain and squatted down.

While gnawing on a fruit, she thought about her next plan.

Just then, the transmission talisman flickered two or three times, and Chu Xuan’s voice appeared out of thin air.

“Ning Ruoque! I heard that a piece of high-quality Nebula Dark Gold will be auctioned at the Pingyao Immortal Market. Do you need me to bid for you?”

Nebula Dark Gold was a rare material no less than meteoric iron. Ning Ruoque’s own life-bound sword was also made of it.

If she wanted to reforge her life-bound sword, good Nebula Dark Gold was indispensable.

The Pingyao Immortal Market was not far from Azurefall Creek, and Ning Ruoque could get back quickly.

After a simple weighing of the pros and cons, she immediately said, “Yes. I’ll trade you with a Li Fire Jade. Let’s meet up by the way. I have something to tell you.”

Although she had no money, she had saved up some heavenly materials and earthly treasures from her travels in the past, and she also had a few precious refining materials.

Even if she had to take a step back, and the money from selling the materials was not enough, she would still find a way to raise money for her own life-bound sword.

Chu Xuan readily agreed, “Deal! See you at the Pingyao Immortal Market!”

The light of the transmission talisman went out.

Ning Ruoque stood in the shade of the trees and plants, looking at the distant Azurefall Creek. She unconsciously began to think, which mountain peak was Yin Buran’s Suwen Peak.

She was in a daze for a while, and in the end, she still took out a new transmission talisman and left a message for Yin Buran, telling her where she was going.

After waiting for a long time, the transmission talisman was still quiet, with no response at all.

Ning Ruoque held the talisman and silently lowered her eyelids.

*

When the bright moon was high in the sky, Ning Ruoque returned to Mount Xuansu.

All her belongings were stored here, and she had come back to get the payment for Chu Xuan.

The bamboo leaves rustled, and the long green stone steps were sprinkled with moonlight.

Ning Ruoque pushed open the dilapidated wooden door and sized up her “dog kennel” in the moonlight.

A bed, a table, and two wooden cabinets. It still looked like a house with bare walls.

But the meditation mat that had been kicked away by Yin Buran in disgust was still lying pitifully on the ground.

It was as if that had just happened yesterday.

Ning Ruoque frowned slightly, picked it up and patted it, and then put it back.

She had always lived alone before. Now, looking at this dilapidated house again, it actually felt empty.

It was a little unpleasant.

Her mood instantly fell to the bottom. Ning Ruoque didn’t even want to eat the steamed bun.

She hurriedly took out the Li Fire Jade from the storage room, put it in her storage bag, and was about to leave.

The long green stone steps wound down, and the bamboo forest in the distance was already pitch black, with flickering shadows, like the giant mouth of a demonic beast.

The sword cultivator suddenly stopped in her tracks.

A long wind brought a trace of the smell of wine.

The Sudden Rain sword was instantly unsheathed. She raised her hand to block and was forced back two steps by the sudden huge force.

“Bang!”

The blades of the swords rubbed against each other, making a piercing sound.

A figure of a woman in black flashed, and she chuckled softly by Ning Ruoque’s ear.

After quickly adjusting her posture, Ning Ruoque rushed up without any hesitation.

Another clash of blades.

The two of them tacitly did not use their spiritual energy and only competed in sword forms.

Ning Ruoque’s moves were already so fast that they couldn’t be seen clearly. She repeatedly stabbed at the waist and wrist, her angles extremely tricky.

But the other could still block them all with ease and would counterattack whenever she had the chance.

She was clearly very familiar with Ning Ruoque, and even her subconscious little movements were calculated clearly.

Ning Ruoque’s moves were wide and sweeping, and she would entangle them like a continuous drizzle, her defense airtight.

When Ning Ruoque’s speed suddenly slowed down and she unexpectedly attacked her lower body, she would use offense as defense, her sword’s momentum as vast as a collapsing mountain.

This kind of fight did not allow for any distraction. The other’s blade was aimed at her vitals, and Ning Ruoque was also ruthless.

Wherever the two of them passed, the bamboo leaves flew, either scattered like snowflakes or gathered like clouds.

After fighting like this for a quarter of an hour, Ning Ruoque finally found a flaw.

An opportunity not to be missed. She directly gave up her defense and delivered a sword strike with a rather resolute posture. But in a moment of carelessness, she caught a glimpse of the smile on the woman’s lips.

The hand holding the sword paused slightly.

Victory and defeat were only in an instant!

Before the tip of her sword could reach the other’s chest, a streak of sword light had already grazed past her neck, bringing out two drops of bright red blood, and finally sank into the green bamboo.

Ning Ruoque had nowhere to retreat. Her chest heaved violently, and it was clear that she had been pushed to the limit.

The woman, on the other hand, sheathed her sword with a dashing move and took a large gulp from her wine gourd.

After a long while, she wiped the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand and commented nonchalantly, “Your sword forms are in a mess.”

“If it were a life-and-death battle, your neck wouldn’t just be scratched a little.”

Ning Ruoque pressed her lips together in annoyance.

In the past, she could at least fight her master to a draw, but now she was not as good.

Was it a mistake in her cultivation? Or was she too lax recently?

The fallen leaves on the long steps had just been swept clean by the sword qi of the two of them. Now, bathed in the moonlight, they actually looked as white as jade.

The woman sat down with a plop, her posture crooked and without any image. She even threw her sword to the side.

Only the wine gourd was never out of her hand, and the wind could not disperse the strong fragrance of wine on her.

She took a gulp of wine and asked without her face turning red or her breath catching, “Tell me, what’s going on?”

“It’s nothing.”

Ning Ruoque’s face was tense, and she refused to sit down, just standing there stiffly.

The woman raised an eyebrow. “Then why did you come back so dejectedly like a stray puppy?”

Ning Ruoque: “…”

From the moment she entered Mount Xuansu, this person must have been spying on her.

Otherwise, her expression was so well-controlled. How could she look like a puppy?

Ning Ruoque simply stopped pretending, also sat down cross-legged, and hugged her sword, sulking.

She sorted out her thoughts before she stated drily, “Master, I made Yin Buran angry.”

A rare trace of dejection appeared on her face, and she was extremely frustrated.

Shrinking on the dilapidated steps like this, one couldn’t tell at all that she had once been the Sword Venerable who had roamed the world.

Ning Ruoque didn’t know how the two of them had gotten along in the past.

Would her former self also make Yin Buran so angry and sad like this?

Although her drunkard master was unreliable, she could always offer some advice, right?

While Ning Ruoque was talking, the woman had been drinking.

Only after her voice fell did she let out a burp and concluded with drunken eyes, “Oh, I understand. Yin Buran wants to go to the ancient battlefield with you, so what do you think?”

Ning Ruoque unconsciously picked at the hilt of her sword.

Staying in this wine fragrance that the wind could not disperse, Ning Ruoque felt that she was also a little dizzy.

It was just that her chest felt tight and uncomfortable.

She said slowly, “I hope she can do what she likes. Continue to treat the sick and save the dying, and she can also plant flowers on Suwen Peak, or travel with her senior and junior sisters.”

“Anything is fine, or if she has other wishes, I will also try my best to help her achieve them.”

The woman smacked her lips. “What about you?”

Ning Ruoque just found it inexplicable. “I’ve said it before. I will protect Yin Buran.”

She was very suspicious. Was this person seriously listening to her?

Who would have thought that the woman would suddenly laugh out loud, and her gaze at Ning Ruoque would become “loving,” making one’s skin crawl.

She shook the wine gourd, and the long and narrow corners of her eyes were slightly raised. “What I mean is, do you want to let Yin Buran go?”

Ning Ruoque frowned slightly.

Want. This was an instantaneous thought, a seed planted at that time.

But this thought was quickly suppressed and turned into annoyance and unease.

She nonchalantly changed the subject. “I want to make her happy.”

The woman spread her hands, not caring about this clumsy excuse. “Alright… in that case, you should kiss her first and see.”

She asked in return, “You don’t know how to kiss mouth to mouth?”

What crude words?! Ning Ruoque’s eyes widened in fright.

“What’s the relationship between the two?”

The woman nodded. “You’ll know after you kiss her.”

Ning Ruoque shook her head vigorously and retorted, “But Ranran is very sad now. I should explain it to her clearly first.”

The woman: “Kiss her first.”

Ning Ruoque frowned. “Then what’s the difference between me and a hooligan who takes advantage of others?”

The woman: “In short, kiss her first.”

Ning Ruoque: “…”

It’s simply impossible to communicate!!

Why did she think that this drunkard could solve her problem?!

Ning Ruoque hugged her sword and was about to leave without a word.

Just as she had taken a step, she suddenly tripped forward and almost fell.

She steadied herself, looked down at the long leg that was in her way, and clenched her fists hard.

When she turned around again, something was thrown at her.

Ning Ruoque raised her hand and caught it effortlessly. It was a three-inch-long small bottle, and there was the sound of water when she shook it.

Her face was extremely unsightly. “What is this?”

The woman first took several large gulps of wine before she said slowly, “A secret treasure of the sect, a good thing. You’ll know after you drink it.”

Without waiting for Ning Ruoque to respond, she first stroked her chin and said to herself, “Hmm? This sentence sounds familiar.”

Ning Ruoque just thought that she had drunk too much and her thoughts were confused, so she put the thing away and was about to leave again.

But the woman slapped the wine gourd and suddenly spoke, “By the way, I should have also told you that you have a bad habit that is neither big nor small.”

Ning Ruoque carefully recalled for a long while, but still had not the slightest impression.

“What bad habit? How come I don’t know?”

She had originally trusted her own memory very much, but after that incident, she was not sure.

Anything related to Yin Buran could have been distorted and tampered with.

The long night was as cool as water, and a gentle breeze messed up the woman’s long hair.

She sat on the stone steps, her back to the moonlight.

She only heard her voice being torn apart by the wind, and compared to a piece of advice, it was more like a sigh.

“You should figure it out yourself. If you figure it out, your swordsmanship will improve further. If you don’t, it’s very normal to die again one day.”

These words were not embellished with any euphemisms, and Ning Ruoque was stunned.

Her brows were tightly furrowed. “Master, you might as well speak more clearly.”

But the woman threw the wine gourd and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

A few blurry words came from the wind. “I can’t explain any more. If I explain any more, I’ll be struck by lightning.”

“Just ponder what I’ve said to you over and over again!”

Soon, the last wisp of her voice dissipated, and Ning Ruoque just felt that it was hard to describe.

Damn it, apart from “mouth to mouth,” did she say anything useful just now?

Without having time to think carefully, Ning Ruoque shook her head, stepped on the Sudden Rain sword, and rushed to meet up with Chu Xuan.

*

A day later, at the Pingyao Immortal Market.

As a grand market held once every three years, the streets were bustling with people, and the sound of hawking was endless.

And the most prosperous restaurant in Pingyao City was now full.

In a separate private room that overlooked the main hall, the cultivator in charge of reception served a pot of immortal tea and then respectfully withdrew.

Ning Ruoque did not waste any words and directly took out a jade bracelet and pushed it to Chu Xuan along with the Li Fire Jade.

The texture of the bracelet was delicate, and there was a faint spiritual light. It was an artifact of not low quality.

Chu Xuan did not touch the bracelet and only took the Li Fire Jade to play with. “What is this?”

Ning Ruoque said calmly, “Payment.”

She raised her hand, dipped it in a drop of tea, and wrote on the table without a sound.

【The bracelet that Yan Lingge insisted on giving me back then. I suspect there’s something wrong with her. Can you help me check?】

As soon as she finished speaking, Chu Xuan naturally took over the conversation. “Alright!”

She also wrote on the table: 【What a coincidence. Yin Buran also suspects her.】

Her gaze swept over the three words “Yin Buran,” and Ning Ruoque lowered her eyes without a word.

For the past few days, Chu Xuan had actually been investigating Yan Lingge with Si Mingyue, but there had been no progress.

Chu Xuan had even investigated her family for three generations. They were just ordinary farmers, and there was nothing wrong.

An ordinary person would have given up by now, but Chu Xuan was not an ordinary person, not to mention that Si Mingyue was also there.

The two of them had forcefully taken Yan Lingge out and had questioned her using an illusionary realm.

She suspected that this girl’s memory had also been tampered with, or that a suggestion had been implanted, but the clue had been broken here.

Thinking of this, the corners of Chu Xuan’s mouth turned up, and her smile was extremely brilliant.

No wonder the fortune-teller said that today was a great fortune. Didn’t this new clue just come?

【You think there’s something wrong with this bracelet?】

Ning Ruoque knitted her brows: 【I actually checked it once, but I didn’t see anything strange.】

She was not very good at refining artifacts and formations and only knew the most basic things.

Chu Xuan put the bracelet into her storage ring: 【Leave it to me!】

Ning Ruoque nodded and poured herself another cup of tea.

She saw Chu Xuan shaking her leg and leaning over with a gossipy face. “By the way, did you have a fight with Yin Buran?”

Ning Ruoque said in a cold voice, “How did you know?”

So Chu Xuan looked at her sideways. “The Medicine King has given an order to select ten young and beautiful sword cultivators to perform a sword dance. The reward is a whole year of free treatment and sword maintenance.”

“And as long as you sign up, you’ll get a bottle of high-grade external injury medicine.”

Finally, she didn’t forget to add, “Now, the threshold of Azurefall Creek has probably been worn out by sword cultivators.”

Ning Ruoque had just taken a sip of tea, and upon hearing this, she suddenly covered her mouth. “Pfft—”

“Cough, cough, cough!”