Please, Don’t Die - Chapter 11

The greatest threat to Jimo Town, the drought demon, had been eliminated, and the mastermind behind it, the tree demon Ming Shu, had also been slain. Shangguan Ding’an and Qi Wan quickly organized efforts to dredge the river channel west of the town. The clear stream flowed gently, slowly washing away the remnants of bloodstains along the banks.

After returning to the inn to change his clothes, Ying Qujie collapsed into bed and fell asleep immediately. Meanwhile, He Qingsheng used the principle of “water nourishes wood” as a medium, absorbing small amounts of Ying Qujie’s vital energy multiple times to suppress the malevolent aura within herself.

Thus, she didn’t disturb him, kindly allowing him to sleep soundly.

The dark clouds brought by yesterday’s thunder tribulation had yet to disperse, and a light, cool rain drizzled down.

For an entire night, the rain moistened and soothed the cracked wounds of the earth, washing away the long-accumulated dust and withered leaves on the surface of the mountain forest.

It wasn’t until the evening of the next day, when Shangguan Ding’an brought Qi Wan to visit, that He Qingsheng realized Ying Qujie seemed to have slept for nearly a full day and night.

“Wanwan, wouldn’t it be rude if we barged in like this and disturbed Physician Ying?” Shangguan Ding’an and Qi Wan discussed loudly outside the inn room, attempting to wake Ying Qujie by making noise so he would open the door, thus sparing both parties any awkwardness.

“Physician Ying fought fiercely against the drought demon and the tree demon yesterday. By the time we regained consciousness, he was already gone. What if he was injured and no one knew? Didn’t the innkeeper just say there’s been no movement from Physician Ying’s room for a whole day and night?” Qi Wan made as if to kick the door open.

He Qingsheng remembered that she was in a spectral state, so it made sense that Shangguan Ding’an and Qi Wan, being ordinary people, hadn’t seen her yesterday and assumed Ying Qujie had battled the drought demon alone.

However, she knew Ying Qujie hadn’t expended much energy yesterday. Logically, he shouldn’t have needed to sleep this long.

The small wooden puppet stepped onto Ying Qujie’s chest. The scar from the blade had only grazed the surface of his skin and was already scabbing over, it couldn’t have injured his heart. If it were exhaustion, a mortal sleeping an entire day should have been enough to recover.

He Qingsheng was puzzled. Could the small amount of fortune she had absorbed from him have damaged him? She had only borrowed a tiny fraction of his mortal luck to evade the thunder tribulation, was his constitution really this weak?

At the moment the thunder tribulation struck yesterday, He Qingsheng had used the white jade pendant to block the attack, preserving most of her strength. The violet lightning, perhaps wary of the unconscious mortal nearby, gradually dissipated when it failed to strike her.

But while Ying Qujie and the others were still unconscious, any attempt by He Qingsheng to emerge from the pendant would provoke thunderbolts of varying intensity. It was as if the heavens were warning: Dare to show yourself, and I’ll strike you dead.

After several failed attempts, He Qingsheng discovered that the safest place was near Ying Qujie.

Whether it couldn’t or didn’t dare, the lightning refused to approach him even slightly.

She had a vague sense that the fortune surrounding Ying Qujie might be the key to solving her problem, the constant heavenly strikes whenever her power increased.

In the cultivation world, thunder tribulations didn’t occur so frequently. If she could restore her cultivation and break through to the Spirit Realm, returning to the Twelve Walls, she wouldn’t have to worry about the punitive lightning of the heavenly dao.

But this also meant that, while walking the mortal world, she would have to keep Ying Qujie by her side.

Ying Qujie’s hair was slightly disheveled, his inner robe parted to reveal his firm chest. His fair skin made the small, vivid scratches on his chest stand out starkly. A palm-sized wooden puppet sat atop him, almost as if taking advantage of the situation, attempting to apply medicine. But before it could even spread the ointment properly, the puppet’s wooden fingers had already rubbed his pale skin red.

As Qi Wan kicked the door open, the first thing that met her eyes was a scene both somewhat alluring and slightly comical. Before she could get a closer look, Shangguan Ding’an covered her eyes.

“Who are you? Let go of Physician Ying!” Shangguan Ding’an glared warily at the small wooden puppet on the bed. The deranged wooden carvings from the wood demon yesterday had left him deeply traumatized, now even the sight of wood made him uneasy.

Perhaps Shangguan Ding’an’s voice was too loud, for He Qingsheng suddenly looked up and locked eyes with Ying Qujie, whose gaze was still bleary with sleep.

At that moment, her attempt to dress him properly seemed rather unnecessary.

Ying Qujie, freshly awakened, still looked somewhat pale. He calmly adjusted his robes and said to Shangguan Ding’an, “Would you mind waiting downstairs for a moment, Lord Shangguan?”

“Oh, right, of course!” Shangguan Ding’an was more than eager to drag Qi Wan away and hastily agreed.

The door closed.

Ying Qujie grabbed the wooden puppet by the head, moved her from his body to the edge of the bed, and then prepared to get up and tidy himself. But the moment his feet touched the ground, he staggered, nearly knocking into the bed frame.

He collapsed heavily onto the floor, half-leaning against the bed as he gasped for breath, fine beads of sweat breaking out along his temples. His bony fingers instinctively pressed against his chest, Ying Qujie looked as if he had suddenly been struck by an asthma attack, frail to the extreme.

What a sight of beauty in distress.

He Qingsheng sat on the bed, reflecting on her actions while admiring his looks, when she suddenly met Ying Qujie’s eyes, which shimmered with silvery threads.

Oh hell, he wasn’t just sick!

Her baleful energy instantly coiled around his waist, dragging him back onto the bed. Then, like tentacles, the energy forcibly pried open Ying Qujie’s lips and plunged straight into his mouth.

The seven orifices were interconnected, entering through the mouth was the fastest way to clear the silvery threads from his heart, lungs, eyes, and nose.

“Mmm…”

While baleful energy was intangible to others, to Ying Qujie, it felt all too real. The excessively cold gas irritated his mouth, throat, and airways, making him grimace in discomfort as he clenched the fabric in his hands.

He Qingsheng wiped away the involuntary tears at the corners of his eyes, the rough wooden surface of the puppet leaving faint streaks of pink. Against his tearful, peach-blossom eyes, it looked like rain-drenched crabapple flowers.

“Bear with it a little longer. It’ll be over soon.”

A full quarter of an hour passed before the silvery threads were completely expelled and eradicated by the baleful energy.

He Qingsheng’s energy reserves had been significantly depleted again. She stared at the strand of silver in her hand, her expression unreadable.

This was “Hair Like Snow.”

The rare poison “Hair Like Snow” transformed into a sinister, malevolent gu when exposed to baleful energy. Those poisoned with it would immediately suffer an attack upon contact with even a trace of baleful energy, their organs shredded by silver threads, their eyes turning glassy with swirling silver strands.

Most importantly, “Hair Like Snow” was a poison used exclusively by cultivators of the Twelve Walls to identify those who had been possessed. It was unique to Xunzhou of the Southern Wall.

Yet now, this poison had appeared in the mortal realm, coincidentally administered to Ying Qujie.

Someone in this world suspected Ying Qujie had been possessed.

Possessed by her.

This poison was meant for her!

Ying Qujie had merely suffered an undeserved calamity.

Was it the work of the Zhenyuan Sect?

He Qingsheng frowned. She had once believed the mortal realm and the cultivation world were separated by the Spirit Realm, with no connection between them. But now, it seemed that wasn’t the case.

“After you left me, who did you meet along the way?”

Ying Qujie lay dazed, breathing shallowly. It took him a while to recover before he finally spoke, his voice slightly hoarse.

“On the way to the magistrate’s residence, I bumped into a young man at the corner of a tavern.”

He Qingsheng was quite satisfied with Ying Qujie’s sharp perception, there was no need for lengthy explanations or repeated questions; he grasped and responded effortlessly.

“What did they look like? Can you still remember?” He Qingsheng didn’t expect Ying Qujie to recall anything particularly useful. If it involved Zhenyuan Sect cultivators, they would surely have employed concealment spells.

“White robes embroidered with gold, almond-shaped eyes, and very young in appearance.” Ying Qujie pressed his forehead, recalling the memory, which brought on an unbearable dizziness, more nauseating than the earlier invasion of baleful energy.

Ying Qujie: “He said I looked familiar.”

He Qingsheng: “Gold embroidery in a slanting pattern?”

Ying Qujie: “Yes.”

He Qingsheng fell silent. Her junior brother had always favored white robes with slanting gold embroidery.

His round, almond-shaped eyes made him appear particularly youthful, and his baby face often made him the target of teasing from the sect’s female disciples.

So, her junior brother hadn’t gone missing, he had come to the mortal realm.

And upon encountering someone he suspected of being possessed by her, he had decisively administered a poison specifically designed to target vengeful ghosts who took over bodies.

For now, He Qingsheng couldn’t discern her junior brother’s motives, so she pinned all the blame on the Zhenyuan Sect.

The more she thought about it, the more her teeth itched with fury.

He Qingsheng’s soul dimmed further, barely thicker than before she had devoured the drought demon, almost negligible.

Now, even the heavenly tribulation couldn’t be bothered to spare her a glance.

She withdrew the Water Nurtures Wood technique, her entire ghostly form radiating an unmistakably hostile aura.

Ying Qujie also noticed her soul was no longer as vibrant as before, likely due to saving him earlier. He felt a pang of guilt. “I’m sorry.”

He Qingsheng’s mind short-circuited. “Then do fewer things you’ll need to apologize for.”

Ying Qujie: “?”

“Ahem! Shangguan Ding’an is still waiting for you. Hurry up, I’ll go with you.”

“How are you going?”

He Qingsheng jutted her chin. “That puppet. Just say I’m the great immortal protecting you.”

“Protecting” wasn’t exactly a good word. Yun Shuiqing had vowed to protect Ming Shu, only to end up entangled in a twenty-year obsession.

Ying Qujie decisively rejected the idea, he had no such intentions.

“Then say I’m your master?”

“No.”

“Your great-grandmother?”

“?” Ying Qujie said flatly, “Why don’t you just say you’re my father?”

He Qingsheng hesitated. “That’s not ideal. I don’t want to be a man, but if you insist…”

Ying Qujie: He shouldn’t have snapped back.

…

Downstairs.

Shangguan Ding’an and Qi Wan had brought food. With the disaster in Jimo Town just resolved, the provisions were meager, only some porridge made from the dry rations they had brought for relief efforts.

Ying Qujie wasn’t picky. He drank a full bowl, suppressing the churning in his stomach, and gradually felt better.

Having studied medicine for thirteen years, he had always been meticulous about his diet, daily habits, and health, regularly examining his own condition. Never before had he been this weakened.

“Physician Ying, we owe you our deepest gratitude for your help in Jimo.” Shangguan Ding’an and Qi Wan stood and bowed solemnly. “Qi Wan and I investigated the twenty-year-old case of Yun Taihe sacrificing his own daughter overnight and uncovered Jimo Town’s tradition of live sacrifices. If not for your nighttime visit to the magistrate’s residence, we might have missed the opportunity and allowed a great calamity to unfold.”

Ying Qujie lifted the wooden puppet from his embrace and held it in his hands. “Lord Shangguan, you’re mistaken. The one who resolved the wood demon and drought demon was this young lady, He Qingsheng. I cannot take credit.”

He Qingsheng wiggled the puppet’s wooden fingers at them in greeting.

Shangguan Ding’an and Qi Wan had now witnessed the drought demon with their own eyes. Though astonished, the fact that this small wooden puppet had dealt with such a creature only deepened their admiration. They bowed in unison once more.

“Senior…”

“You two…”

Exchanging a glance, Shangguan Ding’an and Qi Wan said, “Please speak, Senior.”

“I heard the Imperial Preceptor gave you three magical artifacts?”

Qi Wan instantly grasped He Qingsheng’s hint and produced the shattered golden bell and red-tasseled horn, presenting them with both hands. “Senior, these humble gifts are but a token of our gratitude.”

Shangguan Ding’an disapproved but remained silent.

He Qingsheng nodded in satisfaction, pleased that they understood the unspoken rules. He accepted the two artifacts, sensing the abundant spiritual energy flowing within them.

“Senior He, we have one more presumptuous request,” Qi Wan ventured earnestly, seeing no displeasure from He Qingsheng. “While investigating the Jimo Town sacrifices, we rescued three girls destined for live burial. Though they appear unharmed, each has fallen strangely ill. We humbly ask Senior He and Physician Ying to examine them.”