Chapter 29 ☆ The Lotus has Just Begun to Show Its Tip (Part 2)

Xie Fei’s deer-like eyes sparkled with curiosity, but she obediently went.

Grandma Xie closed the door, looked at Xie San, and asked, “What do you need the rhino horn for?”

“To heal a wound,” Xie San replied.

Grandma Xie asked again, “Whose wound?”

Xie San lowered his eyes, stubbornly pursing his lips. It was the look Grandma Xie knew all too well, the one he had when he refused to speak and no one could pry his mouth open.

Grandma Xie was so angry that she picked up a feather duster beside her.

Xie San didn’t even flinch and said, “Grandma, be careful not to hurt your hands.”

Grandma Xie was trembling with anger. Facing her distressed grandson, she couldn’t bring herself to hit him. “That rhino horn is so valuable! I smashed and burned all the calligraphy and antiques left by your grandfather, but I couldn’t bear to throw this away! When you went into the mountains and got your shoulder scratched by a wolf, you relied on this horn to survive. If you give it away, what will you do if you get hurt again in the mountains?”

Xie San didn’t blink. “Then I’ll accept it.”

“You… you stubborn boy!” Grandma Xie hit Xie San’s shoulder heavily with the feather duster in her hand.

Xie Fei, who was eavesdropping at the kitchen door, felt anxious. This was the first time she had seen her brother make their grandmother so angry, and she didn’t know whether she should go and persuade her.

Just then, Grandma Xie came in. Xie Fei quickly ran to the stove and pretended to light a fire.

Grandma Xie picked up the spatula and said, “Go to my room and get the black thing in the sewing box for your brother.”

“Oh,” Xie Fei replied. Without asking what it was, she ran to retrieve it.

Grandma Xie stared at the steam rising from the pot and suddenly lifted her apron to wipe her eyes. “God, please let my beloved grandson have this dream for a little longer,” she prayed silently. But she knew the dream would eventually come to an end. What would Brother Zhao do then?

Xie Fei found a small black object and handed it to her brother. “Brother, this is what Grandma asked me to give you. Is this what you were looking for?”

It was a small piece, about the length of a knuckle, black as ink, and warm to the touch. Xie San took it and held it tightly. Rhino horn has the miraculous effects of reducing swelling, detoxifying, removing dead tissue, and regenerating flesh.

When Grandfather bought it back from Southeast Asia, this small piece was worth a thousand gold coins. When the horn was discovered in the Chao family, Grandma gave up many of her belongings and took the risk to keep it. The horn looked ordinary, and no one knew its value, so she kept it.

When Xie San was fifteen, he went hunting in the mountains and encountered wild wolves. At the time, he was thin and weak, and the wolves saw him as prey. They tore his shoulder to pieces. The wolf’s claws were poisonous, and the wound festered. The barefoot doctor and the village elders shook their heads and said there was no hope. But Grandma ground a piece of rhino horn and sprinkled it on his wound. Soon, the wound healed, and he was brought back from the gates of death.

Xie San knew how much his grandmother valued the rhino horn, but he… Xie San stroked the small piece of rhino horn, found the medicine pot, and, without hesitation, crushed it.

Xie Fei stood beside him, diligently helping her brother. She was gentle and relied on her brother wholeheartedly, not questioning his actions because she believed whatever her brother did was right.

Xie San ground the rhino horn into powder, added other herbs to it, and made a paste, which he put into a small bottle. He looked at his sister and asked, “Want to go out?”

“Really? Can I go out?” Xie Fei pointed at herself, overjoyed.

In the afternoon, the sun was so hot it could burn people’s scalps, and the village was so quiet it seemed empty. Except for those who went to work, everyone else hid indoors to stay cool and take a nap. Even the usually noisy children didn’t dare to run around outside.

The sun was so bright that it stung people’s eyes. The heat rolled in waves, the cicadas chirped, and the leaves of the old locust tree at the village entrance curled up in the sun. Xie Fei followed her brother, her steps brisk, feeling close to and fond of everything.

She seldom went out. Her grandmother and brother worried about her being alone outside. Her brother knew she was lonely, so he tried to take her out for walks when he had time. But he worked too hard, and Xie Fei, being very sensible, didn’t want to add to his burden. As a result, at fourteen, she had never even left the village and didn’t know most of the villagers.

Xie Fei followed her brother to the west end of the village and came to the dormitory for the educated youth. The dormitory was converted from an old factory building. The rectangular building looked a bit run-down and was unusually quiet at this time.

The girls’ dormitory had no door, only a curtain. When the wind blew, the inside could be vaguely seen. Someone was lying on the kang, with her black hair spread across the pillow like silk.

Xie Fei glanced at her brother. Xie San handed her the ointment and signaled her: “I’ll wait at the door, don’t worry.”

Xie Fei nodded, carefully lifted the curtain, and entered the room.

At this time, Cheng Yaoyao was having a nightmare.

She was back on the mountain that day. It was pouring rain, and the mountain road was difficult to walk on. Cheng Yaoyao was soaked, and her limbs felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead. Every step she took exhausted all her strength. Her throat felt like it was on fire, dry, and thirsty.

Suddenly, her cheek stung, and she instinctively waved it away. “It hurts!”

Someone exclaimed in her ear, panicking, “Brother, her hands are so hot. She won’t let me apply the medicine!”

Xie San didn’t hesitate to enter the room.

Cheng Yaoyao was lying on the bed in her nightgown. She had kicked the quilt away, revealing her snow-white, round shoulders and skin.

Xie San quickly looked away, and Xie Fei hurriedly helped cover Cheng Yaoyao tightly with the quilt. But Cheng Yaoyao was restless, twisting and turning on the kang, whimpering as if she were about to cry. “It’s hot…”

“Her hands and head are really hot,” Xie Fei said fearfully.

Xie San approached, and when his eyes fell on Cheng Yaoyao’s face, a complex storm of emotions welled up in him. In just a few days, Cheng Yaoyao’s bright and beautiful face had withered like a flower deprived of moisture. Her lips were dry and white, but her cheeks were as red as a rose, unnaturally bright, like the ominous bloom of a flower before it wilts.

She frowned tightly, as if enduring endless grievances. She murmured incoherently in her dreams, her hair sticking wetly to her cheeks. It was unclear whether the moisture was tears or sweat.

Xie San was used to her spoiled and unruly nature. But now, Cheng Yaoyao was like a kitten that had fallen into water, with her beautiful fur all wet, looking embarrassed and pitiful.

Xie Fei tried to apply the medicine to her, but even in her dream, Cheng Yaoyao felt pain and resisted fiercely, waving her hands to push it away. “It hurts…”

The bottle nearly fell to the ground, but Xie San caught it just in time. Rhino horn is priceless, and if it broke, it would be gone forever.

Xie Fei looked helplessly at her brother. “Brother, what should I do?”

Xie San grabbed Cheng Yaoyao’s wrist, pressing it down firmly. “Apply the medicine,” he said coldly.

“…Okay.” Xie Fei always obeyed her brother unconditionally and used a clean feather to apply the medicine to Cheng Yaoyao.

Cheng Yaoyao was in so much pain that she struggled like a fish out of water. Xie San held her hands down with overwhelming force while also covering her with the quilt up to her neck.

Cheng Yaoyao shed many tears, while Xie San was sweating all over. The two intertwined their fingers, their palms sticky with sweat. There was no more intimate gesture than this.

Cheng Yaoyao felt unbearably hot, as if she had fallen into a pot of boiling water, unable to escape, unable to breathe. A big hand held hers tightly, as if power and fresh air were being transmitted through it.

Cheng Yaoyao managed to utter with difficulty, “Water… water…”

Her throat was dry, as if she had swallowed a handful of sand. Cheng Yaoyao had never been so desperate for water, even just a drop…

A lotus leaf suddenly appeared in the void. The tiny lotus had just revealed its pointed tip, looking green and lovely. The small lotus leaf trembled and slowly spread out its leaves, like a dry land finally receiving rain.

The little lotus leaf spread out and turned into a disc as big as a copper coin. A drop of dew slowly formed in the center of the leaf.

“Water… water…” Cheng Yaoyao longed for it and instinctively held onto the big hand tightly.

The little lotus leaf trembled with joy, and the dewdrop gradually condensed, rolling down the leaf slowly.

The tip of her tongue touched the drop of water. It tasted sweet, and along with it came a surge of abundant spiritual energy, like an endless stream of sweet spring water pouring into scorched earth, soothing her burning thirst and washing away the aches and pains in her limbs and bones.

Cheng Yaoyao sighed deeply, then suddenly started coughing.

The spicy and sweet taste in her mouth made her frown, and she instinctively spit it out: “Cough, cough, cough…”

“Wake up, wake up!” a tender voice sounded.

Cheng Yaoyao forced herself to open her tear-swollen eyes and looked into a pair of deer-like eyes.

The girl, who seemed to be thirteen or fourteen years old, looked at her happily, but then shyly asked, “You… you woke up?”

“Who are you?” Cheng Yaoyao asked. Her originally dry and sore throat felt much better, but she was still weak and a little hoarse, which made her blush and her heart beat faster.

“I’m Xie Fei.” Xie Fei was not good at interacting with others and looked to the side for help. “Brother…”

Cheng Yaoyao rolled her eyes to the side. She was lying on the kang and couldn’t see behind her. She tried to get up, but a voice said, “Don’t get up. You’re not well yet.”

…and no clothes.