Chapter 44

Soon, the sky would start to brighten. She had been in the mountains for almost three hours. What had she been doing all that time? He really wanted to ask her something, but after thinking it over, he decided against it. There were some things that, once asked, could change the nature of their relationship. More importantly, even if he asked, she probably wouldn’t give him an answer. The reason she had sneaked out must have been because she didn’t want him to know. Since she didn’t want him to know, if he asked, she definitely wouldn’t tell him. He closed his eyes and quietly took a deep breath, his mind replaying the events of the night. When he had climbed into bed earlier, he had felt an unexpected fatigue. It was strange, and perhaps this was related to her. She had been giving him a cup of water every night, and perhaps the problem lay with that water. Then there was the medicinal brew she had fed him later. What was it exactly? Tonight, his night vision had been unusually sharp, and it felt like a lot of things were off. His mind was a mess. He clenched his fists under the blanket and took another deep breath.

The next morning, Lan Yun’er got up early to make breakfast.

Just as she walked into the kitchen and had just lit the fire, Huo Jinchen came in. He looked at her, his eyes flickering, and in a gentle tone, he said, “I’ll help you.”

He walked over to her side, took the fire tongs from her hand, and started working. Lan Yun’er glanced at him, blinking in confusion. “Why are you up so early today?” After all, she had given him water with something added to it the night before, and later had given him a medicinal brew. According to that, the medicine should have made him sleep longer. Why was he up so early?

Huo Jinchen smiled and, using the fire tongs to add a piece of dry wood to the stove, said in a gentle tone, “Since my wife is already up making breakfast, I shouldn’t stay in bed. I should get up and help you.”

Lan Yun’er looked at him. His face was as handsome as usual, and his expression was as gentle as always, but she felt like something was off. However, she didn’t say anything.

She gave him another glance, stood up, and walked toward the water tank. She filled a basin with water and began to wash the vegetables for breakfast. After breakfast, the family gathered around the table to eat. Without the big house couple, Lan Yun’er felt the air seemed to lighten.

Yao Guizhi, eating her meal, looked at the spot where Huo Junda had sat. He hadn’t come back last night. It seemed he was really scared, truly afraid of having his legs broken. Yao Guizhi frowned. She hoped that this time, the big house would change, and that Huo Junda wouldn’t be so lazy or think of harming others.

After breakfast, the third wife went to the kitchen to wash the dishes, while Lan Yun’er took out her silver needles and went to the second house to treat Huo Junli’s legs.

Huo Jinchen and Yao Guizhi followed her into the room.

Lan Yun’er looked at Huo Jinchen who had come with them. “Aren’t you going to work? You said last night that you were going to sell the stock you had today.”

Huo Jinchen smiled, looking at her intently. “I’ll go later. I want to watch you treat second brother’s legs.”

Lan Yun’er frowned, not sure what he meant by that. Didn’t he trust her? Huo Jinchen saw the suspicion in her eyes and quickly added, “I’m just curious. I want to see it with my own eyes.”

Lan Yun’er pressed her lips together. Curiosity was understandable. After all, Huo Junli’s legs were so serious. She suspected everyone was curious about how it would be treated.

She said no more and quickly moved to the bed. Sitting on a long bench in front of the bed, she first checked Huo Junli’s condition according to what the tree demon had taught her, then took out her silver needles and prepared to begin the acupuncture.

Yao Guizhi, watching the gleaming silver needles, felt her breath tighten. She looked at Lan Yun’er and said, “Little Yun, are you really going to do acupuncture? The needle… it looks really long. Will it hurt? Is it safe?”

Yao Guizhi was afraid that such long needles would be painful if inserted into the body.

Lan Yun’er smiled and glanced at Yao Guizhi, replying slowly, “It will be fine. Don’t worry, Mom.”

Then she began to locate the acupuncture points on Huo Junli’s legs, following the method taught by the tree demon.

Yao Guizhi couldn’t help but speak again, “Little Yun, are you sure this is going to work? You’ve already inserted two needles and Junli says he feels nothing. Maybe this is a waste of time?”

Lan Yun’er’s eyebrows furrowed. It seemed her mother-in-law didn’t trust her. That was to be expected—after all, she was just a young girl, and this was her first time treating someone. It was hard for others to trust her medical skills.

However, everything is hard at first. Once she treated someone successfully, people would gradually trust her.

She gave a soft smile and reassured Yao Guizhi, “I promise nothing will go wrong. If something does, I’ll give my life for it.”

Those words sounded quite serious.

Yao Guizhi hesitated, but before she could say anything else, Huo Jianzhang, her husband, gave her a glare. “Enough, just be quiet and let us watch. Let’s see how Little Yun treats him first.”

Yao Guizhi fell silent. She really hoped nothing would go wrong, but she was still very worried.

Huo Junli, on the other hand, remained calm. He smiled at Lan Yun’er and said, “Fourth sister-in-law, you can begin.”

In reality, if something went wrong, it might not be a bad thing for him. That way, he wouldn’t have to be a burden to Xiao Tao or the family anymore.

Lan Yun’er nodded, “Alright,” and began with the acupuncture.

The minutes passed, and after several needles were inserted, suddenly Huo Junli groaned in pain. “Hmm, it hurts. It’s a bit painful.”

Everyone in the room rushed over to check on him.

Yao Guizhi immediately reached out to push Lan Yun’er. “Stop, stop, don’t do it anymore. He said it hurts! You have to stop!”

Yao Guizhi was really anxious. She thought something might be wrong.

Lan Yun’er shifted slightly to the side, avoiding Yao Guizhi’s hand. Her expression was cold, and her voice stern as she spoke to Yao Guizhi, “Don’t touch me right now. I still have the needle in my hand. If you touch me, the needle will shift. What if something goes wrong?”

Yao Guizhi was about to speak again, but Huo Jinchen frowned and quickly stopped her. “Mom, please trust Yun’er. She won’t let second brother come to harm. If something happens to second brother, I will give my life in exchange.”

Yao Guizhi was furious at his words. “What nonsense are you saying? If something happens to both you and your second brother, what am I supposed to do?”

“Second brother’s leg hasn’t had any feeling for so long. Now he’s starting to feel pain. That’s a good sign. If you want his legs to recover, he has to regain feeling first!” Lan Yun’er said coldly, then turned back to continue her work, not wanting to talk any more with Yao Guizhi.

Yao Guizhi froze. Was it really a good sign that Junli felt pain?

Huo Jianzhang pulled her aside, glaring at her. “Can you stop causing trouble? If you distract Yun’er and she makes a mistake, who will take responsibility?”

Yao Guizhi fell silent.

Meanwhile, Lan Yun’er continued with her treatment. Several more minutes passed, and when the needle went in again, Huo Junli suddenly cried out, “Hmm, it hurts, it hurts even more now.”

Lan Yun’er smiled. It seemed the tree demon’s methods still worked. She had only learned the steps and the important techniques last night, and today she had already managed to make Huo Junli feel pain in his legs. If the tree demon were here, Huo Junli’s legs would probably be healing very soon.

After another minute, Lan Yun’er took out the needles. “That’s enough for today. We’ll continue tomorrow. You need to combine acupuncture with medicine to heal. I’ll go up the mountain soon to gather the herbs you need.”

Huo Junli smiled warmly at her. “Thank you, fourth sister-in-law.”

“Don’t mention it. We’re family,” Lan Yun’er said as she stood up and walked out.

After she left, Yao Guizhi rushed to her son to ask how he was feeling.

Lan Yun’er went back to her room, drank some water, and then packed a basket to go up the mountain.

Huo Jinchen followed her. “I’ll go up the mountain with you. I’m not at ease with you going alone. Let me come with you.”

If before he had truly been worried about her safety in the mountains, now he didn’t worry at all. After all, she had been in the mountains for so long last night without any problems. This meant she was capable of protecting herself.

But now, he really wanted to follow her up the mountain to see what she was doing there.

Lan Yun’er turned to look at him. “You don’t have to. I’ll be fine on my own. Don’t worry, I’ve been up there many times without any problems. This time will be no different.”

“But Yun’er, you…”

“Don’t you have things to do? Aren’t you going to take care of them?” she interrupted, looking at him deeply.