Chapter 23

◎”…Don’t go.”◎

After confirming that Jing Shuxing had fainted, Chi Lu continued to pour spiritual power into his forehead, guiding him into a deep sleep.

Her idea was simple, first knock Jing Shuxing out to spare him from this heart-wrenching pain, then transport him back to the Linghua Sect and have Ying Lianyi take a look at him.

Chi Lu didn’t want Jing Shuxing’s trust. She had been deceiving him all along, and even if she gained his trust, she would inevitably let him down.

She only wanted Jing Shuxing’s life. He couldn’t die. He had to live until the plot point where he suffered humiliation and turned dark.

As for how to transport him back to the palace, she, a cultivator at the Golden Core Stage, couldn’t possibly be unable to move a person, could she?

Chi Lu confidently pulled Jing Shuxing’s hand over to her neck, preparing to carry him on her back.

She was immediately annoyed to find that she had underestimated Jing Shuxing’s height. The young man looked like a withered and extremely haggard figure, appearing weak and unable to withstand the wind, yet he was much taller than her. Chi Lu’s feet were sore from tiptoeing, but she still couldn’t lift him off the ground.

Chi Lu grumbled and put Jing Shuxing down. After stretching her muscles and bones, she measured Jing Shuxing up and down, deciding to change her posture.

She put one arm around Jing Shuxing’s shoulder and the other around his thigh, and lifted him up at the waist.

Jing Shuxing was deeply asleep, his scattered ink-black hair hanging down on Chi Lu’s chest. He didn’t struggle, and it seemed that hearing the solid heartbeat, a smile of reassurance spread across his lips.

Chi Lu adjusted her posture several times in succession. It was only when she could hold Jing Shuxing on one side and move freely on the other that she left the courtyard with satisfaction, heading towards the palace of the Linghua Sect.

She chanted the spiritual mantra, and moved swiftly with spiritual power surrounding her. It was hard for others to notice, so she had a smooth journey all the way.

It wasn’t until she reached the place where she encountered Jing Luoyun that Chi Lu’s pace slowed slightly.

She saw Jing Luoyun still lying there, with a maid gently shaking his body, trying to wake Jing Luoyun up.

Chi Lu had seen that maid before. She was the one who had taken her and Ying Lianyi to find Jing Yi in the past.

She gently woke Jing Luoyun up and leaned down to say something to him.

Jing Luoyun, like a withered tree that had long been thirsty and was now drenched in sweet rain, suddenly reached out and pulled the maid into his arms, and held her tightly. He pressed his head against the maid’s ear, their temples rubbing against each other.

The maid did not panic like Jing Shuxing, even half resisting and half complying, looking quite enjoyable.

Chi Lu couldn’t help but stop in her tracks and watch from a distance. As she watched, she frowned slightly, not understanding why a simple hug, Jing Luoyun’s behavior, and her own, could be so different.

She had never encountered such a scene in the Linghua Sect. The young and handsome man and woman were embracing not far away, their fingers intertwined, and their deep affection and dependence accompanied by physical touch were plainly displayed before her eyes.

The ‘fluttering’ sound of birds flapping their wings in the sky, the ‘plop’ sound of green frogs jumping into the clear pond, and the faint, thread-like breathing sound of the person in her arms, suddenly swirl around her heart, intertwining and weaving together, clear and audible. Her chest was like a drum beating, her heart pounding powerfully, again and again, with a thumping sound.

Chi Lu’s heart was inexplicably filled with panic. She turned her head away and no longer observed the two of them, and she quickened her pace to return to the palace.

“Great Elder, where are you?” Worried about Jing Shuxing suddenly waking up, Chi Lu changed her address for Ying Lianyi. When she found her, she desperately gestured to her, hoping she would understand the current situation.

Ying Lianyi was sitting on a red lacquered chair in the main hall, her eyes deep, looking troubled.

She wanted to say something urgently, but when she saw Chi Lu carrying a man in her arms, her eyes and mouth opened wide in an instant.

“You, you, you…” Ying Lianyi reached out and lightly touched Chi Lu’s forehead, unable to say a word for a long time.

Even if she had been thinking about the first young master of Fengyue City day and night, she shouldn’t have directly snatched him. What’s the difference between this and pulling up seedlings to help them grow?

Chi Lu’s face was full of worry: “Great Elder, please take a look at him quickly. We were just talking, and he suddenly said he was in pain, and then he fainted.”

Ying Lianyi breathed a sigh of relief. So that’s how it was. It wasn’t a case of kidnapping a civilian man. Otherwise, she would have to go to the acting sect leader to file a complaint against Chi Lu.

Who would have thought that the Young sect leader, on his first trip away from home, would throw away all sense of propriety, righteousness, integrity, and honor?

Thinking of Jing Shuxing’s injuries and illnesses, Ying Lianyi decided that saving him was the most important thing, so she squatted down to examine him.

“How strange…” she murmured to herself.

Chi Lu’s heart suddenly rose to her throat, “What happened to him?” He must not die.

“It’s not what you think.” Ying Lianyi gave Chi Lu a glance, “There’s nothing wrong with him.”

“I’ve been using top-grade spiritual medicine to prepare a bath for him. Even if his spiritual platform can’t be healed right now, at least his chaotic spiritual power has been stabilized. He should be much more relaxed now.”

“Perhaps, he thinks you have abundant cultivation resources, wants to pretend to be sick to gain sympathy, and take advantage of your magical tools and spiritual medicine.” Ying Lianyi was afraid that the Young sect leader was too naive and would fall into a trap, so she kindly reminded him.

Although the first young master of Fengyue City has an excellent reputation outside, it’s better to believe that there is something than to believe that there isn’t. If they hadn’t come to Fengyue City themselves, how would they know that the seemingly magnificent city tower is actually a pile of rotten cotton?

“No.”

Chi Lu shook her head firmly, rebutting Ying Lianyi, “He really is in a lot of pain. If the Great Elder doesn’t believe him, does that mean you don’t believe me either?”

Ying Lianyi gritted her teeth, “If you believe him, that’s fine. Since I can’t see any problems, you should take him back, so as not to be discovered by the people of Fengyue City… What are you doing?”

Chi Lu didn’t wait for Ying Lianyi to finish speaking and got up to carry Jing Shuxing into the room.

“He’s already been handed over to the Linghua Sect, what difference does it make if it’s a step earlier or later?” Chi Lu looked back and gave Ying Lianyi a smile.

As she spoke, she shook her arm, “I’ve been carrying him all the way here, my hands are about to go numb.”

Ying Lianyi was dumbfounded, watching in astonishment as Chi Lu carried Jing Shuxing into the inner room. It took her a while to come back to her senses.

Wait,

What word did the Young sect leader just use?

“Carry”?

“Settle him down and come out quickly.” Ying Lianyi shouted down the corridor, “I have something important to tell you.”

Chi Lu turned her face and nodded firmly at Ying Lianyi, her heart suddenly chilled.

Ying Lianyi rarely used such an urgent tone. She was so anxious that she must have really encountered a problem that she couldn’t solve.

With a measure in her heart, she quickened her pace, randomly picked an empty bedroom, and put Jing Shuxing down.

The young man’s eyes were closed heavily, his clothes had long since dried, and his skin was stained with deep red. That was the bloodstain left when he couldn’t control his self-harm during the outbreak of the curse mark formation.

A cold light spread over his body, opening up a piece of loneliness.

Chi Lu stood by the window, raising her fingers to cast a cleansing spell. When she was about to complete the final gesture of the spell, a look of hesitation appeared on her face.

Jing Shuxing had said that he was extremely sensitive to touch. She didn’t know if he would be able to feel the spell she was casting on him.

After hesitating for a moment, she put her hand down. She was mindful of Ying Lianyi’s words and turned around to go out and discuss with her.

Before she could take a step, there was a sudden pull from behind. The crescent-shaped hem of her skirt was grabbed by someone, and the fan-like surface that was spread up was like a half-moon shining brightly.

At some unknown point, perhaps before she held him in her arms, the unconscious young man had tightly grasped the hem of her skirt and had not let go all the way.

He was still trapped in a deep nightmare, unable to wake up. It seemed that he felt the object in his hand was about to slip away, and he murmured a sentence in his sleep.

“…Don’t go.”