Translated by Novice Translations 

Proofread by Nesryn 

Arc 5: Spring is Coming – 11 

It’s Flat Like a Board Everywhere 

　　It appeared that Xin Tu rolled down from the nearby hillside. The always vigilant A’Da flashed over from guarding Ke Li’s carriage.  

　　 

　　He looked up and examined the surrounding area. There were mountains on all sides. Thus, he couldn’t rule out the possibility of an ambush. He immediately took out his sword, stood beside the carriage, and said, “Master, be careful. I’m afraid there will be an ambush.”  

　　 

　　Ke Li waited for A’Da to check the surrounding area for danger. Once he verified that there was no danger, Ke Li peeped out her head from the carriage and was shocked.  

　　 

　　She saw Xin Tu lying on her back on the ground, completely different from her valiant appearance in the past. Her clothes were ragged with her arms and legs exposed. There were large and small cuts on her face, which seemed to have been caused by the mountain’s shrubbery. She looked so miserable that Ke Li couldn’t bear to look directly at her. However, she began to doubt the reason why she appeared here.  

　　 

　　“A’Da, go have a look.”  

　　 

　　“Yes.” A’Da got out of the carriage and checked Xin Tu’s breath and pulse. He suddenly looked incredulous and looked up at Ke Li.  

　　 

　　Ke Li’s expression changed, and she knew what he meant. Before, her heart was about to jump out of her chest, but now she coldly said: “How is she? Is she really pretending?”  

　　 

　　”…” A’Da didn’t know what Ke Li meant by pretending. He bluntly replied: “Based on her pulse, her muscles and veins are damaged. All her cultivation is gone. Now she suffers from serious injury and trauma. If she isn’t treated, she will become disabled.”  

　　 

　　”…” Ke Li frowned and stared at Xin Tu. Although the plot is different from her original plot, the results were the same. Xin Tu was seriously injured in the original plot, and naturally, she wouldn’t die.  

　　 

　　A’Da saw that Ke Li was silent and asked, “Master, what should I do now? Kill or tie her?”  

　　 

　　”…” Ke Li’s expression was a little sluggish. She didn’t expect A’Da to ask this question. She didn’t have the patience to tie up and torture Xin Tu. She raised her head and said, “It’s annoying to look at. Whether she dies or lives, leave her be.”  

　　 

　　In any case, Xin Tu is the female lead. No matter how bad her situation is, she doesn’t want to save a time bomb and have her near.  

　　 

　　The carriage continued on. 

　　 

　　Ke Li ate the snacks Liu Chun prepared but felt a little lost. Her eyes could only see Xin Tu’s tragic appearance. Somehow, another scene entered her mind, as if she was the one that was injured with her head covered with blood. What she saw was completely miserable. 

　　 

　　Ke Li felt a sudden pain from her head and fought a cold war internally. She immediately heard Liu Chun said: “Master, don’t worry. She’s half-dead. She can’t hurt anyone anymore.”  

　　 

　　Ke Li raised her head and shook it. She wasn’t worried about Xin Tu’s life and death, or whether she would harm others again.  

　　 

　　Liu Chun said in puzzlement: “Does Master feel that she’s pitiful? The demon cult has harmed others and you. This is her due retribution. I wanted to say that Master should have A’Da take care of her just now, so she won’t do evil again in the future.”  

　　 

　　Retribution? Ke Li didn’t want to admit that Xin Tu caused her own downfall.  

　　 

　　Although Liu Chun said this resolutely, there was no boundary between good and evil in this world. It’s just a matter of perspective, but she was still somewhat correct.  

　　 

　　Ke Li looked at the outside scenery through the curtain and recalled that they were deep in the mountain, and there were many wild beasts in the mountains…  

　　 

　　As soon as Ke Li recalled this, a tiger’s roar sounded in her ear, and she trembled. In her mind, she saw Xin Tu’s corpse being torn into countless pieces by a tiger…  

　　 

　　“A’Da, you need to go back. Pick her up and lock her up. Like Liu Chun said, she will cause trouble in the future.” Ke Li finished and wasn’t certain whether her decision was right or wrong.  

　　 

　　When she first came to this world, she regarded Xin Tu as her other half but also regarded herself as the author mother. Now, she has already decided to part ways with Xin Tu and live life fully. However, she still regarded herself as the author mother. She knew Xin Tu’s shortcomings and weaknesses, along with her past and future. She created Xin Tu, so she couldn’t accept Xin Tu dying in front of her.  

　　 

　　A’Da: “…” 

　　 

　　Liu Chun: “…” I meant to kill her directly, okay?  

　　 

　　Doudou also came out to join in the fun: [Cheering on the host. The female lead’s stone heart will be warmed by you.] 

　　 

　　”…” Ke Li coldly explained: “I’m only doing this because even if I don’t save her, someone else will save her. Who made her the female lead.”  

　　 

　　And she wasn’t helping her. She just happens to be picking up people along the way.  

　　 

　　A’Da was ordered to get Xin Tu. Ke Li sat in the carriage and waited. From time to time, she heard several tiger roars. After a while, it became a dying whimper. Then A’Da’s voice sounded, “Master, I brought the person back. Where should I put it?”  

　　 

　　“You can put it anywhere.” Ke Li lifted the curtain and looked at Xin Tu’s injury. Then she looked up at the sky and said, “It will be dark soon. Find a place to rest for the night as soon as possible.”  

　　 

　　A’Da: “Yes.” 

　　 

　　Finally, they arrived at a small town before dark, but Xin Tu was seriously injured, and her life could be extinguished at any moment. Ke Li asked A’Da to take care of her injury so it wouldn’t worsen, and they could continue traveling tomorrow.  

　　 

　　Ke Li didn’t know what kind of relationship she had with Xin Tu. She doesn’t want to see her die with her own eyes, but she also doesn’t want to see her live well. She doesn’t even have any practical resources to save her. Just when she was thinking about saving a life, it really looked like she was torturing people.  

　　 

　　After traveling for half a month, the group finally arrived at their destination. It was still a secluded courtyard. Liu Chun was vocal about her thoughts. From time to time, she complained that Xin Tu was a hindrance. If they didn’t have to worry about her injuries worsening, they would have arrived much earlier.   

　　 

　　At this time, Xin Tu was at death’s door. During this period, she woke up several times but couldn’t open her eyes properly each time. Ke Li was worried that she would die like this, so she always had Dr. Gu stabilize her.  

　　 

　　Dr. Gu is an old man with white hair. He used to be a famous doctor in the Jianghu. Later, he was inadvertently rescued by Ke Chen when he was in trouble, so now he works for Ke Chen.  

　　 

　　“Her internal injuries are fine. It’s her damaged muscles and veins, along with her lost martial arts. If she’s properly healed, she can still be an ordinary person, but she wouldn’t be able to lift her shoulders and hands.” 

　　 

　　”…” Ke Li looked at Xin Tu with a conflicted expression. She didn’t know how she escaped.  

　　 

　　Dr. Gu’s description wasn’t an ordinary person at all, rather a disabled person. Imagine, a martial arts master becoming a disabled person. Who could bear such a gap? Moreover, Xin Tu learned martial arts for revenge, but now she was saved by her “enemy”.  

　　 

　　“By the way, I forgot to mention one thing.” Dr. Gu slowly pinched his white beard. “There’s a wound on her shoulder blade that is infected and rotting. If it’s not removed in time, I’m afraid her life is at risk.”  

　　 

　　“How could that be? How can it be rotting?” Ke Li looked at Liu Chun and said, “Haven’t I ordered you to treat her injuries with medicine?”  

　　 

　　Liu Chun froze for a moment with an unnatural expression. She clenched her palms and sulked: “Master, what you said in the beginning was to pick people up and lock them up. Who knows if she was to be saved later…I have given her medicine regularly, but I just forgot about it for a while…”  

　　 

　　Ke Li’s face became cold instantly. She no longer looked at Liu Chun and said, “Dr. Gu, you must remove the rotting flesh as soon as possible.”  

　　 

　　Otherwise, after a wound is infected, the only way to survive is through amputation. Since the shoulder blade is near the clavicle, if it’s not amputated, there is only death.  

　　 

　　Dr. Gu nodded. It wasn’t known what he thought of, but he shook his head again and said, “It’s better to wait for her to wake up. The wound at her shoulder blade is very deep and the rotten flesh on the bones needs to be removed. If the flesh is being removed while she’s sleeping, wouldn’t she die from the pain? It would hurt this old man’s reputation.”  

　　 

　　Ke Li: “…” When you wake up, wouldn’t you still die from pain?  

　　 

　　There was no anesthetic here. Ke Li just thought about it. This would be more painful than when she was whipped twice, and her face being cut. She wanted Doudou to shield Xin Tu from the pain, but that wasn’t possible.  

　　 

　　The doctor’s words were like an imperial edict. Ke Li could only listen to Dr. Gu’s advice. They decided to wait for Xin Tu to wake up. In the meantime, they slowly remove some of the rotten flesh and regularly use alcohol to treat Xin Tu’s wounds. Fortunately, Ke Li wasn’t distressed. She just wasn’t able to directly look at the purulent wound.   

　　 

　　Two days later, Xin Tu woke for the first time while Ke Li was treating her wound with alcohol.  

　　 

　　Xin Tu recalled all the events of her short life like a lantern flashing in her mind. Her childhood was hard but warm. After she became 12 years old, life seemed to have lost its color. It became dark. The few moments of warmth came from Master, the previous Sect Leader, and senior martial sister Guan Lixian. But fate seemed to be deliberately playing tricks on her. In the end, the imprisoned enemy was ultimately Master’s daughter while senior martial sister imprisoned her because she liked her…  

　　 

　　If life had a taste, Xin Tu definitely felt it would be bitter. But she never gave up. She wanted to live, so she tried her best to walk towards the light in the darkness. As a result, she felt pain when she moved, especially her shoulder blade, which was very hot.  

　　 

　　Xin Tu had never experienced such pain in her life. After the pulsing pain, she felt cold and chilly, like she wasn’t wearing clothes.  

　　 

　　Xin Tu’s eyes moved under her eyelids. It took a lot of effort for her to lift her eyelids, but it was only opened to a small slit. This suited her goal since she wanted to see that person’s face. The expression on that face was attentive and earnest. It moved nonstop up and down in an arc. Moving, as if taking care of her injuries.  

　　 

　　Clothes being taken off? 

　　 

　　Xin Tu had no sense of security without her clothes. She wanted to move but found that she had no strength. She could only open her eyes a little wider until she saw the scar that was an index finger wide on the right side of the face. Her pupils shrunk violently, and her limp right hand was suddenly filled with strength…  

　　 

　　Originally, Liu Chun was taking care of Xin Tu. As a result, that little girl Liu Chun always remembered that Xin Tu captured Ke Li and tortured her. And thus, concluded that she wasn’t important to start with, so Ke Li had to do this personally.  

　　 

　　This was the second day that she started to take care of Xin Tu. She already familiarized herself with taking off her clothes and disinfecting her wounds with alcohol. However, she was always frightened by Xin Tu’s injuries every time.  

　　 

　　The shoulder blade is also called the pipa bone. In the past, Ke Li often saw scenes of pipa bones being pierced on TV shows. Now that she personally witnessed the wounds on Xin Tu’s shoulder blade with her own eyes, she felt that those previous scenes were mere child’s play.[mfn]So, if you look up pipa bone you will see a lute. But it isn’t a lute. In this case, it’s a very specific part of the human body.[/mfn]  

　　 

　　Xin Tu’s wound was very deep. Although it doesn’t look like it was pierced, the bones could still be vaguely seen from the wound. The meat around the wound was rotted, and there was the smell of rotten flesh. This alone made people shudder. Thus, Ke Li was careful every time she took care of Xin Tu. Thus, her eyes didn’t have time to admire the beautiful scenery below the wound.  

　　 

　　She followed Dr. Gu’s words. In addition to disinfection, she removed the fallen rotten flesh. However, she wasn’t able to clean it today before a palm suddenly flashed towards her face. Fortunately, Xin Tu was very sick and weak.   

　　 

　　Ke Li was prepared for the moment when Xin Tu woke up every time she came to take care of her. So, she easily grasped Xin Tu’s right hand and restrained her.  

　　 

　　“How do you feel? Do you still have the strength for revenge?” Ke Li held Xin Tu’s thin bony wrist and said with a very aggressive tone.  

　　 

　　She felt like she was a vicious supporting female lead who gloated over other’s misfortune while Xin Tu is the tragic female lead in those tragic romance scenes.  

　　 

　　Xin Tu knew the moment her hand was caught that she had no internal strength and even her current strength was pitiful.  

　　 

　　She opened her mouth and tried to speak but found that her throat burned like fire. There was a bloody smell coming from her throat whenever she moved it. But she still glared at Ke Li and said in a hoarse voice: “Let…go!”  

　　 

　　Her voice was very low, very hoarse, like a kitten’s whimper.  

　　 

　　Ke Li shrugged to show that she wasn’t afraid at all. Instead, she thought it was amusing and released Xin Tu’s hand obediently. Then she looked at her rotting wound and opened… her shirt.  

　　 

　　Due to the injury, Xin Tu hasn’t been wearing layers of clothes these past few days. There was only a white innermost layer, and now that lining was wide open, but Ke Li’s eyes were locked on that spot.  

　　 

　　A sense of humiliation emerged spontaneously, Xin Tu gritted her teeth and stared at Ke Li. After being held hostage by Guan Lixian, she vowed that she would never be controlled by others from now on. But presently, Ke Li looked at her like meat on a cutting board. She wished she could dig out Ke Li’s eyes at that moment.  

　　 

　　If eyes could kill, Ke Li would definitely be dead.  

　　 

　　But she didn’t feel it, instead she said with her lips curled: “Take a good look at yourself now. You don’t have any good meat on your body, instead, there is a lot of rotting flesh. Your good figure has long been ruined by you. It’s flat like a board everywhere. I’m looking at it now and…even if I touched it, it would be repulsive.”  

　　 

　　After Ke Li finished speaking, she heard the sound of Xin Tu grinding her teeth hatefully. It’s a pity that now she was the knife while Xin Tu was the fish on the cutting board. She could do whatever she wanted while Xin Tu could only stare at her.  

　　 

　　Ke Li’s tone became cold: “I think you can still use your voice. Why don’t you try to cry out in pleasure? I’ll listen.”  

　　 

　　”…” Xin Tu strongly wished to burn Ke Li to death on the spot. Cry out in pleasure, die!   

---

Author’s Notes: 

This world is quite special, as how it’s special… 

Let’s change the subject tactfully ●v● 

Let’s talk about my brother and sister-in-law’s daily life:  

My brother: Wife, please refill my bowl of rice 

My sister-in-law: Brother, would you also like more soup? 

The single me: MMP, please give back my sister-in-law (joking)[mfn]MMP is a curse word.[/mfn]