Zhou Qingmei keeled over without warning, catching Fang Shuwen completely off guard.
He caught her at once and swept his gaze around. Her fight with the black-robed man had carried her well beyond the grounds of the Heart-of-the-Lake Cottage.
So he gathered Zhou Qingmei in his arms and started back toward the cottage.
Only, before leaving, he planted one more kick on the black-robed man’s head.
Back when he used to read novels, he had loathed characters who failed to finish off a fallen enemy. Strike a snake and fail to kill it, and you only suffer for it later; Fang Shuwen had no intention of leaving trouble behind for himself.
The Heart-of-the-Lake Cottage stood on an island in the lake. The island was not large, and the only way off it was a wooden bridge.
He carried Zhou Qingmei inside. It was quiet and secluded there. He found a room, settled her in it, and then began ransacking the cupboards for medicine.
Zhou Qingmei was hurt both inside and out. The internal injuries would have to be healed by using his internal skill to regulate her qi, and as for the external wounds, he had to find medicine quickly, stop the bleeding, and bind them up. Otherwise, even once the internal injuries healed, she would bleed to death.
Fang Shuwen had, after all, spent six or seven years doing odd jobs in a medicine shop. He had never formally studied medicine, but with so much absorbed by sheer exposure, finding something to stop bleeding and regrow flesh was not hard.
He was in luck: the raw herbs for stopping bleeding and regrowing flesh were nowhere to be found, but he did come across ready-made wound salve.
Only, looking at Zhou Qingmei lying on the couch, he found himself in something of a quandary.
He hesitated less than three seconds before starting to untie the jade belt at her waist.
This was a matter of life and death; agonizing over it any further would just be squeamishness. Besides, there were no gawkers here clutching phones, so he needn’t worry about this being posted online for the crowd to tear to pieces.
He applied the wound salve and bandaged her injuries. Then he dressed her again, and only after that helped her up from the couch and had her sit cross-legged.
He himself sat behind Zhou Qingmei, roused the Yijin Jing, and pressed one palm to her back.
The Yijin Jing’s power is profound and wondrous, and carries a healing capacity of its own. Fang Shuwen understood the whole of the method, and its techniques came to his hand readily.
The internal force lodged in Zhou Qingmei seemed a little strange, but the moment it met the Yijin Jing it was like spring snow beneath a blazing sun, gone without a trace in an instant.
After the time it took to burn a stick of incense, he withdrew his inner breath and laid Zhou Qingmei flat to rest. Then he stepped out of the room and sat at the door keeping watch.
That watch lasted the whole night through.
When Zhou Qingmei opened her eyes, the east was already faintly light, and the morning glow spilled through the window into the room. If not for the pain of her wounds reaching her from time to time, it would almost have felt like a moment of perfect peace.
She rose from the bed and let out a stifled groan. She looked at the fine cloth bound around her body and frowned slightly. She glanced around the room, but saw no sign of Fang Shuwen, so she got down from the couch and walked slowly to the door. She pushed it open and there was Fang Shuwen, sitting cross-legged on the ground, apparently cultivating his internal skill.
For a moment Zhou Qingmei did not know whether she should disturb him, and then she heard Fang Shuwen say softly:
“How do you feel?”
Zhou Qingmei circulated her inner breath a little, and a strange light surfaced in her eyes:
“My internal injuries are no longer a problem.
“Was it you who channeled your qi to heal me, and bandaged me up?”
“There’s no third person in this cottage.”
Fang Shuwen rolled to his feet and turned back with a smile:
“Is it the bandaging you mind, Eldest Young Miss, or the healing?”
His manner was a bit thick-skinned, and Zhou Qingmei had always had no patience for that sort of man. But now, somehow, she could not summon any dislike; she pressed her lips together lightly:
“Let’s go.”
“Go where?” Fang Shuwen blinked.
“Home.”
Zhou Qingmei was plainly in a hurry, and pulled Fang Shuwen along with her.
Half dragged along in spite of himself, Fang Shuwen said:
“It’s early yet—can’t we eat something before we set out…”
How could Zhou Qingmei spare a thought for food? She and Fang Shuwen made their way back to Julu City, one behind the other, straight to the Zhou estate.
The great fire of the night before had burned almost the entire Zhou estate to the ground. Now a crowd of onlookers stood all around, pointing and murmuring.
The two of them found an inconspicuous corner and vaulted over the wall into the compound. Corpses lay everywhere within, most of them burned beyond recognition.
Zhou Qingmei’s heart sank steadily at the sight. Then something occurred to her, and she pulled Fang Shuwen in another direction.
When they reached the place, Fang Shuwen recognized it: the Zhou family ancestral hall.
Moving as though she knew every step by heart, Zhou Qingmei opened the hidden door and went down along the passage. But the secret chamber was empty now.
There was only a letter left on the table.
Zhou Qingmei spotted it at once and tore it open in haste; only after reading it to the end did she let out a breath of relief.
“What does it say?”
Fang Shuwen was rather curious.
Zhou Qingmei said:
“This letter was left for me by my father. He tells me that they have left Julu City for the time being, and that because he feared the enemy might find this place, he did not write down where they were going.
“He only tells me not to worry…
“The Zhou family survived last night thanks to your help. The fire could have been put out, but they let the Zhou estate burn on purpose, to throw dust in their enemies’ eyes.”
“Master Zhou truly does leave no loose ends.”
Fang Shuwen leaned against the table and looked at Zhou Qingmei:
“All right, since they’ve all gone, that’s one worry off our minds.
“Now the two of us should have a proper talk about where things stand.
“Same question as yesterday: just whom did you offend?
“Do you have any idea who it might be?”
Zhou Qingmei considered for a moment, then nodded:
“Half a month ago, in Guangning City, I happened to come upon a flower thief abroad at night.
“I saw a man in black come leaping out of a wealthy household with a girl over his shoulder.
“So I struck and snatched the girl away from him. I meant to chase the thief down, but I couldn’t very well leave the girl lying there, so I had to give it up.
“What I never expected was that after that I kept feeling that someone was watching me.
“But whenever I looked closely, there was no trace of anyone.
“After a few days, the feeling went away.
“At the time I was on my way home to visit my family and burning to get there, so I didn’t look into it too deeply.
“But it was just because of that nagging worry that I told no one I was coming back, and stayed alone at the Heart-of-the-Lake Cottage to avoid prying eyes, so as not to bring trouble on my family.
“Now that I think about it, last night was most likely the trouble that was planted that very night.”
“Guangning City…”
At those words, Fang Shuwen felt a little dazed.
He had been far too small when he was born. Even with an adult’s soul inside that body, he could not help being muddled; a small child’s body is weak and simply cannot sustain long hours of awareness—babies, after all, need a great deal of sound sleep.
But even in his ordinary waking hours, he had heard the words “Guangning City” from his parents’ lips. From the way they spoke, it seemed they had lived in that city.
It was only that Guangning City and Julu City were very far apart. A true disciple of a prestigious sect like Zhou Qingmei, traveling by lightness skill, would need a good half month to cover the distance.
At that age, there was no chance Fang Shuwen could have walked so far alone.
Now, hearing those words again from Zhou Qingmei, his feelings were inevitably a little complicated.
Chapter 7