Thousand Dusts Ferry Me - Chapter 8

After Yun Qing left the inn, she didn’t return directly to the thatched cottage. Instead, she lingered on the streets for a while, buying some food, a set of men’s clothes with socks and shoes, and also had two medicinal pills refined at an alchemy room.

Yes, this Immortal-Seeking Town actually had alchemy rooms available for rent to the public.

By the time the sun was leaning westward, she returned with a pile of items.

Everything was peaceful inside the thatched cottage. Fu Xue took the food her senior sister handed over, while mysteriously lowering her voice to say:

“People did pass by the door this morning—three groups. They came and left, but not one of them even glanced into the cottage. Senior sister, I was terrified!”

As she spoke, she unwrapped the food to find a package of lotus seed pastries, a lotus leaf-wrapped chicken, a package of osmanthus lotus root cakes, and a bamboo tube sealed with oiled paper containing honey lotus heart orange tea.

Fu Xue tasted each dessert, her mouth filled with lingering fragrance. Then she opened the bamboo tube, inserted a reed straw, and took a big sip of the tea.

The slight bitterness of the lotus heart balanced the sweetness of the honey, while the orange’s tartness added a refreshing note. The flavors complemented each other perfectly, with distinct layers and rich texture.

Fu Xue couldn’t help but sigh with satisfaction, nodding in approval. “Excellent! They’re all more fragrant and sweet than elsewhere!”

“Indeed, everyone in Immortal-Seeking Town says the lotus flowers from Huayang Mountain are different from other places. Even the desserts made from them taste better. How curious.”

As Yun Qing spoke, she suddenly remembered the statue of Wen Zhongming she had seen in Lanji Palace.

The statue held a lotus flower in its left hand. She wondered if there was any connection—it seemed Huayang Sect had some secrets unknown to the world.

Unable to figure it out, Yun Qing set the matter aside.

She walked over to Jiang Baiyu, crouched down and untied the cloth binding his mouth, saying:

“I know you’re innocent. You’ll have to suffer this inconvenience for a while longer. Rest assured, as long as you don’t try to escape, I promise not to harm you. Once I find my master, you can scold or beat me as you wish.”

With his mouth freed, Jiang Baiyu asked, “Have you found any leads on your master’s whereabouts?”

Yun Qing shook her head silently and took out a porcelain bottle, pouring a vermilion pill from it.

She held the pill before his eyes and asked with a smile, “Will you take it yourself, or must I force you?”

Jiang Baiyu was sensible enough to tilt his head back and open his mouth. She dropped the pill in and watched him swallow it.

Still not trusting him, Yun Qing feared he might be pretending. She pinched his chin, forcing him to open his mouth, looking left and right to confirm he had indeed swallowed the pill.

The woman’s soft fingertips pressed against his chin, her pretty face just inches away, her slightly warm breath repeatedly brushing his face and mouth…

Jiang Baiyu’s face gradually flushed red.

Noticing his heated face, Yun Qing raised an eyebrow and smiled, “The disciples of your sect claim their young master has seen many beauties, but it seems they were just boasting.”

Jiang Baiyu couldn’t explain himself. He had indeed seen many beauties, but being teased like this by a beauty pinching his chin was truly a first.

He cleared his throat and asked, “What did you make me take?”

“Naturally, it’s my exclusive Mother-Child Pill.”

The Mother-Child Pill: the mother can leave the child, but the child cannot leave the mother. If the person who takes the child pill moves away from the person with the mother pill for a period of time, the medicine’s effects will activate—causing madness in mild cases, or death in severe ones.

The Mother-Child Pill wasn’t some secret from the jianghu; many people knew how to refine it. What made it special was that everyone could modify the formula, adding their own unique catalyst to the mother pill.

The key to neutralizing the child pill’s poison lay entirely in this catalyst.

“You cannot move more than a hundred paces away from me,” Yun Qing instructed.

Jiang Baiyu nodded and made a sound of acknowledgement, indicating he understood.

Fu Xue, holding lotus root cake in one hand and tea in the other, came over and asked, “Hey, aren’t you afraid? It’s the Mother-Child Pill!” Bloody incidents caused by the Mother-Child Pill had always been numerous in the jianghu.

“What do I have to fear? If anything happens to me, you two will be the first to panic.”

Yun Qing realized he was right. His sensible attitude reassured her, and she turned to untie the ropes binding his hands.

Jiang Baiyu rubbed his wrists as Yun Qing handed him a set of clothes with socks and shoes, saying, “Change out of those sleeping clothes.”

He thought to himself that though she seemed fierce, she was actually quite considerate, so he accepted the clothes and said, “Thank you.”

Afterward, he held the clothes, and they all stared at each other awkwardly, their eyes gradually filling with confusion.

Fu Xue was the first to break the silence, asking, “Why aren’t you going outside?”

Jiang Baiyu replied in surprise, “Why aren’t you two going outside?”

“Why should we go outside?”

“I need to change clothes.”

“Then go outside to change.”

Was this even reasonable? How could anyone undress in broad daylight outside?

Jiang Baiyu had his principles and couldn’t accept this suggestion. He shook his head and said, “I’ll change inside, you two go out.”

Yun Qing looked at the dilapidated thatched cottage with its five sides exposed to the wind, wondering what made this shabby structure worth fighting over.

Since Fu Xue refused to yield, Yun Qing naturally took her side, saying, “You go outside.”

Jiang Baiyu stood up abruptly but didn’t take a step, “I won’t go out. I’ll change right here. Watch if you want.”

Seeing that neither of them moved, he simply pulled the sash of his sleeping robe, and the smooth fabric immediately opened like a water curtain.

Yun Qing quickly covered Fu Xue’s eyes, though she herself caught a full view of his chest and abdomen. Smooth, firm muscles, delicate and glossy skin…

Stop, stop, stop! Yun Qing pulled Fu Xue up, covering her eyes as they walked outside.

Outside the cottage, Fu Xue shook her head and sighed, “What a dramatic man, tsk.”

Jiang Baiyu, triumphant, occupied the thatched cottage and changed his clothes at a leisurely pace, while calling out to Yun Qing outside, “So you can blush too, huh?”

His voice carried a hint of gleeful revenge.

Yun Qing wasn’t annoyed. She crossed her arms, watching the setting sun paint half the sky red, listening to the sound of Fu Xue sipping orange tea—glug-glug-glug-glug—

Yun Qing: “Jiang Baiyu, I’m quite curious about something.”

“Hmm?”

“When exactly did you wake up?”

Jiang Baiyu’s movements of tying his sash paused momentarily as he answered, “If I told you I was never asleep, would you believe me?”

“Nonsense. If you weren’t asleep, why would you willingly let us tie you up and bring you here?”

He lowered his head, continuing to tie his sash while smiling, “Guess.”