Qiu Yutong blinked dumbly, and for a moment was unable to react, but remained on top of Lu Xiao, with their lips pressed together.
Lu Xiao looked at him in a daze, with a look as if he was dreaming.
Qiu Yutong snapped back to his senses, his mind went blank, and then blushing profusely, hurriedly tried to get up, but the floor of the cave was too slippery, causing him to slip three times, still unable to get up. Lu Xiao said in a hoarse voice, “Don’t go!”, and then with a violent tug, dragged him back and kissed him fiercely!
“……” Qiu Yutong was kissed so hard that he couldn’t even breathe. He flailed, trying to dodge but was held by the back of his head, so was unable to escape.
Like he was still not satisfied, Lu Xiao abruptly turned over and pinned him firmly. One long hand like an iron band, locked both of Qiu Yutong’s wrists above his head, while the other hand clasped the back of his head, and plundered the little air left in his lungs like crazy… This gesture mirrored a beast that was dying of thirst that had finally found a sweet source of life…
What was going on? What was this kid doing all of a sudden? Qiu Yutong’s mind was blank, so confused that he forgot to resist… when suddenly with a jolt, he came to his senses and pushed him away!
Lu Xiao gave a muffled grunt then collapsed limply.
This… this unfilial disciple! Qiu Yutong glared at him, gasping in shock, then suddenly realizing something, shuddered and raised his hand to look. His hand was covered with bright red and sticky blood – just now, he had just pushed and refused Lu Xiao, pressing right into the wound on his chest.
Panicking, he jumped up, “Xiao’er!”
Xu Dongqing, who was frozen next to him, finally came back to his senses and rushed over to carefully feel Lu Xiao’s pulse, “He should be fine, just a little feverish. The book says it’s normal to have a fever after an injury.”
“…” Qiu Yutong let out a long breath of relief, then almost regretted it. Lu Xiao had obviously been unconscious, so what was wrong with letting him kiss him once or twice? It wasn’t as if it would tear his flesh out. How could he have been so rough… Even if he wanted to push him away, he should have been a little bit gentler.
Xu Dongqing coughed lightly in an awkward manner, “Uh, your clothes.”
Realizing something, Qiu Yutong hurriedly looked down and saw that his front lapel was in disarray. He pulled the lapel closed with embarrassment and straightened his hair, but was suddenly a little worried, “That, he doesn’t seem too sober, there’s no problem, right?”
Xu Dongqing mused, “Mhmm, I remember that it is written that hallucinations are common when one is feverish. The way he looked just now, he was obviously hallucinating and didn’t know what he was doing… You don’t have to worry too much, it should be fine.”
“Oh, it’s like that,” Qiu Yutong was slightly relieved.
He thought about it, then standing up again, went out of the cave to pluck a large bunch of grass and carried it into the cave. Piling it up in a heap, he beckoned, “Second Master, come and sleep on this side of the heap. It’s a little warmer.”
He called out to Xu Dongqing while trying to carry Lu Xiao to the straw.
Xu Dongqing walked over, touched the grass, and suddenly hissed softly, “It hurts! What is this, grass?”
“Just the grass outside the cave…” Qiu Yutong froze and gently put Lu Xiao down. “What’s wrong?”
Xu Dongqing picked up a piece of thatch and looked at it carefully by the moonlight at the entrance of the cave, “The edge of this grass is too sharp, it cuts a little. Hey, by the way, is your hand okay?”
Qiu Yutong felt something and hurriedly looked down, only to see that his tender hands had been cut, with many tiny cuts on the palms of his hands, but he was so distracted that he didn’t notice.
Xu Dongqing sighed lightly and took out an ointment to dress his wounds, “Have you not been out much?”
Qiu Yutong’s eyes were downcast as he watched him administer the medicine. Suddenly, he felt a sourness in his heart, “It’s not that. I’ve been to many places, but it’s just that at that time…”
Back then, taking little Lu Xiao with him, the two of them wandered and strayed in the human realm for many years. Later, Lu Xiao grew up a little and had to go to the border to prepare for military service and he also followed. They stayed for several months… it was just that back then, all the trivial things were done by Lu Xiao. Lu Xiao took care of it all, without him having to worry about it anything; even during the most difficult times, Lu Xiao didn’t even let him suffer, so how could he sort through the messy pile of grass?
All these years, he didn’t even realize how unqualified a teacher he was… while he kept feeling smug that he had taught a good disciple.
Xu Dongqing said softly, “Young Master Tong?”
Qiu Yutong looked up, “What did you say….”
He paused slightly, then suddenly remembered that he and Lu Xiao had always called themselves “Tong Yuqiu” and “Xiao Lu” when they went out and now in this situation, it wouldn’t be very good to continue deceiving Xu Dongqing. However, he couldn’t tell him. After all, his and Lu Xiao’s identities were very sensitive.
Qiu Yutong thought for a moment, and said vaguely, “Second Master, my surname is not Tong, but Qiu. You can call me Ah Qiu. As for him, you can call him… Ah Xiao.”
“Oh, it’s like this. Of course, you are the son of Qiu Yutong so naturally, your surname is Qiu. By the way, you can call me Dongqing. As for the title Second Master…” Xu Dongqing paused, his voice lowering to a whisper, “There is no more Medicine Monarch Manor in this world, so naturally there is no Second Master.”
The expression on his face was very down and Qiu Yutong didn’t know what to say, so he nodded, “Hmm, then I’ll call you Dongqing.”
Xu Dongqing was silent for a moment and then said, “By the way, are you master and disciple? I always thought you were friends, but today I heard him call you Shizun?”
“Yes, we are master and disciple. We came out… for training.”
The two of them chatted about all sorts of things for a while but exhausted, Xu Dongqing unconsciously fell asleep against the wall of the cave.
Qiu Yutong looked at the pile of grass and after pondering for a moment, pulled some banana leaves from outside the cave, carefully laid them on the pile, then gently carried the sleeping Lu Xiao up onto it and put him in a comfortable position. Then, he took off his outer robe and covered him with it.
Having done this, Qiu Yutong was already very tired but still managed to walk out of the cave to pick some fruits from the nearby forest under the light of the moon. In this way, if Lu Xiao woke up tomorrow morning, and felt thirsty or hungry, there would be fruit to quench his thirst.
When he returned to the cave, Lu Xiao and Xu Dongqing were already asleep, breathing quietly and deeply. Qiu Yutong tiptoed and put the fruit next to the grass pile and gently put his hand beneath Lu Xiao’s nose. The faint warmth of his fingertips calmed his heart a little.
When Qiu Yutong finally lay down on the straw, he was almost exhausted, but he didn’t dare to sleep, fighting against his drooping eyelids and trying to keep his ears open for the night.
But he was too tired, and before he knew it, he was in a daze… It wasn’t known how long it took, but he could hear a low mumble, “Shizun, it’s so hot …… “
Qiu Yutong jerked with a jolt, suddenly waking up. He turned over hurriedly to look at Lu Xiao, “Xiao’er, you’re awake?”
Lu Xiao’s eyes were tightly closed, his cheeks were flushed, and his forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat, obviously still unconscious. He looked very restless and his thin lips moved as he whispered “Shizun”, and then muttered, “I feel bad”.
Anxious, Qiu Yutong reached out to touch his forehead and his heart trembled slightly; he was too hot.
That’s right, Xu Dongqing had said, that the medicine of Bear Gall Red Sage Pill was very strong, and Lu Xiao was already running a fever. With this strong medicine in his system… he had to cool Lu Xiao down.
After a moment’s hesitation and a furtive glance at the sleeping Xu Dongqing, Qiu Yutong ripped open his sash and embraced his burning young apprentice from behind. This body had always been hypothermic, so it was fine to use it to cool Lu Xiao down. Everything would be alright as long as he let go before Lu Xiao woke up.
Even after his serious injury, Lu Xiao’s shoulders and back still looked strong and sturdy. Although he was a completely different person from the sickly cat-like child of the past, at this moment, in Qiu Yutong’s mind, his little apprentice was no different from then. He was still a child in need of protection.
……
“Chirp, chirp, chirp,” birds in the forests were always early risers.
Qiu Yutong rolled over dizzily and raised his hands to cover his ears, trying to avoid the annoying bird calls, but the calls were still very loud.
He opened his eyes reluctantly after a low “ugh…” sound and met Lu Xiao’s almost frightened dark eyes.
Qiu Yutong froze for a moment then turned over and sat up, pulling back his disheveled lapels. Coughing, his mind worked overtime quickly. How should he explain this? Although this boy didn’t like people being close to him, yesterday was an emergency and Lu Xiao always knew how to prioritize, so he shouldn’t have too much of a reaction…
Lu Xiao looked much more energetic than last night, but his face was getting paler and his eyes were fixed on the corners of Qiu Yutong’s mouth, his thin lips trembling lightly.
Even if he didn’t like people being close to him, this was too much of a reaction, right? Did the fever burn him silly? Qiu Yutong was puzzled and was about to touch his forehead when Lu Xiao opened his mouth with great difficulty, ” Last night, I was… I, I…”
Qiu Yutong followed his gaze and touched the corner of his mouth which had been chewed to pieces and then understood it. He couldn’t help but be a little embarrassed. Lu Xiao’s eyes slowly moved to his wrist, which was covered with bruises and fingerprints and his face turned even more ugly.
They were both speechless, Qiu Yutong was both embarrassed and helpless. He had also had no choice. Who asked Lu Xiao to not want to take the medicine? And he also nibbled on his lips like this. This was also a loss, right?
“This teacher had no choice, who asked you to refuse to take the medicine? Besides, you fed me the same way before so why are you so surprised?” He paused and pursed the corners of his torn lips. “As for what happened yesterday, you were so feverish and confused that you probably didn’t know what you were doing. On account of you being a patient, I won’t fuss over it with you.”
The implication was that they should cancel each other out and no one should blame the other anymore.
Lu Xiao was dazed for a moment then finally understood the meaning of his words and closed his eyes. He gently let out a long breath with a vague look of disappointment.
Qiu Yutong was puzzled when Lu Xiao suddenly said softly. ” So that’s how it is. But when I fed Shizun the medicine the same way before, Shizun said… it was disgusting.”
Qiu Yutong look at his aggrieved expression and simply didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. At that time he had just that casually, but this kid had actually been holding a grudge till now! Too petty!
Qiu Yutong wanted to scold Lu Xiao, but looking at his pale appearance, couldn’t do it in the end. Holding back, he tried to remind himself, “He is sick, he is sick, don’t be petty with a sick person…
After repeating this for a long time, he finally changed the subject in a pleasant manner, “I see that you are better. Do you want to eat some fruit?”
“Fruit?” Lu Xiao was confused.
“Eh…. what fruit?” Xu Dongqing muttered lowly, also waking up.
Qiu Yutong stood up and brought over the pile of fruits he had picked last night. Slightly pleased with himself, he said, “I picked all these fruits last night.”
“…” Xu Dongqing was silent as he stared at the pile of strange green and flowery fruits.
Lu Xiao looked at the pile of fruits expressionlessly, and after a moment, he looked up at Qiu Yutong.
Qiu Yutong looked at him expectantly, “Xiao’er, you pick first.”
“…So many, it’s really hard to choose.”
“It’s okay, you can pick whatever you want and eat as much as you want. If you don’t have enough, I’ll go pick more!”
“Uh, it’s enough.” The corners of Lu Xiao’s mouth tilted dryly and he hesitated for a long time before he picked a relatively normal-looking purple fruit. Gritting his teeth with great difficulty, he tried to put it into his mouth.
Xu Dongqing grabbed his wrist quickly, “Are you crazy? At first glance, you can see that these… fruits are poisonous!”
“How is that possible?” Qiu Yutong was slightly stunned, then picked up a green fruit and tried to take a bite.
Lu Xiao snatched away the fruit, faster than when he killed by throwing his sword yesterday, “Don’t eat it!”
Qiu Yutong blinked, then suddenly understood something.
Damn, it was really poisonous.
Xu Dongqing wanted to laugh when he saw this, “Such a big fruit with green flowers is so eyecatching, yet there is not even half a worm hole in it… You can easily tell that it’s poisonous!”
“…” Qiu Yutong stared at the pile of brightly-colored and oddly-shaped fruits and was speechless.
Lu Xiao suddenly interjected, “This fruit is called caterpillar fruit and it comes in all colors. Although it does have a little poison, it can be eaten. It’s not as serious as you say it is.”
“Because there is only a little poison you want to eat it?” Xu Dongqing looked at Lu Xiao with disbelief, ” I always thought you were particularly smart, especially calm and reliable, how come…”
Qiu Yutong silently picked up the pile of fruits and threw them to the entrance of the cave.
Inside the cave, there was silence, the atmosphere very awkward. Finally, it was Xu Dongqing who took a little bit of spiritual food out of Luo Wuyou’s Qiankun bag and got something for the three of them to be able to barely fill their stomachs.
Qiu Yutong felt that he had lost face so became even less talkative. After he finished eating, he sat silently on the side.
Closing his eyes, he did his best to guide the meager spiritual energy in his body to slowly run through the eight Qi meridians for three full days, and then into the dantian in small strands… It was unknown how long it took, but he finally sighed and slowly opened his eyes, his whole body feeling extremely relaxed and refreshed.
Lu Xiao’s dark eyes stared blankly at him, his eyelashes trembling lightly and his lips moving as if he wanted to say something.
Qiu Yutong raised his eyebrows, “What’s wrong?”
Lu Xiao was silent for a moment before he said roughly, “Shizun, how is your cultivation going?”
Qiu Yutong blinked, “Not bad. I washed my marrow at the Medicine Monarch Manor, so the speed of absorbing the spiritual energy is much faster and my spiritual veins are much smoother. Right, are you still a bit confused? Yesterday at the temple, you kept talking nonsense and asked me to pluck out your heart, and wash your marrow again or something.”
“I… was really confused,” Lu Xiao whispered.
“What are you guys talking about?” Xu Dongqing said curiously while looking through Luo Wuyou’s Qiankun bag.
Qiu Yutong laughed and said, “Xiao-er is worried that the marrow cleansing medicine is not effective.”
The book says, that if you have already washed the marrow, then you can be done in three days. I heard that my brother gave you seven days of cleansing, added some extra heart blood, and then soaked you in a three-day tonic bath, so you should be fine.”
Qiu Yutong thought to himself that the first seven days were for expelling the parasites and the last three days were for cleansing the marrow. It seems that the Great Doctor Xu was really a man of faith. After promising him, he even hid it from his brother.
“I see.” Lu Xiao gently pursed his lips and looked relieved at last, but with a vague expression of loss.
Xu Dongqing fiddled with Luo Wuyou’s Qiankun bag when he suddenly exclaimed, “Huh, what is this?”
“What is it?” Qiu Yutong looked up. Lu Xiao also looked over.
Looking a little puzzled, Xu Dongqing handed over the object in his hand, “Look.”
In his hand were three thumb-sized pale green jade tokens, with two words, ‘Blood Prison’ curved in small crimson seal script.
