Xu Qiao didn't want to worry about vengeance and hatred at all, and the murder nightmare had vanished from her mind. Now she was feeling a sense of freedom she had never experienced before, especially when she had Hua Jinshui by her side.
Xu Qiao had four older sisters, all of whom loved and pampered her more than her mother and father, but she had always felt the lacked an older brother. Jinshui's presence made up for this lack. Arguably, Xu Qiao wanted nothing more than the hope that the freedom she had now was forever.
That morning they had already left Haitang Jian Pai far away, passing through a small, bustling village, then arriving at a hilly area where the natural scenery was magnificent. The valley in the distance was very green, the flow of the river was like a painting, and the horizon gave a very beautiful color. The twilight air was so peaceful, Xu Qiao was full of vigor, chasing Jinshui over the hills that were beginning to be shrouded in a light mist.
Jinshui had already shaved and cleaned his face, replaced his clothes with new ones, and revealed a bit of his true form. He was still not free of the traces of the poison from the other day, but Xu Qiao could already see that he was actually still very young, just a teenage young man, very authoritative, and seemed to be able to influence others with the look in his eyes. If only he hadn't been poisoned and locked up for eight months in an underground cave, then it was certain that Jinshui was a young man capable of conquering the hearts of all girls.
Of course, Xu Qiao was still too young to understand the feelings. She considered Jinshui as a friend, maybe even a big brother. And her simple mind really liked this one companion so much she wanted to always be with him.
That night they found a small village of only a few huts, with perhaps a dozen residents, all peasants. Since there were no inns, they asked permission to stay at a house at the far end. The owners, a pair of myopic grandparents, sensed something odd about Jinshui's appearance but couldn't see clearly so they let the young man and the little girl with him stay in a hut at the back of the house where firewood was usually stored, and even delivered two bowls of rice and some dishes to them.
The food of these villagers was better to Jinshui than the bland rice and side dishes he had received during his eight months in Haitang Jian Pai. He ate heartily, while Xu Qiao only ate a little. Jinshui saw that Xu Qiao's face was a little pale, then examined her. The zixie poison in this little girl's body had been restrained by the zhaobai poison. Presumably, a battle between the two poisons had started, making Xu Qiao feel unwell. Jinshui worried Xu Qiao's body was unable to take these two poisons, and the consequences are unimaginable.
"Sit down," Jinshui said then, "I will try to use Moying's inner energy to overcome the poison."
Xu Qiao complied. Jinshui took her hand, flowing warm air through her veins, slowly making the malaise in her body lessen. Jinshui had already received Moying's decades of training in internal energy. This internal energy was so powerful that even during the eight months of confinement in Haitang Jian Pai, Jinshui had practiced it, he could restrain it when he didn't want to show it, and could use it when he wanted to.
He was about to use his inner energy to force out the two types of poison, but he couldn't do it. His grip slipped, like an electric shock. Xu Qiao quickly withdrew her own hand, presumably feeling the same way. Luckily, Jinshui was careful enough that neither of them suffered any internal injuries.
"Jinshui Gege, what happened?" asked the girl.
"It's alright," Jinshui felt his headache like it had been hit by a hard object. "Stay calm, I'll try again."
He didn't dare try to expel the poison again, worried that Xu Qiao would get hurt. For the time being, he could only provide additional energy to her to resist the effect of the poison. An hour later, Xu Qiao felt the pain in her body lessen. The two kinds of poison were no longer fighting. She began to feel drowsy, finally collapsing on Jinshui's lap.
Jinshui touched her forehead, checking her pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief. This little girl's life will not be in danger for the next few hours, nor will she be in pain. Yet he must quickly find a way to get rid of the two kinds of poison for good. He tried to recall the instructions in the wuqing xue he had memorized or the instructions Moying had given him for removing the poison.
"The highest level of wuqing xue mastered by our eight supreme guardians is mine, which is the seventh level. I can get rid of small poisons such as ordinary snake bites, or bone-weakening drugs and the like, but rather helpless when it comes to the poisons created by the people of Wansui Gu," Jinshui recalled Moying's words. "Wansui Gu is a gathering place for poison experts. The poisons they created are special, certainly can't be dispelled carelessly using inner energy of any sect."
Unfortunately, what was now on Xu Qiao's body were Wansui Gu's two greatest poisons. Jinshui thought, is it necessary to break into Wansui Gu in order to get the antidote? But with his current abilities, he knew it would only lead to wasted lives. It might be necessary to kidnap Zhou Sangong's daughter in exchange for the antidote. The important thing was to save Xu Qiao, he could deal with the rest later.
No way, he told himself, he had the responsibility to resurrect Yumen in the future. He can't die, not for a little girl, the daughter of Huofeng Lou's owner.
He gathered strength in his palm, then raised it. "In a few days, you will be in pain again, much more than now. By then, no one will be able to help you," he said softly. His intention was to spare Xu Qiao from greater pain. With a single blow of his hand, Xu Qiao would die and everything would be over.
But he did not take further action. His heart ached. He was unable to finish off this little girl's life for whatever reason. Not because she was from a conservative family who might become enemies in the future. Nor was it for the sake of relieving her suffering from both zixie and zhaobai poisons.
Then he recalled Moying's other words, "Previous Yumen leaders were able to master wuqing xue up to the eighth level. This eighth level is said to have a completely different nature compared to the previous levels. Its power is multiplied. When mastering this level, one would be able to exterminate all kinds of poisons, treat all kinds of internal wounds, and even revive people who had taken their last breath."
Jinshui sighed. The wuqing xue he had mastered was only level three, to master level eight was a long way off, and it could take decades like Moying. A person who had been exposed to the poison of zixie and zhaobai surely would not be able to wait that long. Additionally, nowadays there were no Yumen leaders alive who had mastered the eighth level of wuqing xue.
That night he fell into deep thought, trying to find a way to save Xu Qiao. In the end, he had to admit that he was helpless. Forced to go through one day at a time, while he could still be with this young girl, he would be with her. If he couldn't save her in time, he would have to kill her to stop her suffering. He told himself, he must prepare for the worst, he must not be faint-hearted.
He only fell asleep when midnight was far past and only woke up when Xu Qiao pulled his hand. Sunlight was faintly filtering through the gaps in the walls and thatched roof. In the light he could clearly see that Xu Qiao's cheeks were flushed, she was not sick nor pale at the moment. She was alive and Jinshui deeply regretted the night he almost harmed this little girl and took her life.
"Jinshui Gege, let's go," Xu Qiao said cheerfully. Her smile was irresistible, her voice sounding melodious, making Jinshui stare at her almost without blinking.
"Where to?" he asked subconsciously.
"Didn't you say that as long as you can leave the detention room in Haitang Jian Pai, you will buy out the menu of one restaurant, and order up to ten jars of wine at once? It's morning, I'm fine too, we can go to the nearest town and find the biggest restaurant there."
Her words left Jinshui completely speechless. He had indeed said such a thing because he was bored after every day for months only being fed bland vegetable rice and water. It was unexpected that Xu Qiao still remembered the words. With such simple attention, he immediately felt a touch in his heart. He quickly pulled Xu Qiao into his arms, partly so that the young girl wouldn't see his tears falling.
"I will definitely find a way to cure you," he said slowly. "I won't let those two poisons bother you. Never."
"Aren't I fine," Xu Qiao replied with a laugh. "I'm so hungry already, can we go now?"
"I can, of course, I can," Jinshui quickly brushed away his tears.
They left the small village, heading straight for the nearest town. The old couple who owned the house provided them with a variety of pastries, and Xu Qiao left some silver money for them.
Having just left the small village, Jinshui suddenly pulled Xu Qiao up into a tree and hid there. Xu Qiao looked at him to ask, but Jinshui didn't need to give an explanation. Not long after, the sound of several people's footsteps could be heard. Five women in white appeared on the path, their weapons at the ready. Jinshui recognized their leader as Yunhe, one of Haitang Jian Pai's main disciples. Those with her were no doubt her younger sisters.
"Where is that prisoner?" one woman was heard asking.
"This trail stops here, he must be hiding not far away," continued another.
"Are you sure these are his tracks? It's clearly the trail of two people, does that demon have a partner?"
"Just find him quickly."
Around that place were many shrubs, shady trees, and rocks, places that could be used for human hiding. Xu Qiao closed her mouth and held her breath watching the five Yuan Wancui disciples search around. Jinshui seemed calmer. He signaled Xu Qiao to stay put, then jumped down, not far from the five searchers. Xu Qiao was shocked, but also couldn't just jump down after him.
"There he is!"
"Catch!"
Jinshui immediately shot off to the north. Yunhe and her sisters quickly chased him northward, none of whom had time to see Xu Qiao's whereabouts.
"Jinshui Gege...." Xu Qiao slumped down from the tree trunk in confusion. Jinshui had left her behind to distract Yunhe and her four younger siblings. She could not catch up, nor did she dare to go far for fear of Jinshui would not able to find her later.
"It's fine, they won't come back here to find us," Jinshui was suddenly behind her. Apparently, all he did was just lured away those five Haitang Jian Pai disciples. He was fast, plus Moying had given him the inner energy from decades of training. Yunhe and her four younger sisters, although they also mastered pretty good martial abilities, can still be tricked.
"How did you...." Xu Qiao looked incredulous. Her Jinshui Gege seemed to be able to disappear and reappear just like that.
"I only ran for a while, then hid behind a rock," Jinshui explained. "They were too eager to catch me, so they chased me north. I just waited for them to pass by for a while and then came back here."
"What if they come back?" asked Xu Qiao as well.
"Not for a while. You go ahead of me towards the east, I will walk behind you while erasing our tracks. Even if they come back or their master shows up here, neither will know where to chase."
Jinshui and Xu Qiao did not have to hurry, they had all the time in the world. After Jinshui felt that he had erased enough traces, they walked together leisurely, chatting and laughing along the way. Seeing Xu Qiao in good health and looking so cheerful, Jinshui felt very happy, but also bitter. He liked this young girl more than he should, but also knew the cheerfulness would not last long.
The mountain range around Haitang Jian Pai's base was quite long, leaving the small village they could not quickly find other settlements, no one could be asked where the nearest town was. But they didn't bother too much about this. The most important thing was that they were together and could avoid being chased.
"Jinshui Gege, let's have a qinggong battle to see who's better!" Xu Qiao challenged Jinshui cheerfully. "Whoever gets to the top of the hill first is the winner. The loser must be punished."
In terms of qinggong skills, of course, Jinshui was way better. Although Xu Qiao had studied martial arts since childhood, Jinshui had the core energy inherited from Yumen Jiao's main guardian Moying, and had also practiced wuqing xue energy during his eight-month confinement in a cave in Haitang Jian Pai. His breathing techniques were excellent, becoming the main support for learning the other parts of martial arts.
"Jinshui Gege, wait!"
Every time Xu Qiao caught up with Jinshui and was about to pass him, Jinshui had disappeared, then suddenly appeared a dozen spears away ahead of her, his movements so light and fast it was as if he didn't need to touch the ground. As they ran further and further, Xu Qiao began to feel her breathing becoming irregular.
"Jinshui Gege!" she yelled.
"Follow me!" Jinshui was suddenly already beside her, extending a hand to her. Xu Qiao welcomed it without hesitation, then she felt her body was no longer on the ground. Jinshui carried her like they were flying through the thickening fog, heading toward the top of the hill. Xu Qiao let out a cry of shock, looking around like she was dreaming.
"No one wins and no one loses," Jinshui said after a while. "Today I give in to you, we draw, but later when we get to the nearest town you have to buy me a drink to get drunk."
"No problem, as long as you're willing to do me one favor," Xu Qiao said.
"What favor?" asked Jinshui.
"I'll tell you later," said Xu Qiao smilingly.