Outside, the snow continued to fall.
Xue Ziyue sat in the darkness, tilting her head to listen to the sound of snowflakes gently falling, sensing the person beneath her hands still trembling slightly. After an entire day, his voice had become hoarse, and his resistance gradually weakened.
She stood up, lighting a burner of clarified butter incense. The fragrance of the incense, refreshing and enlightening, filled the dark room, calming the restless person.
After a long time, at dawn, he finally regained consciousness.
This time, he didn't exhibit any extreme behavior. Perhaps feeling it was futile or due to extreme physical weakness, he just lay silently on the bed, slowly opening his eyes, gazing at the dark ceiling.
"Why didn't you kill me?" After a while, he asked.
She smiled faintly, "Healers don't kill."
"Then why save me? I have no chance of recovery." He spoke dazedly, silent for a moment, "I know you're the divine healer of the Pharmacist Valley."
"Yes." She nodded, "I also know you're an assassin from the Grand Illumination Palace."
In the darkness, she picked up a white jade mask and put it on her face—something brought back by her people from the cold fir forest outside the valley. And in that forest, beneath the snow, lay twelve bodies. Through Huo Zhanbai's description, she knew they were the twelve Silver Wing Assassins under the Grand Illumination Palace.
And leading this elite group from the Bright Realm was the number one assassin in the demonic sect: Tóng (瞳).
—The legendary unparalleled assassin, master of the art of assassination that had shocked the martial world.
She put on his white jade mask in the darkness. The moment she covered her face with the mask, he suddenly sat up like lightning—swiftly reaching out, he seized the mask before she could react!
Then, as if that action had depleted all his energy, his fingers stopped there, staring at her. Suddenly, he sat back on the bed—his pervasive killing intent and hostility finally receded.
"Who are you really?" He looked at the mask with a glimpse and suddenly sat up, gasping intensely, trembling all over.
"You seem to recognize these eyes of mine." She grabbed his hand, gently pressed it down, and returned it under the blanket, "I also recognize your eyes."
In the darkness, Tóng breathed urgently, looking at the eyes behind the mask. Suddenly, he felt the pain in his head starting again. He whispered, clutched his head, and fell back onto the bed, but the killing intent and hostility that permeated his entire body finally converged.
"Rest assured," he heard her say softly beside him, "I will definitely cure you."
"I won't let you be trapped in the darkness forever."
—
The second round of treatment began in the darkness.
The fragrance of clarified butter incense lingered in the room as she inserted silver needles into his twelve acupuncture points.
Surprisingly, even in a coma, the muscles on his body involuntarily contracted the moment the silver needles pierced his acupuncture points, shifting them an inch away.
—Qiankun Big Shift?
Xue Ziyue looked at the demonic sect's assassin in astonishment. No wonder Huo Zhanbai fell at the hands of this person. But... how did that child from years ago survive and become what he was today?
She sighed slightly, sitting cross-legged, starting the actual treatment.
Regardless, unless she relieved the mental pain caused by the use of Tóng's techniques, nothing would be gained.
This was an unprecedented challenge—because what needed to be healed was not physical wounds. How to treat the chaos and madness caused by Tóng's techniques was an unfamiliar territory. After hesitating for a long time, she finally nodded secretly. Since that was the case, let's try "Mind Observation" derived from Tóng's techniques!
Mind Observation was the "healing technique of the mind," used for symptoms of madness and amnesia.
After successfully inserting the silver needles into the twelve acupoints, she bent down, placed her hands on his temples, leaned close to his face, and stared quietly into his eyes in the darkness. She gently spoke, "Can you hear me?"
The person beneath the needles responded with a vague sound. The effect of clarified butter incense plunged Tóng into a deep coma, his eyes slightly open, but his consciousness in a wandering state.
"What is your name?" She continued to ask gently.
"Tóng." His body moved slightly, suddenly experiencing painful convulsions, "No, I'm not called Tóng. I'm called... I can't remember..."
The first question encountered an obstacle. Undeterred, she continued to gaze at him, slowly uttering:
"Is it, perhaps, Mingjie?"
The painful tremors beneath her hand suddenly stopped, and he couldn't answer as if something was preventing him from recalling.
"Mingjie..." he murmured repeatedly.
"Mingjie, where do you come from?" She kept staring into his half-open eyes, her voice low and gentle.
Where did he come from? He came from... he suddenly trembled all over.
Yes, it was a place with falling snow and a house shrouded in perpetual darkness. He came from there... no, no, he didn't come from there—he just exhausted all his strength to escape from there!
He suddenly screamed, covering his eyes with his hands, "Don't... don't dig out my eyes! Let me out!"
In that instant, blood flowed down from behind his ears like a small snake. He fell to the ground, silent.
"What's going on?" Xue Ziye's expression changed. "The Mind Observation Technique is meant for gentle inspiration and persuasion, gradually uncovering forgotten memories. It shouldn't lead to this result! This blood... could it be?" She reached out and lightly touched the back of his head. Under the fine long hair, she could faintly feel a cold, hard metal.
She dared not touch it further because that metal needle was deeply embedded in the fatal acupoint of the Jade Pillow. Carefully tracing along the midline of the head, she found two identical needles in the Lingtai and Baihui acupoints.
Her expression changed. "Needles sealing the brain!"
Could it be that someone had sealed his memories? What kind of memories were they? What secrets were they hiding? Who... who slaughtered the entire Mojia clan and killed Xue Huai?
She held a silver needle, looking down at his face sleeping in pain, and a bright light suddenly appeared in her eyes.
The snow lake under the moonlight. The face frozen under the water remained youthful, resembling the appearance at the age of sixteen, but the woman lying on the ice had aged into her twenties.
She bowed on the ice, murmuring to the smiling youth.
Xue Huai... Xue Huai, do you know? Today, I met someone we both know.
Do you remember that child locked in the dark room? For so many years, I have been the only one talking to you. Must be lonely, right? Seeing someone you recognize, you must feel happy, right? Even though he has forgotten, he was once your companion, my brother.
You were so close, so kind to us.
So, don't worry. I will do everything in my power to heal Mingjie.
I will uncover the truth of that year, seek revenge for the entire Mojia clan!
Throwing the pill in her hand, Snowyao swiftly caught it and returned it to him, proudly cooing.
Throw it again. Retrieve it again.
When this game continued for the twenty-fifth time, Huo Zhanbai finally found it boring.
Since being hit by the flying needle, he had been in a deep sleep like a dead person for two days. However, when he woke up, there was no one around, and on the small table by the bed, there was only a plate of cold food, far from the lavish treatment he used to receive. Knowing the eccentricity of that woman, he didn't ask. He ate and slept, and when he was free, he played games with Snowyao.
Three days had passed like this.
"Where is everyone? Where are they?" He couldn't hold back and shouted, shaking the dust off, "Xue Ziye, if you don't come out, I'll dismantle this place!"
"Oh, Seventh Young Master has a big temper." The roar proved effective, and the main character was immediately shaken out. Xue Ziye appeared for the first time in five days, pushing the door open and walking in casually, holding a set of silver needles, "Do you want acupuncture again?"
He lost his temper as soon as he saw her.
"Hehe... I missed you." He lowered his voice and accompanied it with a smile, knowing that at the moment, he was like a fish on a chopping board, "These days, where have you been? Didn't you say you would do acupuncture for me again? If you don't come again..."
"Hmm?" Xue Ziye fingered the needle, coldly snorting while glancing at him.
"If you don't come again, this wound will heal by itself!" He continued to smile.
Without looking, she turned her hand, and five silver needles were thrown onto his chest, causing him immediate pain.
"It's almost done. Rest for a few more days, and you can get out of bed." Concluding with a pulse check, she gave her emotionless verdict, tapping his chest, "You're almost thirty, getting beaten up like this from time to time—do you really have the strength you claim? Don't brag to me, a woman who rarely leaves the house."
"I haven't shown you my heroic and youthful appearance when I dominated the world with a sword..." He rolled his eyes.
"I see you being the best at getting beaten up," Xue Ziye commented, not in the mood for jokes. She turned and carefully approached him from behind, feeling the segment of the spine below his scapula, frowning slightly, "This part is injured again. Be careful in the future, and if you get paralyzed, don't look for me. I'm not kidding."
Even more gently tapping on the fourth vertebra, the pain shot into his brain like lightning.
He yelled loudly, sweating coldly all over.
"Don't show off anymore." Xue Ziye sighed, revealing a gentle expression for the first time, "Your body has reached its limit. Want to save others but also think about yourself. I can't always help you."
Huo Zhanbai gasped violently, gripping the bedding. Suddenly, he had a bad feeling.
"What do you mean by that?" He raised his head to look at her, noticing her paler face and the absence of her usual fierce and fierce demeanor. He felt uneasy, "Did something happen? Are you in trouble?"
She withdrew her hand from the bedding, just smiling, and tucked her hair behind her ear. "No, because I got the antidote, you don't have to endure my scolding anymore... with such high consultation fees, you can't afford it anyway. So, be careful on your own in the future."
He breathed a sigh of relief, laughing, "How could I not come? I've repaid the debt with my body, right?"
Xue Ziye pulled a forced smile, her eyes devoid of any joy. If... if he knew that the prescription, gathering rare treasures from all over the world, was just a scam, how would he react?
She sighed softly. Now... what should she do?
How to tell him the truth at this point, she couldn't imagine Huo Zhanbai's reaction.
"It hurts! What's happening?" In a moment of distraction, he heard him ask in surprise. She was startled to find that she had unknowingly pressed a silver needle, stuck in his chest, even deeper.
"Oh no!" She exclaimed, "Don't move! I'll take it out right away. Don't circulate your true energy!"
Huo Zhanbai looked at her with some surprise. In the eight years they had known each other, he had never seen this tough woman so flustered. He felt a bit uneasy: she must have encountered something, but refused to talk about it.
After knowing each other for so long, they had become almost the most familiar people to each other. This lonely woman had many secrets but never uttered a word about them. However, there were some things that couldn't escape the eyes of this old martial artist: for example, he had seen her many times murmuring by the frozen lake, and beneath the lake, there was a person who had died many years ago.
He looked from a distance but didn't approach.
He had never even asked her about these things—just as she had never asked him why he persistently sought medical treatment.
For eight years, he fought recklessly. Every time he rushed through a battlefield with blood and flesh flying, she would be waiting at the end of that bloody path... he owed her so much.
His own wish was about to be fulfilled. Was there any way to do something for her?
"Well, I was thinking," he watched her carefully pick open the wound with an embroidery needle, removing the accidentally pressed needle, enduring the pain to speak, "to celebrate my recovery, how about we have a drink together tonight?"
Xue Ziye was momentarily stunned, lifted her head, her face extremely tired but suddenly smiling, "Sure, who's afraid of who?"
Before it got dark, before heading to that appointment for a drinking contest, she returned to Autumn Pavilion once.
Behind heavy curtains, the scent of agarwood lingered, and someone was in a deep sleep.
The blood behind his head had stopped, and the first golden needle on the Jade Pillow acupoint had been removed, placed on the golden tray nearby. The sharp needle was coated with black blood, as if it had been forcibly pulled out from the crimson memories.
The heavy shroud of darkness enveloped him like an iron burial cloth.
Illusions surged layer by layer.
Where was this... where was this? Was it... the place he came from?
His hands and feet were suspended on the wall, with no light around. Curled up in a dark corner, he felt his head was as blank as the house in front of him. No one came to see him; in this small, cold wooden house, there had always been only him.
Outside, there were faint sounds of laughter from peers and the sound of the wind blowing.
Before the darkness fell, before going to the appointed drinking contest, she returned to Autumn Pavilion once.
Behind the heavy curtains, the scent of agarwood lingered, and someone was in a deep sleep.
The blood behind his head had stopped, and the first golden needle on the Jade Pillow acupoint had been removed, placed on the golden tray nearby. The sharp needle was coated with black blood, as if it had been forcibly pulled out from the crimson memories.
The heavy shroud of darkness enveloped him like an iron burial cloth.
Illusions surged layer by layer.
Where was this... where was this? Was it... the place he came from?
His hands and feet were suspended on the wall, with no light around. Curled up in a dark corner, he felt his head was as blank as the house in front of him. No one came to see him; in this small, cold wooden house, there had always been only him.
Outside, there were faint sounds of laughter from peers and the sound of the wind blowing.
Inside, there was a melodious voice like silver bells, and he could distinguish it with a turn of his head: the Han girl, Xiao Yejie—the only pair of black and white eyes in the whole village, seen through the light blue eyes.
During the long time he was confined in this dark room, everyone avoided him, except Xiao Ye and Xue Huai, who occasionally came to comfort him and talk to him through the walls. That was the support that sustained him through these many years.
"Don't worry, patients shouldn't wander around," her eyes peeked through the small hole in the wall, sparkling with a smile. "Mingjie, you will get better soon. You'll be able to come out and play with us in no time!"
Really... he would get better soon? But what illness did he have? Did anyone tell him what illness he had?
He looked somewhat dazedly at the eyes behind the peephole. It had been so many years since he last saw Xiao Ye. She should have grown up, right? But he couldn't see. He could hardly remember what she looked like because for the past seven years, he could only see her eyes through the small hole: bright, warm, and caring—
Since he killed someone at the age of seven, everyone was afraid of him, calling him a monster. Only she kept calling him her little brother.
The laughter and chatter outside continued, making him feel annoyed. Who was she playing with? Why didn't she come and talk to him yesterday? Now... what season was it outside? Could he go and spin tops on the frozen river? Could he go ice-fishing? It had been so long; why was he still being kept here?
Had he done something wrong? He wanted to get out... he wanted to get out!
Driven by anger and despair, the child's eyes suddenly emitted a brilliant light in the darkness, sparkling like glass.
"Creak—" The wall next to him cracked open, as a movable wooden board was pulled out and then pushed back in. On it, there was a dried fish and a bowl of white rice, all the same.
"Little monster, it's mealtime!" The person outside, with a hoarse voice, shouted with disgust.
That person was Gu, his guardian for the past seven years.
Since the incident at the age of six, he had been confined to this lightless black room, hands and feet locked to the wall, enduring seven years. Listening to the wind and laughter outside, the usually silent child suddenly erupted, sweeping his hands across, shattering all the utensils into pieces.
"Little monster!" The guardian heard the noise inside through the wall, stuck his head in, glared at him, and said, "Are you asking for death?"
However, in that instant, with just one glance, the guardian's body softened.
In the darkness, the child pressed his eyes against the feeding hole, shaking the chains with force, erupting into a roar, "I want to get out! Let me out! Let me out, damn it! Let me out!"
With his shouts, the guardian, who had regained consciousness, walked back to the sealed door, took out the key, and mechanically inserted it.
As the sudden light stung the child's eyes, he recoiled for a moment, but he saw the fierce-looking man walk in expressionlessly. Without a word, he bent down, unlocked the chains on his hands and feet.
Huh, what happened to this guy? How could he even have a straight expression?
But the thirteen-year-old didn't have time to think, just cheered as he rushed out of the door that had imprisoned him for seven years. The wind outside blew on his face, and in the dazzling sunlight, he raised his arms, shouting to the children playing in the distance, "Xiao Yejie! Xue Huai! I'm out!"
Who cares about Gu, that scoundrel can go to hell. He was finally free!
However, just as this ecstatic thought flashed through his mind, a scream came from the room behind him.
He turned back in horror and witnessed an extremely terrifying scene—
That Mo Jia Gu, unbelievably, was inserting the iron key into his own throat, inch by inch! His face showed intense pain, yet his hands seemed to be controlled by a demon, steadily pushing the key into his throat, twisting through his flesh and blood.
Shocked, he kept backing away, sitting abruptly on the floor outside the door, rubbing his eyes in disbelief.