"What?"
Nie Ling's hand that was grasping a handful of fish pellets, about to feed them to the fishes swarming on the pool below the gazebo, paused as she turned her head to question the man with her gaze.
"Ying Yuan." He corrected. "Call me Ying Yuan when it's just the two of us."
Despite the dim lighting of the moon, the man's exquisite facial features were as dazzling as always.
If it was any other woman, the said woman would've long melted on spot the second he placed his affectionate eyes on her. After all, that was just how lethal his charming looks were.
And yet, Nie Ling merely furrowed her brows, unable to understand his sudden initiative approach.
'This… since when do we become this close?'
Still, after another thought, she deemed the change beneficial for her and thus, she embraced the sudden leap in their relationship with wide arms. Since they're now close, it wouldn't matter if she was to voice out a little bit of what's in her mind, no?
"Then, Ying Yuan." She nervously peeked at his side profile, not noticing the small smile surfacing on his lips the second he heard her call his name, "You promised that once I succeeded to make the remedy, I can ask for anything right?"
"En." Zhou Yingyuan didn't even hesitate for a second before answering. "I'll give you anything that you want."
"Including myself."
'Huh?' That last part came out more like a whisper to the night. Thinking that she had misheard, Nie Ling simply wiped the doubt out of her mind.
"Alright, I hope you'll keep your words to the very end of the deal." She said, before walking away and leaving the gazebo.
"I will." He solemnly vowed. "But, what is it that you want?"
Nie Ling didn't answer him. She didn't turn around as well, her figure kept on drifting far away from him.
Zhou Yingyuan lowered his head to gaze at the plump fishes swimming beneath him, thinking that she merely hadn't thought of one when he suddenly heard her sweet and mellow voice from behind him, each and every of her words ringing crisply against the silence of night.
"I want to leave the Qing Mountains. I want to roam around the world and live a free and unfettered life."
At her words, a smile as sweet as honey gradually bloomed on Zhou Yingyuan's handsome face.
"Alright, I promise you." He mumbled under his breath.
It just so happens that it had been quite a long time since he last went outside. Now that he thought of it, crossing over the mountains and seas and traveling around the bustling towns and cities wouldn't be a bad idea either.
If it's with her, of course.
***
A few nights later.
"The task is done. The research for the remedy is completed."
Nie Ling excitedly proclaimed as she lifted the final product of her research to the air.
The Withering Moon Venom was too much of a nasty poison that she could find no way to completely neutralize the toxicity within. Thus, she thought of another common way to deal with the venom, and that was to gradually chip it away through external means, for example, by inserting Gu worms to the body.
The only downside to this method was that it was time-consuming. Fortunately, the Withering Moon Venom was a slow-acting poison. Therefore, the method was feasible.
Slowly and carefully, Nie Ling placed the poison-eating worms into a special container and put them aside, before she lit up another candle with the thought of burning the midnight oil for the last time.
She grinded her ink and dipped the tip of her brush into the dark puddle, meticulously listing down the guide to properly raise and handle the Gu worms when her fluid movement was stopped by the sound of a rock hitting against the hard surface of her window.
'Who is it?' Upon being disturbed, Nie Ling furrowed her eyebrows. She placed her brush down and warily moved her feet to the direction of the sound.
Her personal guardian, Qing Yu, should be standing in front of her room – guarding her throughout the night. Where was he?
"Qing Yu, are you there?" She sounded out, but got no reply in return.
Feeling something amiss, Nie Ling quickly rushed to her bedside table where she had kept a spare dagger to protect herself in times of danger when suddenly, she heard a sharp whistle piercing through her left ear.
'What the hell–'
Her mind screamed for her to move away, but her sluggish body just couldn't keep up to the command. Gradually, she could feel her limbs getting weaker and weaker.
Nie Ling's eyebrows twitched. Had she been poisoned? When?
As if arriving on cue, a sickeningly-sweet flowery fragrance tickled her sense of smell, prompting her eyes to turn heavy. This scent…
Nie Ling couldn't think of anything else as her sight slowly turned dim. She was aching all over her body and yet, she couldn't move, not even a finger! It was only then did she realize, death seemed to have come to fetch her away.
The second her body hit the ground with a dull thud, the pendant in her bosom started to glow a blinding red. Even as she sensed her vitality scattering out of her body, the scorching sensation on her chest felt so strong and distinct that she soon found herself having a hard time breathing.
She was dying. It was evident. What was not known was, could the pendant give her another chance of life?
Even then, her greed persistently stretched far, knowing no bounds.
After all… There was still so much more that she wanted to do...