Teasing aside, Xie Hanzhu had no intention of being the catalyst for their relationship.
She understood Su Luowei well and knew that her Senior Sister was always a person of strong resolve. If Su Luowei decided to be with Meng Shuying, she wouldn't need anyone else to intervene—she would make her feelings clear to Meng Shuying herself. But if she didn't want to be with Meng Shuying, no amount of persuasion from others would change her mind.
Moreover, she was always on her Senior Sister's side. As long as Su Luowei didn't express her feelings, Meng Shuying would just remain their junior sister.
From a distance, Xie Hanzhu saw a few people approaching, led by an official with two subordinates. Upon seeing Su Luowei and a woman dressed in red bridal robes, the official hesitated momentarily before clasping his hands in a respectful salute. "Su Xianzi, the lady beside you... Could she be the criminal?"
The official had a simple line of thought: Su Xianzi had pursued the criminal and returned with this person, who was dressed in bridal robes. If the criminal abducted the bride during the wedding procession, they must have intended to marry her. Naturally, they would also be dressed in bridal attire.
With these clues pieced together, the official was nearly certain that this woman in red was the "White Fox Lord" the matchmaker had mentioned.
The official and his subordinates were perplexed, and their expressions turned a bit strange. They hadn't expected the criminal to be a woman!
Su Luowei had just learned from Xie Hanzhu that the reason the groom, Sheng Ruiming, hadn't shown up at the wedding was that he had been injured. As the city lord's son and a Golden Core cultivator, who could have possibly harmed him?
A bit of thought led Su Luowei to conclude that it was likely Meng Shuying's doing. But she wasn't sure if anyone had witnessed Meng Shuying's actions or if the official was referring to the criminal who abducted the bride or the person who injured the city lord's son.
While Su Luowei was still considering how to introduce Meng Shuying, Meng Shuying stepped forward and calmly said, "I am Meng Shuying of the Qionghua Peak, Qingxu Sect."
Su Luowei understood that Meng Shuying had probably left no trace of her involvement in Sheng Ruiming's injury. Relieved, Su Luowei addressed the official, "She is my junior sister. She happened to be traveling in the area, so I invited her to assist in investigating this matter."
"Ah, so it's Meng Xianzi, my apologies." The official quickly saluted again and then hesitantly asked, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but did the criminal manage to escape?"
Xie Hanzhu's eyes flashed with anger. "What's wrong with you? My Senior Sister risked her life to catch the White Fox Lord and barely escaped. She hasn't even had time to rest, and you're here questioning her?"
"No, no, that's not what I meant." The official hurriedly smiled and wiped the sweat off his forehead, silently cursing his luck.
It wasn't his fault—after all, the young lady was supposed to get married next month, and the city lord's son had been injured. The city lord was furious, convinced that the criminal was responsible for injuring his son. He had given the official strict orders to capture the criminal at all costs. The official had been guarding the area day and night, losing quite a bit of weight in the process.
In the Fox Immortal Hall, the Fox Immortal had said that after they left, the White Fox Lord would be delivered to them. However, Su Luowei didn't know when or how it would happen, so when faced with their expectant gazes, she vaguely replied, "I have my own arrangements. Just wait quietly."
Since Meng Shuying was still injured, Su Luowei borrowed Xie Hanzhu's tent to take Meng Shuying inside and reapply the medicine.
Cultivators have better physical resilience than ordinary people, so Meng Shuying's wounds had already improved significantly in just a day or two. The injuries were mostly on her back, making it difficult for her to treat them herself, so Su Luowei once again took on the task.
Meng Shuying removed her bridal robe and draped it over a chair, then loosened her inner garment halfway, letting it fall to her waist.
Su Luowei couldn't help but laugh when she caught sight of Meng Shuying's undergarment. "You wore the whole set?"
"The whole set of what?" Meng Shuying asked, puzzled. She looked at Su Luowei, only to meet her teasing gaze.
"This..." Su Luowei pointed at her fair neck, where a thin red string extended down her back, suspending a thin piece of fabric that modestly covered her chest.
It was a bright red undergarment.
Meng Shuying was naturally fair-skinned, and the red undergarment made her complexion look even more flawless.
She glanced down and noticed the intricate gold thread embroidery on the garment, depicting a pair of intertwined lotuses. Her face turned beet red in an instant.
"It's not... Senior Sister... this..." She stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence out of embarrassment.
In the end, she just buried her face in her arms on the bed, avoiding Su Luowei's gaze.
"What's there to be shy about? I already saw it when I was treating your wounds last time." It had been dark back then, so Su Luowei hadn't paid much attention. Now, in the light, she realized that the undergarment matched the style of the bridal robe.
Seeing that Meng Shuying was blushing all the way to her ears, Su Luowei stopped teasing her. She gently moved Meng Shuying's hair aside, fully revealing her back.
She removed the blood-stained bandages and tossed them into a tray, leaning in close to examine the wound's progress.
Meng Shuying lay on the bed, feeling a slight tickle on her back. Su Luowei's breath brushed against her wound, soft and warm, stirring up some vague, romantic thoughts in her mind.
After observing for a while, Su Luowei finally said softly, "It's healing well."
Meng Shuying resisted the urge to scratch the itch and asked quietly, "Do I still need medicine?"
"Yes," Su Luowei replied, reaching for the medicine bottle and pouring the powder into her palm before carefully applying it to the wound.
The medicine provided by Yunfei Shishu was very effective, but it could irritate the wound. When Su Luowei treated Meng Shuying last time, she was unconscious, so it was normal for her not to react.
But now that she was awake, Meng Shuying didn't make a sound.
Su Luowei tilted her head, studying Meng Shuying's expression. Seeing that she didn't even flinch, she suddenly asked, "Did you get injured often while traveling in the mortal world?"
Meng Shuying hesitated, surprised by the question, and after a long pause, she quietly replied, "It wasn't too bad. I didn't get injured often."
Su Luowei placed one hand on her shoulder and used the other to wipe away the excess medicine around the wound.
"This medicine was personally prepared by Yunfei Shishu. I've used it before—it burns when applied to the wound, and it's not pleasant."
But Meng Shuying hadn't shown any reaction.
This could only mean that during her travels, Meng Shuying had often been injured and likely hadn't received proper treatment. She had become desensitized to pain.
After a long silence, Meng Shuying spoke with difficulty, "I didn't lie, Senior Sister. Only in the first two years after I left the mountain, I was injured a few times because I didn't know much. But after that, I got better."
When she first left the mountain, she had no experience traveling in the mortal world, little combat experience, and didn't know how to disguise herself. She was often intercepted by rogue cultivators who threatened her for her spirit stones and pills.
Most of those rogue cultivators were at the Foundation Establishment stage, without the backing of a sect. Cultivation was difficult for them, so when they saw novice disciples traveling alone, it was like a hungry wolf spotting fresh meat—their eyes practically glowed green.
Meng Shuying had fought those rogue cultivators several times, suffered serious injuries on multiple occasions, and had to flee countless times.
Through those stumbling, life-threatening encounters, she had carved out a path with blood.
Over the years, she had killed malevolent cultivators and slain demons that threatened the mortal realm. She accumulated experience through real combat, comprehending the Dao in life-and-death situations.
Eventually, she reached the peak of the Golden Core stage.
She also deeply understood what her Senior Sister had once told her—that the path of immortality was long, treacherous, and filled with obstacles.
Even when she was severely injured, she never mentioned it in her letters to her Senior Sister.
In her view, since she had chosen this path, she should walk it without hesitation.
Telling her Senior Sister would only cause unnecessary worry.
Su Luowei knew that Meng Shuying was always someone who reported the good and not the bad, so even if her letters painted a peaceful picture, Su Luowei could guess that being a traveling disciple was not easy.
After all, every year, the soul lamps of traveling disciples placed in the sect would be extinguished.
But Meng Shuying's soul lamp had always been stable, and she bore the role of a significant antagonist. She was at least destined to live until the eventual showdown with Wen Miaomiao, so Su Luowei had felt secure in waiting for her at the Qingxu Sect.
However, it now seemed that things were far more complicated than she had imagined.
This made Su Luowei feel even more strongly that she had made the wrong decision back then.
Meng Shuying sensed Su Luowei's silence behind her and tried to shift the focus of the conversation.
"Senior Sister, I've reached the peak of the Golden Core stage and should soon face the tribulation."
As long as she survived the tribulation, she could form her Nascent Soul.
This topic indeed caught Su Luowei's attention.
"Then, after we finish dealing with the situation in Fuxiao City, let's return to Qingxu Sect."
In this world's cultivation system, the Nascent Soul stage was a crucial milestone.
With some talent and the support of precious resources, one could reach the Foundation Establishment stage.
With diligent cultivation and the aid of "borrowed energy," one could form a Golden Core.
But from the Nascent Soul stage onward, there were no shortcuts.
Forming a Golden Core was difficult, and condensing a Nascent Soul was even more challenging.
Among Foundation Establishment cultivators, only one in a hundred could form a Golden Core.
Among Golden Core cultivators, only less than one in a thousand could form a Nascent Soul.
In the entire Qingxu Sect, with thousands of disciples and generations of cultivation, there were only a handful of Nascent Soul cultivators.
Among them were people like Min Lanmeng, who had been stuck in the Nascent Soul stage for hundreds of years and were nearing the end of their lifespan.
Su Luowei wasn't too concerned about the tribulation.
When a cultivator advanced to the Nascent Soul stage, they would face a small tribulation, which consisted of three lightning strikes. As long as one prepared in advance and had the support of the Qingxu Sect's formations, passing the small tribulation wouldn't be too difficult.
"No need to rush," Meng Shuying shook her head.
A cultivator would have a premonition before the small tribulation, but the tribulation wouldn't necessarily come immediately.
There had been cases where a cultivator sensed the tribulation, but the first lightning strike didn't descend until fifty years later.
Senior Sister rarely ventured down the mountain, so Meng Shuying wanted to take this opportunity to show her around the mortal world.
After applying the medicine, Su Luowei retrieved a clean bandage to wrap the wound.
She placed one hand on Meng Shuying's shoulder to steady her, but she felt a slight tremor under her palm.
"Did I chill you?" Su Luowei put down the bandage and rubbed her hands together until they were warm before placing them back on Meng Shuying's shoulder.
"No," Meng Shuying replied softly.
Perhaps because her wounds hadn't fully healed, Meng Shuying's body temperature was slightly elevated, and the skin under Su Luowei's hand felt warm.
Su Luowei unrolled the bandage and gently placed it over the wound, then took another slightly longer bandage to secure it in place.
After wrapping it around twice, Su Luowei straightened up, carefully exhaled, and tied a knot at the end of the bandage.
"All done," she said.
Meng Shuying responded softly, turning her head to look at Su Luowei.
"I'd like to change my clothes. Could Senior Sister step out for a moment?"