“Where is this? How did I end up here, and where is Xiaoyu?” Ling Yuer opened her eyes to find herself in an unfamiliar place, which made her feel a bit uneasy.
She rubbed her still-dizzy head.
How long have I been asleep, and where exactly is this place? With that thought, Ling Yuer began to take in her surroundings.
The room was really empty, not because it was particularly large, but because it was sparsely furnished.
Apart from a bed, a table, and a few chairs, there was nothing else.
“I don’t want to go in!” Just as Ling Yuer was pondering where she was, a familiar voice reached her ears.
“Wife!” Hearing this familiar voice, all her unease vanished instantly, and she headed towards the door.
Meng Xiaoyu was very upset at the moment.
Ever since she had refused Nangong Yunhan’s request to roll in the sheets before bed seven days ago, using the excuse of needing to get up early to practice martial arts, Nangong Yunhan had first stared at her with a resentful look for a long time, then sighed as if in compromise, asking if Meng Xiaoyu really wanted to become strong in martial arts.
After receiving a firm nod from Meng Xiaoyu, Nangong Yunhan said nothing more, simply holding Meng Xiaoyu as they lay down to sleep.
Initially, Meng Xiaoyu was worried that Nangong Yunhan might start getting handsy in her sleep, as she had done quite often recently.
However, after being tense for a while, Meng Xiaoyu realized that Nangong Yunhan was genuinely just holding her to sleep, and she gradually relaxed, snuggling into Nangong Yunhan’s embrace and falling asleep.
However, when Meng Xiaoyu woke up the next morning, Nangong Yunhan was already gone.
Looking at the barely lit sky outside, Meng Xiaoyu was puzzled.
Why did Nangong Yunhan get up so early today? Although Nangong Yunhan usually got up early, it was never at the crack of dawn like this.
After thinking for a while, Meng Xiaoyu couldn’t figure out why Nangong Yunhan had suddenly gotten up so early, so she decided to stop thinking about it.
“Maybe Sister Yunhan went to the bathroom,” she told herself, yawning and turning over to go back to sleep.
She didn’t even consider that someone might not return from the bathroom after more than half an hour unless they had fallen in.
Meng Xiaoyu slept until the sun was high in the sky before getting up, but even then, she didn’t see Nangong Yunhan.
“Uncle Medicine Slave, do you know where Sister Yunhan went?” After searching around to no avail, Meng Xiaoyu had no choice but to ask Medicine Slave, who was sorting out the dried herbs.
Hearing Meng Xiaoyu’s question, Medicine Slave put down the herbs in his hand, smiled kindly at Meng Xiaoyu, and said, “The master went to Duanhun Valley and said she would be back in five days.” Medicine Slave’s tone was very gentle towards the girl his master liked, and he spoke with a bit of the affection an elder has for a younger person.
“Oh!” Hearing that Nangong Yunhan had gone to Duanhun Valley and would be gone for five days, Meng Xiaoyu felt a bit disappointed.
“Why didn’t she tell me before she left? And for five days, is it because I refused her yesterday?” With that thought, Meng Xiaoyu’s expression turned downcast.
“The ‘Zhuoyan Flower’ is about to bloom, and the master needs to be there to pick it as soon as it blooms,” Medicine Slave added, seeing the disappointment in Meng Xiaoyu’s eyes, before turning back to sorting his herbs.
Hearing Medicine Slave’s words, Meng Xiaoyu felt better.
“So it’s for the ‘Zhuoyan Flower’! Wait… what is the ‘Zhuoyan Flower’?” With that thought, Meng Xiaoyu looked at Medicine Slave, who was sorting herbs, then silently turned her head and walked back into the house, thinking, “Forget it, I’ll ask Sister Yunhan when she comes back!” With that thought, Meng Xiaoyu happily returned to her room to freshen up.
After washing up, she went to the outer room and saw that the table, which originally only had a teapot and three cups, now had a plate of stir-fried vegetables, a bowl of porridge, and two steamed buns on another plate.
Seeing the still-steaming breakfast, Meng Xiaoyu guessed that Medicine Slave must have prepared it for her.
Thinking this, Meng Xiaoyu sat down at the table, picked up the bowl of greenish porridge, and took a big sip.
As soon as the porridge entered her mouth, a strange medicinal aroma filled her mouth.
Meng Xiaoyu was no longer surprised by this kind of herbal porridge.
Since she arrived at the bottom of Juexin Cliff, she had been drinking various flavors of medicinal porridge almost every day for breakfast.
At first, Meng Xiaoyu was not used to the taste of the medicinal porridge, but after drinking it for a while, she gradually got used to it and even began to like the herbal-flavored porridge.
After breakfast, Meng Xiaoyu got up, went back to the inner room, took down the long sword hanging on the wall, and left the bamboo house.
After greeting Medicine Slave, she slowly walked towards the place where she had been practicing swordsmanship recently.
After all, she had said she wanted to become stronger, and she couldn’t just talk about it without taking action.
Four days later, in the evening, Nangong Yunhan returned with a large medicine basket on her back.
What puzzled Meng Xiaoyu was that there were no herbs in Nangong Yunhan’s basket, only several small ceramic jars.
Meng Xiaoyu was very curious about what was inside those jars, but before she could ask, Nangong Yunhan hurriedly greeted her and then rushed into the pharmacy to get busy.
What frustrated Meng Xiaoyu was that Nangong Yunhan locked the door as soon as she entered the pharmacy.
Unable to enter, Meng Xiaoyu had no choice but to return to her room to sleep.
Although it was still early, Meng Xiaoyu was bored, so she went to bed early.
The consequence of going to bed early was waking up early.
As soon as there was a hint of light, Meng Xiaoyu couldn’t sleep anymore.
Looking at the empty space beside her, she wondered if Nangong Yunhan was still busy in the pharmacy.
With that thought, Meng Xiaoyu decided to get up and check the pharmacy.
After getting out of bed and dressing, she went to the outer room, opened the door, and headed towards the pharmacy.
Seeing the faint candlelight coming from the pharmacy window, Meng Xiaoyu was sure of her guess.
She raised her hand to knock on the door, but after holding her hand up for a while, she still didn’t knock.
With a slight sigh, Meng Xiaoyu turned and went back to her room.
She didn’t want to disturb Nangong Yunhan, who was busy, even though she didn’t know what she was busy with.
But if it was something that kept her up all night, it must be important! Back in her room, Meng Xiaoyu lay back on the bed.
After tossing and turning for nearly an hour, she finally decided to get up and practice.
The next time she saw Nangong Yunhan was the following morning.
Meng Xiaoyu had just opened her eyes and was still groggy when she was suddenly kissed passionately.
It wasn’t until Meng Xiaoyu was about to pass out from lack of air that the owner of those lips released her, pulling her into a tight embrace.
“Xiaoyu,” Nangong Yunhan said.
“Sister Yunhan, are you done with your work?” After calming her rapid breathing, Meng Xiaoyu looked at the person holding her tightly.
“Yes, did you miss me these past few days? I missed you a lot!” Nangong Yunhan said, her voice full of longing, as she pecked Meng Xiaoyu’s soft lips again.
“Yes,” Meng Xiaoyu nodded, her face flushed.
She had indeed missed being so close with Nangong Yunhan for nearly six or seven days.
“Really?” Seeing Meng Xiaoyu nod, Nangong Yunhan was very happy.
She leaned down and kissed Meng Xiaoyu deeply again.
The kiss was gentle and lingering.
After the kiss ended, Nangong Yunhan pecked Meng Xiaoyu’s lips a few more times before pulling her into a tight embrace again.
“What have you been busy with these past few days, Sister Yunhan?” Meng Xiaoyu asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
“Didn’t you say a few days ago that you wanted to improve your skills and become stronger?” Nangong Yunhan replied instead of answering the question.
“Yes, I did!” Meng Xiaoyu nodded, then said dejectedly, “But it seems like becoming strong isn’t that easy!” Thinking about the results of her recent diligent practice, Meng Xiaoyu felt even more discouraged.
She then said to Nangong Yunhan, “Sister Yunhan, do you think I’m stupid? No matter how hard I try, I don’t seem to make any progress.
Take the sword technique that the old man taught me, for example.
I can perform it skillfully now, but I can’t achieve the state he described, where the sword moves with the heart and the heart moves with intent.
And the Lingfeng Palm technique he gave me, no matter how much I practice, I can’t unleash the power described in the book.”
“Hehe, how could my Xiaoyu be stupid? In my eyes, you’re the smartest person.
The reason you can’t achieve that level yet is because you’ve been practicing for too short a time and your skills aren’t deep enough.
I believe that as long as you keep working hard, you’ll become powerful in time,” Nangong Yunhan comforted her with a gentle laugh.
“Is that so?” Meng Xiaoyu felt a bit better after hearing Nangong Yunhan’s words, but soon she was dejected again.
“If that’s the case, won’t it take me decades to become strong?” She thought of the martial arts novels she had read, where the highly skilled martial artists were all in their fifties or sixties, or at least in their thirties or forties.
Even a martial arts genius like Dugu Qiubai only became invincible in his forties or fifties.
Although she didn’t aspire to be as powerful as Dugu Qiubai, she at least wanted to be as strong as the Five Greats in “The Legend of the Condor Heroes.” But she was lazy and had little patience, so becoming a true martial arts master seemed impossible for her.
At this moment, Meng Xiaoyu was feeling more and more discouraged, completely forgetting about the three skills she excelled at: Tai Chi, Tai Chi Sword, and the variant Six Meridian Divine Sword.
