The throbbing in her head subsided. Xing Shuishui opened her eyes – it was already bright outside. She sat up abruptly in bed, clutching the blanket and cautiously surveying her surroundings. Her last memory was falling into the river.
Wait… falling into the river!
She instinctively touched her collar – the concealment talisman hadn’t failed. Her eyes widened. Had her talisman-drawing skills really become this strong?
Looking down at the dress she was wearing, she noticed it wasn’t the one she wore while sneaking into Huayu Tower last night. She tensed for a moment. Then she remembered Lingshan had a spell for changing clothes. Feeling the residual spiritual energy in the fabric, she finally relaxed.
Just then, someone knocked on the door. Li Guanyu’s voice came from outside: “Shuishui, are you awake?”
Xing Shuishui responded, “Yes, Sister Guanyu!”
The door opened and Li Guanyu entered carrying a bowl of medicine, placing it by her bedside. The strong herbal smell was something Xing Shuishui despised. She glanced at it once before quickly looking away.
Li Guanyu smiled gently: “He Liansheng told me what happened last night. You fell into the Soul-Devouring River and your spirit was injured by the water. It won’t heal quickly. This medicine contains crushed spirit pills that will help stabilize your consciousness. It’s chaos outside now, with Huayu Tower searching everywhere for people. You shouldn’t go out for now.”
So He Liansheng had saved her?
Xing Shuishui was still dazed, but thinking about it, these Lingshan people wouldn’t just let someone die. No wonder she vaguely remembered someone scolding her while unconscious – it must have been He Liansheng…
Xing Shuishui nodded obediently, her gaze inadvertently falling on the steaming medicine bowl again. She felt incredibly resistant. Could she not drink it?
Fortunately, after saying her piece, Li Guanyu left without watching her take the medicine, closing the door behind her.
Xing Shuishui wanted to ask if they were really going to take Shangguan Houyue back to Lingshan. After all, this wasn’t just anyone – this was the new head of the Shangguan family. They usually had to call her “Senior” when they saw her at Lingshan, and the Shangguan family might not be happy about this.
But on second thought, it wasn’t appropriate for her current identity to ask such questions. What did it matter to her if they caught Shangguan Houyue? It would be better if they caught everyone from Lingshan! She hated Lingshan in this life.
Except for Li Guanyu.
The medicine had cooled, but she still hadn’t taken a sip. Her hand rested on the bowl’s edge as she told herself she’d count down from three and drink it. But after several countdowns, she still couldn’t bring herself to do it.
Xing Shuishui suddenly realized something: where was He Liansheng?
She looked around – she hadn’t seen He Liansheng since waking up.
Though their heart-connecting spell was actually broken, it hadn’t been “undone” in front of others. If He Liansheng went out now and was seen, Huayu Tower would immediately be suspicious.
As she thought this, the window suddenly opened. The harsh sunlight filtered through the gap, making her fingers on the medicine bowl feel even hotter.
A young man climbed through the window, blocking most of the light. He wore a veiled hat, the gauze slightly lifted at one corner revealing pale skin, black pupils, knife-like eyebrows, and red, lustrous lips. Like a young priest with a cinnabar mark between his brows, a single glance was enough to take one’s breath away.
He removed his veiled hat and glanced at her: “You just woke up? I thought you’d lie in my bed all day.”
Xing Shuishui came to her senses and reminded him: “Though the spell is broken, we should probably keep up appearances.”
He Liansheng leaned against the window, opening his fingers to reveal a red string dangling from his hand, similar to what they had tied around their wrists before.
He tossed one end to her: “We need to keep up appearances.”
The Taoyuan sword he carried gleamed silver. It was especially beautiful.
Xing Shuishui caught it and obediently tied it where it had been before: “Thank you.”
The young man looked up: “For what?”
Xing Shuishui said: “Sister Guanyu told me you brought me back. I thought I was going to drown. That river water really was strange – my head hurt as soon as I touched it.”
She was still worried He Liansheng might have noticed something while she was unconscious, and secretly observed his expression. Seeing her cunning look, He Liansheng couldn’t help but smirk.
He mocked: “It’s remarkable you can even talk.”
Xing Shuishui nervously replied: “I was just lucky!”
He Liansheng: “Oh? Lucky?”
Knowing he was getting suspicious again, Xing Shuishui quickly changed the subject: “He Liansheng, can I not drink this medicine? Look how clearly I’m speaking – my spirit must be mostly recovered already.”
He Liansheng responded bluntly: “In your dreams.”
Xing Shuishui took a sip with resignation. Sure enough, it was hot and the taste was bitter and astringent – unbearably bitter.
She only didn’t pour it on the flowers because He Liansheng was present. She pointed at it saying: “But it’s bitter. Really bitter.”
Xing Shuishui frowned, her hand propping up her flushed cheek.
He Liansheng stared at her, growing impatient: “Do you want me to force it down your throat?”
Just thinking about that scene was frightening. Better not.
Xing Shuishui looked up and asked tentatively: “Isn’t there any preserved fruit? Even ginger candy would work!”
He Liansheng snapped: “No.”
Xing Shuishui called out one last type of candy: “Ding-ding candy.”
He Liansheng: “…”
Seeing his silence, Xing Shuishui said: “Do you know what ding-ding candy is? Probably not.”
Having grown up on Lingshan mountain, He Liansheng likely rarely paid attention to such common items.
Xing Shuishui explained on her own: “It’s my favorite. It’s actually a type of candy made from malt and rice. When I was little, the candy seller would always carry his pole, using his candy-hitting tool to make ‘ding-ding-ding’ sounds to attract customers, so we all liked to call it ding-ding candy.”
He Liansheng didn’t care about any of this. He walked up to her, his tone growing heavier: “Xing Shuishui, are you going to drink it or not?”
Xing Shuishui said worriedly: “It’s not that I don’t want to drink it, it’s just too bitter.”
He Liansheng replied sarcastically: “Is medicine supposed to be sweet?”
Xing Shuishui: “Of course it can be! If you eat it with candy, it becomes sweet.”
She mumbled: “Look, my life is already bitter enough. If I eat more bitter things, I’ll turn into a bitter gourd.”
He Liansheng almost laughed in anger: “What? You’ll turn into a bitter gourd from drinking medicine?”
Though he wanted to pry open her mouth and pour the medicine in directly, seeing her unhappy face, he managed to control himself and not throw her out the window. He suddenly remembered the ding-ding-ding sounds he’d heard coming back from the street – so that was candy sellers…
Looking at his unchanged expression.
Xing Shuishui was silent for a while: “Fine. I’ll drink it.”
When she was little and malnourished, she often got sick. After brewing Chinese medicine, her older sister would always give her a piece of candy to counter the bitter taste, making even medicine sweet.
The young man watched her as she stared at the full bowl of medicine. Thinking about how her sister was no longer here, her tone became slightly dejected: “But wait a bit, it’s still hot.”
Her voice suddenly became lower.
Xing Shuishui had given up. Nothing good had happened since meeting these Lingshan people. If she had to drink it, she would, though it was bitter. At least He Liansheng wouldn’t have put anything dangerous in it.
He Liansheng put on his veiled hat and opened the window. The red string between them loosened.
A white figure flashed by. He left the room, heading who knows where. The atmosphere immediately became more relaxed. For her spirit to recover quickly, she still had to drink the medicine.
Xing Shuishui took another taste, still hopeful.
Bitter bitter bitter! Hot hot hot! Though good medicine is bitter, this was too much!
She counted three-two-one, planning to drink again. No, that countdown was too quick – better count from thirty to one.
The window wasn’t closed tight, and occasional breezes blew in. The young woman sat listlessly by the bed, her light pink dress hem falling from the bedside.
Thirty, twenty-nine… three, two…
Before she could reach one.
Bang — the window was pushed open again, hot wind rushing in. Xing Shuishui looked up to the same scene as before.
He Liansheng climbed through the window, not bothering to close it, holding a bag in his hand.
A bag of ding-ding candy wrapped in oiled paper and tied with string.
Xing Shuishui was stunned.
Had He Liansheng been in a good mood lately? Why had he suddenly changed? Usually he would have been happy to see her suffer from the bitterness.
Outside was noisy with peddlers calling out, children playing, and carriages rushing about.
But inside was different, quiet enough to hear only her own heartbeat.
After they looked at each other for a moment, the young man casually tossed the paper package to her. It landed on the table with a dull thud. He crossed his arms impatiently, leaning against the window: “Now drink the medicine for me. If you dare say another word of nonsense, I’ll throw you out the window directly.”
Xing Shuishui went to unwrap it, but He Liansheng’s hand pressed down on hers.
A shadow fell, and Xing Shuishui looked up to meet He Liansheng’s pitch-black eyes. His cast shadow enclosed her completely, making her appear especially small.
The young man looked down at her, enunciating each word: “Did you hear me?”
She reluctantly replied: “I heard.”
But her eyes were very happy.
He Liansheng discovered this little spirit was quite easily satisfied.
After finishing the medicine and resting a while longer, Xing Shuishui was bouncing around again. She ran downstairs. Everyone downstairs looked up at them. Xing Shuishui stayed close to He Liansheng’s side, behaving much more reserved.
After such a big incident last night, and being unconscious for a whole day, she still didn’t know the situation outside.
As soon as she sat down, Li Guanyu set up a sound-blocking formation. Li Guanxing alertly surveyed their surroundings.
Li Guanyu still couldn’t believe it: “This Hua Yue is really Senior Shangguan?”
Xing Shuishui said: “We discovered it by accident too.”
He Liansheng said: “I crossed hands with her. She’s undoubtedly from the Shangguan family.”
Li Guanyu asked: “This is troublesome… have you told your master?”
He Liansheng said indifferently: “Would telling him mean we don’t need to take her back to Lingshan?”
Li Guanyu was speechless: “If we could resolve this through persuasion, that would be better. If Senior Shangguan doesn’t suppress her power, neither of us might be her match. Do you have any chance of winning?”
He Liansheng raised his head, telling her a fact: “I’ve never lost.”
Li Guanyu asked again: “When do you plan to make your move?”
“At the matchmaking assembly,” He Liansheng sneered, “I want to see what kind of match a widow is looking for.”
This reminder made Li Guanyu realize: “Wait. Senior Shangguan never had children. Where did this young master come from?”
Xing Shuishui also suddenly realized this, putting down her chopsticks.
Right, Shangguan Houyue’s intended husband Shangguan Fu was killed on their wedding night, and she never remarried – where did such a grown son come from? Du Dizhu’s? Impossible, that young master had no trace of spirit energy. Lingshan wouldn’t have overlooked that. Most importantly, Hua Yiling never mentioned having a grandson. It seemed that after spending so many years in the dimensional space, he knew nothing about many things regarding Shangguan Houyue.
Fake pupils, fake son, real matchmaking.
What was Shangguan Houyue planning?
She even had a feeling. These things were aimed at her.
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