To Travel by the Edge of a Creek - CH 28

“Leader, your medicine has arrived.” Zhu Li presented a serving tray with a bowl of medicine. That medicine was not actual medicine, but a bowl of human blood.

Azar, with bloodshot eyes and the appearance of an evil tiger attacking a sheep, raised the bowl and swallowed the blood in one gulp. He shut his eyes and let out a relieved sigh. He circulated his qi, then, when he opened his eyes again, the blood vessels disappeared from his eyes as they returned to normal.

“Zhu Li, you’ve handled this well.”

“All was the blessings of the Father.” Zhu Li lowered his head in salute, “But that Luo Zhu has been enabling the Saintess more and more, even bringing an uninitiated central plains person back to the sect.”

“This lord already knows of this matter, and this lord knows that you dislike people of the central plains. If my Manichaen Sect is to one day rule the central plains, we cannot act rashly now.” Back then, Azar had hastily expanded Manichaeism into the central plains, creating dissatisfaction amongst the many sects there. Furthermore, because he practiced the demonic art of ‘Returning to the Beginning,’ he became impulsive and crazy with impatience, harming the disciples of the Qingshan Sect, which he was previously on good terms with, and intensified the conflict between the Manichaens and Wulin of the central plains. In the end, he was met with failure and retreated back to Xiyu for many years, leaving everything in the care of Luo Zhu.

Over the years, there had been improvements, and Longxi had friendly relations with them. Eventually, they would return to the central plains. However, this ‘Returning to the Beginning’ art was poisonous. Originally, he had only needed Luo Zhu’s assistance to purchase medicine from the central plains to suppress the poison. In the past year, he had grown bloodthirsty. When Zhu Li had arrived, he had gone crazy and killed his subordinate, only returning to normal once he consumed his blood. Now, he relied on Zhu Li, who brought him a bowl of fresh heart’s blood each month.

Azar looked at Zhu Li’s respectful appearance. He had really exerted himself for Azar this past half a year. He said: “If Luo Zhu and the Saintess repeat their offenses, this lord will punish them both severely.”

“The leader is wise.” Zhu Li withdrew from the Palace of Light.

Na Cuo was standing outside of the palace. When he saw Zhu Li come out, he immediately started to follow him, “How is the leader? If it hadn’t been for He Xi’s meddling this time, I wouldn’t have had to lose a subordinate.”

First, He Xi had brought back that central plains person who had hurt him, then she had made him lose a subordinate with her actions. This account must be settled with He Xi.

“That old thing is still protecting Luo Zhu.” Zhu Li said through gritted teeth, “When the time comes, I’ll send off his Luo Zhu myself!”

…

By the time Jiang Ling woke up, her fever had already receded. “The inn? Cough cough cough.” Her voice was hoarse. Her mouth felt dry, so she wanted to crawl over and drink some water. Just then, a silhouette flashed at the doorway and someone entered.

“He Xi?” Jiang Ling was astonished. Why was He Xi here? Furthermore, she was not wearing her veil, so her beautiful face was exposed. Jiang Ling immediately pulled the blankets up over her nose, “He Xi, leave, quickly!”

“Do you want some water?” He Xi came forward, paying Jiang Ling’s reaction no heed. She walked to the table and poured some water for Jiang Ling, then sat by the bedside and passed the cup over to Jiang Ling.

“You should leave. I caught the febrile disease, I could…cough cough…pass it to you!” Jiang Ling wrapped herself in the blanket and retracted into the back corner of the bed.

He Xi’s lips hooked upward, “The Manichaens receive the protection of the Father, so we don’t catch the disease.” Jiang Ling, as before, did not believe her. She definitely would not draw near He Xi.

“I was in Shahai Village for half a month before coming here and it was so. If you don’t believe me, just ask Zhuo Zhuo.” He Xi lifted her hand, gesturing for Jiang Ling to drink.

Half believing and half not, Jiang Ling covered her nose and scooted closer to He Xi, grabbing the cup with her left hand before retracting back into the corner and downing the cup beneath the blanket. She approached He Xi again to return the cup. As He Xi watched her movements, she chuckled and reached over to pull down the blanket. Jiang Ling, startled, covered the lower half of her face with her elbow, revealing a pair of dewy eyes that were staring at He Xi in alarm. He Xi felt like teasing her, so she placed a knee on the bed and reached out to grab Jiang Ling’s hands.

“Saintess-jiejie, Jiang Liu’s medicine is done…oops[1]” Zhuo Zhuo turned around conscientiously, afraid to interrupt their little happy occasion, “I’ll put the medicine…

“Give it to me.” He Xi suddenly appeared before Zhuo Zhuo, scaring him so much he almost dropped the medicine bowl. He Xi swiftly took the bowl, “Go out. Close the door behind you.”

“Uh…alright.” Zhuo Zhuo walked out woodenly, closing the door behind him.

Jiang Ling snorted, “Seems like he misunderstood us.”

He Xi passed the medicine to Jiang Ling, then sat beside the bed again, “Misunderstood what?” Sunlight shined in through the window, the dust in the air haloing He Xi in gold, beautiful enough to topple a city[2]. Jiang Ling was lost in the sight.

“Misunderstood what about us?” He Xin repeated the question, holding the bowl. Jiang Ling returned to herself and took the bowl, “No…nothing.” Jiang Ling felt a bit guilty. She turned around and drank the medicine in one gulp, then passed the bowl to He Xi with her back toward her.

“Is it bitter?” He Xi stood her ground.

“It’s bitter. I look ugly drinking medicine. I won’t show you.”

“What kind of appearance of yours haven’t I seen?”

“…”

Jiang Ling thought that the heavens must have sent He Xi to keep her under wraps. Before, even if she lost in a battle of words, she would not lose like this, defeated within a couple of sentences.

Before…as soon as she thought of the time before, Jiang Ling’s mood dropped. She turned her back to He Xi and laid down without a word. He Xi thought that she must be tired and, not wanting to interrupt her rest, left the room, closing the door softly behind her.

Jiang Ling turned and laid flat on her back, staring at the stone ceiling above her in a daze. The blood stirred within her heart. What could she do? Her like toward He Xi had long since been covered in enmity. She had never been so conflicted before. She even felt that she could no longer face ‘Qian Shui’.

“Shixiong, what should I do?” Jiang Ling buried herself under the blanket.

That night, He Xi brought Jiang Ling some medicine. After drinking the medicine, Jiang Ling sat on the bed, “How did you come here?” Jiang Ling was already much better; she did not even cough anymore.

“Your little shixiong called us over.” He Xi put the empty bowl on the table and sat at the bedside close to Jiang Ling. Jiang Ling’s gaze followed He Xi’s movements.

“‘Us’?” Jiang Ling asked uncertainly, having only seen He Xi.

“Grandmother A Xi was also here, but she went back to Shahai Village. There are many more patients there.” He Xi explained.

Jiang Ling knew that He Xi was investigating the febrile disease and, recalling the villagers words about Shen Xiuqi and the rest leaving with nothing to show for it, Jiang Ling thought to ask He Xi a few things about it: “What do you think is going on with this febrile disease?”

“We haven’t found the source. We’ve quarantined the sick patients, but there are still new cases.” He Xi furrowed her brow, “What happened to you?”

“Zhuo Zhuo and I indeed went to Shahai Village, but if I was infected by Zhuo Zhuo, then who infected Zhuo Zhuo?” Jiang Ling remembered Zhuo Zhuo saying that he encountered one person, but that person was healthy, and Zhuo Zhuo kept a distance of ten zhang between them and his face covered. How would he catch the illness? “Then why are the Manichaen followers fine? Don’t say it’s the protection of your Holy Father, I don’t believe in that stuff.”

He Xi tilted her head as she thought. If it was not the Holy Father, then, “Protector Zhu Li arranges a sacred water cleansing every month for the followers, but this still seems to be a ritual related to the Holy Father.”

“Isn’t the sacred water a cure, then, since you all don’t get the febrile disease after drinking it…” Jiang Ling had never believed in the divine.

“A cure…” He Xi became lost in thought. Jiang Ling’s words had cleared her head a bit. She should remove the Holy Father from her thoughts if she wanted to determine the root cause of the febrile disease, “Jiang Ling, have there ever been any special cases of illness in the central plains.”

“I think so.” Jiang Ling dug into her memory, “I remember that the villagers below the mountain kept having bouts of diarrhea and they thought that they had caught an illness. My shifu was called down the mountain. Do you know what ended up being it?”

“What was it?”

“It turns out that Xiao Zhang and Xiao Wang, who was from a neighboring village, got into a spat. Xiao Wang got so angry that he put crotons[3] in the village well!” Jiang Ling slapped her leg, suddenly seeing the light, “Zhuo Zhuo drew water in Shahai Village!”

“Someone poisoned the well.” He Xi and Jiang Ling thought in tandem, “What about you? Did you drink water in Shahai Village?” If it was not a disease, but rather a fabricated epidemic created using poison, Jiang Ling could not have caught the illness from Zhuo Zhuo nor have gotten it from Shahai Village.

“The day I went to Shahai Village to buy medicine for Zhuo Zhuo, I forgot to bring water, so I found a well and drew up some water.”

“But the water is flowing below the well. A poison couldn’t have lasted this long.” The flowing water would carry the poison away.

“So someone must be adding poison constantly.” Jiang Ling said.

Up to this point, everything spoken seemed reasonable. When He Xi pondered the issue more, she felt the matter to be far deeper. The Manichaens would not get sick after drinking the sacred water. Zhu Li must be involved with this poison. Was it for missionary work? A Na had, indeed, started converting the common people of Xiyu because of the febrile disease. He Xi felt a faint sense that there was a deeper conspiracy at work, but she had not found a breakthrough. She would wait until she had finished her investigation, then return and discuss the matter with Luo Zhu.

“Speaking of which, Shen-shixiong must have drunk the poisoned water.”

“Shen-shixiong?” Jiang Ling really had too many shixiong. As Jiang Ling spoke of her reasons for coming, He Xi turned her ear to listen attentively.

“So, you didn’t come here for me originally.” She did not know why, but for some reason, He Xi suddenly felt empty inside.

“I did come for you. To kill you.” This was indeed a reason. Jiang Ling bared her teeth, feigning viciousness.

“Oh.” He Xi drawled, “Then Miss Jiang should take action soon. I’m right here.” He Xi said, a smile in her voice.

“…” Jiang Ling was rendered speechless once again. She had not been able to beat He Xi before, and, moreover, He Xi had saved her numerous times now. She had already lost the intention to kill her. Her heart, which had already been muddled, was now in complete disarray. Looking at He Xi with an expression of ‘what am I going to do with you,’ she, even more so, could not be angry with her. Suddenly, she pounced on He Xi, pressing her down on the bed, “Then here I come!”

Jiang Ling pressed her left hand on He Xi’s right shoulder, supporting herself. He Xi’s hand lightly rested on Jiang Ling’s waist. Jiang Ling faced He Xi, baring her teeth to be fierce. Seeing this kind of expression on Jiang Ling, He Xi couldn’t help but turn her head away to smile. With this tilt of her head, He Xi’s long, slender neck was exposed to Jiang Ling’s eyes, an enchanting sight under the dim candlelight. Jiang Ling, inexplicably, swallowed, a flash of heat running through her body. She endured the impulse to place her head in the crook of He Xi’s neck, to lay down next to her and gaze at the back of her head.

Jiang Ling was startled by the sudden impulse. Why would she have such an idea? It feels too strange…

Jiang Ling, who did not know what was wrong with her, laid everything on He Xi. And so, she turned around, saying stiffly with her back to He Xi, “He Xi, how could you show up here again?”