Meng Duo’er woke in pain, and upon seeing everyone gathered around her, froze for a moment, then pressed her lips tightly together, very nearly bursting into tears. When she’d woken up in the night, still weak and without her strength recovered, she’d suddenly found a snake looming right in front of her!
She had fought against that snake for a full three hours, until the night grew cold, until she was utterly exhausted, unable to muster even the tiniest bit of strength. Once she fainted, all she could feel was being trapped, coiled tight.
She knew exactly what was happening — she simply couldn’t even keep her eyelids open, she was so exhausted!
It wasn’t that she’d given up struggling — she simply had no strength left to struggle at all. She had genuinely believed she was going to die.
And yet, the moment she woke, she found everyone gathered around her — that feeling was truly, truly wonderful!
Meng Duo’er wanted desperately to throw herself into Ziqing’s arms and cry, but since she wasn’t especially close with this woman yet, she held herself back.
“It’s alright now, don’t be afraid!”
Ziqing said softly, pressing gently on Meng Duo’er’s ankle again, and seeing her wince, asked, “Does it hurt here?”
Meng Duo’er nodded immediately. Ziqing stepped aside, letting Jue Mingzi come examine it.
Jue Mingzi seemed to have already guessed something, warning her before he even touched it. “Girl, this is going to hurt quite a lot. Try to bear with it.”
Meng Duo’er nodded — but the moment Jue Mingzi’s hand pressed down, she immediately cried out, “AH… AH… AH…”
It had to be said, Jue Mingzi was remarkably professional — no matter how much Meng Duo’er screamed, his expression never changed, his face grave and focused as he probed and pressed, quite differently from how Ziqing had checked.
His technique was precise, thorough, methodical, working his way carefully along the entire ankle.
And yet Meng Duo’er’s screaming showed no sign of stopping — the pain truly was unbearable.
They had originally assumed her ankle was simply sprained, or perhaps fractured — but this persistent, unrelenting pain now stirred unease. This was clearly a serious problem.
Meng Duo’er desperately wanted to hold back her screams, but she simply couldn’t.
“AH… AH…”
It hurt so much!
Jue Mingzi showed no sign of stopping, continuing to press and probe, tracing his fingers along her shin bone from the ankle upward, feeling his way up.
The pain seemed to trace along a fracture line, radiating from her ankle all the way up her shin bone!
“AH — let go! Let go!”
Finally, Meng Duo’er couldn’t bear it any longer. At that very moment, Baili Weisheng, appearing seemingly out of nowhere, suddenly rolled up his sleeve and thrust his hand toward her mouth!
Meng Duo’er, past caring about anything else, immediately lunged forward and bit down hard on Baili Weisheng’s large hand!
At last, her screaming cut off abruptly!
Everyone glanced up at Baili Weisheng for a moment, then quickly returned their attention downward.
Judging by the grave, serious expression on Jue Mingzi’s face alone, it was clear the ankle bone was very likely shattered.
Everyone’s attention was fixed on Jue Mingzi’s hands — only Meng Duo’er kept her eyes squeezed shut, biting down with all her might, summoning every last ounce of strength to endure the pain!
Only this way could she distract herself enough to bear it!
After a long while, Jue Mingzi finally spoke. “Here, here, and here too — a comminuted fracture. This is troublesome. Without at least half a year, I doubt it will fully heal. Xiong Bao, fetch the medicine chest. We need to treat this right away.”
With that, Jue Mingzi finally released his grip — but even as he let go, Meng Duo’er still hadn’t released her bite.
The pain didn’t ease at all with Jue Mingzi’s release — if anything, it grew worse.
By this point, even Baili Weisheng’s brow had furrowed slightly.
Once the medicine and supplies were ready, Jue Mingzi began the treatment immediately. Ziqing helped ease Meng Duo’er into a lying position, while Baili Weisheng knelt on one knee beside her, holding his arm out the entire time.
Jue Mingzi needed an assistant, so Ziqing and Jun Beiyue helped from either side, while Madam Jinjiao and the others waited nearby, anxiously watching, occasionally glancing over at Meng Duo’er — and seeing that pained expression on her face, none of them could bear to keep looking!
Helplessly, no one paid any attention to Baili Weisheng at all — only Baili Xiaosheng kept her focus entirely on her master’s hand.
She wished desperately she could take his place, but seeing how grave his expression was, she didn’t dare say anything, only carefully wiping away the fine beads of sweat at his temples.
All around, complete silence, everyone’s attention fixed entirely on the ankle.
Baili Weisheng, too, watched without blinking. As time passed, the treatment proceeded smoothly, though it required a considerable amount of time.
Meng Duo’er had already slipped into a half-conscious state from the pain, her biting now entirely unconscious.
Drifting in and out, sometimes lucid for brief moments, sometimes falling completely limp and faint, on and off.
She had no idea how much time had passed before she began to feel the pain gradually easing, her legs slowly going numb.
She tried hard to open her eyes, but helplessly, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t manage it. She was simply too exhausted.
Exhausted from the pain — that was it.
Then suddenly, something began trickling slowly down from near her mouth, wet and warm, sliding down her cheek, dripping from her collar down into her neck.
What was that?
Meng Duo’er felt confused, but had no strength left to think much about it.
Only, gradually, it wasn’t just a single drop — but many, more and more of them, trickling steadily down the corner of her mouth into her neck, warm and wet, even somewhat sticky!
Finally, Meng Duo’er sensed something was wrong, and in her hazy, half-conscious state, she gradually caught the scent of blood!
The scent of blood!
Suddenly! Her eyes flew open — heaven only knew where she found the strength, but in an instant, her eyes snapped wide open!
The moment her eyes opened, what she saw was Baili Weisheng’s face, handsome and refined as a lotus blossom.
So close, so very close to her — as close as that one time back in the capital of Great Zhou. She could see everything on his face with perfect clarity — his handsome features, his flawless skin, his beautifully long lashes, and, right now, his solemn, focused eyes!
As far as she could remember, she had never once seen this man wear such a serious, focused expression before!
He was either grinning cheerfully, heedless of everything, or coldly ruthless, terrifying as a demon incarnate!
This kind of complete focus, this seriousness — this was the very first time she’d ever seen it!
At that moment, with everyone’s attention fixed entirely on her ankle, Meng Duo’er suddenly felt as though, in that instant, the entire world contained nothing but this one man!
Meng Duo’er stared, utterly transfixed — but as the scent of blood grew stronger and stronger, she suddenly snapped back to her senses, and only then realized the blood was coming from the very spot she’d been biting down on!
His hand!
She had bitten him!
Meng Duo’er started in alarm, immediately releasing her bite. At this, Baili Weisheng noticed at last.
He glanced up at her, frowning, still deeply focused, but only spared her a single glance — said nothing, asked nothing — and turned his attention right back to her ankle.
Watching his firm, resolute profile, Meng Duo’er suddenly felt as though something had struck her square in the chest — an indescribable feeling, one she couldn’t put into words, only that her heart was suddenly pounding so fast, so hard, it felt as though it might leap right out of her chest!
As for the pain — she’d forgotten about it completely.
But she wasn’t the only one who had noticed Baili Weisheng’s injured hand — Baili Xiaosheng had noticed it too!
“Master…”
Baili Xiaosheng, both furious and heartbroken, gritted her teeth and hurriedly tore off a strip of her own clothing, moving to bandage Baili Weisheng’s hand.
But when she reached for his hand, Baili Weisheng pulled it away, frowning as he glanced over, shooting a look at Meng Duo’er before saying flatly, “Doesn’t hurt anymore?”