The snow in Sunan had stopped for several days.

After Lu Tong awakened, the physicians were overjoyed.

What had seemed an incurable illness, a candle destined to be extinguished, had at the last moment turned around and found hope in despair.

The physicians recorded this in their medical case files, determined that when the epidemic relief ended and they returned to the capital, they would summon all the physicians from the Imperial Medical Academy to study this case. It might become a major case study in the future medical history of the Great Liang.

Many people came to see her daily, each one feeling her pulse and asking about her condition. Lu Tong had been a physician for so many years, and this was her first time being a patient. At first she found it somewhat novel, but gradually it became overwhelming.

Li Wenhu and Cai Fang came once. The physicians hadn’t publicly disclosed Lu Tong’s past, so the two didn’t know about her years of drug testing. They thought Lu Tong’s old ailment had simply recurred, and when they came to visit, they spoke with her about the recent epidemic in Sunan.

“…The epidemic has been controlled. Everything at the epidemic shelter has been stable recently.” Cai Fang bowed deeply to Lu Tong with cupped hands. “Thanks to Physician Lu going up the mountain to find golden mushrooms, buying time for the patients. Now the red wood vine from Pingzhou has been transported to Sunan, and Chief Physician Chang and Commander Pei have also ordered people to immediately search for and send golden mushrooms from other places. The most dangerous time has passed.”

Lu Tong breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Wenhu scratched his head and smiled embarrassedly: “Sorry, Physician Lu. When I first came here, I looked down on you all, thinking you were like those previous people from the capital who only knew how to talk. I didn’t expect the physicians from the capital to be truly capable! I failed to recognize talent. Sorry!”

Lin Danqing entered from outside carrying a medicine bowl. Hearing this, she snorted: “No matter how incompetent the Hanlin Imperial Medical Academy might be, one still has to pass the spring examinations and score well in nine subjects to get in… Do you think all those nights spent studying during school were wasted?”

As she spoke, she bumped Li Wenhu with her shoulder, passed the two men, and placed the medicine bowl on the small table by the bed, looking at them with displeasure.

Li Wenhu and Cai Fang exchanged glances, sheepishly withdrew from the room, and closed the door behind them.

“What’s wrong?” Lu Tong asked.

“I already told them not to come disturb you. We’re watching over the Sunan epidemic. You’re still not fully recovered and should rest more. These two are so annoying, coming to bother a patient for no reason. How irritating is that?”

Lin Danqing usually wore a smiling face with everyone. Lu Tong rarely saw her being so impolite, and couldn’t help but smile.

“Stop worrying about the epidemic.” Lin Danqing used a handkerchief to pad the medicine bowl as she brought it to Lu Tong. “Everything’s been going well recently. Sister Lu, you’re not the only physician in the world. The talented physicians are all here, so at least have some faith in the talents selected through the Imperial Medical Bureau’s spring examinations. Acting like this makes the others lose face. How embarrassing.”

Lu Tong took the medicine bowl, lowered her head to drink it all, placed the empty bowl aside, and nodded: “You make sense. After all, this life of mine was saved by talented physicians.”

Mentioning this made Lin Danqing proud.

“Oh my,” she waved her hand with feigned modesty, “it was all thanks to my ancestor’s prescription. We just stumbled upon it by chance.”

That “blood exchange” medical prescription used poison very boldly. Ordinary people couldn’t withstand it – it was originally a method of seeking life from death. When Lu Tong had stopped breathing, everyone had despaired, but who knew that after breaking down, she would rebuild and return.

“However, it was also thanks to the golden mushrooms you brought back.” Lin Danqing thought for a moment. “If I hadn’t seen the golden mushrooms, I wouldn’t have thought of my ancestor’s prescription.”

In the “blood exchange” prescription, the final medicinal ingredient was golden mushrooms, used to neutralize the body-changing great poison. However, golden mushrooms weren’t native to the Central Plains, and even if they searched other regions, there wouldn’t be enough time. The golden mushrooms Lu Tong brought from Falling Plum Peak were originally meant as a substitute for red wood vine for the Sunan epidemic, but they solved this urgent need.

“However,” Lin Danqing was puzzled, “golden mushrooms prefer heat and fear cold. With snow on the mountain, how could golden mushrooms grow?”

Lu Tong smiled faintly.

She had also thought Falling Plum Peak would never grow golden mushrooms, that those seeds had long since died in the mountain soil. She hadn’t expected that the disappointed dream of her childhood would break through the soil and sprout again after many years.

Falling Plum Peak had grown the antidote.

This antidote ultimately saved her own life.

Fate was full of hardships, but always left a thread of hope at the end of the road.

Two knocks sounded at the door, and Ji Xun’s voice came from outside: “Physician Lu, it’s time for acupuncture.”

Lin Danqing stood up: “I’ll go out first and come talk with you later.”

Lu Tong nodded.

Ji Xun entered carrying his medicine box.

This “blood exchange” technique was performed by Chang Jin, Lin Danqing, and Ji Xun together. Lin Danqing excelled in gynecology, but Ji Xun was more skilled in acupuncture. After Lu Tong awakened, it didn’t mean she was completely healed – it only meant most of the poison in her body had been removed. She would need to continue detoxifying and carefully recuperating.

Lu Tong walked to the table and sat down. Ji Xun put down his medicine box and took out the golden needles.

“Physician Lin has changed your medicine. Did you have any pain today?” Ji Xun asked.

Lu Tong shook her head: “No.”

Ji Xun took the needles. Lu Tong rolled up her sleeves, and the golden needles slowly pierced her skin. Ji Xun’s gaze fell on the scars on her arm.

Those scars crisscrossed like ink marks on her thin arm, rough and uneven to the touch.

Ji Xun suddenly found them harsh to look at.

His movements paused, and he said: “Your constitution is special now. Ordinary wound medicine is useless on you. Even after the blood exchange, the medicines used must be quite potent. Continue recuperating, and slowly your body will return to normal. Then medicine will work on you again, and I’ll prepare new scar-removing medicine for you.”

Lu Tong was somewhat surprised that Ji Xun would voluntarily say these things to her, then replied: “It doesn’t matter. It’s actually not that important.”

Ji Xun paused, said nothing, and continued the acupuncture.

Gradually there were fewer and fewer golden needles on the cloth. After the last needle was inserted, he withdrew his hand, rolled up the cloth properly, was silent for a while, then suddenly spoke: “Physician Lu, when we first met in Sunan, the poison you had been affected by – was it Cold Silkworm Rain?”

Lu Tong was stunned for a moment, then nodded: “Yes.”

Ji Xun’s heart tightened.

That journal recording Lu Tong’s drug testing reactions had shocked everyone who knew about it.

Ji Xun had later flipped through the entire journal. When he saw the page about Cold Silkworm Rain, he suddenly felt the symptoms looked familiar, so he abruptly remembered that when he first met Lu Tong on the bridge in Sunan, he had felt her pulse and detected poisoning, which was why he insisted on taking her to the inn to detoxify for half a month.

At that time, she should have also been a drug tester.

No wonder when he had wanted to take Lu Tong to the medical hall, she had refused no matter what. Later, when he asked where her parents lived at the inn, she wouldn’t say a word. It was just that at the time, he was focused only on treating illness and had no mind to understand the other person’s past experiences. He thought leaving a piece of white jade and treating her well was already considerate enough.

Now he was beginning to regret it.

He regretted his youthful indifference, overlooking the deeper sorrow in her eyes. If he had been more careful then and noticed some clues, perhaps he could have discovered the truth about her drug testing and prevented her tragic fate, instead of missing by just a hair’s breadth and passing by.

“I’m sorry,” he spoke. “If I had asked you one more question then…”

Lu Tong was somewhat surprised.

“Physician Ji has already helped me a great deal,” she said. “If not for that, the poison I had been affected by wouldn’t have been resolved so quickly.”

But Ji Xun felt even worse.

“When you first entered the Imperial Medical Academy, I had many misunderstandings about you. I failed to distinguish right from wrong.”

He remembered scolding and lecturing Lu Tong because of Jin Xianrong and the Red Fragrant Catkins incident. He remembered later repeatedly discussing with Lu Tong in the medicine room about the way of using medicine and poison. He had always disapproved of Lu Tong’s medical practice being too forceful and domineering. Now it seemed there were answers to everything.

She was different from the students in the Imperial Medical Bureau who were carefully taught by teachers.

She had no teacher at all.

She was just a drug tester, covered in scars.

A child who had been used as a drug testing tool had later grown into a physician with exceptional medical skills. The effort required could be imagined. Her resilience and persistence were moving, and her silence was equally pitiful.

Pitiful.

As if belatedly becoming aware of some subtle thoughts of his own, he was startled.

Lu Tong said: “Physician Ji needn’t blame yourself. These are all things from the past. The urgent matter now should still be dealing with the Sunan epidemic. Since the epidemic has improved, things should be very busy next.”

Ji Xun gazed at her.

The woman had clear features and bright eyes. When speaking with him, her expression was peaceful, without the past coldness and indifference.

Lu Tong seemed different from before.

As if she had walked through the gates of death and put down many things, she had become lighter, softer, and when facing him, she was as comfortable as facing a friend.

He felt somewhat relieved, but beyond relief, for some reason, a trace of faint loss swept through his heart. Not knowing what to say, he could only remain silent.

Until the acupuncture ended, he withdrew the golden needles, gave Lu Tong a few more instructions, then left carrying his medicine box.

The room became quiet again.

Lu Tong sat at the table.

Night gradually deepened. The candle on the table flickered. She stood up, walked to the window, and opened it.

A gust of cold wind rushed in.

Since she had awakened, she had been kept indoors daily and not allowed to go out. Chang Jin was afraid she would be blown by wind or frozen by snow. After staying inside for so long, her limbs had become somewhat stiff.

Lu Tong thought for a moment, picked up a lantern from the corner, and went outside.

She had only taken two steps when a voice came from behind: “So late, where are you going?”

She turned back to see someone emerge from under a tree in the courtyard.

Night had deepened. The lantern illuminated a small area beneath her feet. Pei Yunying walked out from the shadows in the darkness, his rich and handsome features made especially gentle by the dim yellow lamplight. Walking up to her, he frowned as he looked at her for a while, then took off his outer cloak and draped it over her.

Lu Tong asked: “Why are you here?”

“I came to find you,” he sighed. “Who knew there was someone in your room. I was afraid of disturbing your heart-to-heart talk, so I waited here.”

Heart-to-heart talk?

Lu Tong was astonished: “Physician Ji came to give me acupuncture.”

“Oh,” he raised his eyebrows, “but when he left, he looked lost and dejected.”

Lu Tong: “…”

She didn’t know where this person’s “lost and dejected” came from. Ji Xun had seemed perfectly normal.

Pei Yunying glanced at her, lowered his head to fasten her cloak more tightly, and asked: “So, where are you planning to go?”

“It’s too stuffy inside. I want to go out for a walk.”

It was already late, and even though it wasn’t snowing, Sunan’s winter nights were particularly cold.

She also felt her suggestion was somewhat excessive. The next moment, a hand suddenly reached out and grasped hers.

That hand had distinct knuckles, long and warm, holding her hand. Lu Tong turned her head to look. He seemed unaware, only saying: “It is a bit stuffy. Let’s go.”

Lu Tong was stunned. He had already taken her hand and walked forward.

At the courtyard gate, guards were on duty. Seeing the two of them come out, they bowed their heads in salute, but their gaze fell on the two people’s clasped hands, their expressions somewhat strange.

Lu Tong felt embarrassed and wanted to pull her hand away, but he held it tightly.

She was silent for a while, gave up struggling, but the corner of her mouth imperceptibly curved upward.

The lantern’s light scattered on the ground. The accumulated snow was illuminated with a layer of crystalline warm light. Looking out, everywhere was bright and clear. When shoes stepped on the ground, they made crisp “rustle rustle” sounds. Cold wind blew, and wrapped in his large cloak, she felt very warm.

Lu Tong lowered her eyes.

In the days since coming down from Falling Plum Peak, Pei Yunying had been constantly watching over her.

He seemed frightened by her illness, staying by her side every moment. Later, after she awakened, Lin Danqing secretly whispered in her ear.

“This Commander of the Palace Guard, I used to think he was high and mighty, afraid of no one. I didn’t expect that when panicked, he’d be quite flustered too. From what I saw, if something had happened to you, he probably wouldn’t have demanded the physicians be buried with you like those ridiculous storybooks write…”

“…He would probably be willing to be buried himself.”

Lu Tong couldn’t help but look at him.

The young man walked in the snow. The night was like smoke and mist, soaking his heroic and handsome features, no longer showing the sharpness of before, gentle like that teardrop she had seen when she awakened.

That warm, raindrop-like tear.

Noticing her gaze, Pei Yunying looked down at her. Lu Tong turned her head away, shifting her gaze.

He paused, a trace of smile escaping from the corner of his mouth, but his tone was casual: “Watch the road.”

She lowered her head, deliberately stepped on a small stone, her body swaying slightly, but was firmly supported by the hand holding hers.

Pei Yunying made a “tsk” sound, looking at her with amusement: “You did that on purpose?”

“No.”

He said nothing, didn’t argue about her deliberate mischief, and held her hand even tighter.

Lu Tong didn’t speak.

Walking to the end, they were almost at the broken temple at the execution ground. Now that the epidemic shelter had moved, there was only a lonely light at the temple entrance. Looking in that direction was toward Falling Plum Peak. The moon shone over the snowy ground, reflecting a layer of shimmering light on the accumulated snow.

Lu Tong’s steps stopped.

The thatched hut in her dreams seemed to still look the same as before, but looking at it now, it didn’t feel as heavy as before. As if many burdens had been lifted.

“Lu Tong,” came Pei Yunying’s voice from beside her. He said: “There’s something I’m very curious about.”

“What is it?”

After a moment of silence, he said: “I saw Mo Ruyun’s tombstone on the mountain. When did she die?”

On Falling Plum Peak in the wasteland, seventeen grave mounds were shocking to behold. She had carved “Benevolent Teacher” on the tombstone, yet she was clearly Mo Ruyun’s drug testing tool.

Complex and confusing, mysterious and unclear.

Lu Tong’s heart stirred as she looked up at the person beside her.

He lowered his eyes, the night of Sunan reflected in them, his tone very gentle, but his question very sharp.

“Two years ago,” Lu Tong answered.

“So you came down the mountain after she died?”

“Yes.”

He nodded slightly: “I see.” He didn’t ask anymore.

As if deliberately avoiding this question.

The wind blew quietly. Lu Tong looked into the distance. In the night, Falling Plum Peak was only layers of tall, vague shadows, like lingering gloom covering the sky above Sunan.

Things from the past were always forcibly forgotten by her, but tonight was different. Perhaps because his lowered gaze was too gentle, or perhaps because the cloak on her shoulders was especially warm, she wasn’t affected by the wind and snow’s chill, so she felt relieved, so she was calm.

“You once asked me whether I was afraid when I killed Ke Chengxing,” Lu Tong suddenly spoke.

Pei Yunying was stunned.

That was from much earlier, when he already knew the secret of her revenge – a casual probing question that she had skillfully avoided.

“No.”

The long-delayed answer made him suddenly frown. Pei Yunying looked at her: “Lu Tong…”

She raised her eyes, looking toward the distant depths of Falling Plum Peak.

“Actually, the first person I killed wasn’t Ke Chengxing.”