In Bi Lianyi’s room.

Fu Zhumei had been channeling energy for him for over half an hour. Wen Renhe was extremely anxious. If it were anyone else continuously using true force to save someone, they would have long since been exhausted and depleted. But Fu Zhumei obviously wasn’t thinking about when he might injure himself—he was only thinking of doing his utmost to force out the evil true force from Bi Lianyi’s chest.

But despite channeling true force for so long, he could only see Bi Lianyi’s chest rising and falling. The charred wound contrasted with the slightly pale skin of his chest, creating a very frightening sight, yet showing no improvement. Wen Renhe had inserted twelve silver needles into the major acupoints throughout Bi Lianyi’s body, coordinating with Fu Zhumei’s energy channeling. He could barely prevent the intense heat from Bi Lianyi’s chest from excessively invading his qi and blood, but couldn’t think of any new methods for the moment.

The gentle sunlight gradually slanted, winter sunlight always being particularly warm, slowly illuminating the room. Bi Lianyi’s breathing gradually became rapid. Even with Fu Zhumei and Wen Renhe exerting their full efforts, they still couldn’t prevent his condition from beginning to gradually deteriorate.

A figure slowly appeared in the room with the sunlight.

Wen Renhe turned around. Standing at the front of the room was Miss Hong. He fundamentally disliked this young woman who served Fengliu Shop. Seeing her standing in the doorway, he snorted heavily, turned, and left. The silver needles on Bi Lianyi’s body had already been inserted. With Fu Zhumei here, he supposed this woman wouldn’t dare do anything to Bi Lianyi.

Though Fu Zhumei was channeling energy, he could still open his eyes and speak. Seeing Miss Hong standing in the doorway, he very much wanted to smile at her, but was afraid she might suddenly become angry. So wanting to smile but not daring to, his face turned completely red from holding it in. Miss Hong saw this and smiled very faintly, walking slowly into the room.

Bi Lianyi slowly opened his eyes, glanced at her, then closed them again. Fu Zhumei felt the true qi in his chest become slightly disordered, then stabilize again. His heart was immediately filled with indescribable admiration. If he had received this kind of serious injury that might not be curable, and someone he loved came to visit, his emotions would definitely be very excited, wouldn’t they?

“You…” Miss Hong bent down to look at Bi Lianyi, her voice very soft. “Are you about to die?”

“Cough cough…” Bi Lianyi opened his eyes. “Yes.”

Miss Hong stared at him fixedly, as if testing whether he was lying. After looking for a while, she slowly said, “You… if you were going to die for me, perhaps… I wouldn’t come to see you.” The evening wind blew, and she reached up to arrange her hair, the gesture very elegant. “Just like if I died for my Master, he definitely wouldn’t come to see me either. But I didn’t think that you… you could still risk your life for other things…”

Fu Zhumei listened blankly. He seemed to understand somewhat, but most of it he didn’t understand. He earnestly refuted, “Ah, are you talking about A’Yan? He wouldn’t like you dying for him—he’d be very upset.”

Miss Hong paid no attention to him, still saying faintly, “Is this what men are like?”

“I won’t let Biluo Palace suffer any harm.” Bi Lianyi’s gaze was very calm, as if he didn’t feel he had received an incurable injury, and as if he didn’t feel pain. “It’s only that simple.”

Miss Hong looked at the wound on his chest. “You’re not afraid even of receiving such an injury yourself?”

Bi Lianyi said, “I’m not afraid.”

“Aren’t you afraid of death?” Miss Hong asked in a low voice. “Dying like this, having nothing in your whole life, living only for Biluo Palace—don’t you have regrets?”

Bi Lianyi closed his eyes. Though his voice was very soft, it was still very deep. “No regrets.”

Miss Hong looked at him. Indeed, not even his eyelashes trembled once. “You… you really are a very resolute person.” Her voice carried a slight tremor. “Have you never… doubted, been afraid? Never been unwilling, never worried about gains and losses?”

Bi Lianyi fell silent. Fu Zhumei listened to her words in stunned amazement, only feeling that his mind wasn’t very clever to begin with, and listening to Miss Hong speak was making him more and more confused.

“I don’t believe people can be this resolute.” She continued in a low voice. “There’s a kind of… a kind of…” She said slowly, “There’s a suspicion of not wanting anyone to worry.”

Bi Lianyi trembled slightly. Fu Zhumei felt that the true qi circulating steadily within him suddenly became chaotic. Miss Hong’s voice rose, “I don’t believe anyone can have no regrets, whether they’re about to die or continuing to live. As long as they’re living people… I feel there are regrets every day. There are always things not finished, always various hopes, always plans and thoughts about the future! There will always be many things done wrong, many failures, many things without hope, so there will be constant regret and remorse! Like how you like me, but I not only don’t take you seriously, I repeatedly harm your sacred and inviolable Biluo Palace! Do you say you have no regrets? Do you say you don’t want to change? Do you dare say you have no expectations?” She paused. “Even though you’re about to die, precisely because you’re about to die… refusing to admit your unwillingness, wanting to cover up your regrets, putting on an appearance that won’t make anyone worry—that’s what makes people feel…” Her voice lowered. After a while, she said, “Very regretful, very unwilling.”

Fu Zhumei exerted all his effort to keep Bi Lianyi’s true force from going astray. In this instant, his internal breath became so disordered he could barely find any thread.

“Cough cough…” The wound on Bi Lianyi’s chest became even more charred. Fu Zhumei felt his voice was more than a hundred times calmer than his internal breath. “Miss Hong, please return.” He said calmly, “It’s getting late.”

“Hey, if you don’t die this time, I…” Miss Hong didn’t leave, saying slowly, “I… have an idea.”

Bi Lianyi said, “Miss, return early. You’re disturbing my…”

Miss Hong interrupted him. “In the future, don’t die for Biluo Palace, and I won’t die for my Master either, all right?” She asked in a low voice, “All right?”

Fu Zhumei’s eyes widened. He somewhat understood her meaning. Bi Lianyi’s chest rose and fell, his breathing somewhat irregular. “I…”

“I don’t want you to die at all, do you know? You are the only person in my entire life who has truly cared about me.” Miss Hong continued in a low voice. “I… I want to be better to you in the future, so… don’t put on an appearance that won’t make anyone worry. Don’t think that this way someone will believe you died worthily—this will only make people worry more.” She suddenly smiled faintly. “Don’t die, all right?”

“Miss Hong,” Bi Lianyi also had a faint smile at the corner of his lips, “haven’t you always been very brave, having long decided to sacrifice yourself for Liu Yan, ready to die for him at any time?”

Miss Hong turned and walked toward the door. “Mm, but starting today I understand that dying for something isn’t necessarily…” She walked outside the door and said in a low voice, “…necessarily a good thing.”

Fu Zhumei watched her walk away without looking back. “Little Bi, I think she really will never die for A’Yan again!”

Bi Lianyi closed his eyes and coughed a few times. “You should stop.”

Fu Zhumei was startled. “Why?”

Bi Lianyi said in a deep voice, “It’s been an hour. If you continue, you’ll exhaust your internal energy and seriously damage your vitality. If Zhu Yan comes again… cough cough…” His complexion grew paler and paler. “Biluo Palace will be in danger.”

“I won’t let go.” Fu Zhumei sighed. “Besides, Zhu Yan isn’t here now. All these ‘what ifs’ haven’t happened yet… You’re seriously injured—how could I let go?”

He wasn’t as thoughtful as Bi Lianyi, nor did he have any clever strategies for repelling enemies, but asking him to let go and watch Bi Lianyi die was absolutely impossible.

“Cough cough…” Bi Lianyi suddenly began coughing violently. “I…”

“Don’t put on an appearance that won’t make anyone worry,” Fu Zhumei tried to soften his slightly childish voice. “Miss Hong was right. She worries about you, I worry about you, everyone worries about you very much. It’s very good like this. I think she’s changed a little bit. In the future she might really be better to you. Don’t you feel excited about that?”

“I…” Bi Lianyi suddenly opened his mouth and spat out a large mouthful of blood. “But I…”

In an instant, the blockage that had been clogged in his chest suddenly burst through. His true qi flowed unobstructed, and the blood from his wound immediately stopped. Fu Zhumei released his hands. Bi Lianyi couldn’t stop coughing, spitting out several more mouthfuls of blood. That fresh blood spurted out burning like fierce fire, splashing onto the bedding and causing it to curl up into a ball from the heat.

“Cough cough cough…” Bi Lianyi could barely breathe. After expelling that mass of burning true qi that seemed capable of charring flesh and blood, his chest seemed filled with fresh blood, unable to breathe in air.