At the foot of the mountain where Xuanyuan Lige lived alone stood a small courtyard — simple, but not shabby — with an open garden stretching out in front. In the depths of winter, when a hundred flowers had withered, only the wintersweet blossomed in lively abundance.

Against the snow-white expanse of the courtyard, it added a splash of red too vivid to ignore.

When the old witch doctor arrived, Xuanyuan Lige was sitting in the courtyard, lost in thought, gazing at the boundless white snow, no telling what exactly was on his mind. The old witch doctor had already walked right up beside him, and he still hadn’t noticed!

One had to understand — for someone who had trained in martial arts for years, or for an imperial crown prince, this was an extremely dangerous lapse!

Because it meant leaving oneself utterly defenseless!

When Xuanyuan Lige finally noticed the old witch doctor’s presence, he himself gave a start — not startled by the old witch doctor, but startled by himself!

The northern desert was a haven cut off from the world, a place hundreds of times safer than even Nanzhao within all of Longyuan. Living here too long wouldn’t just wear away all his fighting spirit — it would wear away even his most basic vigilance!

And yet, wasn’t it precisely for this sense of ease and comfort that he had fled here to hide?

The corner of Xuanyuan Lige’s mouth curved into a faint, self-mocking smile. “Good morning, old sir.”

“Haha, it’s not so early anymore — I’ve already been to Madam Yu’s place to see a patient!” the old witch doctor said with a smile. He and Xuanyuan Lige were already quite familiar with each other, so without waiting to be invited, he poured his own tea and sat down across from him, immediately flipping open his medical text.

This medical text had been brought back for him from Da Zhou by someone he knew — there were quite a few medical case studies inside that he couldn’t quite understand.

Every time he came, he brought this book along to consult Xuanyuan Lige.

“Is Yu Xiaomeng ill?” Xuanyuan Lige’s brow furrowed slightly. Though he didn’t particularly like Yu Xiaomeng, not liking her wasn’t the same as disliking her.

That girl hadn’t come by in quite a few days now. Could something have happened to her?

“No, no, that girl is lively and full of energy every single day, how could she possibly fall ill! She’s gone and rescued another person from the Central Plains. She really does have a knack for connecting with you Central Plains folk,” the old witch doctor said with a laugh.

“A Central Plains person?” Xuanyuan Lige looked quite surprised. “Did she leave the northern desert after the bonfire gathering?”

To reach the northern desert from the Central Plains, one could only go through Xijing, or else through Xiongnu territory!

Xijing wasn’t peaceful, so ordinary people wouldn’t travel that way, and as for Xiongnu territory — Central Plains people would be even less willing to risk it!

“Not sure. I haven’t seen her in a while myself either. The one she rescued is a young lady. What’s strange, though, is that this young lady still hasn’t woken up — for the life of me I can’t quite figure out why,” the old witch doctor said, stroking his beard, looking troubled.

“Probably from Xijing,” Xuanyuan Lige asked, quite casually, as though merely making conversation.

“She’s probably from over that way — came from Xijing, they said, ran into wild wolves and was lucky enough to escape their jaws,” the old witch doctor said honestly.

At these words, Xuanyuan Lige suddenly grew serious, a hint of surprise crossing his face. “Ran into wild wolves and still escaped — was she alone?”

“I’m not sure about that either. In any case, it was that girl Xiaomeng who rescued her — ask her later and you’ll find out.” The old witch doctor was too preoccupied with his medical text to have much curiosity left over!

But Xuanyuan Lige had only asked in passing — his own curiosity had long since died.

The old man and the young man sat facing each other, and this conversation stretched on for an entire day.

Not until the sun sank into the west did the old witch doctor finally take his leave. As he was seen to the door, Xuanyuan Lige finally spoke up. “Old sir, has there been any sign of Xiongnu people around the clan recently?”

These days, what concerned him most was the safety and peace of the northern desert town.

That group of Xiongnu he’d seen the other night had clearly meant no good.

“Haven’t heard of any! Why do you ask?” the old witch doctor asked, puzzled.

“No reason, just asking casually.”

“Young master Xuanyuan, your complexion has been getting worse by the day — is everything alright?”

Every time the old witch doctor visited, he would study Xuanyuan Lige’s complexion, trying to guess what illness he might have. Unfortunately, Xuanyuan Lige always deflected the subject.

“It’s been like this since childhood, it’s nothing serious. It’s getting late, you should head back.”

The old witch doctor walked a few steps away, then turned back again, giving a helpless smile. “Young master Xuanyuan, anyone can see at a glance that you come from no ordinary background. Young as you are, if you’ve chosen to hide away in the northern desert for a peaceful life, then why not… why not simply settle down and make a home here! Actually, that girl from the Yu family really is quite—”

Before he could finish, Xuanyuan Lige cut him off. “Safe travels, old sir.”

With that, he turned and went back inside, leaving the old witch doctor alone, shaking his head helplessly.

Meanwhile, at Madam Yu’s house, Yu Xiaomeng still hadn’t left Ziqing’s side for even a moment.

Madam Yu, meanwhile, busied herself running around arranging the matchmaking meeting, not returning until quite late.

“Mother, if you keep this up, I’ll just hire someone to help!” Yu Xiaomeng said, displeased.

“Hire someone? Can you even afford it?” Madam Yu rolled her eyes, thoroughly dismissive.

“Mother, you’re doing this on purpose!”

Yu Xiaomeng was getting angry — if she had to keep watch like this, she wouldn’t be able to get anything else done at all!

“No one’s making you keep watch like this. You’re free to go do whatever you like.”

“What if she wakes up while I’m gone, what if something happens? The old witch doctor just kept saying ‘unconscious, unconscious’ without explaining anything!”

Yu Xiaomeng was quite worked up, and Madam Yu secretly laughed to herself — she’d deliberately avoided helping all day long, precisely so this unconscious girl could keep Yu Xiaomeng tied down for a few days!

“That’s right, what if she accidentally dies right here in our house, that would bring us bad luck too — you’d better keep a close watch on her,” Madam Yu said with a smile, turning to leave again.

Yu Xiaomeng lost her temper and rushed over to block the doorway. “Old lady, can you please stop this? I promise I won’t go see Xuanyuan Lige anymore, all right? I really do have a lot of things to take care of. You have nothing to do all day — just help me out, stay home, and check on her now and then, would that be so hard?”

Madam Yu shook her head, leaving no room for negotiation. “No!”

“You!” Yu Xiaomeng was so frustrated she could barely speak.

“Don’t worry, once she’s had her medicine, she might well wake up tomorrow. Keep good watch tonight,” Madam Yu said seriously, then pushed past Yu Xiaomeng and headed out the door again!

“You! You! You!” Yu Xiaomeng was so furious she nearly breathed fire, pointing at her mother’s retreating back. “Fine! You’re the one who’s forcing me to do this!”

With that, she immediately went back into the room and hoisted Ziqing onto her back. Even in her anger, she was still a careful, thoughtful girl — worried Ziqing might catch cold, she set her back down, wrapped her in a quilt, and then, with effort, hoisted her up again.

She had always been an obedient, good child, but once truly pushed to her limit, she was capable of anything!

And what’s more, she made a point of doing exactly the opposite of whatever the person pushing her wanted!

“Miss, let’s go. I’ll take you to meet a fellow countryman of yours — I once rescued another person from the Central Plains too, you know!”

With that, Yu Xiaomeng steeled herself, gritted her teeth, and immediately hoisted Ziqing onto her back and headed out the door, striding forcefully toward the small courtyard at the foot of the mountain where Xuanyuan Lige lived!