“Let me examine the two young ladies’ conditions first,” Mo Sigui said.
Mei Yanran nodded.
Mo Sigui was more interested in Mei Jiu’s condition, but due to their previous unpleasant encounters, Mei Jiu anxiously shrank back.
Mei Ruyan smiled and said, “Cousin, my hand is hurting badly. Why don’t you look at mine first?”
“Alright,” Mo Sigui said with a slight smile, sitting down next to her.
Seeing his unsettling smile, Mei Ruyan innocently said, “Cousin, I’ve realized my mistake about accidentally making you fall into the water last time. You’re magnanimous enough to forgive small transgressions, so please don’t take this chance for revenge, okay?”
Realizing he’d been seen through, Mo Sigui laughed openly. “How could I? If you hadn’t reminded me, I would have forgotten all about it.”
His words were too ambiguous! Even Mei Jiu felt he had ill intentions.
“Mother, I’m afraid of pain,” Mei Ruyan withdrew her hand, looking pleadingly at Mei Yanran.
Mei Yanran took in the thoughts of all three and decided she didn’t mind protecting Mei Ruyan in such small matters. She smiled gently as if coaxing a child, “How childish. Didn’t it hurt when the doctor bandaged you yesterday? Sigui’s medical skills are renowned throughout Bianjing, far superior to that doctor’s. It won’t hurt at all, and this minor injury will heal in no time.”
The implication was clear: if it hurt or took long to heal, it would be Mo Sigui’s deliberate revenge. Mo Sigui had heard of Mei Yanran’s reputation since childhood and wouldn’t dare to seek revenge on her daughter under her nose, no matter how bold he was. “Aunt, you flatter me,” he said.
Only then did Mei Ruyan obediently extend her hand.
Mei Yanran watched Mei Ruyan’s poise and Mei Jiu’s shyness, feeling conflicted. Given Mei Jiu’s talents, she should have been outstanding, but Mei Yanran had reduced her to this timid state, and in the end, she still couldn’t escape her fate.
She felt guilty.
Mo Sigui lived up to his reputation as a skilled physician. He changed the medicine deftly, causing Mei Ruyan no pain. The cool medicine seeped into her fingers, quickly suppressing the burning sensation.
“Cousin’s medicine is truly miraculous. It doesn’t hurt at all now,” Mei Ruyan praised generously.
Mo Sigui was speechless. Of these two cousins, one appeared innocent and lively but hid sharp claws, while the other seemed weak and introverted but could show a violent side without warning.
The former was a typical two-faced person, quite normal. What intrigued Mo Sigui was Mei Jiu, who possessed two completely unrelated personalities.
“Cousin Xueju, you don’t look well. Let me check your pulse?” Mo Sigui said eagerly.
Mei Jiu shook her head repeatedly. “No, no, I was just startled. I’m not ill.”
You were startled? I was the one who was startled!
Mo Sigui inwardly gritted his teeth but maintained a faint, friendly smile. “Being startled can be serious or minor. If it leads to a fever that dispels the evil wind, that’s fine. But if it leaves a psychological scar, it will be difficult to cure in the future.”
A thought flashed through Mei Yanran’s mind. “An Jiu’er, let Sigui take a look.”
Unable to disobey her mother’s command, Mei Jiu bit her lip and extended her wrist with a tragic expression.
An Jiu didn’t want to react. Firstly, she disliked all doctors, and secondly, she disliked Mo Sigui. In the past, An Jiu had only two ways of dealing with such people: if they caused no trouble, she’d treat them like air; if they persisted in bothering her, she’d resort to one solution—kill. But now, she decided to endure temporarily.
As the cool fingers touched her wrist, Mei Jiu’s hair stood on end.
When diagnosing women’s pulses, doctors usually used a silk thread or placed a gossamer-thin silk handkerchief on the wrist. But neither was as accurate as direct contact, especially for detecting subtle changes in the pulse.
The Mei clan, with generations of martial artists regardless of gender, didn’t pay much attention to such formalities.
Mo Sigui closed his eyes, carefully feeling the pulse.
It was no different from a normal person’s. While ordinary people might consider two personalities as “possessions,” Mo Sigui wasn’t convinced. He determined it was a kind of illness.
“How is it?” Mei Yanran asked as she saw him withdraw his hand.
“A normal pulse,” he said, suddenly struck by an idea. He changed tack, “But there’s a slight fluctuation at the end of the normal pulse. It feels… as if I’m feeling one pulse under my fingers, with another pulse pressing against a suspended thread beneath.”
All three people and one soul in the room were shocked!
“I’ve never encountered such a situation before,” Mo Sigui said carefully. “We could try the Dream Locking Technique.”
“Cousin, you…” Mei Ruyan wanted to say, “You’re not taking this chance for revenge, are you?” But she did find Mei Jiu’s changes strange, so she changed her words to, “Are you sure?”
Mo Sigui looked at Mei Yanran instead. “I can’t be certain, but the Dream Locking Technique is harmless and beneficial. Since cousin has been frightened, it can help dispel the evil wind.”
How many people in this world can be completely selfless? Even the kind-hearted Mei Jiu had a selfish thought at this moment. An Jiu had threatened her mother’s life, which was always a potential danger. How good it would be if this opportunity could resolve the issue! But she also feared that if it failed, it might provoke An Jiu…
After much internal struggle, Mei Jiu still couldn’t make a decision.
“Let’s try it,” Mei Yanran decided for her.
“Mother, I don’t want to use the Dream Locking Technique,” Mei Jiu said anxiously.
Mei Yanran frowned. “Why not?”
Mei Yanran knew about the Dream Locking Technique. It would put a person in a state between sleep and wakefulness, uncovering and exposing hidden secrets. If it failed, the worst that could happen was the subject falling into a deep sleep or the technique having no effect. It truly seemed harmless. Mei Jiu’s recent actions had far exceeded Mei Yanran’s understanding of her, so she felt it was worth a try.
“Let him try,” An Jiu suddenly said.
Mei Jiu was startled. She asked carefully, “You want to try?”
An Jiu didn’t answer, and Mei Jiu reluctantly agreed under Mei Yanran’s persuasion.
Mo Sigui was overjoyed.
Then they watched as he took out the necessary items one by one: a small piece of something like sandalwood, several blood-red beads, a small snow-white porcelain incense burner with openwork patterns, and a small red-stoppered porcelain bottle.
Mei Ruyan stared. Either this was pre-planned, or he had stuffed all sorts of odds and ends on his person. Seeing his flowing sleeves, it didn’t seem like he could hide so many things, so she concluded it was the former.
“This is the antidote to the sleeping incense I’ve prepared. Aunt and Cousin Ruyan, please take it first to avoid falling asleep,” Mo Sigui said, pouring out two pills from the small porcelain bottle.
After they took the medicine, they sent Yaoyue and Danyu to guard outside, not allowing any disturbances.
Mei Jiu was so nervous she was sweating profusely, while An Jiu remained unusually silent, not responding to anything said.
Mo Sigui casually took out a flint from his sleeve, lit the incense stick, and placed it along with the red beads into the burner. Light smoke rose from the openwork patterns.
Mei Ruyan was impressed. He even dared to carry a flint on him, not afraid of accidentally setting himself on fire!
“Do you remember everything that happened in front of the ancestral hall?” Mo Sigui sat down opposite Mei Jiu.
Mei Jiu nodded, then shook her head. She remembered but didn’t know the entire process.
Mo Sigui didn’t question her actions, but continued, “Close your eyes. Can you smell the fragrance?”
The fragrance made people feel lazy all over. Mei Jiu slowly relaxed. “Yes.”
“What kind of fragrance is it?”
Mei Jiu heard Mo Sigui’s voice become gentle as if coming from the clouds. She murmured, “Pine scent.”
The white smoke from the incense burner had turned light red at some point.
“Do you see a pine forest stretching to the horizon? The moon rising in the east, clear springs gurgling, you feel your body become light, able to fly,” Mo Sigui whispered. “You’re getting closer to the bright moon, surrounded by vast clouds, not knowing where you are…”
Mei Jiu had closed her eyes. An Jiu saw only darkness, listening to his words impassively.
There was a time when An Jiu was frequently injected with sedatives, to the point where small doses of sleeping drugs had minimal effect on her. Later, when she joined the assassin organization, she underwent specialized training against hypnosis. No hypnosis could work on her.
This also caused great difficulty for psychologists in treating her, eventually leading her to rely on killing to alleviate the agitation in her blood.
“Who are you?” An Jiu heard Mo Sigui ask.