Smoke curled from the medicinal burner. The woman before him was half-dressed, her skin like congealed cream. Her thin undershirt revealed the outline of her impressive bosom. As the true energy guided the medicine through her body, the ice slowly melted. This was an extremely lengthy process, and Mo Sigui’s true energy was constantly being depleted.
Lou Xiaowu watched anxiously. True energy could be regenerated, but if it was exhausted carelessly, it could damage the dantian and Qi Sea. She had strong mental power but weak inner force, and her attributes differed from Mo Sigui’s. She could only stand by, feeling helpless.
Amid the lingering medicinal fragrance, a full two hours passed before Mo Sigui finally removed the last silver needle.
“Brother Mo, how is it?” Lou Xiaowu, who had held her tongue for so long, could finally speak.
Mo Sigui collapsed on the bed, glancing at Lou Mingyue’s profile before closing his eyes. “It’s fine. Continue with the medicinal incense. I need to rest for a while.”
With that, he closed his eyes.
The weight on Lou Xiaowu’s heart finally lifted. She reached out to cover Lou Mingyue with a quilt, noticing that Mo Sigui was still wearing his heavy outer garments. She thought it must be uncomfortable.
“You’ve seen my second sister’s body, and you have intentions towards her. You’ve pulled her back from death’s door, and you’ll be married sooner or later anyway…” Lou Xiaowu muttered to herself as she went to help remove his outer clothing.
Seeing Mo Sigui’s white undergarment, Lou Xiaowu mumbled, “It’s not quite right for a sister-in-law to undress her brother-in-law, but it’s fine. Little Wu is still young.”
As if confirming that what she was doing wasn’t wrong, Lou Xiaowu’s movements became more brisk. In no time, she had stripped Mo Sigui of his clothes and thoughtfully covered both of them with the same quilt.
Mo Sigui had passed out from exhaustion and didn’t wake despite all this commotion.
Lou Xiaowu added some of Mo Sigui’s medicinal powder to the burner, then quietly went out to see if there were any other survivors in the estate.
The Lou estate was vast, but due to its small population, half of it had fallen into disuse. Lou Xiaowu searched the inhabited areas for over an hour but found no one else.
“My lady,” Ling Gu, wrapped in a woolen cloak, stood in the corridor. Her cheeks were slightly sunken and her complexion sallow, but her spirit seemed good.
Ling Gu was Lou Xiaowu’s wet nurse. She had married at fourteen and became pregnant at fifteen, but the child she bore had three legs. The entire village said she had been possessed by evil spirits. Her in-laws heartlessly drowned the child despite her pleas and divorced her. Her own family, feeling ashamed, also rejected her.
Ling Gu left her hometown and found work as a wet nurse. Since then, she has always cared for Lou Xiaowu as if she were her child. Later, when Lou Xiaowu fell seriously ill, her adoptive family, being of modest means, grew tired of the prolonged and costly treatment. After a period with no improvement, they left her to fend for herself. Only Ling Gu remained by her side, carrying her through ice and snow to seek medical help.
Lou Xiaowu had always regarded her as a mother.
Lou Xiaowu stepped forward to support her, chiding gently, “Why are you out here? It’s cold outside. Be careful not to catch a chill!”
“I’m feeling quite well,” Ling Gu said. Seeing Lou Xiaowu alone, she asked, “Where is Doctor Mo?”
“He exhausted his true energy saving Second Sister. He’s resting now,” Lou Xiaowu said, helping her walk inside.
Ling Gu’s face brightened, “Second Young Lady has been saved?”
In recent years, the Lou clan had been grooming Lou Mingyue to be the next estate master. Many responsibilities had already been gradually handed over to her two years ago. If she could survive, there was still hope for the Lou clan.
“Yes, Brother Mo said she’ll be fine,” Lou Xiaowu said, helping her to the bed.
“That’s wonderful! The Bodhisattva has shown mercy…” Ling Gu relaxed, tears suddenly flowing uncontrollably.
Lou Xiaowu gently rubbed her back. “Rest a bit more. I’ll go see if there’s anything to eat.”
“This servant will go prepare a meal,” Ling Gu stood up.
Lou Xiaowu pressed her back into her seat, smiling, “Second Sister is ill, and you’re sick too. If you care for me, don’t make me worry. Get well soon so we can look after Second Sister together.”
“Yes, this servant didn’t think as far ahead as you, my lady,” Ling Gu patted her hand, her gaze loving. “Go on, my lady.”
Lou Xiaowu left only after seeing Ling Gu lie down. As she exited, she faintly heard sounds from Lou Mingyue’s courtyard. With a leap, she vaulted over the wall, landing at the door in a few bounds.
“Listen to me!” Mo Sigui’s voice came from inside.
Lou Xiaowu pushed the door open to see Lou Mingyue, disheveled, pointing a sword at Mo Sigui, who was unarmed and cornered against the wall.
“Little Wu! Your second sister is about to kill someone!” Mo Sigui cried out.
“Second Sister,” Lou Xiaowu grasped Lou Mingyue’s wrist. “He’s Doctor Mo. He saved you!”
Lou Mingyue frowned deeply. “Then why were we…”
A doctor sleeping in her bed after treatment?
Lou Xiaowu hurriedly explained, “You were deeply poisoned and needed acupuncture. Doctor Mo exhausted his true energy to save you and fainted. I saw he was wearing too much and looked uncomfortable, so I helped remove his outer clothes.”
“How reckless!” Lou Mingyue exclaimed, embarrassed and angry. Though not a paragon of chastity, how could she accept being nearly naked in bed with a man?
The Lou clan was mostly women. Lou Mingyue had rarely even spoken to men, let alone experienced anything of this nature.
Mo Sigui felt disappointed. As soon as Lou Mingyue woke, she became hostile, showing no mercy in her words or actions. Moreover, the way she looked at him was clearly like a stranger, indicating she didn’t recognize him at all.
He and Qiu Ningyu hadn’t seen each other for many years, and both would have changed greatly. Qiu Ningyu’s image in his heart had become somewhat blurred, but upon seeing Lou Mingyue, he could immediately recall her features, as if they were right before his eyes.
Mo Sigui couldn’t help but think, if Ningyu were still alive, wouldn’t she remember him just the same? After all, they had spent over ten years together as childhood sweethearts.
While he was lost in thought, Lou Mingyue sheathed her sword and properly dressed herself. When facing him again, she set aside her hostility and embarrassment, clasping her hands in respect, “This Lou Mingyue has greatly offended you. Please forgive me, benefactor.”
She displayed the typical nonchalance of a martial world denizen.
“It’s fine,” Mo Sigui said, putting on his clothes with waning interest. “Those who don’t know cannot be blamed.”
“Brother Mo, please don’t be angry with Second Sister. After all, you’re not married yet,” Lou Xiaowu said softly, hanging her head. “It was all my doing.”
“Marriage?” Lou Mingyue, quick-witted as she was, immediately grasped the situation from these two words. She looked at Mo Sigui a few times without emotion and didn’t pursue the matter further. “Benefactor, is there any hope for the other members of the Lou clan?”
Mo Sigui replied languidly, “We only saw you in the passage and haven’t entered the ice cellar. However… if you tell me about the situation before, I might be able to make a rough estimate.”
“The first to fall ill were the maids attending the estate master. Soon after, the estate master herself became unwell. That evening, someone shot an arrow with a letter, and the master convened the elders for a meeting. The next day, none of the elders were spared, and subsequently, others fell ill one after another. I’m not sure exactly when they became sick, only that I received orders from the estate master to enter the ice cellar immediately if we felt any symptoms,” Lou Mingyue’s voice gradually lowered. “At the time, I was away overseeing the funerals of two sisters. When I returned, I found only Ling Gu remaining in the entire estate. That day, I accidentally discovered a maid’s corpse that had also contracted the disease. After guarding the estate with her for two days, I began to feel my illness coming on strongly. I gave her some instructions and entered the ice cellar.”
Looking back now, the whole incident seemed like a meticulously planned conspiracy. The estate master had contracted the plague curse less than a day earlier, and with her deep inner power, it initially appeared like a mild cold, so she didn’t pay much attention. However, that very night, someone orchestrated her to summon all the elders.
“So everyone was infected before you?” Mo Sigui asked.
“Yes,” Lou Mingyue added. “Even the last one was a day before me.”
Mo Sigui sighed. Saving Lou Mingyue was like reaching into the gates of hell. As for the others…
“They can’t be saved?” Lou Mingyue asked.
Mo Sigui turned to look at her calm face. “I’m afraid I can’t help them.”
Lou Mingyue clenched her fists and remained silent for a while before suddenly turning away.
“Although it’s cruel, I still want to tell you…” Mo Sigui said gently, “You should burn them.”
Lou Mingyue had been merely upset before, but hearing this, her heart felt as if it had been carved out with a knife. “They chose to enter the ice cave to slow down the poison, to buy some time for survival. And now you’re telling me to burn them?!”
“You entered the ice cave three days after being infected. If the freezing worked, when we rescued you, your condition should have been similar to Ling Gu’s. However, the freezing didn’t completely stop the poison’s progression,” Mo Sigui had to state this cruel fact. “When we brought you out, you were barely clinging to life.”
“Perhaps it’s because I didn’t get deep enough into the ice cellar?” Lou Mingyue refused to accept fate, her beautiful eyes reddened as she stared at him intently. “Wouldn’t it be better closer to the mystical ice?”
Mo Sigui remained silent.
Those people had been poisoned before Lou Mingyue. Even if the mystical ice could truly freeze the plague curse, their condition wouldn’t be much better. Mo Sigui doubted his ability to pull them all back from the brink of death. Moreover, he was certain that freezing couldn’t completely control the poison’s effects. Leaving them in the ice cellar would eventually lead to disaster.
Mo Sigui didn’t want to be so cold-hearted, but this matter was of utmost importance.
Lou Xiaowu suggested, “Brother Mo, could you rescue one more person closest to the mystical ice? We could confirm if they can’t be saved before…”
“This poison fears fire,” Mo Sigui, seeing Lou Mingyue’s ashen face and tearful eyes, suddenly realized his blunt words were too cruel. He changed his approach, “Alright, Little Wu and I will go in and rescue one more person.”
“I’ll go with you,” Lou Mingyue’s voice was weak, but her tone brooked no argument.
“As you wish,” Mo Sigui gave her a deep look, then took the fire sable fur coat hanging on the rack and went out.
Lou Mingyue closed her eyes to compose herself briefly before also taking a fire sable coat and following.
Fire sables were rare, extremely agile, small in size, and intelligent, making them difficult to capture. Their fur was exquisitely beautiful, and coveted by countless nobles. Obtaining even a single pelt was incredibly challenging! The Lou clan’s two fire sable coats had been painstakingly collected over more than twenty years, regardless of cost, before they could be made.
“Second Sister,” Lou Xiaowu ran out. “Let me go instead.”
However, Lou Mingyue left the courtyard without looking back.
Lou Xiaowu understood her second sister’s personality. Once she made a decision, she rarely changed her mind. Lou Xiaowu admired her second sister; she dared to face the sleeping forms of their clan members, while Lou Xiaowu herself was unwilling and afraid to look.
Lou Xiaowu found some food, ate a little, and brought some to Ling Gu.
As dusk approached, the sound of hoofbeats echoed from the foot of the mountain.
A group of five people rode through the snow.
One of them gave a loud whistle from afar. Lou Xiaowu, halfway up the mountain, heard the sound and immediately ran down.
The five riders waited for a moment as the main gate slowly opened.
“Sixth Aunt!” Lou Xiaowu jumped out, rushing towards the leader.
Lou Xiaowu’s sixth aunt was named Lou Xin, a woman nearing forty.
“Little Wu,” Lou Xin dismounted. “Why are you opening the gate? Where are the servant girls who guard the gate?”
Though she asked, her tense voice showed she had already guessed the answer.
“Everyone has gone into the ice cellar. Only Ling Gu and I remain. Brother Mo and Second Sister have gone into the ice cellar to rescue people,” Lou Xiaowu said glumly.
Lou Xin’s heart sank. Given Lou Xiaowu’s personality, if there was even a glimmer of hope, she would surely be eager for praise right now. Yet she appeared so downcast…
“Let’s go inside and talk,” Lou Xin said, leading her horse through the gate.
When they had set out, there were thirty-nine people. Although only she and Lou Xin were from the Lou clan, seeing the estate in such a desolate state made Lou Xiaowu’s heartache.
Her gaze swept over the group, suddenly stopping on one person. She exclaimed in surprise, “Mei Shisi!”