“This is White Warbler Ointment?”

Zhao Qing was astonished!

She asked, “How do you know about it? This medicine came from a secret recipe left behind by a divine physician who used it to trade with my father for alcohol. My father then passed it down and gave it to me.”

A secret recipe?

A divine physician?

Traded for alcohol?

Ji Yunshu’s lips curved slightly. So she now understood who had cultivated Old Master Muruo’s terrible habit of loving alcohol.

What was even more interesting was that the old stronghold chief had actually passed down that secret recipe as a family heirloom!

“What are you laughing at?” Zhao Qing asked.

She shook her head. “Nothing.”

Zhao Qing said no more. She turned to leave, but suddenly her footsteps paused.

She turned back and asked Ji Yunshu a question, “Do you trust Zhao Huai?”

Hm?

“Why do you ask this?”

“If you investigate the truth about the skeletal remains in the urn, and in the end he goes back on his word and refuses to let you go, what then?”

Ji Yunshu thought for a moment, but in the end still said nothing.

She simply leaned back against the haystack and closed her eyes.

Zhao Qing watched her for a brief moment. Getting no response, she left.

The door opened, then was latched shut again—

In the dim, damp woodshed, after Zhao Qing had left for a while, Ji Yunshu’s pale lips slowly uttered a sentence.

“Zhao Qing, oh Zhao Qing, don’t you also trust Zhao Huai? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have asked me to investigate the cause of Jiu’er’s death.”

The implications in her words were known to no one.

Before long, the woodshed door opened again. Wei Yi was pushed directly inside by Xiao Yu.

He nearly crashed into a large pillar inside!

Ji Yunshu opened her eyes to look at him and saw him clutching several steamed buns in his hands, covered in sweat as he rushed in. Once the door behind him closed, he obediently sat down beside Ji Yunshu.

“Wei Yi, are you alright?”

She asked worriedly.

Wei Yi shook his head!

“I’m fine. Shu’er, look, I brought you some steamed buns.”

Those two steamed buns were plump and white, but they had five handprint marks on them. Wei Yi stuffed the buns into Ji Yunshu’s hands.

He said frantically, “Shu’er, you must be hungry. Eat quickly, they’re still warm. Hurry, eat!”

However, Ji Yunshu looked outside with great vigilance and asked in a lowered voice, “Did you send out that piece of cloth and the chain?”

“Yes, I sent them out.”

“How did you send them out?”

“I put them at the bottom of an old grandfather’s basket, then he pulled his cart out. Shu’er, rest assured, they don’t know anything. I was very careful.”

Ji Yunshu breathed a sigh of relief and reached out to pat his head. “That’s good.”

Wei Yi grinned at her with a smile, saying proudly, “Shu’er, aren’t I amazing?”

“Yes.”

“Then next time can we play the hiding things game again? It’s very fun.”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

“Wei Yi, good boy, eat first.”

Wei Yi made an acknowledging sound. Just as he brought the steamed bun to his mouth, he suddenly noticed a bottle in Ji Yunshu’s hand.

He pointed and asked, “Shu’er, what’s this?”

“This is medicine.”

“Medicine?” Wei Yi scratched his head, then realized, “Oh right, Shu’er, your back was injured. Is this medicine for treating wounds?”

Ji Yunshu nodded.

The next moment, Wei Yi tossed the steamed bun in his hand aside, grabbed the bottle of medicine, and said, “Shu’er, let me help you apply the medicine.”

As he spoke, he prepared to remove Ji Yunshu’s clothing.

Fortunately, Ji Yunshu was quick with her hands and grabbed her own clothes, holding her arms tightly and turning slightly to the side.

She lowered her head!

“Wei Yi, you can’t do this.”

A firm refusal.

“Why not?” He didn’t understand.

His innocent face showed brows furrowed in confusion.

Ji Yunshu’s mind turned in circles, and her throat worked to organize her words, but she didn’t know how to explain this matter to Wei Yi.

When Wei Yi heard no response from her, he prepared to reach over again to pull at her clothing.

As his hand reached over, Ji Yunshu simply turned her bottom around, hugging her arms and turning her back to Wei Yi.

“Wei Yi, there are distinctions between men and women. Do you understand?”

“I understand. Mother said that before I marry you and bring you into the family, I can’t look at a young lady’s body. But Shu’er, you’re injured. Your back is covered in blood. I’m worried about you. I’m afraid something will happen to you. Shu’er, you’ll marry me sooner or later anyway, won’t you?”

These words lodged in Ji Yunshu’s heart. She didn’t know whether to feel warmed or conflicted.

But if she didn’t apply medicine to her back soon, even though the bleeding had stopped for now, that didn’t mean her back was fine. If the pain started up, it would truly hurt her to death.

Her palm tightened. She turned her eyes to look at Wei Yi behind her.

After pressing her lips together, she said, “Wei Yi…”

Hm?

After thinking, Ji Yunshu still didn’t say what she wanted to say. She only said, “Alright, then help me apply the medicine.”

Wei Yi nodded!

And so—

Ji Yunshu unfastened her own clothing. Fortunately, she was wearing men’s clothes, so it wouldn’t fall completely off when loosened.

The clothing slipped bit by bit from her delicate nape down her fair back. But as the garment fell lower, it revealed several gaping wounds on her back.

A crimson expanse—blood clots had formed at the wounds, but because she had removed her clothing, the blood clots were torn away and fresh blood began seeping out again.

To look upon it was truly horrifying!

It was hard to imagine how she had endured until now.

If it were a man instead, he probably would have already fainted from the pain.

Wei Yi’s heart clenched. His nose stung and his eyes involuntarily reddened. He lifted his wide sleeve to wipe away his tears.

His mouth turned down. “Shu’er must be in a lot of pain, right?”

“It doesn’t hurt.”

“There you go again, Shu’er. Didn’t we agree? Whether Shu’er is unhappy or sad, you have to say it out loud. You can’t keep it in your heart. If Shu’er is in pain, just say so. I won’t laugh at Shu’er.”

This silly boy!

He always warmed her heart.

Worried that Ji Yunshu would be in pain, when Wei Yi applied the medicine for her, he was very gentle and careful. His movements weren’t too fast either, applying the medicine bit by bit to her wounds.

Ji Yunshu bit her lip. Occasionally when it hurt!

Her beautiful brows furrowed.

It must be said that the secret recipe from Muruo’s father was truly effective. When the medicine was applied, after hurting briefly at the wound, the wound felt much more comfortable—cool, and no longer painful.

The two of them, one in front and one behind.

Under the faint, scattered moonlight, their two silhouettes were cast on the haystack behind them.

One long, one short!

Meanwhile, outside!

Xiao Yu sidled up next to another bandit and nudged him with his elbow.

He said, “Have you heard the story of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven?”

The man looked completely baffled!

He scratched his head. “What Great Sage Equal to Heaven? I’ve only heard of the Prosperous Heavenly Dynasty.”

“Nonsense, what random gibberish. That Great Sage Equal to Heaven is a monkey. The story is about this monkey becoming a spirit. He had no father or mother—he popped out of a rock. He could perform seventy-two transformations and was incredibly powerful.”

“A monkey? That could use magic?”

“That’s celestial magic.”

The bandit listened in bewilderment!

Xiao Yu’s face took on a proud expression as he began to show off with this story that Wei Yi had told him when he went to the latrine.

He recounted this story bit by bit to that person!