Ji Yunshu examined his bone structure thoroughly and meticulously.

To put it bluntly, the man before her was like standing naked in front of her.

Seen clearly by her eyes that functioned like scanners.

From his bone structure, Bai Yin was indeed not of Central Plains build. The foreigners north of Great Lin’s borders were almost all burly in stature, with broad shoulders, large heads, prominent brow bones, and deeply set eye sockets like Westerners. But Bai Yin possessed none of these characteristics. Although he too was burly in build, he wasn’t massive. His frame wasn’t as large as the northern foreigners’—he was more like the foreigners from the west of Great Lin.

Looking at it this way, he might truly be from Huyi!

Bai Yin grabbed the lamb in the bowl and gnawed at it, wolfing it down.

The large bowl of lamb was quickly consumed by him.

He grabbed the jug of water and gulped it down, tilting his head back. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as water flowed from the corners of his mouth down to his neck, his clothes, the ground.

Finally sated with food and drink!

His whole body filled with strength.

And Ji Yunshu watched him intently the entire time.

Then asked: “Full?”

Bai Yin raised his dirty sleeve and wiped across his mouth, his ink-dark pupils turning to look at her.

He said nothing!

“If you want more, I’ll have someone bring you some.”

“No need.” He licked the lingering taste on his lips and thanked Ji Yunshu.

Ji Yunshu curved her lips in a smile.

She didn’t care at all about his thanks!

Bai Yin bent his knee, resting one hand atop it, appearing lazy and indifferent. His body also leaned back against the wooden post behind him. Unexpectedly, the moment his back touched it, the pain from his back made him grimace and furrow his brow.

“Tsk…”

It hurt like countless silver needles piercing him.

He reached back to touch his own back.

Wet!

Sticky!

Looking at his hand, it was covered in blood.

Particularly glaring.

Originally, his back had been covered in bloodstains from being dragged on the ground. After resting this long, it had improved somewhat, the wounds scabbing over. But just now he’d eaten too vigorously, his movements too large, causing the wounds to tear open again.

He shook the blood from his hand, unconcerned.

Ji Yunshu furrowed her brow lightly, asking: “You didn’t apply medicine?”

She remembered that night in the forest, she had clearly returned the medicine to him.

To suffer such severe injuries yet endure without applying medicine.

What a talent!

Bai Yin laughed coldly, his peeling lips curving as he looked at the fresh red blood on his fingertips, rubbing them together, saying indifferently: “What difference would applying it make? Would it heal? At worst it’s just death. What’s there to fear?”

“…”

Ji Yunshu was speechless!

He suddenly raised his eyes to look at her: “If you’ve experienced death again and again, your feet nearly stepping through the gates of hell, then there’s nothing left in this world that can frighten you.”

Ha!

How had she not experienced it?

She’d experienced it countless times!

Surviving assassination attempts by assassins, surviving falls into valleys, surviving being thrown into lakes…

To be alive now was simply a miracle.

She was too lazy to lay out her own experiences.

She simply withdrew a bottle of medicine from her sleeve, walked behind Bai Yin, and crouched down.

What met her eyes was Bai Yin’s blood-drenched back. His clothes had been worn through, faintly revealing the bloody wounds across his flesh.

Extremely horrifying!

Ji Yunshu opened the bottle in her hand, then pulled out her white, clean handkerchief, dipped it in the red medicinal powder from the bottle, and gently dabbed it on Bai Yin’s torn wounds.

The powder had just made contact—

“Tsk!”

Bai Yin’s entire body trembled with pain.

The medicine entered his flesh like countless ants gnawing, gradually eating from his flesh into his bones.

Making one wish for death to end the pain.

Ji Yunshu’s movements became even gentler.

She explained: “This medicine was developed by that Young Master Muruo. It’s very effective for healing wounds. Bear with it. Once applied, as long as you don’t disturb it, it will heal quickly.”

“…”

That kind of pain made him break out in a full sweat. He could only grit his teeth tightly.

Enduring!

Soon, Ji Yunshu’s clean handkerchief was covered in fresh blood.

Extremely eye-catching!

After the pain gradually dissipated, Bai Yin let out a heavy breath, slightly narrowing his eyes, breathing lightly. He recalled past events, saying: “I remember when I first came to this grassland, I encountered Huhe and Hao being surrounded by wolf packs in the forest. At that time, he was about to become food in those wild wolves’ mouths. I could have left, not saved him, but in the end I turned back. To save him, I was bitten by those wild wolves until my body was covered in wounds, dripping with blood. I don’t know why, but I still managed to have the life to lead Huhe and Hao away from that forest. From that day on, I’ve followed him, constantly helping him fight wars, constantly annexing various tribes. The days passed quickly—in the blink of an eye several years have gone by. During this time, I died and lived, lived and died in the hands of enemies. On my body I’ve accumulated a total of forty-three knife wounds and three arrow wounds. I don’t know how many times I’ve died and come back to life. I think the reason heaven wants me alive might just be to let me meet you and unravel the confusion I’ve had for these twenty-one years.”

He turned his eyes to glance at her.

After hearing these words, Ji Yunshu’s expression remained as calm as water.

She couldn’t speak of sympathy, nor of empathy.

Only involuntarily, her eyes darkened as she said: “Perhaps… heaven let me live for the same reason.”

The two had the same purpose.

To unravel the truth!

Bai Yin said nothing.

Ji Yunshu’s expression cool, continued applying medicine to him. Her gaze remained fixed on the wounds on his back, not lifting an inch, saying: “Twenty-one years ago, my mother met my father at a brothel. At that time she conceived me. When I was born, she died from difficult childbirth. Before dying, she left me that wooden plaque. My mother came from a brothel, and my father only had me because he was drunk, so my mother became the family’s greatest shame. No one wanted to mention her much—they even burned all her belongings! So much so that… I don’t even know what my mother actually looked like, where she was from, why she was at a brothel. I know none of these things. However, the nanny who cared for me since childhood told me I looked very much like my mother, but exactly how much alike, I don’t know either.”

Uh!

Very alike?

Bai Yin’s body stiffened!

He murmured: “Twenty-one years ago?”

And Ji Yunshu seemed to be deliberately telling him these words.

So she specifically mentioned events from twenty-one years ago.

Thus, Bai Yin tentatively spoke, asking: “You mean… the person in the painting… is very likely your mother?”

Ji Yunshu’s hand paused!

Her eyes deepened further. She withdrew the blood-stained handkerchief and screwed the medicine bottle closed.

She stood!

Looking down at Bai Yin who urgently wanted to know the answer.

“You should rest well first.”

She was unwilling to say more.

She turned to leave.

Bai Yin called out to her, saying excitedly: “If you know something, why won’t you tell me?”

Her steps paused. With her back to him, she pressed her lips together, but ultimately said nothing.

Leaving these words behind, she departed.

Bai Yin’s hands pressed against the ground, his entire body trembling.