The worm was plump, its entire body a translucent light red color. The red was a vibrant, alluring shade, extremely beautiful to behold.
But no matter how beautiful, it was still a worm – soft, fleshy, and crawling.
Yu Jin’s expression stiffened slightly: “A Si, where did this worm come from?”
Jiang Si’s hand, holding the worm, paused. Her delicate eyebrows furrowed lightly: “You’re calling me A Si?”
Yu Jin suddenly fell silent.
Damn, his reactions were sluggish after being poisoned. He had accidentally called her by the name he only used in his thoughts.
At this moment, Jiang Si didn’t dwell on the form of address. She placed the plump worm on Yu Jin’s wound.
As soon as the worm touched the wound emitting a faint, fishy odor, it began to wriggle happily and started eating.
Watching the worm contentedly eating the blood and flesh from his wound, Yu Jin struggled to control the urge to crush it. His lips pale, he asked Jiang Si: “Where did this worm come from?”
Jiang Si patted the pouch at her waist: “Didn’t you see? I took it from my pouch. Don’t be afraid, this type of worm can eat the poison that has seeped into the wound through your blood. It can help detoxify you.”
Unfortunately, unlike the Phantom Firefly, this worm couldn’t be kept inside the body. It could only be kept in a jade box and carried around.
“Who’s afraid?” Yu Jin stubbornly insisted, closing his eyes slightly, his lips white and bloodless.
Why was there such a disgusting way to detoxify? If he had known—Yu Jin thought of the antidote pill lying safely in his pouch and smiled bitterly.
Even if he had known, he would still have willingly let the worm eat him just to see A Si once.
Sometimes Yu Jin didn’t understand why he was so obsessed with one person, and he didn’t want to understand.
In this world, there was one person who made him worry constantly, whom he was determined to have. This was his fortune.
“It’s done.” After an unknown amount of time, a faint voice came.
Yu Jin opened his eyes, his gaze falling on his forearm. He saw that the flesh around the wound had returned to a fresh red color.
Jiang Si took out a white handkerchief and wrapped it around his wound, instructing: “Don’t let it get wet for three days. Wait for the scab to fall off naturally.”
Yu Jin remained silent, staring intently at Jiang Si.
Jiang Si grew irritated under his gaze and straightened up: “I’ll have A Fei take you back to Quezi Hutong later. I’m leaving now.”
A slightly cool hand grasped her wrist: “A Si, don’t go.”
Jiang Si lowered her gaze to where their hands were joined. That hand was fair and slender, with distinct knuckles. In her past life, she didn’t know how many times it had held her like this. Even the thin calluses on the fingertips were familiar to her.
For a moment, she forgot to pull away.
Yu Jin coughed lightly, a flush spreading across his jade-like face: “A Si, I don’t feel well—”
His words carried a hint of pleading, sounding quite pitiful.
But Jiang Si hardened her heart and pulled her hand away: “The poison has been neutralized. I’m not a doctor. If you still feel unwell, there’s nothing more I can do. I’ll have A Fei take you back.”
That hand grasped hers again, the young man’s tone even softer: “A Si, my heart hurts—”
Jiang Si’s heart tightened suddenly. She yanked her hand away as if burned and turned to leave.
The sound of something heavy falling came from behind her.
Jiang Si whirled around to see Yu Jin had collapsed on the ground, struggling to support himself as he looked at her.
A streak of bright red blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Alarmed, Jiang Si quickly went over to support him: “What happened?”
This shouldn’t be. His poison had been neutralized.
Yu Jin frowned, trying his best to endure the pain: “I was accidentally struck. There’s some internal damage…”
“A Fei, go to Quezi Hutong—”
Yu Jin shook his head slightly, speaking with difficulty: “There… people are trying to assassinate me. They may have already set up a trap in Quezi Hutong…”
Jiang Si had no choice but to temporarily abandon the idea of sending him back to Quezi Hutong. She and A Fei helped Yu Jin into the room and settled him on the bed before instructing A Fei to go fetch medicine.
She wasn’t a doctor and couldn’t do anything about internal injuries.
Yu Jin leaned against the pillow, the corner of his lips curving slightly.
He never expected A Si to know how to detoxify. He had almost been unable to continue his act, but luckily he reacted quickly.
Yu Jin was very satisfied with his clever response, but seeing the slight frown on the young woman beside him, he felt a twinge of heartache.
Perhaps he had acted too severely and made her worry.
“For me, getting injured is a common occurrence… I’m fine, you don’t need to worry.”
Jiang Si lowered her eyes: “Young Master Yu has misunderstood. I’m not worried.”
“You just now—”
“You are my brother’s lifesaver. For me, this is nothing more than a small favor.”
Yu Jin’s thin lips moved, and this time a hot flow surged in his throat as if it might burst out at any moment.
This girl always chose the most hurtful words to stab at his heart.
Luckily, he was broad-minded enough to take it.
Yu Jin took out a handkerchief and wiped the corner of his mouth. The snow-white handkerchief was immediately stained with spots of blood.
Jiang Si couldn’t help but look at the handkerchief a couple more times.
Saying she wasn’t worried was self-deception, but she knew this man’s shamelessness all too well. If she showed even a little softness now, he would take a mile.
“So in Miss Jiang’s heart, I’m only your brother’s lifesaver.” Yu Jin sighed.
Hearing him switch from “A Si” back to “Miss Jiang,” Jiang Si didn’t feel as relieved as expected. Instead, she felt a tightness in her chest. But on the surface, she smiled coldly: “That’s exactly what it is. I hope Young Master Yu won’t misunderstand in the future.”
Yu Jin’s pale lips trembled slightly. He lowered his eyes and smiled self-mockingly: “I know you find the sight of me irritating. Perhaps you’d feel at peace only if I disappeared from your sight forever…”
As he spoke, he gazed into her eyes, letting out a deep sigh from the bottom of his heart: “But A Si, I worry about you. Why were you crying that day?”
Jiang Si’s heart felt as if it had been lightly struck by a small hammer, a dull pain spreading through it.
In her past life, she had married two men – one was Ji Chongyi and the other was Yu Qi.
Unlike Ji Chongyi’s suffocating coldness towards her, Yu Qi had always been passionately warm. He would remember in his heart even the most casual things she said.
Many times, she couldn’t help but convince herself that in Yu Qi’s heart, there was never any Holy Maiden A Sang, only Jiang Si.
But those words she had heard with her ears from Yu Qi’s mouth made it impossible for her to continue deceiving herself.
Yu Jin’s eyes were beautiful, clear, and bright, like a pool of spring water in a mountain stream.
Meeting those eyes full of genuine concern, Jiang Si felt a sense of bewildered absurdity.
How could there be such a person, who thought of one woman in his heart, yet treated another woman so well? So well that it made the substitute believe she was the real thing. Even after being hurt to death and coming back through rebirth, she still couldn’t rid herself of her feelings for him.
She wouldn’t be so foolish in this life.
“This has nothing to do with Young Master Yu.”
“A Si!”
“Young Master Yu, when A Fei returns, he’ll brew medicine for you. When you feel safe, have him send word to Quezi Hutong. I have matters to attend to, so I’ll leave first.” Jiang Si turned and walked a few steps before stopping. Without looking back, her tone calm and indifferent, she said, “Young Master Yu, remember to call me Miss Jiang in the future if we have the chance to meet again.”
With that, she walked away.