Lou Bugui muttered under his breath for a while before slowly answering Xi Guxing's question: "Shidi's mental state shouldn't have fallen below the Great Ascension stage yet, but his sea of consciousness is too damaged, and he's bound to have inner demons that are difficult to cure with medicine."
Xi Guxing was still glaring at Shen Gurong, glaring again and again, his dissatisfaction almost bursting out of his head.
Hearing Lou Bugui's words, his brows furrowed tightly, and he said coldly, "His Great Ascension stage was already at its peak; he should have ascended to sainthood soon, but now..."
Now he's inexplicably injured, and has even developed the most undesirable inner demons for a cultivator.
He was both angry and worried for Shen Gurong, but when he turned his head, he saw Shen Gurong reaching for the jujube paste pastry on the table.
Xi Guxing: "..."
Heartless fool.
He raised his hand and slapped Shen Gurong's hand, making a "smack" sound, and scolded him, "You dare eat that stuff that doesn't belong to you? Are you out of your mind or something?"
Shen Gurong withdrew his hand, lowering his eyes without rebuttal.
Xi Guxing, usually always being verbally abused by Shen Feng Xue, was momentarily taken aback by his current docile behavior.
Recalling Shen Gurong's strange behavior over the past few days, Xi Guxing glanced at him and found his now obedient junior brother much more pleasing to the eye than before.
—Although still just as unruly.
Seeing Shen Gurong's gaze constantly drifting towards the jujube paste cake, Xi Guxing simply took a small packet of spiritual herbs from his storage container and tossed it to Shen Gurong to eat like candied fruit.
Shen Gurong, having resolved the problem of being "burned after being possessed," relaxed considerably. The feigned indifference in his eyes disappeared, and he lowered his eyes, slowly chewing the spiritual herbs like candy.
Xi Guxing had already been troubled enough by the useless doctor Lou Bugui, but now, with the arrival of Shen Feng Xue, who had gone mad with internal energy, he suddenly had a premonition—the decline and fall of Liren Peak was imminent.
Xi Guxing asked impatiently, "Then what exactly happened with Mu Zhe?"
Shen Gurong finally had a reason: "I don't remember."
Xi Guxing was amused by his words: "Are you trying to fob me off with that? Shen-shidi, Mu Zhe is definitely connected to the Plague Demon, you should know that. Are you really going to disregard the safety of the entire Liren Peak by being so evasive?"
Shen Gurong paused for a moment, then said, "Mu Zhe isn't a Plague Demon, and he poses no threat to Liren Peak."
Xi Guxing said, "But he's definitely connected to ghost cultivators."
Shen Gurong frowned, raised his hand to his forehead, and used the same trick again: "But I really don't remember."
Xi Guxing: "..."
Lou Bugui saw him rubbing his temples and quickly rummaged through his medicine box for a small silk pillow, intending to take Shen Gurong's pulse again.
Xi Guxing stopped him, coldly saying, "Don't pretend, I won't fall for that."
Shen Gurong simply lay down on the stone table, closing his eyes and feigning death.
Xi Guxing: "..."
Lou Bugui panicked, pacing anxiously in circles, "Shidi, Shidi, Shidi!"
He took out the crimson jade marrow from his robes, about to speak with a flick of his fingertip.
Xi Guxing swiftly snatched the jade marrow from Lou Bugui, angrily shouting, "Lou Bugui!"
Lou Bugui looked at him in confusion.
Shen Gurong secretly opened one eye and peeked, discovering that the usually outspoken Xi Guxing was now acting as if facing a formidable enemy, clutching Lou Bugui's jade marrow tightly, refusing to give it to him.
Xi Guxing said coldly, "Master has been in seclusion for many years; don't bother him with such a trivial matter."
Lou Bugui said, "But Shidi is currently suffering from a qi deviation and is seriously injured. If Master finds out..."
He didn't dare finish his sentence.
The former leader of Liren Peak doted on Shen Feng Xue in a way that was sickeningly sweet, even leading some to suspect that Shen Feng Xue was the leader's illegitimate son.
Xi Guxing's gaze darkened slightly. Remembering his master's boundless indulgence of Shen-shidi, he looked at Shen Gurong, who was sprawled on the stone table, with a complex expression.
Shen Gurong continued to feign death, having probably guessed that the former leader of Liren Peak treated Shen Feng Xue very specially, and that the arrogant Xi Guxing was terrified of his master. That's why he had stopped Lou Bugui from summoning his master out of seclusion.
Xi Guxing glared fiercely at Shen Gurong. Even knowing that Shen Gurong was using this as a ruse to avoid his questions, he couldn't press the matter.
If his master really did emerge from seclusion, a single, casual remark from Shen Feng Xue could severely punish him.
Although, given Shen Feng Xue's personality, he wouldn't stoop to complaining.
Xi Guxing said gruffly, "Stop pretending. I won't ask anymore, as long as you can guarantee Mu Zhe won't have any problems."
Shen Gurong peeked at him through his fingers, and seeing that he really wouldn't press the matter, he slowly sat up straight.
"I guarantee it."
Seeing that he was really faking it, Xi Guxing was so angry he almost drew his sword to kill him.
Before leaving, Xi Guxing picked a few medicinal herbs for treating injuries from Lou Bugui's courtyard and stuffed them directly into Shen Gurong's mouth like feeding a pig
Shen Gurong: “Ugh…”
Just as he was about to vomit from the bitterness, Xi Guxing said, “It’s for healing, swallow it.”
Shen Gurong reluctantly ate one, sticking out his tongue and mumbling, “So bitter.”
The frustration in Xi Guxing’s eyes finally dissipated a little. He gave a forced smile: “Good medicine tastes bitter. Continue, swallow.”
After finishing one, Shen Gurong found that the spiritual energy in his meridians was much smoother, so he reluctantly ate another one.
Xi Guxing crossed his arms, looking at him with a half-smile.
Shen Gurong touched his lips, catching the teasing look in Xi Guxing's eyes. He frowned and said, "You're not getting revenge on me, are you?"
Xi Guxing: "Tsk, you actually noticed. I thought you'd gone mad and lost your mind."
Shen Gurong: "..."
As they were talking, Lou Bugui, who had finished tidying up the tea set, glanced around the courtyard and suddenly said, "Two of my herbs are missing."
Xi Guxing immediately knew he was in trouble. He grabbed Shen Gurong's wrist and, turning to the still-unresponsive Lou Bugui, said, "We're leaving."
With that, the two rushed out.
Shen Gurong was still wondering when he heard Lou Bugui's voice behind him: "Stop."
Accompanied by the sound of a sword being drawn.
Although Lou Bugui was mild-mannered and gloomy, he cherished the herbs in his courtyard. If anyone dared to steal his herbs, even against his fellow disciples, would he dare to draw his sword and chase them for thousands of miles.
But as long as they ran fast enough to keep him out of reach, he'd completely forget about it after half a day.
The two quickly traveled from Baishang Mountain to Changying Mountain. Xi Guxing, still harboring resentment towards Shen Gurong, left without a word after bringing him back, clearly quite angry.
Shen Gurong didn't call out to him, to avoid being scolded.
He flicked a spiritual herb, which landed precisely in his mouth. He strolled leisurely through Changying Mountain for a while, eventually managing to get lost in the mountains.
Huitang City, where Shen Gurong grew up, wasn't large, with only a few hundred households. Nestled against the mountains and beside the water, the roads were extremely easy to navigate. Yet, even so, he would get lost in unfamiliar streets once or twice a month.
If he could get lost in his own home, how much more so in Liren Peak, a place he had just arrived in?
Normally, when he got lost, Shen Gurong would stay where he was and wait for his brother to come looking for him. Now, he instinctively found a place to sit, and after a moment's thought, realized his brother wasn't there.
No one was looking for him.
Shen Gurong sat on a large rock, looking up at the lone goose flying across the sky, and sighed softly.
What a tragedy.
He leaned against the rock, half-reclining, a gentle breeze making him drowsy, and he couldn't resist dozing off.
He slept for the entire afternoon.
When he woke up again, he glanced up and saw a small figure approaching in the distance.
It was Mu Zhe.
Mu Zhe's face was pale; he must have come from Li Suo. His lips were white, and he looked disoriented.
Shen Gurong finally saw a living person.
He ripped the ice-silk covering his eyes, crumpled it into a ball, and stuffed it into his sleeve. His gaze unfocused, he leaned against a stone and stood up.
A moment later, footsteps approached, and Mu Zhe's bewildered voice rang out: "Master?"
Even so close, Shen Gurong couldn't distinguish between man and beast. He asked, "Are you feeling better?"
Mu Zhe nodded, pursing his lips.
He had just gone to visit Li Suo, and seeing Li Suo's injuries had frightened him considerably. Fortunately, Li Suo wasn't seriously hurt and hadn't blamed him, so Mu Zhe finally relaxed and absentmindedly came out.
Shen Gurong didn't treat him like an outsider, extending his hand to Mu Zhe without any hesitation.
He didn't want others to know that he couldn't even recognize the way, so he had to resort to revealing his blindness.
Mu Zhe was traumatized by Shen Gurong's torment. The mere sight of that sharply defined hand sent him instinctively backing away, a familiar look of disgust and fear flashing in his eyes.
But just as he withdrew his hand, he belatedly realized that Shen Gurong seemed… not planning to continue tormenting him for the time being.
—The torture he inflicted on his ears and mind last night with the bamboo flute didn't count.
Mu Zhe took a deep breath, his tense mind slowly relaxing.
Mu Zhe tentatively took two steps forward, meeting Shen Gurong's dazed eyes. For the first time, he spoke, his voice low, "What happened to Master's eyes?"
"Help me back," Shen Gurong said. "Master is blind."
Mu Zhe: "..."
Recalling the scene of Shen Gurong groping around on the bed like a blind man for so long, Mu Zhe realized that the white veil covering his master's eyes might not have been a pretense of profundity.
He tried to grasp Shen Gurong's hand, his fingers trembling involuntarily.
Mu Zhe was still instinctively afraid of him; the lingering resentment in his heart prevented him from easily letting go of the grudge from the previous abuse.
As Mu Zhe was lost in thought, Shen Gurong suddenly pulled off his crane-feather cloak and draped it over Mu Zhe's shoulders.
Mu Zhe was startled, looking at him blankly.
Shen Gurong looked down at him, his gaze unfocused: "Cold?"
Changying Mountain was hot year-round; even in the twelfth lunar month, one could wear only a single layer of clothing. Shen Gurong's thick cloak fell heavily on Mu Zhe, the heat causing sweat to break out on his forehead.
Mu Zhe had just been pondering the strange words he had suddenly overheard last night when all his thoughts were abruptly interrupted. His instinctive thought was, 'What new method of torture is this?'
As soon as this thought surfaced, he tried to suppress it little by little.
For some reason, Mu Zhe felt that his master now seemed different from before.
Mu Zhe looked up at Shen Gurong's pale face, then quickly lowered his head again, obediently taking Shen Gurong's hand and walking towards Fanjiang Residence.
Changying Mountain was extremely hot. Mu Zhe had only walked a few steps when sweat dripped from his forehead. He was afraid of Shen Gurong and dared not remove the crane cloak without permission, so he tried to circulate the meager spiritual energy within his body to dispel the heat.
Since entering Shen Feng Xue's body, Shen Gurong hadn't experienced the cultivation of the Mahayana stage, but had instead suffered greatly from the backlash that seemed to have come from nowhere.
He was weak and sickly, and felt a chill in Changying Mountain.
He was cold, and instinctively felt that others were cold too. When he felt Mu Zhe's hand tremble, he didn't think much of it and, wanting to warm the little protagonist, tossed him the crane cloak.
Shen Gurong was still thinking, 'Feel Master's fiery passion, you brat.'
Mu Zhe, who happened to overhear, was speechless.
Mu Zhe was about to faint from his master's 'passion.'
Mu Zhe was thin and frail, and the thick crane-feather cloak made walking difficult; the robes dragged on the ground, making him look extremely cumbersome.
If Shen Gurong could see him at this moment, he would surely have noticed Mu Zhe's increasingly unpleasant expression.
Unfortunately, he was blind.
And he was still fantasizing that the little protagonist would be very moved by his thoughtful gesture.
Mu Zhe, his face covered in cold sweat, finally brought Shen Gurong to Fanjiang Residence, laboriously removing the large crane-feather cloak from his shoulders and handing it to Shen Gurong.
"Thank you, Master..." Mu Zhe's words almost escaped his lips, "...for your consideration."
His face was covered in sweat from the heat, and his body was swaying slightly, as if he were suffering from heatstroke. Shen Gurong entered the inner room, still asking, "Would you like some tea?"
Mu Zhe glanced at the scalding hot tea warming on the small table, his vision went black, and he collapsed.
Shen Gurong groped for a piece of ice silk and covered his eyes, then poured himself two cups of tea. Turning to call for Mu Zhe, he caught sight of the unconscious figure lying face down on the floor.
Shen Gurong: "..."
This is another... assassination attempt by a ghost cultivator?
Master, save me!
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