The cloying, nauseating scent of bitter medicinal herbs lingered at the tip of her nose, while the crisp chirping of birds drifted into her ears.
“You’re awake?”
A middle-aged female voice, slightly stern yet unable to hide its exhaustion, sounded beside her.
“You’ve been unconscious for two days. You’ve finally decided to wake up.”
Yu Qingyao struggled to pry open her heavy eyelids. Her vision remained blurred for a long time before finally snapping into focus. What met her eyes was the signature greenwood ceiling of Medicine Peak, and standing by the bed, holding a bowl of pitch-black medicinal broth, was the Medicine Peak Elder, Su Lingsu.
“Elder Su?”
Yu Qingyao opened her mouth, her throat as dry as if she had swallowed a handful of coarse sand. Her voice was raspy. “I… I’m back?”
“You’re lucky. You’re back,” Su Lingsu snorted coldly, setting the medicine bowl down heavily on the bedside table with a sharp clack. “At least you returned before you managed to turn yourself into a total cripple. Open your mouth and drink the medicine.”
Yu Qingyao did not open her mouth.
After a brief moment of blankness, her memories came rushing back like a tide.
The blood-red sky, the terrifying Demonic Ape, the pale white silhouette standing in front of her, and those words echoing in her ears—
‘Do you trust me?’
Her heart clenched violently. Ignoring the agonizing pain that made it feel as though her entire body was falling apart, Yu Qingyao struggled to sit up. Her bloodless hands gripped the edge of the bed tightly. “Where is Senior Sister?! How is she? Did she come back? Is she okay?!”
Because her movement was too sudden, the wounds on her arms that had just begun to scab nearly tore open again.
“Lie down!” Su Lingsu’s expression shifted. Spiritual energy surged from her fingertips as she pressed down on Yu Qingyao’s shoulder, forcing her back onto the bed. “Do you want to die?!”
“Elder Su, please tell me what happened to Senior Sister.” Yu Qingyao’s voice trembled, her question carrying a faint, desperate plea.
Su Lingsu looked at Yu Qingyao’s reddened eyes and eventually sighed. The sternness in her gaze softened into a deep sense of helplessness.
“Worry about yourself first.” Su Lingsu picked up the medicine bowl again, her tone heavy. “Though you kept your life, your soul has suffered irreversible damage. If you don’t recover properly, you can forget about ever stepping into the Nascent Soul Stage or even reaching the Golden Core in this lifetime.”
“I don’t care!” The stubbornness in Yu Qingyao’s eyes was startling. “If I don’t see Senior Sister, I won’t accept treatment.”
The atmosphere suddenly fell into a dead silence.
After a long while, Su Lingsu shook her head helplessly. “I really don’t know what kind of spell Wu Yan has cast on all of you. Every single one of you asks about her the moment you wake up. That little girl from the Tianyan Sect was the same, and now you’re the same.”
The little girl from the Tianyan Sect naturally referred to Bai Zhiqiu.
During the battle with the Demonic Ape, Bai Zhiqiu had only suffered minor physical injuries. After leaving the Secret Realm, she had recovered after a day of rest.
“Wu Yan’s condition is likely a bit more serious than you imagine.”
Yu Qingyao’s breathing instantly hitched.
“When she was brought back, she was practically a dead person,” Su Lingsu said slowly, each word hitting Yu Qingyao’s heart like a hammer. “Several ribs were broken, her left arm was completely shattered, and her internal organs were displaced. But those are secondary concerns.”
“The most important thing is her Soul Origin.”
“I don’t know what kind of technique that girl used, but her Soul Origin is even more depleted than yours.”
“Do you know what state that is? It’s like an oil lamp. The oil has run dry, the wick has burned to ash, and only the tiniest spark of fire remains to keep it going.”
Su Lingsu sighed, a flash of pity appearing in her eyes. “We can barely ensure that her physical body recovers, but when it comes to the soul, we have no experience.”
“However, the Little Divine Doctor from Medicine King Valley is here. Her sect has experience in treating souls.”
“But I advise you not to get your hopes up. After all, her Soul Origin is in such a state that the chances of her waking up are not high.”
Hearing the words “chances are not high,” Yu Qingyao’s heart tightened.
How could this be? In this life, after they had finally…
Wait! Soul Origin…
“Elder Su, I want to go see Senior Sister!” Yu Qingyao suddenly threw back the covers.
“You child, do you not understand plain speech? Given Wu Yan’s condition, unless you can find the legendary Soul Shaping Grass, no one can cure her!” Su Lingsu grew anxious and reached out to stop her.
Yu Qingyao did not answer. Instead, she took an exquisite Jade Box from her Storage Ring.
—
“Phew, honestly. Every time you come to me, you’re covered in such terrible injuries.”
By the time Yu Qingyao was led to the Tingquan Cottage by Su Lingsu, she happened to hear Lin Wan’er complaining to Wu Yan, who was lying on the bed wrapped up like a mummy.
Lin Wan’er pulled a handful of sugar pills from the small cloth bag embroidered with herbs at her waist and tossed them into her mouth, crunching them all at once. Her cheeks puffed out as she chewed. “Hmph, it really makes me so angry!”
“How many times did I tell you? Come play with me at Medicine Peak when you’re free, and help me test… ahem, I mean, sample my newly developed medicinal cuisine. But you never came! And when you finally do show up, you’ve turned yourself into this broken, tattered mess! Do you think I’m a tailor meant to patch up clothes?!”
“Little Divine Doctor Lin, how is Wu Yan?”
Su Lingsu had no intention of listening to any more of Lin Wan’er’s grumbling and stepped forward to ask about Wu Yan’s condition.
Complaints aside, Lin Wan’er’s professionalism was beyond doubt.
She began to count on her small fingers, listing her workload over the past few days. “The physical injuries are actually easy for me to handle. Even though the bone in her left arm was smashed to bits, many ribs were broken, and her internal organs were in a worrying state, I’ve used two whole jars of Medicine King Valley’s secret ointment. I also prepared a specialized medicinal bath to regenerate her flesh and blood. It won’t be long before she recovers physically.”
“However, regarding her soul, I don’t have many good solutions. Although our Medicine King Valley has treated cases of soul damage before, those people didn’t have damage to their Soul Origin.”
“For her current state, I really don’t have a good way. I can only contact my Master and see if she has any methods.”
As Lin Wan’er spoke, she couldn’t help but sigh.
It was rare to find such an interesting experimental subject that fit her requirements and aesthetic; it would be truly heartbreaking if she were to lose her like this.
“And if there were a thousand-year-old Soul Shaping Grass?”
Yu Qingyao spoke up abruptly.
Hearing about a thousand-year-old Soul Shaping Grass, Lin Wan’er’s eyes widened. “A thousand-year-old Soul Shaping Grass? You have a treasure like that??”
Soul Shaping Grass was already extremely rare; even Medicine King Valley didn’t have any in their collection, let alone a specimen that was a thousand years old.
“If there is a thousand-year-old Soul Shaping Grass, I am confident I can cure her. And I can cure your problem at the same time.”
Lin Wan’er pounded her chest as she answered.
—
“Hmph, that little brat in the yellow dress.”
Inside the Sea of Consciousness, Wu Yan was cradling a white ball of light while listening to the conversation outside.
“She actually wants to use my body as an experimental material for testing medicine. Once I reclaim this body, the first thing I’ll do is make her taste her own concoctions.”
“And that brat Yu Qingyao—I almost forgot she had the Soul Shaping Grass. She actually took this long to bring it out.”
Though she was grumbling and venting her frustration, her movements did not stop.
She carefully shielded the white ball in her hands, her movements so gentle she didn’t seem like a cold-blooded demon at all, but rather a seamstress mending a broken doll.
“Hey, you big idiot.”
Wu Yan looked at the sleeping ball of light, her voice as light as a feather.
“Hurry up and wake up.”
She glanced up at the top of the Sea of Consciousness, where the passage connecting her to external perceptions lay.
“I don’t want to deal with that group of troublesome people. Clean up your own messy situation yourself.”
Perhaps she was tired of complaining, or perhaps protecting Wu Yan’s Soul Origin had exhausted her.
She slowly closed her eyes.
In this shattered Sea of Consciousness, two souls—one red and one white—huddled together in an unprecedentedly close embrace.