Chapter 90

Chapter 90

Qiao Ying glanced at the inn, then leaned toward Shen Qingyu and said, “That’s the inn where we’re staying. I remember it seems to belong to the Ding family. Not long ago, Young Master Yanyu went there to inspect the accounts, and we happened to run into him.”

Shen Qingyu had finished one fried egg and was now diligently eating the second. At her words, he smiled leisurely. “The young master who left Yingying staring in a daze?”

Qiao Ying denied it without so much as a blush. “I did no such thing. Don’t make things up.”

“The moment you heard his voice, you looked over. Your heartbeat and breathing both became…”

Qiao Ying wound a clump of noodles around her chopsticks and stuffed it into his mouth, silencing him. She muttered, “All right, all right. We’re practically an old married couple now. It’s no fun dredging up the past all the time.”

Shen Qingyu was busy swallowing, so he truly had no time to argue with her.

Qiao Ying asked the proprietress working nearby, “May I ask where the mother and daughter you mentioned lived?”

The proprietress answered casually, “On Willow Lane. I heard the woman had lost her husband. She was extraordinarily beautiful. Even though she has been dead all these years, plenty of people still remember her.”

Qiao Ying propped her chin in both hands and fell into thought. Once Shen Qingyu slowly finished eating, she took out a handkerchief and wiped his mouth.

“Before we visit the clinic, let’s stop by Willow Lane.”

Shen Qingyu curved his lips. “All right.”

Qiao Ying took his hand and left the noodle stall with him. Suddenly recalling something, she asked curiously, “Ding Lingling is a Living Soul. Without Yang Qi, ordinary people can’t see her. So why can I?”

“Naturally, because you are not ordinary.”

Qiao Ying was confused. “What is extraordinary about me?”

Shen Qingyu tightened his fingers around her hand. Facing the wind, his white hair and flowing robes danced gently, outlining his graceful figure. He looked ethereal, more immortal than human.

The girl walking beside him naturally appeared somewhat inhuman as well.

“Yingying, you really are slow.”

Qiao Ying dug her nail into his hand and glared at him in displeasure. “How am I slow?”

Shen Qingyu did not grow angry. He merely smiled without answering.

That day in the dungeon, the instant she decided to approach him, extended her hand, and allowed him to grasp it, she had already crossed the invisible boundary between the human and the inhuman.

She was far too naive. She did not know that she should keep her distance from creatures like him, lest their decaying aura taint her.

Of course, he had no intention of telling her.

From the very beginning, he had never planned to accept the possibility that she might regret her choice and retreat.

Business was brisk at the clinic. The old physician and his apprentice were treating patients in the front room, while Yan Yanchi lay on a sickbed farther inside, accompanied only by his sword.

Qiao Ying had initially worried that the assassins might return to trouble Yan Yanchi and thought that she and Shen Qingyu ought to guard him there.

But Shen Qingyu had woven his grasshopper and smiled. “At this point, who exactly is afraid of whom coming to cause trouble?”

Qiao Ying understood.

After Shen Qingyu stormed Ding Manor, the people behind the attack had been so frightened that they fled with Ding Fufu. They would surely hide as thoroughly as possible. Why would they deliberately show themselves and attract Shen Qingyu’s attention?

As expected, Yan Yanchi had remained safe at the clinic. His external wounds had improved considerably, but the cold poison had not cleared, and he remained only dimly conscious.

Yet dim consciousness was still consciousness.

There was nothing wrong with sleeping in the dark, except that the girl’s intermittent weeping had continued from night until day and was unbearably irritating.

Yan Yanchi should have remained unconscious, but the clawing irritation in his heart became so unbearable that he forced his eyes open and snapped, “Stop crying!”

Ding Ling sat beside the bed and jolted in fright. The tears temporarily ceased spilling from her watery eyes. “Daoist Master… Daoist Master, you’re awake!”

She now depended entirely on the Demon-Subduing Sword to nourish her vitality and preserve her form as a Living Soul.

The Demon-Subduing Sword was just as proud and aloof as its master. Had its master not risked his life to protect this Living Soul, it would never have sheltered the woman.

The Living Soul was alluring enough on ordinary days. Now, with tear-misted eyes and a pale face, she looked even more enchanting.

Yan Yanchi was about to say that his Dao heart was perfectly firm and she should not dream of ruining it with such behavior. But when he opened his eyes again, Ding Ling was already shouting as she ran outside.
“Doctor! Doctor! The Daoist Master is awake! Hurry and examine him!”

But no matter how loudly she shouted as she ran outside, who could hear her voice? Who could see her?

Yan Yanchi rolled his eyes and fainted again, infuriated by her stupidity.

“Doctor, hurry and look at the Daoist Master!”

No matter how Ding Ling waved herself around in front of the old physician, he did not react in the slightest. Only belatedly did she remember that other people could not see her.

“Excuse me, please.”

Hearing the voice, Ding Ling instinctively stepped aside. Then she came back to herself and looked up.

The apprentice Chunsheng carried several packets of medicine past the patients and handed them to a woman who had brought her child for treatment.

“Take this medicine once a day for three days, and the child will recover. Make sure they don’t catch another chill in the next few days.”

The woman nodded repeatedly. “All right, I understand. Thank you, Doctor Chunsheng.”

So Doctor Chunsheng had not been speaking to her.

Thoroughly dejected, Ding Ling was about to return to Yan Yanchi’s side when a melodious voice came from the doorway.

“Doctor Lin, did you admit an injured patient suffering from poison yesterday?”

The old man’s eyes lit up.

A young master in white entered, his robes rippling with each step as though moonlight flowed across them. His black hair was loosely secured with a mutton-fat jade hairpin, while the rest fell to his waist. His face was as flawless as crowned jade, his eyes warm and refined, lending him an elegant, otherworldly air.

“Young Master Yanyu!” The old physician approached him and answered truthfully, “Indeed, we admitted such a patient. He is still lying inside.”

Ding Yanyu began, “I would like to see…”

Before he could finish, he caught sight of the Youth in Blue and the girl in a pink jacket and skirt entering through the door. His words took a sudden turn. He bowed to the two of them with cultured courtesy.

“I am Ding Yanyu. When you honored Ding Manor with a visit yesterday, our hospitality was sadly lacking. I have come to apologize to you both.” The young master spoke with refined gentleness. “I would like to speak with the two of you, if I may.”

Shen Qingyu smiled brightly. “You may not.”

Ding Yanyu’s expression paused.

Qiao Ying saw Ding Ling hiding behind a pillar with only half her face showing. She secretly pinched Shen Qingyu’s hand, signaling him to be more courteous.

Shen Qingyu lowered his face and asked with perfect innocence, “Why is Yingying pinching me?”

At his words, everyone looked at Qiao Ying.

Qiao Ying fell silent.

Ding Yanyu noticed the jade pendant at her waist and said thoughtfully, “Is your surname Qiao, miss?”

Qiao Ying nodded, then asked in surprise, “How did you know, Young Master Ding?”

“Your pendant is made from White Yang Warm Jade found only in Jade City. The stone is extremely rare, and this particular carving is exquisitely crafted. Only a single pair of such pendants exists in all of Jade City.”

Qiao Ying felt a sense of foreboding. “A… pair?”

“As it happens, I possess the other one.” Ding Yanyu extended his hand. A jade pendant identical to the one at Qiao Ying’s waist lay in his palm.

Shen Qingyu chuckled softly. “They are a pair.”

Qiao Ying’s scalp prickled. “It’s only a coincidence. Your family is wealthy, Young Master Ding. There is nothing unusual about your buying a jade pendant.”

“Do you not remember, Miss Qiao?”

Panic rose in Qiao Ying’s heart. “What should I remember?”

“Madam Qiao sent this pendant along with a letter inviting me to Jade City for your birthday banquet. If the family business had not been so demanding, I would have departed for Jade City long ago.”

Shen Qingyu laughed again. “Yingying, he says your mother specially invited him to your birthday banquet.”

“…It sounds as though I’m the daughter of a wealthy family too. It would be perfectly normal for my family to invite friends from all over to celebrate my birthday, wouldn’t it?” Qiao Ying said.

But Ding Yanyu continued, “In her letter, Madam Qiao mentioned that she and my mother had been intimate friends. She intended to arrange a marriage between you and me.”

Qiao Ying was speechless.

Shen Qingyu smiled without smiling, his fingers caressing his Blind Staff. His aura remained gentle. “A marriage, is it?”

Yet a sinister wind swept through the clinic, carrying bitter killing intent. In an instant, every patient fled.

Chunsheng hurriedly helped the old physician hide in the distance.

Ding Ling poked her head out, her reddened eyes wide.

What?

Fairy Sister was supposed to have been her future sister-in-law?!