Chapter 138: Green Grain

By this point, my mind had grown hazy, and I couldn't hear Bai Rushuang's words very clearly, yet I could acutely feel her heart beating wildly.

Just as the words fell, Bai Rushuang raised her hand and delivered a fierce slap across Liu Yi's face.

Unlike the woman in green, Liu Yi had no intention of tolerating such treatment. She instinctively wanted to retaliate, but the moment she met Bai Rushuang’s icy gaze, her entire body seemed to freeze in place.

With a loud crack, the heavy slap landed squarely on Liu Yi's face, sending her stumbling back several steps. She spat out a mouthful of fresh blood along with a bloody tooth—one that was unnaturally sharp, bearing no resemblance to human teeth at all.

"Remember this, just this once. If there is a next time, it will cost you more than a single tooth!"

With that, Bai Rushuang scooped me up in her arms and walked step by step toward the golf cart parked not far away. No one dared to step forward to block her path. As we passed right beside Liu Yi, I suddenly heard her voice, bordering on madness.

"Wu Dao, let me tell you. My name is not Liu Yi. From now on, you must remember my true name. Not just you, but Bai Rushuang as well—you too must relearn my name. I am Qing He!"

Qing He. So Liu Yi's real name was Qing He. Even though my senses were dulled at the time, that name struck me like a spell, deeply branding itself into the recesses of my mind.

Holding me tightly, Bai Rushuang got into the golf cart. From behind us came the voice of the woman in green: "Young Miss, you have been out for so long. It is time you returned to see your mother."

Without a word of reply, Bai Rushuang slammed her foot down on the accelerator and sped off into the distance.

Lying in the golf cart, I was racked with excruciating pain across every inch of my body. Struggling to force my eyes open, I saw that Bai Rushuang had pushed the speedometer close to a hundred and sixty, tears streaming down her face the entire way. I wanted to ask her to slow down, but I quickly realized that even speaking had become an extravagant luxury beyond my reach.

I had no idea how long she drove, but finally, she brought the vehicle to a halt right in front of the entrance of Sanhua Mysterious Pavilion.

"Sister Yu, save him!"

Bai Rushuang lifted me out of the car. I had no idea where such a slender girl found the immense strength to carry me inside. When Qin Yu saw my ruined state, she was profoundly startled, demanding to know what on earth had happened to reduce me to this condition.

Tears still falling, Bai Rushuang begged, "Sister Yu, please, you have to save him! Hurry!"

Realizing the gravity of the situation, Qin Yu asked no further questions and immediately instructed Bai Rushuang to take me up to the second floor of the pavilion. She then reached out to check my pulse. The moment her fingers touched my wrist, she drew in a sharp breath of disbelief. "Rushuang, what on earth injured him? Why is his pulse in such chaotic disorder? Even his three souls and seven mortal spirits have been severely damaged!"

"The... the God-Beating Whip!"

At these words, Qin Yu froze in absolute shock. "Rushuang, did you do this to him?"

Bai Rushuang began to cry again. "No, it was Qing He."

"Qing He!" Qin Yu seemed to recognize the name. Her brows furrowed deeply as she asked, "Rushuang, why is Wu Dao entangled with Qing He yet again?"

"Perhaps this is simply the cruelty of fate," Bai Rushuang said with a bitter, helpless smile. "Qing He assumed the identity of Liu Yi and remained Wu Dao's university classmate all this time."

She then anxiously asked Qin Yu if there was any way to save me.

Drawing a deep breath, Qin Yu said, "His injuries are far too grievous. I can only try." With that, she retrieved a medicinal pill from a small box and pressed it between my lips.

The moment the pill slid down my throat, a wave of warmth surged through my entire body, easing the pain to a certain degree. Even so, just as Qin Yu had warned, my wounds were simply too severe, leaving her momentarily at a loss for what to do next.

Finally, looking down at my dying form, Bai Rushuang seemed to reach a monumental decision. She scooped me up once more and turned to head toward the stairs.

"Rushuang, where are you taking him?" Qin Yu hurried over to block her path. "You have wounds on your back as well. Shall I tend to them for you first?"

"There's no need, Sister Yu. You know as well as I do that I possess immense regenerative powers!" With those words, Bai Rushuang carried me down the stairs. "Sister Yu, do you think my healing abilities can help Wu Dao?"

Qin Yu’s expression shifted dramatically. Fixing Bai Rushuang with a grave and stern look, she asked, "Rushuang, are you certain you want to do this? You must understand the consequences—this will consume a vast amount of your cultivation, perhaps even your vital life essence."

"I have already made up my mind, Sister Yu. Wu Dao ended up like this because he was protecting me. I must save him, no matter the cost."

Qin Yu let out a long sigh. "Then do as you see fit. Do not push yourself beyond your limits. Do you need me to accompany you?"

"No, Sister Yu, I'll be fine."

With that, Bai Rushuang carried me back to the golf cart and drove toward her own residence.

Upon arrival, she laid me gently down on the large sofa in the living room before rushing off to her bedroom to search for something. Meanwhile, I had drifted back to consciousness, though my awareness remained terribly blurred. My body hurt so intensely that I couldn't even twitch a single finger.

Before long, Bai Rushuang emerged from the bedroom. To my astonishment, she had changed her clothes.

She was now dressed in a flowing, traditional white ancient-style gown. Clad in this attire, she looked remarkably like a celestial maiden descending from the highest heavens.

Slowly, she walked over to my side, pulled me tightly into her embrace, and after murmuring a quiet incantation, pressed her lips gently against mine.

In that instant, a surge of warmth rushed through my entire body. At the same time, Bai Rushuang seemed to transfer something into my mouth—it felt like a small bead. The bead circulated through my meridians, traversing my entire body before finally returning through my mouth back into hers.

The entire process lasted roughly ten minutes, during which our lips remained pressed together. Once the bead retreated back into her body, my previously hazy consciousness finally began to clear.

"Rushuang!"

The word slipped unconsciously from my lips, to my utter surprise.

Bai Rushuang looked utterly exhausted, her complexion deathly pale. Seeing that I was speaking, a flicker of profound excitement broke through the tear tracks on her face. "Wooden Fish, you're finally awake!"

"Rushuang!"

"Wooden Fish, don't speak. You are gravely injured. Save your strength."

She placed her hand gently over my chest, and a wisp of faint white mist began to curl outward from her palm. The mist rapidly expanded, enveloping my entire body in a gentle haze.

Bathed in this white mist, the agonizing pain that had wracked my body gradually began to recede. The sensation was akin to soaking in the warm sunlight of early spring, bringing a deep, comforting relief.

"Rushuang, if you do this, won't it harm you?" As my mind cleared further, Qin Yu's prior warning flashed through my thoughts, and I frantically tried to urge her to stop.

She refused to listen, instead holding me even tighter against her chest, keeping her hand pressed firmly over my heart as she allowed the white mist to continue healing me.

I struggled weakly, but my body was simply too devoid of strength to break free. Eventually, exhausted beyond measure, I drifted off to deep slumber right there in her arms.

"Gluttonous Snake, if I manage to survive this, will you be my girlfriend?" Those were the words I forced out just before slipping into unconsciousness. They were the result of countless sleepless nights of contemplation, finally spoken with whatever courage I could muster, because I feared that if I didn't say them now, I might never have another chance.

"Yes! Wooden Fish, as long as you survive, I will agree to anything you ask." After giving that reply, Bai Rushuang's tears fell anew, and she held me close, weeping softly through the entire night.

In the deep silence of the small hours, as we both rested in that embrace, I couldn't tell whether I was caught in a dream or not. For a fleeting moment, my mind felt unnaturally sharp and lucid.

I could see everything around me with perfect clarity—including Bai Rushuang holding me and every object in the living room. Then, my gaze fell upon the large fish tank not far away.

A blinding red light suddenly erupted from within the tank, so fierce and dazzling that I instinctively wanted to cry out, but I felt trapped in a nightmare, entirely unable to utter a sound.

Immediately afterward, I witnessed an unbelievable sight. Emerging from the blinding red light within the fish tank was a tall, breathtakingly beautiful woman clad in a flowing crimson dress!