Hidden Shadow – CH 072

Chapter Seventy-Two: I Quite Like You

Elder Zhi, as if possessed, focused his inner energy on his fingertips, completely oblivious to his surroundings.

An Jiu lowered her eyes, seeing the red plum blossoms in front of her feet blooming more and more vibrantly, her vision blurring.

Standing in the cold wind for an unknown amount of time, An Jiu swayed, feeling a pair of hands supporting her arms, and then everything went black, and she lost consciousness.

She slept very soundly, without dreams, but felt very tired.

An Jiu opened her heavy eyelids and saw Mo Sigui’s face, so thin it was almost unrecognizable; only his ever-bright peach blossom eyes remained as beautiful as ever.

“Awake!” Mo Sigui’s eyes shone brightly, his voice filled with arrogance as he exclaimed, “You bastard, how could you ruin my lifelong reputation!”

“What happened to me?” When An Jiu was unconscious, she thought she was going to die, but she never expected to open her eyes and still be alive.

“What’s wrong?” Mo Sigui raised her voice, noticing her hoarseness, and turned to pour her a glass of water, feeding her with a small spoon. “You really do not know how to cherish yourself! And rightly so; it is pointless to talk to someone who’s contemplating suicide.”

Most people who contemplated suicide could not bear the suffering of living and wanted to end it all, but who could be as ruthless to themselves as An Jiu?

The pain of having one’s meridians destroyed was something Mo Sigui could not even bear to think about.

“I really do not know why someone like you would want to destroy yourself!” Mo Sigui said irritably.

“Is Mei Jiu unresponsive?” An Jiu asked.

Mo Sigui slammed down the glass and plopped down on the stool by the window. “Maybe she is. You kept crying while you were unconscious, but you would not wake up.”

“That’s her.” An Jiu had never shed a tear because of her injuries. “My meridians…”

Mo Sigui released her spiritual power to check the surroundings, confirming no one was around. “With your meridians completely destroyed, you almost certainly will not have any internal energy left.”

An Jiu’s expression remained indifferent.

“In other words, the shocking event half a month ago might have been the last time you ever experienced it.” Mo Sigui tapped his palm absently with his folding fan. “A person’s internal energy corresponds to the five elements, and meridians have innate attributes. Your meridians belong to the fire element, and not long ago, they were forcibly widened by an internal energy of the ‘fire’ element. Although you were slightly injured that time, it was actually very beneficial to you. As long as you recover well, your internal energy will increase rapidly afterward. Elder Zhi’s internal energy is the most domineering type of the water element. Your entire meridian system was torn apart, and even your dantian was almost completely destroyed.” With meridians destroyed and no attributes remaining, how could she generate internal energy?

An Jiu’s attention was completely elsewhere, only murmuring, “I’ve been unconscious for half a month.”

Mo Sigui sighed helplessly, “Since you came to me, it means you do not want to hurt Fourteenth, but even if you get what you want, how is she supposed to live? You were too impulsive.”

He rarely spoke so seriously, but An Jiu was unmoved. “How she lives is her business; I am not her mother. I have no responsibility to take care of her!”

Mei Jiu could control her body but did not resist, so An Jiu felt no guilt.

“I begged Elder Qi to keep this a secret. If Elder Zhi is deliberately testing me, he will not be able to hide it,” Mo Sigui smiled lazily, “but he probably does not have time to bother with you right now.”

His robes were loose, and he leaned casually against the table. He possessed a unique, almost romantic air about him. Listening to his slightly hoarse voice was like feeling rough fingers gently stroking one’s skin, a tickle that went straight to the heart. “I saw it all long ago. In this family, besides the younger generation, only Elder Qi and my uncle still have any humanity left.”

Mo Sigui was not included in the family register, and by all accounts, he should have been immediately sent away from Mei Mansion. It was Elder Qi who overruled everyone’s objections and insisted on keeping him by his side. Mo Sigui’s willingness to stay stemmed entirely from Elder Qi’s familial treatment of him.

“Thank you,” An Jiu said.

Mo Sigui flicked open his folding fan and chuckled. “No need for thanks. I suddenly realize I quite like you. I am never stingy with people I like.”

An Jiu turned her head, quietly looking at him, waiting for him to continue.

“You are like a block of wood; I do not have to worry about causing trouble by talking to you,” Mo Sigui said, his eyes crinkling. “Besides, you always seem to have some rare injuries or illnesses. As a physician, how could I not like that?”

An Jiu was displeased. She hated being used as a guinea pig, but Mo Sigui seemed different from the physicians she’d encountered before.

“You used to hate me not long ago,” An Jiu said, intrigued by this.

Not long ago, An Jiu had also intensely disliked Mo Sigui, but now things seemed to have changed, though she did not know when.

“Do not ask why. I always do things based on my whims.” Mo Sigui tossed his fan onto the table and pulled two tokens from his robes. “I guessed Elder Zhi would be in seclusion, so I got the tokens before he went into seclusion. At such a high price, this matter cannot fall through. Rest for a few more days, and then we will go to Bianjing.”

Mo Sigui’s sudden enthusiasm for An Jiu had many reasons. In truth, he was the one who started this whole affair. Even though things had escalated beyond his expectations and it was not entirely his fault, he still felt a pang of guilt. Furthermore, as a physician constantly striving for the pinnacle of medical skill, he could not possibly ignore such a peculiar case as An Jiu’s. In addition to these identifiable reasons, there was also a touch of sympathy and pity that even he could not quite articulate.

The following days were blessed with fine weather; the snow had melted completely. An Jiu basked in the sun by the medicine stove, reading books—a life she had never known before.

Mei Ruyan came to see her every day.

An Jiu watched as the young woman grew increasingly beautiful. Yao-Ye often whispered in her ear about Mei Ruyan’s infatuation with Master Mo, but she always kept to herself, and besides, she was already preoccupied with her own affairs, so she could not be bothered to interfere.

In her spare time, however, she did think about many things. She discovered that Mo Sigui had been solely responsible for her injuries, while Elder Qi only occasionally came to check on her, never offering to diagnose or treat her. It seemed he had given up on treating her, leaving her to Mo Sigui for experiments.

What caught her attention the most was that Elder Zhi’s internal energy was exactly the same as that of the master archer in the temple. If this was a coincidence, it was far too much.

These things were enough for her to ponder for a while.

After seven days, Mo Sigui, confirming that her injuries were no longer hindering her movement, prepared a carriage. The two of them, accompanied by a group of maids and servants, set off for Bianjing amidst the envy of onlookers.

The carriage swayed gently. An Jiu initiated a conversation with Mo Sigui. “How many people have reached the mastery of water-based internal energy?”

“Well… I think I can count them on one hand, fewer than twenty, but most are at the third rank. Second-rank, like Elder Zhi, is extremely rare,” Mo Sigui said doubtfully. “Why did you ask that?”

An Jiu did not answer but instead asked, “Are there many people with internal energy attributes like Elder Zhi’s?”