Nightfall

A black carriage rushed in the eastern city and ran to the Vermilion Bird City Gate. Someone in the carriage made the gate open by showing the guards two ID tokens, and then the carriage continued to run along the straight state highway to the Academy in the south.

In the carriage, Ning Que hugged Sangsang tightly, his right hand fumbling on the wall of the carriage. He couldn’t stop panting. It was not because he was weary or tried. He was always very healthy and after he learned the Great Spirit, his breath became even longer and more peaceful. It was because he was terrified. He could feel that Sangsang’s body was becoming colder and colder, even though she was wrapped in a thick quilt.

Finally, he found the little flagon he had put in the carriage and without any hesitation, he opened the lid and passed the flagon to Sangsang’s mouth. A strong aroma of alcohol permeated the air.

Sangsang’s eyes were closed, her eyelashes were flattering and her face was pale. Her grey lips were pressed together and her teeth were clenched, which made it impossible for the strong liquor to flow into her mouth. It flowed down at the corner of her mouth and wet the quilt.

Ning Que was occupied by an extreme dread when he saw the flowing liquor and her pale face. He felt weak on his legs and lowered his head in pain. He tightened his armed around her.

It had been a while since Sangsang fell ill last time. More accurately speaking, she hadn’t become ill since they left the City of Wei and came to Chang’an. But today her illness was more severe than any time that Ning Que could remember. Therefore, he was scared. He decided immediately that instead of taking her to a clinic, he would take her to the carriage and go to the Academy with her.

The Academy did not have doctors, but the Headmaster was there, his Senior Brothers were there. Ning Que believed that as long as Sangsang was still alive when they arrived at the Academy, she would be fine.

It later proved that Ning Que’s choice was right.

Carrying Sangsang in his arms, he ran through the mist, climbed to the cliff platform in the back of the mountain and bellowed at the lake. His loud voice woke the Seniors Sisters and Brothers up and they walked out of their rooms to find out what had happened. Seventh Sister was the first one to go out. Last night she stayed up late to embroider a picture of a cat chasing butterflies and didn’t go to sleep until midnight. And now with a needle pinned in her hair, she walked out with great anger and tiredness.

But when she saw the terrified expression on Ning Que’s face, she realized what had happened and the anger and tiredness on her face turned serious. Without saying anything to Ning Que, she observed Sangsang’s face and drew out the needle in her hair and prodded it on Sangsang’s neck for four times.

Sangsang groaned when the needle pricked into her skin, but her brows still frowned and she didn’t wake up. However, the pale color on her face faded and her face became the original dark color.

“Seventh Sister, how is she?”

Ning Que looked at Seventh Sister and asked shiveringly. He never knew that apart from the tactical array and embroider, Seventh Sister was also good at acupuncture. He became hopeful when seeing the change of the color on Sangsang’s face.

“Her heart suffered from coldness. It is dangerous and all I can do is to suppress the coldness with the needle,” said Seventh Sister.

Ning Que’s arrival had wakened all people living near the lake in the back of the mountain. Eldest Brother also appeared in the distance, but he was walking slowly as usual, it seemed that nothing could hurry or worry him.

Noticing the arrival of Eldest Brother, Seventh Sister suddenly relaxed. She yelled to him, “Eldest Brother, please get Eleventh Brother here, this is urgent.”

Eldest Brother was taken back for a while, and then he turned back to the woods behind him.

Seventh Sister noticed the worried look on Ning Que’s face and comforted him, “This is not a serious problem. You should take her to the hut and find the Master. When Eleventh Brother comes, everything will be fine.”

Ning Que couldn’t understand her words. If the Master helped, then Sangsang would definitely be fine. But why should they wait for Eleventh Brother?

The morning arrived and sunrise shone on the back of the mountain. Rays shone on the grass on the roof of the hut and were reflected to the woods in the distance, making the meadow surrounded by the woods very bright.

Ning Que and Chen Pipi were standing outside and waiting for the news. Since last spring, Sangsang had been coming here quite often. Everyone liked her because she was good at cooking and she was quiet and peaceful. Seeing that she was seriously ill, everyone was worried and Tang Xiaotang’s eyes even became red. But Ning Que looked much calmer than before.

It was because the Master was awakened now. He was in the hut right now. Ning Que believed that even if Sangsang was about to die, he could save her.

At this time, Wang Chi walked out of the hut and Ning Que hurried to him immediately. Wang Chi said, “She has been weak since she was born and coldness has reigned in her lung for a long time. This kind of illness worsens every time it happens. And longer the illness stays quiet, more serious the next outbreak will become. I have checked her and found out the cause of this outbreak: she suffered from severe coldness recently and has been thinking a lot.”

Ning Que asked, “She will be ok, right?”

Wang Chi replied, “The acupuncture from Seventh Sister was just in time and I have boiled her some medicine. It should be enough to suppress the coldness in her body and she will be fine. But you should always keep her warm, because she can’t suffer from coldness for another time.”

His words made Ning Que relax and he found his legs very weak.

Something suddenly occurred to Wang Chi and he asked doubtfully, “Youngest Brother, Sangsang has got this illness since she was born and I guess she had outbreaks many times over the past years. But there are not any good doctors in City of Wei, let alone in Chang’an. How did you help her?”

When Sangsang was young, Ning Que always took her to see the doctors and spent almost all of their savings in medicine shops, but it still didn’t work. Later, Ning Que found a good way to help Sangsang, and that was why Sangsang could survive. Hearing his question, Ning Que didn’t try to lie, he answered honestly, “I always give her a large bottle of strong liquor whenever she is painful.”

Second Brother had been standing at the outside of the hut expressionlessly. He frowned when hearing what Ning Que said.

Wang Chi thought for a while and nodded, “That was the right way. Although it is only a temporary relief to use strong liquor to warm her, it is better than taking wrong medicines.”

Thanks to his comments that Second Brother couldn’t accuse Ning Que of giving her liquor.

Watching Wang Chi disappearing in the woods, Ning Que finally realized that his Eleventh Brother, notable for being the Flower Addict, was actually an excellent doctor. But he felt worried again when he remembered how silly Eleventh Brother looked with his head covered with petals and asked, “Is Eleventh Brother reliable?”

Seventh Sister replied, “Eleventh Brother spared no efforts in studying plants and flowers. Compared with him, the Flower Addict Lu Chenjia knows almost nothing about the nature of flowers and plants. Eleventh Brother knew all of them in the world and their medical effects. No doctor could be more reliable than him.”

Ning Que relaxed when hearing her words. But he still worried a little because the most reliable person, the Master, hadn’t said anything yet.

The hut was drafty in all directions, with only several screens standing in the platform. On the platform there was a large mattress and this was where the Master slept. Sangsang was lying there right now.

She had been awake for a while, but now she fell asleep again because of the effects of the medicine. Tang Xiaotang put the medicine bowl down, she wet a towel with hot water, dried it, and then she carefully put it on her cold forehead. It seemed that she was murmuring something to Sangsang while holding her hands.

Ning Que was very grateful to her. He turned to the Headmaster and asked worriedly, “Master, is she fine?”

The Headmaster got up a lot earlier than usual and he was not in a good mood. He could resist not shouting at Ning Que only because he knew that Ning Que was feeling even worse.

He blew to the Lianzi porridge and said, “What can happen to her? She just needs to bask more in the sunshine.”

His irresponsible words made Ning Que relax completely. He knew that if his Master thought Sangsang was fine, then she would definitely be fine. But would sunbath really help?

He walked to the Master, took the bowl over and stirred it carefully with a spoon. And then he asked the Headmaster with an unprecedentedly respectful tone, “Master, you said Sangsang had recovered last time, right?”

The Master replied, “Her body has been weak since she was born and she never got proper treatment. And there is a great amount of coldness in her body, if not for meeting Wei Guangming and learning from him about how to use the Haotian Divine Light, the coldness in her body would not have been suppressed. She only needs more time to use the Divine Light to dissolve the coldness completely. I have told you she will be fine and it is definitely true. Are you doubting my ability?”

Ning Que passed the porridge bowl to the Master respectfully after confirming that it had cooled down. He said humbly, “I am very ashamed for what I have said. But Master, I can’t see what is happening.”

The Master looked at him and said mockingly, “You need to ask yourself that question. Sangsang was already very ill, but her master took her with him to fight with Xia Hou. Is it really fun to kill him? To help you, she lit the night up on the cliff and it used up all the Haotian Devine Light in her body at once. After that, the coldness in her body became free after being suppressed for a long time, it was looking for a chance to burst out. And then you bullied her and made her upset. That was when it happened.”

Ning Que was silent and thought to himself that it really turned out to be his fault. But what could make Sangsang , a quiet girl, nervous and upset? Was it…their engagement?

“Master, if she was born to be afraid of coldness, then how can she be healed completely?”

The Master ate a spoonful of the porridge and nodded satisfiedly, “I have told you, it is easy. She just needs to take more sunbath and keep studying the Divine Skill. When her Divine Skill reaches the topmost, she would be healed completely.”

Ning Que thought about his oncoming journey and asked uncertainly, “It is a long journey to Lanke Temple. She is so weak right now, can I…stay here?”

The Headmaster became very angry and shouted at him, “Are you a pampered son of a wealthy family? She is ill, but you can go alone. The Buddhism Sect has its own skills and even I admire the leechcraft of the young monks there. You can decide whether you need to go.”

Ning Que replied helplessly, ”No need to be so angry, Master. I will go.”

The conversation between the Master and Ning Que amused everyone in the hut. But no one laughed when hearing his last words.

Eldest Brother didn’t laugh. He looked at Sangsang, who was still sleeping on the mattress. His face was full of sympathy and worry.