Misunderstanding

"Can it really be cured?" Song Qingshu was somewhat doubtful. After all, even Nameless had been unable to do anything.

"Senior Brother Song, don't get your hopes up too high. I can only do my best and give it a try. The chances of success are only ten or twenty percent. Do you still wish to try?" Zhang Wuji considered it carefully before speaking with a frown.

"Ten or twenty percent is enough. Just do your best." To Song Qingshu, who had already despaired, ten or twenty percent was indeed a high chance. If Zhang Wuji had confidently claimed there was more than a fifty percent chance of curing him, Song Qingshu would have doubted him instead. After all, even Nameless had been helpless. Now that Zhang Wuji put it this way, a sliver of hope rose in his heart.

"Brother Wuji, I think you shouldn't try. If you fail to cure him, you'll only end up being blamed for nothing." Zhao Min felt that her beloved was being a little rash this time. No one would thank him much if he succeeded, but if he failed, all kinds of rumors would surely spread.

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing," Zhang Wuji said gravely. Zhao Min assumed that he wanted to do his utmost to heal Song Qingshu's injuries in order to make up for what he owed Zhou Zhiruo, so she said nothing more.

"Please rest assured, Miss Zhao. If I cannot be cured, then it is simply a calamity I am destined not to escape. I will not blame anyone." Song Qingshu's words struck Zhao Min as strange. Since when had Song Qingshu become so broad-minded?

Zhou Zhiruo also found it odd, but guilt weighed on her heart, and she did not think too deeply about it. She simply echoed, "Sect Leader Zhang need only do his best. My hus... my husband and I will certainly be deeply grateful."

At first, Song Qingshu worried that Zhang Wuji might take the chance to harm him. But on second thought, Zhang Wuji had promised before so many people to treat him today. Failing to cure him would be one thing, but if he treated him to death, then given how everyone knew of his past with Zhou Zhiruo, the martial world would surely accuse Zhang Wuji of murdering a husband to seize his wife and call him a shameless scoundrel.

For the next while, Zhang Wuji frequently came to administer acupuncture, medicine, and internal-energy treatments to Song Qingshu. He rushed back and forth tirelessly, and after several days, his internal energy had been greatly depleted.

Song Qingshu actually began to feel somewhat apologetic. Zhang Wuji had truly done all he could for a romantic rival.

"Time for your medicine, Qingshu." Zhou Zhiruo brought over a bowl of pitch-black herbal medicine, lifted his head, and fed it to him mouthful by mouthful.

Nestled against Zhou Zhiruo, feeling the softness of her body and catching her faint fragrance, Song Qingshu's thoughts began to wander. These past days, he had not relaxed his vigilance in the slightest, guarding every night against Zhang Wuji coming again to engage in Stealing Fragrance and Jade as he had last time. Yet several days had passed without anything unusual happening. No one had come to strike his acupoints either. Then he remembered that Princess Shaomin was no ordinary woman, possessing a mind sharp and perceptive in every direction. This time, knowing full well that Zhang Wuji frequently came into contact with Zhou Zhiruo, if he could still secretly meet her every night without Zhao Min finding out, then Zhao Min would not deserve the title of peerlessly clever.

After not seeing them for several days, Zhou Zhiruo's breasts seemed to have grown larger again. While drinking his medicine, Song Qingshu's peripheral vision swept over the beautiful woman's chest, and he smiled wickedly. Then a terrifying possibility suddenly occurred to him, and his smile froze.

"Zhiruo, my stomach feels a little uncomfortable. I need to go relieve myself," Song Qingshu said, pretending to be embarrassed.

Zhou Zhiruo covered her smile with her lips, rose to her feet, smoothed her skirts, and stepped aside to clear the way. Song Qingshu hurried all the way to the latrine. After carefully checking that no one was nearby, he quickly stuck a finger down his throat and gagged himself, vomiting out all the medicine he had just drunk.

Song Qingshu had noticed Zhou Zhiruo's increasingly full breasts and suddenly recalled that a young woman's body only became so voluptuous after being frequently nourished by dew and rain. He had always guarded against the two having an affair at night, but suddenly realized that they could just as easily have one in the daytime.

Previously, because it was broad daylight, Song Qingshu had let down his guard. Thinking back now, every time he drank the medicine, he would feel dazed for a while. At the time, he assumed it was like certain Western medicines from his previous life, which had drowsiness as a side effect. Since it was daytime, he had paid it no mind.

Not long after returning to the room, Song Qingshu pretended exhaustion was overwhelming him. His eyelids drooped as if they could barely remain open, and soon he seemed to fall asleep.

"Qingshu? Qingshu?" Zhou Zhiruo gently shook him a few times, puzzled. Why does he fall asleep so quickly every time he drinks the medicine?

"No need to call him. He took the Ten Fragrance Soft Muscle Powder I improved. He won't wake up for at least two hours." At that moment, Zhang Wuji's voice came from nearby. Song Qingshu was startled, and then his Sleep Acupoint was struck.

Hearing their conversation, Song Qingshu finally understood before losing consciousness again that the two of them truly had gotten together. The rage in his heart erupted like a volcano. Heh, heh, heh. I really was naive. I thought they were trying to save me, but this was only a pretext to make their affair more convenient.

"Zhang Wuji, what do you mean?" When Song Qingshu's head lolled to one side, Zhou Zhiruo hurriedly reached out and checked his breathing. Only after feeling his breath did she let out a sigh of relief. Then she turned to Zhang Wuji, her expression darkening at once.

"How else would we get a chance to say something private? It's always inconvenient when he's awake," Zhang Wuji said, glancing at Song Qingshu.

"Sect Leader Zhang, please conduct yourself with dignity!" Zhou Zhiruo rose to her feet, a trace of chill in her voice. "I did agree to reconcile with you before, but I owe Song Qingshu. You must cure him. Otherwise, there will always be a thorn in my heart, and I cannot possibly be with you."

Zhang Wuji fell silent for a moment before answering, "Of course."

"Can you... can you really cure Qingshu?" Zhou Zhiruo noticed the uncertainty in his tone and immediately asked suspiciously.

Zhang Wuji hesitated, but still said, "Senior Brother Song's meridians have all been severed. Medicine can no longer cure him. When I said I had a ten percent chance, I had already exaggerated greatly."

"So treating Qingshu was merely an excuse for you to get close to me!" Zhou Zhiruo glared at him angrily. "I was wondering why Qingshu fell asleep every time he drank the medicine these past days. So it was all your doing."

"What else could I do? If I sought you out normally, rumors would inevitably spread. That would not be good for either of us." Zhang Wuji gave a bitter smile.

"I can let the previous matter go, but you must cure Qingshu," Zhou Zhiruo said resolutely.

"Qingshu, Qingshu—why do you keep calling him that? What, do you care about him that much?" Jealousy welled up in Zhang Wuji.

"Perhaps this is only an excuse for me to persuade myself to leave my husband and be with you." Zhou Zhiruo's voice was full of sorrow. "Brother Wuji, you clearly know how I feel about you, but I am a married woman. I have my own concerns."

"Fine, fine, I was wrong, little sister Zhiruo." Zhang Wuji hurriedly apologized.

"Your medical skills are miraculous. How can you possibly be unable to cure Qingshu's injuries?" A thought suddenly flashed through Zhou Zhiruo's mind. Looking at him, she asked, "Could it be that because Qingshu is my husband, you are deliberately refusing to treat him out of a man's jealousy?"

"How could that be?" Zhang Wuji hurriedly waved his hands. "I truly have done everything I possibly could."

Zhou Zhiruo stared at him without blinking until his expression became somewhat unnatural. Only then did she say calmly, "Very well. I'll believe you for now. But this treatment cannot continue. I will take Qingshu back to Emei first, where he can recover from his injuries. When you find a way to cure Qingshu, then come find me."

Zhang Wuji opened his mouth, still wanting to say something, but Zhou Zhiruo gave him no chance. In a cold voice, she said, "Someone, escort Sect Leader Zhang out."

Watching Zhang Wuji leave helplessly, Zhou Zhiruo murmured to herself, "Brother Wuji, I know you have a way to save him. It only depends on whether you are willing to pay such a great price for me."