I'm Afraid of Leaks

Cloud City was truly prosperous and bustling.

As the massive flying ship pierced through the clouds and soared over the rolling mountain ranges, one could stand at the bow and gaze out at the vast horizon, where an endless stretch of streets and buildings extended to the very edge of the world.

Those broad streets crisscrossed like the distinct lines on a chessboard, neatly partitioning the rows of houses and structures.

This was the first time Li Muyang had seen such a magnificent city in this world.

Jiuyuan City, the hometown of his original self, was a rustic little town with low, dilapidated walls, where one could overlook the entire city just by standing on the gatehouse.

Yet, the grandeur and scale of this majestic city rising from the earth were already on par with the metropolises of his past life.

From the perspective of a spectacle, this ancient city—lacking skyscrapers yet housing millions, with main thoroughfares one or two hundred meters wide—looked even more impressive than the high-rises of his previous world.

From time to time, streaks of light from cultivators darted across the sky, their varied colors striking against the backdrop of the sunset.

After the flying ship landed at the dock, Li Muyang and Guan Xiaoshun headed straight into the city.

With a clear goal in mind, they made a beeline for the local apothecary.

Guided by Guan Xiaoshun, Li Muyang compared two different shops before finally exhausting every cent of his silver.

One Century-Old Mountain Ginseng, two eighty-year-old Vermilion Fruits, and two stalks of Jade Marrow Ganoderma—these were the spiritual herbs Li Muyang had emptied his pockets to acquire.

He and Guan Xiaoshun hurried out of the city, returning to the sect just before the flying ship dock closed for the night.

After parting ways with Guan Xiaoshun at the junction, Li Muyang carried the spiritual herbs toward the tile-roofed house halfway up the mountainside.

When he returned home, his cheap sister, Li Yuechan, had already woken up.

Under the dim light of an oil lamp, the young girl lay weakly on the hard wooden bed, chatting with Ning Wan'er.

Seeing Li Muyang return with boxes of spiritual herbs, the girl said with a touch of embarrassment, "I'm sorry, Brother. I'm holding you back..."

The first thing the girl said upon seeing him was to apologize to Li Muyang.

After all, Li Muyang had gone all the way to Cloud City to buy these herbs for her sake, which must have cost a fortune.

And every cent spent had come from Li Muyang's personal savings.

Li Muyang merely glanced at his cheap sister and said, "As long as you're still alive, that's enough."

With that, he took out the medicine cauldron given to him by Doctor Lin and began refining the herbs on the spot.

Under the catalysis of his spiritual power, the small cauldron emitted an intense, scorching heat.

The ginseng, the Vermilion Fruits, and the Jade Marrow Ganoderma—Li Muyang refined these three herbs into the cauldron one by one, eventually producing a bowl of medicinal liquid that gave off a strange, faint fragrance.

A single bowl of this liquid was worth twenty taels of gold.

Li Muyang handed the bowl to Li Yuechan and said, "This is all the money I had. Drink it and see how much it helps."

Li Muyang spoke with blunt directness.

There was a black line on the girl's wrist; Doctor Lin had said that if the demonic energy were purged, the line would vanish completely.

Li Yuechan obediently took the liquid from her brother and drank it in one gulp.

Because of the refining process, a strange, refreshing fragrance drifted through the air.

Just smelling it made one feel light and airy.

However, after Li Yuechan finished the bowl, the black line on her wrist had faded by less than a quarter.

Clearly, twenty taels of gold worth of spiritual herbs were far from enough to cure the girl.

Seeing this, Ning Wan'er looked somewhat disappointed.

"It's not enough..."

Li Muyang, however, remained calm. "It's fine. My family also sent some spiritual herbs, and they should arrive in the next two days."

"Yuechan must have brought money from home when she came to the Demon Refining Sect. I'll take that money to the city tomorrow to buy more herbs; perhaps that will have an effect."

After saying this, Li Muyang thanked Ning Wan'er.

"In any case, thank you for today, Miss Ning. I truly appreciate it."

Li Muyang offered his sincere thanks before seeing Ning Wan'er out.

The night had grown late, and it was time for Ning Wan'er to leave.

But after stepping out of the house and walking quite a distance away, Ning Wan'er couldn't help but look back at the lonely little tile-roofed house standing in the darkness of the desolate mountain path.

Gazing at the small dwelling halfway up the mountain, the girl blinked. "This young master of the Li Estate... he really has changed so much."

Not only was the fanatical look in his eyes gone, but his conduct, speech, and demeanor had become far more mature and composed—he was like a completely different person from the Li Muyang she once knew.

When faced with great misfortune, most people would wail and lament, blaming heaven and others.

Yet, throughout this entire day, Li Muyang had been calm to the point of coldness.

From the moment his sister was injured to the lack of improvement after she took the medicine, Ning Wan'er had barely seen any change in his emotions; he was like an outsider looking in.

If he hadn't hesitated to spend all his savings on medicine for his sister, Ning Wan'er would have almost suspected that this young master of the Li Estate didn't care whether his sister lived or died.

But even with Li Muyang spending every cent he had to treat her, it was clear that they were still a long way from a cure.

At the current rate, the Li Estate's second young lady was likely to be disfigured, or even lose an arm.

What a pity for such a beautiful face...

Ning Wan'er walked along the mountain path under the cover of night. A gust of night wind blew, and she suddenly felt a chill, unable to stop herself from rubbing her arms.

The girl looked up at the light atop the distant mountain peaks; that was the inner sect of the Demon Refining Sect, the true Demon Refining Sect.

That was the Demon Refining Sect in the eyes of the world.

As for these scattered settlements of the outer sect, they were seen by the world as nothing more than places for menial servants to stay.

She absolutely could not spend her whole life here; she had to enter the inner sect, or even climb higher!

At this moment, Ning Wan'er's gaze became incomparably firm.

Today, the one who had the misfortune of being harmed was Li Yuechan, but what if it were her next time?

She absolutely did not want to be a Li Yuechan who could be harmed by others at will.

If she had to choose, she would rather be the Qin Haie who harmed others!

Under the night sky, Ning Wan'er stepped into the dim moonlight and headed down the mountain.

Meanwhile, inside the small tiled house with the door shut, Li Yuechan lay on the hard wooden bed, quietly curling her body up.

When Doctor Lin treated her wounds that afternoon, she had torn off all of Li Yuechan's clothes.

Now, her body beneath the quilt was completely bare.

It had been fine while Ning Wan'er was here; she hadn't felt that there was any problem. But now that Miss Ning had left, only she and her brother remained in the small room...

Li Yuechan secretly gripped the quilt tightly. This thin quilt was so fragile; it was clearly insufficient to protect her.

Glancing at Li Muyang beside her with a guilty conscience, Li Yuechan whispered.

"Brother... you have nowhere to sleep tonight, I've taken your bed."

The small wooden bed was filled with the faint scent of blood, as well as the scent of Li Muyang himself.

It was the girl's first time lying on a man's bed. The scent of a man surrounded her from all sides, as if she were being tightly entangled by him.

Curled up in the quilt at this moment, Li Yuechan nervously clutched the fabric, terrified that the quilt might let in a draft at any second.