Twenty-six frames

His only flaw: poor.

An additional flaw: stupid.

But no one knew how many little secrets Chu Xiao hid in his heart, secrets he could never tell: one, his junior sister must never know that saving her back then had been an accident; two, she must never know that the things he gave his fellow disciples really were worthless in his eyes; three, she must never know that he was neither stupid nor poor; four, she must never...

But there was one thing his junior sister had to know: like his sword, she mattered more to him than his own life.

—As long as he had a sword in his hand, he could keep her safe for the rest of her life.

Qin Shiyu was that junior sister.

In the original novel, she fought the female lead for the male lead, ultimately courting her own destruction and dragging her family down with her—a cannon-fodder

female supporting character.

As far as Qin Shiyu knew, Chu Xiao was the legendary

beautiful, powerful, and tragic man

—a stepping stone for the male lead, a backup option for the female lead, and a pushover in his fellow disciples' eyes. So she wanted to coax him into living a little better.

But as she coaxed him along, she ended up giving herself away too.

[When a sword-cultivator senior brother with nothing to his name but a sword meets an artifact-cultivator junior sister with more money than sense]—In this lonely life, all they wanted was for the other to coax them through to the end.

Chapter 26: Twenty-six frames

Qiao Ranran had only just reached the entrance of the Vast Sea Medical Hall when a young medicine attendant who recognized her came up to greet her cheerfully. "Fellow cultivator, are you here to visit your friend?" With practiced ease, he led Qiao Ranran through the back hall toward the rear courtyard. "He's recovering very well. He woke up this morning."

The medical hall's rear courtyard was quite spacious, with a row of neat, clean little wooden cabins where patients could stay during treatment. A Spirit-Gathering Formation was engraved in the courtyard, filling the entire space with spiritual qi and making it especially suitable for recuperation.

The fellow she had previously dubbed "Mr. Mangled Meat" was recovering in one of those cabins. Of course, with such pleasant surroundings and excellent medical care, the price was anything but cheap.

Qiao Ranran thought, What on earth did I do to deserve all this?

When she saw that he looked almost fully recovered—fine, calling him mangled meat anymore seemed a little inappropriate—half-demon... that seemed a little off too?

Now that he had mostly recovered, his features looked delicate and handsome. His pale gray eyes were crystal clear, as calm as a tranquil lake, deep and distant, and particularly beautiful.

Qiao Ranran always had plenty of patience for people who were good-looking and well-behaved. Seeing him like this, she couldn't help smiling. "How do you feel? Though judging by how you look, you're probably doing pretty well? You were conscious before too, weren't you? So do you remember everything I told you?"

He had been conscious the entire time, ever since his ordeal began. Naturally, he knew that the young woman before him had saved him. It wasn't just her voice he recognized, but also her distinctive scent, that crisp medicinal fragrance.

He stared at her without speaking.

Qiao Ranran's smile deepened. "Do you mind if I check your pulse?"

After a long silence, he slowly shook his head.

Only then did Qiao Ranran place her fingers on his wrist. "As I said before, you're recovering very well." She glanced thoughtfully at his neck. "Do you not know how to speak, are you unable to speak, or do you simply not want to?"

When he remained as silent as ever, Qiao Ranran withdrew her hand and straightened her sleeves before saying, "But that's all right." They barely knew each other anyway; she didn't need to guess what he was thinking. "Just remember to pay me. The earlier consultation fee and the expenses I covered for you here weren't cheap. Altogether, I've paid three High-Grade Spirit Stones on your behalf."

Qiao Ranran saw innocence in his eyes. "I'm not worried about you refusing to pay. You know how good my medical skills are. If you want to recover completely, I imagine you'll still have to rely on me. If you don't pay, there won't be a next time. Do you understand?"

Judging by his eyes, he seemed to understand. Qiao Ranran nodded in satisfaction. "Of course, if you don't want to pay and can find another Medicine Cultivator to treat you, pretend I never said anything."

Qiao Ranran clapped her hands and stood up. "I'm leaving. We'll meet again if fate allows." This time, she really was leaving. Pei Ling should have finished his secluded cultivation by now, and it was time for them to return to their sect.

Then, just as she was about to leave, she felt something tugging at her waist. Looking down, she saw that he had somehow grabbed her sash, clutching it tightly in his hand and stopping her from leaving.

At that moment, the only thought in Qiao Ranran's mind was: Damn it, thank goodness I wrapped my sash tightly enough! Otherwise, he could have yanked it right off with that much force!

Qiao Ranran held her sash securely at her waist with one hand to make sure she wouldn't suddenly expose herself, while using the other to drive a silver needle into his wrist. The sudden pain made his newly recovered muscles tense instantly, but he didn't pull his hand back as she had expected. He kept a death grip on her sash, even tightening his hold.

Qiao Ranran: "..."

There was no obstacle one needle couldn't solve. If one didn't work, then two!

Not afraid of pain? No problem. With another needle, Qiao Ranran made his hand lose all sensation. He had only just regained a little strength and had managed to grab her sash through sheer stubbornness. Now that he had lost control of his limb, he could only watch helplessly as Qiao Ranran's sash slipped from his fingers.

The bewildered, helpless look in his eyes was especially heartbreaking.

Expressionless, Qiao Ranran straightened her sash and said mercilessly, "If you have something to say, say it. Do you know how dangerous that was? And no matter what happens, the only person you can rely on is yourself. Don't think you can cling to me! Saving you has already cost me a fortune! My purse is empty..." As she spoke, she began to feel a little aggrieved herself. She had finally managed to earn some money, only to lose most of it just like that. Her heart ached in painful little spasms.

If I could do it over—! Fine, she still wouldn't stand by and let him die.

"Even if you want to continue treatment, you'll need to save up money and spirit plants. If you want to repay me, then you'll need to save up even more money and Spirit Stones. Understand?"

With a pitiful look in his eyes, he glanced at his own numb arm.

Qiao Ranran pressed her lips together. "It'll last about two hours. It won't damage your body. Rest well and try to recover soon. With your constitution, even if you've lost everything you once had, you can still be stronger than plenty of people and live a good life."

Rankings

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Transmigrating into a book

Sweet romance

Transmigration and rebirth romance

Big Black Loves Fish

Dual rebirth

Immortal cultivation fiction