Chapter 4
Su Zhiqiu was more than a little embarrassed, but Zhao Huaining’s cries of pain filled her ears. Torn between shame and frustration, she drew her dagger and sliced open the mud-caked clothing. What came into view was a blood-red insect.
A numbing stink bug!
At the sight of it, Su Zhiqiu calmly stabbed the poisonous insect through with her dagger.
Blood poured from the insect where it had been pierced. After a short while, the ten claws that had been tightly hooked into Zhao Huaining’s flesh gradually loosened.
Zhao Huaining had broken out in a cold sweat from the pain. Now that the agony had subsided, she lay there weakly without moving.
“It was probably because you’re so filthy and smelly that you attracted it.” After saying this, Su Zhiqiu set the dagger aside, hooked her arms beneath Zhao Huaining’s, and dragged her outside. She dragged her all the way to the river, then simply tossed her in.
Zhao Huaining jolted all over. Although it was already spring, the river water was still piercingly cold. She hugged herself with both arms and shivered violently in the water. Her body was already this weak—if she stayed in there too long, she might not live to see tomorrow’s sun.
Seeing Zhao Huaining struggling to climb back out, Su Zhiqiu slowly said, “What bit you was a numbing stink bug. If you come out now, the toxin will spread throughout your entire body, and you’ll be dead in less than half an incense stick. You’d better stay in the water. Cold water can not only stop the toxin from spreading, but also flush the poison from the wound. You should be grateful it was only a numbing stink bug. If it had been something else, even an immortal might not have been able to save you.”
Zhao Huaining’s teeth chattered as she braced both elbows against the stone bank of the stream. “If I get out, I’ll die, but if I stay in here, I’m afraid I’ll freeze to death anyway.”
“If you come out, you’ll definitely die. But if you can endure half an hour in the water, then even if you develop a high fever and catch a chill, I have a seventy-percent chance of saving you. Whether you want to gamble on that is up to you.” As Su Zhiqiu spoke from the riverbank, she raised a hand to steady the stem of a wildflower swaying in the wind.
…….
Seeing her casually fussing with flowers and plants, looking perfectly calm and unbothered, Zhao Huaining felt as though that “seventy-percent chance” was merely modesty. She asked, “You look so composed, heroine. Surely you actually have a hundred-percent chance?”
At that, Su Zhiqiu shifted her gaze from the flowers to Zhao Huaining and said indifferently, “I only have seventy percent. The other thirty percent isn’t with me.”
“Then where is it?”
Su Zhiqiu released the flower stem and looked directly into Zhao Huaining’s eyes. “With you. If you’re unlucky, you’ll go straight to the Yellow Springs. If you’re lucky, naturally you’ll survive.”
…….
Black lines practically covered Zhao Huaining’s forehead.
So whether she lived or died really came down entirely to luck?
For a moment, Zhao Huaining thought the woman was joking with her, but Su Zhiqiu’s expression was completely blank, without the slightest trace of amusement. She looked even colder than the river Zhao Huaining was sitting in. She really did not seem like someone with much of a sense of humor. Still, even if there was only the slightest hope of survival, she had to take the gamble. She simply could not understand why she was so unbelievably unlucky. She had barely been reborn before waking up in a mud pit, her body so weak she was practically half-dead. She had finally gotten some porridge into her stomach and started feeling a little better, only to be bitten by a poisonous insect. Had the King of Hell sent her back to life so she could take revenge, or had he arranged a one-day rebirth tour for her?
Seeing Zhao Huaining retreat back into the water, Su Zhiqiu said, “On Fengjue Mountain, the dirtier you are, the more likely you are to attract nasty things. Since you’ve decided to stay in the water, you might as well wash yourself clean. After all, if you’re unlucky enough to die, at least you can be a clean ghost.”
……
Damn it… What the hell!!
Zhao Huaining nearly choked on her own breath. She turned her head and shuddered as she watched Su Zhiqiu walk away. Gritting her teeth, she plunged headfirst into the water, hoping the current would wash the mud from her body!
But after dunking herself beneath the water five or six times, she truly could not move anymore. She leaned miserably against a rock in the river and panted. Before long, her eyelids began to grow heavy.
The instant her eyes slipped shut, her head drooped downward.
“Mm!” Just as she vaguely thought she saw her deceased mother, something struck her forehead. Her eyes snapped open, and her right hand shot out, catching the object just before it could be carried away by the current. Lowering her head to look, she saw a small green fruit.
Still shivering, she looked around and saw Su Zhiqiu leaning against a tree trunk by the riverbank, holding three or four small green fruits in her hand.
Presumably, Su Zhiqiu had seen that she was about to fall asleep and had thrown the fruit at her. If she had simply been allowed to drift off, she was afraid she might never wake up again.
Zhao Huaining rinsed the fruit in the river, then tremblingly brought it to her mouth and took a large bite. The sourness immediately made her squeeze her eyes shut. After a long while, she said weakly, “If I died, shouldn’t that make you feel better, heroine? Why are you going to so much trouble to save me? It almost seems like you’re afraid I’ll die.”
Su Zhiqiu did not answer. She was thinking about Zhao Huaining’s movements when she caught the fruit just now. Most people, when suddenly startled awake by something striking them, would still be groggy and confused. Yet Zhao Huaining had instantly sensed the direction the green fruit was falling and reacted quickly enough to catch it. Although that hand was weak and powerless, such an instinctive reaction and movement showed that Zhao Huaining must be someone trained in martial arts. But the Zhao Huaining she knew was a scholar so weak she could not even truss a chicken.
Could it be that, like herself, Zhao Huaining secretly practiced martial arts while never letting anyone know about it?
“Heroine?” Seeing that she remained silent, Zhao Huaining called out again. She wanted someone to talk to. As long as she was speaking, she would not feel like sleeping…
“Zhao Huaining, you already have one foot inside the gates of hell. Why bother pretending you don’t know me anymore?” Su Zhiqiu slowly walked closer, found a spot along the stone bank, lightly gathered the back of her skirt, and sat down. “I said I wouldn’t kill you, so I won’t. What are you afraid of?”
“You’re so righteous and honorable, heroine. What would I have to fear? I truly don’t know you!” Zhao Huaining hugged herself tightly, her lips growing paler and paler. “But now that we’ve met, if I survive, how about we become sworn sisters?”
Su Zhiqiu was utterly astonished. She could not understand why Zhao Huaining was still insisting she did not know her even at a time like this. Although they had attended the same academy and did not see each other every day, they always met during the monthly Go lessons. They had even played against each other before—and Zhao Huaining had been absolutely terrible at it.
“No!” Su Zhiqiu parted her red lips and spat out two words. Her eyes regarded Zhao Huaining suspiciously. Could the person before her really not be the Zhao Huaining she knew? But where in Huaiyin Prefecture could there possibly be another person who looked exactly the same and even shared the same name?
Zhao Huaining pursed her lips. After a while, she asked curiously, “I am curious, though. With a personality like yours, heroine, I wonder who could ever make you care about them?”
At those words, a trace of sorrow flashed through Su Zhiqiu’s cold eyes. Her father had never loved her, nor had her mother. She had been raised by her maternal grandparents since childhood. Unfortunately, Heaven had cut their lives short, and the grandparents who had doted on her passed away one after the other.
“There will never be anyone in this world for me to care about again.” After saying this, Su Zhiqiu’s face returned to its usual cold detachment.
Zhao Huaining fell silent.
She had no one left in this world to care about either.
But she had people she hated.
She had to survive and return to take revenge!
“Heroine, I’m so cold and dizzy right now. If I pass out, can you really save me?”
Su Zhiqiu came back to herself at those words. “Whether you live or die, I’ll simply do everything within my ability. I won’t force the outcome.”
Zhao Huaining turned to stare at Su Zhiqiu’s profile.
Her meaning could not have been clearer. She was only responsible for trying to save her. Whether Zhao Huaining actually survived was none of her concern!
“I think it’s about time. Wash yourself clean and come out.” As Su Zhiqiu spoke, she stood up.
Zhao Huaining’s body had long since reached its limit. Hearing this, she hurriedly swam toward the shore. Just as she was about to reach it, a beautiful flower suddenly appeared floating in the water. Its petals were a brilliant violet-blue and even seemed to glow. Its lush green stem twisted as it rapidly swam toward Zhao Huaining.
Su Zhiqiu’s beautiful face changed drastically. She rushed forward and grabbed Zhao Huaining’s arm, yanking her back. “Get away from it!”
Unfortunately… it was too late.
The violet-blue flower touched Zhao Huaining’s hand, and blood instantly appeared on the pad of her finger. Worse still, when Su Zhiqiu grabbed her arm, the back of her hand lightly brushed against one of the violet-blue petals, and a streak of blood appeared across her fair skin.
The instant the violet-blue flower touched a person, its petals scattered and fell into the water.
“What kind of flower is that?” Zhao Huaining asked with lingering fear. Her body could not withstand another poison right now.
Su Zhiqiu’s complexion alternated between red and pale. She pulled Zhao Huaining onto the bank, then quickly plunged her hand into the icy river water.
“It’s a wild passion flower.” Su Zhiqiu felt the pain in her wound but did not even look at Zhao Huaining as she answered.
Zhao Huaining frowned. “What happens if a wild passion flower touches you?”
Su Zhiqiu pursed her lips, and the tips of her ears turned burning red.
“Nothing will happen. Just put your hand in the water like I am, endure it until you sweat, and you’ll be fine.”
Hearing this, Zhao Huaining hurriedly stuck her hand into the river. At first, the wound did not react, but before long, not only did her hand begin to hurt, even her chest started burning unbearably hot.
“Heroine…” Zhao Huaining struggled to lift her head, her face flushed red. What entered her sight was an equally vivid, flushed profile. Su Zhiqiu had her eyes tightly shut and her pearly teeth biting down on her lip, looking as though she was enduring something with all her strength. Her condition did not seem much better than Zhao Huaining’s.
“Heroine, are you all right?” Zhao Huaining raised her hand and patted Su Zhiqiu’s arm.
“Don’t touch me!!!”
Su Zhiqiu jerked free of Zhao Huaining’s hand and half-sat beside the riverbank, her delicate body trembling slightly.
Zhao Huaining froze.
She only knew that the instant she had touched Su Zhiqiu’s arm, the burning ache in her chest had eased for a brief moment. Looking at Su Zhiqiu again, she clearly looked as though she had been poisoned with……
“You… Is this wild passion flower some kind of aphrodisiac?” Zhao Huaining asked with trembling lips. “Is there an antidote?”
With her eyes closed, Su Zhiqiu replied, “There is none.”
“Then we’re screwed.” Zhao Huaining tugged miserably at her soaked clothes. She had heard before that after being drugged with an aphrodisiac, one had to have sex with someone. But there were only the two of them here, both women…
Zhao Huaining suddenly lifted her head.
Two women…
She abruptly remembered the book she had discovered wedged into a crack in Fancheng’s city wall. In that book, women could marry women, and men could marry men!
More importantly, at that very instant, she finally remembered where she had seen the name Su Zhiqiu before!
Surely this was just a coincidence!
Zhao Huaining’s face went pale. With a deeply uneasy heart, she asked, “Heroine, do you have a younger sister?”
At those words, Su Zhiqiu’s already flushed face seemed to frost over.
She and that younger sister of hers had been at each other’s throats since childhood!
“How impressive that you can still think of my younger sister at a time like this!”
Zhao Huaining’s heart gave a heavy thump. “Is her name Su Wanqing?”
“You already know, yet you still ask!” Su Zhiqiu coldly replied while restraining the aphrodisiac poison surging through her body.
Boom!!!
Zhao Huaining felt as though the sky had collapsed.
“Is this the Great Liang Dynasty or the Great Zhou Dynasty?” Zhao Huaining still refused to give up!
Su Zhiqiu sneered, “My Great Zhou may suffer from troubles within and without, but surely we haven’t reached the point of changing dynasties yet! Or are you, Zhao Huaining, somehow capable of founding a new dynasty yourself?”
Zhao Huaining stared blankly without speaking.
How had the King of Hell mistakenly rebirthed her into a book?
If she was inside the book, then who was she now?
Feeling miserable, Zhao Huaining raised her eyes to look at Su Zhiqiu. The other woman was calling her Zhao Huaining. Could it be that she had transmigrated into that idiot who happened to share both her name and surname?
The instant Zhao Huaining thought of the book’s plot, her heart turned half cold.
The Zhao Huaining in the book was a soft-eared, hopeless romantic who had secretly stolen the deeds to her family’s house and land behind the backs of her two mothers. On the way, however, people arranged by Su Wanqing robbed her of all the money and property. In the end, she was stabbed several times and died miserably far from home.
“Heroine, where’s your dagger? Kill me.” Zhao Huaining felt utterly miserable, her face growing redder and redder.
She wanted to die now.
She did not want to stay here. She did not belong here in the first place. It would be better to die and have the King of Hell send her back to Great Liang. Right now, all she wanted was revenge……
Su Zhiqiu was somewhat surprised.
Someone who had been so afraid of dying suddenly wanted to die?
Su Zhiqiu assumed Zhao Huaining could no longer endure the wild passion flower’s toxin. Seeing how miserable she was, Su Zhiqiu had no choice but to comfort her. “Don’t try to kill yourself. Although there is no medicine that can neutralize the wild passion flower’s poison, as long as you control yourself, it will dissipate from your body after one hour. All you need to do is clear your mind of distracting thoughts and calm yourself.”
“You should just kill me!” Zhao Huaining said, crawling a little closer to Su Zhiqiu.
Startled, Su Zhiqiu lifted her bottom slightly and scooted backward. With her flushed face carrying several traces of sensual allure, she snapped, “Get away from me!! Stay farther back.”
Zhao Huaining stopped.
The other woman’s evasive movement, gaze, and words all reminded her that she was now inside the book. In this book, two women could have sex with each other. Crawling closer to Su Zhiqiu right now was no different from behaving like a pervert!!
“Su Zhiqiu……” Zhao Huaining spoke weakly, preparing to anger her.
She did not want to go back into the water to die. That kind of death would be too slow and agonizing. She wanted something quick and clean. Ideally, Su Zhiqiu would kill her right now.
“Actually, while you were bathing, I was up there for a very long time. I saw almost everything. Your smooth, pale back, your slender waist, and the front of your body……”
At those words, Su Zhiqiu’s eyes, still clouded with traces of desire, instantly filled with rage. She rebuked her coldly, “Shut up. Say one more shameless thing and I’ll kill you!”
Zhao Huaining’s expression remained perfectly calm.
“Then hurry up and kill me.”
Comments 0
You must be logged in to comment.
No comments yet. Be the first!