A life of clearness

Chapter 19 Agreement
The woman on the bed had a flushed face caused by a high fever.

It was very cold, extremely cold... Even though Rong Qing was unconscious, she subconsciously huddled into the quilt.

Zhong Xiu found a mattress from the cupboard, covered Rong Qingyou with it, wrapped her tightly, and tucked in the corners.

The slightly cool palm covered her face, and the scorching heat in return frightened Zhong Xiu.

Zhong Xiu was thinking about finding something to cool down. Although there was no clean water, he could still draw some of the rainwater accumulated outside to wipe Rong Qing.

Rong Qing, lying powerlessly on the couch, didn't feel Zhong Xiu's brief absence at all.

This high fever came violently and naturally.

It was very cold...but the quilt was so heavy on her that she couldn't breathe.

Rong Qing seemed to be dreaming a dream that was not a dream. She walked silently on the mountain road, with white snow on the side of the road and flat black stone steps under her feet.

The Liuguang Sword Sect on the Arctic Snow Mountain is a giant in the cultivation world. Sects and organizations, big and small, all bow down to it. In fact, as long as they can have a little relationship with the Sword Sect, they feel extremely honored.

But only when you have truly lived in the Sword Sect can you understand how desolate and lonely this place is, which is completely different from the bustling mundane world.

Accompanying her was Sword Master Chongyu, and Chuyuan, who only reached up to her waist.

They looked normal, and their pure white Taoist robes made them seem to blend into the snowy scene.

Rong Qing watched the two of them move past her little by little and go further and further away from her sight.

No! Chongyu...wait for me.

Rong Qing wanted to speed up and catch up with them.

She clearly didn't feel tired, but no matter how anxious she was, her steps were always so slow. Rong Qing could only watch their figures disappear in the flying snow.

"Senior Sister." A gentle female voice sounded in my ears.

It’s Hongfei.

Rong Qing looked at her own hands, and made a hand gesture with each hand, not realizing that she had appeared in another scene.

You need to learn to do two things at the same time, and to perform different hand gestures at the same time.

With the development of magic, spells that once required two hands to be cast have now been simplified to one hand. One hand gesture can guide a spell, and as long as the two spells do not conflict with each other in the spiritual power flow route, they can be used at the same time by pinching different hand gestures.

The disciples of the Sword Sect were all gifted and intelligent. This was not difficult for them. All they needed was a little practice.

But Rongqing couldn't do it.

I've been practicing very well recently. Staring at the uncontrollable little finger on my left hand, it seemed as if it was frozen. When the spiritual power flowed here, it could no longer move forward. Rong Qing was stiff and sweating.

She looked up nervously and met Hong Fei's encouraging eyes.

Rong Qing lowered her head and repeated it over and over again, but her little finger just wouldn't obey. She didn't even dare to turn around to look at the expressions of the people around her...

Even though he knew that the Sword Sect disciples would not have any idle mocking emotions, his face turned red with anxiety under their gazes.

"It's okay, let's continue practicing the new hand seals today," Hong Fei's voice was faint in her ear, "Then, this hand seal will not be difficult for Senior Sister." This was transmitted to Rong Qing, and she should have breathed a sigh of relief. Even though they were both practicing Qi, she was too senior, and it would be too embarrassing if she was the only one who couldn't do it.

Rong Qing couldn't help it, her nose felt sore and tears started to flow.

Zhong Xiu paused what he was doing and saw tears oozing from the corners of Rong Qing's tightly closed eyes.

Zhong Xiu folded the handkerchief soaked with rainwater into a square and placed it on Rong Qing's forehead. His hands were free to wipe away the tears on her face.

Rong Qing opened her eyes dazedly.

"It's you." When she saw Zhong Xiu, she knew that what just happened was just a dream, or a memory.

She spoke, but her voice was too weak. Zhong Xiu lowered his head and moved closer to her. "Sir, what's going on, sir?"

Rong Qing couldn't say anything and could only cry.

She knew that she must have a fever. It was so long since she last fell ill that she couldn't even remember how she felt at the time. Compared to the heavy suffering in her body, the pain in her heart seemed to be able to be vented a little.

Zhong Xiu anxiously raised his hands to wipe away her tears until his hands were wet.

"My hand!" Rong Qing suddenly remembered and asked Zhong Xiu loudly, "How many fingers did he break?"

What Zhong Xiu heard was a faint sound similar to the meow of a kitten.

Zhong Xiu froze and dared not move.

"Sir, it's just your left hand that's injured." He whispered to comfort her, "You can still write. And!" Zhong Xiu stared at Rong Qing, afraid that she would be upset, and there was hope in her tone, "Didn't you say that someone would come to save us? By then, not only will we be able to leave here, but the person who saves us may also avenge you, sir."

Rong Qing turned her head away and ignored her, nor did she want to laugh at her wild imagination.

She struggled to raise her left hand. The whole hand was wrapped tightly. Judging from the location of the blood, it should be the little finger. Rong Qing thought so. Just the slight movement of raising it caused a piercing pain.

"Do you think I'm useless?" Rong Qing asked, not expecting a negative answer from the other party.

What I saw was the carved ceiling of the tent, with large shadows in the dim light.

Rong Qing sniffed her nose hard, and the tears that had finally stopped came back to moisten her eyes. Her swollen and aching head, as well as the constant pain all over her body, made it impossible for her to rest properly.

"I know. Actually, I'm useless and I don't want to work hard." Rong Qing said to herself, "I have someone to support me anyway. So what if I'm a waste?"

But all these come at a price. So all that is left is a helpless reluctance.

"I like it too much... I'm too used to escaping."

"Sir, take a rest and stop talking." Zhong Xiu was really worried. Rong Qing's lips were dry and chapped, but her eyes were so fiery that it was frightening.

"I'm going to keep talking." She gave a provocative smile, but she looked so sad.

Rong Qing raised her intact right hand, and because Zhong Xiu was so close, she directly put it around his neck.

"I'll tell you the truth. No one has come at this time. No one has come." If the monks from Suicheng want to track them or rescue them, of course the sooner the better. Jiajia in the bookstore should have been discovered anyway. Unless... they knew their situation, they would not want to come because it's not worth it!

Indeed, Rong Qing understood that she had enjoyed preferential treatment for too long, so she always took everything for granted. If she was Yu Rong from Liuguang Sword Sect, she would never have fallen to this point. But she chose to escape. What was a mortal Yu Rong?
"You!!" Zhong Xiu finally got angry. She stood up and shook Rong Qing's arm away, not caring whether this rude action would hurt Rong Qing. She glared at the woman lying on the couch. Her husband, the one she envied at first sight.

"Asshole! How can you say such a thing!" Zhong Xiu gasped. This was the worst thing she could say.

It was simply an unprovoked disaster. She had been unlucky since she met Rong Qing. First, she took Jia Jia away, and then she was kidnapped tonight. She was frightened all the way, but luckily she was not injured. She was busy taking care of her and Master Guo. Zhong Xiu was still thinking about and worried about Jia Jia, and she still believed that she could go back. Now Rong Qing seemed to be unable to bear to see her and directly punctured her hope.

"If you're useless, don't harm others." Zhong Xiu choked.

Rong Qing didn't answer and lowered her eyes.

Finally, not wanting to see the other person again, Zhong Xiu turned around and ran out the door.

"Bang!" There was a loud door closing sound.

Rong Qing thought that Zhong Xiu should have gone to the teacher... Anyway, he didn't want to see her anymore. If they were all going to die, there was no need to spend energy taking care of someone like her.

Rong Qing stared at the ceiling with her eyes wide open. She tried closing her eyelids, but her eyeballs were swollen and hot, so she might as well keep them open. After a while, she didn't see Zhong Xiu coming back, so Rong Qing finally sobbed softly.

There were cries between every breath.

Until my eyelids feel cold.

"Why did you come back?" Rong Qing bit her lip and tried to stop sobbing.

This time it was Zhong Xiu's turn not to answer. He silently wiped Rong Qing's face with the towel that had been cooled again.

Rong Qing had nothing to say. Ren Zhongxiu sat beside her and wiped her face.

The candle that they had finally found was burning on the table. No one picked up the wick, causing it to flicker from time to time. The two figures leaning against each other swayed gently on the floor tiles.

"I'll listen to whatever you want to say, sir." Zhong Xiu pursed her lips, "As long as you don't say we can't go back."

She actually didn't run far just now. She was discouraged after closing the door and squatted in a corner. She wanted to see Jiajia again, and Rongqing was her only hope.

Would these "immortals" who kill without blinking an eye let them go? Just thinking about it made her feel that it was impossible. But as long as there was a glimmer of hope that she could return to Jia Jia alive, she, Zhong Xiu, would not back down.

Rong Qing suddenly laughed out loud, "No way...you count on me?" She couldn't believe it.

Rong Qing could certainly read the determination in Zhong Xiu's eyes. But no one had ever expected much from her, not even her own mother or the sword masters. Zhong Xiu only counted on her when he was in such a desperate situation, Rong Qing thought grimly.

"what happened?"

"You'll be disappointed."

"will not."

"You will." Surely.

"I just won't!" Zhong Xiu looked at Rong Qing and whispered, "Sir, do you have any concerns? If you are willing, please tell me... Maybe after you tell me, you will get better soon."

Rong Qing wanted to laugh, it wasn't that simple.

After a moment of silence, perhaps because she felt that she couldn't escape, or because she had actually been waiting for a long time and wanted someone to talk to, she still spoke under Zhong Xiu's gaze: "Actually... I appeared in this world against my will. A long time ago," Rong Qing omitted the statement of more than 800 years ago, "I appeared on a large beach. It wasn't very big, I couldn't find food, and I didn't know how to cook. I didn't even know how many days I had been there. Later, I only remember eating something and my stomach hurt... I felt that my breathing was a mistake."

Of course, this pain was forgotten because it was so long ago, but the impression of it still remained there, making her afraid.

"When I woke up, I saw someone. I finally saw someone." Rong Qing smiled inexplicably, "And you don't know how good-looking that person is."

Zhong Xiu listened quietly, knowing that Rong Qing didn't need her to reply at this time, she just wanted someone to listen to her.

"He saved me with conditions. In fact, no matter what the conditions are, as long as he doesn't abandon me, I will agree!" Rong Qing thought for a moment, "I will consider... agree to it."

"He asked Daozi and I to..." She tried her best to hold back her sobs, her lips opening and closing, and the two words "cultivate together" were so soft that she couldn't even hear them herself.

It's like a drowning person just wants to grab a piece of driftwood, even if the driftwood has thorns.

"Sir, please stop talking." Zhong Xiu didn't understand, but she could sense what Rong Qing said, which made her emotions, which had finally stabilized, collapse again.

"It doesn't matter. It's no big deal anyway." Rong Qing pretended to be nonchalant and said, "I took their Yuan Yang. I am the one who made the profit. Otherwise, I wouldn't have lived so long. So many people killed and robbed the resources. I can have them if I want them."

"They raised me so well. And I... am just a wishful idiot." Rong Qing seemed to have returned to that moment.

She followed the Sword Master Chongyu to the depths of the mortal world, to strange and mysterious places, and to ancient battlefields filled with evil spirits. For the first time, she had a good look at the world and was no longer worried or afraid. Because she was next to a very powerful person, and she knew that this person would protect her, so there was no need to be afraid. How could she not like this person? He was handsome and powerful. As long as she could stay with him for a while, she seemed to be filled with infinite joy.

But she stayed with him for so long only because he was looking for his next Daozi. There was no danger, so he let her follow him until the journey came to an end.

Rong Qing didn't know how low the probability was of finding another person with the same physique as Jianzhu. She only knew that when she heard Zhongyu promise Chuyuan that he would be the next Daozi, she was so heartbroken that she couldn't breathe.

"As long as Daozi needs me, I will do it. That was the agreement at the beginning. If they want to cancel it, I have to become a spirit. Change my physique and no longer be needed by them." Rong Qing lowered her head, "Or, like now." Become a mortal and unable to practice together. "I want to die of old age, but it is more likely that one day, they will not be able to tolerate it anymore and take me back."

Rong Qing looked at Zhong Xiu, "Everything I did is a joke."

Zhong Xiu didn't know what to say. She just felt that her husband was suddenly very similar to Jia Jia in some ways. He had too many things on his mind, and she couldn't understand them.

"No matter what the outcome is, as long as I don't feel regret or shame for what I'm doing now, it's fine." Zhong Xiu held Rong Qing's right hand tightly, trying to give her some strength. "Besides, I hate that you don't believe me, sir. I'm clearly telling the truth."

Zhong Xiu stared into Rong Qing's eyes and said, "No matter whether others believe in you or not, I have no right to interfere with them, but I believe in you."

There was thick mist in front of Rong Qing's eyes, but even so, she did not look away from Zhong Xiu.

She really wanted to ask, do you really know what you said?

"I will always remember it." Even if one day you forget it.

Rong Qing took a deep breath, pulled her right hand away from Zhong Xiu's palm, and with determination, roughly pulled off the bandage on her left hand, letting the wound that had been suppressed with great difficulty burst into blood again.

The so-called bluffing is so powerful that even she herself looks down on it.

She wiped the tears from her face, and her eyes, which had always been gentle and weak, revealed a hint of madness and murderous intent. She ignored Zhong Xiu's panicked attempt to help her stop the bleeding.

"My bookcase, bring it to me."

(End of this chapter)