Chapter 21

Translator:

Lordbluefire

Editor:

Lordbluefire

Xia Qingchen tore off a piece of his clothing to cover up his face, grabbed onto Zhao Churan’s waist, and then passed by the three men at a high speed of 20 feet per step taken, dashing out of the Ghostwail Forest.

Although the three men’s cultivations were all far higher than his, their movement-type martial skills were a far cry from his.

They lost sight of him completely in the time it took to finish a cup of tea.

“Damn it! We let the meat that’s right in our mouths run away!” The injured bandit beat his chest and cursed.

The other two bandits also looked into the depths of the Ghostwail Forest, feeling equally angry. “That guy escaped as well!”

Because of Xia Qingchen’s unexpected intervention, they were left empty-handed.

——

Xia Qingchen ran for 20 lis non-stop and only stopped next to a pool after ascertaining that the three men weren’t chasing after them.

Xia Qingchen put Zhao Churan down and then picked some ordinary-looking herbs, grinding them down silently.

“My name is Zhao Churan, thank you for saving me.” Zhao Churan assessed Xia Qingchen, feeling great respect and appreciation toward him. “Savior, may I ask for your name? I’ll definitely repay this debt.”

Xia Qingchen paused for a moment, thinking to himself, ‘I’m that cousin whom you looked down on.’

The reason he lent a helping hand was not because he was benevolent.

But that was in view of his father.

If his father were to know that he turned a blind eye to his cousin, his father would probably never be able to forgive him.

Seeing that Xia Qingchen remained silent, Zhao Churan took out the scented pouch at her waist. “Thank you for saving me. I will never forget this favor. This is something that I carry with me. You can bring it to Lone Cloud City’s Northern Xia Manor, or the imperial capital’s Zhao Clan. I’ll definitely do my utmost to repay your favor.”

She was really thankful to the man that had saved him.

During the moment of danger, Xia Qilin had abandoned her. If it wasn’t because of this man’s help, it wouldn’t be hard to guess how she would end up.

Xia Qingchen silently ground all of the herbs into liquid. He looked as if he was going to apply medicine on her injury.

Zhao Churan looked at that dubious medicine, feeling a hint of resistance. She said, “I appreciate your kindness, but the Northern Xia Manor has many miraculous medicines.”

The Northern Xia Manor had a lot of top-notch medicines for injuries, and once applied, she would be able to recover within a month. Moreover, there wouldn’t be obvious scars left behind.

She took great care of her body, so how could she possibly use such dreadful-looking medicine?

“Take off your clothes,” Xia Qingchen said indifferently.

Zhao Churan’s fair face blushed slightly, and she turned her face, feeling embarrassed. She said weakly, “I said that there’s no need.”

How could she possibly let a young stranger see her body?

“Do you think that you only suffered from a cut? There’s poison on that dagger, and once it acts up, it’ll cripple your martial meridians,” Xia Qingchen said calmly.

Poison?

Zhao Churan didn’t believe that. This guy hadn’t even taken a closer look at her wound, so how could he be sure that there was poison on the dagger?

“I appreciate your kind intentions, but I…” As Zhao Churan said this, she was suddenly struck by a bout of dizziness. Her legs shook and she fell down weakly.

She happened to fall into Xia Qingchen’s arms.

Her eyes were in a daze. “What has happened to me?”

“The poison has started to act up,” Xia Qingchen said calmly. “You can choose to treat it, or you can also give up. The decision is in your hands.”

Zhao Churan finally believed in Xia Qingchen’s words.

She looked at the young man’s face from such close proximity. He had a pair of composed and deep eyes, and she could also smell a unique scent from his chest.

Zhao Churan’s heart started beating very quickly, and she was unable to stop it.

A feeling she had never felt before started to extend out slowly and silently from the bottom of her heart.

Her beautiful face flushed up rapidly.

Her long lashes trembled. She finally closed her eyes slowly, bit on her red lips, and nodded gently.

Having gotten her consent, Xia Qingchen unraveled her clothes, revealing the body that countless men would go crazy for.

However, his gaze remained calm, and he didn’t take an additional look. He merely pulled out the dagger.

Thereafter, he used his mouth to suck out the poison remnants from the wound.

During this process, Zhao Churan grabbed her dress tightly, her face feeling scalding hot and her heart beating very quickly…

After the wound had been attended to, Xia Qingchen applied the medicine on her wound.

Zhao Churan was amazed by how the intense pain from her injury had disappeared immediately.

The giddiness she was feeling dissipated.

Xia Qingchen put her clothes back on her, carrying her in his arms. He headed for the Lone Cloud City at the speed of 20 feet per step taken.

He only put her down after they had arrived at the city’s gate and was completely safe.

“Don’t go to such secluded areas in the future.” Xia Qingchen threw her a glance.

Zhao Churan touched her wet hair on her forehead, lowered her head, and replied with a soft “en”. She looked extremely embarrassed.

She hesitated to speak for quite a while and then took out the scented pouch once again, handing it to him. “Please do take it.”

Xia Qingchen took it so she wouldn’t continue to pester him. He then turned to leave without even looking back.

Zhao Churan was left there, her gaze glimmering as she stared on for very long before letting out a soft sigh.

She didn’t even know his name, nor how he looked like. It was probably going to be hard for her to meet him again in this lifetime.

It was just that she was unable to calm her heart down even after a very long time had passed.

Zhao Churan returned to the Northern Xia Manor in low spirits.

Before she could enter, Xia Cangliu and Xia Xun burst out of the manor, leading a group of men.

“Churan, you’re alright?” Xia Qilin, who was part of the group, assessed Zhao Churan, feeling both surprised and guilty.

Zhao Churan had been saved by Xia Qingchen and had her injury treated. It had taken quite a bit of time.

As a result, Xia Qilin, who managed to escape, came back before she did.

Zhao Churan glanced over calmly. Her gaze no longer shone like usual when she looked at him. There was only a faint but cold feeling.

“Churan, how did you come back?” Both Xia Cangliu and Xia Xun assessed her and didn’t find any traces of her having been violated.

But given how evil the bandits were, they wouldn’t have let such a beauty like Zhao Churan off.

“A passerby saved me,” Zhao Churan said, feeling dispirited once again.

“Tell us more details.”

Zhao Churan shared the entire story with them, except for the part where the passerby had taken off her clothes and sucked out the poison from her wound.

“There’s such an amazing youth in our Lone Cloud City?” Xia Cangliu was extremely surprised.

According to what Zhao Churan had said, this person was able to travel 20 feet with each step taken, and his attacking-type martial skills were extremely powerful. It could be a high-grade yellow-tier martial skill.

It was impossible for someone like this to appear in Lone Cloud City.

Moreover, it was someone close to Zhao Churan’s age.

“That’s right, Cousin Churan. Were you mistaken about his age? Amongst those at our age group, it’s impossible for there to be such an amazing person,” Xia Qilin said.

He was unwilling to admit that there was such an outstanding genius in the Lone Cloud City.

Zhao Churan looked at Xia Qilin with indifference, suddenly feeling really disappointed in this cousin.

In times of danger, he had abandoned her. And now, he even denied her savior, attempting to uphold his status as a great talent in the Lone Cloud City.

What a joke!

“Then take it as the bandits have released me on their own accord.” Zhao Churan was unwilling to waste too much time talking to him.

Xia Qilin felt a little embarrassed. He suddenly glanced at her shoulder that was covered in blood, asking, “Cousin, did that person also help to treat your wound?”

He recalled that when he was trying to escape, Zhao Churan had been struck by a dagger from behind.

Right now, the dagger was nowhere to be seen, and the blood had also been stopped. It could only mean that the injury had been treated by that person.

However, judging from the area the wound was at, it seemed that there was a need to… take off her clothes.

Did something happen between the two of them?

At the thought of this, Xia Qilin’s thoughts went into turmoil.