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nAs the Shadow Guardians, who went there with Long, each carried one injured man and Long carried Shi, all the people made their way out of the mountain.

nOn the way, many Shadow Guardians wanted to help Long to carry Shi, but were all rejected.

nJust like that, Long carried his empress and got out of the mountain step by step.

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nLong was so exhausted that he almost fainted as soon as he got out of the mountain. If the Shadow Guardians hadn’t helped him in time, Long would fall to the ground directly.

nLater, the Shadow Guardians took Long and Shi to the inn in the town. Because they didn’t want to expose their identities, they chose to live in the inn instead of the county government.

nThe inn was not luxurious. For the sake of privacy, they had booked the whole place.

nLong had almost recovered when he arrived at the inn. After putting Shi to bed, he also got on. Seeing that Shi’s face was so pale, Long felt a great deal of heartache for the first time.

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nLong told the Shadow Guardians to find the doctor and a well-known doctor in the town was invited there soon.

nAfter checking on Shi, the doctor frowned deeply.

n“What’s the matter with him?” Long asked at once.

n“The fever was caused by sprain, which is easy to cure, but there is a kind of toxin in this young man’s body and I don’t know what it is. I’m so sorry.”

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nAt last, the doctor only prescribed some medicine to cure the injury and then left. While Long was still worried, the Shadow Guardians brought the imperial doctor Zhang Yuan there.

nZhang was originally in the imperial palace, but three days after Long left, he was secretly sent out by Shi Qingshan.

nZhang planned to go to Shuanghua City with his servants by carriage, but the Shadow Guardians recognized him on the way, so he was brought there directly. It was really a coincidence.

nThe imperial doctors were indeed more skillful than those folk doctors.

nAfter checking on Shi, Zhang said, “Your Majesty, don’t worry. I know how to detoxify the empress.”

nAfter hearing the words, Long breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s great. What poison is it in his body?”

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nZhang thought for a moment and said, “I met a patient who was poisoned by this a few years ago. He also survived a landslide and then there was this kind of toxin in his body. As for where this toxin came from, I guess it has something to do with some material in the mountain, but I don’t know exactly what it is. I tried my luck to treat that man and fortunately, I succeeded. So I’m sure that I can cure the empress this time.”

nAfter hearing those words, Long puckered his lips lightly. “Alright. Doctor Zhang, thank you in advance.”

n“Your Majesty, it’s my pleasure,” Zhang hurriedly said.

nZhang prescribed a lot of herb medicine and said that in order to remove the toxin, the patient needed to take a bath in the water with the medicine, which was medicated bath.

nLong would like to do everything by himself when it was related to his lover.

nAfter the servants had prepared everything, Long carefully put Shi into the bathtub.

nZhang said that the medicated bath might cause some pain for the patient.

nIndeed. Once Long put Shi in the tub, Shi gave a grimace of pain.

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nLong was so worried that he said softly, “Qingzhou, hang in there. This medicated bath is good for you. I’ll take the bath with you.”

nLong asked the doctor earlier and learned that healthy people could also bath in this water, but it was unknown if they would feel uncomfortable or not. Anyway, it would be easier for him to take care of Shi in the tub, so Long just went in.

nLong didn’t take off all his clothes. For him, the bathwater was a little hot and the medicine was a little smelly. Except that, he didn’t have any other special feelings.

nHowever, Shi frowned while taking the medicated bath. He definitely didn’t look good at this moment.

nLong wiped the sweat on Shi’s face with the handkerchief while talking to him.

nShi’s eyes kept closed all the time and his face was very red.

nAfter a long time, Shi finally didn’t look so painful and his eyelids also quivered.

nLong had been paying close attention to Shi’s facial expressions.

nHe got nervous when he saw Shi’s little changes. He didn’t dare to talk, in fear of disturbing him.

nAfter Shi’s eyelids quivered for several times, he finally opened his eyes!

nLong was so excited and looked at Shi. “Qingzhou!”

nShi also looked at Long. He had blurred vision at first, but soon, he recognized who that was in front of his eyes.

n“Long… Long Xiaoyuan,” Shi said weakly.

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n“It’s me, it’s me.” Long hurriedly took Shi’s hand and made Shi lean on him. “It’s me. Are you okay? How are you feeling now?”

nShi slightly shook his head and looked around. “I… I’m fine. What’s going on?”

nLong said, “Qingzhou, you almost scared me to death. When I found you in the mountain, you were soaked through with a high fever and were completely unconscious…” Long told Shi the whole story.

nRemembering that, Shi smiled bitterly. “I didn’t expect that that mountain would collapse…”

nAfter hearing those words, Long suddenly held Shi in his arms. “Qingzhou, I’ve been worried sick.”

nSeeing that Long was really frightened and so worried about him, Shi felt a little guilty. “Sorry. I made you worry… I’m fine.”

n“You silly!” Long glared at him. “Don’t say that to me!”

nShi smiled bitterly and stopped speaking.

nThen, Long hurriedly said, “How do you feel now? You’re all poisoned and several Shadow Guardians are even unable to move. Try to move your body and see how you are doing.”

n“Okay.” Shi nodded and then began to check his own body. A moment later, Shi said, “I want to use this medicated bath to discharge the toxin in my body. Can you go out first?”

nLong was a little worried. “Will you be all right?”

n“Sure,” Shi said firmly, “I’m afraid that the unknown toxin in my body will hurt you when it is discharged. I’m sober now, so it’ll be all right. Don’t worry.”

nAlthough Long was still a little worried, he knew that he would be of no help at all staying in the tub. On the contrary, if he insisted on staying, it would only distract Shi, which would be harmful.

nSo, Long said, “Okay, I’ll go out. You must be extra careful. Don’t abuse your internal force.”

nShi smiled. “I know. Don’t worry. I won’t risk my own life.”

nLong sighed. He went out of the tub and then gently touched Shi’s head. “I’ll wait for you outside.”

n“Mhmm.” Shi nodded. After Long went out and changed his clothes, Shi closed his eyes and began to concentrate on the detoxification. He must be extra careful. Since he’d known how it felt to be poisoned, he just couldn’t let Long suffer that, too.

nLong changed his clothes and saw that Shi was using his martial arts to treat himself. He finally felt a little relieved.

nAfter Long waited for two whole hours in the room, Shi was finally finished and got out of the tub.

nLong rushed to him. “Qingzhou, are you okay? How do you feel?”

nShi smiled. “I think I’m fine.”

nLong looked at Shi’s face carefully and found that Shi really looked much better, but he was still a little worried. So, he hurriedly asked Shi to change his clothes and then wrapped him in the quilt.

nShi found it so funny, but since Long did it very seriously, Shi didn’t say anything.

nSoon, the imperial doctor Zhang Yuan came again. After feeling Shi’s pulse, Zhang said, “The empress is much better. I will prescribe more medicine for him and he’ll totally recover after taking that.”

nLong nodded and said, “Okay. Go to do it soon.”

nThen, Zhang left to prescribe the medicine, while Long tucked the quilt around Shi.

nShi said helplessly, “I’m fine. It’s very hot. I’m not cold at all.”

nLong frowned, “Really? It’s raining outside. Don’t get cold.”

n“All right.” Shi sighed and stopped saying anything. Long took a look at him and then said, “But it’d be bad if you got ill because of the heat.”

nAfter hearing that, Shi immediately put his hands outside. In fact, he didn’t like to put his hands inside the quilt when he was sleeping, let alone when he was not sleeping.

n“I’ll have the porridge delivered. Are you hungry?” Long said again.

nShi nodded. “Yes. I just had some food in the first two days.”

nLong felt so guilty. “I should have gone to get the reinforcements myself. I shouldn’t have allowed you to do it.”

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