Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Time seemed to pass quickly, yet also incredibly slowly.
Most of the time, You Xu was oblivious, only occasionally experiencing a sliver of awareness through bodily sensations.
Sometimes she felt icy cold, as if she had entered a frigid realm; more often, she felt intensely hot, as if a bonfire was coursing through her veins, melting and reshaping them.
She could also feel familiar fur on her palms, and someone constantly speaking in her ear, repeating something over and over, tirelessly.
She tried to hear clearly, but it was as if she were separated by several layers of airtight barriers, everything blurry and unreal.
You Xu could feel herself recovering, as her conscious time and frequency increased.
Until late one night, You Xu’s body regained a tangible sense of reality. She felt herself lying on a soft, comfortable bed, felt someone holding her wrist, and felt several pairs of eyes watching her.
Her body ached and felt heavy, like a machine that hadn’t been used in a long time and was rusted. Her eyelids felt incredibly heavy. You Xu’s eyes darted around under her eyelids a couple of times, when her wrist was immediately gripped tightly.
After a moment, You Xu finally opened her eyes, and what she saw were two large men, one on her left and one on her right.
Her vision was a little blurry. You Xu paused, and when her vision focused, she could see Shen Jue and You Jingyan clearly. One was pale, haggard, and thin; the other was unkempt and had bloodshot eyes.
You Xu opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, she heard a heart-wrenching wail.
“Waaaaah, Miss!!! Miss, Miss—” The muscular, strong, and fast young woman, Cui Zhi, collapsed to the ground, crying. Even the old butler beside her pulled out a handkerchief, the kind only a young woman would use, from his sleeve to wipe away her tears.
“…”
You Xu: Seeing you like this, I thought I was dead.
“I… I’m alright.” Having not spoken for a long time, You Xu’s throat was parched, her voice hoarse and weak.
You Jingyan patted her head and got up to pour her some water.
Shen Jue helped her sit up and asked softly, “Is there anything else that’s bothering you?” His voice was several times hoarser than hers.
“I’m fine.”
You Xu coughed several times, took the water You Jingyan offered, and slowly drank a couple of sips to moisten her throat. She then said, “Thank you so much, brother. If it weren’t for your superb medical skills, I’m afraid I would have…”
She didn’t finish her sentence, noticing You Jingyan’s grip on the teacup, his eyes slightly lowered, and his expression changing. She thought perhaps what she was about to say was unlucky and unsuitable for someone who had just escaped death.
“Big fox.” You Xu felt she had truly frightened Shen Jue this time; his already pale skin now appeared even more sickly.
“You’ve lost so much weight.”
“Were you too worried about me?”
In the quiet night, the orange candlelight flickered, casting shadows that illuminated Shen Jue’s dark eyes.
He replied softly, “Yes, I was worried.”
….
During her days of recuperation, You Xu noticed something was amiss. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but there was a feeling that everyone else understood except her.
This feeling made her uneasy, confused, and restless.
Soon, she was able to get out of bed and take care of herself. She had a good appetite, slept soundly, and was full of energy— a complete contrast to her previous frail body. Before, even a slight chill could confine her to bed for days. The loss of appetite, nausea, and suffocation she felt were still vivid in her memory.
How… how could she be so energetic now?!
Had she been given a new body or something? Did the snake venom have some kind of health-promoting effect? No, was that You Jingyan’s medicine? No, that doesn’t make sense. If You Jingyan had such medicine, he would have given it to her long ago, instead of letting her suffer for so many years.
So why was that?
As You Xu pondered this, she placed a warm hand warmer under Shen Jue’s arm, who was sleeping on the soft couch. Shen Jue had been very sleepy lately, sleeping from morning till evening, and then from night till dawn.
And for some reason, Shen Jue, whose body temperature used to be higher than average, now always had cold hands. No matter when she touched them, his hands were always icy, as if they could never be warmed up.
He hadn’t transformed back into his fox form, remaining in human form. Occasionally, he would conjure up his fox tail for her to touch, but You Xu was hesitant to stroke it anymore, as the large tail always shed clumps of fur.
The fine white fox fur resembled falling snow.
Did fox demons shed fur? You Xu wasn’t sure, but she remembered that Shen Jue hadn’t shed before.
Looking at his sleeping face, his features were deep and smooth, his eyebrows and eyes delicate and handsome. However, the two red demonic markings under his eyes had faded in color. They used to be a deep, dark crimson, but now they seemed like diluted paint, almost transparent.
You Xu had a vague suspicion.
Two days later, she secretly saw Shen Jue follow You Jingyan into the medicine room. Only You Xu and the steward were allowed into You Jingyan’s medicine room, as it contained all the rare medicinal herbs he had collected and the prescriptions he had concocted— it was the most important place in the entire Medicine Spirit Valley.
The steward was guarding the entrance, so You Xu didn’t go in to disturb him. She squatted alone in a corner for about an hour until Shen Jue left the medicine room before she went in to find You Jingyan.
You Jingyan was slightly surprised, but quickly concealed his expression: “Ah Xu, are you bored? Would your brother keep you company for tea?”
“I just saw Shen Jue enter the medicine room. What happened to him?” You Xu stared intently at You Jingyan, not missing a single change in his expression.
You Jingyan smiled slightly, revealing no flaws: “He was worried about you, so he asked about your recovery.”
“But compared to me, I feel his condition isn’t so good,” You Xu said. “If brother were to hide it from me, I’m afraid I’d be constantly guessing and worrying.”
You Jingyan glanced at her, sighed silently, and turned his head away.
You Xu’s heart skipped a beat: “Brother, is he…?”
“More than your worry, I don’t want you to be sad,” You Jingyan sighed again, “The truth will always come out.”
As he spoke, You Jingyan suddenly chuckled self-deprecatingly: “Everyone says I have superb medical skills, but only when I was saving you did I realize that I am not worthy of those four words.”
The implication was that even with his medical skills, he couldn’t cure the snake venom, nor could he save her.
You Xu was stunned, unable to find her voice for a long time: “That was him…”
“Yes,” You Jingyan said, “Shen Jue cut out his heart.”
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