A Mistaken Marriage Match: Pursuit of Murderer in Liao Yue

Chapter 23  The Pain

When he woke up, the first thing Jin Yan Hen felt was the pain in his body. His muscles and joints don’t have that piercing pain but still, they were extremely sore especially the back of his neck. If he moved a little, there was this very noticeable pain.

The memory he had the night before he passed out immediately flashed in his mind. Jin Yan Hen opened his eyes quickly and immediately he saw a piece of sky blue garment and a jade face beside him. He least expected Lou Chen to sit beside him so close that when he moved, he will brush her body. The fact was when he opened his eyes, Lou Chen also opened her eyes immediately examined his eyes. It was clear, with no trace of confusion and she immediately grabbed his wrist to take his pulse.

The wet clothes she was wearing dried up overnight, although it was wrinkly, the blood and mud stain seemed to have been washed and the blue satin skirt seemed to be neatly arranged.  A black jade hairpin gathered her long hair neatly behind her head. The whole person looks fresh and elegant but with the faint morning light, the owner of this faint blue shadow still showed some exhaustion. Jin Yan Hen whispered to her, “ You… were not able to rest all night?”    

Lou Chen did not answer his question, just withdraw her hand and asked, “How do you feel?”

Jin Yan Hen carefully felt the condition of his body and replied, “There is nothing peculiar except for the lack of strength.”

Last night, he was burning with fever, his whole body also was in pain and felt a shivering cold. Now, he felt a lot better. He sat up straight and curiously asked, “ The poison?”

Lou Chen shook her head, seeing his complexion appeared  really much better than last night,  her heart that was restless the whole night was able to relax a little. ” I was thinking about it all evening, I think this poison is to target the internal forces and the pubic region. It is for people who have martial arts skills. Even if you don’t use your internal force but because of the long-term habit of practicing martial arts, one would subconsciously use the pubic region strength and then the poison will be activated to invade the body. The two forces will contend and that is why you feel the pain, hot and cold at the same time. So…”

Lou Chen hesitated for a moment, and then said, “I sealed your pubic region and  you can’t use your internal force for the meantime.”

The tone of  Lou Chen was as cold and shallow as usual, but it was mixed with a heaviness. If a person practicing martial arts can’t use their internal force, it was comparable to the feeling of a normal person who suddenly became crippled.  Lou Chen practices martial arts since childhood and naturally knew how it felt like, but she can only come up with this method at this time. It was frustrating for her too, but for now, there was no other way.

The eyes of Jin Yan Hen had a glint of spark if only people could see. He quickly raised his head and sat up very straight and laughed, “ Anyway, my three-foot cat martial arts doesn’t make a big difference anyway. However, Chen’er, at least I am with you and when misfortune comes upon me later, you must protect me.”

Lou Chen has seen Jin Yan Hen with a sword. His martial arts was not a kung fu of a three-legged cat. It was just all over the place. It is reasonable to say that the swordsmanship of Jin Ru was so exquisite, she was a sword master. However, Jin Yan Hen’s swordsmanship was like a hedgehog, there was no discipline but his own mastery was also good.  It was evident that he studied a lot through research just to learn how to play sword.  

Even if he said this with the relaxed tone of voice, Lou Chen was keenly aware of the loneliness he was trying to hide. Lou Chen secretly bit her lip and whispered, “ I will find a cure for you.”

This was her promise, no matter how difficult it was, she will get it done.

Jin Yan Hen gave her a meaningful glance and his eyes was filled with abundant happiness, giving her a loving look and a foxy smile, “Then we must reach an agreement until we found a cure, Chen’er cannot leave me, no matter what.”

Lou Chen was now very familiar with someone’s untimely “crazy words out of madness”. She got up and tidied her wrinkled skirt, picked up the King’s grass and hugged it in her arms. She walked outside the cave and said, ” Let’s go, the rain already stopped and let’s get down of this mountain.” Jin Yan Hen extended his hand towards Lou Chen and in a very weak appearance, said, “Chen’er, aren’t you helping me?”

She just sealed his pubic region, not his hands or foot muscles, this was “trying to reach for a yard after taking an inch.”  Lou Chen turned around, her eyes fixed on Jin Yan Hen smiling. “Help, I won’t help, but if you passed out like last night, I can carry you on my back all the way down the mountain.”

Jin Yan Hen’s body suddenly stiffened and he couldn’t enjoy the beautiful smile of the woman looking at him. He coughed lightly and smiled back with guilt and said,” No, I can walk.” The back of his neck was still in pain, if people will knew that he was knocked unconscious and carried back down the town, how can he face anyone?

The two people walked along looking for the way down the mountain with the help of Lou Chen’s photographic memory, the two did not walk very far and was not lost. After almost two hours, they finally returned to Thousand Grass Hospital.

Lou Chen was still full of vitality but Jin Yan Hen appeared exhausted and breathless.

“Ah Hen!”

Jin Yan Hen was very pale and could hardly walk; the people guarding the hospital came over to help him. The news of his arrival quickly spread.

“You, rascal, where have you been? If you are going that way, you should at least let me pack you some snacks!” A fist hit Jin Yan Hen’s body and unfortunately, he was no strength to dodge.  Jin Ru’s eyes were red, looks like she did not sleep all night, just like Jin Yan Hen, they both looked haggard.

Jin Yan Hen put his hand on the shoulder of Jin Ru and grabbed her one hand, smiled happily, “For me not to come back. In Luoshui Town, what can happen? Don’t worry, I am fine.”

Hearing the commotion from the gate, Fang Ru Hui walked out quickly, and Xing Mu, who was ordered to stay in the medical center to recover from the injury, also followed out.

As soon as he saw the distressed appearance of Jin Yan Hen, Fang Ru Hui couldn’t help but grumble, “Ah Hen, what happened to you last night? Everyone was searching for you all night.”

After entering the door, Lou Chen went straight to sit at the wooden chair on the side to rest. At the moment, Xiao-An who was sent for a hot tea and was still carrying it and his appearance looked very indifferent, like he doesn’t care.

What a cruel fate, Jin Ru and other people gather around him and questions were coming on all sides. He could only endure his exhaustion and explained, “Yesterday afternoon, we found a secret code similar to that left by the Lingshui League, so we followed the clue and reached the mountain. On the mountain, we encountered a heavy rain and hid for a while inside the cave. We did not expect to encounter the assassin who came from the Lingshui League. I was poisoned while fighting and the assassin, in the end, was able to escape. The rain last night was too strong and we couldn’t go anywhere. So, we stayed on the mountain for a night.”

When they heard the words “Lingshui League”, both Jin Ru and Xing Mu’s expressions changed. Xing Mu was deplored, “Zi Ge” was snatched away by the people of Lingshui League. Jin Ru on the other hand, reddened eyes looked worriedly to Jin Yan Hen. She seemed to be both anxious and angry. 

“Why did you not obey me? I told you not to meddle? Do you have any discomfort? Tell your Aunt!”

“Nothing, am I not standing in front of you.” Jin Yan Hen’s muddy and sloppy appearance doesn’t escape her. She looked after him growing up so she can’t be fooled. She went directly to Lou Chen and asked, “Ah Hen’s physical condition, how is he, you tell me the truth.”

Jin Yan Hen winked at Lou Chen but what a pity, Lou Chen had no plan to keep the matter and answered directly, “That poison has some effect to his pubic region. I sealed his internal force and he cannot do martial arts.” Jin Ru did not know what to think of it and she went blank for a moment. After a while, she whispered, “ That thing… can he practice martial arts in the future?”

Lou Chen thought that upon hearing this news and knowing Jin Ru’s temperament, she must be bitter and heartbroken, violently furious but on the contrary, she was not. Her facial expression was complex and Lou Chen cannot understand, it was like a bitter occurrence but at the same, it was like a good fortune.

After thinking about it for a while, Lou Chen replied, “No, he can return to normal once the poison is managed.”

After listening to Lou Chen’s explanation, Jin Ru slightly frowned, but in her eyes were an appearance of happiness with little disappointment. After a long while, she said in a low voice, “As long as he came back safe.”

Lou Chen was confused and she couldn’t guess. Jin Yan Hen couldn’t practice his martial arts. Is she happy or not?

Jin Yan Hen, on the other hand, was just standing and talking to Fang Ru Hui in whispers, which looked like he never noticed Jin Ru’s meaningful look on him.

“Jin Yan Hen!” Gasping for breath, Qu Ning Shang rushed inside the room pointing at Jin Yan hen and Lou Chen, scolding them, “What happened to the two of you that you suddenly disappeared. Do you know that people were very worried and were looking all over for both of you all night!”

Behind Qu Ning’s Shang were two people, Wu Yi, and Mu Yan, and when they saw that Jin Yan Hen and Lou Chen were safe, they finally relaxed. When Wu Yi saw Lou Chen sitting comfortably sipping tea, Wu Yi’s face turned grim. It’s not good to blame Lou Chen, so he instead turned his stare at Jin Yan Hen, scolding him in a low voice, he whispered, “ Jin Yan hen, you can’t just do things as you wish, you supposed to have a plan what to do, if this happens again next time, I will not bother to care about you. What happened last night, you tell me clearly!”

Wu Yi’s tone was stern and rough, but the worry in his eyes was also true. Jin Yan Hen sighed deeply and like the previous explanation, he said it again.

After listening to his explanation, the three people were shocked and gave Jin Yan Hen a worried look.

Mu Yan and Jin Yan Hen were working together almost every day and they very close and they camaraderie between the two was incomparable. He looked at Jin Yan Hen with a serious look and whispered, “ Is the poison in your body really Ok?”

Jin Yan Hen smiled coldly and replied, “Nothing, I can’t just use my internal force for the time being.”

All three were people who practice martial arts and naturally, they know the importance of internal force in martial arts. If they lose their internal strength overnight, this was a big blow. The three thought about it, if this happened to them, they would be sad if not collapsed in distress.

To make them believed him, Jin Yan Hen gave a convincing smile, but the three still had the look of hesitation. He rubbed their foreheads, laughing loudly, “What expressions are those? I am not a peerless sword master. My martial art is not even that good. I will not die. Besides, the situation is only temporary.  I am truly grateful for your expression of concern, I got it. Later, this situation will be better for me. ”

The three people still looked at him sadly. Jin Yan Hen was helpless to change their moods, he could only transfer the topic quickly. “Oh, right, is the identity of the female body on Luo Shen Mountain checked out?”

When it comes to business, Wu Yi was always the most serious, and immediately replies, “I found it.”