Enduring the Winter

Save Me, I’ll Marry You

Two

According to the rumors in the jianghu, there was a divine doctor in Luoyang city. He could treat hundreds of illnesses, he could resurrect the dead and elongate lives, and he could save dying people.

When Ren Dong woke up again, she was in a clean house. Her strange surroundings made her get up immediately out of vigilance. When she inadvertently tugged at the wounds on her body, she suddenly remembered why she would be here-

She had proposed… to a scholar.

From what it looked like to her, that scholar must have saved her. Ren Dong touched the tightly bound bandages on her body. In her heart she thought, After I see that scholar again and thank him, I’ll just kill him. If more people knew of her whereabouts, it would be more dangerous, and now, she hated risking her own life the most.

A clatter of footsteps could be heard outside the courtyard, almost as if someone was walking back and forth in the courtyard working. Ren Dong listened for awhile and could hear that the footsteps were heavy and sluggish, which meant that they definitely didn’t belong to someone who knew martial arts. She relaxed and opened the door to go out empty-handed.

Strong rays of sunlight entered the courtyard, so piercing that it made her frown. But then after awhile, she could see clearly.

This ordinary residential courtyard had a lot of medicinal herbs planted in all its nooks and crannies. A man in black was currently crouching at one end, humming a song as he pulled up the herbs in the ground. “Peaches, peaches, peaches peaches, peaches, peaches of demons, demons, demons, demons, brilliant, brilliant… [1]”

[1] Reference to Peach Demon– “brilliant” comes from the Zhuo character used in Ah Zhuo’s name.

When she heard this song, the usually indifferent Ren Dong’s lips twitched. She coughed to get the man’s attention.

“Ah!” The man was so frightened that he sucked in a huge gulp of air and jumped up, falling on the ground. He put his hand on his chest and looked at Ren Dong for a long time before frowning and grumbling, “I’ll say girl, girl. Walking around making sounds is what a living person does. After you die, you won’t be able to make a sound even if you wanted to.”

Ren Dong expressionlessly looked at him, “You saved me?”

The man patted his butt and stood up. With a bit of haughtiness he rose his head, “Besides this noble gentleman who else could have saved you?”

Ren Dong nodded, “Thank you.” She concentrated her power in her fingertips, intending to snap off the man’s neck as soon as he started walking. Then, right when she was about to make a move, the man added, “As long as you take the medicine that I’ll prescribe for you, the crappy poison in your body will be completely eliminated.

The internal energy that was being pushed onto her fingertips immediately dissipated without a trace. The previously indifferent voice now inevitably carried some urgency, “You can get rid of the poison in my body?”

The man laughed, proud of himself, “There is no poison in this world that I can’t eliminate.” Ren Dong’s eyes brightened, and it was difficult for her to conceal the excited motions of her lips. The man continued, “But, while I can get rid of poison, I cannot get rid of gu. The person who gave you the Devouring Core gu must personally get rid of it, otherwise, even if you could communicate with the heavens, no one could save you.”

Ren Dong was startled, and mockingly laughed, “How dare I have extravagants hope of freedom…” The moment she had entered the Nanjiang Shaman Sect, besides being dead, there was no other way for anyone to be free from the sect after they joined. She… had only wanted to continue living and prolong her life a few years.

The man appraised her, his head to one side. Her almost human-like expression had only lasted on her face for a short period of time. She made her face cold again and asked, “Can you get rid of the poison from the Reborn Turtledoves [2]?”

[2] Reborn Turtledoves (往生鸠): 往生 means rebirth/reborn and 鸠 means turtledove, or to gather.

“That poison… I used to know how to, but I don’t know if I can do it anymore. I can try it out- try it out.”

Ren Dong sized him up for a long time, “You’re that legendary divine doctor?”

“Just about.” The man touched his forehead, seemingly pained. “People fear fame just as pigs fear fattening up. I clearly already paid attention to concealing my world-shocking talents, but I was still not careful enough and was found out. What shall I do, what shall I do?”

Ren Dong pressed on the hidden mechanism in her sleeve, and swiftly took out the spring-loaded arrow. Her eyes flashed with coldness as she pointed the arrow at the man’s throat. “I, Nanjiang Shaman Sect emissary, Ren Dong, cordially invite you to go down South, under the orders of the Sect Leader.”

Almost as if he did not see the arrowhead pointed at his neck, that was infused with poison from indigo, the man soliloquized, “Ren Dong? Honeysuckle?” His eyes swept over Ren Dong twice as he laughed, “According to an ancient proverb,

“Crops die from flooding, grass dies early, 
Pomegranates die from freezing, melons die from getting too much sun,
But nothing will affect the honeysuckle.

“As a matter of fact from what I see, I can feel your will to live.”

Ren Dong coldly said, “I cordially invite you to go down South.”

“All right, all right. I never said I wouldn’t go.” The man good-temperedly replied, “If I were you, I wouldn’t treat a physician like this.”

According to custom, he cupped one hand in another, and bowed to Ren Dong in an extremely scholarly manner. Ren Dong quickly put her arrow away, for fear of accidentally poking him. If that happened, there really wouldn’t be anyone who could save the Sect Leader. If the Sect Leader didn’t survive, the Devouring Core guwould be unable to be suppressed by drugs, and when the time came, she would definitely die an extremely miserable death.

“You may call me Gui Yan.”

In the instant that he leaned over, a calming fragrance floated over to the tip of her nose through the air. Ren Dong became absent-minded for a split second, and when she looked up again, she saw the man’s sunny and balmy smiling face as she fainted from the February sunlight.