She felt that something must have happened last night. Otherwise, the sudden change between the two of them would be inexplicable. The more hesitant Lu Tianxun seemed to be, the more serious this matter might be.
"Nothing." Lu Tianxun reached out to take the things from Yi Qing's hands. "Let me clean up."
"No need." Yi Qing refused without hesitation. "Dean Lu used to be so calm in handling affairs. How come I feel that you're now a bit indecisive?"
Lu Tianxun forced a smile. "Maybe I just want to be perfect in front of you."
"You don't need to. That would make you seem inauthentic." Yi Qing said as she went to tidy up the things.
Two days later, Wu Min and Yi Qing worked together to remove the life - sustaining Gu.
"I don't know what changes will occur after removing it. We need to stay here and watch." Yi Qing looked at Wu Min.
"I'll stay with you." Wu Min went to a corner to meditate.
"There's only this ice bed in your forbidden area. I really don't understand what's so worthy of guarding." Yi Qing had always been puzzled.
Wu Min picked up the bone flute hanging around her neck and played a soft tune. Slowly, the cave walls of the forbidden area began to move. It turned out that they were all insects.
Yi Qing immediately shut up. She had been here many times but never noticed that there were so many Gu insects here.
Wu Min looked at the cliff wall, also a bit surprised. Why did she feel that the Gu insects were moving rather slowly?
The two sat on either side. Yi Qing would occasionally feel Xiao Jinghan's pulse to check for any physical changes.
Wu Min usually could sit for a whole day, but today, after sitting for just a short while, she felt bored. "What kind of person is Lu Tianxun?"
"How should I put it?" Yi Qing leaned against the ice bed and looked up slightly. "He used to be one of the most outstanding young talents in the capital of the Great Jin. He was highly talented, well - read, elegant, and skilled in both literature and martial arts. There were countless girls in the capital who wanted to marry him. Later, he got injured. His leg was broken, and he faded into obscurity. After I cured his leg, he became the dean of Yunshan Academy."
Yi Qing only knew that Lu Tianxun was extremely outstanding in the past. As for his personal resume, she wasn't very clear, so she just used a bunch of adjectives to describe him.
"How did he get injured?" There was a hint of hostility in Wu Min's eyes as she asked.
"I don't know. I was still in the countryside when he got injured."
"So no one wanted to marry him later?"
"Of course not." Yi Qing scoffed. "As soon as his leg recovered, matchmakers who came to propose marriage almost flattened the threshold of the Lu family. Maybe because he saw too much of the fickleness of the world when his leg was injured, he didn't accept any of the marriage proposals, and his family didn't dare to urge him either."
Wu Min thought for a while and didn't ask any more questions.
If it was Yi Qing who cured Lu Tianxun's leg, then Lu Tianxun's behavior towards Yi Qing would make sense.
"Someone's coming." Wu Min stood up. "Come out with me."
"But..." Yi Qing looked at Xiao Jinghan lying on the ice bed.
"We'll come back after dealing with it." Wu Min stared at Yi Qing, insisting that she go out first.
Just as Lu Tianxun was wondering how to get in, he saw Wu Min and Yi Qing come out.
"What are you doing here?" Wu Min sized up Lu Tianxun and her gaze fell on the cloak in his hand.
The cloak was modified from a man's long overcoat, and the modification was rather rough.
"It's quite cold here. I brought a piece of clothing for Yi Qing." Lu Tianxun walked up to Yi Qing and wanted to put the cloak on her.
Yi Qing dodged. "No need. I've made it very clear to you, Dean Lu. I can't stop you from doing what you want, but please don't involve me, especially don't force me to accept something."
Lu Tianxun's eyes instantly dimmed. He didn't know how to withdraw his outstretched hand. He felt rather powerless.
"I'm cold." Wu Min took the cloak from Lu Tianxun's hand and wrapped it around herself. "But this is the forbidden area of our Wu Gorge. It's better for you not to come here, Dean Lu." After saying that, she turned around and went back.
Yi Qing followed her. After they went in, more than a dozen palm - sized spiders crawled out of the cave entrance and quickly weaved webs at the entrance.
Lu Tianxun stood there stunned, then laughed at himself.
At the beginning, Yi Qing had told him that there would be no result, but he didn't take it seriously. He thought that since he liked her, it was enough. Just seeing her made him happy.
But after all, he wasn't a saint. He also hoped that his love would be reciprocated. Even the slightest change would be enough. A one - sided love with no response at all would really wear out a person's passion.
Wu Min returned to the forbidden area and examined the cloak carefully from all angles. "Can this be modified into a Wu robe?"
"Yes. Your Wu robes are just casually wrapped around your body, aren't they?" Yi Qing watched Wu Min struggling with the cloak.
Wu Min detected the teasing in Yi Qing's tone. "Why did you reject him so firmly?"
"I can't be with him. Should I accept his gifts, be deeply touched by him, and let him think that he can be with me?" Yi Qing retorted.
Wu Min had never seen a woman like Yi Qing before. "They all say that the women of the Great Jin are as gentle as water. I didn't expect you to be so heartless."
"Being gentle to one's husband is called being gentle as water. Being like that to all men is called being promiscuous. In our Great Jin, such women would be drowned in a pig cage."
"What about your attitude towards your husband?" Wu Min became curious. What kind of man could win Yi Qing's heart?
"Towards my husband..." Yi Qing thought seriously. She was used to having Xiao Jinghan by her side before and had never really thought about this question. She thought for a long time. "Like a fish in water."
"Like a fish in water?" Wu Min was puzzled.
"A fish will die if it leaves the water. The water will be lifeless without the fish." Yi Qing looked in the direction of the cave entrance, and her nose felt a bit sour.
Wu Min couldn't really understand. "Then why did you leave him?"
"I'm starting to think that you're becoming more and more interested in matters between men and women."
"I just want to know how you boring common people live." Wu Min instantly became aloof.
"Since they're just boring common people, what's there to know about?"
Wu Min ignored Yi Qing and continued to fiddle with the cloak in her hand. Yi Qing paced back and forth. It was really cold beside this ice bed. She had never felt this way before when she just came to feed the medicine.
After the life - sustaining Gu was removed, Xiao Jinghan's body was a bit weaker than before. Fortunately, it was still within Yi Qing's control.
"How is it?" Wu Min saw the solemn look on Yi Qing's face.
"You put him on the ice bed before. The ice bed could prevent his injury from worsening. Now that his injury has stabilized and he needs to recover, it's not suitable for him to stay on the ice bed anymore."
"Do you want to move him out?"
"After I perform surgery on him and there are no adverse reactions after the operation, I'll move him out. It's quite cold in your Wu Gorge. I want to move him to the place where we're staying."
Wu Min looked at Yi Qing. "The conditions in the place where you're staying are not good."
"So you need to build a more decent house. It should be clean and well - ventilated, which is beneficial for his recovery." Yi Qing looked at Wu Min calmly, as if she was just making a suggestion.
In fact, she was extremely nervous. Her thumb on the hand behind her back was pressing tightly against her index finger. It even hurt a bit. She was worried that Wu Min would notice her intention.