Chapter 15

Gu Tingshuang responded stiffly, "Even without you, I would have figured it out myself."

Ting Shu followed the apothecary's prescription and gathered a handful of strange herbs. After brewing them, he brought the concoction over.

The other servants attending to Ning Shiting had seen the prescription too. When they noticed several ingredients like "five-step snake venom" and "red-crowned crane" listed, they were so frightened they knelt before Ting Shu, exclaiming, "How can you give the Gongzi this medicine? Anyone who drinks this will surely die!"(1)

Ting Shu was also unsure about what to do.

In the end, Gu Tingshuang said, "What poison hasn't he already endured? Others may not know his identity, but you do, so stop being indecisive. If the medicine kills him, it was his fate."

Though Ting Shu harboured much resentment towards him, he couldn't afford to overthink at this moment.

He diluted the medicine with hot water and fed Ning Shiting half a bowl to observe the effect.

In no time, the fever subsided, and the delirious muttering ceased.

Seeing the improvement, Ting Shu fed him the remaining half bowl.

After sleeping for a while, Ning Shiting opened his eyes, and his complexion had noticeably improved.

When he awoke, Ting Shu was brewing another pot of medicine in the inner room, where no one else was present.

Ning Shiting felt utterly exhausted, but over the past few days, his senses had been nearly shut off by the illness. Now, some sensations were gradually returning—he felt an intense hunger, almost burning, and a desperate thirst.

His throat was so hoarse he couldn't speak. Ning Shiting tried to sit up in bed, then slowly put on a robe and began to walk outside.

As soon as his feet touched the floor, perhaps having heard the sound, a wolf cub came scampering over from the other side.

Ning Shiting looked up and saw the little wolf obediently sitting down in front of him, its tail wagging back and forth.

The room was filled with the scent of incense, and sunlight streamed in through the window, casting a serene glow that made it feel like any other peaceful evening.

Ning Shiting hadn’t expected the little wolf to still be here.

He vaguely remembered that during his illness, the little wolf seemed to have come with Gu Tingshuang, but he had forgotten when they had left.

Having just been feverish, his hair was damp with sweat, exuding a faint, unique fragrance, and it clung messily to his body. Ning Shiting casually tied his hair into a knot and, with his sleeve, gently patted the little wolf on the head. Together, they walked toward the outer room.

Gu Tingshuang was sitting by the bed, in the spot where Ning Shiting often sat, absorbed in reading a book, occasionally turning a page.

Hearing Ning Shiting come out of the room, Gu Tingshuang didn’t even look up. Instead, he pointed to the book on his lap and asked in a raised voice, "Where did you find this?"

The book was open to its title page, boldly displaying "Ninefold Spirit Mastery," a manual on using spiritual consciousness to manipulate all things.

This book was exceedingly rare, with only three or four copies left in the Jiuzhou. It was not something the average person would read.

Normally, those with prominent spiritual roots would follow a path suited to their nature. Those with water spiritual roots would train under a rain master, those with wind spiritual roots would study with a wind elder, and those with fire spiritual roots would go to the phoenix's dwelling to learn…

People with celestial spiritual roots were proficient in all aspects, making them the centre of attention and seen as destined leaders among beings, marked by a radiant presence.

A celestial spiritual root was so rare that it might appear only once in five hundred years.

After Gu Tingshuang's extraordinary celestial spiritual root was destroyed, he independently developed the path of refining spiritual consciousness.

It was only after two or three years of training using this unorthodox method that he learned that a respected immortal had previously researched this cultivation method and compiled it into a manual.

However, this path is extremely difficult and generally unnecessary for most, so it did not spread widely. As a result, only a few copies of the manual existed, supposedly guarded and passed down by the immortal’s few disciples.

Gu Tingshuang had once sent out a pack of wolves to search for it, but they returned empty-handed, unable to communicate what they had found, so the search was fruitless.

Now, this legendary rare copy was in Ning Shiting’s hands.

Gu Tingshuang had just spent some time reviewing it and discovered many cultivation techniques that overlapped with his current knowledge, confirming its authenticity.

However, the book was old and not written with the immortal's indestructible ink, so it was falling apart.

The initial pages were meticulously revised and well-bound, while the latter part was a chaotic mess, with missing and torn pages.

Ning Shiting's voice was still hoarse. "When I saw you using your spiritual consciousness to control the wolf pack that day, I found someone to get this book for you. I planned to give it to you after finding time to complete it. Seeing that some parts were incomplete, I thought to help you gather the missing content before handing it over. After all, when it comes to cultivation methods, one must be extremely cautious. If anything were to go wrong, I wouldn't be able to explain it to the Wangfei."

"…"

Gu Tingshuang responded stiffly, "Even without you, I would have figured it out myself."

Ning Shiting smiled nonetheless.

He was still sick, casually draped in a robe, and his hair was not as neatly groomed as usual, simply left loose and half-tied on his shoulder.

This unkempt look surprisingly gave off a refreshing appeal.

"Give me two or three more days, and I should be able to find the rest."

Ning Shiting poured himself some water, took a few sips, and then grabbed the snacks on the table to eat.

It was snowflake crisp; he ate several pieces, but soon felt nauseous from the sweetness combined with the bitter taste of medicine, and quickly washed it down with tea.

The little wolf circled around his feet. Ning Shiting, while eating a pastry, didn't forget to share some with the wolf.

He suddenly remembered his illness. "This time when I got sick, which doctor did you call? Did Ting Shu tell them about my toxic jiaoren body?"

Gu Tingshuang frowned.

This jiaoren really didn’t know what was good for him, speaking in such an intimate and casual tone as if they were just chatting.

Gu Tingshuang only came by to sit for a while this afternoon, yet Ning Shiting seemed a bit too self-assured.

Gu Tingshuang didn’t reply.

After waiting for a while, Ning Shiting seemed to realise something. Hesitating for a moment, he didn’t appear to feel too awkward about being ignored. Instead, he continued to play with the little wolf and softly asked, “Who was it? Do you know?”

“It was a pharmacy proprietor, wearing a square headscarf and with short hair, looking like a butcher.”

After a moment, Gu Tingshuang responded in a stiff tone.

He didn’t look at Ning Shiting, but Ning Shiting lowered his head and smiled.

“What are you laughing at?”

This made Gu Tingshuang even more displeased, lifting his eyes to look at him.

Ning Shiting said, “I know who it is. He saved my life last time, and it turns out it was him again this time…”

“What?” Gu Tingshuang asked.

He wasn’t particularly interested in Ning Shiting’s past, but he didn’t mind knowing a bit. He also wanted to understand what the toxic jiaoren had gone through to climb up step by step.

Was it from relying on his looks?

Although jioaren were beautiful, Ning Shiting could be considered one of the most handsome people Gu Tingshuang had ever seen. However, everyone had their own preferences, and Gu Feiyin never lacked people around him.

Could it be due to his cunning?

With Ning Shiting’s temperament, he would likely be bullied no matter where he went.

Ning Shiting held a soft little pastry in his hand, appearing somewhat lost in thought. "At that time, I was being hunted down and was injured. Night had fallen, and although I was on the street, everything was closed. That gentleman saved me... He always said he had the face of a butcher, living his whole life on a small business, and saving a medicinal merman was something he could boast about when drinking with others."

"You must be dreaming."

Gu Tingshuang interrupted him, feeling a bit strange. He could see that Ning Shiting seemed to be caught up in some kind of memory.

But his expression was serious, with a hint of credibility.

Ning Shiting stared blankly, not quite reacting. His thoughts were still lingering in his memories.

That pitch-black snowy night, the year he had just returned to the manor.

Gu Feiyin had given him a casual order: take back the authority of the Xizhou within three months. To achieve this, he had to manoeuvre with the Su family of the Immortal Chief’s Mansion.

It wasn’t an urgent command, but at that time, Gu Feiyin was determined to start a rebellion amidst many difficulties. To avoid being attacked from all sides, Ning Shiting, for the first time in his life, acted with haste. Together with Ting Shu, they poisoned Su Yue, claiming that the Immortal Cheif had died of a sudden illness.

As a result, he was placed on the Su family’s vendetta list—the family of the current Immortal Empress. From that point on, for more than a decade, he lived under the shadow of top assassins.

Until ten years later, when Gu Feiyin assumed the regency, those night stalkers who had been watching and waiting for a chance to strike finally disappeared.

That day, he was on the brink of death.

But that day was just another of the countless times he had come close to dying.

He couldn't perform immortal arts, and his body was too frail to wield a blade. Compared to those top-tier assassins with excellent bones and supreme cultivation, he was utterly vulnerable.

He had used up all his incense, putting the few closest pursuers to sleep. Ting Shu was entangled and unable to assist him.

The snowy autumn night was lonely and long, the streets cold and clear. Warm yellow lights shone from afar, but every door and window was tightly shut. Not a single place was open for him. 

No family, no friends, his master and companions scattered—just as he had come, just as he would leave... Was this the end for him?

He lay on the street, covered in blood. Just before he fainted, he vaguely saw a butcher-like man crouch down to examine him, reaching out to help.

He stilled instinctively, with all his remaining strength, said, "Don't touch me, I am a poisonous jiaoren."

Then he felt himself being lifted and dragged away. "I don't care if you're a poisonous jiaoren or a banana tree spirit. You're bleeding all over the place in the middle of the night—don't scare my daughter in the morning."

In the snowy night, a killing intent surged forth the moment the door closed, with assassins passing just a wall away.

He was thrown onto a grass mat, surrounded by simmering medicine pots, the room filled with the fragrance of herbs.

Gu Tingshuang said, "You've only been in Xizhou for a few days, and you're already dreaming of being chased? If you're going to make up stories, at least make them believable. I'm not a three-year-old."

Ning Shiting suddenly came to his senses, finally truly waking up.

His fever had been too high, and for a moment, he couldn't distinguish between past and present lives.

He thought it was just an ordinary afternoon before any disasters had occurred.

He composed himself, his smile becoming somewhat stiff. He wanted to explain, but ultimately closed his mouth.

However, Gu Tingshuang noticed a certain anomaly in his expression, like a hunting wolf king sensing its prey's intentions—knowing what the prey is thinking, to know how to plan and trap it.

Only by achieving this can one be qualified to be king among the wolves.

Ning Shiting's words just now contained about ninety per cent truth.

The remaining ten per cent of falsehood came from Gu Tingshuang's lack of understanding and certainty about Ning Shiting.

He had never been to Xizhou, but he could casually recount an experience from here. If it was fabricated, there didn't seem to be a reason to lie at this moment.

Gu Tingshuang's gaze lingered on Ning Shiting's face for a moment, then he withdrew it, continuing to look at the scroll in his hand, deciding not to pursue the matter further for now.

The Author has Something to Say

Gu Bei Persimmon: You, Jiaoren, have so many little schemes every day. (Wildly hinting: I want to hear! Tell me about them! Show me!)

Ning Ning: En, en. (Innocent look)

Gu Bei Persimmon: ... (Fuck, once again chatting the day to death. What do I do now? Waiting online, urgently.)

Foot Notes

1. 五步蛇 (Wǔ bù shé) the “Five Step Snake” or the “Chinese Moccasin” is a Deinagkistrodon or a type of venomous pit viper endemic to southern China. It is named the “Five Step Snake” for its venom which allegedly can kill after just five steps. Its venom is dangerous, often leading to amputations where the bite occurred.

鹤顶红 (hè dǐng hóng) “red-crowned crane” is likely referring to “heddinghong,” the term for arsenic in ancient times. It is also called “red alum,” and as one might imagine, arsenic is highly toxic.