Chu Dingjiang lowered his gaze to look at her. "Why do you think I'm angry?"
"Intuition," An Jiu replied.
There had indeed been a moment when Chu Dingjiang felt anger towards Wei Yuzhi earlier, but it was fleeting—he was exceptionally skilled at controlling his emotions.
Chu Dingjiang smiled faintly. "Even if I were angry, it wouldn't be directed at you."
"At Wei Yuzhi? Why?" An Jiu was puzzled. After some thought, she couldn't recall Wei Yuzhi doing anything wrong. "I was the one who gave him those chestnut cakes willingly..."
Chu Dingjiang knew An Jiu was protective of her food. To her, sharing something she liked was a significant gesture. Yet he said, "Just because you gave them doesn't mean he had to accept them. Doesn’t he know you’re already betrothed? Clearly, his intentions aren’t pure."
His stern expression plainly conveyed, "The fault lies with others, my wife did nothing wrong."
Since the two had already consummated their relationship, and An Jiu was unwilling to marry, Chu Dingjiang had positioned himself as her "betrothed."
After careful consideration, An Jiu muttered, "That does make some sense."
"I’ve crossed more bridges than you’ve walked roads. It’s fine if you don’t understand these things—I’ll teach you slowly." Chu Dingjiang freed a hand to pat her head and continued, "In the past, you didn’t share food because of your circumstances. Now we lack for nothing, so learning to share isn’t wrong. Later, let’s give some chestnut cakes to Aunt Mei and Mo Sigui too. From now on, I’ll buy you chestnut cakes every day."
An Jiu tightened her grip on the chestnut cakes, her brows furrowing.
After a long pause, she said, "Those two are also very important to me. Why does giving them chestnut cakes make my heart ache a little, but it didn’t earlier?"
Chu Dingjiang didn’t need to think about the reason. "That’s because the chestnut cakes hadn’t reached your hands yet!"
"You’re... probably right." Earlier, she had only instructed the vendor to pack the cakes for Wei Yuzhi. Now, having to personally hand them over... the thought alone pained her!
Chu Dingjiang said earnestly, "An Xiaojiu, you can’t eat all of these today. Tomorrow, you can buy fresh ones."
"Alright." Imagining giving the treats to her mother, An Jiu no longer felt any ache in her heart. In fact, she even felt it wasn’t enough.
The two returned to the noodle stall and ate a large bowl each, working up a light sweat.
An Jiu rubbed her full stomach while Chu Dingjiang held an umbrella in one hand and carried the chestnut cakes and various other snacks in the other.
Seeing her contentment, a faint smile flickered in Chu Dingjiang’s eyes. But after the smile came helplessness. An Jiu’s fear of marriage was already a significant hurdle—who knew Wei Yuzhi would appear halfway through! If he were just an ordinary man, Chu Dingjiang wouldn’t have minded, but their connection through blood resonance gave them an uncanny understanding of each other. It made him, the "insider," suddenly feel like an "outsider."
An Jiu and Wei Yuzhi naturally sensed each other’s feelings, while he could only rely on familiarity and wisdom to guess.
Conquering a kingdom is hard, but winning a beauty’s heart is harder.
"Uncle Chu," An Jiu stopped walking and looked up at him.
Chu Dingjiang snapped out of his thoughts. "Hmm?"
Snowflakes drifted outside, and people came and went, but beneath the umbrella, it was as if they occupied their own small world—warm and safe because Chu Dingjiang was the one holding it.
"Let’s get married," An Jiu said.When she uttered those words, the swirling snow and wind seemed to pause for an instant before pouring down even more densely, as if someone's heart had shattered.
An Jiu's face paled slightly, a metallic taste of blood in her mouth. She swallowed it down.
Chu Dingjiang keenly noticed the anomaly and immediately pulled her close. Their figures blurred into a fleeting shadow amidst the sea of people.
Behind the lantern wall, Wei Yuzhi steadied himself against a pillar.
He had been facing those two head-on moments ago. Thinking it better to avoid them, he had moved behind the lantern wall. Just as they passed each other, he heard An Jiu speak those words.
He knew he should control his emotions. But the news had come too suddenly, catching him completely off guard.
The intense emotional turmoil triggered a relapse of his heart condition. Wei Yuzhi could feel his situation deteriorating rapidly. His formidable mental strength suddenly expanded, pinpointing Mo Sigui's location amid the bustling crowd with uncanny accuracy. He hurried toward him.
Everyone on the street felt a flash of chilling coldness, their minds going blank for an instant. Those with weaker self-control collapsed directly into the snow.
Mo Sigui had been admiring a pretty young woman when he suddenly shivered. "That's odd," he muttered.
Sui Yunzhu also sensed it—this coldness penetrated straight into the mind. Any attempt to resist it brought splitting headaches.
As Mo Sigui glanced around, someone grabbed his arm abruptly. "Miracle Doctor!"
Wei Yuzhi's deathly pale face filled Mo Sigui's vision. At the sight, Mo Sigui immediately thought of An Jiu. "What happened? Where's A Jiu?"
"Master Chu likely took her back already," Wei Yuzhi swayed unsteadily.
The moment Chu Dingjiang saw An Jiu's reaction, he understood what had occurred. If she was affected like this, Wei Yuzhi must be in worse condition. While Chu's mental strength couldn't distinguish between individuals, Wei Yuzhi could swiftly locate Mo Sigui in the crowd. Thus, taking An Jiu back to wait was wiser than searching aimlessly like headless flies.
Mo Sigui seized Wei Yuzhi's wrist to check his pulse briefly before barking, "Carry him. Let's go!"
Li Qingzhi immediately hoisted Wei Yuzhi onto his back. Ignoring the stares around them, the group leaped onto rooftops and raced back to their quarters.
As expected, Chu Dingjiang was already waiting in Mo Sigui's room with An Jiu.
Two beds lay side by side. Mo Sigui sat between them, checking both pulses simultaneously.
The onlookers held their breaths, afraid to disturb him.
"A Jiu will be fine. Prepare the previous medicine prescription for decoction and have her rest properly," Mo Sigui declared.
Relieved, Chu Dingjiang took An Jiu back to their room to recuperate.
Mei Yanran emerged from the kitchen just as they passed. Seeing An Jiu's pallor, she hurried after them into the room. Only after settling An Jiu did she ask, "What happened?"
Chu Dingjiang gave a concise explanation.
Mei Yanran fell into thought. "I'll prepare the medicine first."
Withdrawing from the room, she gathered the herbs and returned to the kitchen.
As the medicine simmered on the stove, Mei Yanran sat holding a palm-leaf fan, lost in contemplation. She had been instructing An Jiu in Plum Fist and had roughly guessed her reason for practicing it—yet despite the prolonged training, the results remained minimal.
Plum Fist was an external martial art. Most believed external arts primarily strengthened the body, but Mei Yanran suspected otherwise. Take herself for example—while physically robust, when facing formidable opponents, she relied not on brute strength but on mental strength.As a direct descendant of the Mei family, Mei Yanran had thoroughly mastered the Plum Fist, yet she had never achieved the legendary terrifying lethality. She had always assumed it was due to her insufficient mental strength. However, after teaching An Jiu, she discovered that despite An Jiu's formidable mental strength, her utilization of it was even less effective than her own.
The secret records of the Plum Fist that the Mei family had withheld were also known to Mei Yanran, so this wasn’t the reason for An Jiu’s stagnant progress.
"Plum Fist Heart Sutra," Mei Yanran murmured.
She recalled something she had heard many years ago when she still held partial authority in the Mei family. Legend had it that the Mei ancestors originally practiced internal martial arts, and even the Plum Fist itself was initially an inner cultivator’s technique. Later, just as the ancestor was about to break through to the next realm, they were ambushed and lost all their inner force. One step forward would have led to ascension, but one step back plunged them into hell. Filled with hatred, the ancestor endured hardships for ten years and created the Plum Fist, ultimately achieving vengeance. However, the ancestor also suffered backlash from their own overwhelming mental strength. In their final moments, a flash of inspiration struck, and they left behind a hundred-word Heart Sutra for future generations.
Later in the Mei family’s history, someone succeeded in mastering it, and it was from that time onward that the Mei family rose to fame.
Yet, for some unknown reason, the Heart Sutra eventually disappeared. Mei Yanran knew that Elder Zhi had only recently broken through to the Transformation Realm, and the reason he remained unharmed was because his body had been tempered enough to withstand powerful mental strength—not because he had practiced the Heart Sutra.
Once the medicine was ready, Mei Yanran handed it to Chu Dingjiang and then went to Mo Sigui’s room.
The treatment there had also concluded. Mo Sigui had Sui Yunzhu prepare the medicine while he rested amidst piles of herbs.
As he was about to rise, Mei Yanran stopped him. "Stay seated. I came to ask you something."
"Aunt, please speak," Mo Sigui said.
Mei Yanran sat down. "If there were a Heart Sutra that harmonizes mental strength with the body, would it benefit A Jiu?"
Mo Sigui straightened abruptly. "Absolutely! This isn’t just her problem anymore. If she and Wei Yuzhi could practice it together, the connection between them might gradually diminish until it disappears."
"The Plum Fist actually has a Heart Sutra, but I’ve never seen it, and no one in the Mei family has practiced it for a hundred years." Mei Yanran had been pondering where to find it. "I suspect the Heart Sutra is in the secret realm."
"Secret realm?" Though Mo Sigui had lived in Plum Blossom Village for many years, he wasn’t a member of the Mei family and naturally knew nothing about their Heart Sutra or secret realm.
Mei Yanran nodded. "Yes. I know the entrance to the secret realm, but the paths inside are labyrinthine. Venturing in recklessly could lead to being lost forever. Moreover, the key to open the realm is kept by successive family heads, and I’ve never seen it."
Mo Sigui asked, "Aunt, are you implying that Sixth Uncle knows?"
"Zhengjing was groomed from childhood to be the next family head. He entered the secret realm as a child and spent years inside before emerging. Now he’s the current head..." Mei Yanran sighed. "However, after the sudden upheaval in the Mei family, it’s unclear whether the key was lost. Still, it doesn’t hurt to ask."
"If what you say is true, and the Plum Fist Heart Sutra can align mental strength with the body, that would be perfect!" Mo Sigui mused for a moment. "Let’s inform Chu Dingjiang about this and let him handle the trouble."
After all, if even Mei Yanran didn’t know about it, there must be reasons it couldn’t be disclosed. Even if they asked, Mei Zhengjing would never hand it over.Mei Yanran said, "I'm just a bit worried. If the Heart Sutra is truly something good, why would the Mei Clan choose to hide it, not even allowing their own disciples to practice it."
"We'll only know once we get the Heart Sutra. Don't worry, Aunt. If I see the Heart Sutra, I believe I can judge its pros and cons," Mo Sigui replied.
Mei Yanran nodded. "Coincidentally, the Mei Clan has recently sought help from Mr. Chu. If I mediate, we should be able to obtain the Heart Sutra."
If Chu Dingjiang were to ask for it, Mei Zhengjing might not be willing to give it. But after all, Mei Yanran was a direct descendant of the Mei Clan, so it wouldn't count as an external leak. (To be continued...)
OpenNovel