Immortalis

Yin Residence Fifteen

"Look, Green Stone, someone has indeed come to rescue him."

When Shen Qingshi arrived at the prison, Cao Zhao was standing outside the cell with an amused expression, watching the commotion inside with a smile.

Someone had come to rescue him, and they both knew exactly who it was.

"This Elder Baihe is from Longevity Palace, which means Yang Wujian is also from Longevity Palace. I never expected he would actually risk his life to save someone."

Cao Zhao's gaze was like that of someone watching two rats in a cage.

If Shen Qingshi had emotions, she should have felt a chill running down her spine at this moment. But Shen Qingshi only asked in a flat tone: "What should I do?"

"Do what you're supposed to do. I just asked - they did indeed lose a child many years ago, with the same mark on their back as yours."

Cao Zhao laughed: "You came from there, Green Stone. I believe you know what to do."

"I..."

Just as Shen Qingshi was about to speak, Yang Wujian's furious roar suddenly came from inside the prison: "Back then I dared to release even the Old Palace Master's Flesh Conduit, what's so surprising about saving you now?"

She froze, and in that instant, everything suddenly became clear.

Why Yang Wujian's face seemed so familiar to her.

"Hurry and go, follow this path and you can leave this place... whatever you do, don't look back."

The voice of that young man from years past still echoed in her ears, and Shen Qingshi felt her heart palpitate.

So it was him...

"What's wrong, Green Stone?"

Noticing something amiss, Cao Zhao turned to ask her.

"He's the one who saved me that day."

In a rare moment of hesitation, Shen Qingshi paused before saying: "He's about the same age as me. The person who released me from the cage back then was Yang Wujian. He was from Longevity Palace, but he still let me go and told me not to look back."

Hearing this, Cao Zhao was momentarily stunned. He suddenly lifted her face but couldn't detect a trace of emotion in Shen Qingshi's eyes. She met his gaze directly without flinching, as calm as a stone.

Indeed, it had been right to keep her by his side since childhood.

With Shen Qingshi, the Zhaoming Division would eventually only have the Bi An department left.

Cao Zhao smiled: "I was right - you are the most suitable for this mission."

Even if her savior was from Longevity Palace, Shen Qingshi would never show mercy.

Cao Zhao said: "This is even better. Since you recognized him, he will recognize you too. What comes next will proceed more smoothly."

Shen Qingshi lowered her head: "I understand. Then what should..."

"You need to rescue him."

Cao Zhao grabbed her slender shoulders: "This might be hard on you. After all, you said he's already guessed you're a Zhaoming Guard, and today's events will surely make him hate me to the bone. If you want to dispel his suspicions, you'll have to suffer a bit."

A sharp pain assaulted her, and Shen Qingshi abruptly woke from her dream, almost instinctively grabbing the hand of the person beside her, her entire body drenched in cold sweat.

"You'll have to endure it - his blade was poisoned."

Yang Wujian was sitting by the bed, frowning deeply as he watched her.

It was only after carrying Shen Qingshi back to the inn that he realized the difference between how the palace operated and the martial world.

Cao Zhao's martial arts were unfathomable, but even so, that Tiger Head Saber was still soaked in poison. It wasn't meant to kill, only to render the "prey" immobile.

However, once captured by the enemy, what awaited them was probably a fate worse than death.Such unscrupulous methods made even the most wicked villains in the martial world seem righteous in comparison.

Seeing Shen Qingshi’s usually expressionless face contorted in pain, Yang Wujian sighed, pressed her down onto the bed, and said, "The blade was poisoned. I have no internal energy left to expel the toxin for you, so I had no choice but to give you a Blood Cleansing Pill directly."

"Blood... Cleansing Pill?"

Shen Qingshi actually knew that the poison on the Tiger Head Saber was merely the Black Gold Powder commonly used by the Zhaoming Guard when capturing people. Like the knockout incense, it was meant to render targets unable to resist, and the effects would wear off after a few hours.

Though she knew Yang Wujian likely wouldn’t take her life, still...

"It hurts..."

Shen Qingshi considered herself highly tolerant of pain. Having endured torment since childhood and undergone rigorous training after entering the palace, she had suffered countless injuries far worse than this. Yet she had never felt such unbearable agony.

She couldn’t stand heat—whenever she had a fever, she would feel panicked and short of breath. Now, with a fever and such excruciating pain, Shen Qingshi even wished Yang Wujian would simply knock her unconscious.

"Even if I knocked you out, you’d wake up quickly from the pain."

As if reading her mind, Yang Wujian smiled bitterly. "The Blood Cleansing Pill has a potent effect—it steams out accumulated toxins from your blood. It’s just painful, but trust me, I’ve taken it many times. Endure until dawn, and you’ll be fine."

"You..."

"Besides, I know you’ve been poisoned by other substances before. Using the Blood Cleansing Pill can only do you good."

Seeing Shen Qingshi in such a rare state of distress, Yang Wujian brushed aside her sweat-dampened hair and hesitated before saying, "I know it hurts, but Zhou Huai is right next door. If you wake him, it’ll be hard to explain our situation."

"Shut up."

If she weren’t completely drained of strength, Shen Qingshi would have slapped him away.

Originally, the Black Gold Powder would have let her sleep it off in a few hours, but now...

Gritting her teeth, she said, "Go fetch a bucket of cold water."

"You’re injured, and you still want to bathe?"

"...Just go."

Seeing her insistence, Yang Wujian had no choice but to fetch several buckets of clean water. But when he returned to the room, he found Shen Qingshi had already stripped down to a thin undergarment.

Although he now knew she was a woman...

Did Shen Qingshi not realize he was actually a man?

As Shen Qingshi moved to untie the sash as well, Yang Wujian hurriedly stopped her. "I have to stay here and watch over you. Do you really intend to... in front of me?"

Before he could finish, Shen Qingshi’s hand pressed against his crotch.

"You..."

Yang Wujian’s eyes widened.

He prided himself on being shameless, but at this moment, he was utterly stunned. Glancing from her hand to her face, he even forgot to move away.

Shen Qingshi said coldly, "You took advantage of me, so I’ll take advantage of you. Now pour the water into the tub. I need to bring down this fever."

Was this also a result of those drugs forced on her in childhood?

As he poured the water, Yang Wujian’s mind was filled with the image of Shen Qingshi’s emotionless eyes. He had once thought she was merely reserved, but now it seemed far more than that.

Perhaps, from the day he discovered her, Shen Qingshi had already been stripped of all emotion by those chaotic poisons, to the point where, no matter how many she killed or how much she suffered, she endured it all like a stone—unfeeling and resigned.While she was unconscious, he had taken the opportunity to check her internal energy. For some unknown reason, he also detected a hidden pulse within Shen Qingshi's body that resembled a dead meridian, flickering in and out intermittently.

Shen Qingshi's body was peculiar.

After fetching the water, Yang Wujian carried her directly into the bathtub. The shock of the cold water seemed to finally alleviate some of Shen Qingshi's pain. She leaned her head back against the tub wall and let out a long sigh.

"That mark on your back..."

This time, being closer, the brand on Shen Qingshi's pale back was clearly visible.

Yang Wujian tentatively asked, "Was it done by Longevity Palace?"

Shen Qingshi, eyes closed, endured the pain and replied, "I am the only one who has ever left that place. All these years, I've been searching for it."

"So, you joined the Four Seas Alliance to..."

"By joining the Four Seas Alliance, one gains knowledge of all matters under heaven. Longevity Palace is no exception."

Hearing this, Yang Wujian chuckled. "Turns out, the young master is the only one who truly has no connection to Longevity Palace. Speaking of which, he even sees you as a love rival. I wonder how he'd react if he knew you're actually a woman."

"I am not a woman."

At this, Shen Qingshi opened her eyes and looked at him, asking as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "Earlier, when I was unconscious, didn't you think to verify my body?"

"..."

For the second time that night, Yang Wujian was rendered completely speechless. After a long pause, he managed to squeeze out, "In your eyes, am I really such a scoundrel?"

Shen Qingshi averted her gaze. "I wanted to verify your true identity before, but I never expected your Golden Rings to have such a function. Why pretend to be a woman? Are you truly a descendant of the Crescent Moon Blade?"

Hearing this, Yang Wujian recalled that night at the inn when he was drowsy with sleep. Indeed, Shen Qingshi had not only come but also taken advantage of him in the middle of the night.

He couldn't help but roll his eyes. "The Crescent Moon Blade isn't passed down only to women and not men. I use a female identity to travel the martial world simply for convenience. After all, funds are tight, and there are plenty of unscrupulous lechers around."

"Then what is your relationship with that One-Eyed Daoist? Why risk your life to save him?"

"He's just an old acquaintance from my family. He often kept me company when I was young. As for why I went to save him, Miss Shen, you must understand—someone like me, with few familial ties, is prone to acting on impulse sometimes."

Thinking of Baihe's death, Yang Wujian's heart still felt as if being twisted by a knife. Unwilling to continue the topic, he asked, "What do you mean you're not a woman? I clearly..."

He wanted to say he had seen it with his own eyes, but the words stuck in his throat. While Yang Wujian was still hesitating over how to phrase it more delicately, Shen Qingshi cut straight to the point: "I have a female body, but I cannot engage in intercourse with men, nor can I conceive or bear children. I am what common folk call a Stone Core."

"Ah..."

Yang Wujian was taken aback. "But you look..."

Shen Qingshi shook her head. "The reason I don't look like a woman isn't because I'm a Stone Core, but because of some medicine I took when I was young... This matter is also related to Longevity Palace. I want to investigate thoroughly."

So it really was because of that medicine.

Yang Wujian frowned.

If it was caused by the medicine forced upon her fifteen years ago, then the Blood Cleansing Pill might not be of much use. He wondered how much it could heal her.

He thought to himself, if she weren't a Zhaoming Guard, he could simply take her back to Longevity Palace for Gu Yun to examine...

Mention of Longevity Palace inevitably made Yang Wujian think of Baihe, who had died by his hand not long ago."What did he mean by his final words - don't investigate the White-faced Guest, don't return to Longevity Palace?"

Baihe had been gone for fifteen years, why would he be warned not to return? Could it be that he still maintained connections with the palace?

And the White-faced Guest - was the warning to avoid him simply because that person was too dangerous?

Yang Wujian's mind was a tangled mess when suddenly noisy sounds came from outside the inn, seemingly from patrol officers. The two exchanged glances, and Yang Wujian immediately lifted Shen Qingshi out of the bathtub, draping an unstained clean outer garment over his shoulder to cover the wound. While he was still fastening Shen Qingshi's belt, the room door was pushed open with force.

"Hey, there are constables downstairs searching..."

Zhou Huai's words trailed off as he saw Yang Wujian leaning against Shen Qingshi's chest, both of them soaked, combined with the wooden tub full of water in the room... Many things became perfectly clear at one glance.

"You two..."

Young Master Zhou's face instantly turned green.