To the side of the house was the small kitchen. Inside, there were cooking utensils, pots and pans, bowls, and plates.
Yuan Xiurong looked to the side and found a cupboard neatly stocked with many different kinds of medicine. She checked the contents and found regular remedies for the common cold, fever, and ointment for wounds.
She quickly grabbed some medicine and found Rao Zhengsheng standing by the doorway.
"Xiurong, what are you doing?" Rao Zhengsheng asked.
Yuan Xiurong turned around. "Rao gege, these are medicine. I was going to boil some for Horan." She grabbed the medicine pot and handed it to him. "Fill this with three cups of water and bring it back to me."
Rao Zhengsheng smiled and took the medicine pot from Yuan Xiurong.
After Yuan Xiurong measured all the necessary medicine and started the fire, Rao Zhengsheng returned and placed the pot of water on the stove.
Yuan Xiurong began adding the medicine into the pot. She smiled happily. "We are so lucky that this house has everything. After we leave, we should clean it and leave a note with some money for the homeowner."
Rao Zhengsheng nodded and gave Yuan Xiurong a warm smile. He reached out and gently grabbed Yuan Xiurong's hand. "Xiurong, thank you for everything that you have done," he said happily. "I am so grateful to have such an understanding partner like you."
Yuan Xiurong said, "Rao gege, you don't have to thank me. If it wasn't for Horan, I would have been severely wounded or died. This is the least I could do for him. Besides," she looked up at Rao Zhengsheng, "we are going to spend the rest of our life together, the three of us. Therefore, I would rather be Horan's friend and family than be his enemy."
Rao Zhengsheng smiled and sighed with relief. "I am so happy to have both you and Horan in my life. I can promise that I will love you no less than Horan, nor will I love Horan less than you."
Yuan Xiurong smiled and nodded, secure in his promise.
Rao Zhengsheng pulled Yuan Xiurong into his arms and gently placed a kiss on her forehead.
After carefully pouring the medicine into a small bowl and handing it to Rao Zhengsheng, Yuan Xiurong quickly gathered a few essentials. She grabbed a handful of chopsticks and clean bowls for the food they'd brought, secured the medicine box containing all their field supplies, and then hurried to follow Rao Zhengsheng.
Inside the room, the people were sitting around the table, beginning to eat the prepared food.
Rao Zhengsheng, who sat beside the feverish Xue Horan, reminded him, "Remember to drink your medicine before it gets cold."
Xue Horan smiled weakly and said, "Thank you..." He looked up, seeing that Yuan Xiurong had sat down beside Rao Zhengsheng. "Yuan jiejie, thank you."
Yuan Xiurong gave him a warm smile. "After you finish eating, I will clean your wound again, since I found some wound care ointment." She looked around at the people sitting at the table. "We should thank the homeowner. It's a good thing that the homeowner has medicine."
Rao Zhengsheng cautioned her. "Do not break into the owner's room. That room," he pointed to the room in front of them, "it must be the owner's room."
Yuan Xiurong confessed, "Rao gege, I grabbed the medicine box from that room. After caring for Horan's wound, I should return the medicine box to that room."
Rao Zhengsheng considered it. "Let's keep it for now. We will return it after we leave."
Yuan Xiurong nodded, then realized there was another person sitting at the table. She was taken aback and said, "What is she doing here?" referring to Cao Yanmei.
"I invited her," Rao Zhengsheng explained.
Xue Horan, ever pragmatic, asked Cao Yanmei, "Cao guniang, would you be kind enough to show us the way back inside Beixing Sect and help my shijie?"
Cao Yanmei shook her head sadly. "She is no longer there. She left with my mother."
Rao Zhengsheng was stunned. "What did you say? She has already escaped?"
Cao Yanmei corrected him. "She didn't escape; I told you already. She left with my mother."
Dong Shun, overhearing the exchange, was instantly enraged with worry. "If there is any harm came to my daughter, I will burn Cao Fengge alive!"
Cao Yanmei burst out into tears, the secret shame of her family overwhelming her. "How could my father hurt her? She is also my father's daughter!" She sobbed heavily. "I am the only person no one wants. I am an unwanted child!"
Dong Shun was still reeling from the shock. "What do you mean by saying that she is Cao Fengge's daughter?"
Cao Yanmei did her best to explain the horrible truth. "I followed her because she took my mother hostage. I overheard them talking about their family secrets. It turned out that many years ago, my father replaced his daughter with your daughter. He wanted Lanying to stay by Rao Zhengsheng's side because she is a piece of chess on my father's chessboard." She wiped her tears. "Lanying said that Father lied to her for so many years, and she did a lot of unimaginable things."
Xue Horan asked, his voice strained, "Like what?"
Cao Yanmei looked at him with deep regret. "She said that father lied to her that her mother was killed by Xue Longwei and Xue Luxia. She said because father lied to her, her shifu, shimu, and juniors must die."
Xue Horan's tears began to fall. The betrayal was crushing. "She opened the trap and brought Cao Fengge to Butterfly Island. With the help of the chief leader of the Seventy-two Islands, she killed everyone... Am I right?" The infection on his hand made him feel uncomfortable, but the devastating knowledge that the sister he loved betrayed his family and caused his parents' death was far worse. "Why?" he cried out.
Yongzheng moved instantly to support him. "Horan," he said gently.
"Why?" Xue Horan shouted loudly into the night, rage suddenly surging through him. "Shijie, why? My parents loved you like their child! Shijie, tell me why?" He spat out a mouthful of blood and slowly fainted backward.
Yongzheng quickly held Xue Horan, cradling him. "Horan, control your temper. You are not well."
Xue Horan was sobbing now, gripping Yongzheng tightly. "Yongzheng, I shouldn't have left Butterfly Island to chase a stupid dream that only exists in my fantasy!" He clung to his lover. "If I stayed on Butterfly Island, maybe my parents might still be alive, and Cao Wenyan wouldn't have done that to me."
"Horan, we promised not to mention it again," Yongzheng reminded him, trying to soothe him.
Xue Horan only sobbed harder. "Yongzheng, it's all my fault."
Yongzheng sighed and patted Xue Horan's back lightly. He said softly, "No... don't talk anymore." He held Xue Horan close. "We promised to never talk about that anymore. Do you remember?"
Xue Horan sobbed, burying his face into Yongzheng's chest. "Yongzheng... Yongzheng..."
Rao Zhengsheng stood up, consumed by anger, and walked to Xue Horan. He tightly grasped Xue Horan's arm. He shouted angrily, "Horan! What did Cao Wenyan do? Tell me, what did Cao Wenyan do?"
Xue Horan, still crying in Yongzheng's arms, sobbed. "Da shixiong, please don't ask me."
Rao Zhengsheng looked at Yongzheng frantically, gritting his teeth. "What did Cao Wenyan do?"
Yongzheng did not answer.
Rao Zhengsheng roared in frustration. "What the hell did Cao Wenyan do?" He stood up and grabbed Cao Yanmei. "How did Horan get poisoned by the Seven Colors Pill?"
Cao Yanmei, terrified, explained. "He is willing to poison himself, so my da ge will give him an antidote. He fed the antidote to you. At that time, that was the only way. I know that my da ge has a special bond with Mu Dishi. Since Horan looks like Mu Dishi, my da ge will not let him die."
Rao Zhengsheng finally understood why Yongzheng had nearly punched him back at the cliff. He gritted his teeth, his rage absolute. "I will kill you, skin you alive, and then give your skin to Cao Wenyan!"
Rao Zhengsheng reached out and struck Cao Yanmei, who flew forty feet out of the room towards the fence, hitting the ground.
Yuan Xiurong and Dong Shun, propelled by curiosity and a lingering sense of duty toward their new, complicated ally, hurriedly left the room.
Rao Zhengsheng was so furious that blood rushed to his head. He drew his butterfly sword and swung it at Cao Yanmei, cutting deeply into her left shoulder. He then kicked her into the air, and she landed beside Dong Shun, vomiting a mouthful of blood.
Cao Yanmei coughed out the blood. "Yongzheng..." She stretched out a hand toward him, but Yongzheng ignored her, focused only on holding Xue Horan.
Rao Zhengsheng flew over, grabbed Cao Yanmei by the neck, and lifted her from the ground. Yuan Xiurong rushed forward, trying to calm him.
"Rao gege, no matter what, Cao guniang has helped you out of prison," Yuan Xiurong pleaded. "Please let her go. The one you hate is not her, but her da ge. They are not the same."
Dong Shun watched Cao Yanmei struggling, kicking her feet in panic. He looked up and saw a fading mark on her shoulder. Dong Shun frantically shouted, "Zhengsheng, put her down, she is my daughter!"
Rao Zhengsheng slowly loosened his grip on Cao Yanmei's throat. "Dong Shushu, what are you talking about?"
Dong Shun cried, "She is my daughter!"
Yuan Xiurong was shocked. "Dong Shushu, how do you know?"
Dong Shun explained, his voice shaking. "She has the marks of the two swords symbol on her left shoulder, just like yours."
Rao Zhengsheng grabbed Cao Yanmei's left shoulder, examining the bleeding wound he'd inflicted. He saw the two swords tattooed there, exactly like the mark he shared with Yongzheng.
Dong Shun's despair turned to cold fury as the entire conspiracy became clear. "I understand now. Cao Fengge planted his daughter with us and took my daughter with him. He thought everything through. If we lose the battle with him, we will die, and he will take Lanying back to be with him. But if he loses the battle with us, then he will use Yanmei to bargain for his life."
Rao Zhengsheng clenched his fists, the truth leaving him enraged and betrayed. "Cao Fengge... Cao Wenyan...We cannot exist in this world together!" He roars echoed into the night.