At this moment, at the bottom of the cliff, a young girl gathering firewood saw a person lying ahead and was startled.
This girl was about sixteen, dressed in a coarse yellow garment. Although her attire was ordinary, it was simple and clean. She didn't have a great figure, and her appearance wasn't remarkable, just average.
The girl approached and found a black-clad boy who seemed younger than her. She put her ear to the boy's chest to listen and let out a sigh of relief: "He still has a heartbeat. What should I do?"
Helpless, the girl carried the boy on her back and left the place.
As she walked, the girl muttered, "So heavy. Even I, with my Innate Divine Power, think he's heavy."
Three days passed.
At the bottom of the cliff, in a nameless village.
This place was isolated from the world, closed off. The villagers came and went, occasionally greeting each other.
At this moment, the girl in yellow returned, silent.
A villager approached curiously and asked, "Qiulu, I heard you brought a man back to live at your house recently. Is that true?"
The girl, called Ling Qiulu, dismissively said, "None of your damn business."
The villager was dissatisfied: "Why do you speak so rudely, woman? I was just kindly asking."
The girl sneered, "If you're so kind, you can take him back, or if you don't want to put in the effort, you can give me some money."
"Put in effort or money? Hmph, you're overthinking. I was just asking."
The girl mocked, "Then you're just one of those good people who only talk. There are too many of those."
The villager was angry: "What's with your attitude."
The girl was indifferent: "The way others treat me is the way I treat them."
After saying this, the girl walked away.
The villager cursed quietly: "Hmph, bringing a stranger back to the village, especially letting him live in her house as a woman. How shameless."
A villager beside him nodded: "Indeed, I bet she's found herself a toy boy outside, and she's wanted to leave this village for a long time."
"Truly disgraceful, ruining the reputation of our Taoyuan Village."
Hearing these words, the girl acted as if she didn't hear them and went to a small wooden house at the back of the village.
After entering, the girl grumbled discontentedly: "Rotten village, rotten villagers. One day I'll leave this place and go to the outside world."
The girl walked to the window, looked at the black-clad girl lying on the bed, and complained: "It's all because of you, causing me to waste time with those idiots."
At this moment, Ye Yu woke up, slowly opened his eyes, his vision blurred, and Zhu Zhuqing's face appeared before him.
"Zhuqing, are you okay?"
Ye Yu quickly sat up and grabbed her wrist, asking worriedly.
The girl broke free and stepped back: "You've got the wrong person. I'm not Zhuqing; my name is Ling Qiulu."
Ye Yu woke up, his mind chaotic, his brain dizzy.
The scene of Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing blocking a slash for him flashed repeatedly in his mind, then he couldn't remember anymore.
Ye Yu felt weak all over, spiritually exhausted, worried, and afraid.
"Mubai, Zhuqing..."
The blurry scenes in his consciousness were of brutal slaughter, just not knowing if the targets of the slaughter included Mubai and Zhuqing.
Seeing Ye Yu's unfocused eyes, mumbling incessantly, Qiulu felt a headache: "Didn't expect him to be a lunatic, troublesome. If I had known, I wouldn't have cared and let you fend for yourself."
Ye Yu's stamina and energy were depleted, and he fainted again.
He had completely lost control, fought continuously for over an hour, and his stamina and Spiritual Power were rapidly consumed. Now, he remained in an extremely weak state.
Seeing Ye Yu faint, Qiulu hesitated, whether to leave Ye Yu where he was, or...
After struggling internally, Qiulu sighed reluctantly: "I should look for a doctor."
Qiulu walked to the wardrobe, opened it, and took out a wooden box. Inside was money, Copper Soul Coins, Silver Soul Coins, and Gold Soul Coins.
Mostly Copper Soul Coins, with only two Gold Soul Coins.
"He doesn't seem injured. He probably just exhausted himself. I'll take out ten Copper Soul Coins first."
Qiulu, a bit begrudging, took out ten Copper Soul Coins, closed the door, and left.
She found the village's only doctor and said, "Doctor Li, someone is sick. I came to ask you to check on him."
As she spoke, Qiulu handed over ten Copper Soul Coins.
The doctor was surprised: "It won't be the person you picked up, right? Unbelievable, you worked hard to save up, wanting to leave here, only to spend money for his treatment."
"Stop talking nonsense and come with me."
Soon, after they arrived, the doctor went to the window and began feeling the pulse.
The doctor was astonished and his face changed color.
Qiulu became a bit uneasy and hurriedly asked: "Is it a serious illness?"
The doctor, after the initial shock, said: "It's not an incurable disease, just extreme weakness. Normally, someone this weak should already be dead, yet he's still alive. Rest assured, it's just that his stamina and energy are overly depleted. Eating some restorative medicine will help."
"How much does it cost?"
"Ten Copper Soul Coins surely won't suffice. It requires three Gold Soul Coins."
Upon hearing this, Qiulu was startled: "That much?"
"Yes, I won't cheat you. The most crucial thing is that his energy is severely depleted, which is why he's unconscious. Although he has no external injuries, if this continues and he remains unconscious for a while, his Life Energy will gradually drain away, and he will die."
Qiulu frowned and sighed: "Then you wait outside for a moment."
"Alright."
After the doctor left, Qiulu very reluctantly took out the wooden box, removed two Gold Soul Coins and ten Silver Soul Coins, feeling quite pained. She glanced at Ye Yu: "Picking you up was really unfortunate."
Out the door, Qiulu gave the money to the doctor. He, in astonishment and curiosity, asked: "Is he really your toy boy?"
"No way! Quickly go brew the medicine!" Qiulu was speechless.
"Alright, alright."
After returning to the room and sitting down, Qiulu looked at Ye Yu with frustration: "Because of you, I had planned to leave this wretched place in a month, but now I'll have to struggle for another year."
In the evening, Qiulu went to the back mountain of the village, arriving at a grave with the inscription "The Grave of Smoke and Clouds."
Qiulu stood before the grave, her gaze soft: "Taozi, it's been a long time since I visited you. How are you doing over there?"
"Recently, I must have been really unlucky to pick someone up, who turns out not to be a rich person, but a lunatic. Sigh, I don't know what to do now. If you were here, at least I'd have someone to talk to."
"I hate this village; it ruined you. Someday, I'll definitely leave here, taking your and your parents' ashes with me."
After talking to herself for a while, Qiulu went to the doctor to get the medicine.
"Doctor, is the medicine ready?"
"Just in time, Qiulu. You can take it back. If he's not well after drinking, he needs to continue with it."
Qiulu took the medicine back and, after arriving home, sat by the bedside, holding a bowl in her left hand, a spoon in the right, carefully feeding the medicine to Ye Yu, afraid of spilling a drop.
The medicine entered his stomach, the effects swiftly absorbed, gradually restoring the weakened Spiritual Power bit by bit.
After feeding the medicine, Qiulu hoped Ye Yu would awaken, but he didn't.
"He might need more medicine. Sigh, let's see if he wakes up in the morning."
Qiulu laid a bedding directly on the ground and slept.
At dawn, Ling Qiulu woke up, washed up, glanced at Ye Yu who was still in a coma, and reluctantly left, departing from the village to continue her daily routine of gathering food and collecting firewood.
Meanwhile, Ye Yu suddenly awoke, black energy swirling in his eyes.