Chapter 70

Shen Yao Xing felt that she should go reincarnate, but her soul seemed to be locked in this shell, unable to leave or move.

Being so constrained was extremely uncomfortable.

It was pitch black all around, without a trace of light. She wanted to walk forward, but found walls blocking her path. Shen Yao Xing tried to break through this barrier, but to no avail.

She decided to simply lie flat and not bother.

She didn’t know how long she lay there. When she sensed light, Shen Yao Xing was delighted. She slowly opened her eyes to see an ancient, simple yet luxurious sandalwood bed canopy. For a moment she almost thought she had been reborn into another body, but the face that appeared in her vision next dispelled that notion.

Shen Yao Xing stared blankly at the person before her, unable to react for a good while.

Until a hand covered her face, Shen Yao Xing exhaled weakly, realizing that though her body was very weak, she had indeed come back to life.

This realization surprised her, but what surprised her even more was the person in front of her. He looked even weaker than her, his face as pale as paper and gaunt, his cheeks slightly sunken, even his ink-black hair seeming to have lost its luster and was a bit messy.

“What… happened to you?” Shen Yao Xing spoke with difficulty, feeling her strength exhausted after asking.

Jiang Ming Yue did not respond, his slender hands gripping hers tightly, his gaze fixed on her face without leaving for a moment.

Shen Yao Xing also had no strength to ask him a second time, closing her eyes and falling back into deep sleep.

When she woke again, Shen Yao Xing clearly felt her body had regained some strength, while the person by the bed remained unmoved, still staring intently at her. If not for seeing it was dark outside, she would have thought she had only slept for less than an hour.

Meeting his gaze with a weak expression for a while, Shen Yao Xing felt this couldn’t go on. She struggled to utter a word, “Water…”

The statue by the bed finally moved, pouring a cup of water and carefully propping her up to help her drink. Shen Yao Xing lay back down, looking at him with furrowed brows, “Why do you look so awful?”

Jiang Ming Yue lowered his eyes slightly, shaking his head, “It’s nothing, I was just worried about you.”

“You didn’t have to torment yourself like this. Have you not been eating? How did you get so thin?”

Jiang Ming Yue pressed his lips together, his voice extremely soft, “No appetite.”

“You still need to eat even without an appetite.” Shen Yao Xing breathed lightly, raising her hand to gently touch his gaunt cheek, threatening without much force: “If you get as thin as a skeleton, you won’t look good anymore.”

Those three words “won’t look good” were like a sharp blade piercing his heart. Jiang Ming Yue’s pale thin lips trembled slightly, unusually avoiding her hand and turning his face away. Then he stood up and turned his back to her.

His slightly hoarse voice betrayed no unusual emotion, “You must be hungry, I’ll go bring you some porridge.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he was already out of the room.

Shen Yao Xing didn’t even have time to say a word. She touched her stomach, actually feeling fine, not sensing much hunger.

The porridge was brought in quickly, but the person bringing it had changed to a woman, and a somewhat familiar one at that.

Shen Yao Xing widened her eyes watching her sit by the bed, using one hand to prop her up to sit against the headboard, seemingly preparing to feed her the porridge.

Not a word was spoken during this time.

“Um, I can do it myself,” Shen Yao Xing said somewhat embarrassed.

Nie Qing lifted her eyelids slightly, slowly stirring the hot porridge, “Miss Shen likely can’t even raise her arms now, let this Nie help Miss Shen.”

Seemed to be true. Shen Yao Xing, who had tried hard to move her fingers, deflated. She looked up at the night sky outside the window and asked softly, “Has Jiang Ming Yue gone to rest?”

“Mm.”

Shen Yao Xing shifted her gaze from the window to the woman’s face. She didn’t know if it was her imagination, but she felt the person before her seemed to dislike her.

The room was eerily quiet, with no sound other than swallowing while drinking the porridge.

Realizing the person in front of her might dislike her, Shen Yao Xing was as quiet as a chicken. Being in someone else’s territory, it wasn’t good to say or ask anything, especially since she herself still needed help now.

After finishing the porridge, Shen Yao Xing softly said thank you.

But the woman didn’t intend to leave. She set the bowl aside and looked at her, saying quietly, “Miss Shen really is fortunate, to make the Master go to such lengths for you.”

Master? Shen Yao Xing was slightly stunned, “You mean Jiang Ming Yue?”

“Of course.”

“What… happened to him?”

Shen Yao Xing suddenly had a premonition that her survival might have a lot to do with Jiang Ming Yue, after all that arrow had pierced right through her heart, the chances of surviving were practically miniscule.

The woman continued, “To save you, the Master used his own heart blood to nourish the same-life parasite, sharing his life with you so you could survive.”

Shen Yao Xing didn’t know what the same-life parasite was, but hearing that he had used his heart blood to nourish it, she felt somewhat shocked. No wonder his complexion was so poor.

“One parasite, same life. From now on, you live, the Master lives; you die, the Master… will also die with you. You should be grateful, otherwise you would have long since become a corpse.”

Shen Yao Xing’s emotions were complex. She hadn’t imagined Jiang Ming Yue would go to such lengths for her. Beyond shock, she was of course also moved. “Thank you for telling me this. Otherwise…” Otherwise she might have been kept in the dark her whole life, naively thinking she just had a strong life force.

Nie Qing, “The one you should thank is not me, but the Master.”

Shen Yao Xing lowered her eyes, saying softly, “I know.”

Seeming to feel it wasn’t enough, Nie Qing continued, “During the days you were unconscious, the Master barely ate or drank, and stayed up watching over you at night. Now that you’re awake and sent the Master away, the Master will likely have trouble sleeping tonight.”

Shen Yao Xing suddenly raised her head, eyes widening slightly, “I didn’t send him away…”

“You did.” Nie Qing accused expressionlessly.

Shen Yao Xing felt a headache coming on. After struggling for a moment, she tentatively asked, “Can you help me call him over?” She paused, quickly adding, “If he’s not asleep yet.”

Nie Qing looked at her, nodded, and walked out with the bowl.

Meanwhile, Jiang Ming Yue sat in front of a bronze mirror, his ink-black eyes quietly observing himself in the mirror. His face was pale and frail, indeed much uglier than before. He picked up a box of rouge, opened it, then put it back down.

Footsteps sounded from outside. He didn’t raise his head, “How was it?”