Chapter 65: A Fragile Constitution and a Foolish Devotion

Junior Sister Yun ultimately departed. She opened her mouth, intending to say more, but upon seeing Lu Hongzhuang’s resolute expression and the tightly shut door behind her, all words caught in her throat. Master Qian’s Guard Xiao Li’s remark, “Hearts are made of flesh,” had struck her utterly speechless. She could only cup her hands in a salute, then turn and depart, her mind brimming with a complex mix of emotions and unanswered questions.

The courtyard once again fell silent.

Lu Hongzhuang did not look back. She walked directly to the guest room, gently pushed open the door, and then quietly closed it behind her.

Inside the room, a faint scent of blood and medicinal herbs lingered.

Su Qinghan lay on the bed, her breathing steady, seemingly lost in a deep slumber.

Lu Hongzhuang walked to the bedside and stood there silently, gazing at Su Qinghan’s pale, bloodless face.

Her mind was a chaotic mess. Guilt, lingering fear, and an ineffable emotion churned wildly in her chest, leaving her utterly disquieted.

Just then, Master Qian, accompanied by a white-haired elder carrying a medicine chest, cautiously knocked on the door. After receiving an affirmative, they entered.

“Lady Lu, I’ve brought Doctor Wang, the best physician in town. Let him examine Miss Su.”

Lu Hongzhuang stepped aside, making way for the elder.

Doctor Wang said little. He set down his medicine chest, sat by the bed, and extended two withered fingers to gently rest upon Su Qinghan’s wrist.

He closed his eyes, concentrating on her pulse.

Time trickled by. Doctor Wang’s brow furrowed deeper and deeper.

A moment later, he withdrew his hand, his face etched with confusion and perplexity.

“Strange, truly strange…”

Lu Hongzhuang’s heart leaped into her throat. “Doctor, how is she?”

Doctor Wang stroked his beard and looked at Lu Hongzhuang. “This young lady’s injuries are severe. It’s a classic case of *qi* deviation, caused by forcibly activating a cultivation technique far beyond her body’s capacity, leading to damaged meridians and a significant depletion of vital energy.”

He paused, his confusion deepening. “But the strangest thing is that in all my years of practice, I have never encountered such fragile meridians. This young lady’s meridians are naturally delicate and weak. Forget about activating such overbearing techniques; she can’t even withstand the most basic circulation of *qi*.”

“Logically speaking, with her constitution, it’s utterly impossible for her to practice martial arts!”

Boom!

Doctor Wang’s words exploded in Lu Hongzhuang’s mind!

‘Completely… unable to practice martial arts?’

She froze entirely. ‘How could that be?’

The Su Qinghan who could draw incredibly powerful talismans, who could effortlessly outwit assassins in casual conversation, who had previously gone alone to rescue the townsfolk and fought Wu Que to a standstill, who could reduce a person to dust with a single palm strike…

‘She, unable to practice martial arts?’

A myriad of images flashed through Lu Hongzhuang’s mind.

When she taught Su Qinghan how to draw talismans, Su Qinghan had fallen asleep on the table, exhausted after drawing just two.

‘I thought she was just lazy.’

By the river, when she couldn’t catch fish and angrily used an explosion to get some, she had soaked Su Qinghan’s thick stack of talismans, which must have taken ages to accumulate.

Su Qinghan had merely smiled, not uttering a single word of reproach.

‘I thought she didn’t care.’

‘So it wasn’t laziness; it was her body, simply unable to bear the strain!’

‘And it wasn’t that she didn’t care; it was that she never once thought to blame me!’

The woman who was always laughing and joking, never serious, always demanding compensation, yet repeatedly stood in front of her, then casually remarked that she wasn’t so easily killed…

The woman who sat in a wheelchair, appearing so fragile, yet always shielded everyone when danger struck…

‘She, actually didn’t even have the qualifications to practice martial arts!’

Everything she did was a gamble with her own life!

Lu Hongzhuang’s heart was violently seized, the pain excruciating.

‘How could there be such a gentle, yet such a foolish idiot in the world!’

“Doctor…” Her voice was dry and hoarse. “Then… how can she be cured?”

Doctor Wang shook his head, then picked up a brush and wrote out a prescription, handing it over. “This old man can only prescribe remedies to strengthen her foundation and replenish her vital energy, to sustain her life force for now. As for the damaged meridians, ordinary medicine cannot heal them; she will have to recover slowly on her own.”

“Remember, she absolutely must not use *qi* again, or even immortals won’t be able to save her.” Having delivered his prognosis, the doctor packed his medicine chest and was led away by Master Qian.

Lu Hongzhuang held the seemingly weightless prescription, yet it felt as heavy as a thousand catties in her hand.

She walked to the bedside, gazed at Su Qinghan’s sleeping profile, extended a hand, but stopped it mid-air, ultimately not daring to touch her.

The next day. Su Qinghan slowly awoke.

Her head felt heavy and muddled, like she hadn’t recovered from a hangover, and every joint in her body ached with a deep soreness.

“Awake?”

In her mind, Jiu Li’s voice drawled lazily, yet it carried a hint of concern.

“You really overdid it this time, almost killed yourself. This fox was already preparing to lie in a coffin and be buried with you.”

Su Qinghan lacked the energy to bicker with her.

She slowly opened her eyes, her vision gradually coming into focus.

First, the familiar furnishings of the guest room came into view, then, turning her head, she saw a figure deeply asleep, slumped beside her bed.

Fiery red clothes, black hair fanned out, breathing evenly. It was Lu Hongzhuang.

“Tsk, tsk.” Jiu Li’s voice held a teasing note.

“This girl, she stayed here watching over you all night, didn’t even close her eyes once.”

“The Demon Exorcism Division called her to protect the villagers, but she didn’t even step out the door. This is nothing like the Lady Lu who’s always obsessed with slaying demons and devils.”

Su Qinghan looked at her, remaining silent.

She raised a hand, her movements slow and light, as if fearing to disturb something.

Her fingertips gently landed on Lu Hongzhuang’s head, stroking her soft, long hair.

“Mm…”

Lu Hongzhuang’s eyelashes fluttered, and she abruptly woke, lifting her head.

Their eyes met.

Lu Hongzhuang froze for a moment, then an immense joy erupted on her face.

“Ah! You’re awake!”

She sprang to her feet, intending to go to the back kitchen.

“Wait here, I’ll get you something to eat!”

But having slumped there all night, her legs were utterly numb.

The moment she stood upright, her body lost balance, and she stumbled, falling directly sideways.

Su Qinghan watched her frantic movements, and a faint curve finally graced her pale lips.

“Idiot.”

The voice was very soft, hoarse from her injury, yet it clearly reached Lu Hongzhuang’s ears.

Lu Hongzhuang finally steadied herself by gripping the table, her cheeks flushed. Ignoring her numb legs, she hobbled out.

Soon, she returned, carrying a steaming bowl of chicken soup and a dark, murky bowl of traditional Chinese medicine.

“Quick, drink some chicken soup first to warm yourself up.”

She handed the chicken soup to Su Qinghan, then cautiously reminded her.

“Be careful, it’s hot.”

Su Qinghan took the chicken soup but did not drink it. Instead, she turned her head to look at the bowl of traditional medicine, which emitted a strong bitter smell.

She merely sniffed it, then gently shook her head.

“This is useless.”

Lu Hongzhuang was taken aback. “But Doctor Wang prescribed this, saying it could replenish vital energy…”

“It treats neither the symptoms nor the root cause,” Su Qinghan interrupted her. “This is a spiritual energy backlash, not a simple depletion of vital energy.”

She took a breath, then listed a series of medicinal ingredients. “I need placenta hominis, thousand-year ginseng, snow lotus, nine-leaf ganoderma…”

With each name Su Qinghan uttered, Lu Hongzhuang’s face grew a shade paler.

‘These were all rare treasures of heaven and earth, impossible to acquire without immense fortune!’

After Su Qinghan finished speaking, she too fell silent.

She thought for a moment, then gave a self-deprecating smile.

“Never mind. These things aren’t cheap. I’ll just recover slowly.”

‘Her life wasn’t that precious yet.’

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