Chapter 17 : A Pure Heart
17: A Pure Heart
Fu Peibai had walked away from Chaoquan Peak in the morning, but she was carried back on a stretcher. Her face was covered in wounds, her outer garments torn to shreds, with blood seeping through. Without looking, anyone could imagine the gruesome state hidden beneath her clothes.
Meng Yan blamed himself most of all. After hearing a rough account of what had happened from others, he slammed his fist on the table, his voice booming like a bell. "That dog-fucked turtle grandson! He actually slandered our child and beat him like this! That dog thing, that little beast! Where is he?! I'll crack his skull open!"
Yun Ruoling comforted him softly, "Brother Meng, keep your voice down. Little Bai needs peace and quiet to recover. The wicked will meet their due punishment. Don't act rashly."
Meng Yan was still huffing and puffing, while Huo Jiaran couldn't hold back her tears anymore. "Brother A-Pei, does it hurt?"
Fu Peibai had been beaten half to death. Now she could only barely keep her eyes half open. She raised her hand and stroked Huo Jiaran's chubby cheek. "I'm fine. Don't cry."
At this touch, Huo Jiaran cried even harder. Her tears fell like pearls. "Brother A-Pei, when I grow up, I'll get revenge for you. You need to get better quickly."
Fu Peibai pulled at the corner of her lips and gave a faint smile. "Alright. I'll wait for you."
"Okay, little one, you go out first. We have something to say to Little Bai." Meng Yan had calmed down and spoke seriously.
Huo Jiaran wiped away her tears and left the room, looking back every few steps.
After the child left, Meng Yan spoke again. "Little Bai, why won't you let Miss A-Ruo treat you? You're injured this badly, and you still refuse medical attention?"
Fu Peibai remained silent, unable to speak of the unspeakable reason behind her refusal.
Yun Ruoling sighed softly. "Brother Meng, please step outside for a moment. Let me try to persuade Little Bai."
Meng Yan was truly at his wit's end. This kid had been carried back without saying a word. The moment he entered the room, he kept shaking his head, saying he didn't need treatment and just needed two bottles of wound medicine. No matter how Meng Yan asked or urged, Fu Peibai remained tight-lipped and wouldn't budge. He could only helplessly withdraw from the room.
"Little Bai, just tell me what's wrong. I'll keep your secret. Your injuries aren't just external. Internal injuries left untreated will shorten your life."
Fu Peibai's face was deathly pale, but she persisted. "It's really not necessary, Miss Yun. I know my own body. I'll be fine. Just give me some ointment for external wounds and herbs to take internally."
Yun Ruoling was thoroughly frustrated, but for now, this was all she could do. She instructed carefully, "Apply the external medicine to the affected areas twice daily. Take one dose of herbs daily, prepared as a decoction. It will help with blood circulation and reduce bruising to some extent. But without taking your pulse to determine exactly where your internal injuries are, they will leave lasting damage."
"I understand."
"Sigh, you really... Fine. I'll leave now. If you feel any discomfort, send someone to find me."
"Thank you, Miss Yun."
Yun Ruoling didn't understand why she was being so stubborn. She sighed several times as she left the room.
Fu Peibai lay on the bed and heard Meng Yan and Yun Ruoling whispering outside. Then the door creaked open. Someone strode in and was about to speak, but Fu Peibai beat him to it. "Brother Meng, you don't need to persuade me anymore."
Meng Yan's breath rose and then fell. He rubbed his forehead in frustration. "Why, kid? Are you shy? Embarrassed to let a girl see your body? Then I'll do it. Why are you stubbornly refusing treatment?"
"Don't you want to learn martial arts? In your current state, how can you train without proper treatment? How can you get revenge if you don't heal?"
Several questions were thrown at her, and Fu Peibai answered with silence.
Meng Yan was furious. He roughly opened the wardrobe and started packing clothes. "You sleep alone these next few days. I'll go squeeze into someone else's room. If you need anything, find me."
Hearing these seemingly cold words, Fu Peibai knew in her heart that Meng Yan was tacitly agreeing and giving her space to rest quietly. So she softly said her thanks.
Meng Yan's back paused for a moment. Then the door clicked shut.
Now the room held only Fu Peibai. She no longer had to force herself to deal with others. Her tense body finally relaxed.
Her entire body burned with pain from those whip wounds, densely scattered across every part of her.
The pain felt like a needle stuck in her head. She was exhausted, but the pain kept her from sleeping. She didn't know how much time had passed before the door opened again. It was Yun Ruoling, carrying prepared medicine and a bottle of external ointment.
"Drink the medicine." Yun Ruoling brought the medicine over and reached out to help Fu Peibai sit up.
"I'll do it myself." Fu Peibai turned away from her hand, endured the pain as she sat up, and gulped down the bowl of dark herbal brew until it was empty.
"This medicine, remember to apply it yourself." After setting down the ointment, Yun Ruoling left.
Fu Peibai sat for a while longer. When her head felt less dizzy, she unsteadily got up and slowly removed her outer garment, then her inner garment, then her chest binding cloth. She looked down. Her thin, bony upper body was covered with whip marks of various sizes. The lighter ones were just red and swollen with blood traces. The severe ones had split the flesh open.
She scooped some ointment with her finger and slowly applied it to her wounds. The moment she touched them, the pain was inevitable. She hissed softly. But what followed was a cooling sensation from the medicine, which slightly suppressed the pain. After applying it to the wounds on her front and then the injuries on her legs, she put on clean clothes and lay back down.
She didn't know what the ointment was made of, but after the coolness came a numbing sensation. The interplay between numbness and pain soon sent her into deep sleep.
When she woke, her mind was groggy. The medicine's effect must have worn off, and the pain returned in waves across her body. Everywhere she looked was darkness. She struggled to get out of bed to light a candle, but as soon as she raised herself, someone pressed her back down, not too hard but firmly.
"Don't move."
Hearing this voice, Fu Peibai immediately stopped moving and lay obediently on the bed. She turned her head, wanting to see the outline of the person beside her, but the room was too dark. She could only make out a hazy silhouette.
"Peak Master, when did you arrive?"
Lu Yanran was entirely hidden in the darkness, her expression invisible. Only a soft reply came. "Just arrived."
Fu Peibai made a sound of acknowledgement and said nothing more. She didn't know what to say, and speaking tugged painfully at her throat.
After a moment, the cool female voice sounded again in the room. "Do you blame me for not speaking up for you then?"
Fu Peibai paused for a moment and shook her head. Then she realized the other person couldn't see her in the darkness, so she spoke. "No. The reason I can still stay at Chaoquan Peak now is precisely because the Peak Master spoke up for me, isn't it?"
The room fell silent. Fu Peibai rested for a moment, then continued. "I can understand the Peak Master's position at the time. Even if you had stepped forward and said you believed me, the others still wouldn't have believed me. This world follows the law that the strong are supreme, and winners become kings. Whether I did it or not, whether I said anything or not, it didn't matter. From the moment I hit him, I had already guessed my fate. I thought I would be severely beaten and then driven down the mountain. But now I can still lie peacefully here. That's better than I expected. All because the Peak Master helped me. So I won't blame the Peak Master. I can only blame myself for not being strong enough, not being powerful enough, and letting myself be at the mercy of others."
She took deep breaths. It was as if a floodgate had opened, and she continued. "Back then, lying there, watching everyone discuss me, their eyes filled with contempt, mockery, disdain, and anger, I didn't care about any of it. Because I remembered the Peak Master saying one thing. 'I believe you.' And I knew that among all those people, there was one person standing on my side. Having just one such person was enough."
"I once said that my life was saved by the Peak Master. So whatever the Peak Master does or says, I will never have any complaints in this lifetime. Fu Peibai will always remember these words until my bones turn to dust beneath the yellow earth, until I descend to the Nine Springs."
The room was unusually quiet. Fu Peibai could only hear her own rapid breathing and heartbeat. She hadn't spoken this openly to anyone for a very long time. But after speaking the thoughts buried in her heart, her throat was uncomfortable, yet her heart felt thoroughly relieved.
These words carried the unique sincerity and genuine heart of a youth. Lu Yanran was holding a bottle of fine ointment in her hand. When the other spoke the words "no complaints in this lifetime," her heart skipped a beat. The object in her hand nearly slipped from her grasp. Fortunately, she caught it in time.
After another brief silence, she asked, "A-Ruo said you refused treatment. Why?"
Fu Peibai knew well that she could brush off Yun and Meng with a few words, but that wouldn't work in front of the Peak Master. After thinking for a long while, she finally spoke. "When I was young, I was injured in an accident and was left with very terrible scars on my body. I don't want others to see them, and I'm also very resistant to physical contact with other people."
Very good. A perfect excuse that she could continue to use in the future. As she thought this, she indeed heard Lu Yanran say, "Then rest well. I'll come see you another day."
She must have believed it. Fu Peibai nodded and watched the figure disappear into the darkness.
The room returned to silence. She didn't know what time of night it was. Outside, there seemed to be no movement, only the croaking of frogs and chirping of cicadas, one sound after another, like a lullaby that once again lulled her into deep sleep.
……
The next day, the first rays of morning sunlight broke through the clouds and spread across Chaoquan Peak. A-Fu had just risen and was about to go attend to the Peak Master. As soon as she pushed open the door, she saw that the woman in white was already fully dressed, sitting by the table sipping tea.
A-Fu was somewhat surprised and hurried forward to advise, "Peak Master, you haven't had breakfast yet. Drinking tea on an empty stomach is bad for your body."
"It's fine." Lu Yanran set down her teacup, wearing her usual indifferent expression.
"Then I'll have them bring your meal now."
"No need. I don't have much of an appetite."
A-Fu glanced at Lu Yanran's expression and subtly sensed that the Peak Master seemed to be in low spirits. Thinking of what others had told her about the incident at Hengguang Hall yesterday, she asked cautiously, "Peak Master, are you worried about Little Bai's situation?"
Lu Yanran didn't answer. Instead, she asked about something else. "Do you know of anything in this world that can remove old scars?"
A-Fu shook her head. "If scars are old and haven't faded for a long time, it means the person's constitution is prone to scarring. If it's a constitutional issue, it's very difficult to change through external treatments."
"I understand. Come with me to the back mountain." Saying this, Lu Yanran rose and left the room first.
When the two arrived at the back mountain, the person inside the house was likely still sleeping, because A-Fu knocked on the door for a long time without any response from inside.
"Peak Master, Little Bai seems to still be asleep. Should we come back later?"
Lu Yanran said nothing. She stepped forward and pushed open the door herself. The person on the bed was indeed still sleeping. But as she drew closer, she discovered that Fu Peibai wasn't simply asleep. The other's face was pale, with fine beads of sweat hanging on her cheeks, and her lips had no trace of color.
She called out rapidly, "Fu Peibai, wake up. Can you hear me? Wake up!"
The person on the bed didn't move at all. Lu Yanran shouted to A-Fu, "Go, quickly go get A-Ruo."
A-Fu froze for a moment. It was the first time she had seen the Peak Master look this anxious. After coming back to her senses, she immediately ran out to find someone.
Lu Yanran continued calling in a low, urgent voice. "Fu Peibai, wake up quickly!"
The person on the bed moved her eyelids. After her lashes trembled twice, her eyes opened a crack. Fu Peibai couldn't see clearly who was in front of her at all. She only felt that her head was like a muddled paste, and her body was as cold as if she were trapped in an ice cellar.
"Cold..."
Lu Yanran didn't hear clearly. She leaned down and brought her ear close to Fu Peibai's lips to ask, "What did you say?"
Fu Peibai began to shiver all over, her teeth chattering uncontrollably. "Cold, so cold, cold..."
Now Lu Yanran finally heard clearly. She pulled up her sleeve and reached out to place her hand on Fu Peibai's forehead. The touch was scorching hot. She was clearly burning with fever, so why was she saying she was cold? But Fu Peibai's repeated cries of cold left her unable to think. She could only hurriedly withdraw her hand, go to the wardrobe, pull out several layers of quilts, and carefully cover Fu Peibai with them, tucking in the edges. She asked, "How about now? Is it a little better?"
The weight suddenly increased on her body. Several thick quilts were piled on top of her, yet Fu Peibai couldn't feel a trace of warmth. Coldness seeped through from head to toe, from inside to out. Her consciousness was so blurred that she nearly thought her body was going to freeze solid.
"Cold... so cold... why, why is it so cold..."
A trace of anxiety appeared on Lu Yanran's face. She knew nothing about medicine. Not knowing what to do, she was just about to prop up Fu Peibai and channel her internal energy to dispel the cold when A-Fu arrived with Yun Ruoling.
Yun Ruoling set down her medicine box and strode forward quickly. First, she observed Fu Peibai's condition for a few seconds, then reached out to take the other's arm to check her pulse. Who would have thought that even in such a dazed state, the moment someone touched her arm, Fu Peibai still yanked it back violently. She said through chattering teeth, "Don't, don't touch me."
Yun Ruoling frowned and said sharply, "Fu Peibai! Do you want to live or not?"
Fu Peibai didn't have the strength to answer. She shook all over and shook her head to refuse. She clenched her jaw, desperately warning herself not to pass out, not to pass out. Suddenly, two fingers pressed against a point on her neck. Her body lost all strength, her vision went black, and she completely lost consciousness.
Lu Yanran withdrew her hand and said seriously, "A-Ruo, treat him." After saying this, she remembered what Fu Peibai had said about being covered in scars and not wanting to be seen. She added, "A-Fu and I will wait outside. If you need anything, just call us."
Only after saying this did she lead A-Fu out the door.