RPDPHW Chapter 17

This rain—who knows how much longer it will continue to fall?

The wind poured in through the natural opening at the top of the cave, carrying with it tiny raindrops that sent waves of cold air through the cavern, chilling the two figures inside.

“Qing… Qingqing…” Clutching tightly onto Gu Qingyin’s soaked clothes, Zhong Shujin trembled uncontrollably. “Don’t… don’t be afraid… I’ll protect you…”

The broken, weak voice reached Gu Qingyin’s ears, drawing her gaze.

She couldn’t tell if Zhong Shujin was shivering from the cold wind or from the pain of her wounds.

That beautiful face was now contorted in agony, beads of sweat gathering on her forehead before rolling down her pale skin.

Seeing her clenching her teeth and trembling like this, Gu Qingyin felt an unbearable ache in her heart.

She wiped the cold sweat from Zhong Shujin’s face, carefully avoiding her gruesome wounds, then pulled her into an embrace. Like she always did, she gently patted her back, hoping to soothe her into a steadier sleep.

“I know, Ah Jin will protect me.”

Even though both of them were drenched, huddling together only making them colder, Zhong Shujin still managed to find a hint of warmth in Gu Qingyin’s embrace. Slowly, her trembling eased—though she still shivered, it was no longer as violent as before.

Only then did Gu Qingyin finally breathe a little easier.

She had never imagined that this foolish girl would rush to her side in such a dangerous moment and utter such weighty words.

“I will protect you.”

What a heavy promise that was.

Thinking back to that heart-stopping moment, Gu Qingyin let out a deep sigh.

“So, it was you all along.”

The wind howled, roaring madly through the silent night, as if it wanted to swallow everything whole.

Thankfully, they had this cave to shield them from the storm.

Gu Qingyin tightened her hold around the person in her arms, as if she wanted nothing more than to shield her from all the wind and rain in the world.

Her chin rested against Zhong Shujin’s cold forehead, but her gaze remained distant, fixed on the raindrops that the wind had carried into the cave’s small opening.

She seemed lost in thought.

In her younger years, before she and her master had settled here, the two of them—one old, one young—had wandered the Jianghu, drifting from place to place.

Once, there had been some sort of gathering, perhaps a reunion of the older generation.

Gu Qingyin no longer remembered exactly who had been there, only that most of them were infamous figures from the demonic sects of the martial world.

Yes, those powerful figures were mostly of the same generation, and it seemed they all shared a close bond in private.

At that gathering, most of them had already settled down and built their own legacies.

So, they had each brought either their children or their most prized disciples along.

Just like Gu Qingyin, just like Zhong Shujin—they were both brought along as their masters’ most prized disciples.

A group of mischievous children, spending their days chattering away, constantly scheming about where to play next or who to bully.

Gu Qingyin never liked that kind of atmosphere. These kids, relying on their privileged backgrounds, were all unbearably arrogant.

She disliked interacting with them, often choosing to be alone or watching their antics with cold indifference.

Among these unruly children, the most arrogant of all was none other than Zhong Shujin, the direct disciple of a certain sect leader.

Relying on her superior martial skills compared to the other kids, she acted like a tyrant, stirring up trouble wherever she went.

Without a doubt, the proud and conceited Zhong Shujin had become the boss of the group.

And as the self-proclaimed leader, she wanted to pull the aloof and solitary Gu Qingyin into her ranks as well.

But Gu Qingyin had no interest in entertaining her.

So, Zhong Shujin, confident in her superior martial skills, would take every opportunity to pick on Gu Qingyin.

But who was Gu Qingyin? She was the disciple of Ling Yingzhuo, the infamous demonic physician that no sect dared to provoke!

After several failed attempts to intimidate her, Gu Qingyin was eventually forced to retaliate with various underhanded tricks—often poisoning the pretty little girl until she ran crying to the adults.

During that period, the two of them had built up quite the history of grievances.

And yet, some people are just like that—the person they want to bully is theirs alone to bully, and they won’t allow anyone else to do the same.

So, when the other children teamed up to trap Gu Qingyin, planning to teach her a lesson on behalf of Zhong Shujin, Zhong Shujin ended up knocking them all down one by one instead.

As expected, that incident became the perfect opportunity for the two little girls to reconcile.

“Qingqing, from now on, I’ll protect you. So… can you stop poisoning me?”

Since it had been so long, Gu Qingyin couldn’t quite recall what happened afterward. She only vaguely remembered that the once-bossy leader had later become the little shadow following behind her.

If not for today’s events, she might never have connected this foolish girl in front of her with that pretty little tyrant from the past.

After all, she had only been seven or eight years old back then—how could she possibly remember everything so clearly?

Only that one sentence had left a deep impression on her.

But in the end, Zhong Shujin was just someone passing through her life. How much of a place could she have taken in her heart?

At the very least, she had never expected that the clumsy fool who always ended up suffering from her own tricks would one day cross paths with her again.

Thinking of this, Gu Qingyin couldn’t help but curl her lips into a smile.

She lowered her head and pinched Zhong Shujin’s cheek.

So, this fool was actually that bossy little troublemaker!

That jade pendant—she was sure of it now. This girl must have snatched it from her back then!

Was that really the case?

Well, she couldn’t quite remember those details anymore, so for now, she’d just assume that’s what had happened.

There was no way she had willingly given that annoying brat a gift… right?

Yes, it had to be stolen!

No matter what the truth was, Gu Qingyin was never going to admit that her younger self had actually given that little fool a gift!

As she thought about it, she couldn’t help but laugh—even in the midst of Zhong Shujin’s unconscious, heavily injured state. If that brat from childhood had been this endearing, she definitely would have remembered her a little longer.

The impression would have been deeper too.

At that moment, Dabai had already returned from outside.

It shook the rainwater off its fur before padding over to Gu Qingyin’s side, gently placing the herb basket it had carried in its mouth before her.

Earlier, after scaring away the black bear, Gu Qingyin had sent Dabai to retrieve her lost basket.

Fortunately, Dabai was smart enough to track its way back and successfully find it.

Gu Qingyin took out a few hemostatic herbs she had picked earlier, shook off the water droplets, and placed them in her mouth to chew.

Her hands weren’t idle either—she immediately started undoing Zhong Shujin’s soaked clothing.

By the time she had chewed the herbs into a paste, she was just about to untie Zhong Shujin’s undergarment when her hands suddenly paused.

She slowly turned her head and cast a cold glance at the nosy wolf beside her, who was staring at them with a curious glint in its eyes.

In a low voice, she scolded, “Close your eyes! Turn around!”

Dabai whimpered softly, drooping its head in grievance as it turned its back to them. Its tail swayed slightly, as if expressing its dissatisfaction.

Only when she no longer felt Dabai’s gaze on them did Gu Qingyin finally smile in satisfaction and continue her work.

After applying the chewed-up medicinal herbs onto Zhong Shujin’s gruesome wounds, she gently pulled her back into her embrace.

As for the soaked clothes, they would have to wait until they dried before being worn again.

And so, Gu Qingyin held the unclothed Zhong Shujin in her arms, spending the night in Dabai’s den, under its protection—safe and sound.

A night to remember.

By the time morning arrived, the rain had stopped.

When Gu Qingyin woke up, she found Zhong Shujin curled up in her embrace, locked in an intense staring contest with Dabai, who was squatting nearby.

The person in her arms was biting her lips tightly, clearly afraid, yet still glaring warily at the wolf beside her.

Meanwhile, the wolf looked back at Zhong Shujin with what seemed to be a mixture of disdain and dissatisfaction.

Could it be that Dabai was still sulking over last night’s scolding?

Seeing this scene, Gu Qingyin couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Dabai, didn’t I tell you to close your eyes and turn around? Why did you turn back?”

Ignoring Dabai’s aggrieved huffs from the side, Gu Qingyin immediately comforted the person in her arms, “Don’t be afraid, it won’t hurt us.”

Yesterday, by the time Dabai arrived, Zhong Shujin had already fainted from the pain.

So naturally, she didn’t know that Dabai had come to help them.

Luckily, she had just woken up not long ago, so she hadn’t been too frightened. Hearing Gu Qingyin’s gentle voice, Zhong Shujin relaxed, nestling back into her embrace and softly calling out, “Qingqing…”

“Hm.”

Gu Qingyin waited for her to continue, but she seemed to have only wanted to call out her name, with no intention of saying anything more.

It was just like how a frightened child instinctively calls for their parents.

At that thought, Gu Qingyin’s expression turned a little strange.

Feeling neglected, Dabai huffed in displeasure and stormed off outside in a sulk.

After an entire night, their clothes had finally dried.

Carefully dressing Zhong Shujin while avoiding her wounds, Gu Qingyin then took her home.

They had barely sat down when a crowd of people from the neighboring houses rushed over.

“Oh dear, Doctor Gu, you’re finally back!”

“Yes, yes! We heard you spent the whole night in the mountains and never came back. We were terrified!”

“That’s right! You’re a young woman—what if something had happened to you…”

The neighbors spoke one after another, voicing their worries.

From their words, Gu Qingyin finally learned that last night, when Zhuzi saw they hadn’t returned, he ran to inform the village chief. The chief then gathered a few strong men to search the mountain for them despite the heavy rain. Unfortunately, after searching all night, they still couldn’t find them.

A warm feeling spread through Gu Qingyin’s heart. She expressed her gratitude to everyone and sent them off before finally returning to her room to check on Zhong Shujin.

The person lying on the bed, though her wounds had been carefully tended to again, still had her brows tightly furrowed. She looked as though she was in pain, her sleep restless and uneasy.

Gu Qingyin reached out and gently pressed her fingers against Zhong Shujin’s furrowed brow.

At this moment, she realized—she was becoming more and more reluctant to let Zhong Shujin go.

She couldn’t bear to send her back, to face the treacherous world of the Jianghu.

She couldn’t bear to let her suffer any more harm.