From then on, the gears of fate moved forward, and he thus embarked on a path of no return.
Liang Zhichen stood silently in place for a long while, his fists clenched slightly before he let out a light chuckle. However, the meaning behind that laughter was probably only clear to him.
Afterward, leaving the vegetable market, he went to a household and inquired for a long time.
"Pei Yu? Ah, the skinny man with a red mole on his forehead, right? I know him, but it’s probably been ten days since he suddenly left. I don’t know where he went. He was in high spirits when he left, as if something good had happened."
Liang Zhichen’s heart sunk, then he bid farewell to the person and led his horse out of town with a heavy heart.
Outside the town, in front of Stove King Temple, a little girl sat on the stone steps, surrounded by plenty of satin cloth, supporting her cheek with one hand as she dozed off.
Liang Zhichen dismounted. He stood in front of the little girl and watched her intently for a long while.
So far, all signs indicated that his dream seemed to be a premonition dream. Aside from her, everything else matched up, and he had even dug out an iron box under the pear tree on the mountain. But why was her fate so different from the one in the dream?
He thought about it carefully again, as if piercing the fog. He remembered the mudslide that happened half a year ago, and ever since then, she had changed, and she had also suddenly developed a skill—like her medical skills.
If she had mastered such remarkable medical skills from before, why had she suffered so long under the Devouring God Gu?
In addition, the woman named Yun Ge in the dream was a Medicinal Valley Descendant and the renowned Divine Doctor.
In that premonition dream, Yun Ge had told her that Baobao was mute at a young age. They met on a human trafficker’s cart, where Baobao killed the traffickers and, indirectly, rescued Yun Ge. Later out of gratitude, Yun Ge cured Baobao’s mute condition.
But the person Yun Ge knew seemed not to be the same one in front of him. Too many little details simply didn’t stand up to scrutiny. For example, her enigmatic medical skills appeared out of nowhere.
She did not understand medicine before; he was very sure of that!
Liang Zhichen gazed at her, and finally, he sighed deeply.
No matter where you come from, be it a Mountain Demon or a ghost, all I need to know is that you are the woman that I, Liang Zhichen, wish to protect.
When Dong Huiying woke up, she found it was nearly dusk. She saw Dazhuang grazing nearby while Liang Zhichen sat not far from her. He held a stalk of foxtail grass fashioned into the likeness of a grasshopper, animating it with his skilled hands as if it were a little living creature.
Liang Zhichen looked at her, then brushed off the dirt and leaves from his clothes, "It’s getting late, we should head back."
"Oh..." Only then did Dong Huiying notice that she was wearing a jacket, which had belonged to him. She had been waiting too long, and these days she had been concerned with many things and not sleeping well, which is why she had unintentionally dozed off.
Her cheeks reddened as she hurriedly took off the jacket she was wearing and returned it to Liang Zhichen, only to be met with his gentle laughter.
"Baobao, you are being bashful again."
She paused, then with an embarrassed smile, hurriedly said, "Let’s go. I promised Shu Yu yesterday that I would make her a medicinal meal. It’s getting late and we should try to get back before dark."