Journey Through Realms: Fulfilling Last Wishes

Chapter 19: The Pure White Lotus of the Demon Sect

Not long after, An Ran returned with a bowl of medicine in her hands.

“Brother Shen Yu, the medicine is ready. Let me feed it to you,” An Ran said, gently scooping a spoonful and bringing it to Shen Yu’s mouth.

“Ran Ran, I can drink it myself. There’s no need for you to feed me,” Shen Yu said, feeling a bit embarrassed. He had once imagined what it would be like if An Ran ever took care of him like this, but now that the moment had arrived, he found it hard to open his mouth. Despite his usually thick skin, the situation made him feel shy.

“It’s fine. I’ll only feel at ease if I watch you drink it,” An Ran insisted, seeing the discomfort in Shen Yu’s face, which eased her tension slightly after worrying for so long about his injury.

“Alright…”

After a brief internal struggle, Shen Yu opened his mouth. He thought to himself, An Ran is mine anyway, so there’s nothing wrong with letting her take care of me. I should just enjoy this.

“Oops, sorry, Brother Shen Yu! I didn’t mean to…”

An Ran apologized hurriedly as she quickly pulled the spoon away, not realizing she hadn’t given him enough time to drink it all. The medicine spilled a little, making her feel clumsy. It looked so simple when Shen Yu fed me before, she thought. Why is it so difficult for me?

“It’s alright, Ran Ran. It’s your first time feeding me, and you’re already doing a great job. Just try a few more times, and you’ll get the hang of it,” Shen Yu said with a chuckle, having let go of his embarrassment and now more focused on comforting her.

“Okay, Brother Shen Yu, I’ll be more careful this time,” An Ran replied shyly.

What followed was a series of spills, apologies, and reassurances, with neither of them paying much attention to how much medicine actually made it into Shen Yu’s mouth. An Ran was just relieved to have finished feeding him, while Shen Yu felt content simply having her care for him—nothing else mattered to him.

“Young Master, the food and hot water are ready. Would you like to eat first or bathe?” Wang Hua called from outside, finally approaching after hearing that Shen Yu had finished his medicine.

“Bring in the food first,” Shen Yu responded, knowing that An Ran hadn’t eaten yet. He thought eating was more important right now. Plus, he secretly hoped he might get An Ran to feed him the meal as well.

“Yes, Young Master,” Wang Hua replied and left to prepare.

Shortly afterward, Wang Hua returned with the meal.

“Young Master, I apologize for the simple fare. If there’s anything else you’d like, I can have the kitchen prepare it immediately,” Wang Hua said, slightly anxious.

Since Shen Yu’s arrival, he’d been on edge, worried that any slight misstep in hospitality might cost him his position. He was also concerned that Wang Xiaobao, the inn’s server, might be fired for his earlier rudeness.

However, Wang Hua was overthinking things. Neither Shen Yu nor An Ran had taken the earlier incident to heart, and they certainly didn’t plan to punish him for something so trivial.

Once the food was set, Wang Hua quickly excused himself, not wanting to intrude on their time together.

“Brother Shen Yu, do you want me to help you down to eat, or should I bring the food to the bed?” An Ran asked.

“Help me down. You should eat with me. Didn’t you say food tastes better when eaten together?” Shen Yu replied with a smile.

Though he had initially hoped she would feed him again, he couldn’t be selfish. An Ran had been driving all day and hadn’t eaten. She deserved a proper meal.

“Alright, Brother Shen Yu, let me help you,” An Ran said, reaching out to assist Shen Yu in getting out of bed and over to the dining table.

While An Ran and Shen Yu were finally settling down for a peaceful meal, things at Jianhai Manor were growing increasingly tense.

“What happened? How did you lose them? I sent three men to follow, and yet they still got away? Useless! You’re all useless!” Qin Yuan’s father roared at him, his fury boiling over.

Ever since An Ran had been rescued, Qin Yuan’s father had grown increasingly disappointed in his son, realizing more and more just how incompetent he was. His once seemingly perfect plan had fallen apart, and now everything was in shambles.

Qin Yuan, too, was in pain. He couldn’t understand why things hadn’t gone according to plan. He had treated An Ran so well—why hadn’t she stayed with him? Worse still, the reports from his spies about how affectionate An Ran and Shen Yu were with each other were like daggers to his heart. They described how Shen Yu carried An Ran on his back throughout their travels, how he held her close when they entered the city, and how they fed each other affectionately. Each detail sliced deep into Qin Yuan’s soul.

He couldn’t comprehend what made Shen Yu, a dishonorable and frivolous man, more appealing than him. Little did Qin Yuan know, Shen Yu was the complete opposite of how he perceived him. He treated An Ran with care, patience, and devotion.

In contrast, what had Qin Yuan offered? He had barely spoken to An Ran aside from a few flirtatious lines, never following through with real action. Worse yet, his ambiguous behavior had brought nothing but jealousy and trouble to her. Yet, in his delusion, he still believed he had been the most devoted and loving man in An Ran’s life.

“Master, it wasn’t a complete failure. One of our shadow guards managed to use a poison called Duan Chang Qing on them. Even if they didn’t die immediately, they won’t survive more than two days. Based on our examination of the scene by the river, one of them was definitely hit. So one of them is guaranteed to die,” the lead shadow guard stepped forward to explain.

Luckily, they had this news to report. Otherwise, the failure of the mission would have left them with nothing to say for themselves.

“Oh? Is that true? Is there really no cure for this poison? One of them is guaranteed to die?” Qin Yuan’s father asked, suddenly intrigued, pacing the room as he began to consider how he could turn this to his advantage.

“Alright, you are dismissed. The information you’ve brought back is valuable. I’ll see to it that each of you receives an extra ten silver taels this month,” he said, dismissing the shadow guards and signaling that the news had somewhat appeased him.

Qin Zhuangzhu (Master Qin) finally received some good news this time and felt it was appropriate to reward the messenger, so he generously added ten taels of silver.

“Thank you, Zhuangzhu,” the shadow guard gratefully said before leaving excitedly.

“Yuan’er, there’s something I need you to do now. Don’t mess it up this time, and don’t disappoint me again.”

Qin Zhuangzhu stopped pacing and called Qin Yuan to his side, whispering something in his ear.

“Yes, Father, I won’t let you down this time,” Qin Yuan said and solemnly promised with a fist salute before leaving. Only Qin Zhuangzhu remained in the study.

Meanwhile, after Anran had attended to Shen Yu and watched him fall asleep, she left the inn and headed toward the Gu residence.

“Is anyone there? I have an appointment with Elder Gu. Has he gone to bed yet?”

Anran knocked on the door and asked aloud.

“Is it Miss Anran? Elder Gu has been waiting for you for a while. Please come in.”

The doorkeeper immediately opened the door upon hearing her name, as Elder Gu had given strict instructions to watch out for her arrival and bring her straight to his study.

The doorkeeper led Anran to Elder Gu’s room, knocked on the door, and explained the situation.

“Elder, I’ve brought the person you were expecting.”

“Very well, you may leave. Anran, come on in,” Elder Gu said, although he was almost dozing off from the wait. Hearing she had arrived startled him awake.

Age was catching up to him—back in the day, staying up for three days and nights wasn’t an issue. Now, a short wait made him drowsy.

“Good evening, Elder Gu. I apologize for troubling you. I just want to ask how Shen Yu’s poison can be cured.”

Upon entering, Anran greeted him respectfully and immediately got to the point of her visit. Since Elder Gu had diagnosed Shen Yu earlier, she had observed the shift in his facial expression from indifference to concern. She had also noted the secret signals exchanged between him and Shen Yu. Anran had not exposed them on the spot but had arranged this meeting to discuss it further.

“The poison in Shen Yu is extremely rare. I’m not confident I can cure it. However, there is a method, though it’s like trading one life for another. If you’re willing, we can resort to it if all else fails,” Elder Gu said with a strange expression, looking at Anran.

“What’s the method? Tell me,” Anran asked urgently.

“The method involves forcing the poisoned blood in Shen Yu’s body into one place and drawing it out, but you would have to replenish his blood with your own. The amount of blood needed is unpredictable, and it could lead to your death from excessive blood loss. So, it’s essentially a life-for-life exchange,” Elder Gu explained seriously.

“Does it have to be my blood? Can’t someone else’s blood work?” Anran asked, skeptical.

She couldn’t understand why it had to be her blood—shouldn’t blood transfusions be based on matching blood types?

“Do you know how the Demon Sect came to be?” Elder Gu responded with an unrelated question.

“No, and what does that have to do with me?” Anran was puzzled. Since he brought it up, there must be a connection, but she couldn’t figure out what.

“Long ago, before the Demon Sect was known as such, it was just a wealthy trading company. Its business spanned the empire, so it trained skilled guards to protect its caravans. Once, Shen Mie, the Demon Sect’s current leader, was escorting goods to Yongcheng when he was ambushed near Jinghu Mountain and nearly died after falling into a ravine. Fortunately, a passing couple found and saved him.”

Elder Gu took a sip of tea and continued, “Out of gratitude for saving his life, Shen Mie gave the couple a token, saying they could seek his help if needed. However, years passed, and no one came to use the token. Curious, Shen Mie investigated and found that the couple had been killed by bandits from Jinghu Mountain, and their newborn daughter had gone missing. That family was the An family, and the girl was you.”

Elder Gu paused to let the story sink in.

“Shen Mie later discovered that you had been sold to Yaowang Valley to be raised as a poison tester, a child fed with various poisons to become immune. When Shen Mie attempted to rescue you, he clashed with the people of Yaowang Valley. You had become the only successful experiment, so they refused to let you go. Shen Mie, outraged, formed the Demon Sect and launched an attack on Yaowang Valley. After wiping out the valley’s inhabitants, he finally saved you. By then, you were severely malnourished and covered in scars, yet you clung to Shen Mie, which made him extremely happy. He later avenged you by eliminating the bandits who had killed your parents, thus solidifying his notorious reputation.”

An Ran sat in stunned silence, absorbing the story. Her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. No wonder she had been treated like a precious treasure. Now it all made sense—her blood was special.

“I understand. Please make arrangements as soon as possible. I’ll wait for your message. It’s getting late, so I’ll take my leave,” An Ran said, standing up to leave, needing time to process everything.

“Take care, Miss An Ran,” Elder Gu replied, saying no more, as he had already broken the rules by revealing this much.