Heavenly Jewel Change

Seeing that Shangguan Bing’er did not reply him, Zhou Weiqing’s right hand did not hesitate to stab down with the arrow once again, this time close to his chest. Before Shangguan Bing’er could react, another *pssh* sound rang out as the arrow sank in and blood once again spurted out.

Zhou Weiqing showed his savage side, as he grit his teeth. Despite the sweat beading on his forehead, he stood there resolutely, not moving an inch, as if the 2 arrows weren’t stuck in him. Once again, his hands moved towards the quiver, taking out another arrow. “No more!” Shangguan Bing’er finally caved in, and in a green flash of light, her hands were grasping hold of the hand holding the arrow.

“You fool! Aren’t you afraid of death? Afraid of pain? Why must you hurt yourself?” Looking at Zhou Weiqing’s upper half of the body, which was now soaked in fresh blood, the anger in her heart had long since evaporated. She raised her hands to try and seal the blood flow, but Zhou Weiqing grabbed her hands instead..

“Let me explain to you first; once that is done, we can treat it.” Zhou Weiqing’s voice was very soft and gentle, looking at her with love in his eyes. All that he had done was a gamble, a gamble that she also held some reciprocal feelings for him, that she would stop him. It worked, and when Shangguan Bing’er had cried, he knew he had finally succeeded.

“No, do you want to die? Let me stop the blood first, then I’ll listen to your explanation okay?” Shangguan Bing’er said between sobs, pulling her hands from Zhou Weiqing’s grasp. She pulled out the arrow from his hand and threw it away, then placed her hands at his wounds and circulated her Heavenly Energy into his body, repelling the arrows embedded in his body with a deft touch before quickly sealing the blood flow.

She then tore his sleeve away, and when she saw the wounds, she drew a sharp breath; they were extremely deep.

In truth, she did not know that if Zhou Weiqing had not activated his Heavenly Jewels and absorbed the black pearl’s evil aura, he would have died by now. Originally, when he had first swallowed the black pearl, a drop of blood on his fist had already dissolved a large Stars Tree, furthermore he had bled out so much. Shangguan Bing’er quickly took out a clean white shirt from her backpack, tearing it into strips, and used it to bandage his wounds carefully.

Zhou Weiqing just stood there, watching as she bandaged him. At this moment, his tensed breath was finally relieved, and the serious eyes turned lively once again.

Quickly bandaging his wounds, Shangguan Bing’er’s forehead was full of sweat as well, and her hands stained with Zhou Weiqing’s blood.

Let’s go to the side to rest.” She looked up at Zhou Weiqing, only to see his pale, ashen face, his eyes closed as he started swaying. Shocked, she quickly held on to his other arm, but as soon as she did so, his body crumpled, falling into her arms.

“Little Fatty, Little Fatty, don’t scare me!” Shangguan Bing’er quickly held him. Even when facing stronger enemies, or when they were facing the direwolf pack, he had not sustained such heavy injuries; yet for her sake, Zhou Weiqing who feared death so much had actually inflicted such heavy self injuries, what more was there to say?

Shangguan Bing’er quickly helped him to the roadside, seating herself against a tree while holding Zhou Weiqing in her embrace.

Zhou Weiqing opened his eyes feebly, giving a forced smile as he said: “Bing’er, I’m alright. As long as you’re willing to listen to my explanation, I can even take another two more arrows.” This wasn’t him spouting nonsense; with his body’s current physique, as long as he wasn’t stabbed in the heart, he would be able to recover from two more stabs. At this moment of weakness for Shangguan Bing’er, if he didn’t take advantage of the situation, he wouldn’t be called Zhou Weiqing. Nestled in her soft embrace, although his shoulder hurt so much that it felt numb, his heart felt as if it had eaten honey and was indescribably comfortable.

Shangguan Bing’er’s tears fell like pearls from a cut necklace as she said: “Little Fatty, you don’t need to speak anymore. I trust you. Even if you lied to me, I’ll forgive you.” Before today, even during the time when they were facing the Forest Direwolves and Zhou Weiqing had tried to sacrifice his life for hers, her heart was still confused; she had not known how she felt about him.

However, just in that instant when Zhou Weiqing had resolutely stabbed the arrow into his own body, Shangguan Bing’er felt as if a knife had stabbed right into her heart as well. Only then did she realise that this rascally, shameless and brazen fellow had somehow imprinted himself in her heart.

Zhou Weiqing slowly closed his eyes, as his voice grew serious. Still weak, he said faintly: “Bing’er, I really did not lie to you, I never have. Do you remember, when you first asked me about my past, I said I did not want to lie to you, and asked you not to ask further. I admit that I hid my past, but I would not lie to you, at that time if I had told you my identity, would you have allowed me to stay in the army camp? I was afraid you would have shipped me back to my father.”

Shangguan Bing’er bit her lips and said: “But… you already have a fiancee, yet you behaved as if nothing was happening to stay beside me. Do you think you’re treating her fairly? Treating me fairly? How can you even face us?”

Zhou Weiqing said bitterly: “I have never treated Difuya as my fiancee, how could I even speak of treating her or facing her? A woman who would try to kill her own fiance, do you think I would even think of her? Do you know why I happened to swallow the black pearl originally?” As such, he told Shangguan Bing’er about how he chanced upon Difuya bathing, and how he had been left for the dead.

“… After I ran away, I left a message for my father asking him to help me reject the marriage. After all, she doesn’t fancy me, which I can understand; nor do I fancy her. No matter how beautiful a woman is, if her heart is not good, how can I accept her? She has never been in my heart, and the person I really love is you. You’re so gentle, and kind; while Difuya, I only caught a glimpse of her bathing, and didn’t really see her naked, yet she already tried to kill me. On the other hand, for you, even after I did that to you, you thought about the bigger picture and restrained yourself from killing me, even though you were more than justified to do so, and you even helped train me to become a Heavenly Jewel Master. Ever since that day, your kindness and compassion had touched me, and after spending so much time with you, I have really fallen for you. Bing’er, I really am no longer able to live without you.”

Shangguan Bing’er flushed and stammered: “But… Admiral Zhou… did he manage to reject the betrothal?”

Zhou Weiqing said: “My dad is fond of his face, and it won’t be easy for him to do that in front of godfather. I’ll personally tell godfather when we return. Bing’er don’t worry, even if I have wives in the future, it would never be Difuya.” 1

Shangguan Bing’er nodded gently, saying: “En…” However, almost instantly, she realised something was wrong, and her eyes widened. “What did you say?? You still want to have other wives??!”

“Errr… I misspoke… … Aiiyaahhh, my wound hurts!” Zhou Weiqing’s head lolled to the side, his face pale as he ‘fainted’ then. When he fainted, he still didn’t forget to position his head properly, landing right in her bosom. While his feelings were real, it wouldn’t extinguish his rascally nature.

At first, he was just enjoying the feeling of being pressed against Shangguan Bing’er’s soft body; the feeling was just too great. However, his blood loss was too great, and before long, he had really fallen asleep.

After an unknown amount of time had passed, Zhou Weiqing finally awoke. As soon as he opened his eyes, he found himself lying down with Shangguan Bing’er’s lap as his pillow, with some of her spare clothing covering him like a quilt. Warmth flooded his heart, and he couldn’t help but wish that the moment would last forever.

Shangguan Bing’er’s small hand rested on his forehead: “You’re finally awake, there’s no more fever. How do you feel?”

Zhou Weiqing twitched comfortably on her leg, and seeing her concerned look, his heart was filled with tenderness. Moving his shoulder tentatively, he found that although it still hurt, it was already much better. He knew that his recuperative abilities were a lot stronger than a normal human’s due to the black pearl, as evidenced from the previous time he was injured by the Direwolf King’s attacks.

“Bing’er, you won’t leave me again right?” Zhou Weiqing lifted up his right hand to hold hers.

“Mmmn.” Shangguan Bing’er nodded softly, a blush tinting her cheeks.

Zhou Weiqing struggled to get up, then unreservedly leaning into her, he put his right arm on her shoulders to support himself as he leaned in closer…

As his face grew closer, the flush on Shangguan Bing’er’s beautiful face grew deeper, and she said softly: “Knock it off, you’re still injured.”

Zhou Weiqing immediately seized upon her word gleefully and said: “Does that mean, as soon as my injuries are healed, we can…”

Shangguan Bing’er chided him reproachfully: “Can’t you be more proper!”

Zhou Weiqing grinned and said: “Being proper is not my style! After all, they say that girls only fall for bad boys. Bing’er, do you know that today’s my birthday, my 14th birthday. Previously, at Master Huyan’s place, when I said that there were 2 more months before I reached 14, I was just randomly giving a time. In truth, today is my actual birthday. How about giving me a kiss as a birthday present?”

“Fourteen…” Hearing his age, Shangguan Bing’er’s expression grew a little strange, and she put her hand to his mouth and said: “Little Fatty, you’re just fourteen years old, and not fully grown up yet. We shouldn’t be too intimate, or it’ll affect your growth.”

Zhou Weiqing was dumbfounded, he had not expected that he had dropped a rock on his own foot 2, the expression on his face turned weird.

Shangguan Bing’er thought he was angry, and gave him a quick peck on his cheeks. “Happy Birthday Little Fatty, I’m already yours, so I’ll wait for you to grow up.”

“I…” Zhou Weiqing didn’t know what to say to that, having a very complicated feeling in his heart, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

As it was already four hours later, the two decided to continue on their journey, though it was only after Shangguan Bing’er had verified that Zhou Weiqing’s wounds were pretty much healed before agreeing to continue traveling. Of course, they were no longer chasing one after the other, but were running hand in hand.