Chapter 104 - 103: You’ve made the right choice.

Chapter 104: Chapter 103: You’ve made the right choice.

The journey back to the mountain felt considerably longer than usual.

Despite the familiar path that she been used to, she just couldn’t pin the right fingers on the situation inside her mind.

Lin Qingyue walked with her basket swinging lightly at her side, her thoughts returning again and again to the imperial notice.

"One million top-grade spiritual stones..." she murmured, glancing down at the snow-covered path.

From time to time, she would kick at them.

"All I have to do is tell them where he is, and I could spend the rest of my life without worrying about spiritual stones. Maybe even the dream of reaching a foundation establishment realm is in sight."

She paused to step over a patch of ice, then continued walking, her brows drawing together.

"But he’s still injured. What kind of person would I be if I handed over someone I rescued before he even woke up?"

A moment later, she shook her head and muttered, "Then again, what kind of person tries to kidnap a princess?Just what sort of monster did I drag into my house?"

"He’s definitely a high lord... "

She murmured, "And I don’t think he’s a good one at that..."

The questions followed her all the way up the mountain.

Every time she decided that turning him in was the sensible choice, she remembered the condition in which she had found him.

Whenever she convinced herself that she ought to continue treating him, the image of that enormous bounty returned to haunt her.

By the time she reached her wooden house, she still hadn’t made up her mind.

She pushed open the door, stepped inside, and set her basket down near the entrance.

The familiar warmth of the stone stove greeted her, along with the faint medicinal fragrance.

She headed straight for the bedroom, still muttering under her breath, "Or should I just kill him while he’s weak? And send his head to claim the money?"

She entered the bedroom and stopped beside the bed.

The man remained unconscious, just as he had been when she left that morning.

Fresh bandages covered much of his body, wrapping his chest and limbs where his injuries had been the worst.

His right hand was especially heavily bandaged, with only the tips of his fingers exposed.

Even after seven days of treatment, his condition remained troubling, and she still couldn’t say when he would regain consciousness.

Lin Qingyue stared at him for a while before moving to the foot of the bed.

She crossed her arms and began pacing from one side to the other, occasionally glancing at him as though expecting him to wake up and offer an opinion on the matter.

"Should I turn you in?" she asked the unconscious man.

He gave no answer.

"Or should I continue treating you?"

Silence.

"Wonderful. You’re very helpful."

She stopped pacing and let out a long sigh, her shoulders drooping as the last of her indignation faded.

For all her complaints about the man, she had never seriously considered abandoning him in the snow once she had brought him home.

Even now, with a fortune practically dangling before her eyes, the thought of handing him over while he lay helpless on her bed left an unpleasant feeling in her chest.

It reminded her of something her master had once told her.

A herbalist is an honourable path. Our hands are meant to preserve life, not decide whose life is worth preserving.

Her master had been a strange woman, to put it mildly.

Lin Qingyue could still remember the countless times she had watched her go out of her way to save people whom everyone else considered beyond redemption.

Once, her master had even risked her own safety to treat a wounded killer who had been hunted by several cultivators.

When Lin Qingyue had questioned her decision, her master had merely smiled and said that even a killer might turn over a new leaf someday.

No one could know what a person might become if they were never given the chance to change.

At the time, Lin Qingyue had thought her master was far too idealistic.

The world was dangerous, and kindness did not always earn kindness in return.

Still, those words had stayed with her long after she left her master’s side, quietly influencing the decisions she made even when she wished they wouldn’t.

She looked down at the unconscious man again.

"One million top-grade spiritual stones," she muttered, giving the bounty one last, mournful thought before shaking her head. "There goes my chance to live like a wealthy young lady."

After a moment, she sighed and adjusted the blanket covering him, making sure it hadn’t slipped away from his injured body.

Her gaze lingered on the bandages around his right hand.

"You really are lucky," she told him quietly. "I hope you won’t kill me when you wake up."

A wry smile appeared on her face.

Lin Qingyue turned away from the bed and pulled a chair out from beneath the nearby table.

After settling into it, she reached for a book and opened it to a fresh page, dipped her brush into the ink, and began writing down the medicines she had used, the changes in his condition, and the ingredients she would need for his next treatment.

If she was going to keep this troublesome man alive, she might as well do the job properly.

Besides, she could always reconsider her decision once he woke up.

Hopefully, by then, he would be kind enough to give her a huge reward, and not a sword to her neck.

"It’s a gamble, and I’m willingly taking it."

The next day, Lin Qingyue resumed her usual work as a spiritual herbalist.

With the man still unconscious in the bedroom, she had little choice but to carry on with her daily routine while keeping an ear open for any changes in his condition.

She began by inspecting the herbs she had brought back from the forest, spreading them across the worktable and separating the healthy specimens from those that had begun to wilt.

The frost-veined leaves needed to be dried at a low temperature, while the pale roots had to be sliced thinly before being placed in ceramic trays near the stove.

As for the small blue flowers she had gathered from the northern slopes, she carefully removed their petals and stored them in a sealed jar, preserving their medicinal properties for later use.

Once she had finished sorting the fresh ingredients, she moved on to the medicines that had been steeping overnight.

She lifted the lid from a clay pot, examined the dark liquid inside, and stirred it with a wooden spoon before pouring a small amount into a shallow dish.

After checking its colour and consistency, she nodded to herself and transferred the finished medicine into several small bottles, labelling each one according to its intended use.

Most of these could be used for Qi Condensation cultivators and mortals.

As for Foundation Establishment cultivators, there weren’t many spiritual herbs that could help them.

After all, there were too few number of second grade spiritual herbalist in the kingdom.

Even the number of second grade pill formulas were scarce due to the small amount of second grade spiritual herbs that were identified so far.

She herself was still a first grade spiritual herbalist, inching her way bit by bit to the second grade for god knows how long it would take.

It was quiet work, the sort that required patience rather than strength, and Lin Qingyue found comfort in its familiarity.

She was grinding a handful of dried medicinal leaves with her mortar and pestle when a faint sound came from the bedroom.

Groan...

Lin Qingyue stopped grinding.

For a moment, she remained perfectly still, wondering whether she had imagined it. Then another faint groan reached her ears, followed by the soft rustling of bedding.

Her eyes widened.

"He’s awake?"

She set the pestle down so quickly that it nearly rolled off the table, wiped her hands on her apron, and hurried toward the bedroom.

When she pushed the door open, she found the man lying on the bed with his eyes open, his gaze directed toward the ceiling.

His breathing was still somewhat weak.

Lin Qingyue stared at him in disbelief.

"Impossible..." she muttered under her breath. "No cultivator should be able to wake up this quickly after suffering injuries like yours."

Before she could question him further, Chen Yuan slowly moved his arms and attempted to lift his upper body from the bed.

"S-senior, please don’t move!"

Lin Qingyue hurried to his side, placing one hand behind his shoulder while pressing the other gently against his chest to guide him back down.

She was careful not to disturb the bandages, but the moment she felt how easily he could have forced himself upright despite his condition, she became even more nervous.

"Your injuries are still serious, Senior. Your meridians haven’t fully recovered, and there are still several places that need further treatment. Please, you mustn’t move around carelessly. If you reopen your wounds, all my efforts over the past seven days will have been wasted."

Chen Yuan glanced at her before allowing himself to settle back against the bedding.

"Thank you."

The simple words caught her off guard.

Lin Qingyue blinked, momentarily forgetting what she had intended to say.

She had expected questions, perhaps suspicion about his surroundings, or even an immediate demand to know where he was.

Instead, he had thanked her without hesitation.

Of course, she had no way of knowing that despite his unconscious state, Chen Yuan’s divine sense had remained faintly aware of his surroundings throughout the time.

He was aware throughout the whole time she was tending to him.

"Ah, no, there’s no need to thank me, Senior!" Lin Qingyue replied hastily, waving her hands before realizing that the movement might make him uncomfortable.

She quickly lowered them again. "I mean, it was nothing. I happened to find you in the mountains, and since you were injured, I thought I should help. Any spiritual herbalist would have done the same, probably. Well, perhaps not everyone, but—"

She stopped, realizing that she was rambling.

Chen Yuan watched her quietly.

Lin Qingyue cleared her throat and tried to compose herself.

"Anyway, Senior, you should focus on recovering. I’ll prepare some fresh medicine for you shortly. If there’s anything you need, please let me know, although I must warn you that my home is rather modest, and I-I don’t have many valuable treasures..."

She trailed off.

Why was she telling him that?

Perhaps she was simply nervous.

Chen Yuan’s gaze settled on her face.

"You made the right decision by not turning me in."

Lin Qingyue froze.

She could only stare at him, her mind going blank as the meaning of his words sank in.

How did he know?

Before she could find the courage to ask, Chen Yuan continued in the same calm tone.

"Otherwise, I might have had to kill you at that time... "

The room fell silent.

"Yes, I was aware... "

"From the start..."

Lin Qingyue felt the smile on her face stiffen, and an involuntary chill crept down her back.

He spoke as though he were discussing the weather.

She knew that the person before her was undoubtedly a high lord of the human race!

Chen Yuan’s divine sense alone, even without him lifting a finger, was more than sufficient to cripple her a thousand times over if she had ever made the wrong decision before.

Lin Qingyue swallowed.

"Y-Yes, Senior..."

She stood beside the bed with her hands held stiffly before her.