"Xue Nu, head back to your room first. I need to have a proper chat with your Shizun," Xiao Meng said softly, embracing Xue Nu.
Li Hai Mo shuddered, shooting Xue Nu a desperate plea for rescue. She met his gaze with a helpless shrug—I want to help, but you know who's boss around here. Can't do a thing. Good luck to you.
"Stay strong!" Xue Nu called to Xiao Meng before darting off. A beat later, she remembered Jian Jia, doubling back to snatch it up. "Survive this!" she tossed at Li Hai Mo.
He shot her a glare—We'll settle up tomorrow.
"Come with me!" Xiao Meng ignored the splintered door, striding straight into the inner chamber.
Li Hai Mo trailed after her, Ling Xu dangling limply in his grip, slinking like a whipped dog. His mind raced through a thousand escape plans. None sticking. Panicking—online help, anyone?
"Why hover so far back? Think I'll hack you down?" Xiao Meng murmured, gently polishing Qiu Li's blade. It gleamed with a cold edge.
Li Hai Mo flinched, forcing an awkward grin as he inched closer at a snail's pace—half a step every eternity. "It's stuffy in here. Breeze is nicer out there."
Stuffier than a furnace? It's damn near winter—snow any minute.
Xiao Meng eyed him, amusement bubbling up despite her resolve. Can't laugh—I'm supposed to be mad. She schooled her face to calm. "Out all night instead of tucked in bed, dragging Xue Nu off for some shady business?"
"Shady? Nothing of the sort. Just felt like I'd spoiled Xue Nu rotten, so I hauled her out for a scrap with Ge Nie and Wei Zhuang." Li Hai Mo denied it flat-out.
Xiao Meng paused. Taking Xue Nu to brawl with Ge Nie and Wei Zhuang? She'd never met Wei Zhuang, but Ge Nie—half-step Tian Ren He Yi, on par with his infamous brother—couldn't be soft either. Xue Nu hadn't even touched half-step. Was it Xue Nu who'd gone soft, or had her Shizun's brain snapped again? Could merging with the Dao not cure those Daoist Scripture aftershocks?
"The Daoist Scripture's side effects—cleared up yet?" Xiao Meng asked, worry creasing her brow.
"All good! Eating like a champ!" Li Hai Mo thumped his chest. But then it hit him—Admit it's fixed? Suicide. Play it up, shift blame, snag some pity. That's the lifeline.
"Not good. Not one bit." He backpedaled instantly.
"Heh, think I'll swallow that?" Xiao Meng's face chilled, eyes narrowing. Still trying to fool me? Growing bolder by the day.
"Uh..." Li Hai Mo went mute. They say some chances vanish forever if you miss them—and some people too.
"Can't sleep now. What to do?" Xiao Meng's mood had flipped; drowsiness fled.
"Then let's count sheep—you one, me one," Li Hai Mo suggested.
"Fine."
And so his nightmare began. He'd forgotten: cultivators could go days—nights—without shut-eye. He'd once held vigil for a fleeting epiphany, months sleepless. So every time his lids drooped, Xiao Meng nudged him awake to resume.
By dawn, Xiao Meng glowed radiant as ever. Li Hai Mo? Yawns splitting his face.
"Shishu, Shizun pulled an all-nighter?" Xue Nu eyed him warily as he fumbled breakfast prep—One wrong chop, and it's me in the pot.
"Drew steel on me—think I'd let him nod off?" Xiao Meng flicked a glance his way.
Li Hai Mo jolted. Ah, so that's it. No wonder you're so chipper—on purpose. Women: do not cross.
Xiao Meng's gaze lingered on Xue Nu, scrutiny prickling her skin like frost. Does Shishu know? What now—panic mode. Booted out? Freaking out—online SOS.
Satisfied, Xiao Meng withdrew her stare. But then doubt crept in: Two stunners cuddling nightly, and he stays stone? Sick? Men never admit this stuff—won't see a healer. Should I fetch Medico Nian Duan? Her Mirror Lake clinic's not far from Xin Zheng.
"Your Shizun—down there broken or what? Why else leave two prime cuts on his plate untouched?" Xiao Meng murmured via thousand-li voice transmission, straight to Xue Nu's mind.
Xue Nu flushed crimson. So Shishu spotted it. And yeah... sounds right. She transmitted back: "Seems like. Sisters from Fei Xue Pavilion say men never spill on this."
"Mirror Lake's med仙 Nian Duan—her clinic's close. Fetch her for a look?" Xiao Meng pressed.
"But would she come? Word is, Nian Duan never treats swordsmen."
"We're Daoists—swords are just a tool, not our trade like those swordmasters."
"Then today?"
"Agreed!" The pair synced like clockwork.
Post-breakfast, Xiao Meng and Xue Nu slipped out, barring Li Hai Mo—"Fix the door." He mended it, then crashed for lost sleep.
Mirror Lake Clinic was a straight shot; Daoist pointers led the women right to Nian Duan.
"Daoist Tian sect grandmaster Xiao Meng?" Nian Duan blinked in surprise. The ethereal Tian sect head, aloof from worldly dust—here for her?
Nian Duan, past forty, mentored Duan Mu Rong at her Xin Zheng lakeside clinic. Duan Mu Rong—Xue Nu's senior by a year or two—was off foraging herbs.
Xiao Meng laid it out steady as stone. Nian Duan froze. Daoists mastered medicine, especially longevity arts—yet their Ren sect head bore this affliction? She might not cure it, especially if Daoist Scripture-tied. Still, worth a house call.
"Xiao Meng Grandmaster, one moment—I'll note Duan Mu Rong and join you." Nian Duan scratched a bamboo slip and tailed them to Xin Zheng.
Back at the courtyard, the trio found Li Hai Mo snoring away. Nian Duan signaled silence, dusting soporific powder to deepen his slumber before slipping in. She probed: yang vigor robust, no eunuch's barren trace. Pulse firm—qi and blood surging, meridians even-keeled.
"Well, Grandmaster?" Xiao Meng and Xue Nu pressed, taut as bowstrings.
Nian Duan's face twisted oddly. Without their intact vermilion pills, she'd suspect a prank. That pulse? They'd be the ones strained. But these two—peerless beauties. What man holds out?
"You've... checked below?" Nian Duan asked evenly.
They nodded. She frowned. Peculiar. Heart-sickness? Unlikely—Wuchen Zi raised Daoist, wed Xiao Meng young. Their union? The envy of women worldwide; she'd witnessed it. No room for mental blocks there. If Daoists couldn't mend a heart-wound, Medicos stood little chance—mending souls was their wheelhouse.
"Better wait till he wakes—ask straight. I'll head out." Nian Duan withdrew.
As the draught wore off, Li Hai Mo stirred, blissfully refreshed. Minus the two beauties looming over the bed, skulls practically bumping—might've been perfect.
"What're you two plotting?" Instinct shielded his lap.
Xiao Meng and Xue Nu swapped looks. Bingo.
"Husband, got an incurable ailment?" Xiao Meng fixed him with a spill it—we know stare.
"What ailment?" Li Hai Mo blanked. Did I coma ten days? Why wake to terminal diagnosis?
"Then why leave two beauties in arm's reach uneaten?" Xiao Meng pressed.
Li Hai Mo paused. Uneaten? It's not for lack of appetite—no shot. Xiao Meng too young once; grown, but merger prep loomed. Xue Nu? Without Xiao Meng's nod, he'd need guts of steel to pounce—overreach, and he'd die ugly.
"You two that desperate for me to devour you?" He deadpanned.
"So... no illness?" Xue Nu ventured.
"You've got the sickness!" Li Hai Mo rolled his eyes. Doubting your Shizun's prowess? You'll learn what a man's made of soon enough.
"All clear then!" Xiao Meng hauled Xue Nu out, murmuring secrets.
Wonder if Wei Zhuang's stirred. Ge Nie didn't drag Han Fei to Zheng yet, right? And how'd Xiao Meng land in Xin Zheng?
"Xiao Meng, how'd you end up here?" Over lunch, Li Hai Mo finally cornered her.
"Post-merger, realm stabilized—Shizun sent me hunting you. Detoured to deliver Xiaoyao Zi Shushu's letter to Ge Nie—found him and Zheng bound for Xin Zheng. Ge Nie fretted safety, so I tagged along as backup."
"You mean you rolled with Gege? Why no heads-up?" Li Hai Mo's brow furrowed black. If you'd said, last night vanishes.
Ge Nie'd just say: Called you twice—you bolted like lightning. My fault?
_
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