Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 451: Sword Hut's Secret

Yue Hongling slowly woke up to find that dusk had already fallen.

She immediately looked around, hoping to see Zhao Changhe.

She was not disappointed. Zhao Changhe was sitting by the tent, tending to a fire. There was a pot on the fire, from which the faint aroma of herbs wafted up.

Is he... brewing medicine?

When did he learn how to do that?

For some reason, watching him prepare medicine warmed her heart more than any other scene.

It felt like coming home after a long, hard day to find a husband who had already prepared a delicious meal, waiting for her return.

It also felt like no matter how much chaos and hardship existed outside, there was always a safe harbor here by his side. Her once-restless and wandering heart suddenly felt lazy and reluctant to move.

No, this isn’t right...

Yue Hongling struggled to sit up, and Zhao Changhe immediately sensed it. He turned his head, frowning in disapproval. His voice was stern, “Lie down!”

Yue Hongling blinked in confusion.

Oh, so he has a temper now, huh?

Zhao Changhe said, “In the Black Tortoise Secret Realm, that energy crystal washed your body and healed some of your hidden injuries. Did you feel like you could go all out and ruin yourself again? Day after day, throwing yourself into fights. And even after fighting so hard, you still insist on toughing it out and pretending to be a hero. Do you even care about your body anymore?”

Yue Hongling pouted and muttered under her breath, “Seems like you’re the one who cares about my body, you pervert.”

Zhao Changhe: “?”

Yue Hongling lay back down, staring stiffly at the ceiling, saying nothing.

How could I say such a flirty and shameless thing? I haven’t seen him for so long, now it feels awkward...

Her body did not hurt as much as she expected. Most of her wounds had almost healed. Only the injury on her shoulder, where she had sustained the deepest wound during the fight with Lan Tiankuo, still ached...

Wait, did he wrap this bandage? For a cut that deep, he would have had to undress me... Hey...

Zhao Changhe shot her a glare but said nothing, turning his attention back to the medicine. He carefully checked the pot, nodded to himself, and then used a wooden stick to lift it off the fire. Wrapping his hand in cloth to avoid burns, he cautiously poured the medicine into a bowl.

Yue Hongling quietly glanced at him again, feeling both lazy and inexplicably happy. She could not stop a smile from tugging at her lips, though she did not even realize it herself.

Zhao Changhe sat down beside her, carefully blowing on the hot medicine he had prepared for her. He said gently, “The medicine is ready.”

Yue Hongling heard herself respond in a soft, almost childlike voice, “What kind of medicine? I only have external injuries...”

“It’s to replenish your blood and help with internal recovery,” Zhao Changhe explained.

“When did you study medicine?”

“Just recently,” he replied. He blew on a spoonful of the medicine for a while, then gently held it to her pale lips. “Say aaaaa...”

Yue Hongling obediently opened her mouth and drank it. It was incredibly bitter, but somehow, that bitterness felt as sweet as honey, warming her from her tongue down to her stomach.

Just then, Sisi poked her head into the tent, took one look at the scene, and her face scrunched up as if she’d sucked on a particularly unripe lemon. She huffed angrily and walked away.

Despite their keen senses, both Yue Hongling and Zhao Changhe seemed blissfully unaware of Sisi’s presence. They remained completely oblivious, Zhao Changhe feeding her one spoonful at a time, and Yue Hongling taking one sip at a time.

After the medicine was finished, Yue Hongling pouted slightly, still wanting more. Seeing her expression, Zhao Changhe couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re only younger than me by two months, yet you act like a little kid.”

Yue Hongling huffed, curling up under the blanket and turning her back to him.

From behind her, Zhao Changhe’s teasing voice drifted over, “Are you trying to tell me that you want to try that side position?”

Yue Hongling spun around furiously. “I knew it! All you think about is that! Are you only treating my wounds so you can get what you want sooner?”

“Heh,” Zhao Changhe chuckled as he gently wiped away a bit of leftover medicine from her lips. “Little girl.”

“Hey!” Yue Hongling protested.

Zhao Changhe leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. “Get some rest.”

He got up, placing the empty bowl on the table in the corner. “If I were a true physician, I’d tell you to stay in bed for three days and not move. But your physique seems to have undergone some changes. Your recovery rate is much higher than that of normal martial artists, and you even have a certain sharp, lethal energy within you. Is it a result of absorbing the Zhenwu Sword Stone?”

“Well, yeah, I feel like I’m developing some kind of sword body, though I don’t know what it’s called.”

“In theory, it should be called the Supreme Sword Body. However, since you didn’t follow the energy of the sword stone completely, you might develop your own unique sword body. Why not call it the Changhe Body?”

Yue Hongling glared at him. “It’s clearly my body, if anything, it should be called the Hongling Body! Why should it be called the Changhe Body?”

“Because it belongs to Zhao Changhe.”

“You shameless jerk!”

Zhao Changhe lay down, slipping his arm under her neck.

Though she had just called him shameless, Yue Hongling naturally nestled into his shoulder without protest.

He leaned in close and whispered in her ear, “Does it belong to Zhao Changhe?”

Yue Hongling, curling up against him, pouted for a long time before finally whispering, “Yes.”

She could almost predict what he would say next: “From now on, you’re not allowed to go out there and get yourself all bloodied up, because this body belongs to me...”

But unexpectedly, Zhao Changhe did not say that. Instead, he said, “This is why I must help you recover well. This way, when you want to roam the world with your sword, you can do so with even more freedom.”

Yue Hongling’s heart skipped a beat, as if a heavy stone had been dropped into a calm lake, sending ripples across the surface that left her feeling a soft, pleasant numbness.

“You...” She wanted to say something, but her lips were once again captured in a kiss.

Yue Hongling simply gave in, parting her lips slightly and letting him in.

Heh, might as well have a taste of that horrible medicine you just fed me!

Zhao Changhe did not care about the bitterness at all. He kissed her deeply, pouring out all the longing from their time apart, and only after he had his fill did he finally hold her close, savoring the rare sight of the bold and independent swordswoman becoming soft and delicate in his arms.

He felt quite satisfied. Who else could see this side of Yue Hongling?

Her pale lips, once bloodless, now took on a shade of red from the kiss, and her face was tinged with a blush. She felt that ever since she woke up, she had not been behaving as she usually did.

But what could she do? After being so utterly exhausted, he had appeared like a god at her side, brewing and feeding her medicine with such tenderness, telling her it was all so she could feel more liberated when roaming the world with her sword.

When did he become so good at this?

The two of them quietly embraced for a while before Zhao Changhe finally got around to asking the main question, “Hey, what’s going on with you and Sword Hut? I saw the signs of a fight with their disciples and it looked like you got hurt.”

“Yes, I was injured.”

“Did you find something out about them?”

“Mm-hm...” Yue Hongling said thoughtfully, “Originally, I was just going to visit them to learn from their techniques. Normally, someone like me, who has some renown in the jianghu, would be welcomed by a sword sect. After all, there’s no bad blood between me and Sword Hut, so it would have been a beneficial exchange for both sides...”

“And then?” Zhao Changhe urged.

“When I arrived, Sword Hut had already started moving, packing up, with a few people handling the last of the supplies. I didn’t think too much of it at first, figuring it was just a routine relocation. I went up to greet the person leading everyone out of courtesy, curious about where they were headed. However, they were evasive, and during our conversation, I started to feel something was off. I carefully observed their convoy...” Yue Hongling’s tone grew heavier, with a hint of unease. “That’s when I recognized someone in the group—someone I had seen before in the jianghu, someone who was definitely not a Sword Hut disciple.”

Zhao Changhe raised an eyebrow. “Had he joined Sword Hut?”

“I greeted him, but there was no response at all. His eyes were lifeless, as if he had no awareness of me.”

Zhao Changhe’s heart sank. “A corpse puppet? A sword slave?”

“That was my first thought as well... But when I recognized an acquaintance, I obviously touched upon something that I was not supposed to. The leader’s expression changed instantly, and they began attacking me. I retreated toward the nearby mountains, fighting while on the run. During the battle, I realized those I suspected to be corpse puppets felt no pain, which is why I got injured.”

“I thought Shi Wuding had arrived...” Zhao Changhe said.

“No, Shi Wuding arrived after I had already fled.” Yue Hongling smirked a bit, looking slightly proud. “My Ferghana horse runs fast. They kept chasing me, but I managed to escape into the southwest. Oh, right, people in Shu were also hunting me. There’s something wrong in Shu too.”

Suddenly, many of the mysteries began to clear up.

The relocation of Bashan Sword Hut had nothing to do with any ordinary reason. It was obviously because they had begun experimenting with corpse puppets or sword slaves. Fearing exposure, they simply decided to move their entire sect to Miaojiang.

Here, techniques for controlling people using gu insects were not uncommon. It would not stand out much in this region. Even if some imperial officials noticed something odd, it could easily be explained as a result of fusion with Miaojiang’s gu arts.

But someone like Yue Hongling, with her luck as a heroine, just happened to stumble upon them at the worst possible moment—right as they were relocating—and even recognized a familiar face. At that point, a fight was inevitable.

As for how Shu became involved in all this? Given the current unrest in the southwest, Yue Hongling may have just inadvertently uncovered a much larger, world-changing plot.

As a lone wanderer, she could not do much on her own. Fortunately, she somehow ended up meeting Sisi here, who could assist in some capacity. If Yue Hongling had been alone in Miaojiang, even if she had uncovered the conspiracy, there would have been little she could do but watch everything unfold.

“One person can’t handle everything alone.” Zhao Changhe smiled slightly. “It’s alright, dear, your hubby is here.”