Chapter 114: The Love God Ximen

  Dai Yubin was shocked but not panicked, he sneered and threw away his bow, drew his sword and rushed towards Peng Qihe. His swordsmanship was simple, only a few moves, straightforward and effective, sharp as can be, but when facing off against Peng Qihe, a master swordsman of the Jianghu, in a one-on-one duel, the gap between them was more than just a notch.

  But Peng Ziqi wanted to capture him alive, and for the time being did not use his full strength. Dai Yubin relied on his own quick and fierce energy, and unexpectedly entangled with her for a while. Gradually, Peng Ziqi felt that his arm holding the knife was weak, and his head was also dizzy, and he couldn't help but secretly be surprised: "What's going on? Could it be that after sitting in the car for a few days, I neglected to take action, and now I've become a delicate young lady?"

  Dai Yubin found that Peng Ziqi's movements suddenly slowed down, and the accuracy and speed of his knife also decreased. He was overjoyed and hastily regained his spirit to counterattack, but although Peng Ziqi had a toxic attack on his shoulder, his knife skills were still much more brilliant than Dai's. It was just that at this time, he could no longer use his moves as freely as before.

  There was no poisonous medicine on Dai Yubin's body that could seal the throat, and this medicine was not easy to get. Although the medicine was toxic, it was not fatal, but only delayed others' actions and increased the killing effect. However, he did not expect Peng Ziqi, this old mother tiger, to be so powerful, more dangerous when injured than when not injured.

  Peng Ziqi originally wanted to capture him alive and had not intended to kill him suddenly, but Dai Yubin thought that her knife skills were nothing more than this. At this time, she launched a frenzied attack with her knife, Peng Ziqi counterattacked again, because the toxin was circulating in her blood, her martial arts skills were somewhat impaired, one knife swung out, and she couldn't control her strength, the sharp blade swept past Dai Yubin's throat like the wind.

  Dai Yubin's eyes were wide open, and he let out a series of desperate cries. He tried with all his might to take in air, but found that it was impossible for any to enter his lungs. The knife in his hand flailed about uselessly for a few moments before he collapsed to the ground with a thud, twitching about like a chicken with its neck cut before finally expiring, still glaring angrily even in death.

  Peng Ziqi was secretly regretful, but the person had already died, and she couldn't do anything about it. Afraid that Xia Liu would wait for a long time and worry, she turned around and rushed down the mountain. After this urgent rush, when she returned to the car, she felt even more exhausted.

  Xia Yu saw her return, and his heart suddenly felt at ease. He hastily asked: "Did you catch the murderer? Who is he?"

  "It's that Dai fellow, a remnant of the Harahashi gang. I didn't think they still had anyone alive, and yet they've tracked us down all the way here."

  As soon as Xia Jiang heard that it was Ha La Meng and his gang of Mongols, a big stone in his heart also fell to the ground. He hastily asked again: "Where is Brother Xi Men?"

  Peng Ziqi was taken aback: "I didn't see him."

  She glanced out at the thickening snow beyond her shoulder and frowned slightly: "He's probably lost his trail?"

  As soon as the words fell, Peng Qi's figure flashed, and she stretched out her hand to support the carriage. Xia Yu was startled and quickly got up to hold her, saying: "Are you injured?"

  "There's nothing, just a scratch on my shoulder from a cold arrow. Strange..."

  As soon as she finished speaking, she felt dizzy and fell forward. Xia Yu caught her and saw that she had fainted. Xia Yu realized something was wrong and quickly carried her into the carriage, laid her down, and tore open her clothes to reveal a large bruise on her shoulder where the arrow had grazed her skin. The area was swollen and raised, causing Xia Yu to exclaim in surprise: "The arrow was poisoned?"

  At the moment, Xia Xun didn't have time to think much. He immediately pulled out the silver hairpin from Peng Ziyu's bun, made a cross-shaped cut on her shoulder, and sucked out the toxic blood with his mouth. Finally, when all the toxic blood was sucked out and the flowing blood had turned bright red, Xia Xun let out a sigh of relief. He found a clean white cloth to bandage Peng Ziyu, but then thought that he should apply some medicine first. Although the wound wasn't big, girls loved beauty, and if she were left with scars, it would be hard for her to forget.

  Xia Liu originally had some medicinal ointment with him, which was the wound-healing sacred medicine sent by the Yan Wang Fu. However, when he left Beiping, his wounds had already healed for the most part, and there wasn't much of this good ointment left. Xia Liu turned out the small medicine jar, and applied all the remaining ointment to Peng Ziqi's wound, bandaging it up for her. Seeing that she was still unconscious, he felt extremely anxious.

  He remembered that Peng Ziqi was a martial artist, so he should be carrying some common medicines with him. The two of them were in this kind of relationship now, and there was no need to be overly cautious, so he opened Peng Ziqi's package again and checked it out. Sure enough, he found a packet of good golden wound medicine. Xia Jiu was overjoyed, and quickly took the teacup, poured in some warm water, added some medicine, lifted up Peng Ziqi, and fed him the medicinal broth mouthful by mouthful.

  She had taken half the bowl of medicine, and Peng Ziqi's breathing was gradually stabilizing. Xia Jiu was overjoyed, he put down the medicine bowl, took out a handkerchief to wipe the corners of Peng Ziqi's mouth, moved the pillow to let her lie more stably, then looked at the remaining half bowl of medicine on the table, remembering that his arm injury had not healed properly, drinking some golden wound medicine wouldn't do any harm, so he poured the remaining half bowl of medicine into his own mouth.

  Peng Ziqi had this package of golden wound medicine, which was actually the one she had switched with Xia Liu's "Cui Meng Xiang" that had been adulterated. She had kept it all along, thinking that one day she would use it to expose Xia Liu's shortcoming and also to tease him a bit. However, she hadn't expected that today Xia Liu would mistake it for the real golden wound medicine and they both ended up drinking it together.

  Ximen Qing returned in the midst of heavy snow, but by the time he chased after him, Peng Zhiyi had already run far away. The snow was getting heavier and the sky had darkened, so Ximen Qing got lost while chasing after him. After running around for a long time, he didn't see anyone's shadow, and his heart couldn't help but feel secretly shocked, fearing that he had fallen into the "Tiger Leaving the Mountain" trap. So he hastily rushed back again.

  He went back to the front of the carriage, lifted up the curtain and took a look. Ximen Qing was startled, Peng Niang had returned, Xiaohu was also there, but... both of them were lying down?

  Ximen Qing hastily jumped onto the carriage and rushed over to carefully examine them, only then did he put his mind at ease, both people were still alive.

  It wasn't until then that he had the heart to carefully examine and found that Peng Ziqi's shoulder was already bandaged, which must have been done by Xia Xun. The question was how Xia Xun could also faint? Along the way, as far as he knew, Xia Xun's injury had healed quite well, his body shouldn't be this bad.

  Ximen Qing turned his head to take a look, on the small table there was cloth and scissors, and also a package of unfinished gold wound medicine. The color of the medicine powder didn't seem quite like gold wound medicine. Ximen Qing leaned in closer to sniff it, then stretched out the tip of his tongue to taste a little bit, and slowly revealed a strange expression on his face.

  He looked at Xia Zhen and Peng Qi, who were sleeping soundly, their breathing slightly rapid, their faces flushed. In his sleep, he twisted his body in discomfort, and couldn't help but slap his forehead in a headache, muttering to himself: "Who can tell me what happened here?"

  Xia Xing woke up and almost at the same time, Peng Qi also woke up. They looked into each other's eyes, and Xia Xing immediately asked: "Qi, how are you?"

  Peng Ziqi touched his shoulder, knowing that he had bandaged the wound for himself. He tried to feel his body again and couldn't help but smile sweetly: "It's okay now, the arrowhead was poisoned, but it's not a big deal now. Hmm..."

  Her slender eyebrows furrowed slightly, and she suddenly felt that something was still off about her body, a feeling that was both unfamiliar and familiar. Before she could figure it out, Xia Jiu said, "Strange, why did I also faint?"

  Peng Ziqi was shocked and suddenly realized that he had no reason to lie in the car either, and couldn't help but ask: "Did you just faint? Was it because of physical exhaustion?"

  Xia Fu shook his head, he only felt a burning sensation in his abdomen, his lower body was swollen and hard as iron, he had to bend over to conceal it, this strange feeling made him also feel bewildered for a while.

  Just then, someone spoke up. The person said in a low and mournful tone: "Xia brother, can you tell me why you used the package of medicine I gave you as 'Golden Wound Medicine' when it was clearly labeled as 'Dream Incense'?"

  Ximen Qing!

  Xia Liu and Peng Ziqi turned their heads, and only then did they notice Ximen Qing.

  Ximen Qing wore a white robe, with a conical hat on his head, sitting at the front of the carriage, amidst the fluttering snowflakes, he had a certain charm of fishing alone in the cold river.

  "'Dream Incense'? 'Dream Incense' is still in my bag, when did it become a poison?"

  Peng Ziqi also sensed that something was wrong and mustered up her courage to say: "I switched your medicine."

  Xia Yu looked at her in surprise: "You've changed?"

  Peng Ziqi's face turned red as he said, "I... I once discovered that you had that kind of despicable drug on you, so... so I used the golden wound medicine on my body to exchange it. The package of golden wound medicine on me was actually your package of dream incense."

  Xia Xuan originally thought that Wei Jue Ye was invincible in the jianghu, but in fact, he only had a packet of anesthetic medicine, a dagger, and a clever mind. He might have found the anesthetic useful, so he kept it on him, but didn't realize that Peng Zhiyi had already switched it out long ago.

  Xia Liu Dao said: "Su Meng Xiang is just a kind of anesthetic, what's so special about it?"

  "But you've mixed aphrodisiacs into that anesthetic, isn't that just despicable?"

  "How is that possible?"

  Ximen Qing coughed and said calmly, "There is indeed a lust-inducing drug inside. That medicine... was put there by me."

  Xia Xun suddenly said: "I only asked you for anesthetic, why did you add aphrodisiac?"

  Ximen Qing said straightforwardly: "I thought you wanted to use medicine on Peng...Peng Niang, but she was in too much pain and couldn't bear it for the time being..."

  Seeing the two men's murderous gaze, Ximen Qing hastily cleared himself: "No matter what, it wasn't me who changed the medicine. As the saying goes, 'Heavenly retribution can be survived, but self-inflicted retribution cannot.' The fact that things have escalated to this point today has nothing to do with me, Ximen Qing."

  Xia Liu suddenly came back to his senses and exclaimed: "So, what I gave to Zhi Qi and myself just now was not the Golden Sore medicine, but 'Dream Incense'?"

  Ximen Qing smiled and said: "Have you finally figured it out?"

  Peng Ziqi was also startled and hastily asked: "Then why are we still awake?"

  Ximen Qing pointed to his own nose and said with a smile: "That's because I've already given you all the antidote."

  "But I still feel like something's off about myself."

  Ximen Qing innocently said, "Big brother, the aphrodisiac has an antidote. But do you think anyone would research an antidote for an aphrodisiac? You're selling me a bill of goods!"

  "What... what should we do?"

  Ximen Qing looked up at the sky and said, "You're right, when it snows, the weather is actually quite mild. In this kind of weather, wearing a thick coat and finding a warm place to sleep, I can get through the night without any problems. Alas, my life is really tough..."

  He said as he got off the car, and reached out to grab his sheepskin coat and a bundle of bedding under his arm, Xia Chuo asked: "Where are you going?"

  Ximen Qing rolled his eyes: "When you were in the bridal chamber, would you have let me watch from the side? Brother, go to the mountain and find a snow den to hide for the night. Come back tomorrow morning to make trouble at the wedding, haha, see you later!"

  Ximen Qing finished speaking and then walked away with his robes fluttering behind him.

  Xia Liu and Peng Ziqi exchanged a glance, both of their faces turned red, and their eyes seemed somewhat unusual.

  The two of them had been traveling together, side by side, their feelings for each other already deeply intertwined. It was only a matter of the woman's modesty as a daughter and the man's restraint due to his status as a married man that had kept them from giving in to their desires. Now, on this quiet snowy night, even without any aphrodisiacs, it would have been hard for them to control themselves. How much more so with the flames of passion burning within them?

  Her cheeks were like fire, her beauty was indescribable. A pair of big eyes flowed with charming waves, and the unspoken charm was lovable. Compared to her former elegant appearance, she had an extra ten percent allure, and Xia Zhen's heart involuntarily skipped a beat.

  "We... have taken aphrodisiacs anyway. Since we've already made a promise to each other, tonight we'll just make it real and become husband and wife, what's the big deal?"

  This was not what Xia Xun thought, Xia Xun didn't need to find any reason, this guy had long wanted to steal a kiss, let alone now that everything is proper? This was exactly what Er Gugu said, and so Peng Dasao found a reasonable excuse for herself. So when she saw Xia Xun's gaze burning with desire as he approached her, she simply blushed, closed her eyes, and smiled shyly, her heart pounding wildly, almost jumping out of her chest.

  A lantern on the front of a car, in the mountains, under the big snow, in the night, gently swaying, emitting a bewildering and mysterious light.

  Snow falls silently.

  But there were sounds in the car, breathing sounds, gasping sounds, in the winding ports of Jiangnan water town where the water grass was dense, the soft and faint sound of rowing at night when playing with lanterns...

  Movement, within stillness. Stillness, within movement.

  In the midst of movement and stillness, sounds, colors, lights, and shadows come together to create a breathtakingly beautiful snowy night scene that is as elusive as a dream...

  The sky brightened, and Ximen Qing emerged from the mountain forest like a groundhog, walking to the valley below. He looked around in all directions, feeling somewhat dazed. He almost thought he had slept off his illness after a night in the snow den, but how could he not see that carriage with the bridal chamber anywhere?

  He looked left and right, and finally found that under a tree at the corner of the mountain pass, there was still a horse tied up. This horse was originally ridden by Peng Ziqi. Ximen Qing hesitated for a moment before walking over, and saw that the saddle and reins were all complete, with a horse pack tied to the back of the horse's buttocks, stuffed full, and under the saddle, a corner of paper was exposed.

  Ximen Qing pulled out the paper and took a look, only to see that on it were written four large characters in charcoal: "Brother, you understand."

  Ximen Qing was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing "hahaha", the snow on the tree branches fell down with a rustling sound.

  "This kid is really interesting, haha, so interesting..."

  Ximen Qing burst out laughing, untied the horse's reins, mounted the horse, and then suppressed his laughter. He let out a long sigh: "Being natural and carefree is truly delightful, truly refreshing! Younger brother, when can I be like you, letting go of... Ah! Having a shrewish wife is difficult, difficult, difficult!"

  Ximen Qing urged on his horse and galloped out of the mountain pass...

  PS: Is this chapter beautiful or not? Hmm, is the writing style not realistic enough? The bridal chamber, the green jade... only Xia Xia had a truly happy ending. Let's just appreciate the atmosphere instead. There will be bread later, and there will be soy milk later too. If you're still not satisfied..., go ahead and throw your monthly tickets and recommendation tickets at me!