Bitter Orange

  Yes, the thistle is indeed the bitter apricot kernel that Fengfeng has been searching for three hundred years.

  Schizonepeta tenuifolia and Saposhnikovia divaricata are both named after Chinese medicinal herbs.

  Among them, Schizonepeta and Ledebouriella are both pungent in flavor and slightly warm in nature, warming but not drying, good at dispelling wind and relieving the exterior. Both can be used for external contraction of the exterior syndrome. However, Schizonepeta is light and dispersing, its sweating power is stronger than that of Ledebouriella, while Ledebouriella is loose and moistening, its wind-expelling power is stronger.

  Two people had imagined many scenarios for their encounter, but none as dramatic as this.

  Not long after Zhi Xing appeared, he soon encountered the pomegranate fruit.

  Jing Jie's current appearance is the same as when she died in her previous life, with a slender figure similar to that of Du Si Lin, but slightly taller. However, the lively and spirited aura about her remains unchanged.

  It turned out that after the day's thistle and mustard parted ways, they hid from the black and white impermanence everywhere. By coincidence, they met the nine-colored snake who was struck by lightning and was about to die.

  Jing Jie only wanted to escape the unpredictable pursuit of black and white, she had been reincarnated many times and didn't want to continue this cycle. In desperation, she entered the body of a nine-colored snake and merged with its last remaining divine soul.

  She is a bitter melon, but also a colorful snake gourd.

  She inherited some of the memories left by Jiucui Banbian Snake and had a certain understanding of the cultivation of the demon way.

  Zi Shen was also familiar with medicine before his birth, but he didn't have the same ambition as Fang Feng.

  She is lively by nature and has a wide range of interests, but lacks depth.

  Reincarnated many times, due to carrying extremely deep attachments, so after death, memories of past lives are retained.

  Maybe this is really fate. Just like the old saying goes, no coincidence, no book.

  "From now on, call me Jing Jie, the name Qi Shi is a thing of the past." Perhaps due to having gone through many lifetimes, Jing Jie no longer wanted to be called Qi Shi. She liked her current name and shared the same medicinal properties as Fang Feng.

  "Hmm." Fang Feng nodded in response. Nowadays, as long as Jing Ji said a word, no matter what it was, she would probably agree immediately.

  "Miss." Zhi Xing shouted with tears in his eyes.

  "Zhi Xing, today you should be happy, with tears in your eyes, not at all like a man." Jing Jie stood with her hands on her hips, pouting with cherry-like lips, looking adorable and pitiful.

  "Alright, miss." Zhi Xing hastily nodded.

  "And, don't call me Miss anymore. Zhī Yún's skirt died when she was 24 years old. The one standing in front of you now is just Jīng Jiè. You can call me sister." Jing Jie blinked her big eyes and said with a smile.

  "No, no......" Zhi Xing waved his hand and shook his head, "Miss is Miss, Zhi Xing is Miss's book boy."

  "What's wrong with that?" Jing Jie pretended to be angry, "Let you call and you'll call, now what era is it, which still has a book boy."

  "Little... sister," Zhi Xing still couldn't get around Jin Jie, so he called out "sister".

  "Tai Guang, make Zhi Xing a puppet again." Jing Jie turned to Du Si Lin who was drinking water on the side.

  "Reason." Du Sulin raised his eyelids and spat out two words.

  "Because Zhi Xing is my brother, which means he's also the younger brother of Fang Feng. Since he's Fang Feng's younger brother, that makes him your younger brother too! I'll make a puppet for my younger brother as a gift when we meet, isn't that reasonable?" said Jing Jie with a straight face.

  "Too much." Duslin drained the water in his cup and headed upstairs.

  "What a heartless sister you are!" Jing Ji complained.

  But Du Sulin didn't even turn his head and walked upstairs, soon after hearing the sound of a door closing in the room upstairs.

  "It's alright, Jingji, Taiguang will take care of it." Fangfeng held onto Jingji's hand and coaxed softly.

  "Really?" Jing Jie raised a pair of skeptical eyes and looked at Fang Feng.

  "Tai Guang's personality is like this, after a long time you will slowly understand." Feng explained.

  "It seems so too." Jing Jie gazed at the stairs, propping her chin with one hand, nodding to herself in contemplation. She recalled Du Si Lin's appearance during the thunderbolt strike just now, "Feng Feng, was I a bit excessive just now?"

  "No," Feng Wind stroked the thistle's hair, embracing it in her arms. This was the aura of the Zanthoxylum, something she had yearned for so many years. Now that they had finally met, she couldn't believe it, as if she were dreaming.

  "Feng," Jing Ji leaned into Feng's embrace, savoring the long-lost warmth. Knowing when to advance and retreat, he withdrew. He had taken the Jigong San, but it would take time for the medicine to take effect. "Tell me about your story of over 300 years?"

  More than 300 years have passed without seeing it, and the windproof is still that good, treating it as a treasure in her heart.

  "Hmm." Feng Delow responded with a low voice and began to recount her long story.

  ……

  As for Du Sulin, after she returned to her room, she opened the door of the secret chamber.

  Through the pitch-black corridor, what is called a secret room is just another room. It's just that this room should be located underground.

  In the center of the room, a giant circular stone slab emitted a milky white mist.

  To be honest, Du Sulin was moved by Fengfeng and Zhi's common dedication.

  It's really pitiful that they met again after so long.

  Feng said that she was forced to death in the city moat with Ji Shi, but she glossed over the detailed reasons. Now thinking about it, it should be that the emotions of these two women were not tolerated by the secular world at that time, comparable to Jin Jian's.

  So when she suffered from leukemia, Qi Xi would say she wanted to defy heaven.

  Even in this era, in such an open society, women's love is not understood by many people. Du Sulin also just knew that Zhi Shi was a woman, but she didn't have any prejudice in her heart.

  Feelings are just feelings, why must there be men and women.

  The feelings between women can be more deeply engraved at times.

  Thinking more is useless, Fang Feng is Du Si Lin's best friend, so as long as it's Fang Feng's matter, Du Si Lin will do his best.

  With a soft sigh in his heart, Du Siling began making puppets.

  She thought for a long time, not knowing what material to use to make a puppet for Zhi Xing. In the end, she used jade. Jade nourishes the soul and calms the mind, which is just right for addressing Zhi Xing's weakness.

  This time, it was three whole days again.

  Du Sulin came out of the pass and saw Xiao Qingzhu, not Fang Feng, not Jing Jie, nor Zhi Xing.

  Xiao Qingzhu seemed very tired, with thick black eye circles, and fell asleep on Du Siling's bed.

  Even after Du Si Lin stayed by her side for a long time, she still didn't wake up. Du Si Lin half-knelt beside the bed, carefully covering her with a thin quilt, and then silently watched Xiao Qing Zhu sleeping soundly, that tranquil appearance making her reluctant to disturb Xiao Qing Zhu.

  Xiao Qingzhu's physique is prone to attracting evil spirits, if one were to make an analogy, it would be like Tang Seng's flesh. This is the result of having a kind and pure heart.

  "Si Lin?" As Xiao Qingzhu opened her blurry eyes, she coincidentally met Du Si Lin's gaze.

  It seems even more profound than before, as if it can see through a person's heart at a glance.

  "Hmm." Duslin responded with a grunt, and only after standing up did he realize that his legs were somewhat numb, having unknowingly crouched for three hours.

  "I actually fell asleep." Xiao Qingzhu said with embarrassment.

  "Anything wrong?" Du Sulin asked.

  "Is your eyes better?" Xiao Qingzhu asked in surprise.

  "Hmm." Du Sulin nodded.

  "That's good." Xiao Qingzhu smiled slightly.

  At this time, Xiao Qingzhu's mobile phone rang, she apologized to Du Siling with a smile and pressed the answer button.

  Du Sulin only felt that Xiao Qingzhu's expression suddenly turned cold. She had known Xiao Qingzhu for a short time and had never seen her with such a calm and cold demeanor and tone of voice.

  If it's said that Xiao Qingzhu and Du Siling's voices were like the warm sunshine on a winter day, gentle and pleasant to listen to, then just now her voice on the other end of the phone was like icy cold river water, without any emotional hesitation.

  Du Sulin suddenly felt that Xiao Qingzhu might not be as simple and pure as he thought, after all, to sit in the administrative management position of a large enterprise, one needs means that are beyond ordinary people.

  "Think, think..." Until Xiao Qing hung up the phone and found that Du Si Lin was actually distracted, waving her hand in front of her eyes, before she finally came back to her senses.

  "Huh?" Du Sulin responded reflexively.

  "You're distracted." Xiao Qingzhu said softly.

  "Are you looking for me?" Du Siling calmed down and a hint of confusion flashed in his eyes.

  "There's something I'd like to trouble you with," said Xiao Qingzhu. "I found your contact person, and she said you wouldn't be taking on any new business for a while, so I took the liberty of coming to find you..."

  "What's going on?" Du Sulin asked.

  "Not long ago, grandma was looking for a place to put Xiaoxi's spirit tablet, and there was originally a good spot. But it's said that the place is occupied by a ghost, so no other tablets are allowed nearby. After Xiaoxi's tablet was placed there, it mysteriously disappeared the next day." Xiao Qingzhu stopped speaking and looked at Du Siling with pleading eyes.

  "Do you want me to get rid of that ghost?" Du Sulin's eyes narrowed slightly, looking into Xiao Qingzhu's eyes with a rather profound gaze.

  "Hmm." Xiao Qingzhu nodded, without denying it.

  "You should know that the soul tablet is the key to the ghost's tranquility and reincarnation." As he spoke, Du Sulin's eyes suddenly became sharp and stared straight at Xiao Qingzhu.

  Capturing that ghost would be a mere trifle for her, but the ghost's soul would have nowhere to rely on, wandering in the world, never to be reborn.

  She wouldn't do such a thing.

  "Alright." Xiao Qingzhu sighed, "Silin, I know what you mean. You must think that I only care about Xiaoci and don't consider that ghost. I don't like to explain, but please believe me, I, Xiao Qingzhu, won't do anything that goes against heaven and reason. Here's the address, go take a look at that place and then make your decision." She placed a piece of paper on Du Silin's bed.

  Du Sulin saw Xiao Qingzhu's eyes dimming.

  "Take care of yourself, thank you." Xiao Qingzhu left these two sentences and turned to leave with her bag.

  Du Sulin stood quietly, watching Xiao Qingzhu's back disappear from view, without chasing after her or thinking of explaining anything.

  After an unknown amount of time, Jing Jie hopped in, slapping a palm on Du Si Lin's shoulder, startling him to the point where he almost reflexively struck out.

  "I just interrupted your daydreaming, don't be so fierce." Jing Jie said with a pouty face and a tongue-out expression.

  Du Sulin glanced at Jing Jie and tossed her a jade stone.

  "What is this? Given to me?" Jing Ji caught the jade stone and turned it over repeatedly, reluctant to let go.

  "Puppet." Du Sulin's eyelids slightly lifted, and he faintly spat out two words.

  "Puppet?!" Jing Jie looked at Du Si Lin in disbelief, and then carefully examined the jade stone again, but still couldn't see how this round and smooth jade stone resembled a human figure. "A puppet shouldn't be a small paper cutout, should it? The kind that's shaped like a person?" She said as she gestured.

  "That's an ordinary puppet." Fengfeng entered the door and heard Jingji's unbelievable doubt, smiling to explain: "Taiguang made puppets, no ordinary ones." Isn't she herself the best example?

  "Zhī xíng——!" As soon as he heard Fang Feng's words, Jing Jie felt foolish and stuck out his tongue, rushing out the door to shout loudly at the people downstairs.

  Zhi Xing quickly floated up and Feng taught him to control the puppet master.

  Very soon, Zhi Xing's body was no longer so ethereal and became more substantial.

  He listened to Feng's guidance, using his heart to feel this new body, the entire jade stone was constantly changing towards a knowledgeable and capable physique.

  "I'm going out for a walk, to get some fresh air." Du Sulin slightly bowed his head and picked up the piece of paper on the bed with his chopsticks, only taking a brief glance before leaving the room.

  She still only knew how to talk and write to Fengfeng, it was a habit that had been cultivated over the years. Even if that person was Jingji, Fengfeng's beloved Jingji was no exception.

  "Feng, has Taitang always been so cold and distant, or is it because of me that she's unhappy?" Jing Jie asked Feng with wide eyes.

  "Taiguang doesn't like to talk. It's not because of you, don't think too much." Fangfeng gently stroked Jingji's hair, "We still need to wait for a while, we'll guard here for a while." She said again.

  "Hmm." Jing Jie nodded, "But why would someone not like to talk? Fang Feng doesn't like to talk either, but he's not this cold." Jing Jie pouted, and at this moment, she didn't have any of the majestic aura of a nine-colored snake.

  "That's because I'm talking to you, fool," Fengfeng said indulgently. "When I talk to others, my words are sometimes fewer than the light of a firefly."

  "Really?" Jing Jie smiled, seemingly very satisfied with Feng's words.

  "You say it is, then it is; if you say it isn't, then it isn't." Fang Feng also smiled, and such days were probably the happiest time in her hundreds of years of life.

  ……

  Walking on the street, under the scorching sun, Du Siling wore a white outfit, looking very cool.

  She kept thinking of Xiao Qingzhu's words, she said, I, Xiao Qingzhu, will never do anything that goes against the heavens and reason.

  With the thin paper still in hand, Du Siling wandered aimlessly on the street and unknowingly arrived at Jianyou Building.

  Since he had arrived, Du Sulin turned into that small coffee shop he came to once before and ordered a cup of fresh milk.

  Sit down and take a closer look at this piece of paper, Xiao Qingzhu's handwriting is very beautiful, with every stroke looking meticulous and without any signs of carelessness.

  Seeing words as seeing heart, from these simple strokes, we can also see Xiao Qingzhu's heart.

  At least, frank and open-minded.

  Qianjiang Village No. 93, Fengqi County.

  It won't hurt to go and take a look, Du Sulin thought silently in his heart.

  Insert Bookmark