Saving A Stranger

Staring at the giant tree in front of them, Duan Guiren got down from her back and Lu Gang tensed up. This was the home that Bai Shuixian lived in? It was clearly a tree… Right?

Bai Shuixian was able to sense their judging sight as they stood in front of the tree, so she removed the piles of leaves that were stacked on top of the roots and showed a hole. Though Lu Lianhua built another pathway in and out of the place she called home now, she sometimes forgot where it was since she barely used it. It was now a habit to just use the spot that they first found to enter.

"You must be kidding me…" Lu Gang muttered out as his jaw dropped in shock upon seeing the giant hole that could fit multiple adult males in. "This… This hole is so big, how did you cover it with those leaves? That's defying gravity is it not? The leaves should be falling down with the loose dirt and rocks that surround the tree, is it not?"

"Slow down your mouth. Goodness…" Bai Shuixian reminded Lu Gang as he began to ask too many questions without allowing her time to answer them. "Do you really think those are just normal leaves being used to cover the entrance to my place? As a person who treasures her peace, naturally nothing is normal here."

Hearing the explanation from Bai Shuixian, Lu Gang became more confused and had more questions to ask. However, the moment he opened his mouth, she already pushed him down the hole. Only when he fell to the floor of the lobby did she elegantly come down with Duan Guiren in her arms.

"As an ill person, I believe your treatment is a bit rough…" Lu Gang complained pitifully while rubbing his waist as he stared at the hands holding onto the tiny body of Duan Guiren.

"Don't worry. I'm a skilled physician. Unless I want to kill you, nothing will happen to you," Bai Shuixian responded at the complaint Lu Gang lodged at her.

"Oh, Xiao Xian, you're back?" Zhu Jin asked, coming out from his room when he heard the commotion in the lobby. "Hm… Those two are?"

Pointing to Duan Guiren, Bai Shuixian said, "My disciple."

"And the other?" Zhu Jin pointed with a raised brow at Lu Gang.

"The brother of my disciple," Bai Shuixian answered.

"Ah, nice. I thought you would stay here for life and never go out," Zhu Jin joked when he remembered the anti-socialness that Bai Shuixian exerted not too long ago. "I was thinking that there was going to be a homebody now."

Shrugging at the joke Zhu Jin made, Bai Shuixian told the two brothers, "Sleep in any bed you want. There are lots of rooms for you to choose. Just don't touch any of the stuff in the rooms. They don't belong to me."

"Well, technically they do," Zhu Jin commented upon hearing the last statement Bai Shuixian made.

At the comment, Bai Shuixian immediately stared down Zhu Jin and said, "Continue speaking. I dare you."

Sensing the hostility behind her words, Zhu Jin shut up and remarked, "Sheesh… When you're nice, you're a goddess, but when you're scary, you're so mean."

Sighing, Bai Shuixian turned back to the two brothers and continued to say, "Ignore that person. Anyhow, everything you need is in the storage room next to this lobby. If you don't know which boxes hold which items, just ask Zhu Jin."

"Alright," Lu Gang replied in understanding and dragged Duan Guiren to the hallway that Bai Shuixian pointed at earlier when she told them they could sleep in any room.

"Oh, wait. Before you go, take these," Bai Shuixian told Lu Gang to stop where he was and handed him a lot of books of which she considered to be "little." "I usually disappear once in a while. These books teach you how to cultivate, how to identify a pill, and much more. All of these are for beginners to understand, but in case you don't know something, you can ask Zhu Jin."

"Ah, I understand. But… Are you sure about allowing me to read the cultivation books too?" Lu Gang asked with uncertainty knowing that many masters liked to hide their cultivation methods and martial scrolls.

"Do you remember what I told you at your place?" Bai Shuixian reminded Lu Gang. "I never speak lies, nor do I speak false words of encouragement."

"Haha… Right…" Lu Gang laughed awkwardly, understanding that Bai Shuixian seemed closed off, but was in fact, a very open person.

"I don't know when, but in sometime, I'll make a room for you guys," Bai Shuixian said before allowing them to finally leave the lobby and enter the hallway. "Zhu Jin, take care of them while I'm out."

"Huh? You're leaving again?" Zhu Jin asked with surprise. "You just came back. How about taking a rest?"

"Somehow… I've run out of the herbs for my skin care," Bai Shuixian explained with a frown.

"Seriously? For your skin? And… Herbs?" Zhu Jin slowly spit out with annoyance despite knowing he was not affected by her choices at all.

"I'm a woman. Women need beautiful skin," Bai Shuixian told him.

"You… Must… Be… Kidding me… You have so many plants that you can use for your skin here and being carried with you! Besides that, your skin is as soft as a baby's! What's the need?!" Zhu Jin started to lecture.

"Well… There's some things that I don't grow in my space…" Bai Shuixian gave an excuse. "And the things that Juan-Gege grows are not exactly… Let's just say… They are not exactly meant for safe use…"

"What in the world does he put in his fertilizers that you can't use?" Zhu Jin questioned, wanting to know how exactly Chi Dujuan grew his plants.

"Uh… No need for you to know," Bai Shuixian immediately shut the topic down. "Alright, I'm going now. Make sure you feed them. Oh, right… Show them where the shower is also."

Before Zhu Jin could even respond, Bai Shuixian had already left. Leaving behind a trail of nothing for him to see or even follow. She even hid her scent so that he could not track her.

Bai Shuixian knew that she was already occupying the mountain for over one month, but she also knew that she knew almost nothing about the region. Immediately after exploring the entirety of the village without leaving the thick fog that covered it, she left to see what was outside. However, from the moment she entered the village through the river, she knew that something strange was going to happen, already happened, or currently happening.

Though Bai Shuixian knew that Zhu Jin would not mind whatever she was doing, in circumstances in which she could bring danger to herself, he would always be there. It was probably because she had no martial skills and at most could only run, but she disliked it. For some reason, she felt that being weak was unlike her.

Shrugging off the persistent feeling that there was something wrong with her behavior and the atmosphere of the village, Bai Shuixian combed through the entire mountain. Even though she merely gave an excuse to Zhu Jin in order to not have him tracking her, she was interested in grafting the plants in the mountain to grow them in her spatial inventory. This meant that she was cutting branches from trees she did not already have in her inventory or other plants, especially fungus and mushrooms.

As she minded her own business and ignored the beasts belonging to the mountain, Bai Shuixian made sure to pay attention to any abnormalities. She remembered that the river water was strange and different from the one in the White Tiger Forest. Not only that, but the boulder that blocked the waterfall.

Whilst harvesting plants, her brows furrowed. Even as she continued to work, it furrowed. Bai Shuixian did not know why, but she had this unsettling feeling that there were many things related to the water element in which she had tampered with before.

Of course, it was just a feeling and she did not try to act it out. Bai Shuixian knew that the moment she did something that could potentially harm her, Xuan Yueji would take control. If it involved something that he could not deal with, Lu Lianhua would be at the forefront and taking the damage.

It happened once, and it was not a good experience that she wanted to recall. For that one experience, is the reason why Bai Shuixian stopped becoming super curious and interested in the secrets of the world. Seeing the weak figure of Lu Lianhua that one time and comparing it to his normal strong self, she had felt an intense sensation of guilt and grief slapping her in the chest as though the person wounded was herself.

Even though they shared the same body, they did not share the same soul. Lu Lianhua was a fragment of the full piece and only he felt the pain at that time because the danger she brought to them only inflicted spiritual wounds. Her body was fine, but the fragments of soul that belonged to everyone became weaker than normal, forcing everyone to go into a deep sleep in order to recover from the wound on the soul that was on Lu Lianhua.

Though this confused Bai Shuixian as she did not understand how the pain of Lu Lianhua could be shared to the others. The most confusing part of that event was that only she was awake whereas everyone went to sleep. Normally, it was her and Xuan Yueji who had to go into deep sleeps, so seeing the multiple souls belonging to them become a faded color as she sat by just watching, made her heart feel guilty to the core.

Regaining her senses, Bai Shuixian realized that she almost picked a plant bald. Thankfully, she recovered early enough or else the plant would have not just become bald, but even lose its beauty. At that moment, when she was about to use her spiritual energy as an apology to the plant, she smelled something.

Frowning, Bai Shuixian followed the smell that was like that of the iron in blood. It was extremely heavy and as soon as she walked closer to the source, she could already tell that it was definitely not her illusioning. The scent was indeed something she was familiar with in childhood.

Speeding up and ignoring the plants that she was passing, Bai Shuixian saw a male figure in black clothes leaning on a tree. She also sensed many of the beasts slowly coming closer to the man as his bloody figure attracted them. When she heard a low growl, she immediately lunged at the man and grabbed his body, instantly using her qinggong and carrying him to the tree, not caring at all about the many beasts that were chasing after her.