My Gentle and Pure Sect Leader Husband-Chapter 17 - Day of Wearing a Disguise

Before Yan Hongyin fully awoke, she hazily sensed someone beside her. Instinctively, she kicked out, only regaining clarity halfway through the motion. She managed to hold back most of her strength, but her extended foot couldn’t be retracted in time. She could only watch helplessly as her frail, sickly husband was kicked off the bed.

She quickly got out of bed and rushed to Ah Yu’s side as he lay motionless on the floor, repeatedly asking, “Ah Yu! Are you alright?”

Yu Luocha was dazed for quite a while, trying to accept the fact that he had been kicked off the bed by a woman. His expression was somewhat forced, with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “…I’m fine.”

To Yan Hongyin, this expression perfectly illustrated what it meant to be heartbroken with disbelief while displaying pain-enduring understanding.

This made Yan Hongyin even more uncertain how to explain. She gestured awkwardly around Ah Yu without daring to touch him, as if she’d forgotten her skills as a physician. All that remained was her embarrassment and guilt.

“I… I’m just not used to having someone next to me when I sleep… maybe I should sleep on the outer side tonight?” Yan Hongyin said, crouching beside Yu Luocha, her voice gradually weakening.

Yu Luocha murmured, “Wouldn’t sleeping on the inner side be even more dangerous?”

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Yan Hongyin was at a loss for words.

That did make sense… if she slept on the outer side, a kick would have room to extend outward, but if he were on the inner side, a direct kick would…

Yan Hongyin lowered her head slightly.

There was nothing she could do. She couldn’t very well be tied up, could she?

But what if someone tried to ambush them during the night!

In truth, the kick wasn’t much to Yu Luocha; it was far less shocking than the fact of being kicked off the bed. Noticing Yan Hongyin’s dejected expression, he casually flicked her full forehead, producing a crisp sound.

“Hiss!”

Yan Hongyin winced, raising her hand to protect her forehead.

Yu Luocha stopped pretending to be weak and helpless. He pushed himself up from the ground and smiled, “Now we’re even.”

Yan Hongyin’s heart softened, and her eyes involuntarily curved into a smile. She helped Yu Luocha stand up and took his pulse. “Hmm? This internal energy in your body… why has it increased rather than decreased?”

Yu Luocha’s heart sank. His other hand moved slightly, his thumb rubbing his knuckles twice as he asked calmly, “Is my condition worsening?”

Yan Hongyin carefully checked his pulse for a while before releasing his wrist. “It’s not exactly worse… perhaps the medicine has expanded your meridians, allowing more of this internal energy to surface. It’s not a problem, just continue with the medication.”

Seeing Yu Luocha’s slight frown, she reassured him. “It’ll be fine, I’m here. Besides, judging from this internal energy, whoever practices this kind of internal martial art is probably hurting themselves as much as their enemies—completely foolish behavior.”

Yu Luocha, who was nearly being insulted to his face: “…”

Too many exceptions had been made with Yan Hongyin, and Yu Luocha had grown somewhat numb to it. Instead, his eyes shifted as he raised his hand to his lips, coughing lightly before asking casually, “Doesn’t Hongyin dislike those jianghu people? How do you know about this?”

Yan Hongyin’s movements faltered as she was tidying the bed with her back to Yu Luocha, but she quickly recovered. “I can’t tell what martial arts they practice just by taking their pulse, but there’s a clear difference between the pulse of someone living well and someone who’s half-dead or dying. I once felt a similar pulse—one check revealed hidden damage from years of meridian burns. Such internal injuries aren’t noticeable when you’re young, but you’ll regret it later.”

Yu Luocha’s eyes darkened as he pressed. “What happened to that person? Did Hongyin treat them?”

Yan Hongyin turned to look at Yu Luocha curiously. “Why is Ah Yu so interested in these matters today?”

Yu Luocha realized he had shown too much emotion, but what Yan Hongyin described was an issue he had never considered. He momentarily lost control of his emotions, turning his head away and saying softly with teary eyes. “Just curious.”

Yan Hongyin didn’t think much of it. “That person committed a crime and was taken away by constables from the capital. I couldn’t be bothered to treat him. Besides, with meridians in that condition, even the Great Immortal couldn’t save him—he won’t live past forty.”

Yu Luocha’s hand hidden in his sleeve clenched into a fist, then slowly relaxed as he let out a gentle sigh.

He had remained at the Grandmaster realm for ten years. Although he occasionally felt burning in his meridians, he had never considered the possibility of what Yan Hongyin described—this was the disadvantage of having no sect or faction.

There was no constraint, but also no wisdom or experience from predecessors.

Especially in creating one’s own martial arts—one wrong step meant total failure.

Fortunately.....when faced with the choice between pushing for the realm beyond Grandmaster in isolation or using gold needles to seal his acupoints, he chose the latter.

Though at the time, his choice was largely motivated by seeking excitement and watching the drama unfold in his sect.

However, even though things didn’t go as planned, it led him to meet Yan Hongyin…

Yu Luocha’s gaze toward Yan Hongyin changed.

From originally being deep and reserved, it transformed into the predatory persistence that came from his true nature.

—This person, he was determined to have her.

Yan Hongyin sneezed lightly and frowned.

Who could be thinking about her?

......

After breakfast, Yan Hongyin watched Yu Luocha take his medicine. Lianqiao came to inform her that the timber she had requested earlier had arrived.

Yan Hongyin, who had been contemplating the carefree carp in the small pond, asked Lianqiao to call Zisu and the others to help bring the timber over.

Yu Luocha had just walked out of the room when he saw the small girl Zisu carrying half a log as thick as a strong man’s thigh into the courtyard, with two servants helping to lift the tail end.

The contrast was quite obvious and comical.

He walked to Yan Hongyin’s side and asked quietly, “Is Zisu different from ordinary people?”

Yan Hongyin turned to look just as Zisu casually set down the timber. She coughed and explained, “This girl has supernatural strength, but she also eats a lot. Her family couldn’t afford to feed her, and I happened to see her being sold at the market, so I brought her back. Later she learned some martial arts from the caravan leader in Lin’an Prefecture. With her around Yan Hong Hall, I feel more at ease.”

In fact, even second-rate jianghu fighters were no match for Zisu.

Yu Luocha nodded and then asked Yan Hongyin, “Would you like some fish?”

Yan Hongyin’s pupils contracted as she earnestly advised. “If Ah Yu wants fish, just ask the kitchen to prepare it. The fish in this pond cannot be caught.”

As she spoke, Yan Hongyin took a handful of fish food from a small stone jar and scattered it into the pond right in front of Yu Luocha.

Yu Luocha understood. “Because you raised them?”

Yan Hongyin replied vaguely. “Hmm…sort of. Anyway, you can’t catch any fish that I’ve fed.”

She added, “You can’t touch anything I’ve fed!”

Yu Luocha laughed and agreed. “Understood.”

He thought she was just being a typical soft-hearted girl, treating anything she fed as a pet.

Little did he know that Yan Hongyin was breathing a sigh of relief, quietly alarmed at how she could have forgotten such an important matter.

The fish in her pond were all fed deadly poison. Any fish that hadn’t turned belly-up were extremely toxic. If someone was foolish enough to catch one, they might not even finish eating before dying, their corpse dissolving into pus without leaving a trace.

The Zhenfu Division regularly sent animals to deliver messages, not limited to birds like hawks and sparrows. Sometimes informants would use common animals like cats and dogs to transmit intelligence. All these animals associated with the Zhenfu Division and Jinyiwei had been fed poison, and were not to be touched casually.

“Miss, Guye, shall we go back now?” Zisu blinked, stealing glances at her masters standing by the pond, looking like a perfect couple, her mouth curved in a smile.

Yan Hongyin: “Thank you for your hard work, you may go.”

After Zisu and the others left, Yu Luocha stood pondering beside the pile of timber for quite some time before looking at Yan Hongyin. “…This swing…”

How to make it?

Yan Hongyin had never sat on such a thing, let alone made one.

She hesitated slightly before saying uncertainly, “We probably…need hemp rope? I think there might be some in the kitchen.”

Yu Luocha could tell that the person who had requested the swing had no knowledge in this area, and said with amusement. “Let me think about it.”

Although he had never made such a thing before, he had at least seen quite a few.

Yu Luocha was no favored son of heaven. On the contrary, as a child who had crawled out from among corpses after a catastrophic event, he had used any means necessary to survive and get what he wanted. Everything he possessed was a bargaining chip to him.

He wanted Yan Hongyin’s help, and for that, he was willing to expend some effort to keep her by his side.

This was fair.

Yan Hongyin shrugged and went into the room to fetch some medical books. She nestled into the lounge chair where Yu Luocha had slept the other day—after all, this swing was just an activity she had found to distract Ah Yu.

Although Ah Yu was taking medicine, his body still needed movement and sunlight. Keeping cooped up would not help his condition.

The autumn sun was just right, and the breeze through the bamboo grove was slightly cool.

Yan Hongyin reclined in the chair with her eyes closed, listening as Ah Yu went into the room, seemingly fetching paper and brush. His footsteps grew distant, then near again, away and back… accompanied by the sounds of sawing wood and occasional light friction.

She opened her eyes and glanced sideways at the handsome man sitting cross-legged among a pile of timber and hemp rope, frowning in thought. Suddenly, a flutter of emotion welled up in her heart.

Perhaps most women in the world would be filled with tender feelings at this moment, but Yan Hongyin seized that flutter with a strange enlightenment. Maintaining her comfortable, leisurely posture, she began to recite the second level of her internal cultivation method…

This meditation-like state didn’t last very long.

When Yan Hongyin opened her eyes again, the swing by the pond had taken shape. The man in the midday sun had his back to her, his slightly curled hair tips gleaming like fine silk in the sunlight, with a few strands falling forward.

Yan Hongyin sank her qi to her dantian and closed her eyes to sense her progress.

Indeed, in just an hour, she who was retraining her martial arts had already broken through the second level, incomparably faster than the three months it took back then.

Moreover, Yan Hongyin felt that… her original extreme cold internal energy seemed to have undergone some subtle changes.

Yet she couldn’t quite grasp what the most crucial change was.

Unable to figure it out, she set it aside for now. Yan Hongyin got up and walked over to Yu Luocha, crouching to watch him.

“Awake now?” Yu Luocha glanced at her, unable to help the curve of his lips. “How did you sleep? There are two imprints on your face.”

Yan Hongyin: “?”

She quickly looked at her reflection in the pond, only to hear Yu Luocha’s soft laughter escaping his throat.

The deceived Yan Hongyin: “…”

She looked at Yu Luocha expressionlessly and said, “Ah Yu has worked hard on the swing. For dinner, perhaps I should personally cook…”

Yu Luocha immediately stopped laughing.

****

That night, the two once again found themselves at an impasse by the bedside over who would sleep on which side.

Yan Hongyin thought that at worst, she could endure for one night, wait until Ah Yu fell asleep, and then meditate all night. She was determined to sleep on the outer side.

Yu Luocha, having taken the second pill and feeling the accumulated effects after a day, clearly sensed restlessness in his dantian. He needed to meditate and circulate his internal energy soon, so he planned to go to the outer room to meditate once Yan Hongyin fell asleep.

Both harboring their own schemes, each refused to yield.

After a long standoff, Yan Hongyin stared at the bed and suddenly said, “This bed… is quite large.”

Yu Luocha also thought of a possibility, staring at the bed and affirming, “Large enough to lie across.”

What if…

Yan Hongyin looked at Yu Luocha. “Sleep sideways?”

Yu Luocha looked at Yan Hongyin. “Sleep sideways!”

The two immediately agreed and quickly moved the pillows and blankets, arranging them so their heads were facing inward and feet outward.

After blowing out the candle and getting into bed, Yan Hongyin obediently lay in her own blanket, with Yu Luocha lying in the other blanket beside her.

In the darkness, both closed their eyes, breathing evenly.

Half an hour later—

“…Ah Yu?”

“Hmm.”

“…Nothing.”

An hour later—

“…Hongyin?”

“Hmm.”

“…Nothing.”

The two people, seemingly peaceful with closed eyes but actually frustrated, thought simultaneously—

Why hasn’t he/she fallen asleep yet?!