She whipped her horse vigorously. “Hya!”
The horse, stung by the whip, galloped through the wind and snow.
Mo Sigui pulled his cloak down further and whipped his horse to keep up.
In a short while, they saw the imposing gates of Lou Manor.
“Fortunately, we only faced one ambush. A second one might have finished us off,” Mo Sigui finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Lou Xiaowu also felt relieved. “Indeed.”
The Lou family estate was built along the mountainside. In the ink-black night, two massive gates loomed, with no lanterns lit in front. It looked deathly quiet.
As they galloped towards it, Lou Xiaowu blew a sharp whistle.
Just as they stopped before the gates, the heavy doors slowly opened. A woman’s face peered out.
She appeared to be around thirty, her face as pale as paper, with reddened eyelids and unnaturally flushed cheeks. She looked like a freshly painted mask, eerie and unnatural.
“Aunt Ling!” Lou Xiaowu exclaimed. “You’ve caught it too!”
“Young Mistress,” Aunt Ling withdrew her head, her voice pained from behind the door. “Please leave quickly. The entire manor has been infected.”
“Aunt Ling, I’ve brought Doctor Mo!” Lou Xiaowu dismounted and headed for the door. “Remember? The young Doctor Mo who saved me before! He’s Elder Qi’s disciple from the Mei clan!”
Mo Sigui held her back, taking out a pill. “Take this before going in.”
Lou Xiaowu took the pill without hesitation and swallowed it.
“Is it young Doctor Mo?” Aunt Ling covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief, leaning out again to examine the young man beside Lou Xiaowu. Recognizing his familiar features, she grew excited. “This servant was rude. Please come in, Doctor.”
“No need for formalities,” Mo Sigui said, swallowing a pill himself and donning a physician’s mask.
Once inside, Mo Sigui first checked Aunt Ling’s pulse. “It’s not too severe. The poisoning isn’t deep.”
He gave her a pill, then used silver needles to seal her heart meridian.
Within half a cup of tea’s time, Aunt Ling’s complexion slowly turned waxy yellow. Mo Sigui used his inner force to expel the toxins from her body.
Aunt Ling vomited several mouthfuls of black blood before fainting.
“Is the poison neutralized?” Lou Xiaowu grabbed Mo Sigui excitedly.
“Yes, she’ll recover after a few days of rest,” Mo Sigui said. Seeing her joy, he was reluctant to dampen her spirits but felt compelled to emphasize the reality. “I’ve said before, this poison isn’t hard to cure. The trouble is that its initial symptoms resemble a cold, making people careless. By the time they realize, the poison has spread. Once it reaches the heart meridian, it’s beyond treatment.”
Lou Xiaowu glared at him. “I was trying not to think about that, and you just had to remind me!”
Mo Sigui carried Aunt Ling on his back. His jest seemed heartless at the moment. “My reputation is important. Don’t blame my medical skills for those I can’t save.”
Lou Xiaowu’s expression darkened briefly before brightening again. “When you left in a hurry that year, my aunt tried every way to find you. We heard you’d gone to Meihua Lane, but fearing the emperor’s suspicion, we couldn’t risk much contact with the Mei clan. We never found a chance to thank you properly. I never imagined we’d meet again! Now we owe you another huge debt. I have several beautiful older sisters. I’ll marry one of them to you when the time comes.”
“Empty promises. You can’t decide your sisters’ marriages,” Mo Sigui scoffed.
Lou Xiaowu replied, “Of course, I can’t decide, but you’ve saved the Lou clan. You’re our great benefactor. We Lou’s value loyalty above all. As long as you ask, they’ll surely agree.”
“What about you?” Mo Sigui couldn’t help teasing her.
Lou Xiaowu ran in front of him, blocking his path. Looking into his eyes seriously, she said, “If you want to marry me, I’d agree a hundred times over. You saved me and now the Lou clan. When I came looking for you, I’d already decided: as long as I live, I’ll repay you by being your ox or horse, your servant or slave. What more could there be?”
Seeing her so earnestly, Mo Sigui felt he might have gotten himself into trouble. He quickly changed the subject. “Don’t keep calling me benefactor. It’s a bit awkward. Why not call me Mo Sigui, Brother Mo, or Mo Ran? Aren’t those all fine?”
“Then I’ll call you Brother Mo,” Lou Xiaowu stepped aside, walking beside him. “Brother Mo hasn’t had his coming-of-age ceremony yet, has he? When did you start using your courtesy name? When Fourteen mentioned you, I didn’t realize you were the same Mo Ran.”
“I’m the last of the Mo family line. Elder Qi said I should establish myself early, so he gave me my courtesy name and held my coming-of-age ceremony two years ago,” Mo Sigui recalled Elder Qi’s indirect guidance, feeling grateful for his thoughtfulness. From the beginning, Elder Qi hadn’t wanted him to jump into the Mei clan’s ‘fire pit’, but Mo Sigui, passionate about medicine, had thought that as long as he entered the Mei clan’s genealogy, he could legitimately become Elder Qi’s disciple and learn medicine.
“When did Fourteen mention me to you?” Mo Sigui asked.
He was delighted at the thought that Mei Fourteen, who claimed to dislike him, still thought of him.
Lou Xiaowu answered honestly, “During the trial. We happened to meet some people from the Mei clan. While chatting, she asked if I knew Mo Sigui and said I was very similar to you.”
“Me and you? What else did she say about me?” Mo Sigui asked eagerly.
Lou Xiaowu hesitated, then said weakly, “She said I was as annoying as you.”