Chapter 443: 443. Gu Xiaoling, come over here

Translator: 549690339

After Cheng Yun left, Su Liang went to Lian Mansion again to see Lian Shan.

Lian Shan’s complexion was good, but when she saw Su Liang, the familiar feeling of knowing each other for a long time was gone, replaced by curiosity and admiration. She had already learned from her parents about what had happened over the past year and knew about Su Liang’s abilities, as well as the help and care she and Gu Ling had shown to Lian Family.

“How do you feel now?” Su Liang asked.

Lian Shan shook her head, “There’s nothing uncomfortable, it’s just that my family now feels a bit unfamiliar.”

Su Liang took Lian Shan’s pulse and found everything normal.

The wedding dress Lian Shan had been embroidering before yesterday was on the table, because according to the original plan, she and Yuan Pei were going to get married in the early next year.

Seeing Su Liang looking at the wedding dress, Lian Shan’s expression became a little melancholy, “Yuan Brother and I grew up together, and we got engaged when we were young. I felt the most relaxed and at ease when I was with him. I really don’t understand what I was thinking back then when I broke off our engagement for a man I didn’t even know well. Moreover, after Grandpa Yuan passed away, those days were tough for him…”

As she spoke, Lian Shan’s eyes turned red, and tears flowed down her cheeks.

Su Liang let out a small sigh, patted her shoulder and comforted her, “It’s okay, it’s all in the past.”

But Lian Shan shook her head, “Whenever I think of how I once hurt Yuan Brother, and how he didn’t hold it against me and still loved me, wanted to marry me, and treated me so well, I feel guilty and unworthy of him, and even more so of Grandpa Yuan.”

“You were too naive back then and were deceived by someone. It’s not your fault.” Su Liang said earnestly. It was normal for teenagers to be confused and have misconceptions about love. At that time, “Che Yun” was indeed outstanding and had close ties with the Lian Family. Yuan Pei, on the other hand, was too familiar to Lian Shan, making it easy to overlook his efforts, especially because he was naturally tolerant and forbearing. In fact, “Che Yun” pursued Lian Shan with ulterior motives, wanting to control her after her memory loss, so that she wouldn’t recall anything to reveal their plans. The dissolution of their engagement also happened after Lian Shan’s memory loss.

Now that “Che Yun” no longer existed, Qiao Jing completely severed ties with his past dark life, and Situ Xie, who had controlled him, was long dead.

“Would it be too shameless of me to accept Yuan Brother’s kindness again as if nothing had happened?” Lian Shan asked, clutching the handkerchief in her hand and looking at Su Liang.

Su Liang smiled, “If he truly loves you, then the best thing you can do for him is not to dwell on the bad things and be with him wholeheartedly, treating him better in the future. If you reject him because of those random thoughts, that’s the real harm to him, don’t you think?”

The fog in Lian Shan’s eyes disappeared instantly. “You’re right, I understand.” As she finished, she sighed and held Su Liang’s hand, “Actually, I think it’s right to have my memory back. When I had amnesia, everyone only told me the good things, glossing over the bad ones. But I should remember those things because otherwise, it’d be unfair to Yuan Brother.”

Earlier, Su Liang had heard footsteps stopping at the door without leaving, and she knew it was Yuan Pei, but she didn’t tell Lian Shan.

Yuan Pei didn’t intend to eavesdrop. Madam Lin told him that Su Liang had come, asking him to go to Lian Shan’s room as well.

After finishing talking to Lian Shan, Su Liang opened the door and saw Yuan Pei standing outside. He didn’t bother to pretend to have just arrived, asking only how Lian Shan was feeling.

“She’s fine. She wants to see you. You go in, I’m leaving.” Su Liang waved to Lian Shan as she left.

As Yuan Pei entered the room, he saw Lian Shan’s eyes were red. He sighed, “We agreed the day before that I’d accompany you to the academy today. Are we still going?”

Lian Shan nodded immediately, “Let’s go.” Then she asked, “Which academy? Have I been there before?”

Yuan Pei laughed lightly, “You’ve been there before. The leaf collage on the wall was made from leaves we picked up from the academy mountain this autumn. I even climbed a tree to pluck some of them.”

Lian Shan looked at the colorful picture in her room made of various leaves that formed an orange tree. Her favorite place to spend time with Yuan Pei since childhood was the Orange Garden in Jiaye City. They spent many hours there together.

“Next year let’s go back to our hometown to pick oranges.” Lian Shan smiled.

Yuan Pei’s eyes softened, “Alright.”

When Su Liang returned home, she saw Zhengzheng and Ji Xiaoshu helping Gu Xiaonuan walk by the lake.

“How come you’re back today?” Su Liang walked over and asked.

Ji Xiaoshu turned around when he heard the voice, let go of Gu Xiaonuan, and ran into Su Liang’s arms, “I missed you, Master!”

Su Liang rubbed Ji Xiaoshu’s head, hearing Zhengzheng say they’d go back to Wan Family to sleep tonight.

Gu Ling’s figure appeared at the window on the second floor of Yuanming Pavilion, but seeing Su Liang was not looking at him, he flew down from the window, pulled Ji Xiaoshu away, and then hugged Su Liang and left…

Ji Xiaoshu was very angry, “Master, are you the one acting like a child? Can you not live without your wife?”

Gu Ling did not look back, and replied with one word, “Yes.”

Ji Xiaoshu: …

Gu Ling was not competing with the children for affection. He had something to discuss with Su Liang. However, he would definitely not explain it to Ji Xiaoshu. This was the way the master and disciple interacted.

Back in Yuanming Pavilion, Gu Ling informed Su Liang about what he had discovered during his study of the “Thousand-Poison Formula”: a mysterious poison called Guixi Pill could make people enter a state of fake death.

“Fake death? What happens next? How can they recover?” Su Liang was immediately interested.

Gu Ling showed her the unfolded “Antidote Formula”, as the two books were a set. The page he turned to was the antidote for the Guixi Pill. However, the antidote had to be taken within three days, or the person would be really gone.

“Very magical.” Su Liang sat down and read it carefully. “Has someone really tested it? Could it just be a hypothesis since the Guixi Pill is part of the fatal poisons section of the ‘Thousand-Poison Formula?’ ”

“Let’s try it out.” Gu Ling said.

Su Liang nodded, “Let’s choose someone from the dungeon to test the poison. If they die, it won’t matter.” She glanced at the thickness of the “Thousand-Poison Formula”. “Although there are not a thousand poisons, we know about many of them. But there are also many we have never seen. The scum in the dungeon is just wasting food. Let’s use them as our test subjects.” Including Nian Ruxue, Nangong Lin, and Yue Mei.

When Weng Ming learned that Su Liang and Gu Ling intended to make Guixi Pills, he was interested. Although he knew the contents of the two books he had given Su Liang by heart, he hadn’t practiced most of the medicines due to the lack of available herbs. He had not seen the real effects of those medicines.

There is a great advantage to having Su Liang as a disciple, Weng Ming no longer has to worry about medicinal ingredients. Su Liang and Gu Ling are capable of finding even the rarest of ingredients. They themselves have already stored many rare herbs, many of which were collected and cherished by Lao Bai throughout his life and gifted to Su Liang.

Su Liang told Weng Ming that he could use whatever herbs he wanted and create whatever medicine he fancied without holding back. They also provided test subjects for experimental tests.

For Weng Ming, it was like a dream come true, not to mention being around adorable children all the time and having his granddaughter spend her days happily with her friends.

Guixi Pill required many ingredients, and it took Su Liang and Gu Ling two days to gather them all after searching through the treasure vault of the Imperial Palace. In response to this, Weng Ming could only say that he is very lucky to have such a disciple. He would have been happy to worship Su Liang as his teacher if it allowed him access to such a wide variety of herbs. Moreover, Su Liang does indeed know many things that Weng Ming doesn’t, especially in the area of treating external injuries.

Gu Ling and Su Liang shared their masters. After another two days, the three master and disciples made a Guixi Pill together.

“Wait for the antidote to be made before testing.” Weng Ming was very excited.

“Let’s test it now. Test it earlier and save some food.” Su Liang said.

Weng Ming’s mouth twitched, “You guys decide.”

The test subject chosen was Nangong Lin, who was in the best physical and emotional condition.

In the dungeon, Nangong Lin sat cross-legged and asked calmly when he saw Gu Ling, “Ling’er, are you here to send your master on his final journey?”

Gu Ling nodded slightly without saying a word, took out a pill bottle, and walked towards Nangong Lin.

As Gu Ling approached, Nangong Lin’s composure disappeared. It was apparent that his previous calmness was just a facade. He frowned and said to Gu Ling, “No matter what, I am still your master. Without my teachings, how could you have achieved what you have today?”

Ignoring him, Nangong Lin clenched his fists, “Ling’er, you guys are fighting against Xingluo Island, and you need masters. Give your master a chance to atone for his sins! Since you can forgive Jingjing, why must you put me in such a deadly situation? You could use medicine to make me forget my past, heal my body, and make me do whatever you want in the future. How is this not beneficial for you?”

Gu Ling had already reached Nangong Lin, with an indifferent expression. “It’s too late.” After saying that, he grabbed Nangong Lin’s chin and stuffed the Guixi Pill into his mouth.

Nangong Lin’s face quickly turned pale, his body stiffened and he fell down. After a brief moment, he stopped moving.

Gu Ling checked Nangong Lin’s breathing. There was none, and he looked like a dead man.

The antidote had not been made yet, so Nangong Lin remained in the dungeon.

Two more days passed, and Gu Ling and Su Liang finished the antidote for the Guixi Pill, but they waited until the third day to give Nangong Lin the antidote.

About two quarters of an hour later, Nangong Lin gradually regained consciousness. When he opened his eyes and saw Gu Ling, he knew where he was. He thought he had been unconscious for an unknown period of time and couldn’t remember anything else. He was a bit confused, “You said you were going to kill me, so why am I still alive?” It felt like he had died once, but he couldn’t remember anything else.

“I was just testing the poison on you. The poison is lethal, but the antidote works as it should.” Gu Ling said and then walked away.

Nangong Lin’s face froze, cursing at Gu Ling’s retreating figure, “You guys are celebrating too early! The people of Xingluo Island will eventually ruin your family! Just you wait!”

Gu Ling couldn’t be bothered with him, returned to Yuanming Pavilion, and told Su Liang about their success. The Guixi Pill and the antidote had the same effects as described in the book. Even though they didn’t need them right now, who knew if they would come in handy later? So, they made three more Guixi Pills and three antidotes for storage.

Last year, when Su Liang and Gu Ling left home and encountered some troubles afterwards, Lao Bai prepared various medicines with the available medical herbs in the household and stored them in the underground secret chamber. In the past few days, Weng Ming had been frequenting the secret chamber, treasuring the rows of medicine cabinets.

After that, the capital city was temporarily peaceful. Sheng Yue’s whereabouts were unknown. Gu Ling and Su Liang stayed home, looking after their children and making various medicines according to the books, with Weng Ming available to consult whenever they encountered any issues.

One day during lunch, Weng Ran asked, “Cheng Yun should be arriving at Jiaye City, right?”

Su Liang nodded, “He should be there today.” She chuckled and said to Gu Ling, “What do you think Lian Ershan’s reaction will be when he reads your letter?”

Gu Ling very calmly said, “Gu Xiaoling, come here, try and see if I don’t kill you.”

Su Liang couldn’t hold back her laughter, “The words are similar, but the tone is wrong. Great God, can you imitate Lian Ershan’s tone?”

Gu Ling shook his head, refusing. His reason was, “It’s too silly.”

Gu Xiaonuan learned a new word, “Silly!”

Ji Xiaoshu chuckled and asked Gu Xiaonuan, “Little sister, who is silly?” He kept glancing at Gu Ling, giving her a hint.

As a result, Gu Xiaonuan giggled and pointed at Ji Xiaoshu, “Big brother! Silly!”

Gu Ling’s lips curled into a faint smile, “Nuannuan is really smart.”

Ji Xiaoshu taught Gu Xiaonuan, “It’s your dad who is silly.”

Gu Xiaonuan quickly learned and clearly said to Ji Xiaoshu, “It’s your dad who is silly!”

Everyone burst into laughter.

Ji Xiaoshu held his forehead, “Little sister is really smart. It’s true that my dad is a bit silly.”

Cheng Yun arrived at Jiaye City in the afternoon. He was worried about delaying matters and had been traveling day and night, rarely resting or eating properly. He finally relaxed when he arrived at Lian Mansion.

Stealthily entering the mansion and searching for a while, Cheng Yun spotted Qiao Jing from afar and immediately approached him.

Qiao Jing had just finished lunch and was about to go out when he saw a person seemingly fall from the sky. Instantly on guard, he gripped his sword hilt.

Cheng Yun had disguised himself and was wearing a wig, appearing completely unfamiliar to Qiao Jing. “Who are you?”

“It’s me.” Cheng Yun replied.

Qiao Jing was stunned for a moment, “Cheng Yun?” He had received a letter from the capital city and knew about Sheng Yue’s situation in Pucheng as well as Cheng Yun being Sheng Yue’s younger brother. He also knew that Cheng Yun had now become Su Liang’s elder brother after forsaking the monastic life.

Cheng Yun tugged at his wig, “It’s fake.”

Qiao Jing nodded, “I know. Real hair can’t grow this fast. Did Su Liang and Gu Ling send you? Is there any new information?”

Cheng Yun nodded, “Where is Lian Shun? Xiaogu said to tell both of you the news at the same time.”

Upon hearing this, Qiao Jing felt there was no urgent matter. He asked Cheng Yun to rest in his room while he went to look for Lian Shun. Qiao Cong was with Lao Bai and Lao Mu, who were still suffering from poor mental health.

When Qiao Jing found Lian Shun, he was pestering Ying Ying to go watch the sunset on the mountain with him that day.

“Ying Xiaoying, Little Ying Ying, just agree to it! Before, I saw Gu Xiaoling and Su Xiaoliang go climb the mountain together to watch the sunset, with Gu Xiaoling carrying Su Xiaoliang on his back. I was so envious! Let’s do it too! I’ll carry you! And then I’ll write a letter to Gu Xiaoling to tell him, haha!” Lian Shun shook Ying Ying’s hand excitedly.

Ying Ying shook him off, “I’m not free, and I don’t like being carried by others.”

“Well, you can carry me instead, I don’t mind.” Lian Shun grinned cheekily.

Qiao Jing: …Can’t bear to watch…

Ying Ying had already seen Qiao Jing; she put down the wooden sword she was polishing in her hand. It was a gift she planned to give to Gu Xiaonuan when they meet.

“Cheng Yun is here, I don’t know what it’s about yet, but he said he wants to tell us both at the same time.” Qiao Jing turned around and left as soon as he finished speaking.

Lian Shun looked puzzled, “Could it be that Gu Xiaoling has decided between Qiao Xiaojing and me as to who can be Nuannuan’s godfather?”

Ying Ying raised her hand and knocked on Lian Shun’s forehead, “You’re overthinking it. If Gu Ling chooses, Nuannuan wouldn’t have a godfather.” After saying this, she walked out.

“Ying Xiaoying, what nonsense are you talking about!” Lian Shun chased after Ying Ying.

Seeing Qiao Jing and Lian Shan, as well as Ying Ying, entering the room one after another, Cheng Yun put down the teacup in his hand and took out a pill bottle from his pocket.

“The reason I’m here is that Su Liang and Gu Ling have made an antidote that can restore memory.” Cheng Yun said.

Ying Ying’s face brightened, “That’s great!”

Lian Shun was also happy, “Then Senior Mo won’t have to worry anymore.” But then he felt something wasn’t right, “Is there something else besides delivering the antidote? Why do we all have to be here?”

Cheng Yun nodded slightly, “There’s a letter, Xiaogu wrote it for you.”

Lian Shun blinked, “For me? No one else got one? Is Gu Xiaoling specifically blessing me?” He happily opened the letter Cheng Yun handed over.

Qiao Jing thought it was impossible for Gu Ling to write a letter just to bless Lian Shun, even though he must be wishing him well, he wouldn’t do it this way. So he was also curious why Gu Ling would write a letter for Lian Shun alone. If it was something formal, anyone should be able to read it anyway.

“What’s wrong?” Ying Ying saw Lian Shun’s face suddenly turning stiff.

Cheng Yun explained that the antidote had some side effects.

After hearing this, Ying Ying’s expression remained unchanged, “No big deal. Compared to the recent short time, I still want to find my original memory.”

Now, Qiao Jing understood why Lian Shun’s face was off. Lately, Lian Shun and Ying Ying have been really sweet together after his confession, and it even made Qiao Jing uncomfortable. Lian Shun liked to show off, and whenever Ying Ying smiled at him, he would specially go share it with Qiao Jing no matter if it was day or night. Qiao Jing really wanted to say, he didn’t want to know…

Also, Qiao Jing realized why Gu Ling wanted him and Lian Shun to be present together: It was purely out of a wicked sense of humor, letting him enjoy the sight of Lian Shun going crazy, and finding some psychological balance.

The next moment, Lian Shun crumpled the letter in his hand into a ball and clenched his fist, “Gu Xiaoling, come here, watch me kill you!”

“What are you getting excited about?” Ying Ying took the crumpled paper and unfolded it. Seeing the last sentence “Your confession was great, reward yourself with another try,” she couldn’t help but twitch her mouth, “I support you in hitting him, but I suggest not to because you definitely won’t be able to win.”

Lian Shun hugged Ying Ying’s arm, “You see? Gu Xiaoling is so hateful! I have no choice but to oppose it. If there’s something to be said, just say it. But he had to specifically write a letter to mock me! Ying Xiaoying, will you help me beat him when the time comes?”

Ying Ying nodded, “No problem. But after I take the antidote, I’ll forget that I promised you.”

Lian Shun: …

In the end, Qiao Jing was still on Lian Shun’s side and offered a suggestion, “Ying Ying, you can write down what happened recently, and when you forget it, you can read it again and know everything.”

Lian Shun’s eyes lit up, “Right!”

Ying Ying crumpled the letter again and threw it at Lian Shun’s forehead, slightly hooking the corner of her lips, and smiled brightly, “I won’t write it. When the time comes, you can just tell me. Whether I believe you or not depends on your ability.”