Chapter 42: It's Over, Caught Red-Handed

Chu Hang forcefully suppressed the surging excitement within his heart and carefully squatted down, much like a pious farmer inspecting his harvest with meticulous care.

"They are growing really well, but the soil is still a bit damp. Could someone have helped water them...?"

A trace of doubt surfaced in his mind. Muttering to himself, Chu Hang reached out his hand, preparing to harvest a blue-veined grass closest to him.

Just as his fingertips were about to touch the spiritual herb—

A cool, detached voice rang out unceremoniously from the shadows not far behind him.

"My place, my spiritual spring, yet you sure act like you own the place."

The voice was soft, yet it exploded in Chu Hang's ears like a thunderbolt!

Chu Hang's entire body stiffened, instantly petrified, and his outstretched hand remained frozen mid-air.

A cold gaze was clearly pressing down on his back, locking onto him relentlessly.

Struggling, turning his head bit by bit, Chu Hang forced a smile onto his face that was far uglier than weeping.

Deep within the shadows of the cave, a pale purple figure was slowly emerging.

Under the moonlight, her pretty face was frosty, and those detached eyes were staring at him unblinkingly.

Who else could it be if not Mu Wanqing?

She had actually been here the entire time!

Chu Hang felt his scalp tingle, his mind instantly turning completely blank.

It's over, caught red-handed.

……

Mu Wanqing's heart was actually far from as calm as she appeared on the surface.

These past few days, she had been coming here every night.

At first, it was to wait for that fellow.

She wanted to ask clearly whether the pill poison in her body was indeed neutralized by him, and she also wanted to know how many secrets were hidden within him.

Yet, after waiting for several nights in a direct succession, that fellow seemed to have vanished into thin air, never appearing again.

With her wait bearing no fruit, her attention gradually became captivated by this patch of medicinal garden.

Every day, Mu Wanqing meticulously watered it with spiritual spring water, witnessing with her own eyes how these near-death seeds broke through the soil and flourished at an unbelievable speed.

She knew that the root of all this pointed directly to that mysterious youth.

Since when had her emotions always been stirred by that fellow?

Even Mu Wanqing herself could not clearly explain it.

When she saw Chu Hang being suppressed by Elder Feng's imposing aura, she rushed back to the Pill Hall without a second thought, defying her master's wishes for the very first time as she begged her master to step in and save him.

The look her master gave her had been very strange.

Yet, she could no longer care about that.

She simply did not want to see that fellow die in such a humiliating manner.

These past few days, coming here every night under the guise of tending to the spiritual herbs, there was actually always a trace of expectation in her heart—an expectation she was unwilling to admit even to herself.

She anticipated that familiar figure pushing aside the vines once more and walking in with a bold, careless stride.

Tonight, seeing that sneaky, peeking figure, Mu Wanqing unexpectedly felt a trace of amusement rise without reason. She did not reveal herself immediately, choosing instead to hide in the dark to see what kind of mischief this fellow was up to.

It was not until he was about to lay hands on the spiritual herbs she had meticulously tended to that she finally could not help but speak up.

Seeing Chu Hang's expression as if he had seen a ghost, the corners of Mu Wanqing's lips twitched imperceptibly, and that inexplicable irritation dissipated quite a bit.

"E-Elder Sister..." Chu Hang spoke dryly, "So late, still not asleep yet?"

Mu Wanqing ignored him, merely walking slowly closer and saying indifferently, "What, you steal my land, plant your things, and now you still want to steal my spiritual herbs?"

"No, no, no, how can you call this stealing!"

Chu Hang hurriedly waved his hands, looking completely earnest. "I call this... resource integration! Look, you have the land, I have the seeds; the two of us call this win-win cooperation!"

Mu Wanqing was simultaneously exasperated and amused by his twisted logic, letting out a cold snort. "Silver-tongued."

She squatted down, her jade-white fingers gently brushing against the leaves of a blue-veined grass with an indescribable gentleness.

Watching her like this, the bit of awkwardness and guilt in Chu Hang's heart gradually faded away.

He scratched his head, put away his playful demeanor, and grew unusually serious.

"The day at the martial arts arena, thank you."

He looked at her, speaking with utmost sincerity.

Hearing this, Mu Wanqing's hand, which was brushing against the leaves, paused imperceptibly. She avoided Chu Hang's gaze, casting her sight back toward the medicinal garden.

"People of the Pill Hall are not for the Law Enforcement Hall to deal with." Her calm voice provided a seemingly flawless reason.

"Is that so?" Chu Hang chuckled lightly without exposing her. "Then your junior brother here must thank Senior Sister for taking me in. In the future at the Pill Hall, I hope Senior Sister will look after me."

He deliberately emphasized the word "look after."

Mu Wanqing's earlobes inexplicably grew slightly warm. She could hear the teasing undertone in his words yet did not know how to retort.

This fellow was always like this, unable to go three sentences without flirting, leaving people both exasperated and annoyed.

Unwilling to continue this topic, she changed the subject and finally asked the question that had troubled her for a long time.

"My pill poison... was it cleared by you?"

Here it comes!

Chu Hang's heart tightened, knowing the main event had arrived. After a moment of thought, he decided not to hide it any longer.

"Consider it so." He openly admitted, "Just a little ancestral trick of the trade, not worth mentioning."

Though the answer was already in her heart, hearing him admit it with her own ears still caused Mu Wanqing's mind to undergo a violent turbulence.

The stubborn ailment that had plagued her for years, one that even her master was helpless against, had actually been cleared by him... using a method completely beyond her comprehension?

She looked at the youth before her, momentarily at a loss for words.

Gratitude? How could she bring herself to say it.

"Um..."

Seeing her complex gaze, Chu Hang said somewhat uncomfortably, "Don't look at me like that, it gives me the creeps. What happened last time, I really didn't mean it; I was just trying to save you."

At this point, his voice paused, and the rest of the words ultimately went unspoken out of embarrassment.

"I know." Mu Wanqing interrupted him, her voice much softer than before.

She stood up, her back facing him, and looked at the spiritual spring.

"Thank you."

She spoke these three words softly, yet with great earnestness.

Chu Hang waved his hand. "Don't mention it. Besides, I'm not helping for free. Look..."

His gaze fell once again upon the medicinal garden, his meaning self-evident.

Mu Wanqing turned around, looking at his money-grubber expression, feeling both exasperated and amused.

"These were originally your things." She paused, then added, "These past few days, I was merely helping you water them."

"That makes it all the more important to split them!" Chu Hang slapped his thigh, speaking in a righteous manner. "Senior Sister, you provided both the location and the labor, making your contribution the greatest! How about this, these spiritual herbs, a three-seventy split! You take seventy percent, I take thirty!"

He spoke with resolute conviction, as if he were the one suffering a massive loss.

Mu Wanqing looked at him and suddenly smiled.

That smile was like melting ice and blooming snow lotus, brightening the entire cave by several shades.

Chu Hang was left utterly dumbfounded.