On the ancient stone bed, a pale figure lay motionless. Her slender fingers were tightly bandaged, and her delicate little feet were wrapped up as well.
"Grandpa, why isn't she waking up yet?" Eli Crane, looking exhausted, sat in his wheelchair and anxiously clutched her hand, asking in a tangled voice. Seeing her like this, his heart was in chaos, terrified that if he let go, she would vanish forever.
Seeing this, Old Man Sai sighed, "Don't worry, she'll be fine. I gave her the Memory Spirit Herb earlier, so she's probably just regulating her breath right now." With that, he lowered his head and got busy again. "Her foundation is so solid—after suffering such heavy injuries, she actually managed to survive!"
"Is she really okay?" Eli Crane still couldn't relax. If she's fine, why hasn't she woken up? Why does her face still look so pale?!
Hearing this, Old Man Sai turned to look at Eli Crane and sighed, "I've only been gone a few days, and you two are just too bold, aren't you? If anything had happened... ay!" He didn't dare think further. If something really had gone wrong, how could he ever face his departed father?
"Grandpa Sai, this is all your fault! You always stay out of the valley for ages—how were we supposed to know you'd be back after just a few days?" Aiden Chen looked at Old Man Sai, unable to help but retort. If he'd known Grandpa Sai would return so soon, he would've fought tooth and nail to keep them from going in!
"Aiden..." Eli Crane frowned slightly, trying to stop him from blurting out nonsense.
"Fine..." Aiden Chen pouted and had no choice but to shut up.
"Enough, what's done is done—what else can I say? Luckily you're all safe. Now, go get some rest. You haven't slept at all since you got back!" Old Man Sai said, looking at Eli Crane with concern.
"I'm fine. I want to wait for her to wake up!" Eli Crane looked utterly exhausted, but still insisted on staying by her side. He knew that if she woke up and didn't see him, she'd be worried—he had to keep watch over her.
"Young Master, go get some rest. I'll call you the moment Little Bird wakes up! Besides, didn't Grandpa Sai say she's fine now? Even if you don't rest, Little Bird needs to!" Aiden Chen urged, worried as he watched his young master looking so exhausted.
"Crane, listen to Grandpa and go rest," Grandpa Sai said sternly. "If you don't rest and she wakes up to see you collapsed, won't that make her worry even more?"
"Yeah, Young Master, go rest! You've been guarding her here for a whole day and night!" Aiden Chen quickly chimed in.
"But..."
"Do you really want her to wake up and worry about you instead? Trust Grandpa—her foundation is way sturdier than yours," Grandpa Sai nodded.
Seeing this, Eli Crane could only nod, and Aiden quickly wheeled him back toward his room.
Watching him obediently go to rest, Grandpa Sai started to examine the rare spirit pill Eli Crane had brought out. This kind of thing was legendary, and he had no idea if it could really heal anyone. First, he had to figure out its ingredients—no way would he risk Crane's body on a gamble!
"Cough, cough, cough—" Suddenly, the person on the bed started coughing violently.
Grandpa Sai hurriedly poured a cup of tea, rushed over, helped her sit up, and handed her the tea. "Here, drink some."
Shen Bingxin opened her eyes and quickly grabbed the tea from Old Man Sai, drinking it down. Her throat felt much better instantly.
"Girl, you're awake? Anywhere feeling uncomfortable?" Grandpa Sai quickly had her lie back to regulate her breathing.
Shen Bingxin smiled at Old Man Sai. "I'm fine, my body feels great!"
Seeing this, Old Man Sai smiled too. "Girl, I bet you've remembered everything now, huh?"
"Eh? How did you know?" She looked up at Old Man Sai. Could this old guy have psychic powers or something?!
"Just by looking at your face! First, you didn't call me 'old man.' Second, you weren't in a panic asking about Crane. What does that tell me? It tells me you've definitely got your memory back," Old Man Sai said, stroking his beard with a smug look.
Hearing that, Shen Bingxin quickly looked around. "Where's Eli Crane?!"
"He watched over you for a whole day and night. I just made him go rest. What, you want to see him already?" Old Man Sai smiled meaningfully. Ever since Crane carried her back, he'd known these two were anything but simple!
"He watched over me for a whole day and night?" Shen Bingxin trembled a little at those words.
"That's right! I've never seen Crane worry about anyone like this before. Girl, you've got some serious skills!" Old Man Sai kept stroking his beard with a meaningful smile. He liked this girl—a match between her and Crane would be a great thing!
Hearing this, Shen Bingxin fell silent, her heart full of complicated emotions. She liked him—from the very first moment, she liked him deep down. But was she worthy of him? She wasn't his only one, and he could never be hers alone...
Thinking of this, she remembered Adrian Night, Lucian Vane, and Liam Willow. It had been almost four months since she fell into the abyss—no doubt, they must be desperately searching for her. No way, she couldn't let them worry. She had to go back.
"Girl, what are you doing?" Old Man Sai saw her trying to get up and quickly came over to help her lie back down.
"I still have a ton of important things to deal with."
"I know!" Old Man Sai nodded, but still wouldn't let her get up.
"How do you know again?"
"I'm the one who saved you, how could I not know? Your injuries were so severe, but your foundation is incredibly deep. If I'm right, your martial arts are extraordinary—otherwise, any normal person would have already met the King of Hell. For someone as strong as you to be beaten up this badly, your enemies must be terrifying. Now that your memory's back, of course you're anxious to go back," Old Man Sai analyzed.
Hearing this, Shen Bingxin nodded. "That's right, you're spot on!" Turns out this old man really did have some skills!
"Exactly—so you definitely can't just rush off recklessly!" With that, Old Man Sai went to the bedside and started fiddling with herbs.
Shen Bingxin slowly sat up, grabbed a pillow to prop herself up, and looked at him. "Old Man Sai, what do you mean by that?"
[SKIP]
"Why do you need me to break it down for you? Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?" Old Man Sai grumbled without even turning around. The next second, before Shen Bingxin could get a word in, he continued, "Since your enemies are so terrifying, you need to get your internal strength flowing and your martial arts back up to speed before leaving the valley. Otherwise, once people find out you're still alive, your enemies will come looking for you all over again—and you might not be so lucky next time."
Shen Bingxin paused, a little taken aback—Old Man Sai actually made a lot of sense. But she just couldn't stop worrying about her friends' safety.
"Just trust me," Old Man Sai said with a little smile. "Give it less than a month and I'll have you patched up good as new. Once your internal energy's back and you practice here in this gorgeous valley, who knows—you might even level up your martial arts!" He knew that once she left, Eli Crane would definitely follow. There was no stopping young love, so the only thing he could do was keep them here a bit longer. Honestly, he wanted Crane to see the world too—staying cooped up here forever wasn't great for his health either.
Shen Bingxin quietly mulled over Old Man Sai's advice. If she waited another month, it'd be over four months since her fall. As soon as she got out, she could reach her Shadow Guard network—and within three days, her husbands would know she was alive. Right now, healing and regaining her strength was the top priority if she wanted to stand with them against all the trouble ahead.
"Might as well recover together with Crane," Old Man Sai said with a mysterious grin and went back to tinkering with his herbs.
Seeing this, Shen Bingxin let out a quiet sigh, then lay down and closed her eyes to rest. Well, since she was already here, she might as well wait it out. Once she was healed, she'd go find them. Please, all of you, promise me you'll stay safe until I get back!
Three days later.
"Miss Ling..." In the pavilion, Eli Crane glanced at Shen Bingxin and called out to her with a gentle smile.
"My surname is Shen, my name is Bingxin—you can call me Xin'er," Shen Bingxin said, her gaze darting away nervously.
Eli Crane nodded. "Xin'er..." He reached out, about to take her hand, but just as he did, Shen Bingxin quickly hid her hand behind her back. Eli froze, his hand left awkwardly hanging in midair before he pulled it back, looking a bit embarrassed.
"I... I have something to do, so I'll head back first. The wind's pretty strong, you should get inside early too." With that, Shen Bingxin bolted out of the Purple Bamboo Grove, leaving Eli Crane standing there, totally bewildered.
She ran to the base of the waterfall, where the deafening roar filled the air. Shen Bingxin arrived, gasping for breath—this was her daily training spot. She'd discovered the mist from the waterfall was great for her recovery.
But today, she just couldn't focus on training. She sat down, absentmindedly plucked a tiny flower, and started mumbling, "Accept, can't accept, accept, can't accept..." over and over like some lovesick fool.
"Ugh!" Annoyed, she flung the shredded flower away. For three days, she'd been keeping her distance from him on purpose—and it sucked, especially when she saw the disappointment in his eyes and his lonely silhouette. She wanted so badly to go hug him and give him some warmth, but she just couldn't. Her life was way too dangerous, and she already had four official husbands plus two other guys tangled up with her. Eli was so gentle, so good—she didn't deserve him...