By the time Lin Mengya woke up from her slumber, it was already the next day.
She opened her eyes, and absent-mindedly, she looked at Long Tianyu, who had fallen asleep beside her.
In her memory, she vaguely remembered that Long Tianyu seemed to have caught her taking her medication.
She stuck out her tongue. She did not intend for Long Tianyu to find out about this.
She did not wish for that to happen…
“You’re awake. Are you still in pain? Are you hungry?”
As she sat up, she alarmed Long Tianyu.
It was then that she realized that Long Tianyu was holding on tightly to her right hand.
Therefore, her movement, albeit unintentional, would wake Long Tianyu instantly.
Lin Mengya shook her head as she looked at Long Tianyu’s bloodshot eyes as a result of exhaustion.
“I’m totally fine. You are the one who is not so well. Why don’t you take a good rest?”
Long Tianyu gazed at Lin Mengya anxiously from top to bottom.
After making sure that she was truly alright, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“I can’t bear to see you in pain.”
He used his big hands to gently massage Lin Mengya’s right shoulder.
When he was sure that she was not feeling any discomfort, he supported Lin Mengya so that she could get up slowly.
Long Tianyu could not get rid of the image of how she writhed with pain on the ground.
It was difficult to imagine that Lin Mengya had to go through such agonizing pain every day.
He helped her sit on the chair, quickly poured her a cup of warm water, and urged her to drink it.
His eyes were literally glued to Lin Mengya. There was no way he could take his eyes away from her.
“I’m no longer in pain, really.”
Lin Mengya did not know whether to laugh or cry. Nevertheless, she was filled with a warm feeling because of his concern.
With a gentle voice, she comforted Long Tianyu. It was as if Long Tianyu was the one suffering the agonizing pain.
“Stop eating this medicine. Let’s go slow. There’s no doubt that your right arm is very important to you, but it’s not worth all the pain you suffer every day.”
Lin Mengya breathed a sigh of relief when she could tell that Long Tianyu seemed unaware that she had wanted her arm to be healed so she could treat him with her acupuncture needles.
As she fixed her gaze on Long Tianyu, there was a look of yearning in her watery eyes.
“I understand that you’re worried about me, but Cousin Yu told me that the longer I delay the treatment, the worse it is for my arm.”
Immediately, Long Tianyu held on to her small hand and said, “It’s alright. If your right arm does not heal, I will be your right arm!”
Lin Mengya’s heart softened when she saw how worried he was.
She gazed steadily at Long Tianyu with eyes filled with tender love.
“But, if my right arm is disabled, it will be equivalent to making half my medical skills void. Long Tianyu, I’m a physician. It will be a charitable deed in itself if my arm heals. Moreover, it just means that I have to go through some pain. Zuo Qiuyu told me that once the medicine started working, it would naturally be painless. Trust me; I’m not going to let any more harm come upon me.”
If Lin Mengya insisted on using this medication, Long Tianyu could be firmer with her.
However, this girl had managed to tug at his heartstring.
He was clearly aware that the more she spoke gently to him, the more he was unable to refuse any of her requests.
He could not help but sigh quietly. He had finally met with his nemesis.
“You… sigh…”
Long Tianyu cast a doting look on her, especially when he saw how her eyes lit up from excitement.
It made him believe that Lin Mengya was the only girl who blossomed in his heart despite many beautiful women in the world.
“Thank you.”
She planted a mischievous kiss on Long Tianyu’s forehead, but to her surprise, her head was clamped between a pair of large hands.
Lin Mengya, who almost could not breathe for a moment, shot Long Tianyu an angry glare of disdain.
However, there was no way she could conceal the smile in her eyes even though she had forced a furious expression.
“Tsk tsk, you two are indeed husband and wife. However, can’t you just close the door when you are acting so intimately?”
A sarcastic voice sounded from outside the door. Lin Mengya was not expecting anyone to be watching this live broadcast.
Her cheeks blushed and she glared furiously at Long Tianyu.
Such a bashful expression on Lin Mengya was hard to come by.
Long Tianyu, on the other hand, did not feel a tinge of embarrassment. He gave Zuo Qiuyu a look of indifference before he spoke up briefly.
“What’s up?”
His voice clearly sounded impatient amidst the tone of difference.
Zuo Qiuyu could hear the hint that Long Tianyu wanted him to get lost
He coughed and said, “I’m here for some serious matter. Sigh, I thought there were dangers lurking on all sides. Who would have known that it turned out to be two people enjoying romance!”
Although Zuo Qiuyu had meant to be speaking to himself when he spoke those last words, the two could tell his intention was otherwise.
It was only when they simultaneously looked daggers at him that he stopped his teasing.
“Out with whatever you want to say, otherwise get lost quickly.”
Lin Mengya was at all merciful towards Zuo Qiuyu, and he seemed always to forget her temperament.
Now, Zuo Qiuyu no longer dared to tease her. Nevertheless, he entered the room carrying a small dark wooden box in his hands.
There were fine engravings on the box. The words “Pavilion of Herbs” stood out amidst the engravings.
“What’s this?”
Lin Mengya weighed the box on her hand curiously. It actually carried weight.
While the box was a cuboid, there was no crevice at all.
This was very strange. Could it be just a solid block of wood?
“This is the question which I’ve drawn. This box is called “Box with an Abstruse Secret”. It has to be opened using a special technique. The question is inside. I will be considered to have lost the competition if I fail to open it by sunset today.”
Zuo Qiuyu looked so dejected. This box must have been given to him as a ‘special treatment’.
“I’ve heard about something like this. If you open it using an external force, its contents will be destroyed.”
Long Tianyu’s words made Zuo Qiuyu grimace more bitterly.
Zuo Qiuyu slammed his hands hard on the table. While he was aware that those people would not let him pass the test easily, he did not expect them to employ such a tactic.
He had thought that he had obtained this chance ‘fairly’; those people might already have bent over from laughter behind his back.
“What’s so difficult? But it is undeniable that what they thought of is a very crafty tactic.”
No doubt Zuo Qiuyu had been tricked.
But who was Lin Mengya? The Shen Nung system she had was like an extremely powerful cheating software.
The scanning system had started working automatically so that she had visualized the make-up of the box long ago.
The abstruse working of the box was indeed profound. However, the secret was just within the box. Its lock had a highly complex structure.
However, the Shen Nung System had already formulated a few solutions, and it had also given a clear explanation of the workings of each.
“Are you saying you are still able to solve this?”
Zuo Qiuyu had no intention of doubting his cousin’s intelligence. Even for the Pavilion of Herbs, it was a complex item. How could it turn out to be so easy to deal with when it fell into her hands?
“This mechanism is not that complicated. However, something seems to be amiss inside.”
The two men exchanged looks upon hearing Lin Mengya’s comment.
Nevertheless, they knew that Lin Mengya was good at blurting out astonishing comments, which were usually proven right eventually.
If she said that something was amiss, there ought to be something fishy.
“What I saw from the others was that they seemed to pull out some kind of paper notes. Unless… is there any other secret mechanism in it?”
Zuo Qiuyu sounded grave, but Lin Mengya, on the other hand, seemed to have her mind drifted away.
It was only when Zuo Qiuyu instinctively raised his voice a little that Lin Mengya recovered from her absent mind.
However, she exhaled quietly.
In an instant, the expression on her face became a little… bizarre.
“Who intended to give this box to you?”
Lin Mengya did not know whether to cry or to laugh as she looked at Zuo Qiuyu. She realized that he had been extremely lucky.
She had just searched through the music score for the green stringed instrument for any reference to the Pavilion of Herbs and realized that someone from the past might have played a joke on them. It looked like Nan Rui, and his company would be extremely disappointed.
“I got this through balloting. However, because I arrived late, the easy questions had all been picked by the rest. This was why I had brought this thing back. It looks like you know the story behind.”
The so-called balloting process was merely a formality.
Otherwise, it would not be so coincidental for Du Zhong to have ‘misled’ him.
By the time Zuo Qiuyu arrived late for the balloting, everyone had already picked their share and was looking at him as if he were an idiot.
Who would have known that this wooden box might well be a treasure?
“You’ve got a good bargain here. Is there a cold storage around? Also, prepare a pliable and strong golden wire. It’s of great use to me.”
Although Zuo Qiuyu did not know what clever idea Lin Mengya had regarding opening the box, he glimpsed a ray of hope when he saw the card up her sleeve.
She had yet to disappoint him for the many days past. He believed that it would be the same this time.
In order to hoodwink people, the three of them, together with Yu An, managed to find a cold storage, albeit stealthily.
Yu An was a talented informant. Although they had only arrived two days ago, he already combed through every detail in the inner courtyard.
After all, the fighting belonged to the people of the upper hierarchy. Those lower down in the hierarchy had to go on in their lives no matter what happened.
In addition, Yu An’s eloquence and wit had allowed him to befriend people easily.
For this reason, they did not even see any disciples of the Pavilion of Herbs the entire way.
Yu An appeared to be very familiar with the way, and soon, he opened the door to the cold storage.
Lin Mengya and the other two looked astonished. Yu An, who seemed to be infinitely resourceful, merely smiled bashfully in response.
“I heard that the fresh vegetables and fruits in the Pavilion of Herbs were stored here, so I…”
Yu An scratched his head sheepishly. Obviously, he was responsible for those marvelous tasting fruits they had been eating in the last two days.
