Foggy mists of one cold morning kissed the highlands of QingTing. Above the mountains, a majestic view of Old Jianghu below revealed itself in a palpable way. QingChu LianHua, a girl from the local townsfolk of QingTing, decided to ascend up the mountains early to gather fresh herbs to sell it to the nearby town and earn some money to buy meat. Food was scarce however, the mountains never fail to give them plenty of spices, herbs and tubers to go by for a day.
The air up the mountain was thin. Townsfolk rarely ascends up during early morning because most of them would freeze their lungs and never return back alive to the town. LianHua never listens to anyone. She climbed up the mountain without even covering her head. Armed with a little sickle and carrying a huge basket on her back, she started picking herbs and mushrooms that she could find along the way. When she had came so far and already have gathered enough tubers, herbs, mushrooms and spices, she stopped at a nearby spring and scooped the water with her hand to drink.
As she was about to drink up the water from her hand, she noticed a red liquid mixed within the water. She was skeptical at first thinking that it must be her mind playing tricks at her since the air from high up the mountains is thin. Shaking her head and looking back at the water she scooped, the red liquid disappeared. But, her mind was still filled with fear because the townsfolk once tell scary stories about a living corpse appearing within the range of the mountain and dragging unsuspecting victims down the depths of the spring.
Behind her, the bushes started to shake. The hairs from behind her nape started to stand which made her grab the little sickle in her hand. Shaking, she faced the area where the bushes shook holding the sickle up front. She thought to herself...
'If it's a wild boar, I would be dead right now... If it's a tiger, I would also be dead... If it's that corpse that the people are talking about, I would rather.... Fight to the death!'
She pointed the sickle nearby the shaking bushes and as she was about to strike, a naked man with a body shaped to perfection with long black hair, a pair of wonderful-looking eyes and perfect nose with beautiful lips appeared in front of her.
"W- Wait! I'm..."
"AAAAAAH! Pervert!"
LianHua wanted to strike the man but, his wounds caught her attention. The wounds were too great and LianHua wanted to heal the man herself but... There was one severe problem.
The man wasn't wearing anything.
"H-How did you end up not wearing anything?"
"I fell off a cliff while bathing."
"Nonsense! How could someone fell off a cliff while bathing?"
"I live up there."
The man pointed up the fog surrounded mountain. LianHua shook her head and scratched it.
"The spring is nearby. I could lend you my outer robe in order for you not to freeze to death after you clean your wound."
"Thank you young miss."
"Young miss?! Excuse me! I'm 23! Don't call me young miss anymore!"
"Ehheh... Alright."
The man have difficulty of standing up since the wounds from his arms, legs and chest are very severe. LianHua was worried as she helped the man up.
'The wounds looked like he came from being tortured rather than falling off a cliff. If this man is a mugger, I would definitely kill him and throw him on that spring.'
Negative thoughts started filling up inside LianHua's mind like a water filling up a bucket. She looked at the man and never noticed anything weird except a lotus tattoo from his back. LianHua then recalled about Emei and how they have tattoos that had similarity with the tattoo from his back.
After the man cleaned up his wounds and put on the outer robe that LianHua gave, she unloaded some herbs from her basket and using a mortar and a pestle, she pulped it into little bits and administered it on the wounds of the man. Putting bit by bit of the medicine to his wounds, the man never complained pain or even flinch due to the herbs' effect.
"Mister, may I ask you? How did you have wounds like this if you only fell off a cliff?"
"Ah- well... I..."
"You're a mugger aren't you? And why did you have an Emei tattoo from your back?"
"Young miss you have too many questions. I can't answer it all."
"Like I told you! I'm not a young miss an-"
LianHua haven't finished her loquacious reaction when the man pushed her aside and conjured a fireball from his hand sending a living corpse back to where it came from. After a while, the man coughed up blood staining the outer robe that he wore. Shaking with fear, LianHua still attended to the man which is now fighting for his breath.
"What was that?!"
"A living corpse wanted to pull you down the spring so I sent him back to where he came from."
"W-Was that fire that came out of your hands? W-Why does it seemed to be in magenta? I've never seen an ordinary man do such thing?!"
"Don't tell anyone what I did today. Thank you for your help in mending my wounds. I'm going back now."
Forcing himself to stand up, the man decided to limp back to the high mountains. Conscience devoured LianHua whole. She doesn't want the man who saved her from being a corpse meal limp back to where he came from.
'Ah. Damn. Why do humans have conscience!'
LianHua put the basket on the ground along with the sickle and carried the man on her back.
"Young miss, what are you doing?"
"I'm taking you back to my village."
"What?! No! I must head back up."
"You're not fully healed yet."
Carrying the man on her back, LianHua descended back to a little village below the mountains of QingTing and Xiang village was located at the foot of it. The village wasn't very extravagant like most villages that belonged in main kingdoms like Dragon Blade and the Jade Phoenix's but, it was enough to get the man to heal for a few weeks or maybe even a year.
Walking past the village entrance, LianHua was greeted by her fellow villagers. Kids, men and women, young and old gathered around her as they saw her carrying the man around.
The village elder approached her and stared cold daggers at the man.
"LianHua... Who is this man and where have you found him?"
"He's my—"
LianHua looked around at the villagers and gulped a saliva on her throat. Their pitchforks and working scythes made her anxious. If she won't tell them that this man wasn't related to her, they'll kill him but if she will lie about it, then they'll probably force her to leave...
'I must make up a lie to protect him.'
"This man is my husband. He came from a faraway land to visit me but sadly, while on the way here, he was mugged by bandits up the mountain."
Crossed eyebrows, the man stared at her with a confused look. LianHua stared at him back moving her eyebrows.
'W—What? Just bear with it okay? In order for me to heal you, you must stay in the village!'
A serious look painted on the village elder's face but...
After a while, he laughed and all of the villagers also did the same.
"Finally! We thought you'd become an old virgin!"
"It is indeed a joyous day for Xiang village!"
Putting palms on her face, LinHua passed by the applausing villagers headed for her hut.
Running out of breath, she put the man on the bed and reached for a water jug. She drank the water recklessly after experiencing the most embarrassing scenario in her whole life.
"Old maid huh. Guess you don't have much experience with men."
"Why do you care pervert? Food is scarce here. If I add a man in my life, then I will have additional mouth to feed!"
"But you'll be happy even if you'll starve."
"Shut up pervert! Did you know that I have to go through that embarrassment just to get you here—"
"I'm not a pervert and I have a name. My name is... LiuFang Asuro."
"LiuFang... Asuro? The founder of Emei—"
"Shhhh... Keep your voice down."
"What did you do to deserve severe wounds on your body?"
"I—I was punished."
"By whom?"
"The High Immortals from Ninth Heaven."
"Why?"
"Because I wanted to give the mortals a powerful thing— Why am I talking to a mortal? You wouldn't understand anyway."
"Try me."
Asuro and LianHua talked as she tended to his wounds. The wounds were great but it was closing gradually thanks to the anti anti-coagulating grass and bellpepper seeds with DaShuang mushroom mashed into bits.
"Thank you very much savior..."
"I also got a name too... My name's QingChu LianHua."
"What a lovely name you have."
"Well... Thank you."
Asuro flashed a smile from his face staring at LianHua. She averted her sight quickly. Her face is turning red peppers.
"W—What are you doing?"
"What?"
"It's rude to stare."
"Sorry. I just... Haven't had much experience with women too. The only woman I've ever adored was my mother."
LinHua squinted her eyes and pinched her forehead.
'This guy...'