Immortal Road Worry-Free - CHAPTER 3:
When the man awoke, the world was wrapped in mist.
Through the blur of his vision, he saw her seated by the window,
chin resting on her hand, quietly transcribing runes onto paper.
Outside, the wind whispered through the leaves, sunlight streaming in at an angle,
brushing across her cheek and the small iris hairpin that held her dark hair in place.
He had never seen anyone like her eyes as soft as water, presence as calm as a lotus,
half real, half dream.
Her fingers were slender and pale, tracing sigils that shimmered faintly with spirit light,
each movement leaving ripples of radiance in the air. He did not move.
He simply watched, dazed, as if afraid that any motion would shatter the vision before him.
He wanted to speak, but no sound came out.
She turned her head toward him, sensing his gaze.
Her eyes were clear and bright, the kind of light that could wash away darkness.
You’re awake.
Her voice was soft, and her expression thoughtful.
She looked him over as if studying a page of scripture.
Your wounds are terrible. Spirit channels torn, five bones broken,
a sword cut deep across your chest… and internal injuries too many to count.
She lifted her fingers and began counting them one by one, her tone almost casual.
But your core remains intact. How did you manage this?
She spoke as if commenting on the weather,
her eyes filled not with alarm, but with simple curiosity.
The man’s lips moved. After a long pause,
he managed a single word.
An accident.
Bai Yushuang tilted her head slightly, as if puzzled by the concept.
What kind of accident could do so much harm?
When you travel next time, perhaps you should carry a few protective talismans.
I have many. I can give you a stack.
Hexu Xingye blinked, unsure if she was serious.
She raised her head, eyes solemn.
Otherwise, you might die.
There was no jest in her tone only genuine concern.
It was so direct, so earnest, that for the first time in a long while, he laughed.
Why are you laughing? she asked, blinking in confusion.
Nothing. he murmured. Just… no one’s ever said something like that to me before,
and meant it so sincerely.
Bai Yushuang thought for a moment.
You’re the first person I’ve ever met. Everyone else here is spirit plant, beast, or bird.
The first person you’ve met, and you took in a stranger drenched in bl00d?
Hexu Xingye asked, his tone grave.
You were lying at my doorstep, she replied, utterly matter-of-fact.
Besides, even though you looked frightening with all that bl00d and killing aura
the sword energy around you was fierce but upright.
It felt righteous. I could tell you weren’t a bad person.
Probably.
Her calm reasoning left him speechless.
Since childhood, his world had been one of harsh discipline
where everything was divided into life and death, order and destruction.
No one had ever looked at him with such unguarded trust.
In her gaze there was no suspicion, no fear only light.
It was a light that seemed to melt the frost encasing his soul,
revealing something softer beneath.
What is your name? he asked at last.
Bai Yushuang. And you?
Hexu Xingye. Thank you for saving me.
You’re welcome.
She nodded as if this were the most natural thing in the world.
Then her eyes took on a thoughtful glimmer.
You’re still badly injured. You shouldn’t move for several days.
Stay here and rest. I’ll make spirit rice porridge for you, and some honey fruit cakes.
The spirit bees gather nectar from red-mangrass flowers;
it’s good for restoring strength and replenishing energy.
All right.
His answer was quiet, restrained. Yet as he watched her lower her gaze and
arrange the herbs with careful hands, something subtle stirred in his chest.
He had never thought the word adorable could be used for a cultivator.
But she was her aura clear as first snow, her soul steady as a star,
yet her words so open and guileless. It wasn’t ignorance;
it was trust an instinctive belief in goodness.
The same faith that made her rescue a bl00d-soaked stranger,
carry him into her world, and tend to him simply because she felt he wasn’t evil.
That kind of trust was precious. And dangerous.
But he did not push it away.
So began his days upon the Isle of No Worries.
Days of quiet and gentleness that would leave an ember in his heart,
one that would never fade.
Those days were like a dream a dream without blades,
without war, without schemes or shadow.
Bai Yushuang knelt beside a small medicine cauldron,
watching the potion within bubble and turn golden.
She carefully guided the flame with her spirit power,
thinking she should soon begin studying alchemy in earnest.
She had tried only the simplest elixirs before, and
never relied on pills to enhance her cultivation.
The island’s spiritual energy was pure and abundant enough;
and besides, the medicine chamber still held the pills her mother had left behind.
So she had always put it off.
But Hexu Xingye’s injuries were severe.
Pills might heal swiftly, yet gentle nourishment was just as vital.
So she went through every medical scroll in the library
The Spirit Physician’s Canon, Treatises on External Injuries,
The Compendium of Spirit Herbs,
The Art of Elixir Crafting.
Though she had already memorized them all, she read them again and again,
tracing each page with care.
She loved herbs. She was close to every living plant and spirit on the island.
Even as a spirit embryo, she had been nurtured within the
Pure World White Lotus, absorbing its divine energy for a thousand years.
Her spirit was pure beyond compare, carrying the breath of heaven and earth itself
and all living things adored her. The higher their spirit, the more they sought her presence.
When the medicine was done, she poured it into a bowl,
the steam curling upward in ribbons of light.
Holding it carefully, Bai Yushuang rose and went in search of Hexu Xingye.