The Villainess Always Wants to Cuddle With Me [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 29

The trio followed the Azure-Tailed Heart Fox for a quarter of an hour, arriving at a clearing deep within the forest, unlike any they had seen before.

Nestled against a mountain and beside a stream, the wooden cabin stood near a stream and cultivated fields. The fields were planted with various medicinal herbs, none of which they recognized.

The Azure-Tailed Heart Fox slipped into the cabin and didn’t emerge again.

Moments later, the cabin door opened from within, and a voice called out, “What brings you here?”

Ling Jun and Jian Qigui exchanged surprised glances, immediately realizing this must be the Divine Physician Gu they had been seeking. However, the physician’s relationship with Jian Qiongjun seemed… unusually close.

“Are we supposed to discuss this standing in the snow?” Jian Qiongjun snapped, her anger flaring at the sight of Gu Wen’s face. “Gu Wen, after all these years, you’re still as arrogant and self-important as ever.”

Hearing this, Gu Wen pressed his lips together and gestured for them to enter. “Please come inside. We can sit down and talk properly.”

“That’s more like it,” Jian Qiongjun said, stepping inside with a glare at Gu Wen.

Trailing behind, Jian Qigui whispered to Ling Jun, “Master just glared at the Divine Physician.”

“Oh… how did the Divine Physician react?” Ling Jun asked, curious. In the past, her mother had always resolved disagreements with her fists, but treated those she got along with with utmost kindness. This was the first time in years she’d seen her mother act so… unreasonably?

She glanced up to observe. Gu Wen, ever patient, poured three cups of tea. Jian Qiongjun took a sip and declared, “Disgusting!”

One would have expected Gu Wen, even with his renowned patience, to finally lose his temper at such blatant provocation. Yet Jian Qigui watched in astonishment as Gu Wen simply replaced the pot with a fresh one and refilled the cups.

“Not only did the Divine Physician not get angry, but he actually… seemed to be bending over backwards to please Master?” Jian Qigui murmured, equally stunned.

Noticing their absence, Jian Qiongjun rose and peered over. The two were huddled together, whispering. Overwhelmed by embarrassment, she shouted, “Stop dawdling! Do you want your eyes healed or not?!”

The pair chuckled softly and stepped into the inner chamber together.

Once inside, they could hear Gu Wen’s voice, his hands fidgeting against his robes, making soft rustling sounds. “How did you fare on the fifteenth of last month?” His voice trembled with anxiety, and Ling Jun could almost feel his nervousness.

The mention of the full moon on the fifteenth reignited Jian Qiongjun’s anger and frustration. She forced herself to calm down and pointed a jade-like finger at Ling Jun. “This is my daughter. She hit her head recently and has lost her sight.”

“Daughter!” Gu Wen turned his head sharply, rushing forward to touch Ling Jun’s hands. Hesitating as if afraid of being too forward, he awkwardly withdrew his hands, repeatedly licking his lips.

Jian Qiongjun scoffed, “My daughter! What nonsense are you spouting?”

Jian Qigui didn’t want to delve into the relationship between these two for now. Her only concern was for Gu Wen to quickly examine Ling Jun and determine if there was any way to restore her sight. “Divine Physician Gu, let’s proceed with the examination.”

“Yes, yes, yes. I’ll fetch my tools.” Gu Wen nodded and turned to retrieve a set of acupuncture needles from one of the many cabinets lining the room.

After waiting this long, a little more time wouldn’t matter. Ling Jun sat obediently at the table, sipping the freshly poured tea.

The tea was refreshing, like walking through a spring meadow, the fragrant, dewy air almost palpable. Its sweetness was perfectly balanced, with a hint of aged tangerine peel lingering in the aftertaste—just the right amount. Ling Jun’s eyes lit up. Excellent tea!

“Here we are!” Gu Wen laid the acupuncture needles in a neat row on the table. Instead of taking her pulse first, he carefully examined Ling Jun’s pupils, flipping back her eyelids to get a closer look. Then he moved behind her to inspect the back of her head.

The girl’s hair bun proved somewhat cumbersome. Meeting her for the first time, Gu Wen stammered, “Your… your hair bun… could you possibly…”

Seeing his indecisive manner, Jian Qiongjun snapped, “Stop dithering! What do you want? Just get on with it!”

Gu Wen shot Jian Qiongjun a reproachful glance before turning his attention back to Ling Jun, speaking softly, “I need to take down your hair bun to examine the wound.”

“Mm,” Ling Jun nodded.

Her hair cascaded down like a waterfall of ink. Gu Wen’s fingertips moved delicately as he carefully inspected the wound.

The injury at the back of her head had already formed a bruise, a raised lump about the size of a fingernail.

“Excuse me,” Gu Wen murmured.

He took Ling Jun’s wrist in one hand, placing two fingers on her pulse, while his other hand picked up a silver needle. He aimed it at an acupoint on the back of her head.

“Yangbai, Shenting, Baihui, Fengfu,” Gu Wen chanted as he inserted the needles. The silver needles rotated in his hand, enveloped in a faint layer of qi.

The moment the needles pierced her skin, Ling Jun’s free hand tightened around Jian Qigui’s palm. As Gu Wen continued the treatment, her brow furrowed deeply.

“Fengchi, Wangu. The final needle goes into Jingming!”

With the needles in place, Gu Wen cautioned repeatedly, “Don’t move. Stay exactly as you are.”

Throughout the procedure, Jian Qiongjun remained unusually quiet, her fists clenching and relaxing in turn.

At that moment, Ling Jun’s crown felt as if it were being scorched by fire, the burning sensation spreading down to her Qingming and Taiyang acupoints. She let out a soft groan.

“It might sting your eyes a bit. Please bear with it for a moment,” Gu Wen said, placing his palms over Ling Jun’s eyes.

Suddenly, it was far more than a mere stinging! Ling Jun felt as if her eyes were being steamed in a sauna, the heat unbearable.

“Ah…” Ling Jun cried out in pain, clutching Jian Qigui’s hand tightly.

Jian Qigui was at a loss for what to do. She endured her own discomfort and whispered soothingly, “Just a little longer, it’ll be over soon. Just a little longer…”

A turbid energy surged wildly through Ling Jun’s body. She focused her mind and circulated her qi, but the energy, like the Azure-Tailed Heart Fox, was elusive and impossible to capture. She could only endure the scorching heat, forcing it out of her body step by step.

Clink! Clang!

The needles inserted into her acupoints fell to the ground. The burning energy dissipated, and the moment the turbid energy was expelled, Ling Jun sensed light before her eyes. She slowly opened them.

The elegant inner chamber, the familiar faces of her loved ones, and the clear view of her surroundings—everything was visible except for the blurred background.

“Mother…” Tears welled in Ling Jun’s eyes, words failing her. Noticing her own hand, now flushed red from being gripped so tightly, she blushed and threw her arms around Jian Qigui, feigning excitement.

“Qi Gui, I can see!”

Jian Qiongjun sensed the internal injuries within Ling Jun’s body gradually dissipating. She fixed her gaze on Gu Wen and demanded, “Is Ling Jun truly out of danger now?”

Gu Wen nervously rubbed his nose, picked up the silver needles that had fallen to the ground, and quickly packed away his medical tools.

“Why aren’t you answering me!” Jian Qiongjun snapped, her anger rising. She could disregard everything else, but Ling Jun was the one exception. This was the child she had risked her life to save.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to answer, but he feared Jian Qiongjun’s reaction. Gu Wen sighed. “Her vision has improved, but she can only see things up close. Anything farther away… it’s as if it’s obscured by a white mist.”

So she hasn’t fully recovered? Jian Qigui froze, patting Ling Jun’s back. Her eyes gradually hardened with self-blame. It’s all my fault.

“Is that all?” Jian Qiongjun’s phoenix eyes narrowed as she stepped closer, cornering Gu Wen against the cabinet. The temperature around her plummeted, reaching absolute zero.

If that were all, Gu Wen would never have hastily packed away his tools like this.

As expected, nothing could escape Jian Qiongjun’s sharp gaze. Gu Wen cleared his throat under her intense stare. “Well… her root bones have been damaged. She won’t be able to practice martial arts again.”

I knew it!

Jian Qiongjun slammed her palm against the nearby cabinet, scattering medicinal herbs frosted with ice across the floor.

So she can’t practice martial arts? she thought. That’s not the only path in this world.

Gu Wen, gathering his courage, ventured, “What if… Ling Jun were to study medicine with me?”

“Learn your third-rate, low-grade poisons?” Jian Qiongjun scoffed.

“Mother, I’m willing,” Ling Jun declared.

In truth, Ling Jun understood she wasn’t suited for martial arts. What Jian Qigui mastered in three days took her a month to learn. Now that a second path had opened, she was naturally delighted, especially since she had always harbored a deep interest in medicine.

With Ling Jun’s willingness clear, Jian Qiongjun could no longer object. She pressed her lips into a tight line, remaining silent.

Ling Jun picked up a teacup from the table, knelt on both knees, and, her voice clear and resonant, raised the cup and declared, “Master, your disciple Jian Lingjun formally enters your tutelage today.”

“A master for a day is a father for life. Have you considered this carefully?” Gu Wen cleared his throat, adopting a dignified posture that, at first glance, seemed arrogant.

Three kowtows followed, their resounding thuds marking the completion of the ceremony.

The frost and snow on White Plum Mountain melted, ushering in spring, followed by the scorching summer. Before long, winter returned, its icy grip tightening around the sparsely populated mountain. Frost descended, blanketing the landscape in deep snow. Branches and trunks alike were draped in translucent, snow-white mantles, slumbering through the winter’s embrace.

When it opened its eyes, a thousand miles lay in silent slumber, ten thousand miles shimmered with silver frost.

In the blink of an eye, a jade-red figure darted through the depths of White Plum Mountain. Her graceful form glided across ice lotus blossoms, her toes barely touching the surface as if she were walking on solid ground. The frost and snow beneath her feet remained undisturbed, a testament to her extraordinary lightness of foot.

The woman then swung herself onto a branch, hanging upside down to pluck a stone olive from the cliff’s edge. With a swift adjustment of her posture, she resumed her journey deeper into the mountain, humming a light tune as she stepped across the ice lotus blossoms.

“Master, I’ve brought the stone olive.”

The woman, striking in appearance, leaped forward to present the medicinal herb. Her radiant eyes, full of vitality, fixed on a distant black silhouette. As she drew closer, the faint woody fragrance emanating from the figure made her lips curve into a smile.

The newcomer’s eyes sparkled like stars, her spirit vibrant and her posture upright. Her face, originally as beautiful as a painting, was framed by a pair of sword-like eyebrows that added a touch of heroic spirit to her features.

Jian Qigui spoke in a gentle tone, “You’ll be reaching your coming-of-age ceremony next week. Master has sent me to escort you back to Cuiyue Mountain.”

Ling Jun glanced at the inner chamber and chuckled softly. “I’m almost twenty. Why bother with a coming-of-age ceremony now?”

Jian Qigui reached out to brush a stray leaf from Ling Jun’s hair, retorting, “Others celebrate their coming-of-age at fifteen, but we celebrate ours at twenty. We both know the reasons perfectly well. Master has missed you these past five months.”

It was just a casual jest, but Jian Qigui always took things so seriously, which Ling Jun found endlessly amusing.

Ling Jun smiled teasingly. “It’s natural for Master to miss me after five months apart. But did you miss me too, Mother?”

The woman who had been so articulate and logical just moments ago now stood awkwardly, her ears flushed crimson, unsure how to respond. She shifted her gaze, avoiding eye contact.

“So you didn’t miss me at all…” Ling Jun feigned disappointment, her voice tinged with sorrow, and turned away, pretending to sob.

Why must she act like she’s about to cry just because I didn’t say I missed her?! Jian Qigui’s face burned like it was being scorched by the sun. After a long, awkward pause, she finally squeezed out, “I missed you terribly.”

When we were little, you’d always run over for a hug the moment we met. Now that we’re grown, you don’t even think to embrace me. Ling Jun pouted, then turned and wrapped her arms around Jian Qigui. “If you missed me so much, why didn’t you hug me?”

Suddenly, Jian Qigui froze. For some inexplicable reason, a burning, itching sensation flared in her chest. She instinctively returned the embrace, feeling something awaken within her.

“I’ll say goodbye to Master first, then return with you,” Ling Jun said, turning to walk into the inner room.