Chapter Ninety-Four: A Temporary Stay in the Sinkhole

“Nineteenth Aunt! Nineteenth Aunt!” Cheng Ruizhi cried out in anguish as he saw An Yi hurled from the cliff.

Jin Yi’s heart sank. Knowing that An Yi had fallen into the hands of ruthless killers, he dared not pause for a single breath and carried Cheng Ruizhi on his back as he fled at full speed, with Wei Xiaolin and Zhu San in fierce pursuit behind them.

Both Cheng Ruizhi and Jin Yi believed that An Yi was doomed, but in truth her plight was not nearly so dire; on the contrary, she seemed even safer than they were.

A mat of vines broke her fall, and An Yi did not plunge straight to the bottom of the ravine. Along with soil and tangled creepers, she landed in a patch of weeds half a person tall. Surviving the catastrophe, she lay there in the weeds, her face drained of color, her gaze blank. The sensation of falling from such a height was terrible.

After a long while, An Yi finally collected herself. Looking up at the steep, towering cliff face, she let out a long breath. To fall from so far and still not be dashed to death was nothing short of miraculous. She clambered out of the weeds on hands and knees, and before she had even brushed the dirt and grass from her body, a flash of cold light appeared before her eyes, and a sharp sword was pressed to her throat.

An Yi went cold all over. Just as she had escaped the wolf’s den, she had entered the tiger’s lair. Utterly exhausted in body and spirit, she had no strength left to fight back. She raised her eyes in despair and saw before her a handsome man with disheveled hair, tattered clothes, and a face hollowed by hunger.

“Young Master Gong?”

The young master narrowed his eyes and stared at the dirt-streaked girl before him. “Who are you?”

“I am An Yi.”

“Xier?” He studied her from head to toe, then withdrew his long sword. “How did you end up here?”

“I was traveling to the capital to visit relatives. When I passed through Zhengzhou, I was captured by the people of the Thousand Flowers Palace. While escaping, someone struck me down here.” An Yi briefly explained the situation, then asked in return, “And how did you come to be here?”

“I was being hunted. I lost my footing and fell into this place several months ago.”

“You’ve been here for months and never found a way out?” An Yi exclaimed.

“This place is like a giant stone jar. There is no road out.” The young master looked up at the sky. “If one is to leave, the only way is to use lightness skill and fly up there.”

An Yi also looked upward. She had thought this was a canyon and that there must be a path leading out, but after hearing him, it seemed more like a sealed sinkhole. From the bottom to the opening, the drop was at least sixty or seventy feet by eye. With her own feeble martial arts, it was impossible for her to leap that high.

The two stood staring for a while. At last An Yi sighed. “Is there really no other way out of here?”

“I once tried to use the vines to climb up, but they grow from loose soil and cannot bear any weight.” The young master said.

“You could use your toes to brace against the cliff face,” An Yi said.

He hesitated. “My internal injuries have not healed. My true energy is still blocked, and I have only recovered thirty percent of my strength.”

“Your internal injuries have gone untreated for months?” An Yi asked in alarm.

He nodded gloomily. That was exactly why he had been unable to leave.

“If your injuries were healed, how certain would you be of making it out?” she asked.

“Ninety percent.”

An Yi smiled softly. “I can help heal you.”

His eyes brightened, then dimmed again. “This is not an ordinary wound or poison. There are no proper medicinal ingredients here.”

“I have a way to cure your internal injuries.” She brushed the weeds from her hair, her tone full of confidence.

Seeing the brightness in her eyes, the young master nodded and took her to the place where he had been living these past few months: a shallow hollow more than three feet above the bottom of the pit.

The little cave was about four or five feet wide, nearly seven feet high, and extended inward for about ten feet. At the entrance lay a pile of ash with a few faint embers still glowing. Beside the fire was a crude bed made of weeds, with a purple brocade robe and some berries thrown upon it. Near the bed sat several crooked bowls made of baked earth. Farther in, the sound of dripping water could be heard.

This sinkhole was vast. Though it held no tall trees, it was covered with all kinds of shrubs and weeds. The young master had survived these past months on dripping water, berries, and wild greens.

An Yi held out three slender jade-like fingers and pressed them to his pulse. Her expression gradually turned grave, and she sighed lightly. “No wonder your internal injuries have not healed for so long.”

“I was already fortunate to survive being caught between the Blazing Palm and the Soft Palm,” he said with a wry smile.

A flicker passed through An Yi’s eyes. She very much wanted to ask just what he had done to incur such heaven-defying enmity that people had hunted him for years, until the matter had become one of life and death. But she swallowed the question. Whatever he had done had nothing to do with her. What she needed now was to heal his injuries, get out of this place, and continue her journey to the capital.

She drew a golden hairpin from her hair and twisted it open, pouring thirteen golden needles into her palm. “Take off your clothes. I’m going to treat you with acupuncture.”

“When did you learn that?” he asked in surprise.

“Didn’t Master Jiang tell you?”

“Master Jiang only said that you were in a safe place and in no danger of losing your life.” He loosened his robes and sat cross-legged.

“I’m going to start. Don’t talk.” An Yi picked up a golden needle and drove it into the point at the center of his chest. The second followed at the point just below his sternum, then the sequence continued without pause, like flowing clouds and running water, with perfect ease and precision.

The young master closed his eyes. A warm current spread through him, and the chill in his abdomen gradually faded.

As she worked, An Yi kept a close eye on his complexion. About a quarter of an hour later, she swiftly removed the needles and moved behind him. “Now I’m going to needle the points on your back. Don’t speak. Don’t move.”

From the lower back up to the base of the neck, she again used thirteen needles.

The young master felt a cool stream of energy rise from his lower back, and the burning sensation in his chest vanished with it.

A quarter of an hour later, An Yi removed the needles once more and wiped the sweat from her forehead. “Without medicine to support the treatment, I’ll need to needle you for three days in a row. For now, sit and circulate your breath.”

He opened his eyes, the corners of his mouth lifting. “Thank you.”

An Yi smiled and sat down nearby. These were all major points on the human body; a single mistake could kill him under her needles. She had kept herself tense the entire time. Now that it was over, the strain eased and she felt utterly weary.

After meditating for half an hour, the young master opened his eyes and saw An Yi sitting on the ground, asleep with her head resting on her arms atop the grass bed. A trace of warmth flashed in his gaze, and he smiled faintly. Heaven never seals off all roads. Just when he had nearly despaired, fate had sent her to him. Once his injuries healed, he would be able to leave. Those who had wished him dead would be terribly disappointed to learn he was still alive.

The young master put on his clothes, then carefully moved An Yi onto the grass bed and draped the brocade robe over her. Seeing several blades of grass caught in her hair, he reached out and gently removed them.

An Yi had already gone two nights without proper sleep. Between escaping the Thousand Flowers Palace and helping the young master with his treatment, she had been exhausted. This sleep lasted a full three hours, from noon until evening.

“If you still hadn’t woken, I would have eaten all these berries myself,” the young master said with a smile, handing them to her.

After eating the ten berries, An Yi was still far from full. But there was nothing else here to fill her stomach, so she had no choice but to endure it. They would still need to remain here for two or three days, and they could not strip the place of all the berries.

The young master lit the fire. After nightfall, the temperature in the pit would drop a great deal.

Since An Yi had slept too long during the day, she could not sleep at night. She sat by the fire in a daze.

The young master sat opposite her. After waiting a long while and seeing that she had no intention of speaking, he recalled how, during their journey together before, she often closed her eyes to rest. He smiled and decided to break the silence himself. “Doctor Lu returned to Jingtang Village at the beginning of last winter.”

“Oh,” An Yi replied.

The conversation died there.

After thinking for a moment, the young master asked, “Xier, what brought you to Zhengzhou?”

An Yi lifted her eyes to him. “I was just passing through Zhengzhou.”

“Where are you going?”

An Yi pressed her lips together. “The capital.”

“Going to visit relatives in the capital?”

“Yes.” She nodded.

Again, there was nothing more to say.

The young master searched for another topic, but An Yi spoke first. “Your internal injuries have not healed. You should rest early.”

“All right.” He lay down on the grass bed. While An Yi had been asleep, he had made another bed opposite hers.

The night deepened. An Yi added a few larger pieces of dried grasswood to the fire, then went to bed.

At dawn, An Yi woke to find that the young master had already gathered berries. They were still slightly green and not fully ripe, tart and astringent. As she ate, she frowned repeatedly and could not help asking, “Young Master Gong, is there nothing else to eat besides these?”

“Xier, we have already shared hardship twice. Why are you still being so distant? Don’t call me Young Master Gong. Call me by my name.” He smiled.

An Yi paused, then smoothly changed her address. “Yanqiu, is there really nothing else to eat?”

“Though this place is large, it is sealed off. Animals can’t come in, and birds never stop here to roost.” He sounded helpless.

“I’ll look around. Some plant roots and stems can be eaten too.” An Yi was so hungry that her head had started to spin. She would have to needle him again later, and she was worried about her concentration. A misplaced needle could kill a person. She was still counting on Young Master Gong to get her out of here; he could not be the one she accidentally stabbed to death.

Young Master Gong accompanied An Yi as she wandered around the bottom of the pit.

As she walked, her eyes suddenly lit up, and she gathered up her skirts and ran over. “Young Master Gong, come quickly!”

“What is it?” he asked.

“Wild mountain yam. It can be eaten.” Her voice was thick with swallowed saliva.

At the mention that it was edible, he drew his sword and began digging. As he worked, he teased her with a laugh. “Using a fine treasured sword to dig in the dirt. What a waste of a gem in the mud.”

Without looking up, An Yi replied, “It’s called making full use of what one has.”

The two of them dug up the entire patch of yams, then returned to the cave. They lit the fire and buried the yams beside it to roast.

When the yams were done, they gave off a rich fragrance. Young Master Gong used his sword to part the coals, and the two of them peeled and ate them while they were still hot.

After finishing the yams and drinking half a bowl of water, Young Master Gong patted his stomach and laughed. “Xier, thank you. This is the fullest I’ve eaten in months.”

An Yi wiped the corner of her mouth. “Rest for half an hour, then I’ll needle you for treatment.”

After the acupuncture, he meditated for another half hour and felt true energy pour forth from his dantian, sweeping away the gloom that had plagued him for days. He felt refreshed and invigorated. “Xier, your medical skill is even greater than Doctor Lu’s.”

An Yi took his pulse. “Tomorrow your strength will be fully restored.”

“Then tomorrow we’ll be able to leave this place and see the sunlight again.” Young Master Gong lifted his gaze to the blue sky, and a flash of cold light passed through the depths of his eyes.