Chapter 496 Life-saving grace
Four hours ago...

The villa in Jueqing Valley was silent, and the candlelight in Xiao Zhirou's room was dim.

In the haze, Yun Jianping, with her fair skin and misty hair, lay quietly on the bed. She had an elegant appearance and breathed evenly. It seemed that the pain in her body had gradually subsided and she was sleeping soundly.

At this moment, a gorgeous woman, as beautiful as a peach and plum, as cold as ice, sat by the bed as quiet as a virgin. Her delicate hands, as white as cream, gently stroked Yun Jianping's forehead.

This woman is none other than Xiao Zhirou, the master of Jueqing Valley.

It was late at night and everyone was asleep. Xiao Zhirou took off her white veil, revealing her stunning face.

She is like a lotus emerging from water, elegant and delicate. Time seems to have stopped on her face, not only leaving no trace of aging, but also adding a bit of deep affection to it.

Especially the vague ethereal quality that emanated from between her brows, making her look like a goddess, which one could only watch from afar and not dare to touch.

In the dim candlelight, Xiao Zhirou stared at Yun Jianping who was immersed in her dream, her bright eyes sparkling with joy and sorrow.

Unconsciously, a crystal tear rolled down her flawless white cheek and fell silently on Yun Jianping's arm, causing her fingers to flicker slightly. Xiao Zhirou was frightened and quickly stood up and stepped back, fearing that she would disturb Yun Jianping's sweet dream.

Since returning from the Sword Arena, she has been staying by Yun Jianping's side, unwilling to leave for a moment.

Although Yun Zhuiyue has not said it clearly, blood is thicker than water, and mother and daughter are connected by heart. Whenever Xiao Zhirou gets close to Yun Jianping, she can feel a strong and complex emotion of attachment.

This kind of emotional fluctuation from the bottom of her heart made Xiao Zhirou certain that Yun Jianping was her precious daughter who had been separated from her for many years.

"Ping'er, you have grown up so big in the blink of an eye."

Xiao Zhirou stood far away, tiptoed and looked at the sleeping Yun Jianping carefully, muttering to herself: "When mother left you, you were still in your cradle crying for food..."

Having said this, Xiao Zhirou smiled with tears in her eyes, feeling mixed emotions in her heart that she couldn't describe.

"It's my fault, mother! I was too selfish back then..."

Xiao Zhirou wanted to say something but stopped herself. Whenever she thought of this, she felt heartbroken and too sad to speak.

"Thank God, you grew up safely..." Xiao Zhirou wiped away the tears from her eyes and smiled gently, "From now on, you are no longer a motherless child. I swear that I will never let you suffer any grievances again..."

After calming her thoughts, Xiao Zhirou walked slowly and quietly to the bedside, tucked the quilt gently for Yun Jianping, and looked at her with eyes full of tenderness and love.

"Crack!"

Suddenly, a very subtle sound came from outside the door.

Xiao Zhirou's eyes suddenly changed, and at the same time, she moved to the door in an instant and asked coldly, "Who is it?"

However, Xiao Zhirou's questioning fell on deaf ears. The silence outside the door remained, and no one answered for a long while.

"If you don't show up, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

After saying that, Xiao Zhirou slowly raised her right palm, and ripples of strong and long-lasting energy emanated from her palm.

"Don't...don't do it. It's me!"

A weak and hurried voice came from outside the door, and then a staggering figure flashed outside the door.

"Who are you?"

Xiao Zhirou quickly put the white veil in front of her and said in a deep voice, "Tell me your name!"

"More than 20 years ago, in the dilapidated temple outside Xiangyang City..." A burst of intermittent laughter came from outside the door, "Miss Teng, do you still remember it?"

Hearing this, Xiao Zhirou's eyes suddenly changed, and an indescribable complex emotion quickly surged into her heart.

"squeak!"

With a slight sound, the door opened. Jiang Yiwei, covered in wounds, stumbled into the room, lost his balance for a moment, and nearly fell to the ground.

At this moment, Jiang Yiwei's body was covered in blood, his face was blue, his lips were dark purple, and his shoulder was pierced by an arrow feather, blood gushing out like water. There was a dent in his ribs, and more than a dozen silver needles were densely inserted on both sides of his spine. It was obvious that he was seriously injured.

"You...you are..."

"It's out of the way!"

Jiang Yiwei ignored Xiao Zhirou's surprise, forced a relaxed smile, and asked, "Let me ask Master Xiao first, do you... still remember Jiang?"

Xiao Zhirou nodded solemnly and said, "Of course I remember! If it weren't for Third Master Jiang's kindness in letting me go, the three of us would have died long ago."

Hearing this, Jiang Yiwei's pupils shrank, and he asked in surprise: "A mother and her two children?"

"That's right!" Xiao Zhirou said bluntly, "Not long after you let me go, I gave birth to a son and a daughter."

"One son... one daughter..." Jiang Yiwei murmured, "You mean... you gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, for the mansion master?"

Although she didn't want to admit it, Xiao Zhirou did not hide it from Jiang Yiwei, so she nodded slightly.

"Then they... ahem..."

As soon as the words came out, a large amount of blood spurted out of Jiang Yiwei's mouth. Without waiting for Xiao Zhirou to come forward to investigate, Jiang Yiwei waved his hand and said, "Tell me first, is the mansion master's child still alive?"

"I have no idea."

"What kind of words are you talking about?" Jiang Yiwei said unhappily, "You are their mother, how can you not know whether they are dead or alive?"

Xiao Zhirou frowned slightly and asked, "Why are you asking these questions?"

"Don't you know?" Jiang Yiwei said excitedly, "Luo Hongxuan felt so guilty about what happened to Miss Zhongli that he injured himself with his palm. He is still on the verge of death and is in danger of dying. If your son were still alive... ahem... he would be the second son of the Luo family. Not only would he be able to continue the family line for the Northern Sage King, but he would also be able to inherit the family business..."

"Bah!" Suddenly, Xiao Zhirou's eyes turned cold, and she said with disdain: "Even if my son is alive, he will not 'recognize the thief as his father', let alone continue the incense for him and become the heir of the Xianwang Mansion!"

"Teng Rou, don't go too far!" Jiang Yiwei's eyes were fierce, and he shouted angrily, "Don't forget, I promised to let you go because I wanted to leave another bloodline for the Palace Master. How can you now..."

"Of course I won't forget!" Xiao Zhirou interrupted, "Back then, you chased me all the way, vowing to kill me. I was a woman, and pregnant, how could I be a match for 'Crossing the River with a Reed'? In the end, you forced me into a dilapidated temple outside Xiangyang City, but when you were about to attack me, you found out that I was pregnant. After my desperate pleas, you finally felt pity and agreed to let me go for the time being."

"That's right! At that time, I only agreed to let you go 'temporarily'." Jiang Yiwei said, "Back then, I couldn't bear to kill you because you were pregnant with Luo's flesh and blood. So I put forward a condition to you. When the child is born, you must commit suicide immediately, otherwise I will let you and your child never rest in peace."

"That's right!" Xiao Zhirou didn't seem to blame Jiang Yiwei, her tone was as calm as before, "I am already very grateful to you for letting my child go. How dare I expect that I can live in disgrace?"

"But you didn't do it, and you are still alive today!" Jiang Yiwei's eyes were fierce, and he said with gritted teeth, "Teng Rou, you are untrustworthy and go back on your words..."

"No! I didn't break my promise to you!"

"What?" Jiang Yiwei was stunned, his eyes full of confusion.

"After I gave birth to the children, I entrusted them to a friend, apologized to my parents and my clansmen, and said goodbye. Then I left for Jiangzhou and jumped off the Forgetful Cliff, intending to end my life."

"That……"

"Unfortunately, fate plays tricks on me." Xiao Zhirou continued to recall, "After jumping off the cliff, I did not die as I wished. Instead, I was rescued by someone. That person taught me to forget the past and become a human again. He also taught me medical skills and martial arts. From then on, I changed my name and lived in seclusion in Jueqing Valley. As for Teng Rou you mentioned, she had actually 'died' at the bottom of Wangqing Cliff a long time ago."

"I see."

Xiao Zhirou's eyes were clear and her expression was calm, without any intention of prevarication. Jiang Yiwei knew this very well, so he didn't make any fuss.

"Since you are not destined to die, I have nothing to say." Jiang Yiwei sighed, "However, truth will come out eventually. The truth about you being Teng Rou was revealed a few months ago. Do you know that because of your resurrection, I am now in a dilemma between life and death..."

"A dilemma between life and death?" Xiao Zhirou asked suspiciously, "Could it be that Luo knew that you spared me secretly, so he wants to settle the score with you later?"

"No!" Jiang Yiwei hurriedly shook his head and said, "No, the Palace Master, the Palace Master has deep feelings for you, how could he hope that anything would happen to you?"

"Humph!" Xiao Zhirou sneered, "If he didn't want anything to happen to me, he wouldn't have sent out wave after wave of assassins to chase me and kill me. He was obviously afraid that I would ruin his reputation and that my appearance would cause him to lose the protection of the Wudang Sect. That's why he wanted to get rid of me at all costs to clear the obstacles for his bright future!"

"This……"

Hearing this, Jiang Yiwei couldn't help but look embarrassed. He wanted to say something but stopped himself several times, as if he was very conflicted.

"In short, whether my child is dead or alive, it has nothing to do with Luo Tianjin anymore!" Xiao Zhirou said stubbornly, "But I have a clear distinction between gratitude and resentment. I will find a chance to repay Mr. Jiang San for not killing me..."

"No need!"

Jiang Yiwei's expression suddenly straightened, and he interrupted, "I will ask you to repay the favor of not killing me back then! Ahem..."

After saying that, Jiang Yiwei's mouth spurted out another stream of blood foam. At this time, the blood he spat out had changed from deep red to dark purple, looking very scary.

"What do you mean?" Xiao Zhirou was suspicious, "How do you want to get it back?"

"Don't worry!" Jiang Yiwei said bitterly, "I won't force you to commit suicide. With your current status and martial arts, even if I want to kill you... I'm afraid I don't have the ability to do so."

"then you……"

"Just now, your father went to Longxiang Mountain Villa." Jiang Yiwei said straight to the point, "It turns out that Longxiang Mountain Saint Master Yun Zhuiyue was once his adopted son."

Xiao Zhirou remained calm and said calmly, "So what?"

"I am not interested in the affairs of the Teng clan..." Jiang Yiwei said weakly, "But I saw with my own eyes that Teng Sanshi gave Yun Zhuiyue an 'Extreme Yuan Pill' to help him recover from his internal injuries, and he wanted to use him to deal with the Northern Sage King."

"What?" Xiao Zhirou was shocked and said in disbelief, "Is there such a thing?"

"I've been poisoned, and I won't live long..." Jiang Yiwei said self-deprecatingly, "Why would I make up a story to lie to you?"

"Then you..." Xiao Zhirou vaguely guessed something and asked, "What do you want me to do?"

"You also know that the Palace Master was seriously injured today and cannot fight again." Jiang Yiwei said earnestly, "If Yun Zhuiyue recovers from his injuries, the Palace Master will definitely die on the stage of the final battle."

"so……"

"So I hope... Master Xiao can remember that I spared you..." The poison seeped into his mind, and his eyes became increasingly blurry. Jiang Yiwei tried to stay alert and said through gritted teeth, "In the decisive battle, lend a helping hand to the Palace Master..."

"Don't talk yet. I'll seal your acupuncture points to prevent you from dying from the poison."

Xiao Zhirou's eyes changed, and she quickly moved forward, tapped Jiang Yiwei several times, and injected a trace of true energy into his body to stop the spread of the poison.

"Master Xiao, you must promise me!"

"Master Jiang, please don't force me!" Xiao Zhirou hesitated and shook her head slowly, "I can agree to anything you ask, but you can't help Luo... I can't do it!"

Hearing this, Jiang Yiwei couldn't help but look bitter. Suddenly, an idea flashed in his mind, and he said, "This time, we are not only helping the Northern Sage King, but also helping the Teng Clan, the Central Plains martial arts world, and even the Song Dynasty."

"What do you mean?" Xiao Zhirou asked in confusion, "What does the battle between Luo and Yun Zhuiyue have to do with the Teng clan? And what does it have to do with the Song Dynasty?"

"Of course it's of great importance!" Jiang Yiwei bit his tongue, trying hard to keep himself awake, and said urgently, "Do you know that Yun Zhuiyue and Yan Wuji are secretly colluding, and he is fighting for the leader of the martial arts world. His real intention is to recruit the Central Plains martial arts world for the Mongolian Khan, and then cooperate with the Tartars from inside and outside to try to overthrow the Song Dynasty."

"This..." Xiao Zhirou was shocked and doubtful, "Is there such a thing?"

"I swear to heaven, every word is true!" Jiang Yiwei said righteously, "Valley Master Xiao, although you are called the leader of a pagan religion, you are born with a chivalrous heart. You don't want the leader of the Teng clan to be kept in the dark by Yun Zhuiyue and become an accomplice of traitors. You don't want the descendants of the Teng clan to bear the stigma of colluding with foreign countries from generation to generation. Once Yun Zhuiyue succeeds, the Teng clan in Xiangxi will be in danger! The martial arts world in the Central Plains will be in danger! The Song Dynasty will be in danger! Ahem..."

Seeing that Jiang Yiwei was becoming increasingly depressed, Xiao Zhirou hurried forward to support him.

On his deathbed, Jiang Yiwei tightly grasped Xiao Zhirou's arm, and pleaded with a trembling voice: "Master Xiao, for both public and private reasons, you must help the Northern Sage King! As long as you help the Palace Master survive this disaster, the debt of gratitude you owe me... will be settled now..."

……

(End of this chapter)