121: The pill melts in the mouth

Qingfeng's gaze was fixed on Su Ming's unremarkable finger.

The ring was entirely black, without any patterns, and if thrown on the roadside, it would be mistaken for a common lump of iron.

But just now, when his Spiritual Sense swept past, he felt an extremely subtle fluctuation.

"This is definitely not an ordinary Storage ring!"

A Loose Cultivator in the Qi Refinement Stage wearing a high-grade Storage Magical Artifact?

"Senior Brother! Senior Brother! What are you spacing out for?"

Mingyue's anxious voice pulled him back from his shock.

She squatted beside Su Ming, holding her small hand above Su Ming's nose, feeling the breath so faint it was almost stopping, her eyes red with worry.

"His Qi is getting weaker and weaker. If we don't save him, he's going to die!"

"Save him?" Qingfeng snapped back to attention, his brows furrowed into a knot. He moved his gaze from the ring to Su Ming's pale face.

"Mingyue, wake up! We snuck out! Revered Master only gave us a few Life-Saving Medicinal Pills. If you use one on him, what will we do if we encounter danger?"

He pointed at Zhao Qianshan's corpse and lowered his voice, "To be able to die alongside a Cultivator at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment, this kid is a huge trouble himself! Getting involved with him will only lead to disaster!"

"But... but Revered Master said that if we abandon the dying, our Dao Heart will be uneasy." Mingyue's voice was tearful as she stubbornly looked at Qingfeng.

"Oh, you..." Qingfeng was choked into silence.

He feared his Junior Sister looking like this the most; whenever she showed such a tearful expression, he felt his principles crumbling inch by inch.

"No! Absolutely not!" Qingfeng hardened his heart and grabbed Mingyue's wrist, preparing to leave.

"Saving a troublemaker is harming ourselves! Hurry up and go, let's pretend we were never here!"

"I'm not leaving!" Mingyue violently shook off his hand.

She squatted back down beside Su Ming, like a small beast protecting its young.

"If you want to leave, go by yourself! If he dies, I will definitely develop a Heart Demon, and my Cultivation will never advance again!"

Seeing that Qingfeng was still unmoved, Mingyue's eyes darted, and she pulled out her trump card.

She puffed out her chest, cleared her throat, and said in a moderate voice, "Senior Brother Qingfeng, if you refuse to save him, then when I return, I'll have to have a chat with Revered Master and ask him why one of the 'Lesser Teleportation Talismans' he refined went missing without a reason, won't I?"

Qingfeng's face instantly collapsed.

He was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, his fur standing on end. He rushed over and covered Mingyue's mouth.

"Junior Sister! Keep your voice down!" He looked around guiltily, afraid a Sect Elder might pop out of the mountain.

"You win!" Qingfeng gritted his teeth and let go of her hand, his face filled with distress and helplessness.

"Fine! I'll save him, alright!"

He glared fiercely at the unconscious Su Ming on the ground, as if giving away the Medicinal Pill was like slicing flesh from his own body.

"However, I'm laying down the ground rules first!" Qingfeng raised a finger and stated his condition with a serious face, "We can save him, but once he wakes up, the origin of this ring and exactly who he is must be questioned thoroughly!"

"Okay!" Mingyue immediately stopped crying and smiled, nodding repeatedly.

Qingfeng looked at her bright smile, and the last bit of resistance in his heart vanished, leaving only a helpless sigh.

He carefully took out a Small White Jade Bottle from his embrace.

The moment the stopper was pulled out, a refreshing fragrance of herbs, accompanied by abundant Vitality, instantly permeated the riverbank.

Qingfeng's face was practically screaming the phrase "My heart is bleeding."

He poured out a Medicinal Pill from the bottle—it was entirely emerald green and shimmered with Pill Essence—it was the Cloud Hidden Sect's secret healing Medicinal Pill: the hundred herbs life-returning elixir.

Although this pill was not the Sect's most top-tier Medicinal Pill, it was refined from hundreds of rare Spiritual Plants. For Cultivators below the Foundation Establishment Stage, as long as they still had a single breath, it could pull them back from the gates of hell.

Mingyue blinked her large eyes and asked doubtfully, "Senior Brother, didn't you say before... that we only had two Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Pills left?"

A trace of embarrassment at being exposed flashed across Qingfeng's face, and he forced himself to look calm, huffing, "Idiot Junior Sister, when traveling outside, who doesn't hide a few priceless treasures? I, your Senior Brother, managed to win this 'hundred herbs life-returning elixir' from Senior Brother Wang at the Pill Refining Room! I originally planned... planned to trade it for that Flying Sword I had my eye on!"

As he spoke, he started feeling distressed again, and he muttered softly while looking at the unconscious Su Ming, "This time, I really suffered a huge loss..."

"You're getting off cheap, you fellow!"

Qingfeng mumbled, pinched Su Ming's mouth open, and stuffed the priceless Medicinal Pill inside.

The Medicinal Pill melted instantly upon entry, transforming into a vast, warm current that immediately surged into Su Ming's limbs and body.

That warm current was like timely rain after a long drought. Wherever it passed, Su Ming's Meridians, which were nearly depleted due to severe injury, began to be rapidly nourished and repaired.

The hideous wound on his chest stopped bleeding at a visible rate, and his paper-white face gradually regained a hint of color.

His breathing, which had been so weak it was almost gone, became steady and deep.

"Alright, his life is saved." Qingfeng checked Su Ming's pulse, let out a breath of relief, and then started twitching with heartache again.

"This one Medicinal Pill was enough for me to trade for a fine Flying Sword..."

Mingyue looked at Su Ming's stabilized breathing and smiled happily, praising him sincerely, "Senior Brother is so kind!"

Qingfeng huffed and turned his head away, his young face slightly flushed.

He stood up and turned his gaze to the "Trophy" on the other side—Zhao Qianshan's corpse.

At this moment, the childishness and helplessness on his face were swept away, replaced by a sense of worldliness and indifference.

He skillfully walked up to Zhao Qianshan's corpse, searched his body without hesitation, and quickly found a dusty Storage Pouch.

He weighed the Storage Pouch in his hand, nodded in satisfaction, and casually tucked it into his robes.

Having finished all this, he straightened up and quickly formed several strange Hand Seals with both hands.

"Dissolve!"

He gave a low shout and pointed a finger at Zhao Qianshan's corpse.

A mass of pale green light enveloped the corpse like water ripples.

"Sizzle..."

A grating, corrosive sound rang out.

The corpse of the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment Cultivator rapidly melted and decomposed within the green light, like ice and snow under the scorching sun, eventually turning into a puddle of crystal-clear water that seeped into the cracks between the pebbles underfoot, leaving no trace.

The entire process was smooth and clean.

The skill and coldness in handling the aftermath formed a stark contrast with his still-childish face.

Mingyue seemed long accustomed to it; she just turned her head away, unable to bear watching the Corpse Dissolution scene.

"Alright, it's all cleaned up." Qingfeng clapped his hands, as if he had only done a trivial little thing.

He walked over to Su Ming, looked at the still-unconscious youth, stroked his chin, and began to analyze the situation.

"Junior Sister, this person has too many mysteries and an unknown background. If we leave him here, as soon as his injuries heal, his enemies will come knocking, and he'll be doomed."

"What should we do then?" Mingyue asked worriedly.

A glint flashed in Qingfeng's eyes, and his Little Scheme began clicking away loudly.

"So, we can't leave him behind. We should take him back to the Sect!"

"Ah? Take him back?" Mingyue was slightly surprised.

"Exactly!" Qingfeng clapped his hands, finding the idea more brilliant the more he thought about it.

"Think about it: we hand him over to the Merit Hall and say we accidentally rescued a Loose Cultivator who was being hunted by an Evil Cultivator while we were training down the mountain. This way, we not only completely save his life, but we also count it as a meritorious deed!"

He leaned close to Mingyue's ear and whispered, "Maybe this merit can even offset the punishment for secretly using the 'Lesser Teleportation Talisman' to run away!"

Mingyue's eyes instantly lit up.

"You're right! This way Revered Master won't punish us!" She clapped her hands happily, "Senior Brother, you're so smart!"

"Of course!" Qingfeng proudly lifted his small chin.

Having reached an agreement, Qingfeng stepped forward, effortlessly hoisted the unconscious Su Ming onto his back, and headed toward the woods by the river.