Chapter 48: Nightmare in the Ruins

The crash woke them both.

Meng Ruji's eyes snapped open to find Mu Sui's face inches from hers—both wearing that particular blend of confusion and alertness that came with being jolted awake. For a moment they simply stared at each other.

Then the awkwardness arrived.

She moved to sit up and discovered his hand resting on her waist, casual as though it had been placed there on purpose rather than drifting there in sleep.

Without ceremony, she slapped it away and rose, her composure carefully reconstructed. "This ground is too damp. I'm surprised you could sleep so soundly."

Mu Sui didn't linger on the question of how they'd ended up entangled. He simply got up and turned toward the sound's origin. "The noise came from the ruined temple."

They hurried over, following the increasingly desperate wails: "Stop hitting! Stop hitting! I was wrong! I didn't mean to hurt you!"

"Your bunny has remarkable energy," Meng Ruji observed dryly to Mu Sui, "causing a ruckus at dawn."

Mu Sui said nothing, simply striding ahead.

Inside, the temple had become a war zone.

The divine statue had toppled from its altar entirely. The structure it had supported collapsed with it—broken wood and tiles scattered across the ground like a graveyard of stone and timber. The statue lay half-buried in earth, its carved face tilted sideways, mud spattering its stone eyes like pupils watching these absurd humans with indifferent amusement.

Before the fallen god, Tuzi crouched and took a beating. Miaomiao's small fists came down on him with surprising ferocity, landing blow after blow despite the size difference.

"Bring him back! Bring him back!" she screamed.

"Who? Bring who back?" Tuzi wailed.

"Him! Him! It's him!"

Ye Chuan stood between them, helpless. "Miss Miaomiao, please—"

Meng Ruji ignored the circular conversation. She strode to Ye Chuan, grabbed him by the shoulder, and demanded coldly: "Where's Mo Li? Where's the stone? Did this rabbit do something to it?"

Mu Sui remained at the entrance, watching Meng Ruji rather than the beaten Tuzi. His expression had cooled noticeably.

Ye Chuan spun around from her grip, momentarily stunned before his mind caught up. "Yes, it's because of that stone!"

Miaomiao screamed again, a sound that could shatter the sky: "Bring him back to me!"

Without another word, Meng Ruji raised her hand and delivered a precise chop to Miaomiao's neck. The girl's eyes closed. Her body went limp. Meng Ruji caught her before she hit the ground, laying her down carefully.

Silence flooded the ruins.

Tuzi curled on the ground, whimpering and touching his swollen face. He glanced occasionally at Mu Sui, but seeing his master's dangerous expression, he thought better of speaking and simply sobbed quietly.

Miaomiao lay where Meng Ruji had placed her, murmuring unconsciously: "Bring back... bring back..."

"Speak," Meng Ruji commanded, turning to Ye Chuan.

Ye Chuan sighed and withdrew a gray-black stone from his chest, holding it out to her. "While I was outside last night, Tuzi did something to this stone. It retaliated—a tremendous blast of air. I was blown down from the tree even though I was sheltered. The statue fell. The temple collapsed."

Meng Ruji examined the stone carefully. Not a single crack marred its surface. Strange. Tuzi's attack should have provoked Mo Li into fierce retaliation, yet the stone remained dormant, silent. Whatever was inside wasn't waking.

She looked at Tuzi. "Yesterday you were so thoughtful about having everyone undress to make Miaomiao's bed. That was all for this stone, wasn't it?"

Tuzi only wept and offered no answer.

Meng Ruji didn't need one. Her conclusion had already formed. She tucked the stone into her chest, then glanced at Mu Sui.

His displeasure was written plainly across his face.

"Stop acting," she said sharply. "You and your servant—one doesn't want me keeping him in my chest, so the other manipulates me into undressing just to get opportunities to attack the stone. I was wondering why you'd suddenly become so obedient when I told you not to kill people."

"Not wanting you to keep him in your chest is simply not wanting you to keep him in your chest," Mu Sui said, his voice cold. "It was like that before. It remains like that now. This has nothing to do with whether I kill him or not."

That he would explain at all surprised her.

"Regardless, he stays where he is now."

Mu Sui's expression darkened further.

"Why is Miaomiao like this?" Meng Ruji asked Ye Chuan, turning her attention away.

"The blast of air seems to have bewitched her," Ye Chuan judged. "She appears to be searching for someone and has mistaken Tuzi for whoever that person is."

"Nightmare magic," Meng Ruji nodded, poking the stone in her chest. "A nightmare demon. Miaomiao has no magical defenses, so that blast confused her mind. She should recover once she wakes properly."

She exhaled with relief. "It shouldn't be serious. She'll be fine when—"

A hand seized her arm.

Miaomiao's eyes snapped open. Her gaze found Meng Ruji's, and suddenly her eyes were drowning in tears.

"Brother Changyun, I've been looking for you for so long. Where did you go?"

Silence fell over the group. No one dared move, afraid of triggering another frenzied outburst.

Meng Ruji tugged at her sleeve. Miaomiao's grip remained iron-tight.

"Miaomiao," Meng Ruji said carefully, pressing her free hand to her forehead, "is there any possibility I'm a woman and not a brother?"

"What?" Miaomiao stared at her as if struck by lightning. "You have another woman outside!?"

"No, I—"

"Are you disgusted with me?" Tears rolled freely down Miaomiao's face. "Because I never came to find you?"

"That's not—"

"Brother Changyun, I learned everything for you..." Miaomiao's voice broke into sobs. "The wedding dress... I sewed it myself. The cooking... I learned every recipe..."

The memory of that bag of clothes. That bag of flatbread. Meng Ruji's heart crumbled under the weight of it.

She abandoned all attempts at explanation. "There's no other woman. No woman outside. Only you. Please don't cry."

Miaomiao's watery eyes blinked up at her, desperate for truth. "Are you telling me the truth?"

Meng Ruji met those eyes without hesitation. "The truth. I only love you. Is that alright?"

Miaomiao's tears transformed into a radiant smile.

Watching that smile bloom through the tears, Meng Ruji marveled at how easily a girl could be comforted—and how easily she could be destroyed.

"Rest for a while," Meng Ruji said gently. "I need to step outside for a moment."

"What are you going to do?" Miaomiao looked around hazily, as though still caught between dreams. "Where are we?"

"I'm taking you home to get married," Meng Ruji coaxed. "You're tired from traveling. Rest here. I'll ask for directions and come back for you shortly."

"Alright," Miaomiao agreed placidly, already drifting.

Meng Ruji patted Ye Chuan as she passed, gave Tuzi a meaningful look, then grabbed Mu Sui's arm and dragged him outside.

Once they'd walked far enough that Miaomiao couldn't hear, Meng Ruji turned to speak—but Mu Sui beat her to it.

"When my wife acknowledges someone else's husband, she becomes quite fluent. One endearment after another."

Meng Ruji's eyes nearly rolled to heaven. "Whose mess am I cleaning up here? And before you answer—Miaomiao is just a girl. You're not actually jealous of a girl."

Mu Sui looked away, his voice dropping to ice. "Getting married twice in the Land of No Refuge brings divine punishment."

"Then tell that to your own gender!"

Meng Ruji turned away as well, and with that motion, she mentally drew a thick line through last night's resolution. No azure grass cloak for him.

Not with a mouth like that.

He didn't deserve it.

Tuzi appeared, limping slightly, his swollen face sincere. "It's my fault for causing trouble! Don't scold my city lord brother! I'll pull the cart to Zhuliu City. You can ride on it. I just won't deliberately drag you through rough terrain."

"You—" Meng Ruji pointed at him, felt old blood choking in her throat, held it. She took a deep breath. "Listen. We've worn her clothes. We've eaten her flatbread. She's our employer. Whatever comes now, we have to deliver her to her destination properly."

"Miss Meng speaks wisely," Ye Chuan added with concern. "But Miss Miaomiao is mentally confused right now. What happens when we reach Zhuliu City?"

"We take it one step at a time. Get to the city first. Nightmare magic symptoms can improve with travel, with distraction." Meng Ruji paused. "You're a Medical Immortal, aren't you? Can you examine her? Can anything speed her recovery?"

Tuzi's eyes brightened hopefully. "Yes, treat her! I don't want to get beaten again!"

Ye Chuan hesitated, then sighed deeply. "I... must confess my shame. These years, I've neglected my medical practice. I cannot... diagnose accurately."

Meng Ruji sighed—for Miaomiao, for herself, for the entire situation.

She'd thought she'd recruited a Medical Immortal. Instead, she'd acquired a barefoot doctor.

Well. What good fortune should she expect from the Land of No Refuge?

Before she could finish the thought, the rumble of cart wheels interrupted her.

They looked up to find Miaomiao dragging the wooden cart outside by herself, huffing with effort.

"Brother Changyun! Look what I brought you!" she called happily.

Meng Ruji stared at the cart. "What is it?"

"A horse!" Miaomiao announced proudly. "Such a big beautiful horse! You said before you'd take me horse riding! Now let's go!"

Meng Ruji: "..."

She turned slowly back to Ye Chuan. "How about you examine her after all."

Because apparently, treating a dead wooden cart as if it were a living horse was exactly what they all needed right now.

Meng Ruji's internal monologue: Can't normal people ever stay by my side?

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