Song Qingge hadn’t been able to run up the mountain as fast as her Senior Siblings, and Feng Wenling didn’t want to leave her alone in the dark, in case she ended up tripping again, so the two girls arrived a few minutes behind Luo Jie and Wei Yaozu, just a Xuan Yi stormed out of the bamboo hut.

“Greetings, Shishu,” Feng Wenling said with a bow.

Song Qingge swiftly followed her lead. 

“Greetings, Shishu!”

Xuan Yi returned their greetings with a scoff and stormed off with a flick of his sleeve.

The two girls shared a brief look of confusion, but Song Qingge didn’t have time to dwell on why their Marital Uncle was there or why he was in such a bad mood. She had to stop Wei Yaozu from being embarrassed and further! She rushed inside Yao Huizhong’s bamboo house as soon as Xuan Yi was out of the way.

“A-Song! There you are - are you alright?!” Yao Huizhong asked worriedly as he looked her up and down for any sign of injury.

“Tell me what that rotten Xuan Yi did to you and A-Wei! Your Shizun will definitely get justice for you both!”

“Shizun, what are you talking about…? Shishu just had us copy the Sect Rules a few hundred times…” Song Qingge asked, confused.

Is Shizun angry that Xuan Yi kept us so late…? That was kinda my fault, though….

“I’ll tell you the story later, Shizun. How's Wei Shidi’s ankle?”

“Ankle?” It was now Yao Huizhong’s turn to be confused.

“Yeah? Wei Shidi twisted his ankle on our way back up the mountain, and Shixiong helped carry him up… Didn't Shixiong tell you?”

Song Qingge and Yao Huizhong simultaneously shot Luo Jie a confused glance, and the young man could only look down sheepishly in response. Yao Huizhong sighed and looked back at Song Qingge.

“A-Song, can you explain to me what exactly happened?”

---

“...So in the end, it was my fault that me and Wei Shidi came back so late, and it was also my fault that Wei Shidi tripped and hurt his ankle… Shizun, I’m so sorry!” Song Qingge said apologetically after explaining everything that had happened to Yao Huizhong, who had seemingly frozen in place.

…So A-Wei’s current condition wasn’t actually caused by Xiao Yi…?

This thought sent shivers down his spine.

Sh*t. He’s probably really angry this time…

“Shizun, are you alright?” Feng Wenling asked after a moment of silence. She handed him a cup of tea she had brewed while Song Qingge was explaining the events of that evening.

“Here, drink this to calm your mind. Don’t be angry at Song Shimei, she truly didn’t mean to cause trouble…”

Yao Huizhong was snapped back to reality and quickly gulped down the cup of tea.

“Ah, thank you, A-Feng, but you don’t need to worry. I’m not angry with A-Song.”

Song Qingge let out an involuntary sigh of relief.

“But what I don’t understand is how A-Wei ended up in such a state after just twisting his ankle…”

“I was also wondering that.” Feng Wenling said “His condition was stable until Luo Shixiong picked him up, but after that he began to rapidly deteriorate…”

Nervous sweat began to drip down Song Qingge’s back. By now she had already figured out that Wei Yaozu had probably fainted because his heart couldn't handle being picked up by Luo Jie, but she couldn’t let the others find out about this under any circumstance.

Having his crush exposed before he was ready would surely make Wei Yaozu Qi Deviate on the spot, and Song Qingge couldn’t let that happen. She had made a promise, after all, so she had to come up with some excuse!

“Actually, I think I have a theory on why Wei Shidi suddenly fainted." 

“A-Song, you’re such a smart girl! Let’s hear it!” Yao Huizhong said happily.

His expectant expression made Song Qingge feel a bit embarrassed, but she managed to endure and present her ‘theory’.

“Um…well, you see…I’ve been with Wei Shidi since this morning, and he hasn’t had anything to eat the whole day…So when he was suddenly picked up, he probably felt faint and suddenly passed out.”

As soon as these words left Song Qingge’s mouth, embarrassment flooded through her body like a river in the rainy season.

What was I thinking! There’s not way Shijie and Shizun will believe-

“A-Luo, go get A-Wei something to eat!” Yao Huizhong said frantically “A-Feng, quickly pass me a cup of tea, how could I have forgotten that he’s only at the first stage of Qi Gathering! He still needs to eat three times a day!”

Luo Jie and Feng Wenling hurriedly followed their Master’s orders, leaving Song Qingge completely dumbfounded.

That sh*tty excuse actually worked?!

---

After being fed and watered a bit by Yao Huizhong, Wei Yaozu actually did wake up.

“Thank the Heavens! You're finally up!” Yao Huizhong said with a voice full of relief.

“What happened? Where am I…?” Wei Yaozu asked with a voice that was still somewhat hoarse. His mind was still somewhat foggy, and the last thing he could remember was something emerging from the forest, though he could remember what, or rather who, it was…

“Don’t worry, you’re back in your own room. After you and A-Song fell, your Shixiong started carrying you back, then you lost consciousness…”

Yao Huizhong's words caused the memories to come flooding back into Wei Yaozu’s mind, and he quickly tried to sit up.

“Is Shixiong here right now?!” he asked frantically as Yao Huizhong helped him sit up slowly.

“Don’t sit up so quickly, A-Wei, you need to rest. I already sent the others away for tonight.”

Luckily A-Song told me that he had such a thin face, even just the thought of the others being here made him so anxious…

Yao Huizhong couldn’t help but sigh.

“Don’t worry about what the others think for now, A-Wei, and just focus on resting. Here, eat this”

He passed Wei Yaozu the unfinished porridge Luo Jie had made.

“Your internal injury flared up because your body didn’t have enough energy. I’m sorry, as your Master, I should have taken care of you better. In the future, we’ll all be having meals together to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

“I’ll leave you be for now, just eat and rest up tonight. I’ll come check on you in the morning, ok?”

Wei Yaozu simply nodded, and with that Yao Huizhong excused himself. Once he was gone, Wei Yaozu focused on eating his porridge.

It’s sweet. He thought after taking his first bite. This thought repeated over and over in his mind somewhat robotically, even after he had finished eating and laid down to sleep.

Thinking about anything else made his heart beat terribly fast.