“You’re bleeding! How can it be just a scratch?”


  Qin Shu didn’t believe for a second that Han Xiao’s injury was just a scratch. She wanted to examine his wound more closely but before she could do so, Han Xiao said, “Let’s head back. It’s too dangerous to stay here.”


  “Please let me check your wound first.” Qin Shu refused to budge. She was not going to let Han Xiao brush her off so easily. She stood stubbornly where she was with her arms outstretched, touching his cheeks and then his head. As she did so, her lens on her spectacles fell out and landed on Han Xiao’s shoe.

  As she raised her hands, she noticed that her lens on Han Xiao’s shoe so she paused and stared at it for a split second.

  Han Xiao had shielded her in his arms as they tumbled down the slope so her glasses had not been knocked free from her face, however, as Han Xiao held her tightly against his chest the lens was dislodged from its frame.

  Han Xiao saw the lens on his shoes and picked it up between his fingers, then he looked at Qin Shu and saw that her spectacles frame had snapped during their tumble down the slope, causing the lens to pop out.

  Han Xiao had been so focused on whether Qin Shu had injured herself when they rolled down the slope in each other’s arms that he did not notice that her spectacle frame had broken and it was hanging precariously on her nose bridge.

  Han Xiao had never seen Qin Shu without her glasses and he had always wondered what she looked like without them. He reached towards the broken frame and tenderly removed them, revealing her natural features.

  As Han Xiao removed her broken spectacles, Qin Shu’s world came to a standstill.

  Qin Shu was taken aback by Han Xiao’s gesture.

  Qin Shu’s breath-taking beauty was unveiled, overwhelming Han Xiao and leaving him entranced. He traced the contours of her face, from her exquisitely formed brows to her limpid eyes, and they matched the features of his Xiao Budian to a fault.

  The face before him was undoubtedly that belonging to his Xiao Budian. He was convinced that she was his Xiao Budian whom he had been searching for.

  After seven long years wandering in search of her, had he found her at last? Han Xiao was so excited that he grabbed Qin Shu’s arms without reservation, asking, “You are…… The Xiao Budian, aren’t you? It’s me, Ling Han! I used this name while we studied martial arts together.”


  Ling Han was the name Han Xiao had gone by when he was learning martial arts.

  It was not uncommon for people learning martial arts to employ fake names to hide their true identities in the martial arts school.

  It was an unspoken rule they abided by as fellow students embarking upon the martial way.

  Qin Shu was expecting Han Xiao’s reaction the moment her glasses were removed.

  It was a similar reaction Hua Wuyan had displayed when he had managed to catch a glimpse of her without her spectacles, albeit the reaction she had evoked in Han Xiao was greater than what Hua Wuyan’s had been.

  “I’m sorry, but you’ve mistaken me for someone else. I’m not the Xiao Budian you have been searching for, and I don’t know anyone called Ling Han either.”


  Han Xiao stood stock still failing to process the information that had paralysed him like bolt from the blue. Qin Shu resembled the Xiao Budian in his mind too closely for him to have made a mistake. He could not have misidentified her.

  “There are many people in this world with similar appearances. I really don’t know of anyone called Ling Han.” Qin Shu pursed her lips. “Let me take a look at your injuries. They may be more serious than you think.”


  Han Xiao had been searching tirelessly for his Xiao Budian for seven years. After mistaking her for someone else, his disappointment must have been immeasurable. Qin Shu did not know what she could say to comfort him.

  She straightened her back and appraised the wound on Han Xiao’s head. It was a bloody gash around four centimetres long. Blood from the open wound flowed out, soaking his raven black hair with no sign of it stopping.

  “You’ve got a head wound. It’s still bleeding. Hold still, I think I have some medicine in my backpack that will stop the bleeding.” Qin Shu nervously rummaged in her pack for supplies.

  Han Xiao stared at Qin Shu with narrowed eyes. He could see her smooth forehead and her thick, curly eyelashes that fanned out daintily. His Xiao Budian had long eyelashes and they too curled up naturally.

  “Are you angry with me?”


  “Pardon?” Qin Shu responded with a question of her own. She did not understand what Han Xiao was trying to get at.

  Han Xiao’s dark eyes bored into her with startling intensity. “Is it because I failed to find you for all those years?”


  “I’m really not who you think I am. Don’t dwell on it.”


  Qin Shu unscrewed the cap sealing the hemostatic medicine. It was in powdered form. She sprinkled the powder over his wound and cleaned up the excess blood around it.

  She could do little else with what she had on hand. They had to get back to their campsite for her to do more. She had prepared a comprehensive first-aid kit with all the tools she would need for an injury like his.

  “Let’s return first. Your wound is serious and it needs to be treated properly.”


  Han Xiao’s hand clamped onto Qin Shu’s wrist, asking unyieldingly, “Are you really not Xiao Budian?”


  Qin Shu shook her head and said, “No, I’m not.”


  Han Xiao was taken aback by Qin Shu’s straightforward denial.

  Had he really mistaken her for someone else?

  If so, where had she learnt her martial arts from?

  Han Xiao’s lips were drawn into a thin line. Though he did not want to believe that he had been mistaken, he could not think of any other method to identify his Xiao Budian. Slowly, he released her hand from the vice it had been locked in and muttered dejectedly, “Let’s go back first.”


  Seeing Han Xiao’s sombre expression, Qin Shu empathised with his plight but did not know how to comfort him.

  “Okay.” She scrambled to her feet, using her arms to support her weight as she did so, she felt dizzy and a pulsating headache throbbed behind her eyes. Perhaps she had sustained some injury during her fall after all. “We can’t go up the way we fell – the slope is too steep here. We’ll have to take a longer route if we are to return to our camp.”


  Han Xiao mirrored her actions with as much grace as someone with multiple injuries could have had. If he hadn’t trained his body and improved his constitution, he probably would not have been able to stand up at all. Although he was in a lot of pain, it was still within a range he could endure.

  His most serious injuries were undoubtedly his lamed right arm and bleeding head.

  “Let’s go this way.” Han Xiao pointed to their right. He had taken the effort to survey the terrain as they scaled the steep slopes of the col. If they circled around, they would eventually return to where they were before at the col’s mouth.

  Qin Shu noted the direction Han Xiao wanted them to take. It would be a long hike back but they did not have any other options.

  They circled back the way they came, spending several hours longer on their return trip than they had when venturing into the col. Hours passed in excruciating tedium. Though they had not arrived at their campsite, it was but a little ways away from their current position.

  Qin Shu had been suppressing her own condition to the best of her abilities but it was becoming harder to do so the further she trekked. Her legs were wobbling like jelly and her body alternated between bouts of extreme heat and cold. Her head was pounding; dizzying and dreadfully painful.

  Was she coming down with a cold?

  Qin Shu frowned. Falling ill at such a time would be troublesome.

  Qin Shu’s condition had deteriorated so far that it became obvious to Han Xiao who was ambling by her side. Her skin had paled drastically, her movements came with difficulty, and her breathing came in laboured gasps. ” Are you alright?”


  Not having any energy left to continue their march, Qin Shu leaned against him and wheezed, “I can’t walk anymore. Let’s rest for a while.”


  “Alright. You must be exhausted.” It was then that Han Xiao caught sight of a large bruising discolouration on the back of her hand. Two small puncture wounds winked like a pair of snake eyes.

  “What happened to your hand?”


  Han Xiao studied Qin Shu’s complexion and realised that she didn’t look too good either.

  “It was bitten by a snake. I’ve already sucked out the venom……” Qin Shu took a look at her hand. An ugly purple bruise had formed over it.

  A bad feeling wormed its way into Han Xiao’s heart when he heard that she was bitten by a snake. He hurriedly asked, “What kind of snake was it?”


  “It was green and flecked in purple spots – a little larger than a chopstick in size,” Qin Shu said as she pictured the snake in her head.

  Han Xiao frowned. “I haven’t heard of a snake that matches your description but judging from its colouring, it was probably venomous.”


  Qin Shu’s heart turned cold. She had not been reborn just for a snake to kill her with its venom.

  Han Xiao may have appeared calm but he was actually panicking. Snake venom, depending on its potency, could maim or even kill a person and it had already been half an hour since she had been bitten. If Qin Shu had not been able to extract all the venom that had entered her bloodstream, the consequences……