My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion
Chapter 179 - 158 Don’t Leave!

Chapter 179: Chapter 158 Don’t Leave!

Yin Tingxue fell ill.

She lay on the mat brought from home, breathing weakly, her fair face pale.

Countless tiny white flowers scattered, rushed by the wind, landing briefly on the stump before vanishing without a trace.

Her forehead burned fiercely; yesterday’s chill had now turned into piercingly cold fever.

The gray tiles of Yintai Temple once refracted the afternoon sun, a stark contrast to its current dreary state. Back then, the servants and maids bustled through the temple gates; her mother would light incense with her own hands, kneeling on a cushion, reciting Buddhist Scriptures while gently patting her head. She was like a little wooden fish, obediently lowering her head, dozing off breath by breath.

In the early winter season, the ladies crossed the stone bridge, the river flowing below in deep indigo hues, tranquil and smooth. They laughed and chatted on the stone steps, and the maids exchanged sly glances. Yet as they approached Yintai Temple, an involuntary silence fell upon them. Yin Tingxue had heard her mother say, in distant Tianzhu, there was such a river that carried human souls, washing away impurities, and sending them onward to their next life. Whenever the women crossed the stone bridge, she thought of that river.

The sky was hazy, the snowfall chaotic. Yin Tingxue sniffed, catching the faint smell of brewing medicine. She looked up and saw his silhouette.

She shivered involuntarily. Once upon a time, he had entered like this, later forcing her into concubinage, taking her body as his own.

"Feeling any better?"

Chen Yi held the bowl of herbal soup and asked softly.

The girl had suddenly fallen sick, nearly collapsing to the ground. Chen Yi had caught her, instructing Zhou Yitang to fetch the mat and quilt from Square Land for her to lie down and rest properly.

Chen Yi glanced around the empty Yintai Temple. He hadn’t expected the temple to turn out this way.

"You’re not tying your hair up?"

Yin Tingxue slowly sat up, reaching out for the herbal soup.

His hair hung loose, and the sight brought back memories of her mother at Yintai Temple, her hair also unbound.

"No, it’s still wet."

Instead of handing her the soup, Chen Yi raised the spoon and said:

"Stay tucked under the covers so you don’t catch a chill. I’ll feed you."

Yin Tingxue hesitated, instinctively not wanting Chen Yi to feed her, but eventually nodded. Her mind was frightfully blurry.

The silver porcelain spoon cradled the bitter medicine, feeding it to her mouth one spoonful at a time. She feared it might scald her, so she blew on it lightly. Seeing this, Chen Yi began blowing on the spoon for her before feeding her.

Yin Tingxue froze for a moment.

After she finished the soup, Chen Yi, knowing she disliked the bitterness, pulled out candied fruit and held it to her lips. As she ate the candied fruit, the sweetness flowed into her, like a river spreading through her tongue.

"Chen Yi, you’re... really kind today."

She whispered.

"I wasn’t kind before?"

Yin Tingxue’s almond-shaped eyes widened slightly, momentarily torn. If she said he wasn’t kind, she might anger him. But saying he was kind felt like lying, and what if he discovered the lie and turned hostile? She hesitated for a long time and uttered:

"A little unkind..."

Chen Yi laughed softly, ran his fingers through her hair, and kissed her forehead.

"I know you’re good, relax."

He promised gently,

"Here, I won’t mistreat you."

Yin Tingxue murmured "Mm" and lightly leaned against him. Chen Yi tenderly embraced the unfortunate girl who had become his concubine.

For an unmeasured moment, distant mountain ridges blurred amidst the snow, appearing and disappearing as if human souls dwindled in Tianzhu’s river, heading toward reincarnation. His embrace was inexplicably warm. Yin Tingxue, who once feared it deeply, now still feared it, yet clung to it unwillingly, unable to part. Suddenly, she panicked — if Chen Yi disappeared too, what would she have left?

After holding her, Chen Yi gently released her, instructed her to rest, and took the bowl of medicine away. In the empty temple, only Yin Tingxue remained. She stared outside absentmindedly, the sky dim and tranquil.

She still remembered the figure of Sister Bodhisattva, as well as Aunt Feng. The former always wore a smile, eyes lowered in perpetuity, while the latter grew particularly prideful once autumn came, maple leaves fluttering around...

She remembered her mother even more — being cradled in her mother’s arms, listening to lullabies hummed by her. Yin Tingxue often yearned to return to the past; back then, she had everything.

The more Yin Tingxue thought about it, the dizzier she felt.

She was already dazed, occasionally hearing the faint sound of snowflakes falling, her limbs weak and powerless.

Wasn’t her mother like this once too?

She wanted to make a sound, but her throat produced none, groaning faintly, as if she had plunged into the World of Ignorance. Wasn’t her mother lying on that sickbed back then, her face dry and sorrowful at the end, as though her death foreshadowed an eternal absence? She seemed to be telling Yin Tingxue to be good, to be virtuous from now on.

Yin Tingxue greatly feared loneliness and lacked a sense of security.

"Why is it like this?"

She muttered, feeling a sudden wave of bitterness. Ever since meeting Chen Yi, she seemed to have lost everything overnight.

She knew none of it was his fault, and yet it felt as if everything was.

He had forced her into concubinage, taken her body, and despite her desperate compliance, he still treated her poorly. When she finally returned to Yintai Temple, she found everything gone again.

And in the end... would he disappear too?

Would he disappear as well?

In the gloom, she listened to the snow, remembered the Zen her mother once spoke of, and recalled ancient legends: Mara, Lord of Demons, spoke to the Buddha, saying that in the Dharma Decline, he would don the Buddha’s Kasaya, corrode the Buddha’s teachings, and within the Buddha’s temple gates, push all into emptiness—emptiness upon emptiness. At that time, even the Buddha shed silent tears.

The Buddha was just like her mother back then, silent and sorrowful.

Yin Tingxue wiped her teary eyes, curling up in the quilt, as though she had lost her Seven Spirits. She didn’t even notice when he came in.

"Tingxue..."

He called softly. Yin Tingxue heard his voice faintly and turned around, seeing him with his hair loose...

Just like her mother back then.

He approached her slowly, and a teardrop fell as she embraced the man who had forced her into concubinage.

"Mother!"

He froze for a moment, his hands trembling slightly as he held her.

"Mother, I’m in so much pain."

"...Why does it hurt?"

"Someone’s been bad to me, always bullying me..."

"That must be a bad person."

"He even forced me to be his concubine..."

"He... must be very bad."

"I’ve already given him my body, lost everything, and he still bullied me. Why is he like this? Will he disappear too?"

Tears poured freely. She muttered:

"...Mother, please don’t leave. I feel so awful..."

In the feverish haze, she had lost her senses, holding him tightly and crying out, over and over.

"...I’ll never abandon you."

After a long time, his voice escaped his throat.

Upon hearing this, Yin Tingxue smiled faintly through her tears, closed her eyes, and drifted into peaceful sleep.

In her dazed state,

this pitiful girl seemed to feel that her mother had reincarnated, living on through him.