Huang Rong from The Return of the Condor Heroes: Brother Jing, let's get a divorce.

Just as Lu Wushuang was about to reach for Yang Guo's acupoint on his chest, a sudden commotion of shouts and noises erupted from outside.

The light from the torch shone through the hole in the roof of the woodshed into the room, casting a red and yellow hue on the dry grass in the corner.

"Have you searched that alley? Why are those two dogs barking this way?" A rough voice came from behind several low walls, sounding no more than a dozen feet away.

"There's a run-down yard over here, the seal is old, let's go in and take a look!" another person chimed in.

Lu Wushuang's hand stopped above Yang Guo's chest, and she squatted down, not daring to move. She turned her head to look at Cheng Ying, who was leaning against the woodpile.

Cheng Ying's injuries were becoming increasingly difficult to control.

She clutched her chest, coughed up a mouthful of blood, and the blood dripped from the corner of her mouth onto her white silk undergarment, staining the already transparent fabric red and white.

Her legs were so weak that she could barely sit up, let alone lift a sword to kill someone.

"They're coming in," Lu Wushuang said in a low voice, her palms sweating.

Cheng Ying, panting, reached for the broken sword beside her. "Take him to the back window. I'll stay here and stall for time."

"Cousin, with your injuries like this, how many people can you hold off?"

Lu Wushuang pressed down on Cheng Ying's hand holding the sword, "My husband is in such a condition that he can't move at all. He's so heavy, I can't carry him over the wall by myself. Besides, there are dogs outside."

The footsteps outside the courtyard wall grew closer. Someone kicked a piece of broken brick next to the seal, causing the dog leash to tug loudly.

Lu Wushuang gritted her teeth, stood up, and tucked the willow-leaf dagger back into her waistband.

"I'll distract them."

Cheng Ying looked up at her.

"Going out is just suicide for you."

"No way." Lu Wushuang puffed out her chest, her tone carrying the brashness of her past life in the martial arts world. "My husband taught me the Snake Step and the Weasel Flip. This movement technique is most effective in narrow alleys like this. As long as I can slip away quickly, those soldiers won't even be able to touch my shadow."

She pointed outside the woodshed.

"I'll go lure the dogs away from outside the yard and run westward. Once the torches have all followed me, you can stay here and heal your wounds in peace."

Cheng Ying didn't try to persuade her any further. She understood that this was the only way to survive at that moment.

She gave Lu Wushuang a deep look and instructed, "Remember, don't take the main roads. Only turn into dead ends and use your lightness skill to climb over walls. Whatever you do, don't get surrounded."

"I understand, cousin." Lu Wushuang glanced at Yang Guo lying on the ground, walked over and kissed his burning face. "Husband, wait for me to come back."

After saying that, Lu Wushuang walked to the back window of the woodshed, pushed open half of the broken window, and slipped out.

Her serpentine leaps and somersaults were now quite skillful; she landed without making a sound, and under the cover of night, she scaled the crumbling wall and headed straight for the end where the torches were lit.

A few breaths later, Lu Wushuang's arrogant cursing voice rang out from outside the wall.

"A bunch of idiots! I'm right here, come and chase me if you dare!"

Then came the sound of tiles shattering and the barking of several dogs.

"She's over there! Go after her! Don't let her get away!"

Attracted by the commotion caused by Lu Wushuang, the officers and soldiers who were searching for her all rushed over along the alley to the west.

The firelight faded into the distance, and darkness returned to the area outside the dilapidated woodyard.

Cheng Ying listened intently.

The barking grew fainter and fainter, first heading west, then turning north.

Lu Wushuang didn't walk in a straight line, which shows that she still has a sense of propriety.

The footsteps finally disappeared two streets away, and the sound of the drums at Tongguan once again drowned out everything.

Once she was sure the pursuers were far away, Cheng Ying relaxed her tense shoulders and leaned against the haystack, completely exhausted.

She rested for a long time before the churning blood in her chest calmed down a little.

The cold, yin energy entered her lungs and internal organs. Peach Blossom Island's internal energy followed the pure and spiritual path, but it was precisely this kind of cold and yin energy that was most afraid of its corrosive effects.

She dared not use her internal energy to expel the poison, fearing it would aggravate her injuries, and could only rely on her body to slowly endure it.

Only she and the unconscious Yang Guo remained in the woodshed.

The drumbeats were repeated twice, and then no more footsteps were heard outside.

Moonlight shone through the hole in the roof, illuminating Yang Guo's face.

Even with his eyes closed, the man lying on the hay still had that arrogant air about him who usually flirted with women.

The corners of her mouth were slightly upturned, whether from pain or from taking advantage of someone in her dream.

Cheng Ying stared at him for a while.

During the day in Luomashi, this man forced her to call him "Master".

At the inn, this man made her take off her outer skirt to scrub his back.

But when Leng Feng's sword slashed in, the first person to pull her aside was also this person.

Cheng Ying shook off the jumbled thoughts in her mind, braced herself with her hands on the ground, and slowly moved towards Yang Guo.

Her clothes were torn, and the abrasions on her knees and sides rubbed against the rough wooden planks, making her gasp in pain.

But she gritted her teeth and endured it.

She needed to first determine the extent of Yang Guo's injuries before deciding what to do next.

As soon as Cheng Ying moved next to Yang Guo, she sensed something was wrong.

An extremely domineering heat emanated from Yang Guo's body.

It wasn't the usual fever after an injury, but a burning heat that seemed to emanate from deep within the bone marrow.

The heat had roasted the dry grass within half a foot of Yang Guo's body until it was brittle and could be crushed with a pinch of the hand.

Cheng Ying extended two fingers and placed them on Yang Guo's wrist at the Cun Guan acupoint.

She pulled her fingertips back as soon as they touched her skin.

It's too hot.

This temperature is not something the human body can reach.

She gritted her teeth and pressed her fingers back on.

It takes at least ten breaths to discern the pathways of the meridians when taking a pulse. She endured the burning pain in her fingertips and focused all her attention on the pulse.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Ying felt a chill run down her spine.

Yang Guo's internal energy was in complete disarray.

The true qi of the Zheng Jiuyin path is gentle, profound, and flows downward along the Ren meridian; the true qi of the Ni Jiuyin path is violent and ruthless, rushing upward against the Du meridian.

The two streams of true energy collided back and forth between the upper and middle dantian, and with each collision, Yang Guo's breathing became weaker.

The Yin energy that Leng Feng had sealed within his meridians stirred things up, making the internal strife even more uncontrollable.

But Cheng Ying also discovered something unexpected.

Within Yang Guo's body, there was a martial arts technique operating on its own.

She was familiar with that aura.

The Secret of Heaven and Earth.

That night in the dilapidated temple, Yang Guo used this martial art to do whatever he wanted to her, pouring his inner energy into her waist with his palm.

That hot and tingling sensation stayed with her for two whole days. Now, as that feeling emanated from Yang Guo's pulse, she recognized it the moment she touched him.

At this time, Yang Guo was seriously injured and unconscious, unable to actively control his internal energy.

The Qiankun Technique activated on its own, bypassing his consciousness and forcibly drawing in external energy to balance the Yin and Yang within his body.

Cheng Ying had done her homework on this.

The Peach Blossom Island Sutra Repository contains records of the Yin-Yang dual cultivation technique. Although Huang Yaoshi denounced it as a heretical practice, the principles behind it are explained very clearly.

If this type of cultivation method gets out of control, the yang fire in the practitioner's body will leak out wildly, seeking pure yin energy to remedy the situation.

If the Yin energy cannot be channeled, the Yang fire will backfire, burning upwards from the Dantian, first burning the meridians, then damaging the internal organs, and finally even losing the condensed innate primordial energy bead.

Cheng Ying withdrew her finger and looked down at Yang Guo's abdomen.

Beneath the fabric, one could vaguely see red and black lights flashing alternately.

That was the reaction of the Qi Bead. The bead was still there, not broken, but its rotation speed was too fast and it was out of control.

According to the method Lu Wushuang had previously mentioned, dual cultivation and channeling could help him release his yang fire.

But Lu Wushuang has left and won't be back anytime soon.

Cheng Ying did not know the Qiankun Formula, nor did she understand the Kanli Formula.

Even if she could, given her current injuries, channeling her internal energy would only allow Leng Feng's Yin energy to penetrate deeper into her internal organs.

She can only do one thing.

First, treat the sword wound on your chest.

The cloth strip on Yang Guo's chest was soaked with blood. The blood had hardened into a dark red crust under the high temperature, sticking the cloth strip to his skin.

If the bandage is not removed and re-bandaged, the ulceration underneath the wound will accelerate.

Cheng Ying tore off a tattered sleeve from her outer garment and folded it into a thin strip. She bent down and reached out to untie the old strip of cloth covering Yang Guo's chest.

Just as she leaned her upper body over him, Yang Guo moved.

There were no signs whatsoever.

A hand reached up from the side and grabbed Cheng Ying's left arm.

His fingers were clenched so tightly that the tips dug into the soft flesh. The temperature of his palm was frighteningly high; even through the thin fabric of his undergarment, it made the hairs on Cheng Ying's arms stand on end.

"Let go!" Cheng Ying hissed, reaching out her right hand to pry his fingers off.

She herself was also seriously injured, and her right hand was weak and sore.

Yang Guo managed to pry open one finger with all his might, but the other four tightened up again.

He closed his eyes and let out a muffled groan.

This was not a conscious reaction; it was the Qiankun Technique driving his body.

The Yang Fire found a source of pure Yin energy and instinctively wanted to seize it.

Cheng Ying's internal energy cultivation method on Peach Blossom Island follows a gentle and pure path.

She had practiced martial arts on Peach Blossom Island since childhood, nourished by the yin energy of the sea, making her internal energy more yin than that of ordinary women. In addition, at this moment, she was soaked in sweat, her clothes were tattered, and her aura was completely exposed. For Yang Guo, who was burning with yang fire at this moment, she was like a cool spring in a drought.

Yang Guo grabbed her left arm and pulled hard.

Cheng Ying was already unsteady on her feet, and with this pull, she fell directly onto Yang Guo.

She gasped and tried to spring up using her right hand to brace herself. But Yang Guo's right arm wrapped around her waist, and his two arms closed around her, locking her completely against his chest.

His strength was extraordinary. Even in his unconscious state, Cheng Ying couldn't break free of his peak early-stage innate physique.

Cheng Ying's face collided with Yang Guo's chest.

She subconsciously tilted her head to avoid the sword wound, but her head ended up touching his bare skin.

It was scalding. The heat that spread from the point of contact to her limbs made her scalp tingle.

She struggled a couple of times, but instead of getting away, Yang Guo held her even tighter.

Her already tattered white undergarment ripped open a few buttons during the tug-of-war, exposing a large expanse of her chest to Yang Guo.

The soft skin, pressed against Yang Guo's body through a thin, almost invisible layer of silk, turned red from the heat of his burning body.

Cheng Ying's face burned purple with shame and anger, but she couldn't muster any strength.

She could even feel Yang Guo's heartbeat. Thump, thump.

Each strike was more powerful than the last, causing her entire chest cavity to resonate.

The Qiankun Technique found the source of the Yin energy, and the Yang fire within Yang Guo's body began to spontaneously surge towards the place where Cheng Ying had come into contact with it.

His breathing became extremely heavy, and his nose unconsciously buried itself in Cheng Ying's neck, rubbing against the skin of her neck, breathing in her scent in large gulps.

"It smells so good, and it feels so cool." Yang Guo muttered some obscene words, his chin rubbing against Cheng Ying's fair collarbone.