Chapter 87: Brother

I suddenly shoved the woman before me away, stumbling back several steps. Lowering my head, I glanced at the necklace around my neck—only, it wasn’t a necklace at all, but a highly venomous cobra. The cobra flicked its tongue at me, and I instinctively reached out to fling it off. But it was too late. The snake’s raised head darted down, sinking its fangs into my neck. Agonizing pain shot through me, followed by a cold rush of venom seeping into my bloodstream.

That bite triggered a surge of strength within me. Grasping the cobra tightly by the neck, I hurled it to the ground with all my might. It landed with a thud and lay still. Clutching the wound on my neck, I stared at the woman before me and said coldly, “You… you’re not Bai Xiaoli. Who are you?”

She let out a chilling laugh. “I told you before—Bai Xiaoli isn’t your woman. The Dragon King of the Yellow River once did me a favor, but since you won’t listen to me, I have no choice but to do this…” With those words, she turned and walked away, leaving behind a blood-red shadow. With every step she took, wet, yellow mud water was left on the floor.

Who was this woman? Why did my grandfather owe her a favor? And why did he want me to marry someone who looked exactly like her?

My mind swirled with questions. At the same time, numbness began to spread through my body, and my vision blurred—the classic symptoms of a cobra bite. At most, I had forty or fifty minutes to live. The bite was in a fatal spot, high on my neck, above the level of my heart. The venom would flow straight to my heart, and I couldn’t even bind my neck with a rope to slow it, for fear of strangling myself.

Staggering a few steps, I collapsed to the floor with a crash, but felt no pain—the numbness had claimed my entire body.

In a daze, I saw my brother. He was dressed in a long, black robe. He had grown into a tall young man, but I recognized him instantly. Those clear yet weathered eyes of a Riverkeeper could never be mistaken.

Brother… why was my brother here?

Ten years ago, my brother had followed my grandfather onto the river, and together they vanished into the muddy, yellow waters. I couldn’t tell if this was reality or a hallucination.

He sighed softly, lifted me up, and laid me on the bed. Then he took out a black pill and placed it in my mouth. Instantly, relief washed over my body.

“Brother, is it really you? Are you and Grandfather all right? Where are you?” I gazed at the man in the black robe, forcing the words out.

“Xizi, life as a Riverkeeper is hard…” My brother gently stroked my cheek and said, “Your grandfather carries too many secrets… Be careful of him.” With that, he stood and walked toward the door.

I struggled to sit up, shouting after him, “Brother, where are you going? Tell me—I’ll come find you!”

“Hey! You’re awake, you’re awake, Pi Yangxi! Thank goodness, I was scared to death!” The only person before me was Lu Jiu, her face full of worry—there was no sign of my brother.

Tears streamed down my face as I stared blankly at the empty doorway. Everything was as it should be, as if my brother had never been there. All of it felt like a dream. I reached out to touch the wound on my neck—a sharp pain reminded me it was real.

“How… how did I survive?” I looked at Lu Jiu, dazed, while she regarded me with deep concern and fear.

She produced the porcelain jar the woman in the green robe had given her that morning—the one meant to contain the snake spirit. “You’re really lucky. The medicine that woman gave me for treating wounds, I used it on you tonight. Turns out, it’s just as miraculous as she promised—cures all ills. But we’ve used up the last of it now.”

“It wasn’t my brother?” Disappointment clouded my face at her words.

Lu Jiu shot me a look. “You heartless thing. I’ve been taking care of you for hours. If you want to thank someone, first thank that thousand-year-old ghost for sparing your life, second thank the woman in green for bringing the medicine this morning, and third, thank me—a disciple of Jingming—for putting the past behind me and tending to you so carefully.”

“A thousand-year-old ghost?” I frowned, glancing at the dried footprints on the ground. “You mean the woman who hurt me just now lived a thousand years ago?”

Lu Jiu nodded, her expression grave. “Pi Yangxi, that woman was shrouded in dark energy—something that takes millennia to accumulate. If she truly wanted to kill you, she wouldn’t have needed to use a cobra. That’s why I say she showed you mercy.”

“She didn’t show mercy. She must have her reasons for holding back.” I pondered the events: the snake’s venom was more than enough to kill me, but she hadn’t counted on us having the snake medicine. I figured that if she killed me with her own hands, she’d leave behind clues and risk retribution—so she resorted to indirect means.

Just as I was lost in thought, Lu Jiu’s face suddenly changed. She pointed at the door and cried, “She—she’s back!”