Cui Puyu

Cui Hao's gaze swept over the wary sisters before him, a hint of helplessness in his eyes.

The Evil Spirit Cult was still following its usual procedures, having caught some rat spirit from who knows where and then setting up this kind of shrine.

As for so-called "charm water" that could cure all ailments and ease all pain, whatever methods they had used earlier to build its reputation were unknown for the moment. But now, this charm water was nothing more than the Cult’s crudest trick — forcibly stimulating one's blood energy and draining their very foundation.

For minor illnesses, drinking it might offer a cure, but you would have recovered on your own anyway without it. Still, after consuming it, you were bound to develop some chronic condition later.

For serious diseases, even if it granted you a lively bounce-back for two days, you wouldn't live much longer. If death was coming, death would still come.

It was purely something that harmed others without benefiting oneself.

But with the Cult's massive momentum, the throngs of followers, and the thousands-of-years-old tradition of shrine worship, everything seemed perfectly natural.

Cui Hao stood at the door, pointing at the pallid complexion of the Younger Sister:

"This bowl of water is merely something infused by a cultivator. Drinking it will only forcibly stir your own blood energy and burn your essence. Look at your sister — does she have any essence left to burn? If she drinks it, not even the gods could save her."

The Elder Sister raised her eyes. Usually, when facing such finely-dressed nobles, she dared not look up for long. But now her sister was behind her, and there comes a time when a person has no retreat left.

"Who are you?" the Elder Sister's voice trembled slightly.

Cui Hao thought for a moment, then answered honestly: "Cui Puyu."

Puyu was the courtesy name given by his elders, a true name — not a deception to the girl before him.

"I've never heard of a great figure like you around here," the Elder Sister said.

She held the bowl tight, though she didn't dare continue feeding her sister the handful of charm water she had painstakingly begged for. Her voice carried a hint of despair:

"In this world, I only have this one younger sister left. This is something I barely managed to get from the shrine. So many people have drunk this water and had their lives saved."

"Even the shrine's temple priest gave it to me secretly, not taking a single incense coin."

"Why would it be a death sentence for me? If you want this charm water, I'll risk my life to get you another bowl."

"But right now, can you please not lie to me? Tell me, can this charm water really save my sister's life?"

Cui Hao raised his hand, and a medicinal pill radiating a faint spiritual glow appeared in his palm:

"What's so special about water you can get in the time it takes to burn a stick of incense? Since I'm here, of course I won't stand by and let someone die. This pill is her lifeline."

Though the world is full of countless kinds of suffering and cannot be saved entirely, picking up the hardship right in front of you and doing something about it is still worthwhile.

Cui Hao looked at her with sincerity.

Though he had agreed with Zheng Zhaoling beforehand to clear any action with her first, and this trip was only meant to observe what the Evil Spirit Cult was up to — how far they had gone, what kind of people they went after — since intelligence is one thing, seeing things with your own eyes is always more accurate.

Cui Hao had already looked around in the shrine for a while. First, he figured out what was in that water vat. Then he wanted to observe more carefully, searching for anything else useful.

That was when the Elder Sister had stumbled into his view.

Thin and gaunt, deliberately trying to make her voice sound strong, carrying a peculiar, foul odor — without a single offering coin to her name, she had forced her way to the front of the vat.

To Cui Hao, this Elder Sister seemed skinny but not ill. The only possibility was that someone close to her was gravely sick.

No matter how you looked at it, this bond of affection was genuine.

The people of Northern Jambudvipa truly believed in these shrines. To do such a thing inside a shrine, beneath a deity's statue — aside from pure desperation, there was no other explanation.

If the Elder Sister hadn't gotten that bowl of water, Cui Hao would have observed further before deciding what to do.

But she had obtained the charm water.

For a severely ill person, downing that bowl would indeed mean an incurable situation.

Cui Hao didn't struggle inwardly much. Since this was someone who valued love and loyalty, appearing right before his eyes — how could he look away?

The unfortunate all share one common trait: they have zero room for error.

Perhaps just failing to gather firewood one winter night could mean freezing to death.

A small, unexpected incident could crumble their already fragile lives.

When compassion cost him little, Cui Hao was always willing to reach out.

The pill in Cui Hao's hand shimmered with a faint spiritual light, a thread of radiance in the pitch-black little room.

The Elder Sister stared fixedly at the pill before her, her throat moving, thoughts surging.

Her sister's life had now become a choice — one road to death, one to life.

This wasn't a simple multiple-choice question. It was a memory that would burn itself into her heart for the rest of her life.

The crushing weight of it robbed her of even the courage to speak.

The charm water had been a secret gift from a kind-hearted temple priest.

But the pill held by the elegantly dressed man before her was obviously priceless.

For lives like theirs, which outsiders considered worthless, even poisoning them would feel like a waste.

When the Elder Sister spoke again, her voice was hoarse: "My sister and I have nothing to repay you with..."

Cui Hao raised his hand, sending the pill floating toward her with spiritual energy. He smiled freely:

"When I do good deeds, if there's a reward, I might accept it. If not, I count it as soothing my own conscience."

"To put it plainly: I do it because I want to, because it makes me happy."

The Elder Sister took the pill, clutching it tightly in her palm. Then she looked down at the bowl of foul-smelling charm water.

This time, her movements were decisive. She raised the bowl and downed the charm water in one gulp.

A scorching, blade-like sensation rolled down from her throat. From her stomach, a blazing hot warmth began surging through her body.

It was far from a pleasant feeling, but she became surprisingly energetic, as if she had inexhaustible strength.

Experiencing the changes in her body firsthand only confirmed that Cui Hao's words were true.

This surging warmth inside her — it must have been her own blood energy. Because while she felt spirited, deep in her bones, a strange sense of fatigue had begun to creep in.

Only then did the Elder Sister stop hesitating. She fed the pill to her sister.

The moment the pill touched her younger sister's lips, it dissolved into medicinal power, slipping down her throat without any need to chew.

Watching her sister's breathing gradually steady, the Elder Sister's trembling eyes began to focus. She gently laid her sister back on the bed, then immediately turned, knelt down, and spoke to Cui Hao:

"I didn't mean to doubt your kindness, immortal... It's just... I had no choice..."

Her voice choked with tears.

"Whatever punishment the immortal decrees, your follower is willing to bear it all."

The Elder Sister had no choice. It had been her only option.

Her life had been squeezed so tight that there was no margin for even a single mistake.

Cui Hao stood at the door. After a pause, he said:

"Here's your punishment: you two must live well for the rest of your lives. Do your best to make your own lives better."

"Do what good you can, within your means. But never overextend yourselves, and never force it. Only do what comes easily, what is within reach."

“Also, that shrine is not a good thing. Don’t go there anymore.”

With that, Cui Hao gave a light laugh, reached out, and with a single tap dispersed the medicinal effects still lingering in Elder Sister’s body.

When Elder Sister sensed the change and looked up, Cui Hao’s figure had already vanished from the doorway. Gazing at the entrance bathed in a sliver of sunlight, she murmured softly:

“Cui Puyu…”