Chu Qianli woke up with her whole body aching.
It was a peculiar kind of pain, not like an injury, but more like countless things were crawling and gnawing within her blood vessels!
Even her bones hurt.
"How are you? Are you awake?"
Not far from her, a man sat on the ground, cross-legged in meditation.
Chu Qianli forced her eyes open, finally managing to make out his figure.
Lan Fan!
But why did he also look so listless? His face was frighteningly pale, as if he had just survived a life-or-death ordeal!
Chu Qianli tried to get up, but after a slight struggle, she fell back.
Her body was completely weak.
"What... did you do to me?" She realized something was wrong with her body.
The pain in her meridians and even her bones was unlike any condition she had known before.
It didn't feel like poisoning either.
What had her body gone through?
Lan Fan, who had been meditating with his eyes closed, slowly opened them and looked at her.
His lips were cracked and pale, his face devoid of color.
Yet, he seemed to be in a good mood now.
Chu Qianli was somewhat surprised.
He was ruined and had lost everything, yet he didn't seem angry at all?
She had expected Lan Fan to hate her so much that he would tear her apart with his own hands upon seeing her.
But he didn't?
"Did you put a curse on me?" She didn't understand the Lan family's unique arts, so she could only guess.
Lan Fan smiled at her, a smile that, due to his pale weakness, appeared somewhat fragile.
"A curse? I detest those insects. Why would I curse you?"
"Then what exactly did you do to me?" Her body truly felt awful, it hurt!
But it wasn't a pain that was completely unbearable.
It was tolerable, yet extremely uncomfortable.
"Heh, don't panic. It will get better slowly, and the discomfort will fade."
Lan Fan closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and continued to regulate his breathing.
Chu Qianli understood. He wasn't refusing to tell her; rather, he was very weak himself at the moment.
He needed to meditate and recover before he was willing to speak to her.
Chu Qianli also forced herself to sit up, closed her eyes, and meditated cross-legged.
However, her poisoning was not yet cleared, and coupled with whatever her body had endured now, her dantian energy could not be condensed at all.
Meditation could only slightly calm her breathing; it couldn't rapidly restore her strength.
Lan Fan, on the other hand, seemed to recover quickly.
His face gradually regained its color, and even his cracked lips began to show some moisture.
When Chu Qianli opened her eyes to look at him again, the vitality in his brow was returning.
After an unknown amount of time, Lan Fan opened his eyes again.
This time, his spirit and energy were clearly much better than before.
"Now, can you tell me what you did to me?" Chu Qianli asked calmly.
Lan Fan looked at her, and suddenly, the corners of his lips curled into a faint smile.
"You truly are different, little girl. You can remain so composed despite such discomfort."
Any other young girl would have been terrified to death by now, wouldn't she?
As expected of the person he chose!
"There is a technique in the Lan family's unique arts called the Covenant of Life and Death. Have you ever heard of it?"
Although Chu Qianli had never heard of it, her heart sank the moment she heard it.
She seemed to have guessed something!
"So, Mr. Lan thinks highly of me and has formed a covenant with me?"