He Lan Tianxia

The woman decided to call herself Yan'er when Murong Junlan woke up leaning against her back.

"Your Highness, you're awake?" Murong Junlan awoke early the next morning. He opened his eyes to find something terrible: the princess's arrow wound was bleeding from the pressure he had applied, staining her clothes red. He scolded her with concern, "Why were you so stupid not to wake me? Does it hurt?"

"It's alright, Your Highness. You must be tired too. I'd be happy to have the chance to lean on your shoulder."

"What did you say?" Murong Junlan hugged the woman again. "You really are my queen, Yan'er?"

The woman nodded vigorously. She wanted to tell him that they were husband and wife in their past lives, and again in their previous one, but he had forgotten her. However, she didn't say it. Who would believe her if she did? People would just think she was an idiot. Forget it, she'd rather keep such a troublesome matter to herself.

"Promise me you will never leave me again," Murong Junlan said solemnly.

"Your Highness must also promise Yan'er that you will not go hungry in the future." Murong Junlan poked the woman's nose with his finger and said playfully, "I'm hungry, I want to eat roast chicken."

The woman looked at the pile of chicken bones on the ground and said apologetically, "But Yan'er ate them all."

"Then I'll just eat you up." Murong Junlan cupped the woman's face and kissed her forehead heavily. Then, Murong Junlan re-treated Yan'er's arrow wound and took her hand to find food in the cave.

It was only then that Yan'er realized that the hole was located above where the tree roots extended into the rock. Murong Junlan then told her in detail how he had discovered the hole.

It turned out that after attacking Yan'er, the spirit snake quickly fled back to the rock, disappearing suddenly near a patch of grass. "Where did it go? There's clearly a rock above, how could the snake have crawled in? Is there a cave inside?" Murong Junlan looked up and was pleasantly surprised to find several large characters carved on the rock: "Spirit Snake Cave." "Ancient rock carving?" Although Murong Junlan had seen records of ancient rock carvings in the ancient books of the Wenyuan Pavilion, he had never seen one like this before. His chance encounter today was truly an extraordinary discovery. He had also heard some accounts of spirit snakes; the legends of spirit snakes bestowing gifts were widely circulated among the people, but today Murong Junlan had personally witnessed the spirit snake saving Yan'er. He later realized that if the spirit snake hadn't risked its life to bite Yan'er's wound to fight poison with poison, Yan'er probably still wouldn't have woken up.

The Serpent Cave was about two meters high and seemed quite deep inside, mainly composed of stone. Strangely, a clear spring flowed from a crevice beside the stone path, its water crystal clear, and several blades of grass grew along its banks. Yan'er was incredibly thirsty, so she shook off Murong Junlan's hand and went over, squatting down to cup her hands and drink. Suddenly, she heard Murong Junlan shout in alarm, "Yan'er, be careful!" Before he finished speaking, a large hand had already swept Yan'er up around the waist. At that moment, a snake lunged at Yan'er, followed by one after another, one after another, lunging at the two of them.

Murong Junlan didn't strike, but instead dodged left and right with the woman, who was terrified. The swarm of snakes lunged at them, their tongues lolling out as they glared, but they didn't bite; they simply circled around them. Murong Junlan knew that snakes were very affectionate and united animals; if one attacked or killed one, the others would swarm and attack. Besides, the spirit snake had once saved Yan'er's life.

Murong Junlan found it strange that they had been in this cave for five or six days without any snake attacks. He didn't even know there were so many snakes here. If these snakes had come out a few days earlier, he and Yan'er would have been dead long ago. The snakes' sudden outburst of anger today must have a reason, and he soon realized why.

At this moment, the snakes at his feet suddenly scattered and lined up in two rows, their heads held high. Behind them, a large group of snakes escorted a large snake as it slowly approached. Murong Junlan took a closer look and recognized it as the same snake that had bitten Yan'er that day. Perhaps it had been poisoned or was due to the blow he had struck, as its belly was noticeably swollen, and it looked like it was about to collapse.

Murong Jun quickly led Yan'er forward, bowed deeply, and said, "Yan'er and I thank the Lord of the Spirit Serpent Cave for saving our lives."

The Serpent King seemed to move its eyes with great difficulty.

Murong Junlan continued, "Cave Master, I accidentally injured you with a palm strike that day, and I apologize to you here. It seems that Cave Master is severely poisoned; may I treat you?"

The spirit snake nodded, and the other snakes immediately retreated to the side in an orderly manner. However, worried that Murong Junlan might harm their cave master, they all craned their necks and looked around, ready to fight at any moment.

Murong Junlan took out a small handful of Baijieteng from his pocket and said to the Spirit Serpent Cave Master, "Cave Master, this medicine can cure poison, but the dosage is insufficient. Please ask your brothers to go out and find more." Murong Junlan handed over the small handful of Baijieteng, "Cave Master, if you trust me, you can try taking it first." To prove that the medicine was not poisonous, he picked up two leaves, put them in his mouth, chewed them up, and swallowed them.

Snakes immediately came to fetch herbs from the Serpent Cave Master, and about a dozen snakes nearby quickly went off to find their own. The Serpent Cave Master ate a small handful of Hundred-Remedy Vine, and its complexion seemed to improve slightly. It glanced at the snakes, and all of them immediately lowered their raised heads and obediently retreated to its side.

So how did Murong Junlan come to have the Hundred-Antidote Vine? It's because Yan'er was bitten by a snake, and he casually picked it outside the cave. He had given it to Yan'er before. It's said that there's always an antidote within seven steps of a poisonous snake; this is the principle of mutual generation and restraint among all things.

The spirit snake, being a spirit snake, was incredibly fast at finding herbs. In no time, it brought back a large bundle of Hundred-Herb Vine. After eating the bundle of Hundred-Herb Vine, the Spirit Snake Cave Master climbed into the cave. A moment later, a handsome and refined young man emerged. He knelt and bowed to Murong Junlan, expressing his gratitude: "Thank you, Your Highness, for saving my life. My name is Ling Yi." Murong Junlan quickly helped the Spirit Snake Cave Master up.

Yan'er then asked naively, "Are you the snake that bit me?" Upon hearing this, Murong Junlan's face darkened, and a strange feeling suddenly welled up inside him. A snake biting Yan'er was unimaginable, but for such a handsome man to bite his princess's shoulder—was that considered a kiss? A dangerous glint flashed in Murong Junlan's eyes.

Lingyi hurriedly bowed and apologized: "The situation was urgent at the time, please forgive my rudeness."

Yes, if Lingyi hadn't risked his life to save her, his princess would probably be in grave danger. Thinking this way, Murong Junlan felt a little better, but that thorn in his heart was still scratching at him.

Seeing that Murong Junlan was in a daze, Yan'er said generously, "No offense, no offense. I should thank you for saving my life. Now it's all settled, no one owes anyone anything." Murong Junlan wanted to say something more, but Yan'er continued, "Cave Master, could you please call your brothers back? They're glaring at me menacingly, and my legs are still shaking."

Lingyi smiled apologetically and said, "I am very sorry for frightening you. Please forgive me, Your Highness and Your Highness." Then, Lingyi flicked his sleeve, and the snakes all disappeared immediately.

Yan'er was delighted and exclaimed excitedly, "Your move really looks like swatting a turtle!"

Upon hearing this, Murong Junlan sighed. He quickly took Yan'er's hand and said to Ling Yi, "Lord of the Spirit Serpent Cave, could you please invite us to lunch? We are so hungry."

"It is my great honor. Your Highness may call me Lingyi from now on." Lingyi immediately ordered the preparation of a meal. As expected, a lavish feast of mountain delicacies was soon laid out on the table.

Looking at the steaming table of delicious food, Yan'er's mouth watered. She exclaimed happily, "It's actually cooked!" Yan'er then looked at the Spirit Cave Master and asked, "When did it evolve?"

Murong Junlan's face darkened, and he quickly reminded her, "Yan'er, you mustn't be rude."

Lingyi smiled and said, "As long as Your Highness and Princess Consort are happy." Lingyi filled their cups with wine, and they toasted each other. Afterward, the three of them sat around the table and ate a meal in a polite manner. After the meal, Lingyi even took them to visit the Spirit Serpent Cave.