My Substitute CEO Bride

Hearing this, Erwin and Jadie took the pills. Moments later, they felt an intense itching at their injuries.

Erwin was astonished to see his chest wound healing rapidly, and it filled him with shock. The swelling on Jadie's face quickly receded, and her cracked skin stitched itself back together. Even the old injuries she had received from past missions were further healed. "What a powerful pill!" Jadie exclaimed in delight as she touched her face. However, she noted with regret that her lost teeth had not regrown. At the same time, her fear of Nash grew. This man was fiercely protective and showed no mercy, not even to women. Nash took out another pill and said to Melody, "Open your mouth."

Melody blushed. "I can take it myself!"

Nash leaned in close and whispered, "Do you want me to feed you with my mouth?"

At that, Melody's pupils dilated as she quickly opened her mouth. What the heck? As if she would let him feed her with his mouth in front of so many people! She would die of embarrassment!

Nash popped the pill into her mouth and gently pinched her cheek. "Take care. It might be half a month before we see each other again." There was still half a month left until New Year's. Nash had a lot to accomplish during this time. Melody's eyes reddened slightly. "You take care too..."

Noting Melody was not trying to make him stay, Nash leaned in and teased softly, "Not planning to keep me overnight, hmm?"

His warm breath tickled her face, causing her ears to burn. She looked down and gritted her teeth. "Can you be serious for once? Do you really want me to die of embarrassment?"

Unlike the secular world, disciples in reclusive sects were extremely conservative. Some female disciples even wore traditional undergarments. If they saw her getting affectionate with a man, they would gossip behind her back.

The sect master coughed lightly, smiling as she said, "Since you've come such a long way, why not rest here for a couple of days, Nash?"

Melody quickly tried to decline on Nash's behalf, "Master, he has a lot to—"

"That's exactly what I had in mind!" Nash interrupted her.

It took him over an hour to travel more than 2,000 kilometers from Jonford to Yugon. Now that he was here, he might as well reap some benefits.

Melody glanced at Nash, suspecting he had some mischievous plan cooked up.

...

At noon, the sect master hosted a lavish feast in Nash's honor. During the meal, Nash took the opportunity to inquire about the sect master's past with Johnathan.

"Senior, how long have you known my master?" he asked.

Gwendolyn and Melody perked up their ears, wanting to listen to the gossip.

The sect master, Lydia Madden, chuckled softly. "I met your master when I was 16 years old. Now, I'm 456. So, I've known him for about 440 years."

She then recounted her history with

Johnathan. Lydia was born into a poor family. When a plague struck her village, both her parents tragically died. Lacking money to buy coffins, she decided to sett herself to give her parents a proper burial.

From morning until dusk, she knelt out on the streets, but no one paid her any attention. When the sun set, soldiers drove her out of the county as they feared the spread of the plague. The 16-year-old Lydia dragged a cart carrying her parents' corpses back to her village.

Starving and exhausted, she reached the village by dawn the next day and collapsed at the village entrance from fatigue.

When she woke up, she found herself lying in a bed, and a middle-aged man dressed as a physician was feeding her medicine. That man was Johnathan. He was treating and saving lives in the village under the guise of a traveling doctor.

After Lydia finished the medicine,

her strength quickly returned. She then knelt before Johnathan and implored him to buy her. Johnathan asked for the reason, and Lydia tearfully explained, "I want to buy coffins for my parents. I want to give them a proper burial."

"I've already taken care of your parents' burial," Johnathan replied.

Johnathan was gentle and refined, resembling a gentleman from a scholarly family. He looked only a bit older than Lydia's father.