The middle game of fake death (Part 1)
In the afternoon, the blazing white sunlight splashed like molten gold, penetrating the half-worn window paper of Huichun Hall and leaving long, slanted spots of light on the blue brick floor.
Tiaotiao jolted awake, his right hand tightly gripping his left arm. Dark green veins moved ferociously in the crook of his elbow like living creatures. The excruciating pain made him crush the cloth between his teeth, and a thick, bloody smell welled up in his throat.
“Dang!”
There was a crisp sound of porcelain cups breaking in the clinic.
Su Baiwei's fingers flashed with silver light, instantly forcing the restless poison back into the depths of his heart. Glancing down at the layers of old scars covering the hideous wound on his wrist, she covered it with a wet handkerchief soaked in brown medicine. Her voice was as cold as ice: "If you want to die, you don't need to use the insect to do it for you."
Tiao Tiao was startled for a moment, his gaze piercing Su Baiwei like a needle, as if to pierce the tranquil lake beneath her eyes. Then he leaned back on the bed, the blue lines on his wrist flickering eerily, and a low laugh escaped his throat. "Doctor Su, you're a master! You'll have this cripple out in just three days."
"It's the mother-child Gu trying to quench its thirst with poison." The words were cut short by the crisp sound of the pestle hitting the bluestone mortar, and tangerine peel fragments fell into the clay pot. "Overdrawing lifespan to strengthen bones and muscles, this kind of trick may fool the common people, but it can't fool the doctor."
"Mother-child Gu?" Tiao Tiao's eyes fixed.
"Another name for the mind-controlling Gu. You're carrying the sub-Gu, so you must be a core figure in the Demon Cult." Su Baiwei's tone was flat, as if she was describing the properties of a single herb. "Otherwise, you would have been infected with the sub-Gu and turned into a drug man."
"Heh, the core of the Demonic Cult..." Tiao Tiao raised her eyebrows slightly, with a hint of playful mockery, "Then are you going to chase away this accomplice of mine?"
"I've said before that you only have one identity in Huichun Hall - a patient." A bowl of warm medicinal soup was pushed to the low table beside the couch, and the porcelain bottom made a sharp sound, and the lingering sound vibrated in the air.
Suddenly, there was the sound of wings breaking through the air outside the window. A carrier pigeon, its wings edged in crimson, swooped in like an arrow. It was Rainbow Cat's spirit pigeon. It landed on the low table beside the couch and dropped the half-scorched page it held in its beak. Tiaotiao took the letter, the wax seal bearing the unique frost flower mark of the Seven Swords.
"Rumors are spreading about the fragments of the fire-breaking book in Jianghu. Various factions suspect you of leaking secrets, and a bloody kill order has been issued. This page was intercepted from the Iron Palm Gang's secret vault and may be related to the Demon Cult's hidden agents. The Seven Swords will assist you. Please take care. - Hong"
Just as her fingertips were about to touch the torn page, Su Baiwei shouted, "Don't touch it!" With a swift movement of her hand, a lavender powder fell. As the powder touched the paper, a subtle "sizzle" sound emanated, and a strange, burning wisp of green smoke rose from the depths of the ink.
She flipped the torn page over and sprinkled the powder again. Amidst the medicinal mist, the silver hairpin flashed with a cold gleam, precisely piercing a corner of the torn page. Beneath the serpentine pattern, a glimmer of flame tattoos suddenly appeared.
"The ink is mixed with poisonous insect eggs." Su Baiwei stared at Mo Hen, whose life force had been drained away by the drug powder, and said in a cold voice, "It will come back to life if it encounters blood. It will penetrate your heart and bones."
"What a vicious trick!" Tiao Tiao's eyes flashed like lightning. His fingertips slowly stroked the edge of the tattoo, and a sneer escaped from between his teeth. "They're using me, the 'remnant of the previous dynasty,' to unleash a bloody storm in the martial arts world and take the blame for them... Those remnants of the Holy Fire Hall have a brilliant plan!"
After the Seven Swords combined, the Demon Cult fell apart, leaving only the Holy Fire Hall dormant, absorbing the remnants and quietly growing stronger. Now, the rumor that he holds the secret has attracted a frenzied hunt from all factions, which has diverted the attention of the martial arts world and bought them a chance to catch their breath.
He looked at the tattoo intently: "However... the direction of this flame pattern does look somewhat familiar..." The image of the flame tattoo exposed on Ding Kui's broken ear yesterday and the blood splattering suddenly flashed through his mind.
Mu Jin burst through the door clutching a crimson scroll, meeting Tiao Tiao's half-smile. The little girl hurriedly hid the bloodstained scroll behind her, revealing only a glimpse of the sinister "Zhu" character.
"Bloody Hunting Order?" Tiao Tiao lightly brushed off the medicine residue on her clothes with her fingertips, her tone as casual as if she was talking about the weather.
"Give it to me." Su Baiwei tapped her fingertips lightly on the medicine case. The paper scroll unfurled with a swish, revealing the portrait smeared beyond recognition with cinnabar.
"What a clean Huichun Hall!" Tiaotiao chuckled, leaning against the window frame, his eyes sweeping across the depths of the courtyard. "Please don't let me soil this little piece of pure land with this little bit of filth."
Su Baiwei stared at the air outside the eaves, twisted by the scorching sun. "Your tracks haven't been exposed yet. If you step out now, you'll be walking into a trap."
Tiaotiao picked up the medicine bowl and drank it all in one gulp. The liquid suddenly choked down his throat, and he started coughing violently, and dark brown stains of the medicine splattered onto his front like stars.
Su Baiwei subconsciously reached into her sleeve, but her fingertips missed. Her brow furrowed slightly. "Oh no! I lost my handkerchief." She cast her gaze toward the mountainous landscape outside the window. "I'm afraid it fell into the valley where you were attacked." She paused, her voice lowering. "To make matters worse, I used this very handkerchief to treat a Cangshan Sect disciple last month."
Tiaotiao's fingertips slowly stroked the rough wood grain of the couch, and her voice was playful: "It seems that the escape route prepared by Doctor Su has become a dead end."
"It's not a way out." Su Baiwei placed a small jade bottle next to the blood-stained gauze. The dark blue liquid within the bottle swayed gently, reflecting an eerie cold light. "It's a way out. Take this 'Nine Nether Spring,' and within six hours your pulse will cease like a corpse. The 'Life-Sustaining Pill' will protect your heart and veins." She raised her eyes, her gaze like a mirror, and looked directly at Tiao Tiao. "But... are you willing to gamble your life on a doctor like me?"
Tiaotiao met her calm eyes, his usual playful expression on his lips, but scrutiny lurked deep within. "Not to mention I haven't even paid a cent for the consultation. If Doctor Su gets involved in this, you, and even Huichuntang, will be ruined. Doctor Su, are you willing to do such a loss-making business?"
Su Baiwei's eyes were cold and clear: "It is natural for doctors to save people."
"This action has far exceeded the duty of a doctor," Tiao Tiao said, his eyes sharp as a torch, pursuing him closely. "I've also heard that Doctor Su never gets involved in disputes in the martial arts world."
"You helped me yesterday and saved Mu Jin." Su Baiwei's voice remained steady. "I, Su Baiwei, don't like to owe anyone."
Tiao Tiao suddenly reached out, grasping her slender wrist. His grip seemed casual, yet it held her like an iron clamp, holding her inexorably. Su Baiwei's body instinctively stiffened, her pulse racing beneath his fingertips, the warmth beneath her skin seeming to burn even more intensely. However, at that moment of skin-to-skin contact, a strange feeling swept through her—not fear, but rather... an ancient jade sunk into a cold pond, a familiar yet unfamiliar warmth and coolness that strangely relaxed her tense heartstrings for a moment.
"You saved my life first, and I'm just giving you a small reward. What do you owe me?" Tiao Tiao's eyes were like lightning, piercing deep into her eyes, as if to penetrate the clear lake water and explore the undercurrent underneath.
"Master! What are you doing? Let the young lady go!" Mu Jin stamped her feet anxiously.
Su Baiwei was silent for a moment, her long eyelashes drooping slightly, hiding the confusion that flashed through her eyes. Finally, she sighed softly, a rare hint of emotion in her voice: "I don't know either. I just feel... that my heart desires... to lend you a hand." She abruptly shook his hand off, turned her back, and curled her fingertips quietly in her sleeves. "This idea sounds absurd. Believe it or not, it's up to you."
The playful curve of Tiao Tiao's lips suddenly turned fierce, and the gleam in her eyes shone like cold stars in the dark night. "Since that's the case... How about Doctor Su and I team up and stage a trick to lure you into a trap?"
"What play?" Su Baiwei turned around suddenly.
“Bang!”
Tiaotiao slammed the torn page down on the table. "The flame pattern in this tattoo is far from decorative. Its twisting lines match the direction of the black iron ore veins in Beimang Mountain. It's also an encrypted lifeline map of all the cult's secret strongholds. If this map is leaked, the Holy Fire Hall will come out in full force, using any means necessary to destroy the body and eliminate all traces."
"I understand," Su Baiwei's eyes flashed with a sharp light, "You want to make the Demon Cult believe that the other factions have already understood their lifeblood, and this secret is hidden in your 'corpse'."
She quickly placed the jade bottle and wax pill side by side on the table and spoke clearly, "During your period of suspended animation, Mu Jin will pierce your heart meridian with a silver needle, forcing out three drops of pure heart blood. These will be dripped into the deepest ink marks on the remaining pages." She tapped the paper with her fingertips. "While this ink has killed the active Gu eggs, it has also embedded the hard shell of the dormant egg sheath. Deep within its bloodline, it is innately imprinted with a sensitivity to the Beimang Black Iron Ore Veins." She raised her eyes and looked directly at Tiao Tiao. "Extracting the heart's essence and blood will be like ripping out your heart and bones. The pain is unbearable for ordinary people. Young Master, be prepared."
Tiao Tiao's eyebrows didn't move at all, but instead his lips curled up in an almost provocative arc: "This little pain is new compared to Doctor Su's monthly blood drawing. It's okay, just do it." He said this casually, but it was like an invisible needle, gently piercing an unspoken secret.
Su Baiwei's eyes flickered, and her fingertips curled slightly. Mu Jin, standing beside her, paled instantly. Her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but she bit them tightly. Suddenly, the image of the young lady emerging from the secret room, her frighteningly pale face, flashed through her mind.
Su Baiwei pointed at the flame tattoo and, speaking in a low, sharp voice, forced the conversation back on track. "This pattern is a secret map of the earth's most abundant spiritual energy path. Your heart's essence and blood contain vital energy. Once absorbed by the egg sheath, the newly born Gu will imprint your aura as 'source'."
"Mujin needs to take advantage of the most active time of the newborn Gu to transfer it to your body surface." Su Baiwei's eyes were burning, as if she had foreseen what would happen next. "These newly born Gu worms are driven by the 'homing' nature in their blood. They will follow the 'main vein' with the most spiritual energy - that is, this flame pattern - and swim rapidly on your skin. The tracks of countless Gu worms will converge and eventually 'draw' a complete map of the black iron veins on your body. They will also gather briefly at key nodes, like map marks." She paused and added, "After taking blood, Mujin will immediately give you the 'Nine Flowers Jade Dew Pill'. This pill can strengthen the body and nourish the heart meridian. After the plan is completed, you can rest and recuperate for a month. The damaged vitality will recover naturally, and the foundation will not be shaken." When she mentioned the medicine and the recovery time, her tone was full of a firm familiarity, as if she had practiced this process in her mind countless times.
"Brilliant!" Tiao Tiao clapped his hands, his eyes gleaming with a sharp light. "This way, when the Demon Cult sees this 'living map,' they'll be convinced that the other factions have grasped their lifeline. To conceal the secret of the mineral vein, they'll stop at nothing to destroy the body and erase all traces." The corners of his lips curled up coldly. "When the Demon Cult's spies sneak into the cemetery to destroy the body and trigger the gunpowder mechanism we've pre-installed... with a loud bang, the forged mineral vein map will be reduced to dust. Then, the heroes of the martial arts world will only see the leaders of the various factions killing each other in the mass grave for the 'Demon Cult's secret mineral vein map.' Who will care whether Tiao Tiao is dead or alive?"
They both looked at Hibiscus at the same time.
The blood drained from Mu Jin's face in an instant, her fingertips twisted the corners of her clothes into deep wrinkles, and her voice was as thin as a mosquito's: "This... this is too dangerous..." She suddenly looked up, her eyes filled with confusion and pleading, "Miss, I... I'm afraid of the needle... especially taking blood from the heart... it hurts too much..." The fear in her eyes was clearly visible.
Su Baiwei's hand gently rested on her shoulder, warmth filtering through the fabric. "Do you still remember the key to 'Three Elements Leading Blood' from the Qing Nang Shu?" Her voice flowed like a gentle mountain stream. "Just like when you gave acupuncture to that woodcutter last month, concentrate your mind and calm your breath, letting your fingers follow your heart."
Memories flooded my heart like a tide——
The blood-stained woodcutter lay on the examination table, his broken ribs piercing his skin. Her fingers trembled so much that she could barely hold the needle, and tears welled up in her eyes.
Behind him, Su Baiwei's voice was as calm as usual: "The tip of the needle penetrates three inches into the flesh, and then it moves upward diagonally, like a spring bud breaking through the soil."
She closed her eyes, concentrating her attention on the slight coolness of her fingertips, feeling the delicate touch of the needle piercing her skin, avoiding the vital point with uncanny precision, like parting clouds to reveal the sun. In that moment, the icy fear was replaced by a strange focus, as if the entire world was reduced to the connection between her fingertips and flesh. The woodcutter's rapid breathing gradually subsided...
Mu Jin dug her nails deep into her palms, her knuckles turning white from the force, as if she wanted to crush the fear as well. When she looked up, the confusion in her eyes had been replaced by a desperate determination, and her gaze was fixed: "I understand."
Almost at the same time——
Tiaotiao, with his profound internal energy, had sensed the unusual movement; Su Baiwei, with her exceptional five senses, had also detected an approaching aura from afar. Their eyes met and then separated.
"Let's go!" Su Baiwei quickly stuffed a wax-sealed pill and two small jade bottles into Mu Jin's hands. "Take the young master to the mass grave west of the city. Follow the plan and be sure to complete the blood collection before the pulse stops. Remember, only take three drops. Any more and the effect will be lost, and any less and the effect will be weakened. I will stay here to buy you time."
Tiao Tiao stuffed something into Su Baiwei's sleeve and spoke quickly, "If I don't wake up in six hours..."
"Then lie still," Su Baiwei interrupted him, her eyes clear and firm, each word like a nail. "Even if I have to traverse the underworld, I will definitely retrieve your soul."
Tiao Tiao's pupils trembled violently, as if a cold star exploded deep within them. He then suppressed it again, a wicked smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Oh? Doctor Su, are you going to... go against me?"
Su Baiwei's eyes were like cold blades, glaring at him coldly. Tiao Tiao said nothing more and quickly dodged with Mu Jin.
Su Baiwei stood inside the doorway, only to see Tiao Tiao, swift as the wind, walk directly in front of Mu Jin, passing through the corridor and turning the corner. He knew the path through the clinic so well that it felt like revisiting an old place. She watched the blue-robed figure disappear around the corner thoughtfully, her fingertips rubbing the item Tiao Tiao had stuffed into his sleeve.
A real fire stick.
A frost seal.
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