Chapter 62 What Does Duan Jiuyou Have to Fear?
The old ancestor was determined to die.
"I've been curious about whose face is under this skin. Even if you're leaving, let me see it first."
Duan Jiuyou moved with lightning speed, grabbing Bai Tingxu's neck in a split second.
The Ancestor never wastes words when she kills people. Even the Imperial Empire, which shook the Three Realms, still fell into her hands.
Bai Tingxu was filled with regret. He thought to himself, "Why did I have to provoke this ancestor?" He struggled and anxiously revealed his true identity, saying with difficulty, "Grand Ancestor, spare my life! I am Bai Tingxu, the head of the Martial God Hall. I have come here only to capture a criminal and have no malicious intent."
Duan Jiuyou did not loosen his grip and did not show leniency because of Bai Tingxu's true identity; on the contrary, he increased his strength.
She tilted her head to look at him: "I thought it was some kind of demon or monster, but it turns out to be the White-Sleeved God of the Martial God Temple. You've really grown bold, daring to trespass on my territory."
"Please, please forgive me, Ancestor." Bai Tingxu struggled bitterly, wasting all his magical power, and under Duan Jiuyou's control, he had no power to fight back at all.
Seeing their deity struggling to breathe, Bai Tingxu's men were so frightened that they knelt on the ground.
"Ancestor, please calm down! Our Divine Lord has truly come to apprehend a wanted criminal. Hearing that the Lord of the Great Wilderness is still alive, the Divine Lord fears that he may seek revenge against you, which is why he hastily intruded."
Bai Tingxu's men had some sense and deliberately embellished the cause and effect of the matter.
Duan Jiuyou's eyes were deep and mysterious as he clenched his fingers: "This is a novel thing for me. Having lived for over 70 million years, this is the first time I've heard of someone who was injured by the Zhanlu Blade still being alive."
It would be too easy for her to strangle Bai Tingxu. She tricked him into personally placing the Rejuvenating Grass on Di Jiang, causing Di Jiang to suffer the torment of Zhan Lu's heart-devouring poison again.
What a piece of trash! How dare you injure the imperial realm like this? How dare you manipulate her so easily?!
For a moment, Bai Tingxu suspected that Duan Jiuyou really wanted to kill him, but this thought seemed to last only a moment, and in the blink of an eye, he was thrown to the ground.
"Since you are here to apprehend a wanted criminal, do you have an imperial order on your person?"
The dark jade and purple purplish-patterned robe billowed in front of Bai Tingxu, creating a "wave." Duan Jiuyou sat back down in the armchair, waiting for Bai Tingxu to give her an explanation.
Bai Tingxu clutched his neck and gasped for breath on the ground. After calming down, he looked embarrassed.
There were too many inconsistencies in what happened today, and lying would only make the loopholes bigger and bigger. In the end, he could only repeat what Qi Xinghe had said to Duan Jiuyou verbatim.
Duan Jiuyou listened patiently at first, but his brows furrowed deeper and deeper as the conversation progressed. He slammed his hand on the table and exclaimed, "Absurd! You actually believe such nonsense? Let's not even talk about whether Di Jiang is even alive. Even if he were, why would he come to me? Does he have a death wish?"
Bai Tingxu was so stumped by Duan Jiuyou's questioning that he couldn't even lift his head. He tried his best to defend himself: "Qi Xinghe's words were very reasonable. I was afraid that the Emperor would cause trouble, so I came up with this tactic. Besides, I think that even if Qi Xinghe had a lot of guts, how could he dare to implicate you?"
Duan Jiuyou was impatient with his nonsense: "I've never even met Qi Xinghe once. If you insist on saying we have a connection, it's that I saved that Liu Tianshi you mentioned. But the connection between these two people is nothing like what he told you. If you want to know the truth, go to Xingxin Temple and ask Liu Tianshi for the answer. I'm too lazy to keep you here!"
As for Liu Tianshi's answer, there's no need to worry; it will only benefit them and cover up Qi Xinghe's "lies."
Duan Jiuyou's indifferent attitude only convinced Bai Tingxu that he had fallen into Qi Xinghe's trap. He was furious and hurriedly asked Duan Jiuyou for leave. Duan Jiuyou didn't even look at him. Only after Bai Tingxu and his men had gone far away did he rush back to the bedside.
Di Jiang had already gone back to bed while the two were talking. He had been trying his best to maintain his wolf cub form until Duan Jiuyou dismissed Bai Tingxu, at which point he released his spiritual power and transformed back into human form.
When Duan Jiuyou walked back to the bedside, he caught Di Jiang's exhausted body.
She helped him sit back down on the bed, grabbed the Qiankun bag hanging from her waist with her other hand, and randomly shook a person out of the bag.
"Hurry and take a look at him! He was still a bit energetic after taking three of your Great Yuan Pills, so why is he feeling unwell again now?"
The man was thrown to the ground by her, startling Liantang and the others who were serving in the room, who stared wide-eyed.
They never expected that the Qiankun bag contained Yan Kuo, Duan Jiuyou's "arch-enemy"!
The old man had visited Flame Mountain two days ago, leaving behind the conclusion that "the disease of the Fire-Eating Beast is incurable" before departing. Everyone assumed he had returned to Yellow Dust Palace, unaware that he had simply gone to the neighboring Gongxi Mountain to pay respects to his nephew, Yan Liansheng.
He kept drinking alone there, and eventually just passed out drunk.
Duan Jiuyou knew he hadn't gone far and had been having his disciple Liansheng keep an eye on him, intending to prevent the old man from falling off the mountain unintentionally. However, fate had other plans, and in her time of crisis, she found a healer she could rely on.
She used her magic bag to bring him back. The old man was so drunk that he couldn't see who had kidnapped him. When he saw that the patient in front of him had a weak pulse, he instinctively took out three elixirs and fed them to him.
Emperor Jiang then woke up and said he was hungry. Duan Jiuyou went to the kitchen to get something, and when he returned for the second time, he encountered Bai Tingxu, who had come to cause trouble.
Yan Kuo, who had lived to this age, had never been ordered around like this before. He said, "You'd better be polite to me!"
"You should see a doctor first!!" Duan Jiuyou pulled Yan Kuo towards Di Jiang.
Why should I listen to you?!
Yan Kuo was making a fuss, but his hand had already been placed on Di Jiang's wrist to take his pulse carefully. Then he turned around, wrote down a prescription, and threw it to Lian Tang to decoct the medicine.
Exhausted, Duan Jiuyou sat down next to Di Jiang and after a long while said to Yan Kuo, "Thank you."
Yan Kuo remained silent for a long time, then sighed.
His hatred for Duan Jiuyou was never reasonable.
His nephew's death was never Duan Jiuyou's fault. When the Emperor ordered Yan Liansheng to be shot, even if Duan Jiuyou hadn't done it, someone else would have carried out the imperial decree. As a high-ranking official, how could he hate the Emperor? He could only transfer his hatred onto Duan Jiuyou.
“Actually, I know it’s not your fault,” Yan Kuo said. “You are a Celestial Official, and you must always prioritize the overall situation. Just like the predicament of Flame Mountain and the death of Lian Sheng back then, there was no other choice.”
"When Lian Sheng passed away, he did not suffer much pain; rather, it felt like a liberation."
"...Can you please talk to me?"
As Yan Kuo continued his rambling speech, Duan Jiuyou laid Di Jiang down. Di Jiang looked weak and hadn't opened his eyes. She was intently observing his expression and didn't seem to hear a word Yan Kuo said.
She tucked Di Jiang in and asked Yan Kuo, "Why isn't he opening his eyes yet? He was perfectly fine before."
Yan Kuo said, "His body was already weak, and he was just forcing himself to maintain his illusion, so naturally he had no strength left."
Duan Jiuyou then asked, "Can the prescription you just gave him completely eradicate the Rejuvenating Poison from his body?"
Yan Kuo said no: "The poison has already entered the body, he won't live much longer."
Duan Jiuyou paused in tidying the blankets, then turned to look at Yan Kuo: "What do you mean by 'not long to live'?"
Having worked as a doctor for so many years, Yan Kuo had naturally encountered many patients' "family members" who were unwilling to face reality. However, he could not hide the illness from Duan Jiuyou because of this. He could only tell Duan Jiuyou: "The person in front of you has been poisoned to the heart and lungs and does not have much time left."
Duan Jiuyou glanced at Yan Kuo, then looked back at Di Jiang's face. His complexion was clearly not as pale as before, but his hands were still as cold as before.
She held his hand in her own, unaware that her own hands were even colder than Di Jiang's. She said calmly to Yan Kuo, "You can hate me, but this is not something to joke about. Do you know who he is?"
Based on Duan Jiuyou's demeanor, Yan Kuo deduced, "Is this your newly found immortal companion?"
"It is the imperial territory."
Duan Jiuyou slowly uttered three words, which finally caused Yan Kuo's expression to change.
She said, "He is the destined ruler of the Three Realms. Even the sharpest blade, Zhanlu, cannot take his life. Even with his primordial spirit shattered, he can still occupy a corner of the Ten Realms. Do you think such a person will not live long?"
She thought Yan Kuo must be crazy to say such nonsensical things to her!
Yan Kuo also thought Duan Jiuyou had gone mad, actually "raising" a Great Wilderness Lord by her side. He had always known that she was unconventional, but he never thought she would go to such extremes.
His expression crumbled, and his voice rose involuntarily: "If the Emperor discovers this, your entire clan will suffer. They will be stripped of their immortal bones and wiped out—"
"What is there to fear, Ao Zong?!" Duan Jiuyou interrupted Yan Kuo. "What is there to fear, Duan Jiuyou? I only ask you, is this person salvageable? If you cannot save him, is there anyone in this world who can?"
The flickering candlelight reflected in her eyes, shattering into a sea of crimson, creating a solemn, arrogant, and sharp beauty.
It was only at this moment that Yan Kuo saw the true appearance of this Ao Zong Patriarch.
She was wholeheartedly dedicated to upholding the righteous path, but in reality, she was an evil being. If it weren't for the ancient gods suppressing her and entrusting her with the responsibility of being a divine official of nine dynasties, this ancestor would probably be more terrifying than anyone who dared to try to rule the three realms alone.
She was born too young, her face too youthful, so that her elaborate robes were always too big.
Looking at this outfit now, this person should be secretly thankful. It's a good thing it's like this. It's a good thing the intricate patterns symbolizing a high priest restrained her. It's a good thing the jade bodhi bead string hanging on her chest added a touch of Buddhist aura to her. Every single thing on her body was clearly a deity suppressing her madness!
They should be thankful that she had good intentions in her heart, and they should all be thankful that she did not become anyone's enemy!
Yan Kuo finally understood why all the previous gods had spoiled and pampered her.
Such people are terrifying, such a clan is terrifying. With a single sentence, "Ao Zong is fearless," even heaven and earth change color. How can one not feel terrified!
He finally understood why she could "play" with Di Jiang; they were simply the same kind of people!
However, he was truly powerless to do anything about it, and honestly replied, "Those three Shangyuan Divine Pills were left by my master, and the prescription was also a secret recipe treasured by the Medicine God Palace."
Everyone in the Heavenly Realm knows that Huangchen Palace possesses unparalleled medical skills. They have even brought out their two most prized treasures. If they still cannot save him, then who can?
There was a soft knock at the door. It was Liantang bringing the prepared medicine. Yan Kuo personally handed the medicine to Duan Jiuyou and sighed, "If he wakes up within twelve hours after taking this medicine, he has three months to live. If he doesn't wake up..."
Duan Jiuyou closed his eyes, not wanting to listen anymore.
After calming herself down briefly, she took the bowl of medicine from Yan Kuo and said again, "Thank you."
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