Chapter 98 Dao Xinyi: He no longer wanted to save people; saving them would be his own fault...
"Wang Liang, you're spouting nonsense and making up rubbish here just because Jiang Yu saved someone, and these people think he's better than you, so you're angry and start slandering him everywhere?"
Shen Jiuxu hadn't seen many people like this, but he knew of Wang Liang. He had a shifty-eyed face, and before things got ugly, he had a feigned kindness on his face. Although he wasn't handsome, he was passable.
But now, when Shen Jiuxu looked at him, the malice and jealousy in his eyes seemed to leap out through his thin eyelids, making him appear utterly repulsive and unbearable to look at.
"Slander?" He felt his thoughts had been exposed, and his face flushed red and then turned pale, but he quickly regained his composure and took the initiative, putting on a magnanimous appearance. "I, Wang Liang, am not going to bother with a greenhorn who has only recently graduated and has not even seriously learned how to treat and save lives."
"Sect Leader Shen, sometimes it's not about what you say, but about what others see. That's what's truly useful, and it's something that can't be changed no matter what you do, is it?"
Wang Liang stood there, his mouth opening and closing.
"Young Master Jiang is still young. He will have plenty of opportunities to learn about human relationships and things that are not taught in books. Don't become arrogant and conceited over trivial matters, ruining your reputation and offending people. That would not be good."
"Even if Jiang Yu wants to learn, it's none of your business. A doctor who has lived half his life but still relies on the reputation accumulated by his father-in-law's family to treat patients, forgive me for speaking out, but I really can't see any ability in him. I'm afraid that without his mouth, Doctor Wang wouldn't even be able to see patients."
After saying this, Shen Jiuxu ignored Wang Liang's bruised and battered face and strode in. There he saw Xiao Ying lying on the bed and Zhou Qingnu looking haggard.
"Madam Zhou, I've come to check on Xiaoying."
Zhou Qingnu probably still held onto a sliver of hope, so she didn't kick the person out. She silently took two steps back, giving the front seat to Shen Jiuxu, and kept looking until she saw Aunt Wu coming in from behind. Their eyes met.
The person on the bed was lying flat. The fair and tender face that Shen Jiuxu had seen just a few days ago had become thin and dry, like a steamed bun that had been sitting out for several days, having lost its freshness.
A bluish-black tinge appeared between his brows, and he was completely on his last breath, as if he were being suspended by a rope. Shen Jiuxu placed his hand on Xiaoying's arm and felt the person's life force constantly leaking out, like a jar riddled with holes, with water constantly gushing out, making it impossible to preserve.
However, looking at his face, one could not find any wounds on him, nor could one tell what kind of injury he had suffered.
“Madam Zhou, can you explain to me how Xiaoying became like this? Jiang Yu has been with me these past few days. If you explain things clearly, it will be easier for us to find the cause.”
Shen Jiuxu tried to channel some spiritual energy into Xiaoying, but it was completely useless and futile.
"Or could I take a look at that talisman?"
Shen Jiuxu knew that Jiang Yu had never drawn these things. He had rarely used talismans in the years since the sect competition, but the locking spell was indeed invented by Jiang Yu. Although the spell later became widely known, it was still inextricably linked to Jiang Yu.
"Sect Leader Shen, after all, Young Master Jiang saved our camp before. I know Young Master Jiang is a good person, and we are all very grateful to him. But sometimes, things can't be avoided just by running away."
Zhou Qingnu's expression was indifferent. "If we can't save Xiaoying, then it's no use for Sect Leader Shen to tell me anything. I threw away that talisman a long time ago. Since it's something that harms people, why keep it here?"
"Although Wang Liang's words are unpleasant, I now believe he is telling the truth. This matter actually has little to do with you, Sect Leader Shen; it's mainly Young Master Jiang's problem."
She moved closer to the bed and pulled the blankets up a bit. "Sect Leader Shen has already examined the patient. If he can't save her, there's no need to waste your time here. I will naturally go find someone else."
The room was cramped and narrow, and Zhou Qingnu's series of uncompromising words made Shen Jiuxu feel even more stifled.
He began to reflect on everything. If he hadn't become a disciple of Master Baiyue back then, he wouldn't have come to Shenwuke, and he wouldn't have become the sect leader of Shenwuke after Master Baiyue passed away. Jiang Yu wouldn't have met Zhou Qingnu and Xiaoying because of his arrival here, wouldn't have been insulted by Wang Liang for saving people, and wouldn't have encountered the current situation.
His current predicament is all because of himself. Shen Jiuxu felt sorry for the arrogant and unruly young man from before, and he didn't want to see people scolding Jiang Yu.
“I will find a way to save him, and I will also prove that none of this has anything to do with Jiang Yu.” Shen Jiuxu said earnestly, “Madam Zhou, I can understand how you feel right now. Don’t worry, no matter what the truth of this matter is, I will bring Xiaoying back to life, not for you, but for Jiang Yu.”
"Jiang Yu did not draw those talismans. As for what happened back then, I will find out. However, before the truth comes out, please do not speak recklessly and ruin my Daoist partner's reputation."
He was very tall, and when he wasn't smiling, his face was as cold as ice, which was quite eerie. Zhou Qingnu wanted to say something, but those eyes looking down at her made her feel extremely panicked and afraid, as if this person was going to kill her and silence her completely at any moment.
Zhou Qingnu couldn't understand why she was in the right, but Shen Jiuxu had already left, and even if she realized it, she couldn't say anything.
"Qingnu, are you really going to trust him one more time? I don't think it's any use. Who knows what he's done to our child? We can't even find a body now. If Jiang Yu hadn't left, and if Shen Jiuxu hadn't blocked the first stab, I would have stabbed him again. How can it be enough if we don't pay with a life?"
Aunt Wu leaned against the rickety door. Because of the overcast sky, no sunlight shone on the ground, and everything in the courtyard appeared dark. Aunt Wu's face, which was "as fierce as hatred of evil," was shrouded in the night, and she could not see it clearly.
“Aunt Wu, there’s no other way anyway. Wang Liang said he can’t save him, and I’m not a capable person. I can’t find anyone from other sects to help. Besides, Jiang Yu and Shen Jiuxu are among the most powerful cultivators in these immortal families. Do you think anyone else can solve this if he really did it?”
Zhou Qingnu stared at her own menacing shadow on the ground with dark eyes, and sighed silently in her heart. She could feel the changes in herself over the past few days. She also knew that those talismans were not handed to her by Jiang Yu himself, and she had never seen the disciple who sold the talismans in Shen Wuke.
Based solely on Lian Feng's words, it seems that Jiang Yu has been convicted, and he is forced to bear all the drawbacks brought upon him by this talisman that uses Jiang Yu's name.
For a moment, Zhou Qingnu felt like an ungrateful wretch, but she was powerless to do anything about it. She knew very well that if this matter really had nothing to do with Jiang Yu, then Xiao Ying's life might be beyond saving.
Only by firmly linking Jiang Yu and Shen Jiuxu together can they save Xiaoying, whether it's Shen Jiuxu trying to clear Jiang Yu's name or Jiang Yu trying to prove his innocence.
Zhou Qingnu had no other choice.
——
Jiang Yu was alone in the Fuyou Palace, lying on the bed. The swaying sky-blue bed curtains made him feel irritated, so he ripped them off and threw them on the ground.
He was raised by Zhou Yongyin from a young age, and could be considered to have grown up in the deep mountains and forests. Although some of the people around him were unruly and they often quarreled when they were young, Jiang Yu could be considered to retaliate by directly cursing back or hiding in a tree and throwing stones at them.
As they grew older, those people no longer dared to provoke Jiang Yu, since the sword in his hand had driven back some of them on his own.
Jiang Yu hadn't interacted much with other people, especially the people at Qingyun Ladder. Most of them knew him because of his widely circulated stories, so they all greeted him with respect and closeness upon their first meeting.
Jiang Yu felt as if he had been tricked into a honey pot, and then suddenly a lot of bees emerged from the middle, buzzing and stinging him.
Xian Chen lay on the ground, not daring to utter a sound, but the sword trembled slightly. He felt sorry for Jiang Yu, as he had also contributed when saving people. If it weren't for his master, the sword wouldn't have revealed its ability to save people.
The Xianchen Sword also has requirements for saving people.
It angrily tried to slip out through the crack in the window, but Jiang Yu was right next to it, looking like a fig that had burst open from the middle. Xian Chen now desperately hoped that her master's annoying Daoist partner would come back soon.
With him around, Jiang Yu's temper might be somewhat suppressed.
Just then, with a creak, the door was pushed open from the outside, and the person Xian Chen had been eagerly waiting for finally returned. Shen Jiuxu saw the sword on the ground suddenly fly up and come towards him, grabbed it, and threw it out through the crack in the door.
With a bang, the door slammed shut.
"How is your injury?" Jiang Yu was still worried about Shen Jiuxu's injury. He got out of bed, his hair disheveled behind him. He walked to Shen Jiuxu's side and was about to check on him when Shen Jiuxu suddenly hugged him.
Shen Jiuxu held him tightly, as if trying to hold him firmly in his arms. After a while, he whispered, "The wound is nothing, it's nothing serious."
Has the bleeding stopped?
Jiang Yucai was not easily fooled. He broke free from his embrace, lifted Shen Jiuxu's clothes, and was suddenly glad that Aunt Wu was not tall, so the dagger was stuck in Shen Jiuxu's abdomen.
The clothes were soaked with blood, sticky and gooey. Flesh and blood were flying everywhere. The bleeding had indeed stopped, but that area had turned black, lacking its normal rosy color or the paleness of blood loss.
"Did she put something else on this knife?"
"It's nothing, it's not serious." Shen Jiuxu put his clothes down again to cover the wound. He didn't want Jiang Yu to see it anymore, but he couldn't persuade him otherwise. Jiang Yu brought over some wound medicine and pressed him down, saying, "Don't move."
His touch was very light, almost imperceptible. Jiang Yu's furrowed brows revealed his extremely bad mood. He sprinkled the medicine on it and heard Shen Jiuxu groan. His body tensed up and a thin layer of sweat appeared on his skin.
Jiang Yu took off Shen Jiuxu's outer clothes because they were inconvenient. After applying the medicine, he stopped talking and lay back down on the bed with his eyes open but no expression.
He didn't want to save people anymore; if he did, he would only suffer the consequences of his own actions.
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