Chapter 108 Wuwang, what else can I do...
The gentle smile on Chen Yan's face turned deep when she said, "I'll go with you."
"Good boy," he nodded approvingly, as if praising a sensible younger generation, "you know how to handle current affairs."
He didn't agree, nor did he rush to refuse. Instead, he used his perceptive eyes to carefully examine Qing Guiyu from head to toe, like the most astute businessman, weighing the value of the goods.
"Give me the jade slip first," he held out his hand.
Qing Guiyu clenched the jade slip in his hand and shook his head.
Seeing her reluctance, the old man raised his eyebrows. "What makes you think I need you to 'go'? I could easily capture all three of you and slowly pry what I want out of you."
"You can't pry it out." Qing Guiyu met his gaze and gripped the jade slip even tighter. "If you kill me, you've studied this jade slip for decades, but haven't made any progress. If you torture me, I'll destroy it. If you want to use these two to threaten me..."
She paused, her eyes sweeping over the young man in black clothes who was curled up and trembling in pain on the ground, and the swordsman in white clothes who was leaning against a stone pillar in the distance.
"...Then I'll kill them first, then end my own life. Having a companion on the road to the underworld is a bit better than your Madam's years of walking alone. Then, you can guard the cold pond and slowly waste away your dreams of resurrection."
These words were so clear and solitary that even Madam Wei, who was standing beside her, felt her brows twitch when she heard them.
Chen Yan looked at her, as if reassessing this weapon he had never taken seriously. Suddenly, he burst into laughter, his voice cold with anger.
"Good, good, good!" He uttered the three "good" words in quick succession, his eyes gleaming. "As expected, she is the kind of girl who can captivate my good son. She is indeed quite courageous."
He waved his hand and said to Madam Wei behind him, "Madam Wei, look, isn't this done?"
Mrs. Wei had no expression on her face. She just looked at him coldly without saying a word.
"A doctor's heart is filled with compassion," Chen Yan nodded, like a magnanimous elder, agreeing to a pampered request from a junior like her. "I'll certainly grant your wish. However, Fu'ao Town is a hodgepodge of people, not a place where one can safely treat illnesses."
He waved his hand toward the black-clad warriors at Madam Wei's side, and they hurried forward, deliberately avoiding Qing Guiyu. Two of them lifted the severely injured and unconscious Lu Guiyan, while the other two, expressionless, pulled a few steps away from the still violently convulsing young man in black clothes on the ground.
Golden threads and black hair, mixed with dust and blood, hung down in a mess.
"Miss Qing," Chen Yan turned his head and gave her a kind smile, "Please. There is a quiet house in Baidi City. It is enough for you to perform a miracle."
Qing Guiyu took a deep breath, held the jade slip tightly in his hand, and followed the group of people.
*
Chen Yan was a madman who kept his word. Now that he had obtained the bargaining chip he wanted, he really gave her the opportunity to be treated.
They were placed on a huge ship, sailing in the middle of the river, the green mountains on both sides quickly receding in the mist. Shen Yan's men guarded every corner of the ship like an iron wall.
Qing Guiyu first helped Lu Guiyan into the cabin, had him take the elixir to protect his heart meridians, and regulate his breathing. Then, she turned around and went to look for Chen Juansheng.
He was thrown onto the cold floor, his gorgeous black robes now stained with blood and dust, leaving no trace of his original appearance. The excruciating pain from the bone-eating nails seemed to have subsided slightly, but he remained curled up, his body twitching slightly, his teeth clenched, unable to utter a single groan.
Qing Guiyu helped him onto the couch, and without paying any attention to the looks of the assassins, he began to cut open the fabric on his chest.
The three golden needles she had personally placed were still firmly embedded in their original positions. But now, the flesh around them was tense with pain, bruised and blue with cold, a horrifying sight. Shen Yan's technique was too sinister. The twisting of the cold needles unleashed twenty years of pent-up pain, like a floodgate opening.
Qing Guiyu watched the film in a daze for an hour, then took out a few silver needles from the needle bag, roasted them over the candlelight, and inserted them into the Baihui, Si Shencong and other acupoints on the top of his head to calm his almost collapsed consciousness.
Shen Jiansheng trembled violently under the needle prick, and his distracted pupils seemed to focus for a moment. He looked at her, just looking at her, his lips moving, but he couldn't utter a single word, and was overwhelmed by a new round of severe pain.
An hour later, the convulsions finally subsided, and he fell into a deep sleep, exhausted and in pain. However, his sleep was extremely restless, his brow furrowed, tears still lingering on his long eyelashes, and he occasionally let out a suppressed sob or two.
Qing Guiyu withdrew the needle, feeling that her internal energy had been depleted. She looked at his face, which was filled with pain even in his sleep, and she felt indescribable.
This beautiful venomous snake that was difficult to tame was finally smashed to pieces by its former owner using the most cruel means, and its shell, which was forged with ingenuity and expediency, was smashed to pieces.
She covered him with the quilt, then stood up and walked towards the cabin next door.
Lu Guiyan's injuries were also serious. The palm strike from Chen Yan contained a vicious internal force that was specifically designed to break the heart meridians of those who practiced cold skills.
Qing Guiyu entered the cabin and saw him sitting cross-legged on the couch with his eyes closed and his snow-white hair draped over his shoulders. The Wuwang sword lay across his knees, and the sword still emitted a cold light in the dim light of the cabin.
She walked over, sat down beside him quietly, and placed three fingers on his wrist pulse.
His pulse was thin and disordered. That sinister internal force was lingering near his heart, constantly eroding his meridians, which had already been damaged by his aggressive swordsmanship.
"Junior Brother." She called in a low voice.
Lu Guiyan slowly opened his eyes, still cold and clear, but now filled with a faint emotion. He looked at her, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something, but first his injury was aroused, and his throat felt sweet, and a mouthful of blood surged up, which he forced back.
"Don't talk." Qing Guiyu immediately held him down. "Put your energy to keep your mind focused. I'll give you acupuncture."
She took out the needle bag and inserted the needle into several major acupoints of "Purple Palace" and "Jade Hall", and then carefully transferred her remaining Huangdi Absolute Needle internal force to try to guide away the entrenched sinister true energy.
But that true energy was extremely stubborn, and it was entangled with his own icy cold energy, like a thorn in his flesh, extremely difficult to remove.
Fine beads of sweat formed on Qing Guiyu's forehead, but his heart grew heavier. This injury, without external help, would be extremely difficult to heal. And now, they were under Shen Yan's control, the most dangerous tiger blood in the world.
"Junior sister," Lu Guiyan's voice suddenly rang out. Although weak, it was still clear. "There's no need... to waste your energy."
"Shut up," Qing Guiyu scolded without even looking up. "The rules of Medicine King Valley are that the doctor speaks and the patient listens. Have you forgotten?"
Lu Guiyan smiled and stopped talking. For a moment, the only light in the cabin was the flickering candlelight as the boat went underwater.
After a long time, Qing Guiyu put away the needle and his face turned pale.
"Junior Brother," she finally made up her mind, raised her head, and met his gaze, "I have something to discuss with you."
Lu Guiyan looked at her and nodded slightly.
"Chen Yan's martial arts skills are unfathomable, and his mind is even more vicious. You and I are both injured. If we want to escape from him, or even... become his enemy, we must take risky measures."
She paused, took a deep breath, as if she was about to say something extremely difficult.
"I found the inscription left by Shen Yan's late wife at the bottom of the cold pond in Tianji Pavilion."
The snow swayed, and Lu Guiyan suddenly turned his head.
"It's a massive black ice jade disk, engraved with... a set of martial arts techniques." Qing Guiyu recounted everything he had seen at the bottom of the pool. "That technique combines the Cold Marrow Technique and the Ice Stream Cleansing Meridians Technique into one. It's dangerous, but also incredibly powerful. If mastered, it might be the only way to subdue Shen Yan."
Lu Guiyan remained silent, but the Wuwang sword on his knee made a slight sound.
"However, the Ice Stream Cleansing Meridians Technique on the jade disk is only about 70% accurate, not complete. Chen Yan's late wife was a genius, and she must have deduced it herself, but it's still a little off." Qing Guiyu looked at him and said earnestly, "Junior Brother, I need the real Ice Stream Cleansing Meridians Technique to complete the technique on the jade disk."
"Do you still want to save him?" Lu Guiyan finally spoke, his voice as cold as the sword on his knee.
Qing Guiyu's heart sank suddenly, but he could only nod reluctantly.
"Yes, but not entirely." She said frankly, "I saved him...with my own hands. Now that he has been tortured to this extent by Chen Yan, I can't just sit back and watch."
"More importantly," she met his disappointed and cold eyes, "Chen Yan wants you as well as him. He wants both the Cleansing Meridians Technique and the Cold Marrow Technique. If we can combine the two techniques first, we'll have the upper hand. This is the only way we can go right now."
"Fight poison with poison, and overcome cold with cold. Junior Brother, this is an opportunity."
Lu Guiyan's gaze moved away from her face and fell on the river surface outside the window, which was shimmering in the moonlight.
"The Snow Mountain Sect's secret manuals are never passed on to outsiders," he said slowly, without any emotion. "Furthermore, this involves the son of an enemy, a person who recognizes a thief as his father..."
"I know." Qing Guiyu's voice dropped. "I know this puts you in a difficult position. But Senior Brother, Chen Yan won't let any of us go. He's already gone mad. If he gets hold of this technique, no one in the world will be able to control it. By then, not only will the Snow Mountain Sect's blood feud be in turmoil, but even the entire world will suffer."
She knew that empty words would not convince him.
So he stood up, walked up to him, and bowed deeply and solemnly.
"Brother, I beg you."
This was the first time she had begged him so earnestly, face to face. There were no little lies, not to shirk her duties, nor to ask him to cover up after getting into trouble. Instead, she was doing it to… save someone.
Save the person he least wants to save.
Frost and blood, they were all in one. Lu Guiyan stared at her for a long time.
Finally, he sighed, as if all the strength in his body had been stripped away, along with the loneliness and sharpness that had accumulated due to blood feud. Only the tired gentleness after the melting ice and snow remained.
"Never mind." He said softly, looking at her. "What else can I do?"
Lu Guiyan stretched out his hand and slowly placed the Wuwang sword, which was as thin as autumn water, horizontally in front of him.
"The founder of my Snow Mountain Sect was originally from Baidi City." Lu Guiyan's voice was gentle as he recounted a past event that had long since been washed away by the river. "In the past, he and his two brothers jointly created a set of extremely cold and yin skills, hoping to reach the ultimate realm of martial arts."
"But this technique is too overbearing. The three gates of the heart and mind cannot withstand it. There is no consensus on how to deal with it. So my brother insisted on practicing the first volume, which is the 'Cold Marrow Technique'. It refines the marrow and cracks the bones, but there is a risk of cold poison backlash. My Snow Mountain Sect's founder insisted on practicing the second volume, which is the 'Ice Stream Cleansing Meridians Technique'. It cleanses the meridians and unblocks the meridians, but it will eventually dry up the meridians and exhaust the lifespan."
Qing Guiyu's heart trembled. It turned out that the deduction on the Xuanbing Jade Disk was indeed true. These two seemingly different sets of cold skills were actually derived from the same source.
"As a result, their paths to martial arts were incompatible, and they eventually fell out. My sect's founder took the second volume and traveled far north, establishing the Snow Mountain Sect in the extreme cold, hoping to use the cold to deepen his studies. His brother, on the other hand, remained in Baidi City, living in seclusion. It was said that he traveled far and wide, gathering information, hoping to use the stone to polish the jade and complete this achievement."
When he mentioned this, Qing Guiyu's thoughts turned, and he suddenly remembered something. He asked, "That day in Yaowang Valley, Taoist Dian Cang told me, 'The White Emperor's sword bones are light from the west, and ghosts and gods glow in the snow-capped mountains.' Is he referring to this story?"
Lu Guiyan smiled slightly and said, "The only ones who know about this matter are a few sword masters."
"The Wuwang Sword is the sword that our sect's founder carried with him." The young man in white gently stroked the cold blade with his fingertips. "This sword is forged from the finest cold iron. It carries too much sin and is truly an ominous object. To find peace of mind, our founder named it 'Wuwang', using a good name to suppress it and ward off evil."
He paused for a moment and gently stroked the end of the hilt, where was attached a jade pendant with a warm color and simple carving. The jade was dark green and had a faint glow.
"You thought that the inscription on the ice wall said that Chen Yan's wife also practiced the Cold Marrow Technique. I guess Chen Yan found the descendant of that hermit, or... that person is the ancestor of the Tianji Pavilion." Lu Guiyan shook his head and looked at the hilt of the Wuwang Sword.
"Because the Bingxi Qixi Jue's mental method, like the Hansui Gong, has been engraved on jade throughout the ages and has never been recorded on paper." Lu Guiyan reached out and untied the jade from the sword tassel. "The Snow Mountain Sect's skills have always been engraved here."
Qing Guiyu took the jade pendant, which felt warm and heavy in his hand, as if it carried hundreds of years of inheritance and blood debt of the Snow Mountain Sect.
She turned the jade pendant over and, by the candlelight, saw that its smooth surface was densely covered with tiny characters carved with a knife as fine as a hair. The handwriting was clear and it was the heart method of Bingxi Qi Xi Jue.
"Junior Brother..." She was halfway through her words when she suddenly felt that the jade in her hand was a little strange.
It was a kind of implicit and gentle warmth.
"Warm Jade." Lu Guiyan nodded and said to her, "Born from the Cold Mountain Fire, I told you, what you want is in my hands."
"When my father sent me to Medicine King Valley, he also gave me this jade. It was meant to thank the Valley Master for saving my life, and also to use the jade's warmth to suppress the sword's evil spirit. My master thought that using it to save people might help neutralize the sword's bloody aura, so he cut off a section and made it into a warm jade needle. I've worn the rest of it on my sword all these years."
Qing Guiyu felt sad and felt that the jade in his palm suddenly became hot.
Warm jade needle.
Searching for the warm jade needle all over the world.
It turns out that it was very close from the very beginning.
“If everything in the world can be done as one wishes, that would be the best.”
With his white hair flowing, Lu Guiyan's eyes showed a gentleness that resembled sadness. "My life has long been imprisoned by blood feuds, and this will never happen again. But you, Junior Sister, shouldn't be like this."
"Take it."
Qing Guiyu stretched out his hand, and with trembling fingertips, he took the heavy Wuwang sword.
"I have only one request." Lu Guiyan looked at her, his voice calm and composed. "Now that you have the warm jade and made this needle, please find a way to remove the three chaotic needles from his body."
"From now on, you have nothing to do with him."
Lu Guiyan handed the sword to her and wanted to stroke her hair like he did when they were children in Yaowang Valley, but he stopped in mid-air, and finally, he just gently landed on her shoulder.
"...You should be free. Save whoever you want to save, and don't exchange lives if you don't want to."
He smiled bitterly.
"I just hope you can do whatever you want and not be bothered by these grudges anymore."
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