Chapter 33: A Ten Year Dream
Song Qingshi was wearing T-shirt and jeans, walking on an endless sea of clouds. He looked around everywhere. He knew that he was looking for something, but he couldn’t remember what it looked like. He only remembered the most dazzling glow in the sky.
He kept walking forward, kept searching; even if this path of clouds had no end, even if he fell down countless times from exhaustion, his body so tired that he could hardly move, only able to move forward by crawling, he was still unwilling to stop his searching footsteps…
Atop the path of clouds, another him appeared. He was wearing layer upon layer of snow-white vestments, his long fine hair falling to the ground. It was the same face, the same cold aura. His eyes could comprehend any profound books but he could not understand any emotion.
Because his heart was empty; there was nothing.
Song Qingshi suddenly understood something. He slowly stepped forward, took out his heart and put it in little by little.
At the moment when the heart and the body merged, the two souls broke apart into countless specks of light. They re-intertwined and mended each other’s deficiencies. From then on, the heart found the place where it should be and the body found its missing emotions. The separated jigsaw puzzle was recombined and became a blank picture scroll, waiting for colors to be added.
A strange string of words came out from the depths of the sea of clouds; repeatedly, beating in the depths of his soul like a drum.
“One thousand three hundred and forty-nine…”
“One thousand three hundred and forty-nine…”
“……”
Song Qingshi suddenly opened his eyes and found that he was in the water. He tried to get up but the left side of his body refused to obey. He accidentally choked on his saliva in his struggle. Someone beside him quickly got up, stretched out his hand to steadily supported his lower back. He was scooped out of the water and dripping wet, was taken into someone’s arms.
The warmth of those hands was hotter than ordinary people’s. It had the roughness of calluses, rubbing against his delicate skin, it brought with it bursts of softness.
The person’s breathing sounded a bit heavy, like an imminent storm over the sea, seabirds flapping their wings, bringing with it constrained breathing.
Those eyes in the dark stared at him like those of a predator’s, reunited with a long-lost prey. It was filled with greedy desire, becoming more and more dangerous.
Song Qingshi was groggy and he burrowed into this dangerous embrace. He couldn’t tell where he was or what day it was. After a long time, he slowly came to his senses and realized that something was not right.
Immediately afterwards, the feeling of danger instantly disappeared. The luminous beads lighted up one by one, breaking through the darkness, illuminating Yue Wuhuan’s handsome face. Under the light of the luminous beads, his dark golden phoenix eyes had turned into and unclear, dark and gloomy black. That alluring glamorous tear-shaped mole below his left eye was still there. It was obviously still the same gentle appearance but there were some subtle indescribable changes that made his appearance even more magnificent.
Is it a problem with the light? Why does he feel like Wuhuan has changed his personality?
Song Qingshi realized that he was not wearing any clothes and the water on his body had gotten Yue Wuhuan wet. He embarrassedly raised his head, wanting to change into his clothes but then found something even more terrible. He said, voice hoarse, “Wu-Wuhuan, ho-how did I become shorter?!”
His juvenile frame has always been a sensitive topic for him. So he usually wore loose robes and garments to cover it up. He managed to barely avoid losing face by relying on his height. He remembered that he was about the same height as Yue Wuhuan before being struck by the Tribulation Lightning. Now after he woke up, Yue Wuhuan was half a head taller than him… do-don’t tell me, was a shrinkage in height a side effect of failing the Tribulation?
Song Qingshi’s heart broke. He was too ashamed to face anyone.
Seeing his absolutely wretched appearance, Yue Wuhuan wanted to laugh, but retrained himself. Finally, the corner of his lips twitching, he said helplessly, “Master, you have been sleeping for ten years…”
Song Qingshi was given a dreadful fright. Stutteringly, he asked, “Ten years? Then, m- my…”
Yue Wuhuan affirmed, “Your little white mice are fine. I raised them well and bred a lot of them.”
He moved his body a little and his toes bumped against a wet bamboo pillow. It seemed that this was where Yue Wuhuan had been sleeping these past years.
How can a place like this possibly be suitable as a bedroom? How was this suitable as a study?
Song Qingshi couldn’t help but ask, “Have you been resting well these past years?”
Yue Wuhuan smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I don’t actually sleep here much.”
Because these past years, he hardly ever slept. He had been getting his rest whenever he passed out.
Song Qingshi stared at him for a long time but saw no trace of lying on his face. The bedding next to him showed no traces of having been moved. He felt that there was something suspicious about this whole matter but he couldn’t think of what. He had no choice but to set it aside for now.
He quickly checked his body and found that the burned body on the left had already recovered to how it was before. Only that when he was in a coma, he mobilized all his spiritual power to suppress the fires in his body and so the newly grown meridians had not been used. They were jerky and dry; a little painful as well. His fingers were a bit numb. He needed some time for rehabilitation. His throat too was a little stiff from not having spoken for a long time. But overall, there weren’t any major problems.
Song Qingshi thought back to the time of the Heavenly Tribulation. Not quite daring to believe it, he concluded, “You healed me?”
The wounds from the Heavenly Tribulation had been very severe. The injuries had been complicated. Being able to come out of that alive was already extremely lucky. These had definitely been complicated injuries that a person who has just began studying medicine wouldn’t have been able to handle. His only hope had been that his injuries weren’t as serious as he thought and Yue Wuhuan could rely on the medicines in the treasure house to take his life back from the brink. After waking, he would have handled it slowly. He never expected that Yue Wuhuan could heal him so well…
“I have failed many times,” Yue Wuhuan explained as he stretched out a few fiery red vines on the ground behind him, dexterously opened the suitcase and took out a set of brand-new clothes. He sent it over, and said lightly, “I exhausted all the books in the library and tried a variety of treatment methods. Finally two years ago, I refined the Muscle Regeneration pill, which I turned into a spiritual liquid and matched with the Blood Flower powder. This managed to repair your physical body. But Master, you still wouldn’t wake up… I have been studying for a long time, and recently discovered that there was a point in Master’s soul that would not fuse together. So I used the Soul Harmony Pill and guided it using the golden needles to fuse the scattered souls. Then, you finally woke up…”
“Thank you,” Song Qingshi was used to refining medicine. He knew how much effort it must have taken to make these seemingly, based on their names, simple medicine. He was searching for words to praise the intelligence of his family’s little angel when he suddenly noticed the vines next to him. He stared at them in disbelief. “Blood King Vine?”
The Blood King Vine grew in lands of extreme heat. It was a rare fire-attribute plant. It possessed a portion of intelligence. After it grows up, it could occupy an entire mountaintop, devouring all the creatures on it, sucking their blood, burning and devouring their souls. All life within a hundred miles of it would wither and die until it was annihilated.
Because of its overbearing way of survival, it had already gone extinct in the distant past. Occasionally, magical implements using the Blood King Vines could be seen being sold in the market. But these were dead remnants and their effect wasn’t very potent.
“It won’t hurt Master.” Yue Wuhuan controlled the Blood King Vine to drape the coat on Song Qingshi’s shoulders. He then bent down, fastened his belt for him and explained, “I accidentally obtained this in the secret realm. This Blood King Vine is a seedling. It had lost its body ten thousand years ago and in its soul state, it was sealed within a barrier. It wanted to be close to me and so I decided to try to refine it into my soul to let it become a part of my body. I never expected I would actually succeed.”
There are many methods to refine the Blood King Vine in ancient books and there had been a lot of attempts. But there had only been one successful case, an unknown ancient Shenjun. Yue Wuhuan is not a reckless person. Although he has been tempered by the rank-skipping Lightning Tribulation, his physique now much stronger than that of ordinary Foundation Building cultivators, this matter was still extremely risky, even Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn’t dare try it, unless… There had been no other choice.
Song Qingshi felt that he had a stomach full of things he wanted to ask, but he didn’t know how to voice them out. He also knew that he wouldn’t get a real answer.
Too much has happened in ten years.
He decided that he’ll investigate these slowly after he manages to go out.
As soon as Song Qingshi took a step, his body lost its balance. The left half of his body went soft, unable to exert any force. His whole body fell forward and he was firmly held in Yue Wuhuan’s arms once again.
Although he knew that this situation was temporary, it cast a strong mental shadow over him. It was as though he had returned to the days when he was gradually losing his body. He wasn’t afraid of any physical pain but was extremely afraid of this kind of numbness in his limbs.
He was terrified but he didn’t dare say it. Yue Wuhuan has done so much for him. He can’t trouble him any longer with this little psychological problem. He also didn’t not want him to worry about it anymore. But for some reason, he couldn’t let go of his tight grip on Yue Wuhuan’s robe. The tenser his body became, the more rigid it became; and the more rigid it became, the more afraid he was. Muscles that hadn’t been nourished by spiritual power for several years gradually fell into convulsions.
Yue Wuhuan realized that there was something wrong with him. He quickly carried him in his arms and walked out of the secret room.
The layout of the bedroom was exactly the same as it was in the past. The beddings had been regularly changed and washed with the familiar herbal aroma.
Yue Wuhuan placed him down with the greatest of care. He had the vine fetch a jade hairpin from the dressing table. He carefully massage the meridians and acupuncture points in his instep. He said, comfortingly, “It’s alright. Take deep breaths. Relax… You haven’t moved for a long time. This situation is normal and you’ll be better soon. I will massage your hands and feet several times a day. After half a month at most, you’ll be able to move about freely.”
“En.” Song Qingshi felt embarrassed. Even his ears were red. He wanted to make like an ostrich and bury himself under the quilts.
Yue Wuhuan laughed and said, “A healer doesn’t heal oneself. Master needn’t… worry.”
Did he mean to say ‘shy’? Song Qingshi’s ears became even redder. Stumblingly, he argued, “I’ve always been the one to heal myself when I get injured.” The he in this realm had almost no friends. Even when he’s injured, he can only rely on himself. He was used to handling everything himself. “Really, when my hand was ripped off in a secret realm, I sewed it back on by myself when I came back. I’m not afraid of pain at all!”
This situation was just unexpected. He was usually very capable of fighting, full of manly spirit! Although he might not be able to keep from shedding tears if it’s too painful, he was sure that he would deal with everything first before crying…
Yue Wuhuan’s massage stopped for a moment. He raised his eyes and said seriously, “With me, you won’t be dealing with it by yourself in the future.”
Song Qingshi thought for a long time and nodded embarrassedly, “Okay.”
Yue Wuhuan didn’t speak any more and concentrated on getting his muscles to relax. A cool breeze blew from outside the window, sending in the faint fragrance of flowers. The world seemed to have lost its voice; it was so quiet that only their breathing could be heard. Song Qingshi looked at the person in front of him. Suddenly, he realized what about him felt different. His temperament had changed.
The original Yue Wuhuan was like an extravagant and gorgeous flower with some thorns to prick your hand. But the Yue Wuhuan now has become a bare-edged sword, his features were filled with dashing spirit that could cleave through any obstacles…
Once he relaxed, the spasms gradually disappeared. Song Qingshi moved his fingers. After making sure that he could still move, he tried not to think about it and leave it to practice later.
He looked at Yue Wuhuan’s now even more beautiful face and suddenly remembered something very important. “How did you manage outside these past years? Did you use a disguise? I don’t mean anything by it, just that… There are many bad people in the immortal realm. Even I’ve been the victim of several attempted abductions by those who misjudged me to be easy to bully…”
This kind of thing has happened many times. Every time he went out, there were people who tried to knock him out with drugs or cheat him into being abducted.
He cleaned up these bastards in a brutal way and the situation got a lot better after his notoriety spread.
“Master encounters these kind of things because he has a single water-type spiritual root.” During the diagnosis and treatment, Yue Wuhuan discovered that although there were two types of fires hidden in Song Qingshi’s body, his spiritual root was actually the opposite water-type spiritual root. He suppressed the flames by cold force and combined with his poison abilities, it turned into a truly physique.
However, in the eyes of ordinary cultivators, those with a single water-type spiritual root were the type with very poor combat ability. Very few were strong ones. Their most common function was for double cultivation or they were refined into the best cultivation furnaces.
Had Song Qingshi not been strong enough, with a very special physique that made others unable to control him, what would have awaited him would have been similar to what Yue Wuhuan had gone through, a hell where one was better off dead.
Just thinking of the filthy thoughts those evil cultivators would have directed to Song Qingshi’s body, Yue Wuhuan was so disgusted that he wanted to go out and kill someone. He warned, “In the future, Master must never let anyone know your spiritual root. Moreover, you mustn’t believe in other people’s sweet talk. Don’t just carelessly agree to become someone’s Daoist companion or engage in double cultivation…”
Song Qingshi earnestly agreed. But he didn’t understand what spiritual roots had to do with Daoist companions. In any case, he hadn’t met a suitor in more than a thousand years, so it shouldn’t be a big problem.
When he was attending school, his seniors teased him, saying that a medical dog like him who only knew how to read books, answer problems and do experiments could never find a girlfriend, even if he weren’t sick.
At the time, he had been a bit dejected. If… If he found someone he liked, he would definitely be better at licking their shoes than his senior brothers! Preparing hot water, buying breakfast and even handing over his debit card would all have been easy!
Yue Wuhuan knew that he rarely went out and didn’t understand these kinds of malice. He also didn’t want to dirty his heart. He’ll wait until later to educate him on these things. He began to answer the previous question, “I practiced the Cold Jade technique and Poison Control Method given to me by Master. I used my spiritual power to seal the toxins in my body.”
He circulated the poisons in his body and countless multi-colored and terrifying patterns appeared on the upper half of his face. It scattered in disarray all over his forehead, around his eyes, the bridge of his nose and his cheeks. It also covered the dazzling tear-shaped mole, destroying all the beauty. The lower half of his face retained its original appearance, creating a contrast that made the entire display more tragic and hideous…
Song Qingshi was shocked. “Devil Mask Snake Venom?”
“En, the way Master suppressed the flames served as inspiration.” Yue Wuhuan smiled happily, “I extracted and purified the Devil Mask Snake Venom, added some other drugs and had it appear on my face. This way, whenever I went out to deal with things, although it gives others a fright, it can get rid of all the troubles. Once news of Wuhuan Gongzi’s disfigurement spread, it became much safer for me.”
Song Qingshi couldn’t help reaching out and touching it. The skin was still very smooth and the feel was no different from the original.
Yue Wuhuan let the toxins continue to spread. He smiled, “If anyone suspects and starts to get any ideas, I just let go of the spiritual confinement on the toxins and the Demon Mask Snake venom will spread all over my body, making him lose all interest.”
Song Qingshi looked at the pattern on his body and felt a little distressed. However, he had to admit that it was a better method than using a disguise.
This venom in his body can put an end to all evil thoughts. Moreover, beautiful things, once completely destroyed, would arouse pity in others. At least, they will no longer be interested in thinking of all those unbearable sceneries in front of him nor will they use his past to humiliate him. However, such a face would be met with fear, disgust and contempt. This was not the kind of malice that ordinary people could bear…
“I don’t care about this face. Without this face, people can see my other strengths. And it’s not completely destroyed since I was afraid Master would be sad.” Yue Wuhuan understood his intentions and removed the toxins, revealing his beautiful face once again, his phoenix eyes filled with doting tenderness, “If Master likes this face of mine, I will only show it to you from now on, okay?”
The red vines twined around Song Qingshi’s feet. It swayed to and fro, acting like a spoiled child.
“Okay,” Song Qingshi understood and immediately praised, “Wuhuan looks the best!”
Yue Wuhuan laughed, exceedingly happy.
He got up, took off his clothes that got wet from the water droplets and put on a red slim-fitting brocade robe. A thin golden rope was strapped around his waist. He practiced swordsmanship all the year round and his posture was as tall and straight as poplar; gone was his weak and delicate appearance of before.
The vine brought over a brocade box. Inside the brocade box was a golden mask. The mask was exquisitely crafted with asymmetrical wings spread out on both sides. A woven red ribbon was hung from the left side and the ribbon was tied with three bright and vibrantly colored little gems.
He casually gathered his hair behind his head, leaving only a few slightly wavy bangs. He then put on a mask to cover all the places where the Devil Mask Snake Venom had spread. With his voluptuous lips and light honey-colored chin, it actually created an ostentatiously domineering and aggressive beauty that made people unable to look away.
Song Qingshi once again sincerely praised, “This mask is really beautiful.”
The corners of Wuhuan’s mouth rose slightly. He was extremely delighted. “Master is already awake. I can’t make you lose face when I go out.”
He had deliberately controlled the venom to cover only half of his face in consideration for when Song Qingshi woke up. Just like how a male bird must spread its beautiful wings to win the favor of the bird in his heart, he also didn’t want the person he likes to see him looking ugly. He wanted him to see only his good-looking side.
Song Qingshi saw that he had carefully thought of everything and was completely relieved. He turned to other questions of concern, “Is everything alright in the Medicine King’s Valley? There’s nothing wrong?”
“Nothing much, only there’s something that’s a bit troublesome.” Yue Wuhuan waved his hand and the red vine once again took a thick stack of letters and handed them to Song Qingshi. “An Long wrote to you. You should read them. ”
Song Qingshi flipped through the letters. At first, An Long would send a letter once every two or three months. They were all ordinary greeting letters. They sent all kinds of gifts with the occasional amusing anecdotes. After five years, they were replaced by questions as to why he hadn’t replied. The number of letters also increased. He seemed to have guessed that something had happened to Song Qingshi. He questioned Yue Wuhuan harshly. The contents of the letter for the last six months became threats on Yue Wuhuan’s person, saying that he was going to slaughter him.
Yue Wuhuan said helplessly, “At first he thought you were angry or that you had gone into closed door cultivation refining medicine. He wasn’t at all suspicious. Later, I began to collect medicines and movements to reorganize the Medicine King’s Valley became somewhat big. He became suspicious and kept questioning me. I was forced to reply, to stall and delay him. In the end… he found clues from the types of medicines I bought and he investigated the Heavenly Tribulation at the Medicine King’s Valley. Knowing that I’ve assumed control of the Medicine King’s Valley, he thought that you were seriously injured or that your body perished and that I took the chance to seize control…this matter can’t go on any longer. Fortunately, Master has woken up and can personally send a reply to explain.”
Song Qingshi became more speechless as he looked. “Is this guy still trying to break through?”
Yue Wuhuan said, “He made a charge twice already. The poison formation and the maze formation in the west has been destroyed. Even though I have repaired and strengthened the formation, the Gu King’s cultivation is formidable and his methods, strange. If he charges again, I’m afraid the array won’t be able to hold on…”
Establishing a formation required a lot of spirit stones, all of which were demolished by this Alaskan Malamute…
Song Qingshi’s mouth twitched from heartache. However, the matter of his injury had to be concealed. He couldn’t blame Yue Wuhuan for resolutely withholding the truth. Because the truth had been concealed, An Long thought he had met with an accident and did this stupid act of demolishing his house. And so, he also couldn’t blame An Long…Who was to blame then? He could only blame himself for losing consciousness too quickly; he didn’t have time to hand anything over.
Fortunately, his right hand could still move. He’ll have to hurry up and write an explanation…
The Medicine King’s Valley had limited resources and couldn’t stand being damaged again.
Chapter 33: A Ten Year Dream
Song Qingshi was wearing T-shirt and jeans, walking on an endless sea of clouds. He looked around everywhere. He knew that he was looking for something, but he couldn’t remember what it looked like. He only remembered the most dazzling glow in the sky.
He kept walking forward, kept searching; even if this path of clouds had no end, even if he fell down countless times from exhaustion, his body so tired that he could hardly move, only able to move forward by crawling, he was still unwilling to stop his searching footsteps…
Atop the path of clouds, another him appeared. He was wearing layer upon layer of snow-white vestments, his long fine hair falling to the ground. It was the same face, the same cold aura. His eyes could comprehend any profound books but he could not understand any emotion.
Because his heart was empty; there was nothing.
Song Qingshi suddenly understood something. He slowly stepped forward, took out his heart and put it in little by little.
At the moment when the heart and the body merged, the two souls broke apart into countless specks of light. They re-intertwined and mended each other’s deficiencies. From then on, the heart found the place where it should be and the body found its missing emotions. The separated jigsaw puzzle was recombined and became a blank picture scroll, waiting for colors to be added.
A strange string of words came out from the depths of the sea of clouds; repeatedly, beating in the depths of his soul like a drum.
“One thousand three hundred and forty-nine…”
“One thousand three hundred and forty-nine…”
“……”
Song Qingshi suddenly opened his eyes and found that he was in the water. He tried to get up but the left side of his body refused to obey. He accidentally choked on his saliva in his struggle. Someone beside him quickly got up, stretched out his hand to steadily supported his lower back. He was scooped out of the water and dripping wet, was taken into someone’s arms.
The warmth of those hands was hotter than ordinary people’s. It had the roughness of calluses, rubbing against his delicate skin, it brought with it bursts of softness.
The person’s breathing sounded a bit heavy, like an imminent storm over the sea, seabirds flapping their wings, bringing with it constrained breathing.
Those eyes in the dark stared at him like those of a predator’s, reunited with a long-lost prey. It was filled with greedy desire, becoming more and more dangerous.
Song Qingshi was groggy and he burrowed into this dangerous embrace. He couldn’t tell where he was or what day it was. After a long time, he slowly came to his senses and realized that something was not right.
Immediately afterwards, the feeling of danger instantly disappeared. The luminous beads lighted up one by one, breaking through the darkness, illuminating Yue Wuhuan’s handsome face. Under the light of the luminous beads, his dark golden phoenix eyes had turned into and unclear, dark and gloomy black. That alluring glamorous tear-shaped mole below his left eye was still there. It was obviously still the same gentle appearance but there were some subtle indescribable changes that made his appearance even more magnificent.
Is it a problem with the light? Why does he feel like Wuhuan has changed his personality?
Song Qingshi realized that he was not wearing any clothes and the water on his body had gotten Yue Wuhuan wet. He embarrassedly raised his head, wanting to change into his clothes but then found something even more terrible. He said, voice hoarse, “Wu-Wuhuan, ho-how did I become shorter?!”
His juvenile frame has always been a sensitive topic for him. So he usually wore loose robes and garments to cover it up. He managed to barely avoid losing face by relying on his height. He remembered that he was about the same height as Yue Wuhuan before being struck by the Tribulation Lightning. Now after he woke up, Yue Wuhuan was half a head taller than him… do-don’t tell me, was a shrinkage in height a side effect of failing the Tribulation?
Song Qingshi’s heart broke. He was too ashamed to face anyone.
Seeing his absolutely wretched appearance, Yue Wuhuan wanted to laugh, but retrained himself. Finally, the corner of his lips twitching, he said helplessly, “Master, you have been sleeping for ten years…”
Song Qingshi was given a dreadful fright. Stutteringly, he asked, “Ten years? Then, m- my…”
Yue Wuhuan affirmed, “Your little white mice are fine. I raised them well and bred a lot of them.”
He moved his body a little and his toes bumped against a wet bamboo pillow. It seemed that this was where Yue Wuhuan had been sleeping these past years.
How can a place like this possibly be suitable as a bedroom? How was this suitable as a study?
Song Qingshi couldn’t help but ask, “Have you been resting well these past years?”
Yue Wuhuan smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I don’t actually sleep here much.”
Because these past years, he hardly ever slept. He had been getting his rest whenever he passed out.
Song Qingshi stared at him for a long time but saw no trace of lying on his face. The bedding next to him showed no traces of having been moved. He felt that there was something suspicious about this whole matter but he couldn’t think of what. He had no choice but to set it aside for now.
He quickly checked his body and found that the burned body on the left had already recovered to how it was before. Only that when he was in a coma, he mobilized all his spiritual power to suppress the fires in his body and so the newly grown meridians had not been used. They were jerky and dry; a little painful as well. His fingers were a bit numb. He needed some time for rehabilitation. His throat too was a little stiff from not having spoken for a long time. But overall, there weren’t any major problems.
Song Qingshi thought back to the time of the Heavenly Tribulation. Not quite daring to believe it, he concluded, “You healed me?”
The wounds from the Heavenly Tribulation had been very severe. The injuries had been complicated. Being able to come out of that alive was already extremely lucky. These had definitely been complicated injuries that a person who has just began studying medicine wouldn’t have been able to handle. His only hope had been that his injuries weren’t as serious as he thought and Yue Wuhuan could rely on the medicines in the treasure house to take his life back from the brink. After waking, he would have handled it slowly. He never expected that Yue Wuhuan could heal him so well…
“I have failed many times,” Yue Wuhuan explained as he stretched out a few fiery red vines on the ground behind him, dexterously opened the suitcase and took out a set of brand-new clothes. He sent it over, and said lightly, “I exhausted all the books in the library and tried a variety of treatment methods. Finally two years ago, I refined the Muscle Regeneration pill, which I turned into a spiritual liquid and matched with the Blood Flower powder. This managed to repair your physical body. But Master, you still wouldn’t wake up… I have been studying for a long time, and recently discovered that there was a point in Master’s soul that would not fuse together. So I used the Soul Harmony Pill and guided it using the golden needles to fuse the scattered souls. Then, you finally woke up…”
“Thank you,” Song Qingshi was used to refining medicine. He knew how much effort it must have taken to make these seemingly, based on their names, simple medicine. He was searching for words to praise the intelligence of his family’s little angel when he suddenly noticed the vines next to him. He stared at them in disbelief. “Blood King Vine?”
The Blood King Vine grew in lands of extreme heat. It was a rare fire-attribute plant. It possessed a portion of intelligence. After it grows up, it could occupy an entire mountaintop, devouring all the creatures on it, sucking their blood, burning and devouring their souls. All life within a hundred miles of it would wither and die until it was annihilated.
Because of its overbearing way of survival, it had already gone extinct in the distant past. Occasionally, magical implements using the Blood King Vines could be seen being sold in the market. But these were dead remnants and their effect wasn’t very potent.
“It won’t hurt Master.” Yue Wuhuan controlled the Blood King Vine to drape the coat on Song Qingshi’s shoulders. He then bent down, fastened his belt for him and explained, “I accidentally obtained this in the secret realm. This Blood King Vine is a seedling. It had lost its body ten thousand years ago and in its soul state, it was sealed within a barrier. It wanted to be close to me and so I decided to try to refine it into my soul to let it become a part of my body. I never expected I would actually succeed.”
There are many methods to refine the Blood King Vine in ancient books and there had been a lot of attempts. But there had only been one successful case, an unknown ancient Shenjun. Yue Wuhuan is not a reckless person. Although he has been tempered by the rank-skipping Lightning Tribulation, his physique now much stronger than that of ordinary Foundation Building cultivators, this matter was still extremely risky, even Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn’t dare try it, unless… There had been no other choice.
Song Qingshi felt that he had a stomach full of things he wanted to ask, but he didn’t know how to voice them out. He also knew that he wouldn’t get a real answer.
Too much has happened in ten years.
He decided that he’ll investigate these slowly after he manages to go out.
As soon as Song Qingshi took a step, his body lost its balance. The left half of his body went soft, unable to exert any force. His whole body fell forward and he was firmly held in Yue Wuhuan’s arms once again.
Although he knew that this situation was temporary, it cast a strong mental shadow over him. It was as though he had returned to the days when he was gradually losing his body. He wasn’t afraid of any physical pain but was extremely afraid of this kind of numbness in his limbs.
He was terrified but he didn’t dare say it. Yue Wuhuan has done so much for him. He can’t trouble him any longer with this little psychological problem. He also didn’t not want him to worry about it anymore. But for some reason, he couldn’t let go of his tight grip on Yue Wuhuan’s robe. The tenser his body became, the more rigid it became; and the more rigid it became, the more afraid he was. Muscles that hadn’t been nourished by spiritual power for several years gradually fell into convulsions.
Yue Wuhuan realized that there was something wrong with him. He quickly carried him in his arms and walked out of the secret room.
The layout of the bedroom was exactly the same as it was in the past. The beddings had been regularly changed and washed with the familiar herbal aroma.
Yue Wuhuan placed him down with the greatest of care. He had the vine fetch a jade hairpin from the dressing table. He carefully massage the meridians and acupuncture points in his instep. He said, comfortingly, “It’s alright. Take deep breaths. Relax… You haven’t moved for a long time. This situation is normal and you’ll be better soon. I will massage your hands and feet several times a day. After half a month at most, you’ll be able to move about freely.”
“En.” Song Qingshi felt embarrassed. Even his ears were red. He wanted to make like an ostrich and bury himself under the quilts.
Yue Wuhuan laughed and said, “A healer doesn’t heal oneself. Master needn’t… worry.”
Did he mean to say ‘shy’? Song Qingshi’s ears became even redder. Stumblingly, he argued, “I’ve always been the one to heal myself when I get injured.” The he in this realm had almost no friends. Even when he’s injured, he can only rely on himself. He was used to handling everything himself. “Really, when my hand was ripped off in a secret realm, I sewed it back on by myself when I came back. I’m not afraid of pain at all!”
This situation was just unexpected. He was usually very capable of fighting, full of manly spirit! Although he might not be able to keep from shedding tears if it’s too painful, he was sure that he would deal with everything first before crying…
Yue Wuhuan’s massage stopped for a moment. He raised his eyes and said seriously, “With me, you won’t be dealing with it by yourself in the future.”
Song Qingshi thought for a long time and nodded embarrassedly, “Okay.”
Yue Wuhuan didn’t speak any more and concentrated on getting his muscles to relax. A cool breeze blew from outside the window, sending in the faint fragrance of flowers. The world seemed to have lost its voice; it was so quiet that only their breathing could be heard. Song Qingshi looked at the person in front of him. Suddenly, he realized what about him felt different. His temperament had changed.
The original Yue Wuhuan was like an extravagant and gorgeous flower with some thorns to prick your hand. But the Yue Wuhuan now has become a bare-edged sword, his features were filled with dashing spirit that could cleave through any obstacles…
Once he relaxed, the spasms gradually disappeared. Song Qingshi moved his fingers. After making sure that he could still move, he tried not to think about it and leave it to practice later.
He looked at Yue Wuhuan’s now even more beautiful face and suddenly remembered something very important. “How did you manage outside these past years? Did you use a disguise? I don’t mean anything by it, just that… There are many bad people in the immortal realm. Even I’ve been the victim of several attempted abductions by those who misjudged me to be easy to bully…”
This kind of thing has happened many times. Every time he went out, there were people who tried to knock him out with drugs or cheat him into being abducted.
He cleaned up these bastards in a brutal way and the situation got a lot better after his notoriety spread.
“Master encounters these kind of things because he has a single water-type spiritual root.” During the diagnosis and treatment, Yue Wuhuan discovered that although there were two types of fires hidden in Song Qingshi’s body, his spiritual root was actually the opposite water-type spiritual root. He suppressed the flames by cold force and combined with his poison abilities, it turned into a truly physique.
However, in the eyes of ordinary cultivators, those with a single water-type spiritual root were the type with very poor combat ability. Very few were strong ones. Their most common function was for double cultivation or they were refined into the best cultivation furnaces.
Had Song Qingshi not been strong enough, with a very special physique that made others unable to control him, what would have awaited him would have been similar to what Yue Wuhuan had gone through, a hell where one was better off dead.
Just thinking of the filthy thoughts those evil cultivators would have directed to Song Qingshi’s body, Yue Wuhuan was so disgusted that he wanted to go out and kill someone. He warned, “In the future, Master must never let anyone know your spiritual root. Moreover, you mustn’t believe in other people’s sweet talk. Don’t just carelessly agree to become someone’s Daoist companion or engage in double cultivation…”
Song Qingshi earnestly agreed. But he didn’t understand what spiritual roots had to do with Daoist companions. In any case, he hadn’t met a suitor in more than a thousand years, so it shouldn’t be a big problem.
When he was attending school, his seniors teased him, saying that a medical dog like him who only knew how to read books, answer problems and do experiments could never find a girlfriend, even if he weren’t sick.
At the time, he had been a bit dejected. If… If he found someone he liked, he would definitely be better at licking their shoes than his senior brothers! Preparing hot water, buying breakfast and even handing over his debit card would all have been easy!
Yue Wuhuan knew that he rarely went out and didn’t understand these kinds of malice. He also didn’t want to dirty his heart. He’ll wait until later to educate him on these things. He began to answer the previous question, “I practiced the Cold Jade technique and Poison Control Method given to me by Master. I used my spiritual power to seal the toxins in my body.”
He circulated the poisons in his body and countless multi-colored and terrifying patterns appeared on the upper half of his face. It scattered in disarray all over his forehead, around his eyes, the bridge of his nose and his cheeks. It also covered the dazzling tear-shaped mole, destroying all the beauty. The lower half of his face retained its original appearance, creating a contrast that made the entire display more tragic and hideous…
Song Qingshi was shocked. “Devil Mask Snake Venom?”
“En, the way Master suppressed the flames served as inspiration.” Yue Wuhuan smiled happily, “I extracted and purified the Devil Mask Snake Venom, added some other drugs and had it appear on my face. This way, whenever I went out to deal with things, although it gives others a fright, it can get rid of all the troubles. Once news of Wuhuan Gongzi’s disfigurement spread, it became much safer for me.”
Song Qingshi couldn’t help reaching out and touching it. The skin was still very smooth and the feel was no different from the original.
Yue Wuhuan let the toxins continue to spread. He smiled, “If anyone suspects and starts to get any ideas, I just let go of the spiritual confinement on the toxins and the Demon Mask Snake venom will spread all over my body, making him lose all interest.”
Song Qingshi looked at the pattern on his body and felt a little distressed. However, he had to admit that it was a better method than using a disguise.
This venom in his body can put an end to all evil thoughts. Moreover, beautiful things, once completely destroyed, would arouse pity in others. At least, they will no longer be interested in thinking of all those unbearable sceneries in front of him nor will they use his past to humiliate him. However, such a face would be met with fear, disgust and contempt. This was not the kind of malice that ordinary people could bear…
“I don’t care about this face. Without this face, people can see my other strengths. And it’s not completely destroyed since I was afraid Master would be sad.” Yue Wuhuan understood his intentions and removed the toxins, revealing his beautiful face once again, his phoenix eyes filled with doting tenderness, “If Master likes this face of mine, I will only show it to you from now on, okay?”
The red vines twined around Song Qingshi’s feet. It swayed to and fro, acting like a spoiled child.
“Okay,” Song Qingshi understood and immediately praised, “Wuhuan looks the best!”
Yue Wuhuan laughed, exceedingly happy.
He got up, took off his clothes that got wet from the water droplets and put on a red slim-fitting brocade robe. A thin golden rope was strapped around his waist. He practiced swordsmanship all the year round and his posture was as tall and straight as poplar; gone was his weak and delicate appearance of before.
The vine brought over a brocade box. Inside the brocade box was a golden mask. The mask was exquisitely crafted with asymmetrical wings spread out on both sides. A woven red ribbon was hung from the left side and the ribbon was tied with three bright and vibrantly colored little gems.
He casually gathered his hair behind his head, leaving only a few slightly wavy bangs. He then put on a mask to cover all the places where the Devil Mask Snake Venom had spread. With his voluptuous lips and light honey-colored chin, it actually created an ostentatiously domineering and aggressive beauty that made people unable to look away.
Song Qingshi once again sincerely praised, “This mask is really beautiful.”
The corners of Wuhuan’s mouth rose slightly. He was extremely delighted. “Master is already awake. I can’t make you lose face when I go out.”
He had deliberately controlled the venom to cover only half of his face in consideration for when Song Qingshi woke up. Just like how a male bird must spread its beautiful wings to win the favor of the bird in his heart, he also didn’t want the person he likes to see him looking ugly. He wanted him to see only his good-looking side.
Song Qingshi saw that he had carefully thought of everything and was completely relieved. He turned to other questions of concern, “Is everything alright in the Medicine King’s Valley? There’s nothing wrong?”
“Nothing much, only there’s something that’s a bit troublesome.” Yue Wuhuan waved his hand and the red vine once again took a thick stack of letters and handed them to Song Qingshi. “An Long wrote to you. You should read them. ”
Song Qingshi flipped through the letters. At first, An Long would send a letter once every two or three months. They were all ordinary greeting letters. They sent all kinds of gifts with the occasional amusing anecdotes. After five years, they were replaced by questions as to why he hadn’t replied. The number of letters also increased. He seemed to have guessed that something had happened to Song Qingshi. He questioned Yue Wuhuan harshly. The contents of the letter for the last six months became threats on Yue Wuhuan’s person, saying that he was going to slaughter him.
Yue Wuhuan said helplessly, “At first he thought you were angry or that you had gone into closed door cultivation refining medicine. He wasn’t at all suspicious. Later, I began to collect medicines and movements to reorganize the Medicine King’s Valley became somewhat big. He became suspicious and kept questioning me. I was forced to reply, to stall and delay him. In the end… he found clues from the types of medicines I bought and he investigated the Heavenly Tribulation at the Medicine King’s Valley. Knowing that I’ve assumed control of the Medicine King’s Valley, he thought that you were seriously injured or that your body perished and that I took the chance to seize control…this matter can’t go on any longer. Fortunately, Master has woken up and can personally send a reply to explain.”
Song Qingshi became more speechless as he looked. “Is this guy still trying to break through?”
Yue Wuhuan said, “He made a charge twice already. The poison formation and the maze formation in the west has been destroyed. Even though I have repaired and strengthened the formation, the Gu King’s cultivation is formidable and his methods, strange. If he charges again, I’m afraid the array won’t be able to hold on…”
Establishing a formation required a lot of spirit stones, all of which were demolished by this Alaskan Malamute…
Song Qingshi’s mouth twitched from heartache. However, the matter of his injury had to be concealed. He couldn’t blame Yue Wuhuan for resolutely withholding the truth. Because the truth had been concealed, An Long thought he had met with an accident and did this stupid act of demolishing his house. And so, he also couldn’t blame An Long…Who was to blame then? He could only blame himself for losing consciousness too quickly; he didn’t have time to hand anything over.
Fortunately, his right hand could still move. He’ll have to hurry up and write an explanation…
The Medicine King’s Valley had limited resources and couldn’t stand being damaged again.
