Chapter 30#
Chapter Thirty#
Jiang Chengyi thought for a moment and agreed, saying bluntly, “I think the Young Master will definitely use the poison. The demon race and the human race are irreconcilable; that will never change no matter what.”
Xue Jingci didn’t speak, only nodding slightly.
At this moment, he didn’t treat the Young Master as Pei Huang but truly regarded that person as a demon race spy.
Recalling the resentment on that pair of red wedding shoes, there must be an unresolvable hatred between the City Lord and the Young Master.
Nothing is greater than the hatred of a fallen city and dead citizens.
Ever since Lin Heng had witnessed Xue Jingci’s prowess, he always had extraordinary faith in him. After some thought, he also said, “I also think he will use the poison. Everyone, think about it: if we were assigned to be spies on the side of the demonic cultivators, would we hesitate?”
Jiang Chengyi nodded, without a hint of hesitation in his eyes. “Correct. The opposition between orthodox and demonic is just like the opposition between humans and demons back then. If I were him, I would definitely strike immediately.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Song Jue grasped Yin Xinyao’s hand and said firmly, “If it were Xinyao and I, even if our positions were different, I would rather die than ever harm her.”
Yin Xinyao’s face turned red for a moment, but she didn’t pull her hand back. She spoke slowly, “You are not him, so how do you know what he’s thinking? I feel that it’s too early to make a decision.”
“From my perspective, the City Lord and the Young Master should have been truly in love. It might not be impossible to transcend the limitations of their positions. If there were truly no feelings or intention, where would the City Lord’s great resentment come from? We still need to gather evidence instead of making decisions for them based on our own thoughts.”
Song Jue echoed, “I’ll go with you.”
Yin Xinyao smiled at him. The others turned their heads away one after another, looking at Pei Huang, the person involved.
Now only Pei Huang hadn’t spoken, still remembering what Xue Jingci had told him to think about carefully.
But hearing Yin Xinyao’s words, his heart moved slightly, and he couldn’t help but produce the same thought.
Perhaps it was because that person’s situation and state of mind overlapped subtly with his own.
While they were talking, footsteps came from outside the Buddha hall.
It was Xiao Xun returning.
Unlike the pathetic state everyone imagined, this time Xiao Xun’s steps were composed, a smile in his pale eyes, looking as if he weren’t injured at all.
“Everything went very smoothly.”
Xiao Xun spoke nonchalantly and asked, “Has there been any progress on your side?”
Lin Heng was about to speak but was pressed down by Yin Xinyao.
She walked toward Xiao Xun, looked him up and down, and said, “Junior Brother Xiao should come with me to the inner chamber first to check your injuries.”
Xiao Xun waved his hand. “I’m fine.”
Yin Xinyao insisted on checking. Only when she finally said it was Xue Jingci’s intention did Xiao Xun nod in agreement.
Xiao Xun walked toward the inner chamber. Xue Jingci was about to follow but was stopped by Yin Xinyao, who said, “Don’t come over yet; I can do it myself.”
“Senior Sister, let me go too, I’ll give you a hand.”
Lin Heng leaned in and took the initiative to pick up Yin Xinyao’s medicine box. “Although I’m not much use, I at least have the eye for handing things over.”
Yin Xinyao was amused by him, but her smile quickly vanished. She shook her head and said, “Don’t you feel there’s something wrong with Xiao Xun?”
Lin Heng’s eyes widened, and he asked nervously, “Could it be that he’s actually heavily injured but is hiding it from everyone, pretending to be fine?”
Yin Xinyao shook her head. “He can hide it from everyone, but he can’t hide it from me. I checked his pulse just now; it’s very steady, but too steady.”
“I read in a medical book before that if one encounters an irresistible strong enemy, at the brink of death, there will be a ’terminal lucidity’ instead, bursting with several times their past strength, even unable to perceive the body’s pain and abnormalities.”
Seeing Xue Jingci’s expression look a bit bad, Yin Xinyao immediately changed the subject. “In short, the important thing now is to let him relax. There are too many of you; it will make him feel as if he’s still on the battlefield. It’s better not to go over.”
The group fell silent, watching Yin Xinyao enter the inner chamber.
Yin Xinyao had studied medicine since childhood and didn’t have much sense of defense between men and women. She had Xiao Xun lie down and then reached out to pat his back.
With this pat, Yin Xinyao discovered that Xiao Xun was tense all over, clearly still in a combat-ready state.
She tried to chat with Xiao Xun to make him relax a bit. But although Xiao Xun responded to every sentence, his hands were still clenched, and he reflexively drew on his spiritual energy, ready to attack at any time.
Yin Xinyao sighed; in this state, she truly couldn’t see Xiao Xun’s real situation.
She remembered when she went out to gather herbs as a child and unexpectedly encountered a pack of wolves. She had also guarded a cave alone like this, clutching a torch and forcing herself not to retreat.
It wasn’t until her father came to find her that she threw herself over and cried, fainting after only a few sobs.
When one is alone with nothing to rely on, one can only force oneself to hold on. But if someone can provide a bit of support, one can breathe a sigh of relief.
After thinking for a while, Yin Xinyao told Xiao Xun to rest first and went out to find Xue Jingci herself.
Xue Jingci, having heard about Xiao Xun’s situation, immediately walked into the inner chamber, sat by Xiao Xun’s side, and asked softly, “Does it hurt?”
Hearing this familiar voice, Xiao Xun immediately opened his eyes and wanted to sit up.
Strangely, with just a slight movement, he actually felt some dizziness and pain.
He clearly hadn’t felt it before, but when Xue Jingci asked him if it hurt, he really felt the pain.
Xiao Xun smiled faintly and said, “A little.”
Yin Xinyao was delighted, knowing that upon seeing someone close to him, Xiao Xun finally relaxed his mind. She hurried over to check his pulse.
Sure enough, Xiao Xun’s pulse was in chaos, clearly due to spiritual energy depletion leading to meridian damage.
She quickly applied needles to Xiao Xun. After a few needles, cold sweat broke out on Xiao Xun’s forehead, and his lips became pale.
Xue Jingci asked, “Only a little? It doesn’t look like it.”
Xiao Xun took a soft breath and only after a long time said, “It hurts a lot.”
While applying the needles, Yin Xinyao said, “Bear with it, Junior Brother Xiao. Once this set of needle techniques is finished, the pain in your meridians will ease.”
She had always been confident in her medical skills, but when she went to check Xiao Xun’s pulse again after the session, a look of disbelief surfaced in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
Xue Jingci saw that she had something on her mind and asked quickly.
Yin Xinyao pursed her lips and said, “This city is very strange. There is ghost energy intertwined within him, preventing his injuries from healing. I’m afraid he can only be treated after leaving this place.”
Xue Jingci only then truly became worried.
Xiao Xun was his disciple; he absolutely could not die, nor could his foundation be damaged, otherwise it would be difficult for his cultivation to improve in the future.
They had to leave this place as soon as possible.
The two didn’t avoid Xiao Xun when they spoke. Yin Xinyao knew that sick people have sensitive minds, and deliberately avoiding things would be worse.
“Junior Brother Xiao, rest well these days. Remember not to use spiritual energy again.”
Xiao Xun nodded. “The rest will have to trouble you all.”
Yin Xinyao left with her medicine box, and after thinking for a bit, asked Xue Jingci to stay and accompany Xiao Xun.
The Buddha hall was quiet. The faint scent of sandalwood drifted into the nose, allowing one’s mind to settle into peace.
Xiao Xun closed his eyes and also felt tired, yet he couldn’t fall asleep no matter what, his mind full of thoughts on how to leave the secret realm.
Sensing his eyelashes trembling, Xue Jingci’s hand that was covering him with the quilt paused, and he asked, “Does it hurt so much you can’t sleep?”
Xiao Xun gave a soft “mm.”
Xue Jingci hadn’t done the job of coaxing someone to sleep before. After thinking for a while, he said, “Then I’ll recite a sword manual for you.”
He chose the most obscure and difficult one, one that made people drowsy. He thought that it could both coax Xiao Xun to sleep and, if Xiao Xun heard it enough to retain some memory, it would also help his future cultivation.
Xiao Xun listened to Xue Jingci’s calm and gentle voice, accompanied by the faint, lingering Buddhist chants. His cluttered thoughts settled down bit by bit.
It was the first time someone had coaxed him so gently.
Even when the sword manual was finished, Xiao Xun still hadn’t fallen asleep. Xue Jingci was hesitating whether to recite another one when he suddenly heard Xiao Xun’s cautious voice.
“Master… can you hug me?”
Xue Jingci was confused, but seeing Xiao Xun’s warm smile, he still reached out and hugged him.
Xiao Xun lowered his head slightly, leaning against Xue Jingci’s shoulder with attachment.
He hadn’t felt tired when operating the puppet earlier, but now that he had completely stopped, he actually felt a wave of exhaustion sweep over him.
The scent on Xue Jingci’s body mingled with the sandalwood, lingering around Xiao Xun.
He suddenly felt all the strength leave his body, and he could finally take a proper breath.
Xue Jingci saw he wasn’t moving and couldn’t help asking, “Does a hug really make it stop hurting?”
Xiao Xun was somewhat drowsy and murmured, “Yes, this way it doesn’t hurt anymore.”
Outside the room, Pei Huang saw that it was getting late and came to call Xue Jingci back to the residence.
They absolutely couldn’t have another restart now; they had to be even more careful.
Who knew that when he walked to the door, he would see this tender scene.
Pei Huang pursed his lips and withdrew his gaze.
He tactfully walked to the doorway, leaning against the wall with his head down in a daze. He didn’t know what he was thinking about, and the peach branch in his hand had been broken into pieces, section by section, by him.
After an unknown amount of time, footsteps came from behind. It was actually Xue Jingci, seeing that Xiao Xun had fallen asleep, and coming out on his own initiative.
Pei Huang smiled with forced ease. “Aren’t you going to stay here and accompany him?”
Xue Jingci looked at Pei Huang with confusion. “I’m not a medical cultivator; staying here is useless. Let’s go, come with me to the marketplace.”
“To the marketplace?”
Seeing Pei Huang’s confusion, Xue Jingci said seriously, “To buy a coffin for Xiao Xun.”
Hearing this, Pei Huang almost slipped.
Although his impression of Xiao Xun was complicated, he wouldn’t go so far as to curse him to death. This was truly a bit too sudden.
“You… he…”
Pei Huang stammered, for a moment not knowing what to say. Finally, he took a breath and asked, “Is Xiao Xun’s injury that serious? Maybe we can think of another way.”
He thought of the hug just now and wondered if it was deathbed comfort.
Xue Jingci gave him a strange look. “Don’t overthink it.”
Pei Huang knew he had thought in the wrong direction, rubbed his nose, and pretended he hadn’t said anything.
It wasn’t until they approached the marketplace that Pei Huang figured out what Xue Jingci was going to do.
Of course he wasn’t going to buy a coffin to bury Xiao Xun.
As long as he stayed in the secret realm, his injury wouldn’t heal. Xue Jingci was never the type to sit and wait for death; naturally, he had to think of a way.
“Good coffin wood can preserve a body from rotting. He has ghost energy in him and is nearly a dead person; perhaps in a coffin, the worsening of his injury can be delayed.”
Xue Jingci explained in a low voice, and the two soon arrived at a coffin shop.
The sky was darkening. Many paper-made figures were piled outside the coffin shop. In the darkness, it seemed as if countless gazes were looking toward Xue Jingci and his companion.
Xue Jingci acted as if he didn’t see them and looked at the shopkeeper, asking, “What coffins do you have here?”
Seeing a big customer had come, the shopkeeper quickly put down the gold ingots he was folding and piled up a smile, saying, “Follow me, you two.”
Walking into the courtyard, they saw many coffins placed densely on the ground. As the cold wind blew, the paper money on the ground also flew and danced with it.
Xue Jingci looked at the coffins, waiting for the shopkeeper to introduce them, but saw that the person’s face was bluish-white and his lips were tightly pursed; he actually wouldn’t open his mouth to speak no matter what.
Pei Huang lowered his eyes to look at one of the coffins and said, “This is made of catalpa wood; it’s sturdy and durable.”
Xue Jingci hadn’t expected him to be so familiar with coffin materials and pointed to another one, asking, “What about this one?”
Pei Huang leaned over and knocked on the coffin lid. “This one is even better; Phoebe zhennan is rot-resistant.”
Xue Jingci’s eyes lit up, but he didn’t rush to buy it, instead continuing to walk forward.
Walking to the end, they suddenly saw a jade coffin, as if carved from ice, with a piercing cold aura.
Seeing the two staring at it, the shopkeeper who hadn’t spoken suddenly grinned. A purplish-crimson tongue hung down from his mouth, actually as long as a snake’s.
“Sorry, this one is not for sale; it’s for my own use.”
The night grew deeper. The shopkeeper reached out to stuff his tongue back into his mouth. His skin turned from pale to bluish-white, and his fingernails also grew much longer.
Xue Jingci took a step back, pointed at the Phoebe zhennan coffin and another coffin, and said, “I’ll take these two.”
The shopkeeper chuckled. He took the money and asked where the coffins should be delivered.
Xue Jingci shook his head and had Pei Huang and himself each carry one, leaving the coffin shop directly.
After leaving the shop, the two put the coffins into their storage bags and immediately walked toward the City Lord’s residence.
Xue Jingci thought for a moment, looked at Pei Huang, and asked, “Are you very familiar with these things?”
Pei Huang nodded nonchalantly. “Before I was six, I lived with my parents in a mortuary.”
This was the first time Xue Jingci had heard Pei Huang speak about his family, but he wasn’t of a curious nature and didn’t continue to ask upon hearing it.
When he didn’t speak, Pei Huang suddenly remembered something and couldn’t help asking, “Why did you buy two coffins just now?”
Xue Jingci revealed an understanding expression and answered, “There’s another one prepared for you.”
Pei Huang was stunned for a moment, then happily touched the storage bag.
Xue Jingci was still thinking of him!
It wasn’t until they walked back to the City Lord’s residence that Pei Huang woke up from his dizzying happiness.
He suddenly felt something was not quite right.
He was actually happy because someone bought him a coffin?