Lu Xiaochan gasped, instinctively about to hide behind Shu Wuxi.
Opposite them, Kunwu grabbed Lu Xiaochan, but before he could pull him away, Shu Wuxi lightly flicked his right hand. A sword formation suddenly opened up, extending in all directions. Spiritual light splashed, immediately shattering Kunwu’s great medical incantation. The vortex that had almost twisted to Shu Wuxi’s side suddenly vanished.
Countless medical cultivators watched this scene in surprise.
Kunwu thought he had grabbed Lu Xiaochan, but didn’t expect Lu Xiaochan to be pulled back by the Immortal-Locking Ribbon. Shu Wuxi raised his hand and held Lu Xiaochan tightly in his arms.
Lu Xiaochan’s ear was pressed against Shu Wuxi’s chest. He could hear his heartbeat, steady yet with a hint of hidden turbulence.
“What you just did has been seen by your disciples,” Shu Wuxi said calmly.
Kunwu, whose face had been full of anger, lowered his voice. “Don’t touch him…You know what happens if you touch him…”
“What will happen?” Before Shu Wuxi could speak, Lu Xiaochan asked.
Shu Wuxi had never told him why. At first, Lu Xiaochan thought Shu Wuxi despised him for being a bit dirty due to his beggar background. But later, Shu Wuxi was so attentive to him, granting his every request – how could he possibly despise him?
So Lu Xiaochan had always wanted to know the reason behind this.
Shu Wuxi wouldn’t say, but this Kunwu definitely knew!
He could feel Shu Wuxi looking down at him, as his breath fell on his forehead. Then Shu Wuxi gently released his hand, just like before, extremely carefully.
Only then did Kunwu reveal a big smile, patting Shu Wuxi’s shoulder forcefully. “Brother! You’re still so powerful! Wreaking havoc without even using your sword!”
Some of the medical cultivators who were organizing herbs exhaled, some shook their heads, some smiled helplessly, and continued organizing the herbs.
Although Kunwu pretended to be just joking and sparring with Shu Wuxi, Lu Xiaochan knew that he had truly been angry just now.
“Come with me.”
Kunwu’s voice indeed lowered. He turned around and walked away quickly.
Shu Wuxi, bringing Lu Xiaochan, followed at a leisurely pace.
They came to a quiet room. Except for the regular sound of the water clock, there were no other sounds.
There was only a tea table in the quiet room, with a teapot on it. But when Lu Xiaochan sat down with Shu Wuxi, Kunwu showed no intention of brewing tea for his guests. Instead, he looked at Shu Wuxi with an icy expression.
Lu Xiaochan sat uncomfortably. He had come for medical treatment, but Shu Wuxi seemed to have fallen out with Kunwu. Forget about treating his eyes, they might be kicked out in a moment.
“Shu Wuxi, you’re so bold – you dare to…” Kunwu was clearly about to accuse him.
“Dare to restrain him with the Immortal-Locking Ribbon? Or dare to let me find him?”
Shu Wuxi’s voice was as usual, but carried an imposing pressure. Lu Xiaochan felt a deep chill in his heart upon hearing it, while Kunwu on the other side was at a loss for words for a moment.
“You’ve always known where he was,” Shu Wuxi’s voice was cold.
Kunwu opposite them remained silent.
“The Great Tailing Qingyuan Incantation in Lushu Town was set by you. Besides not letting evil spirits invade, it was to prevent me from finding him,” Shu Wuxi said.
Lu Xiaochan was stunned! It turned out that the so-called great spell was actually set by Kunwu! And it was to prevent Shu Wuxi from finding him!
If it weren’t for this great spell, Shu Wuxi wouldn’t have needed to capture that spirit beast called Biluo, nor would he have needed to hook Lu Xiaochan’s primordial spirit back to know where he was.
Moreover, Lu Xiaochan heard Kunwu’s voice like an old beggar choking on peanuts—should be correct, right?
This old trickster was the Medical Ancestor of Tailing Pavilion!
Lu Xiaochan’s mind was in chaos, unable to understand what had been going on with himself for the past dozen or so years!
“You once promised me that you would inform me if you had news of him. You lied to me.” Shu Wuxi’s voice grew colder, revealing a bone-chilling coldness, and even… killing intent.
Kunwu looked at Lu Xiaochan and only said one sentence. “Xiaochan, come here.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Xiaochan realized that Kunwu indeed knew him!
He was about to stand up, but then remembered that Shu Wuxi hadn’t agreed, so he immediately sat back down.
I won’t listen to you, you old trickster!
“Come here to me.” Seeing that Lu Xiaochan didn’t move, Kunwu directly reached out to grasp Lu Xiaochan’s shoulder, but was blocked by Shu Wuxi’s raised hand.
As Kunwu was about to cast a spell, Shu Wuxi’s other hand was about to touch Lu Xiaochan’s neck. Kunwu was startled and immediately withdrew his hand. “Don’t!”
“If you don’t want me to touch him, then treat his eyes now. Once they’re healed, I’m taking him away.”
Kunwu was stunned for a long while, took a breath, raised his wrist, poured a cup of tea, but suddenly splashed it towards Lu Xiaochan.
“Oh my!”
This time, Shu Wuxi didn’t block it for Lu Xiaochan. The tea water fell on Lu Xiaochan’s body, and as if attracted by some force, it gathered into a thin stream from his hair tips, cheeks, neck, and shoulders, and flowed into Lu Xiaochan’s ears.
In an instant, Lu Xiaochan could hear nothing but the gurgling sound of water.
“Water got into my ears! It got in!” Lu Xiaochan got up, tilting his head and hopping on one leg.
But the water in his ears seemed to have taken root, and no amount of jumping could get it out.
“Where do you want to take him?” Kunwu put down the teacup and coldly looked at Shu Wuxi.
“Wuyi Jingtian.”
“You’re mad… Shu Wuxi… you’ve really gone mad… I went to great lengths to preserve his dan yuan, but his cultivation from back then has long dissipated. Without cultivation, how can he withstand the sword pressure of Wuyi Sword Sea? His dan yuan will crack! By taking him to Wuyi Jingtian, you’re asking for his life!” Kunwu gritted his teeth and directly threw the teacup at Shu Wuxi.
Shu Wuxi sat motionless, unmoved.
The teacup was blocked by the sudden release of spiritual pressure from Shu Wuxi. It didn’t touch Shu Wuxi at all and fell onto the tea table.
“Back then, when you took away his dan yuan, you told me that once his physical body was reconstructed, you would bring me to see him. But you didn’t,” Shu Wuxi raised his eyes and looked at Kunwu.
His originally calm gaze at that moment seemed to contain thousands of sword intents surging forth, threatening to obliterate Kunwu.
Kunwu tightened his fingers and glanced at Lu Xiaochan, who was still rubbing his ears.
“What good would it do to see him? Can you touch him? If you touch him once, he’ll be consumed by the karmic fire of Chaos. I went to great lengths to reconstruct his physical body, how could I let you destroy it!”
“I won’t touch him,” Shu Wuxi’s voice remained calm.
“You won’t touch him? You might endure for a moment, for three to five years, even for decades! But can you endure for a hundred years? A living person right in front of you, and you don’t want to touch him?”
At first, Kunwu was filled with anger, but gradually it subsided, and his voice carried helplessness and even pleading.
“I can endure,” Shu Wuxi replied.
Kunwu shook his head, as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world.
“If you can resist touching him, surely you can resist seeking him out, seeing him. You know very well that his eyes can’t be cured. They were destroyed by the karmic fire of Chaos. Even if you dug out your own eyes and gave them to him, he still wouldn’t be able to see.”
Shu Wuxi remained silent.
“I understand Xiaochan’s temperament. Back then, just staying in Wuyi Jingtian for three days was unbearable for him. After nine days, he was crying and wanting to jump down from the Wuyi Sword Sea! I came to your door nine times, but you stubbornly refused to let me take him away…”
“But later, he never mentioned wanting to leave again.”
Kunwu chuckled lightly. “This little junior brother of mine has no interest in cultivating our Dao. What he loves most is the colorful world of three thousand hues, studying the cyclical growth of all things. Can you give him that?”
“Then I’ll stay. He can look at his three thousand world, and I’ll just look at him,” Shu Wuxi replied.
“What? What about the Wuyi Sword Sea? If you don’t stay in Wuyi Jingtian, and that sword sea collapses, all living beings under heaven will be engulfed! You… you’re just…”
“Ah, so that’s possible too,” Shu Wuxi turned his face.
A chill ran down Kunwu’s spine. He hurriedly looked at Shu Wuxi, trying to see something in those eyes as deep as a glassy sea, but only felt fear.
“You… what are you planning to do…”
“Didn’t you say Xiaochan can’t bear to part with the growth of all things in the three thousand world ? If it’s destroyed, there will be nothing left to miss.”
Shu Wuxi raised his hand, and Kunwu quickly grasped his wrist.
“What exactly are you trying to do?”
“I left my sword in Wuyi Jingtian, holding back the Wuyi Sword Sea. Now if I withdraw my sword, the sword sea will collapse…”
“Don’t do this! I’ll help you! I’ll help you!”
Kunwu was afraid he would really summon his sword back. If that happened, he would become a sinner against all living beings.
“Oh? How will you help me?” Shu Wuxi slowly raised his eyes to look at Kunwu.
At that moment, Kunwu realized that Shu Wuxi was threatening him.
With Lu Xiaochan still here, how could he possibly let the Wuyi Sword Sea collapse? He had fallen into Shu Wuxi’s trap.
“You… you let him stay here with me…”
“Not possible,” Shu Wuxi’s answer was cold.
“I won’t hide him away again. He still has the Immortal-Locking Ribbon tied around his wrist. From the highest heavens to the deepest underworld, you’d be able to find him. There’s no use in me hiding him anywhere, is there?”
Kunwu looked at Shu Wuxi, feeling as if he was talking to an emotionless jade statue.
“His six hundred years of cultivation have only dissipated, not disappeared. I will teach him Tailing Pavilion’s cultivation methods, supplemented with spirit pills. Regaining those six hundred years of cultivation will be quick! Then… then you can naturally take him back to Wuyi Jingtian if you wish.”
Kunwu’s hands were almost shaking. If Shu Wuxi wouldn’t agree to this, he truly didn’t know what else to do.
“If you knew it would come to this, why did you do it in the first place?”
Shu Wuxi looked at Kunwu, his eyes unfathomable, his body faintly emanating a hint of obsession.
“If… if it weren’t for the Tailing Purification Great Spell of Xiaochan’s on you, warding off all evil… I would really think you were…”
Kunwu realized he had misspoken and immediately stopped.
“What did you think I was?”
“Evil god…Chaos.”
After saying these two words, Kunwu felt as if Shu Wuxi’s spiritual pressure was plummeting from the Ninth Heaven. Kunwu’s scalp tingled, and he couldn’t straighten his back.
“Since Xiaochan was injured by the karmic fire of Chaos, I will suppress it for life, never letting it harm him again.”
Shu Wuxi’s words were as good as a deed. Kunwu let out a sigh of relief.
Lu Xiaochan had been jumping for a long time, but the water in his ears wouldn’t come out. He anxiously began to reach out, trying to touch Shu Wuxi everywhere.
As his fingertips were about to touch Shu Wuxi’s hair, Kunwu was so frightened he was about to pounce forward. Shu Wuxi turned his body, his arm swooping down to hold Lu Xiaochan around the waist, very carefully avoiding touching Lu Xiaochan’s skin through his clothes.
He took up the teacup with his other hand, gently lifting it upwards. The water in Lu Xiaochan’s ears was drawn out, falling back into the teacup.
Lu Xiaochan rubbed his ears, suddenly realizing. “What secret were you talking about? You deliberately didn’t let me hear!”
Kunwu immediately put on a smiling face. “What secret? We were just teasing you, little one!”
Although Lu Xiaochan couldn’t see, he turned his face towards Kunwu’s direction, not saying a word.
Kunwu felt his whole body tingle under Lu Xiaochan’s gaze. He asked with a smile, “What’s wrong?”
Lu Xiaochan let out a light snort and tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Old beggar, you’re quite something, aren’t you!”
Kunwu was stunned. “You little rascal! Where are your manners!”
“Still pretending! I can smell the peanuts and old liquor on you! Weren’t you supposed to have choked to death on peanuts? Did you really think I couldn’t recognize your voice? Couldn’t smell your scent? I could recognize you even if you were burned to ashes!”
Lu Xiaochan folded his arms. He had been in awe of Immortal Lord Kunwu before, after all, he was the Medical Sage who couldn’t be seen even if one begged. But when Lu Xiaochan realized he was the old beggar, his disappointment was beyond words.
“Oh my… you recognized me! Xiaochan, my little child!” Kunwu immediately changed his expression, smiling like a flower, and was about to pinch Lu Xiaochan’s cheek. But when Shu Wuxi’s gaze swept over, Kunwu’s hand quickly withdrew.
“Who’s your little child? Tell me! Why did you come here pretending to be an old beggar?” Lu Xiaochan was furious.
“Of… of course it was to take good care of you! Have you forgotten? I raised you from when you were in diapers!” Kunwu looked grief-stricken.
“As if I’d believe that! If you wanted to take care of me, why didn’t you bring me here?”
“Because… because…” Kunwu looked at Shu Wuxi, thinking to himself that the reason he didn’t bring Lu Xiaochan here was to hide from Shu Wuxi, wasn’t it?
His eyes brightened as he suddenly thought of a good excuse. “Of course it was because of that old locust tree! It gathered the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Growing up beside it would make you strong and healthy! Aren’t you here to treat your eyes? The spiritual nature of that old locust tree would be beneficial for restoring your sight!”
“What? Why didn’t you say so earlier! The old locust tree has already been cut down by the Chen family and made into coffin boards!”
“Ah? That’s truly a pity…”
“What about after that? Why did you fake your death? Only you could come up with such a ridiculous way of dying, choking on peanuts!” Lu Xiaochan felt all the heartache over these years had been wasted, as the old beggar was alive and well.
“Such a ridiculous way of dying, and you believed it?”
“What?” Lu Xiaochan grabbed the teapot from the table, ready to throw it at him.
Kunwu dodged left and right, opening his arms, prepared to catch his teapot.
“Xiaochan, look…I have so many pills to refine every day…I just happened to get a celestial herb, which I needed to refine into this eye-restoring pill, just for you to eat. But this medicine needs to be refined for forty-nine years, and I had to stay here to watch over it. I figured you were all grown up now, and even though you can’t see, you can eat and drink on your own… So I simply faked my death and came back to refine the pill!”
Kunwu exercised his long-standing skill of deceiving Lu Xiaochan, speaking fluently without a stutter.
“I don’t believe you! Why did you fake your death? Couldn’t you just pretend to leave for some business?”
Lu Xiaochan was still waving the teapot around, ready to catch Kunwu off guard and hit him hard.
“Xiaochan! Look at how deep our bond is. If I had said I was leaving Lushu Town for business, you would have definitely followed me crying, right? I couldn’t take you with me, you had to stay there to absorb the essence of the old locust tree! So, rather than prolonged pain, it’s better to have a quick end. By ‘dying’, you wouldn’t think of me anymore! Think about it, how surprised and happy you’d be to see me again after decades!”
“Just keep making things up!” Lu Xiaochan raised the teapot with both hands and smashed it down hard.
“Oh my goodness!” Kunwu quickly caught his teapot.
Lu Xiaochan tugged at the Immortal-Locking Ribbon and walked towards the door. “Let’s go! He’s just a liar! If he could cure my eyes, he would have done it long ago!”
“Hey! Hey! Hey! Xiaochan, don’t go!” Kunwu tried to stop him, circling around the table.
Shu Wuxi sat still in his original place, gently pulling the Immortal-Locking Ribbon, which pulled Lu Xiaochan back. He fell back into his seat.
“Xiaochan, only he can cure you.”
Lu Xiaochan sat there, head lowered, tears falling unknowingly. He sniffled hard.
“Why are you crying?” Shu Wuxi turned towards him. He wanted to wipe Lu Xiaochan’s tears but couldn’t touch him.
Kunwu came over and quickly wiped his tears. “Oh! Why are you crying? After all these years, haven’t you grown up yet? I didn’t really die! You should be laughing now!”
Lu Xiaochan reached out and hugged him tightly, smearing snot and tears all over him.
Kunwu’s eyes widened, seeing Shu Wuxi’s cold, gloomy gaze. He felt as if he had been ground to dust by an invisible sword. He could only freeze there, patting Lu Xiaochan’s back, then said to Shu Wuxi. “He came to hug me on his own!”
“I burned paper money for you every year! I begged for peanuts to offer you! I didn’t even eat them when I was hungry! How could you deceive people like this!”
“I won’t deceive you anymore! Really, I won’t!”
“Don’t give me that! If you didn’t deceive people, you’d have been struck by lightning long ago! You old liar! Why didn’t you tell me? So I could feel proud too!”
