“The Cult of Light’s still using this kind of lousy thing to harm others?” Xue Fang snorted, holding the Soul-Locking Needle in contempt.
He Xi grabbed Jiang Ling’s right hand and lifted the sleeve, revealing her pale, slender wrist, “Senior, are you able to remove it?”
“Come over, let me have a look.”
Xue Fang held Jiang Ling by the hand and slowly swept two fingers filled with internal force down from her elbow toward her hand. When he reached her wrist, Jiang Ling felt extreme pain and discomfort and wanted to retract her hand, but because she thought it would be disrespectful to do so, she endured the sensation.
“It’s the Soul-Locking Needle.” Xue Fang withdrew his internal force and released Jiang Ling’s hand.
Once her hand was free, Jiang Ling drew it back and held it close to her chest.
“How long have you had it?”
“Over a month.”
“Then there’s still time. The needle resides in the meridians. Over time, it will grow in length and be impossible to heal.”
“Senior-shishu can resolve it, right?” Jiang Ling had been prepared to lose the use of her right hand and had never expected she would encounter someone skilled enough to resolve it through a chance meeting. She was overflowing with happiness at the thought.
“Tell me how you both landed in this kind of situation.”
The two of them told him everything, from the febrile disease in Shahai Village to their eventual escape as fugitives.
“Azar met this kind of difficult ending.” Xue Fang inevitably felt sentimental.
“Why is Senior-shishu living in seclusion here? Shizun was still concerned about you before his passing.” Jiang Ling recalled that when his three disciples had rushed to his side prior to his death, Lu Yi-zhenren had spoken of missing two people: his disciple who had died young and his shidi that had hidden in Jianghu for so many years without news.
“So shixiong has also…” Hearing the news of his old friends passing one after the other, Xue Fang collapsed into a chair, “So it is. In the end, I’m the one who’s wrong, shixiong. Come see me tomorrow, and I’ll resolve the needle.”
Xue Fang also explained to them why he lived in seclusion. He and Lu Yi had grown up together as sect brothers. He loved to travel, so many years ago, he had traveled all across the land. In Xiyu, he met the young leader-to-be Azar, and the two of them became fast friends, even exchanging martial arts knowledge.
For this reason, Azar had made many trips to the central plains and admired the beautiful landscapes.
When Azar succeeded the previous leader, he encouraged the friendly relationship between themselves and the central plains, and for a time, there was peace. After the great shift in his mental state, he and Xue Fang had drifted apart.
After the fight between the Cult of Light and the central plains, Xue Fang blamed himself for not advising his friend against it and for the great blow to his shixiong’s cultivation. He did not have the face to return to his sect, and so, he brought his wife into seclusion beyond the central plains.
“I didn’t know that he had a past like this.” Jiang Ling sat cross-legged on her bed, sighing with feeling, “Shizun always remembered him and never meant to blame him.”
“He just never got through the obstacle in his heart.” He Xi sat on the rug, her back resting against Jiang Ling’s bed.
“What about you?” He Xi turned around and held Jiang Ling’s wrist lightly. Jiang Ling instinctively wanted to pull her hand away, as she was still unused to touching He Xi. However, He Xi held her wrist a bit tighter, gazing at Jiang Ling’s face as she tried to glean her answer.
“What?”
“Just now, when Senior Xue was testing the needle, your complexion did not look good.” A trace of loneliness flashed across He Xi’s face, and she let her go, “Was it painful?”
“Mhm.” Jiang Ling took her hand back and rubbed it, “I don’t know if the followers will come back.”
“If they don’t come here, then they’ll lie in wait for us elsewhere.” He Xi pondered the issue. They should not remain here for too much longer; The Xue couple had already helped them so much, “We have to leave. We can’t give them any more trouble.”
“Let’s return to the central plains.” Jiang Ling thought about going back to the central plains. Everything had been pretty much investigated. Regarding the little tiger cub’s cousin, she could only await an outcome from Shangguan Qing’s investigation. If there was no news, then perhaps the worst case scenario had occurred. Furthermore, there was also her shixiong’s death. She had to go back and speak with Gu Shi to see if there were any other suspicious persons in Qingshan besides the followers of the Cult of Light that night.
“Go to the central plains, hm?”
He Xi could never have foretold that one day she would be exiled from the land she had grown up in by the Cult of Light. She had recovered the Holy Fire Order; Jiang Ling had helped her retain it when she had been injured. If she were to return to the Cult of Light with it now, Zhu Li would only brand her as a thief. She had to find a way to contact the Guardian King Sang Ji, a neutral party. She could only find him on her own and try to win him over; perhaps there could be a turnaround. However, the one Zhu Li had sent out was Wu Ji, who was both blindly loyal and handled things without critical thinking. He would never listen to her explanation.
“Yes, the central plains. A Qing knows more than I do. Perhaps she would know who in jianghu likes to use poisoned needles, and we could make things clear.”
“A Qing?” He Xi frowned.
“Shangguan Qing. The one I mentioned before, Shen Xiuqi’s shimei. We’re good sisters.”
“You and her are quite close.”
“We met at the Sword Conference. She knows everything, a regular Bai Xiaosheng[1]A master of secrets, see chapter 7 footnote.” Jiang Ling was entirely unaware of the bitterness in the air.
He Xi felt upset. Ever since that time, Jiang Ling had always kept her distance from her, like there were ordinary friends. Jiang Ling could abandon her best chance of returning to the central plains for Zhuo Zhuo, even braving the dangers of the febrile disease to take care of him, despite only knowing him for a few days. Moreover, she could become a close sister of Shangguan Qing after knowing her for less than a fortnight. Then why could she not take a step closer to her?
He Xi pressed her palms against Jiang Ling’s bed and stood up, like she wanted to envelop Jiang Ling in her own shadow as she sat cross-legged on the bed. As Jiang Ling saw He Xi’s beautiful face draw closer, she involuntarily swallowed. The atmosphere around them turned strange. The pressure she could not endure from He Xi suddenly retreated. He Xi stood up and laid down on her own bed, saying: “We’ll go to the central plains once your hand is better.”
Jiang Ling covered her chest. He Xi had just been standing up. Jiang Ling had thought that He Xi was going to do something, but after seeing that she was just standing up, Jiang Ling felt crestfallen. Covering her chest, Jiang Ling laid down on her bed.
…
The next day, the two of them appeared before Xue Fang.
“The Soul-Locking Needle cannot be removed once inserted.” Xue Fang explained as he held Jiang Ling’s right hand, “The method for resolving the needle is to use a strong internal force and a special technique to catalyze the needle, then clear out the meridians.”
Xue Fang’s face was lined with worry, “But the pain of this process will be hard to endure.”
“I’m not afraid of pain, Sir.” Jiang Ling wore a tenacious expression as she prepared to endure.
“Haha, hearing you call me that makes me feel like you’re my granddaughter. Rest assured, your grandfather here will get rid of this needle for you.” Xue Fang did not have any sons or daughters at his knee, so the sudden appearance of Jiang Ling and He Xi had made them enjoy the closeness of having a family for the short time they had known each other.
Xue Fang covered Jiang Ling’s wrist and probed her meridians. Just as his internal force started dredging her meridians, his expression shifted and he retracted his hand.
He Xi asked nervously: “Senior, what’s wrong?”
“What relationship does Miss Jiang have with Azar?” Just as Xue Fang probed her meridians, Jiang Ling’s scorching hot qi forced his internal force out of her meridians, exactly as Azar’s qi had behaved after his descent into the demonic arts.
Jiang Ling was puzzled by his question, “I don’t know him…” She did not even know what Azar looked like. She glanced up at He Xi, doubtful.
He Xi was confused, “Senior, is there something wrong?”
“Little Jiang, do you ever get emotionally distrubed while using your martial arts?” Xue Fang asked.
“A little bit. My chest feels stuffy.” Jiang Ling continued, “I seem to have…seem to have hurt people while I was unaware, but I haven’t recently.” Jiang Ling had practiced heart calming exercises each day. Since then, the symptoms have eased.
“You shouldn’t use internal force from now on. Your qi is willful and overbearing. You won’t be able to control it with your abilities.” Xue Fang did not know why, despite having not a single connection between them, Jiang Ling and Azar had exactly the same kind of qi. Fortunately, Jiang Ling’s affliction was not very severe. If she did not use her internal force, then it would not affect her life. Jiang Ling nodded.
“Hold on.” Xue Fang covered her hand again and began clearing her meridians once more.
The acute pain of the needle being purged compounded with the clash of their qis made her arms feel like it was being slowly sawed off by a serrated blade. The pain made Jiang Ling break out in sweat, grit her teeth, twist her face in pain. As an observer, He Xi was distressed and held Jiang Ling, who buried herself in her arms, shaking like a leaf. Her left hand clamped down on He Xi’s clothing, and in no time, it was soaked with Jiang Ling’s tears as she cried from the pain.
Xue Fang was having trouble, as well. Originally, he need only catalyze the needle, but now, he had to wrangle with Jiang Ling’s overbearing qi, doubling the work. By the time he was finished purging the needle, he was likewise covered in sweat, which dripped down into his beard.
The old woman rushed forward to wipe away his sweat and supported him as he went to rest. Xue Fang stopped and turned his head. He said, exhausted, “Your hand will slowly recover now.” Then, he returned to his room.
He Xi rolled her sleeve down and gently held her hand for a while. In her embrace, Jiang Ling lifted her tear-stained face, “It hurts, He Xi. It hurts so much.”
He Xi wiped away her tears. When her flesh had been gouged away before to cure her infection, she had not made a sound. She must be in agony this time, “Now it won’t hurt anymore.” He Xi stroked Jiang Ling’s hair, holding her close.
…
“How is it?” The old woman supported Xue Fang as he went to rest.
“It’s resolved, but Miss Jiang’s qi is overbearing and I’ve lost a few years of cultivation.” Xue Fang waved his hand, “I’m old anyway. It’s no use worrying over a bit of cultivation.”
“With two more kids in our home, this is good as well.” The old woman smiled.
“I’m afraid they won’t be staying for long. Because of my friendship with Azar, they will give me the barest bit of face and will not be back soon. But Azar is gone now, after all, so they will be back eventually. They ah, they are afraid to implicate us.” Xue Fang sighed. Such was the fate of destined meetings: the arrival sudden and the departure unexpected.
…
Jiang Ling gradually returned to herself. Seeing that she had wetted a patch on He Xi’s clothes with her tears, she turned around and wiped her face.
“…” Jiang Ling had a strange sort of pride in some rather strange ways. He Xi rubbed her temples, “This isn’t the first time you’ve weeped in front of me.”
“…” Jiang Ling sniffled, “I’m going to see him.”
“And let him see your cry-face?”
“…” He Xi always saw Jiang Ling when she was in an embarrassing situation. Every time Jiang Ling was with He Xi, she could add another such situation to her count, “I’m going to go rest, then.”
Footnotes
| ↑1 | A master of secrets, see chapter 7 footnote |
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