CH 56

After saying those words, Xiao Guo closed the door and left without even waiting for Pei QianYue’s answer.

Choking in anger because of him, it took Feng Ci a while to finally say: “…..Was he implying something about me?” 

And here he was just feeling sympathy towards Xiao Guo for being used and abandoned!

Pei QianYue smiled and didn’t reply. He walked over and held out his hands out towards Feng Ci. Mumbling about how ‘it’s not like he’s as heartless as Li Jiu’ and such, Feng Ci habitually opened both arms and allowed Pei QianYue to pick him up and walk towards the side of the bed.

“En, you’re most compassionate.” Pei QianYue placed him on the bed and said completely emotionless: “There’s no one in this world more compassionate as you.”

Feng Ci: “……Your words here also sound like they’re implying something.” 

Pei QianYue: “Was it that obvious?”

Feng Ci: “Feng XiaoHei!”

Ignoring Feng Ci’s flustered exasperation, Pei QianYue bent down and helped Feng Ci take off his outer clothes, shoes, and socks. Pulling the blanket over, he wrapped Feng Ci up.

Over the past few days, he has become more and more proficient in serving Feng Ci.

On the contrary, Feng Ci was still not used to being taken care of so meticulously like this.

Good thing Xiao Guo has a method to help his body recover.

Feng Ci never expected that Xiao Guo could strengthen his physical body as well.

Prior to coming here, he had been constantly worried that even if his body recovered to the same condition prior to the battle at Broken Sword Manor, he would still have very little chance of winning against the puppet next time. 

At Broken Sword Manor, the reason why he and Pei QianYue were able to seal the physical body inside the Phantom Spirit Cauldron was because the puppet wasn’t actually trying to kill Feng Ci. Thinking about it now, this was perhaps an order that had been programmed into its subconsciousness when the Heavenly Principles awakened it.

Deliberately leaving Feng Ci the one and only chance of winning.

But merely this… was still not enough.

His spiritual energy was limited by his physical body and unable to be utilized fully. Encountering the other him one more time will only be a  repeat of the same conclusion at Broken Sword Manor. Not to mention this time, they no longer had the Phantom Spirit Cauldron. 

If his physical body can be strengthened, his chance of victory would improve greatly.

Regardless of the extent of Xiao Guo’s achievement in the end, this trip to the Shaman Valley can still be considered worthwhile.

As Feng Ci thought this, a hand landed over his eyes. Slightly cold fingers brushed across his eyelashes, making Feng Ci feel somewhat ticklish. He couldn’t hold back from blinking a few times.

“Still not resting?” Pei QianYue asked him: “What are you thinking about?” 

Feng Ci turned his head to avoid the other’s fingers. He didn’t really want to talk to Pei QianYue about the puppet so he randomly fabricated a reason: “I was thinking…… thinking if there’s any chance of survival for your Six Sects.”

Accidentally meeting the ZiZhu Dock Master just now, it can be said that Feng Ci finally got acquainted with each of the Leaders of the Six Sects. They did not disappoint. None of them were normal.

Handing the future of the cultivation world to the hands of this group of people… It was indeed a very worrisome thing.

“En, what should be done then?” Pei QianYue continued his topic and said: “Why doesn’t Master just announce your identity to the world, take back the Six Sects with Grandmaster QianQiu’s name, assume control over everything, and oversee the Leaders of the Six Sects and the Immortal Alliance. That will definitely—” 

“Oh shut up already.” Feng Ci interrupted him: “Like hell I’d want to worry about those things.”

Pei QianYue said coolly: “But Master doesn’t seem quite so unwilling to me. Your own injuries still haven’t been treated, and you’re already in the mood to worry about the Six Sect’s future.”

……Why were his words starting to become ambiguously sarcastic again?

Feng Ci seriously pondered for a moment if he had done something to make Pei QianYue unhappy. Despite temporarily being unable to figure out the reason, he still started to placate the other blindly. 

Raising his hand to grab Pei QianYue’s collar, he said quietly: “Then let me worry worry about you?

Pei QianYue stopped what he was doing.

“Alright.” He smiled: “What does Master want to worry about?”

Despite being so familiar, Feng Ci was still caught off guard and blinded by that smile. 

His gaze swept across that handsome face inch by inch. Yet unconsciously, it landed on the black silk covering Pei QianYue’s eyes.

He knew that this person should have been even more dazzling and breathtaking.

Feng Ci couldn’t forget the Pei QianYue that he saw inside the Phantom Spirit Cauldron. Before everything that happened, Pei QianYue possessed the most beautiful pair of eyes that Feng Ci has ever seen. When Pei QianYue turned to stare at something in concentration, Feng Ci practically wanted to give him the world.

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Yet Pei QianYue shook his head: “No matter.”

He held Feng Ci’s hand and rubbed it gently with his fingers: “Like I said before, if this is the price for reuniting with you, I feel like it’s worth it. Whether I can recover these eyes or not is no longer important to me.”

“Why is it not important?” Feng Ci blurted out: “I was the one who caused you to lose your eyes. Naturally I have to return them to you. I definitely don’t have a habit of being indebted to others.” 

The smile on Pei QianYue’s face faded slightly.

“Indebted……” Pei QianYue repeated softly: “Is this how you have been thinking about it the entire time?”

Feng Ci fell silent for a moment, feeling like instead of placating the other, he had made him angrier.

Leaning down slightly and pressing Feng Ci back into bed, Pei QianYue suppressed his voice very low and said: “But you owe me more than just a pair of eyes. 3000 years. If you really want to repay it, can you even settle it cleanly?” 

Pei QianYue spoke extremely slowly, pausing after every word, but each word was filled with an indescribable coldness.

There was a faint scent of herbs in the air. The atmosphere was so heavy and solemn, it was suffocating. Feng Ci opened his mouth and then closed it, not knowing how to answer.

But Pei QianYue never planned to wait for his answer either.

He started smiling again, gently sweeping the scattered strands of hair in front of Feng Ci’s forehead to the back of his ear. Despite such tender movements, his voice was ice-cold: “I won’t give you a chance to return it fully. I will keep you indebted eternally, so even if you die, you won’t be able to rest peacefully.” 

Feng Ci’s pupils constricted abruptly.

Why was he……

Pei QianYue straightened up and said calmly: “Master, you can rest first. I still have to speak to Valley Master Xiao about things.”

After saying this, he thought of something and gave Feng Ci a tilted smile: “Don’t worry. It’s not for the HeHuan Parasite. I don’t need that kind of thing to keep you by my side, right?” 

The door was closed gently. Feng Ci stared at the tightly closed door. After a while, he finally let out a complicated sigh.

This snake baby……

The next day, Xiao Guo officially began Feng Ci’s treatment process.

All of the meridians in Feng Ci’s body were shattered in the battle at Broken Sword Manor. Before strengthening his physical body, he needed to reconnect all of his damaged meridians first. 

To avoid being disturbed by others, Xiao Guo had already arranged for Feng Ci and Pei QianYue to live in a fairly remote area. Before the procedure, he also specially added a barrier to block the sound inside the room. The glorified reason was that he’s afraid Feng Ci might scream too miserably due to the intense pain; the clansman might misunderstand and think their Valley Master was committing atrocities or something.

When he said this, Feng Ci had just taken off his shirt and was being carried into the tub by Pei QianYue.

That tub had been filled with herbs that can protect the heart and meridians. Three golden needles were also nailed into the back of Feng Ci’s head to stabilize the soul and prevent him from losing consciousness. However, Feng Ci didn’t feel any sense of apprehension. After hearing Xiao Guo’s words, he relaxed inside the warm water and gave the other a sneer.

“Just waiting to watch me embarrass myself?” Feng Ci said darkly. 

“How can this youngster dare to do that?” Making the final preparations, Xiao Guo still had time to give Feng Ci a smile: “This youngster is only worried about you, oh Grandmaster Sir.”

Feng Ci rolled his eyes internally, too lazy to bother with him.

To put it simply, Xiao Guo, this person, really lacked the morals and demeanor required of a healer.

Before a procedure, other doctors would do their best to comfort their patients, terrified that the patient might feel nervous or worried. Yet just look at him with that ‘eagerly watching the commotion while trying to fan the flames’ expression on his face, as if he could hardly wait to see the Grandmaster QianQiu lose his composure and propriety. 

On the contrary, other than explaining the process of today’s procedure to Feng Ci at the beginning, Xiao Que hasn’t said a word.

They were clearly born from the same mother; who knew how their personalities ended up being as different as black and white.

After the preparations of the procedure, Pei QianYue was asked to step out of the room due to the reason of ‘The Shaman Valley’s medical techniques can’t be divulged to others’. Before leaving, he left a kiss on Feng Ci’s forehead and pressed his fingers on the red string on Feng Ci’s ring finger: “If it feels bad, you can call me with this.”

Feng Ci tilted his head up and kissed him, saying with a smile: “Are you treating me like a sickly patient as well? You think I can’t even endure this little trifle?” 

“No.” Pei QianYue said: “But I hope you can rely on me some more.”

Feng Ci raised an eyebrow: “Best if I hug you and bawl my eyes out?”

Pei QianYue paused, as if he was imagining this scene briefly in his head: “I might think Master is possessed again.”

Feng Ci laughed until he felt pain from the golden needles tugging on the back of his head. 

To the side, Xiao Guo couldn’t even look at them directly and turned to ask Xiao Que: “This is the kind of life you live normally?”

Still checking the herbs and tools to be used at the end, Xiao Que’s voice was numb: “Pretty much.”

Xiao Guo fell silent for a moment, turned around, and started walking outward.

However, he was grabbed by Xiao Que: “Where are you going?” 

“To find my cat.” Xiao Guo gritted his teeth: “We’re all people with family, why do I have to suffer this kind of grievance?”

Xiao Que: “……”

However, ultimately, Xiao Guo did not leave because the two people inside the room very quickly finished with their affectionate display.

Pei QianYue exited, leaving behind the two brothers, Xiao Guo and Xiao Que, inside the room. The procedure finally began. 

Xiao Guo’s previous concern wasn’t completely without reason. A cultivator’s meridians were extremely frail to start. The feeling of reconnecting so many meridians was indeed uncomfortable, not any less than the pain of shattering all the meridians in the first place.

It didn’t take long for Feng Ci to be covered in sweat from the pain.

He clenched his jaw tightly, face color extremely pale white. However, from start to finish, he didn’t make a single sound.

Perhaps influenced by the physical body’s outer appearance, even though Xiao Guo knew that it was Grandmaster QianQiu inside, he still subconsciously felt that this was a frail and weak youth. It’s not until now that Xiao Guo could finally differentiate faintly from the body of this youth, the reason why the other was revered by the world as Saint Sovereign and worshiped for thousands of years. 

If it were him, he definitely wouldn’t be able to do the same.

At this time, Xiao Guo sat right next to Feng Ci. His palm rested on the youth’s wrist. He felt the skin under his palm tense up and tremble in pain, and said quietly: “Saint Sovereign, I didn’t lie, right? This is not a pleasant feeling.”

“Such contemptuous words.” The youth’s voice had turned hoarse from the pain: “Why don’t this Venerable One break all of your meridians so you can give it a try as well?”

Xiao Guo: “No, don’t. This one is only a weak and frail doctor. I definitely can’t endure it.” 

The Shaman Valley focused mainly on cultivating medicine and poison. In terms of combat and physique, it was indeed hard for them to compare to other cultivation disciples.

Feng Ci chuckled coldly and stopped replying.

However, after exchanging these words with Xiao Guo, his attention was diverted slightly and unexpectedly, he actually felt much better.

Feng Ci looked up at the young man next to him and roughly understood the other’s intention. 

This person wasn’t as unreliable as he seemed.

For this procedure, Xiao Guo was the main healer and Xiao Que was providing assistance from the side. These two brothers had clearly not seen each other for a very long time, but they conducted the procedure with a deep tacit coordination. There was basically no need to speak. Just a simple glance was enough for the two of them to understand each other.

Coincidentally, Feng Ci was searching for something to shift his attention. He took the opportunity to gossip: “During that successor’s competition, did you plan to give Xiao Que the fake poison from the start, Valley Master Xiao?”

Xiao Guo said ‘huh?’ and looked up at Xiao Que: “You said that?” 

Immediately afterwards, he said unhappily: “…When did you learn to lie, stinking brat.”

“So, hiss……” Feng Ci just became interested when he started gasping in pain. After taking quite a while to recover, he finally found his voice again: “So what exactly happened back then?”

“It’s not anything major.” Xiao Guo said indifferently: “Back then, that fake poison was something we had invented together.”

Xiao Guo and Xiao Que’s parents had passed away early, so they became orphans at a very young age. Yet these two people were also extremely talented. They were both selected as Valley Master successors. 

To become the successor… meant that only one was destined to live. The two brothers, who had depended on each other for survival since young, were naturally unwilling.

Therefore, before the start of that competition, the brothers had developed a medicine to fake death and planned to escape Shaman Valley together.

“Who would have expected, heaven’s schemes superseded our own. Our competitors were pitifully weak. Before we even found a chance to take the medicine to fake our deaths, they all died.” Xiao Guo sighed and said gloomily: “It can’t be helped. I had no choice but to take on the heavy responsibility and reluctantly yield the escape opportunity to my precious little brother.”

He glanced at the youth by his side and lamented: “Who would have thought, a certain someone didn’t feel grateful at all. After all of these years, he’s outside pretending like he doesn’t even have a relative like me. Putting aside the fact that he didn’t even send me any letters, after I finally managed to make a trip to LangFeng City, he still avoided seeing me. Tsk tsk……” 

“You’re lying.” For once, the tone of the gentle and well-mannered youth was staunch and firm: “Your decision to yield the fake poison to me wasn’t made during the competition. You never, you never even carried a 2nd portion of that medicine into the secret realm!”

The room sank into a brief stalemate.

Feng Ci was the only one left gasping in pain due to Xiao Guo’s sudden increase in hand strength: “You two, please don’t forget me… when you’re arguing, alright?”

The bones of his body definitely can’t withstand this kind of torment. 

Xiao Guo regained his senses and smiled nonchalantly: “No wonder you’ve been mad at me all these years. So you know. But dare you say, you never had the same thought back then?”

There was a huge drawback to using a medicine that faked death to escape the Shaman Valley.

And this was: they were missing someone who was willing to bring the person feigning death outside of Shaman Valley. Therefore, one of them must stay behind; and they also must become the victor.

The two brothers both discovered this drawback, but neither of them mentioned it. 

They both wanted to become the person that remained.

Therefore at the final stage of the competition, the two brothers contested against each other genuinely and Xiao Guo, who had always been better in this subject since they were little, naturally became the winner.

Rather than saying Xiao Que felt a grudge towards his elder brother, it’s better to say, he cannot forgive himself for being the weaker one back then.

His defeat in that competition, cost his cherished elder brother his lifetime of freedom. 

“Weren’t you the one… who wanted to leave Shaman Valley more back then?” The rims of Xiao Que’s eyes reddened slightly: “You clearly didn’t want to stay here. You clearly didn’t want to become the Valley Master. You clearly…… could have lived, showing your true face to the world.”

Stunned, Feng Ci finally realized that Xiao Guo’s exposed lower half of his face was indeed somewhat similar to Xiao Que.

Under that mask was a face extremely similar to Xiao Que.

Yet to ensure that Xiao Que can continue living in the cultivation world of Central Plains without being suspected by others, as the Shaman Valley Master, Xiao Guo chose to face the world with a mask and forever hide that face. 

The reconnection of his meridians lasted for three days and three nights.

Originally, Feng Ci still had the energy to chitchat with these two brothers and act as peacemaker to reconcile their relationship slightly. But later on, he was in such pain that he was practically in and out of consciousness. It’s only thanks to the three golden needles behind his head that he didn’t faint completely.

Until the very end, he didn’t even know when the procedure had ended, or when Pei QianYue had entered the room to carry him out of the tub.

When his consciousness finally cleared slightly and he woke up again, he was already laying in Pei QianYue’s arms. 

The pain in his body did not subside fully yet. Instead of the sharp, intense pain previously, it had just become a continuous, tingling kind of ache. Covered by a thin layer of cold sweat, Feng Ci curled up inside Pei QianYue’s arms, still trembling uncontrollably.

“Is it very painful?” Pei QianYue asked.

“Why don’t you give it a try?” Feng Ci’s voice was already hoarse and weak: “……Forget it. Don’t try it. It really is pretty painful.”

Pei QianYue gently stroked his sweat-soaked back and said quietly: “Yet you were still unwilling to call me.” 

Three days and three nights, no matter how terrible Feng Ci felt, he had only gritted his teeth alone, not even transmitting his voice to Pei QianYue once.

Pei QianYue stood outside for three days and three nights, practically sulking now for having to wait.

When Feng Ci laughed, he tugged on the muscles of his body and started to gasp in pain again: “Next time. Next time, I’ll definitely.”

Pei QianYue: “You want to have a next time?” 

“Bah, no way.” Feng Ci silently cursed at himself for blurting nonsense and said: “This suffering really isn’t something a person can handle.”

For the moment, the aches of his body were impossible to alleviate. Feng Ci was in such pain that he tossed and turned, not even able to fall asleep.

After waking up in a daze for who knows how many times from the pain, Feng Ci finally decided to stop tormenting himself. He grabbed Pei QianYue’s wrist and looked up, asking: “Pei QianYue, do you want to enter my Sea of Awareness?”

Pei QianYue paused what he was doing. 

Feng Ci just had the meridians reconnected in his physical body. This was when the body was at its weakest. A soul was required to oversee and maintain the normal functions of the body, otherwise it’d be very easy to lose his life.

Therefore, it’s not even possible for Feng Ci to leave the body with his soul to take a break.

He couldn’t leave, however, Pei QianYue can enter.

“It’s fine to do whatever you want. Just help me, help me shift my attention.” Even the messy strands of hair in front of Feng Ci’s forehead were soaked with cold sweat. He looked completely like a person who was just dragged out of the water. In the darkness, however, his eyes were shockingly bright. 

He stared in concentration at Pei QianYue, the hidden implications practically gushing outward: “Coming?”