IVYSCP - Chapter 33
Chapter 33
When the second bolt of heavenly lightning struck, Ling Qingyue was held tightly in Pei Si's arms, with another layer of barrier protecting them.
In that frantic moment, something was pressed into her hand. Ling Qingyue looked down. It was the peach-wood hairpin she had carved for Pei Si.
Her vision blurred instantly. Ling Qingyue blinked several times before Pei Si's face came into focus. Pei Si was nowhere near as battered as she was. She even carried a faint smile at the corner of her lips. But her eyes were red, a fine sheen of sweat coated her forehead, and the blue veins along her neck stood out starkly. She was enduring.
"You didn't shed a single tear when you were in that much pain just now. Why are you crying so hard now? Worried about me?" Pei Si's voice was softer than usual. "I've been through Foundation Establishment Lightning Tribulation before. I'm fine."
But this tribulation was different. Ling Qingyue knew it in her heart. These three Foundation Establishment bolts were more powerful than the Nascent Soul tribulation she had once faced. Pei Si was speaking to comfort her.
The third bolt of heavenly lightning still coiled overhead. Ling Qingyue's eye sockets ached, and her chest swelled unbearably. She threw her arms around Pei Si's neck and held her fiercely, choking out her name in a stifled sob. "Pei Si, Pei Si..."
Pei Si raised her hand to return the embrace, but her fingers were trembling.
Her fingers curled and clenched twice before recovering. Only then did she stroke Ling Qingyue's hair. "I'm here."
The skyship suddenly began to jolt and shudder. Ling Qingyue sensed keenly that something was wrong. She was about to release her hold and pull back when the hand on her back suddenly pressed her back down with force.
The third bolt of heavenly lightning came swift and fierce, as if realizing it had missed its target the time before, carrying unmistakable fury with it.
Ling Qingyue felt Pei Si's body tense instantly, the arms circling her clamped tight, refusing to loosen a single fraction.
Ling Qingyue began to struggle, her voice terribly hoarse. "Pei Si, let go of me. I won't have you take this for me. This is my tribulation. I can handle it."
Her waist was bound so tight it hurt. Ling Qingyue heard a soft laugh beside her ear. "It's over."
The woman's body slumped limply into her arms.
The thunder ceased abruptly. The pitch-black tribulation clouds scattered.
Normally, after a cultivator undergoes tribulation and breaks through, the Heavenly Dao's Grace descends. The cultivator who underwent tribulation can absorb the Heavenly Dao's Grace to swiftly heal injuries and recover. The Heavenly Dao's Grace is not exclusively for the cultivator who underwent tribulation, so cultivators choose a remote, uninhabited place for tribulation in advance, or invite someone to guard them, to prevent the post-tribulation Heavenly Dao's Grace from being seized by those with ill intent.
After the three bolts of heavenly lightning, Ling Qingyue could feel the changes in herself. Her divine sense expanded, her meridians widened, and her soul was considerably improved from before.
But where was the Heavenly Dao's Grace?
"Heavenly Dao's Grace, Heavenly Dao's Grace..." Ling Qingyue held Pei Si's limp body and looked around urgently.
Could it have fallen outside?
Ling Qingyue raised her voice and called out. "Sect Leader Nie! Sect Leader Nie!"
Nie Wenxiao hurried over. Pushing the door open, she was greeted by a scene of devastation, and the Immortal Venerable collapsed unconscious in her Dao companion's embrace.
Nie Wenxiao's gaze was astonished, but with a turn of thought she understood. The Foundation Establishment tribulation had been so ferocious because the Immortal Venerable had taken two bolts for her Dao companion.
But the Immortal Venerable's cultivation had long since entered Soul Formation. How could she be injured to this extent?
Ling Qingyue asked the moment she saw her, "Did you see the Heavenly Dao's Grace?"
Nie Wenxiao shook her head.
Ling Qingyue furrowed her brow. Doubt flickered in her eyes.
Nie Wenxiao thought she didn't believe her, suspected that the Grace had been secretly siphoned away. Her expression immediately turned solemn. "Piaomiao Sect's precepts forbid theft, killing, or plundering. If Miss Ah Xi doubts it, I can swear on my soul. I did not see the Heavenly Dao's Grace descend just now."
Ling Qingyue did not doubt Nie Wenxiao's words.
Her face went pale, her arms unconsciously tightening around Pei Si. A conviction took root in her heart.
"I believe you."
No Heavenly Dao's Grace. Under the tribulation, this body had been forced to reveal its Demonic Markings...
So she was reborn in the body of a demon.
A demon...
Ling Qingyue had never imagined she would one day become a demon.
A pained, muffled groan from the person in her arms scattered Ling Qingyue's thoughts. She quickly looked down. Pei Si lifted her head, coughing up blood.
"Pei Si! Pei Si!" Ling Qingyue supported her head, afraid she would choke on the blood again.
Nie Wenxiao came over as well and asked in a low voice, "How can this be?"
"She had old injuries already, and she took two bolts of heavenly lightning for me." Ling Qingyue raised her hand, wanting to send her own Spiritual Qi over.
But the Spiritual Qi remained coiled outside the meridians, unable to enter at all.
"What's happening?" Ling Qingyue tried twice more. The result was the same.
She thought her own Spiritual Qi was too weak, so she turned her head to Nie Wenxiao. "Sect Leader Nie."
Nie Wenxiao nodded. Her fingertips touched Pei Si's wrist.
She slowly furrowed her brows. She probed several other acupoints. Her expression gradually grew complicated.
Ling Qingyue watched her face, her heart rising into her throat. "How is it?"
Nie Wenxiao withdrew her hand, somewhat uncertain. "The Seven Gates and Three Acupoints are completely sealed. Spiritual Qi leaves but cannot enter."
"...What?" Ling Qingyue could not believe what she had heard.
Nie Wenxiao knew she had heard clearly and did not repeat herself.
The sealing of the Seven Gates and Three Acupoints was no great matter. One simply broke them open. But when she had probed with Spiritual Qi just now, she had tested and found that these acupoints had been sealed by the Immortal Venerable herself.
Since the Immortal Venerable had sealed them herself, it wasn't her place to say outright. Better to wait until the Immortal Venerable awoke and let the two of them discuss it.
Nie Wenxiao withdrew from the room and accelerated the skyship's speed.
An hour later they arrived at Piaomiao Sect. Outside the sect gates, a crowd of cultivators came to welcome them. Lu Yao and the others happily descended to greet their fellow disciples.
Ling Qingyue, holding Pei Si, stayed by Nie Wenxiao's side.
"Sect Leader." The vast crowd bowed in salute.
Nie Wenxiao nodded. A path opened before her of its own accord.
"Liuyun, take two junior sisters and escort Elder Liu to the Water Cloud Dwelling. Sui Yi, take Miss Ah Xi to Medicine Peak to see the Little Medical Immortal."
Two cultivators stepped out from the ranks, saluted, and accepted the orders.
After giving her instructions, Nie Wenxiao inclined her head to the person beside her. "The Little Medical Immortal of Medicine Peak is a disciple of the Medicine King. You may be at ease."
Ling Qingyue, holding someone and unable to bow properly, could only offer verbal thanks. "Many thanks, Sect Leader Nie."
The cultivator named Sui Yi stepped forward and gestured in a direction.
Piaomiao Sect lacked the gilded splendor of Shangtianqiong. Clouds and mist coiled among the peaks. Birds flew and beasts roamed in abundance. Cultivator figures could be seen everywhere, some sitting cross-legged in cultivation, some sparring and playing in twos and threes. They weren't even wearing sect robes. There was little in the way of rules and restraints. A great deal of freedom.
Sui Yi glanced curiously to the side. These two had returned with the Sect Leader and the others. One was pale-faced and unconscious. The other was not much better, her robes stained with blood.
"How much farther?" Ling Qingyue asked.
She had just broken through and was still carrying someone while flying. She couldn't hold on much longer.
"We're here."
Ling Qingyue exhaled in relief and descended with the person.
The moment they landed, a vivid green venomous snake coiled on a tree branch ahead flicked out its tongue, stretched forward, and hissed.
Ling Qingyue stepped back. Her gaze sharpened instantly. Her fingers came together, ready to strike.
"Wait, wait, wait." Sui Yi said hastily, "Miss Ah Xi, don't be afraid. It doesn't bite. It just comes to tell the Little Medical Immortal who's here."
Ling Qingyue hesitated, not withdrawing her hand.
Sui Yi stepped forward and waved at the venomous snake. The snake flicked a look at her, then another at Ling Qingyue, then slithered away and disappeared.
"Miss Ah Xi, follow me."
Ling Qingyue followed behind Sui Yi. She saw numerous poisonous insects and toxic plants, along with many rare medicinal ingredients. Halfway up the mountain, an ancient tree of unknown age thrust up from the earth. Beneath it, several wooden huts had been built, the walls crawling with vines.
This area had less vegetation. There were also several carefully cultivated medicinal fields.
It must be the Little Medical Immortal's dwelling.
"Little Medical Immortal!" Sui Yi lifted her head and called out.
The forest wind around them stilled instantly. In the space of a blink, a person appeared before them.
Ling Qingyue sized up the person in front of her.
A tangle of long hair was piled messily. Her robes were splashed with red and black and purple, a rather lively palette. The circles around her eyes were black. Her lips were black too. Also quite lively.
This was... a medical immortal?
The doubt in Ling Qingyue's eyes was very obvious.
Gu Huai was sizing up the person before her as well.
Sui Yi looked back and forth between the two, then walked over to Gu Huai. "Little Medical Immortal, these two are honored guests of Piaomiao Sect. The Sect Leader gave instructions to treat them well."
The words "treat them well" were stressed by Sui Yi, as if a reminder.
Gu Huai curved her lips in a smile. "I know."
She looked at Ling Qingyue and asked, "You need a doctor?"
Ling Qingyue began to wonder if this medical immortal had something wrong with her eyes. She was standing perfectly fine while Pei Si in her arms was still unconscious. Anyone looking would say she was the one who needed a doctor.
Before Ling Qingyue could speak, the Little Medical Immortal said unhurriedly, "I know what you're thinking, but I think your condition is more serious than hers."
"Come in."
Sui Yi, seeing this, bowed and departed.
Ling Qingyue followed into the wooden hut. Incense burned inside. A certain indescribable medicinal bitterness filled the air, not particularly pleasant.
"Put her down. No one's going to snatch her from you. Holding her all this way." Gu Huai pointed to the wooden bed at the side.
Ling Qingyue pressed her lips together and laid Pei Si on the wooden bed. Then she reached out to straighten her collar.
Gu Huai sat in a nearby chair and raised her hand. A turbid stream of Spiritual Qi shot straight for the lifeblood pulse at the neck of the person on the bed.
Ling Qingyue was first startled, then frightened. She was startled that her Spiritual Qi was so turbid, and even more frightened by her bold, reckless method.
No physician probed the pulse like that, and no cultivator would offer their neck so freely.
Her strike was as fast as her withdrawal. Before Ling Qingyue could even furrow her brow in displeasure, she had already withdrawn her Spiritual Qi.
"I was wrong." Gu Huai stood up. "Her problem is more serious than yours."
Ling Qingyue followed behind her and pressed, "Is it very serious?"
The medical skill of the Medicine King's disciple was beyond reproach. If even she said it was serious, to what extent had the injury reached?
Gu Huai clapped her hands. "I can't treat it."
Ling Qingyue blurted out, "Why!?"
"The tribulation injuries will heal with a few days of rest." Gu Huai tapped her fingertips on the tabletop. A vivid green snake slithered over and coiled around her wrist. Gu Huai stroked its head.
Ling Qingyue furrowed her brow and said, "So what cannot be treated is her old injury?"
"Old injury?"
Gu Huai smiled. Her eyes were somewhat round, and when she smiled they were less round, less large. Coupled with the dark circles around her eyes, she looked somewhat comical.
But Ling Qingyue had no time to laugh at her now. She only wanted to know about Pei Si's injury.
Gu Huai stepped forward and reached out toward Ling Qingyue, as if to touch her face.
Ling Qingyue instinctively stepped back, displeased. "What are you doing?"
Gu Huai saw the red mole behind her ear as she turned her head.
"She doesn't have an old injury. She cast a technique on herself."
"Do you know the Supreme Detachment Path?" Gu Huai suddenly asked.
Ling Qingyue was baffled. "I've heard of it."
"Then do you know..."
"Cough, cough."
A muffled cough cut off Gu Huai's words. Ling Qingyue turned and saw Pei Si awake. She hurried to the bedside.
Pei Si's gaze fell on Gu Huai with indifference. Gu Huai sat beside the table, poured herself a cup of tea, and returned the look with a faint smile.
"Pei Si, how are you?" Ling Qingyue's voice was urgent.
Pei Si sat up, leaning against the headboard. Seeing her eyes were red-rimmed again, she chuckled softly. "Going to cry again?"
She'd never noticed before how easily she shed tears.
Ling Qingyue lowered her head and sniffled, refusing to admit it. "I'm not."
Pei Si played along. "Mm, you're not."
The gentle, tender words stirred another wave of stinging heat in Ling Qingyue's nose and eyes. Half angry, half distressed, she said, "I told you to get out. Why did you take the tribulation for me? You aren't even well yourself. It was my tribulation, just three bolts. It's not like I couldn't endure it."
Gu Huai took a sip of tea, found it rather sour, and rose to leave the room.
"I was afraid." Pei Si drew a soft breath.
Ling Qingyue didn't understand. She raised her eyes and looked at her in confusion.
Pei Si gazed into her eyes, her look tender and lingering. "I was afraid."
Afraid you wouldn't endure it. Afraid you would vanish once more. Afraid the world would never again hold your presence.
Their eyes met. Ling Qingyue was the first to look away, her ears red. She looked down and saw Pei Si's hand resting on the edge of the bed. She reached over and squeezed her fingertips.
Pei Si took the opportunity to hold her hand.
"That Little Medical Immortal just now said that you cast a technique on yourself..."
"Her medical skills are poor. Don't believe her."
The person who had left walked back in. Her gaze drifted toward them, dark and pointed.
"Ha."
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