Chapter 182: My Sacred Medicine Valley, Then

When the token of the Seventh Prince appeared inside the Jiamu City government office.

In less than a tea's time, the local Inspector and the garrison Colonel rushed over, crawling: "We were unaware the Seventh Prince had arrived; we failed to welcome you properly, please forgive our offense."

Xiao Ze recounted the matter of the city's villains imprisoning innocent civilians.

The two officials turned pale the instant they heard, sweat pouring like syrup. "Such a thing exists? How did we not know? It's over—now the Seventh Prince knows, and His Majesty…"

Xiao Ze looked at them: "No need to worry; as long as you both handle this properly, I won't speak further before the Father Emperor."

The two hurriedly saluted: "Thank you, Seventh Prince!"

Xiao Ze's expression hardened: "Immediately surround that house! All personnel, under Xiao Ningchen, Prince Ning's second son, to command the deployment!"

"Yes!"

Moments later, a squad of soldiers bearing torches, armor gleaming, silently and swiftly sealed off the narrow alley.

"Break the gate!" Xiao Ningchen ordered.

The black courtyard gate burst open with a thunderous crack.

The troops surged in like wolves and tigers; in the blink of an eye they forced everyone in the courtyard onto the ground.

Xiao Er rushed into the inner courtyard, searching, and soon found the frail Xue Jin slumped in a half‑underground cell, leaning against the wall corner.

Xiao Er lifted him and carried him out to the courtyard.

"Father!" Xue Zhiyou cried, lunging forward.

Xue Jin patted his son's cheek: "Good boy, father's fine."

"Did you see your mother?"

Xue Zhiyou shook his head; Xue Jin could no longer stand and collapsed.

"Father!" Xue Zhiyou shouted loudly.

Xiao Ze said: "Men! Take those two back to the guesthouse!"

"Yes!"

Tuan Tuan, hands tucked behind her back, waddled around flamboyantly and reached the study.

"This thing's nice!" she crouched, picked something up, and satisfiedly slipped it into her waist‑tied Embroidered pouch.

"Huh, why is a piece missing here?"

In the brick seam of the corner a small tile was gone, barely noticeable; if she hadn't crouched to pick things up she'd never have seen it.

Tuan Tuan examined closely; to the right of the gap a spot looked unusually smooth, so she reached out with her little hand to touch it.

"Flat! Nothing special, but who would sit squatting and touch this spot for no reason?"

She groped around, finding nothing abnormal.

When she pushed hard, the wall in front stayed still, but the opposite wall emitted a faint "cacka" sound, slowly sliding aside to reveal a pitch‑black opening behind it!

"Wow!" Tuan Tuan shouted excitedly: "Brothers! Uncle Two! Come see! There's a hole here!"

Hearing the commotion, everyone rushed over; Xiao Er led with a torch at the front, and the others followed inside.

The secret room was small, containing a desk, a chair, and a row of equally sized glass bottles neatly placed on the table.

Dozens of bottles were arranged orderly, covering the entire tabletop.

The bottles were transparent; at a glance one could see they were all filled with Gu Worms!

Those Gu Worms were entirely black‑brown, slender as threads.

Tuan Tuan exclaimed in surprise: "Isn't this the worm that Father had in his hand?"

Xiao Ningxun and Xiao Ningchen exchanged a glance; that day they had helped Guo Taiyi extract the Gu Worms from their father's body, so they remembered it clearly.

Countless Gu Worms twisted inside the bottles, filling the whole table, sending a chill down one's spine.

Xiao Er frowned: "What sect is this, so sinister!"

Xiao Ze ordered: "All offenders, lock them in the main prison! After interrogation, convict them according to the law!"

"Yes!"

The next day, Xue Zhiyou found Tuan Tuan: "Tuan Tuan, could you let us go see my mother? Father heard she's also locked in the prison and is feeling down."

Tuan Tuan tugged him: "I can't, let's go ask Third Elder Brother!"

Xiao Ze looked at Xue Zhiyou, and all of Sacred Medicine Valley flashed through his mind—a truly tragic fate!

"Go, but let Xiao Er accompany you."

"Alright, thank you, Seventh Prince." Xue Zhiyou bowed properly to Xiao Ze, then turned and ran back to find his father.

"I'm coming too!" Tuan Tuan bounced over to Xiao Er, and the four of them entered the prison.

Accompanied by a jailer, they arrived at the door of an isolated cell in the innermost chamber.

The jailer opened the cell door, and the Xue father‑son pair stepped inside.

Xiao Er held Tuan Tuan back a few steps, giving them space to speak calmly.

Ji Wanrun, dressed in plain clothes, sat on a pile of dry straw on the ground.

"Mother!" Xue Zhiyou rushed over tenderly, "Are you hungry? Let's go home together! The courtyard you used to live in, Father has people clean it daily—it's so tidy."

Ji Wanrun's heart stirred; she looked up at Xue Jin, and as she had done every day before, she embraced Xue Zhiyou in her arms, rubbing his back.

The cell was silent.

After a long while, Xue Jin finally managed to speak hoarsely: "Wanrun, would you accompany me back to Sacred Medicine Valley?"

Ji Wanrun curled a wry, self‑deprecating smile at the corner of her mouth: "Xue Jin, you're still this naive."

"Today we'll speak plainly: I am a disciple of the Black Medicine Sect, raised from childhood by my master, taught medicine, a debt as heavy as a mountain. The sect's command is my destiny."

"Since childhood I have learned the principle 'All people are for oneself; poison can be countered by medicine.'"

"The Sacred Medicine Valley's creed 'Hang the pot to save the world, the healer's benevolent heart' is, to us, nothing but pedantic, laughable empty talk."

"You advocate bright righteousness, we lurk in shadows; you heal and rescue, we control life and death, all for our own needs, destined to be irreconcilable."

Between us, it was wrong from the start; why continue? Let's end it here.

Xue Jin gazed at her, his voice growing softer: "Since your sect means everything to you, tell me why you still risked everything to secretly rescue You'er."

Ji Wanrun's lips moved.

Xue Jin continued pressing: "And why did you leave that Nine-turn Crimson Mark Rebirth Pill, which can rebuild one's foundation and is exceedingly rare in the world, for You'er?"

"I!" Ji Wanrun was about to explain, but Xue Jin cut her off.

"Ji Wanrun!"

"Look into my eyes and tell me! Is all of this also a task assigned to you by your sect?"

Ji Wanrun trembled all over, her eye sockets suddenly reddened, and tears burst forth.

Xue Zhiyou hurriedly raised his little hand to wipe her tears: "Mother, don't cry, let's go home with You'er."

Ji Wanrun's tears increased.

She recalled how, when she first entered the valley frail and sickly, Xue Jin, without rest, personally decocted the medicine and carefully fed it to her.

She recalled how she had merely mentioned in passing that the valley's moonlight was lovely, and Xue Jin silently noted it; after she recovered, he took her to the most beautiful flower thicket, where they gazed at the stars together.

She again lowered her gaze to Xue Zhiyou; from the first day she saw him, this child's first soft words were, "Mother, you are truly beautiful."

Those tiny, warm moments, like trickling streams, had unknowingly moistened her heart.

The Black Medicine Sect's rules were strict, the master stern and unsmiling; among fellow disciples there was only rivalry, no trace of affection, each wishing to trample the other underfoot.

Those three years of trust and reliance from this father and son gave her, who had been lonely and helpless since childhood, her first sense of peace and fulfillment.

Xue Jin's eyes welled with anguish and realization: "Wanrun, stop deceiving yourself. Go home. Sacred Medicine Valley is your true home."

"No matter who you once were or which sect you belong to, I only know that I, you, and You'er are a family—and that is enough."

Xue Zhiyou clung to Ji Wanrun's neck, looking at her with teary eyes: "Mother, go home, You'er misses you."

Ji Wanrun lifted her head and looked at Xue Jin.

"As for your sect," Xue Jin said in a steady voice, "if you continue to cling, then my Sacred Medicine Valley will be next!"

Ji Wanrun shuddered all over, then finally nodded.

Tuan Tuan clapped her hands: "Xue Zhiyou! Your mother has agreed!"

Xiao Er smiled faintly, then ordered the jailer: "I'm taking this person; the Seventh Prince has approved."

"Yes!"

Everyone returned to the inn.

Xiao Ningchen glanced at her and said: "I have a question; may I speak frankly?"

Ji Wanrun replied: "Please, sir, speak."

"What's going on with that secret chamber?"

Ji Wanrun's expression changed: "You've discovered the secret chamber?"

"Never mind; by now there's nothing left to hide."

"This is not something from my Black Medicine Sect, but a method of the Netherworld Summit."