Chapter 84: Min Shen Yi

“She never died—why would she need to be revived?”

Guan Shentong had just broken into a grin of joy when Guan Chenghuang shook his head and sighed: “But she’s useless to us now. Song Changqing didn’t want to kill her—he wanted to destroy her sword bone.”

He used our Guan family’s ‘Rip the Sky Knife’ to shatter her Great Dragon and both arms.”

That alone would’ve been bad enough, but he also forced out the ‘spiritual essence’ inside her sword bone using Ferocious Tiger True Qi—effectively uprooting and felling the tree of her sword bone.”

“Ah~~” Guan Shentong cried out in disappointment, then turned venomously toward Song Changqing, teeth gritted: “You’re cruel!”

“Heh...” Song Changqing sneered, “Saying that makes me ashamed for you.”

“You’re asking for death!” Guan Shentong’s killing intent nearly burst free.

Song Changqing gave a contemptuous laugh, wiped blood from his lips, and endured the searing pain of multiple cracked bones. He shuffled to the corner, picked up his helmet, and put it on.

Then, as if no one else existed, he walked to Xiao Yu, who lay slumped beside the table, tore off the tablecloth, wrapped her body in it, lifted her onto his shoulder, and walked out without a word.

“How bold of you!”

Guan Shentong could no longer contain himself—he stepped forward, ready to strike Song Changqing again.

“Shentong!” Guan Chenghuang snapped. “Let him go.”

Guan Shentong could hear the suppressed fury and humiliation in his ancestor’s voice, yet he couldn’t help shouting: “Ancestor, even if we don’t kill him today, we must cripple him completely—or—”

“Shut up!”

Yageli appeared beside the shouting Guan Shentong like a teleportation—just as Guan Shentong had earlier flung Wei Wu away—he slapped him with such force that Guan Shentong flew seven or eight meters and crashed into the wall.

“Hmph...” Song Changqing gave a sideways sneer, his steps never pausing as he walked steadily toward the exit.

“A-nc-es-tor~~” Guan Shentong’s face was streaked with blood, his expression monstrous as a demon’s, his voice thick with grief and rage.

Guan Chenghuang said bitterly: “If you cripple him, you’re crippling half of Huchen’s life too!”

“So we just let him go?! I can’t accept it—Ancestor, can you?” Guan Shentong cried.

Guan Chenghuang sighed: “Thirty years ago, Song Changqing wanted to kill himself. Had he not been a filial son, with an elderly mother to care for, he would’ve already died fighting our Guan family.”

One who fears not death cannot be threatened by death.

If he’s not afraid of dying, crippling him will only make him laugh at you and me—and then you’ll be even more furious and resentful.”

“He’s a filial son? Then kill his mother!” Guan Shentong shouted wildly.

Guan Chenghuang coldly replied: “If you so much as pluck a single hair from his mother, I’ll kill you and your mother first.”

Guan Shentong shuddered violently and suddenly came to his senses: What the hell am I doing? I’m the chief steward of Lord Wenlong—my status equals Guan Zhong’s beside Guan Huchen. I was only temporarily lent by the second branch’s concubine to intimidate the crowd. When Madam Wen’s scheme failed, Lord Wenlong might feel regret—but I’m just a household servant. Why should I care about their affairs?

“Ancestor, forgive me—I was blinded by haste.” He immediately knelt and apologized.

“Ancestor... Ancestor~~”

Madam Wen rushed in, saw the chaos inside, froze for a moment, then immediately knelt before Guan Chenghuang: “Ancestor, what happened? Why did you let Song Changqing take that barbarian girl away?”

On her way here, she’d encountered Song Changqing leaving—he’d merely sneered: “If you want to know why, ask your Guan family’s ancestor. Without his permission, do you think I could have walked out?”

Madam Wen was furious and confused.

But she knew Song Changqing was right—without the old ancestor’s permission, he could never have left the courtyard.

If it was the ancestor’s will, she dared not defy it.

“Song Changqing shattered Sha Man Yu’s sword bone. She’s useless to us now. Keeping her around is only a hazard and a curse.”

After a pause, Guan Chenghuang added: “Report this to the Qinghe Commandery Prince. Let the Li family take her over.”

“From now on, Sha Man Yu no longer bears the surname ‘Guan’—she is severed completely from our Guan family.”

Madam Wen murmured: “Why?”

Guan Chenghuang glared at her and cursed: “Don’t you know Sha Man Yu’s awkward status? She was born with innate wisdom, an extraordinary destiny, and she nurtured a dragon vein—growing a Western Sha Empire capable of toppling Great Shu!”

To deal with her, Daoist Qingsong personally took Huchen to the Sand Dunes.”

Do you think Daoist Qingsong gave her to Huchen as a household slave for our Guan family?

He made our Guan family responsible for guarding her!”

The Eight Immortals of Feixian Ferry shot down the sun—Fire Crow Army has been promoting Sha Man Yu’s name.”

Perhaps it was just a general acting on his own—but it’s also possible that the Marquis of Radiant Sun is playing a grand game.”

We don’t know.”

We dared to gamble and act against Sha Man Yu because the potential gains outweighed the risks. Now that there’s no gain left, why keep her?”

Damn it—I’m an old fool! I let myself be swayed by this money-grubbing, wasteful woman!”

The more he spoke, the angrier he grew, venting all the rage he’d suppressed before Song Changqing onto the “wasteful woman,” Madam Wen—scolding her until she was drenched in curses.

When Guan Chenghuang finally paused to catch his breath, Madam Wen timidly asked: “Will the Qinghe Commandery Prince accept Sha Man Yu?”

“He won’t want to. But Shu is the Li family’s kingdom—and with Shu so vast, relocating Sha Man Yu won’t cost him much effort.”

Madam Wen hesitated: “Won’t it be bad to tell the Qinghe Commandery Prince the truth?”

Guan Chenghuang picked up the teapot that had rolled to the floor and smashed it hard against Madam Wen’s forehead.

“Crack!” Blood gushed from her head, and her body flew backward five meters.

“Foolish woman! You still want to tell the Qinghe Commandery Prince the truth? Do you want the whole world to know what I’ve been doing?”

In Longtou Town, “Youyuan Inn.”

“Song Tou, why were you gone so long? The brothers all ate and drank and are ready to rest—ah, you’re injured?”

The night guard at the door noticed something wrong and hurried over to support Song Changqing.

“Mao Erlang, don’t disturb the brothers inside—let them rest early!”

Song Changqing placed Xiao Yu on a long bench, sat down himself, and breathed heavily, coughing up blood.

After a while, he told Mao Erlang, who brought water: “Listen carefully—I’ll name the herbs: Three taels of Thunder Vine, five mace of Aconite, half a catty each of Mu Tong and Quisqualis, Motherwort...”

He rapidly listed a long string of herbs and their quantities, then added: “If you forget the amounts, just get more—half a catty is always enough. Hurry to the town’s pharmacy and buy them for me.”

“What are you doing? Who is she? What happened?”

“I don’t have time to explain—go!” Song Changqing’s voice and expression turned stern.

“Okay, Song Tou, wait—I’ll get Sun Laodiao. He’s on night watch with me.”

The pharmacy was in town.

The herbs Song Changqing needed weren’t rare.

Less than half an hour later, two knights returned carrying a large bamboo basket full of medicine.

Inside the basket were packets labeled with the names of the herbs.

During this time, Song Changqing cleaned the blood from his body and prepared the pot and stove for decocting.

Another half hour passed, and a cup of greenish-purple decoction was poured down Xiao Yu’s throat.

Then Song Changqing found a new cotton quilt, wrapped her in it, placed her in the cart, and drove alone out of town.

He returned all the way to Liulin Ferry, woke the boatmaster in the middle of the night, and raced along the Heilong River toward Tianmen Town.

On the third morning.

In Tianmen Town, West City, inside “Bao’an Clinic.”

“Cough, cough—Min Shenyi, how is she?” Song Changqing asked, coughing as he spoke.

Doctor Min was over fifty, short and thin, with dark skin and a sparse goatee. He wore a brown futou and a dark blue robe—unremarkable in appearance, except for his small eyes, which gleamed like polished lacquer, deep and sharp.

Now, his right two fingers rested on Xiao Yu’s wrist, his left hand gently stroking his goatee, his small eyes half-closed, his head nodding slightly... as if dozing off.

“Strange,” he finally muttered after a long silence.

Song Changqing blinked, puzzled: “How strange? Even though we waited two days, I gave her your ‘Blood-Consolidating Powder’ immediately.”

The Blood-Consolidating Powder can solidify spiritual essence in the meridians—won’t that help her sword bone too?”

“Was her sword bone shattered by your ‘Tiger Soul Seven Kill’?” Doctor Min asked.

“I did it to—”

Doctor Min raised his hand to cut him off, speaking calmly: “I don’t care about you or her. I’m not capable of caring.”

Just answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to my question. Don’t waste words—don’t bring disaster upon me...”

He sighed softly, smiling bitterly: “Opening the door for you this early, letting you in—it’s already deep in misfortune.”

Song Changqing wanted to thank him, but remembering Doctor Min’s warning, he bit his tongue and simply nodded: “It was the ‘Rip the Sky Knife’ technique from Tiger Soul Seven Kill.”

“She also practiced ‘Tiger Soul Seven Kill’—her realm was higher than yours. She was caught off guard only because she trusted you completely—and she cultivated spirit, not qi.” Doctor Min shook his head.

“So what?”

“So your injury to her isn’t serious,” Doctor Min said.

Song Changqing grew anxious: “Doctor Min, I brought her to you not just for healing.”

I rushed back and gave her the Blood-Consolidating Powder early to prevent the sword bone’s spiritual essence from leaking.”

Of course, I don’t expect her to repair the sword bone—I just want to absorb and convert its spiritual essence into physical strength or spiritual power... I don’t fully understand, but you told me long ago—you said I’d wasted my chance by taking the Blood-Consolidating Powder too late.”

Doctor Min rolled his small eyes. “I know why you gave her the Blood-Consolidating Powder.”

I mean, her spiritual realm is higher than yours—she has strong resistance to your ‘Tiger Soul Claw.’ This injury alone can’t explain why she’s been unconscious so long.”

“She was eating... the food had a herb that induces deep, relaxed sleep—not poison, but an expensive tonic,” Song Changqing said firmly.

Doctor Min shook his head: “I don’t know what happened two days ago. Now, there’s not a trace of any medicine left in her—not even the Blood-Consolidating Powder’s effect. Strange... but her spiritual essence is gone.”

“How could it be gone? Shentong’s spiritual essence is a special kind of ‘immortal qi’—how could immortal qi vanish without cause?” Song Changqing cried.

Doctor Min’s face remained calm, but inside, he was filled with confusion and astonishment.

Shentong’s spiritual essence wouldn’t vanish without cause—the sword bone’s essence had been absorbed by the Second Shentong...

From the pulse, the Second Shentong had been hidden deep in the blood, sealed tightly by the sword bone.

Shattering the sword bone accidentally unlocked her true bloodline potential.

And this new bloodline talent is now consuming the sword bone’s spiritual essence—not just absorbing it, but draining her spiritual strength too, which is why she remains unconscious...

One spiritual mechanism corresponds to one divine art; how could another divine art absorb the sword-bone’s spiritual mechanism?

——This is too strange; it’s making even this old man doubt his own medical skills.

Min the Divine Physician’s thoughts churned, but he dared not speak plainly.

“What’s wrong with immortal qi? Immortal qi can be born innately within the bloodline, forming the spiritual mechanism of a divine art—and it can also dissipate later in life. Otherwise, what was the point of my ‘Blood-Consolidating Powder’?”

Sigh, this is Tianmen Town!

Not to mention he couldn’t even confirm whether a second divine art truly existed.

If he was wrong and accidentally caused this Sha-Man girl’s death, his guilt would be immense.

If a grand divine art capable of devouring other spiritual mechanisms truly existed, he could not reveal it at all.

Not only must he reveal nothing, he must also help conceal it.

Whoever or whatever could devour the sword-bone’s spiritual mechanism—no matter what this divine art was—must be far stronger and more tyrannical than the sword-bone itself.

Min the Divine Physician made his decision.

“She’s taken Yi Gu Dan; her spiritual mechanism is abundant and won’t dissipate so easily,” Changqing insisted.

“I never said it vanished into thin air—only a portion was absorbed by her body and soul.”

“Just watch—even if she loses the sword-bone, her future martial achievements will still be substantial,” Min the Divine Physician said with certainty.

For now, plant a seed of warning; if this Sha-Man girl truly awakens her second divine art and her power surges, we can attribute it to the sword-bone’s spiritual mechanism.

“Oh, already absorbed… even just a portion is enough.”

Song Changqing exhaled in relief and asked, “Why is she still unconscious?”

“She’s weak,” Min the Divine Physician casually lied.

“She’s weak?” Song Changqing raised his voice. “Do you know who she is?”

“Isn’t she the Gu family’s tiger daughter who slew the Hunter Flag Immortal and crippled Zhou Lang?”

I thought someone who could kill a human immortal must be as strong as an ox, with qi as thick as a pillar.

But she’s frail—so that’s why I first said ‘strange,’ and you asked what was strange.

Sigh, think carefully—she grew up in the Sha-Man lands, lacking food and clothing, her potential overexploited; it’s natural for her to be outwardly robust but inwardly weak.”

“She is no longer the Gu family’s daughter,” came a faint male voice from the doorway.

A middle-aged man in a deep-blue brocade robe stepped in.

“Li Dan, Court Official of the Shoujing Palace’s Lacquer Garden, greets Min the Divine Physician and General Song.”

(PS: First, let me clarify—the second divine art Min the Divine Physician suspects Xiao Yu has is not the Purple Mansion. Tomorrow, I’ll explain Xiao Yu’s transmigration cause: which Honghuang elder is playing a grand game, and why Xiao Yu’s cheat is “Dad-Slaying,” or rather, who the Great Dad-Slayer is targeting.

Also, a slight spoiler: the sword-bone is a seal—a protection from Xiao Yu’s mother in this lifetime. Earlier chapters hinted at this; Qingsong the Daoist acolyte once wondered why a Sha-Man girl would possess the sword-bone divine art, since it commonly appears among descendants of sword immortals.

Finally, on September 1st, this novel will be officially released. Please come support it!)