Chapter 61: Walking and Pacing, Gazing for a Long Time

"Lingxiang... Lingxiang..."

Amidst the Chaos, Lingxiang suddenly heard someone calling her.

"Who is it? Who is calling me?"

She asked loudly, but the voice remained indistinct.

"... at... Yunfeng... come quickly... find me..."

"What? What did you say?" Lingxiang looked around, but there was only boundless, endless darkness.

"... Yunfeng... Chang... Yunfeng..."

Suddenly, a beam of light fell from above Lingxiang's head. She opened her eyes abruptly, only to see a white orchid blooming vividly on the emerald-green bed curtains; it was actually her own sleeping hut.

She tried to sit up, but felt a sharp pain in her legs, and only then did she suddenly remember being struck by that cauldron.

As her consciousness gradually returned, Lingxiang felt her lower legs aching and itching as if the bones were being eroded. She wanted to sit up to check, but could not muster the strength.

Just then, Maidong entered carrying a bowl of medicine. Seeing Lingxiang awake, she hurried forward to help her sit up.

"You woke up quite quickly; I'm afraid Master won't be coming over for another half an hour."

Seeing Maidong's eyes were red and swollen, Lingxiang knew it must be from staying up to look after her without rest, so she spoke a word of thanks for her hard work.

Upon hearing this, Maidong gave her a gentle nudge.

"We've been sisters for years, how could I just watch you suffer?" As she spoke, she picked up the medicine bowl, blew on it, and handed it to Lingxiang.

"Master said that although there is a Bone-Mending Pill to help you regenerate bone, the injuries to your skin, flesh, and meridians still require medicine for slow recovery. I'm afraid you won't be able to get out of bed for some days."

"Bone-Mending Pill?" Lingxiang did not expect her injuries to be so severe that a Bone-Mending Pill had been used; that was no Mortal Grade item, and she herself had never managed to refine one.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Four days. Master was afraid you wouldn't be able to endure the pain of bone regeneration, so she gave you Sleep Saint Powder during the treatment. Perhaps she felt that the belladonna was too harsh, so after feeding it to you yesterday, she ordered that the medicine no longer be used. Do you feel any discomfort now?"

Lingxiang shook her head. Aside from the pain in her injuries and a general lack of strength, she felt no other discomfort, but that was something one had to experience during the healing process.

Long Qi paced back and forth in the room anxiously. Ever since he learned that something had happened to Lingxiang, he had been in a state of constant agitation.

"No, I have to go find Lingxiang!" Long Qi said, about to head out, but was stopped by Liu Xia.

"Not to mention that the Punishment Elder forbade us from setting foot on Qingwei Peak that day, even if you just went like that, what could you possibly do?"

Long Qi knew these words were reasonable, but his heart simply could not rest. These past few days, he had been sitting and standing in unease, terrified that something might have happened to Lingxiang.

"I heard from Bandxia that it was the Punishment Elder himself who diagnosed and treated Lingxiang. It's not early now, and tomorrow happens to be the Punishment Elder's morning lecture. Why not go and beg him when the lecture ends tomorrow? Even if he doesn't allow us to visit, it would be good to ask for details. That's better than just worrying blindly, isn't it?" Liu Xia let go of Long Qi and analyzed it for him carefully.

Hearing this, Zhao Wuyang hurriedly chimed in: "The Punishment Elder is kind-hearted and has profound attainments in medicine. My mother's body gradually improved after taking the prescriptions he wrote. If Lingxiang truly has any trouble, with the Punishment Elder there, she will surely be safe and sound. Brother Qi, you can rest easy."

Although the two said this, Long Qi still found it hard to be at ease. At this moment, Xin Yi spoke up:

"If something had truly happened, even if you went now, you wouldn't be able to do anything. Besides, there has been no news from the sect, so I imagine she is likely fine."

Hearing what Xin Yi said, Long Qi finally quelled his urge to go find Lingxiang, but he still tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep.

The next day, as soon as the morning lecture ended, Long Qi hurriedly blocked the path of Fuyin Zhenren. He performed a hasty salute and asked about Lingxiang's current state.

Fuyin Zhenren then carefully sized up Long Qi. He appeared to have a good physique, and his brows held a heroic spirit, though his eyes were filled with a bit more worry.

"You are the disciple Lingxiang took in outside?"

Long Qi acknowledged this and asked again how Lingxiang was doing.

Fuyin Zhenren did not make things difficult for him and simply told him the truth.

Upon hearing that Lingxiang's leg had been broken, Long Qi immediately thought of that girl's small frame having to endure such excruciating pain. He felt a sharp pang in his heart and hurriedly proposed to Fuyin Zhenren that he wished to visit Lingxiang.

"Come to think of it, since you are her disciple, you should indeed be by her side to serve your master while she is injured. However, she needs careful nursing now, and you being a man... I'm afraid it might be a bit inconvenient..." Fuyin Zhenren said after some deliberation.

"Although I am not versed in medical principles, I can still help out with menial tasks. I hope Martial Uncle will permit me to visit." Long Qi said, bowing low.

Fuyin Zhenren thought of those ruined buildings, pondered for a moment, and nodded.

"Follow me."

In a cave within Manzhou, Chiyanzi was meditating to regulate his breath, while Wu Yuan guarded the cave entrance, carefully watching for movement outside.

The battle with that man in black had consumed too much of his strength; if Wu Yuan hadn't arrived in time, he truly didn't know what would have happened to him.

After one small circulation of Qi, Chiyanzi felt slightly recovered and stood up to thank Wu Yuan.

Wu Yuan looked somewhat uncomfortable; he had never received such a grand gesture from anyone in his life, so he just sheepishly rubbed his nose and brought up something else.

"You little old man, what are you doing in this Manzhou territory? And how did you end up being hunted by such a Demon Race creature?"

Chiyanzi then recounted the incident of saving Lingxiang and summarized the things he had investigated over these days.

It turned out that after the Demon Lord was wounded over a dozen years ago, he had fled to Manzhou with a group of his subordinates. These years of recuperation seemed to have restored his vitality, and he actually showed signs of stirring again.

"At the time, I was in a rush to save someone and didn't think much of it. Later, when I pondered it carefully, the Pill Lingxiang used should only be something one person could refine, and that person was my master, Tumi Xianzi." Chiyanzi coughed twice as he spoke.

"Are you saying Lingxiang is related to your master?" Wu Yuan asked suspiciously. "But didn't you say before that your master had passed away long ago?"

"That's right, it was during the Demon Race's slaughter of the Yuanqing Sect fourteen years ago."

"Your master was from the Yuanqing Sect?"

"I'm not clear on that. Come to think of it, I was only a nominal disciple Tumi Xianzi took in while traveling early on. She brought me into the Daoist Sect, taught me Witchcraft, and after I grew up, she sent me off to cultivate on my own."

"Then how do you know Lingxiang couldn't refine that medicine?" Wu Yuan rolled his eyes; that little fox was even more formidable than this old fox.

"It's not that Lingxiang couldn't refine it, but when I was cultivating with my master, this Pill was still in the research stage. It wasn't until later, after encountering a member of the Demon Race and testing the prescription, that it was considered a success." Chiyanzi's expression was solemn.

"What do you mean by that?" Seeing him like this, Wu Yuan looked puzzled.

"She saved that member of the Demon Race with a Life-Prolonging Pill, and that person was the Demon Lord who slaughtered the Yuanqing Sect fourteen years ago..."