Chapter 325: Hand and Foot Alliance

Li Banfeng stood at the ward door, watching Cui Ti and another man.

Who is this man?

Li Banfeng had never seen him, and the current situation made identification difficult.

Wan Jinxian's condition was complex: patches of green pustules had already covered his body, and now he faced encirclement by Cui Ti and Li Banfeng.

This was Cui Ti's hospital; Wan Jinxian couldn't even find an escape route.

Fortunately, Cui Ti wasn't trying to kill him.

He wanted to kill Wan Jinxian, but right now he was intrigued by something else.

Cui Ti looked at Li Banfeng and said, "This is my senior brother. Though we've just met, we've talked with great harmony.

Please return to the ward and care for your friend. My senior brother and I will move elsewhere to talk, so we won't disturb you."

Li Banfeng returned to the ward, his mind uneasy.

Cui Ti had helped him—that was true.

He and Cui Ti were friends—that was also true.

But for Li Banfeng to fully trust Cui Ti was extremely difficult.

In Yaowang Gou, Cui Ti nearly killed Li Banfeng.

In Lan Yang Village, Cui Ti had also sought out Li Banfeng.

Now his senior brother had arrived.

Li Banfeng had heard the two exchange blows in the corridor.

This senior brother had come for Ma Wu—he must be the one who made Ma Wu sick.

Cui Ti was currently at odds with this senior brother, but given Cui Ti's nature, he might become friends with him in the next second.

In the ward now were Zuo Wugang and Huo Ling; if a fight broke out, they wouldn't necessarily be at a disadvantage.

But Li Banfeng needed to know what they were saying.

Li Banfeng touched his earring; the thread-earring tracked the voices of Cui Ti and Wan Jinxian.

Cui Ti invited Wan Jinxian into the emergency room; Wan Jinxian hesitated a moment, then followed him inside.

Cui Ti took off his white coat and hung it on the door.

The thread-earring told Li Banfeng, "Master, he has a spiritual object blocking Kuixiu."

"Can you bypass it?"

In the past, the earring naturally couldn't do this; Zhou Yujuan, who made it, was only a first-layer Kuixiu.

But now the earring's level was different—it was grown by Li Banfeng bit by bit from others' flesh and blood.

The pendant on the earring swayed back and forth; gradually, Li Banfeng began to hear voices.

In the emergency room, Cui Ti asked Wan Jinxian, "You said you killed your master to complete your training—what does that mean?"

Wan Jinxian looked at Cui Ti but said nothing.

Cui Ti reminded him, "I know you're trying desperately to neutralize the pathogens on your body, but you won't succeed. Your situation is dire.

If you want to live, you must answer all my questions truthfully. Some questions I already know the answers to—I may be testing you. So don't lie to me."

Wan Jinxian nodded and asked, "At Yuezhou Hospital, was it you who targeted He Jiaqing?"

Cui Ti looked at Wan Jinxian and said, "Don't get the order wrong. I'm asking the questions."

Wan Jinxian fell silent for a moment, then said to Cui Ti, "Proper disease cultivators have fixed lineages and fixed factions, called the Pestilence Clan."

Cui Ti shook his head. "I've spent a long time in Pulu Province—I've never heard of such a faction."

"Few people in the world have heard of the Pestilence Clan, because it usually has only one member."

Cui Ti asked, "How can one person form a clan?"

Wan Jinxian looked at Cui Ti, his mind filled with doubt.

This man was indeed a disease cultivator—that was certain.

But he knew nothing of disease cultivator customs, making Wan Jinxian unable to understand the source of Cui Ti's cultivation.

Is he really testing me?

"How did you enter the Dao?" Wan Jinxian asked.

Cui Ti smiled. "My path into the Dao was unusual. If I were to explain it to you, it would take a long time—but given your condition, you probably don't have time to listen. So please answer my questions quickly."

He left unsaid the remaining half-sentence.

Your life is in my hands. What right do you have to ask me questions?

Wan Jinxian understood reality and asked no more: "The Pestilence Clan never recruits disciples normally. Only when a disease cultivator feels his life is nearing its end does he open the door and take three disciples—and only three.

These three disciples must study under their master for one year. After that year, they must kill each other for a month, and only one survives.

The survivor must sign a contract with the master: he must never take more disciples, but he must also ensure the Dao's lineage never dies out, and he must continue the tradition exactly as it was.

Then he only needs to do one more thing: after the master dies, eat his corpse, and he will successfully enter the Dao."

"The master's corpse is the initiation elixir?"

Wan Jinxian nodded.

Cui Ti fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Who established this rule?"

Wan Jinxian shook his head. "I don't know. This was the rule when I entered."

"Did you eat your master?"

"Otherwise I couldn't have entered."

"So that's what you meant—there's usually only one disease cultivator in the world at any time?"

Wan Jinxian nodded. "So I don't understand why there's another like you in the world. And even more confusing—you're a foreign devil."

Cui Ti smiled. "There's one thing I'd like to ask you. Disease cultivators live very long lives, because we neutralize illness. Unless we suffer a fatal wound, only time can take us.

If a disease cultivator is exceptionally long-lived, takes disciples, but still doesn't die for many years, does he choose to kill himself to complete the succession—or does he let his disciples wait indefinitely?"

Wan Jinxian scratched at his pustules. "I don't know what the situation was before. My master's master was extremely long-lived.

He thought he was nearing death, so he took disciples. But my master stayed with him for nearly fifty years before he finally died.

This meant my master didn't enter the Dao until he was sixty-five, and even until his death, he remained only a second-layer cultivator."

Cui Ti chuckled. "Looks like you were lucky—your master wasn't that long-lived."

Wan Jinxian shook his head. "My master was long-lived too—just very, very old at the time."

"So you killed him?"

Wan Jinxian scratched another pustule open and asked Cui Ti, "You've asked me so many questions about me and my master—what's the point?"

Cui Ti shrugged. "Sorry, I seem to have stirred up unpleasant memories. Let's talk about something useful: why did you target Ma Junyang?"

Wan Jinxian said, "You should guess—it's because Ma Wu has a friend named Li Qi."

"You're targeting Li Qi to get the Xuan Sheng Honglian he holds?"

Wan Jinxian didn't deny it. "You saved Ma Wu—wasn't it for the Xuan Sheng Honglian?"

Cui Ti shook his head. "No. I have no interest in the Xuan Sheng Honglian."

Wan Jinxian sneered.

Cui Ti said, "You don't have to believe me, but I'm telling the truth. I'm friends with Li Qi, but I truly have no interest in the red lotus.

What truly interests me is you. You, the Ling brothers, and others—people with status and power in Pulu Province—all seem to be obeying the orders of an outsider, correct?"

Wan Jinxian didn't answer.

Cui Ti asked again: "That outsider is He Jiaqing, right?"

Wan Jinxian still said nothing.

Cui Ti licked his lips.

The pustules on Wan Jinxian's left hand had receded considerably.

"Senior brother, see? I can cure your pustules. But you can't cure them yourself. Your life is in my hands."

Wan Jinxian sighed deeply. "You once attacked He Jiaqing—don't you know what's behind it?"

As soon as he spoke, more pustules erupted across Wan Jinxian's body.

Cui Ti frowned slightly. "Senior brother, don't ask me questions in return, or you'll pay the price. He Jiaqing is your leader—does your organization have a clan name?"

"Sort of. He Jiaqing named it the Hand and Foot Alliance. We all call each other brothers."

"What's the purpose of forming this clan? He Jiaqing is the He family heir—he has no shortage of money or status. What does he truly want?"

Wan Jinxian looked at Cui Ti and said slowly, "He wants to rebuild a different Pulu Province."

"Different? What's wrong with Pulu Province? What kind of Pulu Province does he want?"

Wan Jinxian considered his words carefully: "I'm not asking you to answer—I want to know one thing: have you ever been to Neizhou?"

Cui Ti nodded. "Yes. I went with a travel permit. It's a place I dislike.

But the people there treated me well—in Neizhou, they called me 'friend from a foreign land,' even better than outsiders treated me.

The worst people to me were those in Pulu Province—they always called me 'dead foreign devil.' But I'm a good foreign devil, and I love Pulu Province deeply."

Wan Jinxian said, "Since you've been to Neizhou, you should know what cultivators above the tenth layer endure there."

Cui Ti nodded. "I know."

Wan Jinxian added, "And as for outsiders—you must know, after any contact with the Border Guards, how much Pulu Province has been exploited."

Cui Ti nodded. "I know some of that too."

"Pulu Province has suffered too much—abused by both Neizhou and outsiders.

He Jiaqing told me he wants to restore Pulu Province's dignity, to let everyone in Pulu Province live with dignity.

I trust this young brother, so I follow him. Have I made myself clear now?"

Cui Ti nodded: "He's an extraordinary man—I deeply respect him."

Wan Jinxian looked at his covered skin and said: "Brother, I've lost to you. I truly accept it. I've seen countless illnesses, but never a rash so hard to deal with."

Cui Ti smiled: "Harder than the rash you placed on He Haiqin?"

Wan Jinxian blinked, helplessly smiling: "You saved He Haiqin too? I'm truly defeated—you're truly my nemesis."

"Since I've lost, if you want to kill me, just do it swiftly. If you want me to live, state your terms outright—don't leave me hanging. It's tormenting both of us."

Cui Ti paused a moment, then took a deep breath.

The rashes on Wan Jinxian's body vanished quickly.

"Brother, you're just letting me go without demanding anything?"

Cui Ti shook his head: "There are conditions, of course. I'm very interested in your Brotherhood of Hands and Feet—I'd like to hear more about you. Will you tell me?"

You've taken away all the lesions—and still want me to talk?

Does this foreign devil really treat me as his senior brother?

Wan Jinxian asked: "What kind of stories do you want to hear?"

"I want to hear about the future."

Wan Jinxian froze: "How could I know the future?"

Cui Ti smiled: "Then tell me when you find out."

The words were roundabout, but Wan Jinxian understood.

He ran his hand over his back and felt a single translucent blister.

Cui Ti stood up: "Senior brother, one blister will never vanish from you—I can't say which one it will be."

"If I ever need news of the Brotherhood of Hands and Feet, you must tell me."

PS: Don't worry about Jiaqing—the Brotherhood of Hands and Feet is large; he has many brothers.

(End of Chapter)