Chapter 152: Chapter Seventy-Five: Only the Eight Treasure Purple Gold Blossom Can Save

I, Pangzi, and Yuan Qiu — the three of us already had tears welling up at this moment. Each person, watching this scene on TV, couldn't help but feel a deep shock.

After the shock, everyone, without exception, panicked and rushed toward Dong Yumin's ward.

I seem to have begun to understand why Dong Yumin could stay clear-headed under the Heart-Eating Gu's control; in a moment's pause, she unhesitatingly stabbed the knife into her own heart.

There is something called love! It transcends natural power, can change everything; what seems utterly impossible can happen under this power.

When we entered the ward, we only saw this scene.

Chen Zheng and Dong Yumin lay left and right on the bed, quietly. Although Dong Yumin was still unconscious, tears welled at the corners of her eyes, while Chen Zheng's face, though beginning to darken, bore a satisfied smile.

Their hands were tightly clasped, just as their vows said, forever binding each other tightly.

At the moment Chen Zheng was poisoned, Pangzi ran out to fetch QingSongShu; after the acupuncture, Dong Yumin's and Chen Zheng's conditions finally improved considerably.

However, Dong Yumin's condition was not optimistic; a black line had spread from her wrist to her arm. If the black line were to completely reach her palm, that would likely be the day she meets her end in the underworld.

Either we save both, or we watch them die together. This couple would never abandon the other, nor would either survive alone in this world.

Their love had transcended life and death, the limits of time. Seeing Chen Zheng inject Dong Yumin's toxic blood into his own body moved everyone; even the hospital nurses and doctors silently wept.

……………………

In the hospital cafeteria, we casually took a few fast meals; the fast food was light, all vegetarian dishes, but nobody had an appetite—worry made me unable to swallow.

"Dad, do you have any way to save Zheng-ge and his wife?"

I was fiddling with my chopsticks, Yuan Qiu listlessly sighing; as Pangzi asked that, everyone's gazes unconsciously turned to QingSongShu.

QingSongShu paused, stroked his mustache, frowned, and said: "The heart is the palace of the five viscera; for those poisoned by Gu, the most feared is Gu invading the heart. And the Gu poison in Dong Yumin is a forbidden Gu among Gu... the Heart Gu."

Pangzi asked, bewildered: "Heart Gu, what is this thing?"

"Unlearned and incompetent!"

QingSongShu's face turned iron‑blue as he gave Pangzi a cold snort, then slowly explained to us.

"The grass‑witches who raise Gu must still observe the rules; they call these rules Gu law. There are seven: one, Gu must not be placed in the heart; two, Gu must not be placed in the spirit; three, Gu must not be raised using humans…"

QingSongShu said, this is the Gu law of the Miao borderlands; those who raise Gu must always leave a third spare, whether placing Gu on a person's heart or letting Gu corrode the spirit—such Gu are absolute Gu.

In the Five Elements, the heart belongs to fire; the spirit governs clarity, the heart governs blood vessels. If Gu is placed in the heart's dwelling, it is absolutely a severing of human life, with no possible cure.

Gu raisers and Daoist practitioners are the same; in the trade there is a rule: unless they are mortal enemies, they will not lightly deal a lethal blow to a person. And within this rule there is an additional condition.

If you ask us to punish a wicked person, we will cast cups before the altar to ask the gods; if the gods consent, proving that the person indeed deserves a light punishment, we will then help you strike him.

However, after casting the spell, we will leave a margin—only injure, not kill. Even if the spell is later undone, we will never strike the same person a second time.

This is the ironclad rule of the trade, no first, no second. Whether in the Wu family, Daoist sect, spirit‑marriage practitioners, or the various other magical schools, this rule is well known to all. If one transcends this track and violates the ironclad rule, the Daoist himself will suffer heavenly retribution; the five flaws and three deficiencies will follow him like a shadow.

Now this insect master, having placed Gu in the heart, has planted one of the lethal Gu forbidden by the Miao law. Naturally, from his actions it's easy to guess he walks the demonic path, not the orthodox one; thus the five flaws and three deficiencies' retribution is for him nothing but a scrap of paper.

Three years ago, he pretended to help Dong Yumin prolong her life, but in fact he merely used this method to consume Chen Zheng's vital energy. The one who truly prolonged Dong Yumin's life was the Heart-Eating Gu he placed on her.

Of course, many may wonder why the black‑robed old man would do this seemingly superfluous act; it's simple: because Chen Zheng's terrifying power remains such that, even after his lifespan has been consumed, when he is angry he still exudes a shaking, domineering aura. It's hard to imagine what Chen Zheng was like at his peak.

Moreover, Chen Zheng's fate is a rare half‑life hero's destiny; his chart contains the Kui Gang entering as lord. If he were born in ancient times, he would certainly be a generation‑defining general, and moreover decisive in slaughter, the kind whose blade leaves countless dead spirits.

Internal martial arts may not match the ferocity of sorcery, but ordinary people don't know that a person possesses a fortune: those under the Wen Qu star have literary fortune, those under the Zi Wei emperor have authority fortune. Even ordinary people, if they are in a year of mutual generation, will be strong in body and wealth. Ordinary sorcery cannot cause bodily harm to the likes of fiends, monsters, and ghosts.

There is a kind of destiny whose bearer is not a Daoist, yet makes Daoists have to fear him.

Chen Zheng's fate is exactly such an eight‑character; although his slaughter is excessive, doomed to an ill end, yet the fortune within this chart was supremely vigorous in the first half of his life, able to slay ghosts and gods—fundamentally not something ordinary witchcraft can harm.

Therefore, the Seven Stars Same Life Continuation is a good method: it consumes Chen Zheng's lifespan, essence, energy, and spirit. Then, using the Heart-Eating Gu to control Dong Yumin, it leaves a trusted confidant beside Chen Zheng.

However, I think Dong Yumin's affection for Chen Zheng is so deep that even the black‑robed old man, this Gu controller, never expected it; she would rather kill herself than harm Chen Zheng.

After QingSongShu finished explaining the Heart Gu to us, my and Pangzi's expressions inevitably grew low and grim. According to his explanation, Dong Yumin's heart is probably that Gu king; to purge the Gu poison, likely the only way is to cut out her heart.

But… if a person loses the heart, can they still live? QingSongShu's words amount to sentencing Dong Yumin to death by a thousand cuts.

"Actually, there is a way!" While everyone felt low, QingSongShu furrowed his brows and muttered to himself.

I and Pangzi simultaneously lifted our heads, staring at QingSongShu anxiously asking: "Uncle, (Dad) what's the method? Come on, tell us!"

QingSongShu furrowed his brows, thought for a moment, then soon sighed and shook his head, making our mood become tangled.

"There is a method, but saying it is tantamount to saying nothing." QingSongShu said: "If you want to save them both, the Daoist sect has a spiritual pill that can wash their tendons and marrow, reblood them. However, this spiritual pill…"

"Uncle, what is this spiritual pill called?" I suddenly had a faint premonition.

QingSongShu glanced at us and said: "Eight Treasure Purple Gold Blossom."

I and Pangzi exchanged astonished glances; is this Eight Treasure Purple Gold Blossom really that miraculous? First it could repair Shishi's connection to the Spiritual Aperture, and now it can actually replace a person's blood?

QingSongShu said: "This Eight Treasure Purple Gold Blossom was invented by the Wudang Sect's patriarch Zhang Sanfeng; its efficacy is said to be heaven‑defying, not an exaggeration. However, pills are graded into heaven, earth, and human tiers. If it were a true heaven‑grade Purple Gold Blossom, merely the refining time would take three years. Let alone what is currently circulated; even an ordinary high‑rank adept of the Wudang Sect could not possess an earth‑grade Purple Gold Blossom."

"QingSongShu, to cure the sister‑in‑law and Zheng‑ge, at least which grade of Purple Gold Blossom is needed?" After pondering a moment, I anxiously asked.

"At least earth‑grade!" Without even thinking, QingSongShu blurted out definitively: "Human grade only sustains life, dispels ordinary toxicity, or aids Daoist cultivation, clearing bodily impurities. Only earth‑grade Purple Gold Blossom can wash tendons and marrow, granting them rebirth."

After a pause, QingSongShu eyed me suspiciously and asked: "Hai Sheng, why are you asking this? Could it be you have a way to obtain a Purple Gold Blossom?"

I was instantly stunned, then at a loss, my expression hesitant for a long time; finally I still related the matter of Murong Jia Jia.

After saying that, I lowered my head, not daring to look at QingSongShu; frankly, I was worried QingSongShu would scold me, even though I am a disciple of the Yinshan Sect, he has always opposed my raising ghosts.

Little Fat is my summoned spirit, Hong Nainai is the karmic debt I owe. These two need no explanation, but Murong Jia Jia… a single misstep would make people think I am lustful, bewitched by a ghost to confuse my Spiritual Aperture.

But as time passed, I realized my worry was unnecessary; moreover, QingSongShu oddly asked me with a strange expression: "What does the ancient spirit look like?"

"Hehe, Dad, you don't know—she's gorgeous!" Pangzi eagerly described Murong Jia Jia to QingSongShu.

Then QingSongShu also gestured with his hands, saying: "Isn't she wearing her hair in a bun and a white long dress?"

"Yes…" I and Pangzi nodded together; immediately my mind couldn't help but spring a question: How does QingSongShu know? Could he have seen Murong Jia Jia?

"When you were unconscious, a female ghost burst into your ward in the dead of night. I thought she wanted to harm you, so I struck to drive her away. Yet this ghost was also remarkably strong, able to withstand my Splendid Light Fire Technique!" QingSongShu sighed and continued.

Upon hearing that QingSongShu and Murong Jia Jia had clashed, I anxiously asked: "Where is Jia Jia now?"

QingSongShu pointed to the ward building we had just exited and said slowly: "She is being held by my spell‑flag in the storage room at the west corner; that storage room is tiny, located on the same floor as where you were hospitalized."

I: "…………"