Chapter 147: Severe Wounds

The moment the pill entered his mouth, it swiftly dissolved into a warm current that flowed into his limbs and bones. Pan Yun's hand pressed against his back, channeling her yuan force slowly into his body to work alongside the medicine's power in repairing him.

Zhang Ziwang and Lin Jing immediately stepped forward to look at Dai Yong, who had collapsed on the ground.

Lin Jing felt his neck and, finding a pulse still there, immediately stuffed a pill into his mouth and carefully lifted his head to look.

After a moment, he shook his head at Zhang Ziwang. "Please ask Dean Lou to come take a look. There may still be hope."

Zhang Ziwang's face darkened, and he glared sternly at the remaining three.

The three knelt beside Nong Zhiyi, terrified and remorseful, crying loudly: "Dean, please look at Nong Zhiyi—he seems to be failing."

Zhang Ziwang frowned in confusion. Stepping forward to examine him, he discovered that his Upper Dantian had split open and his qi was leaking out.

Nong Zhiyi was in too much pain to speak, but he still clutched tightly at the hem of Zhang Ziwang's robe, trembling as he looked up at him, begging to be saved.

The expression on Zhang Ziwang's face slowly returned to calm. He rose with a dark look. "Bring everyone back to the Hall of Punishment. Go invite Dean Lou of the Grand Purity Court."

Zhou Wangdao glanced worriedly at Pan Yun, agreed, and sent someone to the Grand Purity Court to find Lou Tong, while he himself stepped forward to lead the group to the Hall of Punishment.

Pan Yun used her yuan force to protect Cui Huai Gong's heart meridian. Once she confirmed the medicine had secured his life, she scooped him up and prepared to leave.

"Halt!" Zhang Ziwang glared at her. "Did you not hear what I said? Everyone is to go to the Hall of Punishment."

Pan Yun raised her eyes. "Dean Zhang, I, Pan Yun, swear here and now—if anything happens to Cui Huai Gong, I will take Zhang Weiliang's life and make him pay in blood!"

Zhang Ziwang's fist clenched tight at once.

Pan Yun carried Cui Huai Gong straight toward the Grand Purity Court, and Zhang Ziwang did not stop her again.

Lin Jing frowned, then finally gathered Dai Yong into his arms and had someone bring along Nong Zhiyi, who was in constant pain, to the Grand Purity Court together.

Sister Xuan Li and a few friends were walking back to the dormitory hand in hand when they saw many people hurrying east. Curious, she grabbed someone she half-knew and asked, "Senior Sister, where is everyone going?"

"To the Grand Purity Court. I heard Nong Zhiyi and his group killed Cui Huai Gong, and Pan Yun is avenging Cui Huai Gong and wants to kill them too. They're all badly wounded now and being sent to the Grand Purity Court."

Sister Xuan Li froze instantly. A companion beside her gave her a push before she came back to her senses.

Her hands and feet went cold at once. She stumbled along after the crowd, running. "I—I'll go take a look…"

Before she finished speaking, Sister Xuan Li burst into tears, sobbing, "Is Cui Huai Gong dead? Is Cui Huai Gong really dead?"

Her companions ran alongside her. They were fast and quickly caught up with the group heading to the Grand Purity Court.

Many people followed to watch the excitement, but most of them dared not get too close, afraid of Zhang Ziwang and Lin Jing.

But Sister Xuan Li's mind was blank at this moment. She pushed straight through the crowd and chased after them.

She caught up with Pan Yun, who was at the very front carrying Cui Huai Gong. Seeing him drenched in blood, his face so bruised and swollen it was almost unrecognizable, tears fell again of their own accord.

It was the first time she had ever seen a person reduced to such a wretched state. A chill ran through her heart, and she asked Pan Yun, "Is Cui Huai Gong going to die?"

Pan Yun did not answer her. The moment she entered the Grand Purity Court, the senior brothers and sisters sitting at the clinic door sprang to their feet, asking in shock, "How was he hurt like this? Bring him in quickly!"

The Grand Purity Court sits in the northeast corner of the Academy, set apart from the other courts. Because the grounds here are spacious, with a large stretch of land behind forming a herb garden, the Academy's clinic is also located here, staffed by the Grand Purity Court's elder teachers and senior brothers and sisters.

Not only does the Academy receive treatment here, but occasionally people from below the mountain come up seeking medical care, and they too are treated here.

A senior sister led Pan Yun upstairs, straight to the second floor, pushed open a door, and said, "Set him down quickly. How was he injured?"

Before the words had faded, another commotion rose from downstairs—Dai Yong and Nong Zhiyi had been brought in as well. To facilitate treatment, the senior brother who had led them upstairs pushed open the same room door.

One room, four beds—three occupied, one left.

Lou Tong hurried over. Without waiting for Zhang Ziwang to speak, a single sweep of her gaze told her the condition of the three, and she went straight for Dai Yong.

In no time, Dai Yong's body and head were covered in needles. Only then did she go look at Cui Huai Gong, using needles to stabilize his heart meridian before moving on to Nong Zhiyi.

Zhang Ziwang and Lin Jing fell silent when she had rushed straight for Dai Yong.

Lou Tong had her own code of conduct—the most critical case first.

After Lou Tong inserted needles to ease Nong Zhiyi's pain and used yuan force to halt the collapse of his Upper Dantian, she finally had a moment to ask, "What happened? Has some demon invaded our Academy?"

Lin Jing replied coldly, "No. A few disciples got into a brawl."

Lou Tong was very displeased. "Who struck so heavily? When has our Academy become so chaotic that a brawl dares to turn into a fight to the death?" Lin Jing looked toward Pan Yun.

Lou Tong followed his gaze and frowned.

Pan Yun's gaze was equally cold and stern, her face like ice. She raised her eyes, looking at them with open hostility, bristling like a porcupine. "Lin Tangzhu, aren't you the head of the Hall of Punishment? The incident began because they openly ambushed a lower-year student within the Academy. Shouldn't you, on behalf of the Hall of Punishment, give us an explanation?"

Lin Jing laughed in spite of his anger and said in a low voice, "You gravely wounded one person, nearly destroyed his Niwan Palace, and ruined another's Upper Dantian—and you turn around and demand an explanation from me?"

Pan Yun replied coldly, "I acted in righteous defense and to protect myself. If you don't believe me, you can question the students who were watching. They were beating Cui Huai Gong to death. As a fellow student, was I supposed to stand by and not help? If the students fear your authority and dare not speak the truth, I can still face my own conscience. Can they?"

The faces of the lightly-wounded trio went deathly pale at once, and they looked helplessly toward Nong Zhiyi.

Nong Zhiyi's pain had eased considerably, but he still dared not relax. Ignoring Pan Yun's questioning entirely, he stared at Lou Tong and asked, "Dean Lou, can my Upper Dantian be healed?"

Lou Tong was silent.

Nong Zhiyi's despair grew. Tears welled in his eyes. "Dean Lou, please save me, please, you must save me. I can't lose my Upper Dantian—I absolutely cannot lose my Upper Dantian."

Lou Tong said, "Your Upper Dantian has split open. Unless we find a Heavenly Mountain Snow Lotus to refine an Ice Primordial Pill, it might be cured, but Primordial Pills are hard to come by, let alone a special Ice Primordial Pill."

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Nong Zhiyi immediately looked toward Pan Yun, struggling to get out of bed to beg her, but Lou Tong pressed him back down. "Don't move. Be careful the needles shift."

Nong Zhiyi gazed at Pan Yun from afar and pleaded, "Junior Sister Pan, please save me. I know Mount Sanqing must have a Primordial Pill. If you can restore my Upper Dantian, I won't pursue anything."

He paused, then gritted his teeth and added, "I won't pursue Dai Yong's injuries either."

Pan Yun smiled faintly, glanced at the three standing to the side, and said, "Is that so? But I never said I wouldn't pursue the matter of you hurting Cui Huai Gong."

Lou Tong was furious. She yanked her hand back from Nong Zhiyi, too annoyed to bother anymore, and waved him off. "Jingyi, when the time is up, pull the needles out of them. I'll write three prescriptions for them—have someone fetch and brew the medicine. I'll leave the rest to you."

Ge Jingyi had been watching the drama with great interest. Hearing this, she came back to herself, immediately cupped her hands, and replied, "Yes."

Lou Tong said to Lin Jing, "I don't care about your Hall of Punishment's affairs. Once they're a little better, take them back to the Hall of Punishment to deal with. Don't bring this filthy mess into my Grand Purity Court. It truly pains me to listen to it."

Lin Jing said, "None of them can be moved right now. Dai Yong and Cui Huai Gong are unconscious. The only ones who can be questioned now are Pan Yun and Nong Zhiyi. I see Nong Zhiyi isn't easy to move either. We'll have to borrow your place for a while."

Lou Tong pointed at Nong Zhiyi and said, "What's there to question? For the sake of their own interests, they don't even care about their companions' lives. It's obvious they took someone's money to do the job. Isn't this Cui Huai Gong a student who just enrolled this year? How could he have offended them?"

She said heatedly, "If you ask me, just find out who's behind it, grab them all, and drag them through the Hall of Punishment. I don't believe they won't confess."

Lin Jing said with a dark face, "Dean Lou, the Hall of Punishment has its own code of conduct."

"We have the same in Tai Su Academy," Lou Tong said. "If you don't want me meddling, stay far away from Tai Su Academy—you can't interrogate anyone here."

Zhang Ziwang rubbed his temples in pain. "Sister Lou, how many years has the Academy gone without such a vile incident? So many students witnessed it today—we must give them an explanation."

Lou Tong sneered. "Don't use the students to pressure me. I never stopped you from investigating. I have only one demand: if you want to interrogate, take the person out of Tai Su Academy. Interrogate them anywhere you like."

When Pan Yun heard this, she scanned the crowd—Pan Xiaohei was nowhere to be seen. She sensed its location, lowered her gaze for a moment, then resolutely bit her tongue, spitting out a mouthful of blood as she leaned back against Xuan Li.

Xuan Li gasped in horror, clutching her in her arms. "Pan! Pan Yun! What's wrong? Don't scare me—Master Lou, help!"

Lou Tong appeared before Pan Yun in an instant, seizing her pulse. The moment her fingers touched it, she couldn't help but lower her gaze to study her.

Pan Yun quietly opened her eyes and winked at her with her left eye. Lou Tong nearly dropped her right then and there.

After a moment's hesitation, she held her tongue. One hand kept hold of Pan Yun's pulse, the other closed her eyelids. Moments later, she slipped a pill between her lips, then turned to Zhang Ziwang and Lin Jing. "She's suffered internal injuries. She must stay for treatment."

Zhang Ziwang and Lin Jing both frowned, eyeing Pan Yun in Lou Tong's arms. "She's injured?"

Though their medical knowledge fell short of Lou Tong's, as seasoned Daoist Priests who had reached this level of cultivation, they naturally understood medicine. Pan Yun clearly had robust qi and blood—she was perfectly healthy!

Lou Tong's face remained expressionless. "That's right. She is injured."

Zhang Ziwang was certain now: Lou Tong was covering for Pan Yun. They were buying time.

Zhang Ziwang glanced into the crowd. The incident had happened long enough for word to spread throughout the Academy. Feng Qi Academy, closest to Tai Su, must have received the news—but Pan Yun's two junior disciples still hadn't arrived.

Zhang Ziwang pressed his lips together, lowered his gaze for a moment, then said, "Let her rest for a few days. We'll bring her to the Criminal Law Hall for interrogation once everyone has recovered."

(End of Chapter)