Chapter 19: The Contradictory Man

As if explaining to Fang Yue, Lin Ling spoke slowly.

"When the Patrol Team patrols, their main goal is to prevent 【Ghosts】 from invading the village; once they spot a Ghost, they use the 【Ghost-Test Charm】 made by Lord Han."

"But 【Ghost-Test Charms】 are hard to make and extremely rare, so each patrol squad is only allotted one 【Ghost-Test Charm】, and they must have wasted theirs elsewhere."

"According to Patrol Team regulations, whenever an uncertain situation arises, they must treat it as a Ghost and execute it immediately."

"In practice, this method rarely fails—villagers sleep at night and only rise at dawn; anyone screaming loudly at night causing anomalies is almost certainly a Ghost."

As she spoke, Lin Ling noticed blood-loss characters floating above Fang Yue's head and froze.

"What… what's wrong with you?"

Fang Yue gave a bitter laugh: "I messed up my cultivation—Meridian Disorder, Heavy Injury."

"Is this true?!"

Lin Ling's face lit up with ecstatic joy, but he quickly realized his expression was inappropriate, coughed twice, and said: "I know a bit of medicine—let me feel your pulse?"

Fang Yue felt puzzled but nodded: "Thank you, Lin Captain."

Lin Ling placed his hand on Fang Yue's pulse, and joy surged through him again.

Indeed—Qi Deviation, Meridian Disorder!

"What a pity, what a pity!"

Lin Ling smiled broadly as he sighed: "Such a talented young man—even Lord Han took notice—and now he's ruined his Martial Dao foundation through Qi Deviation. Truly, heaven envies talent!"

Wait… your expression completely contradicts your words, bro—could you at least pretend to care? I'm the one suffering here.

"Um… Lin Captain, can my Meridian Disorder be cured?"

Lin Ling stroked his chin and grinned: "No cure possible."

"..."

Can you speak human?

As Fang Yue brooded, Lin Ling dragged out his next words.

"But…"

Fang Yue's heart leapt: "But what?"

"But from now on, Xiao Ye, you can farm in the village—I'll clear you some land, and you'll never go hungry for the rest of your life."

…I didn't sign up for this game to till fields and plant crops.

You can't help, but Chief Captain Chen must be able to; if Captain Chen can't, Lord Han surely can.

Fang Yue had a feeling this Meridian Disorder wasn't as serious as it seemed.

He glanced at the grinning Lin Ling and asked wearily: "Lin Captain, may I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

"Why are you so happy that I've suffered Qi Deviation and Meridian Disorder?"

"Oh, Xiao Ye, don't take it personally—I'm not a good person, and when I heard Lord Han treated you specially, I thought he'd take you as his disciple and pass on his legacy, so I resented you."

"But now you're ruined, which means I have another chance to inherit Lord Han's legacy."

"Sure, Chief Captain Chen's martial skill is higher than mine, but his talent and potential are far inferior, and he has only a few years left to live—he's already reached his limit."

"As for Hua Wuye, she has no interest in this path and isn't a threat; among the younger generation, none can catch Lord Han's eye—except for you, who suddenly appeared. I had almost no rivals."

"Now you've ruined yourself—how could I not be delighted?"

Fang Yue understood.

He's a true villain.

But this guy openly states his motives—Fang Yue didn't like him, but didn't find him particularly sinister either.

"I didn't realize Lin Captain disliked me so much—then why did you save me earlier?"

"What kind of talk is that? I only resented you for being favored by Lord Han—I never meant to let you die. Public duty and private feelings are separate—you're not a Ghost, so the Patrol Team has no right to kill you. That's the rule."

Not wholly evil, not truly good… this guy…

Fang Yue sighed: "Could you please take me to Captain Chen's house?"

"No problem."

Lin Captain helped Fang Yue up and headed north toward the village.

Along the way, blood-loss characters kept appearing above Fang Yue's head.

"Lin Captain, can't you be gentler with an injured man?"

"Martial cultivators don't fuss over such things."

"I'm already ruined! Show a little compassion!"

"Fair point—I'll slow down."

1!

1!

Fang Yue watched his health keep draining and sighed, saying nothing more.

After about fifteen minutes, they arrived at Captain Chen's house.

"Xiao Ye? Lin Captain?"

Chen Mu stepped out, stunned.

"Did you encounter a Ghost?"

His first thought was that, but Lin Captain quickly explained.

"He suffered Qi Deviation during cultivation—Meridian Disorder. He's ruined."

Brief and blunt—it left Chen Mu pale, his mind in turmoil.

"How could this happen!"

Chen Mu hurriedly helped Fang Yue into the house and gave Lin the Captain an order.

"Lin Ling, go quickly and invite Lord Han to come!"

Captain Lin said with a chuckle: "Alright."

Only then did Chen Mu bring Fang Yue inside, carefully laying him on the bed. After taking his pulse, his face changed drastically, and he shouted to a servant.

"Go invite Hong Dafu to come as well!"

"Yes!"

Watching them bustling about, Fang Yue finally felt a little panic in his heart.

It seems… my condition is really a bit serious?

Could I really have ruined my cultivation through practice?

After a while, Lord Han arrived, followed by the gloating Lin Ling.

Lord Han frowned as he walked into the room and immediately placed his hand on Fang Yue's pulse.

After a moment, he let out a long sigh and looked at Fang Yue with a complicated expression.

"Meridian Disorder. You're crippled."

Fang Yue said: "It can't be… Lord Han, is there really no saving me?"

"That's not quite right. The world has so many secret medicines and pills — naturally there are those that can cure Qi Deviation and Meridian Disorder…"

Fang Yue's face lit up: "Yes, yes, yes."

"…And the world has countless powerful experts. For a mere Qi Deviation, naturally they would have ways to cure it as well."

Fang Yue nearly jumped up: "That's wonderful!"

"However, our Gu Yue Cun and the nearby villages absolutely don't have such divine pills, and I am also not one of those powerful experts who can cure Meridian Disorder."

Fang Yue: "…"

Lord Han: "…"

"…So there's really no saving me?"

"Yes… fate is cruel, alas."

Lord Han sighed once more, rose with some dejection, turned, and left.

Seeing this, Lin Ling immediately followed him out and offered a good deal of comfort.

Seeing this, Chen Mu had everyone withdraw, letting Fang Yue cool down alone for a while.

From a martial arts prodigy to an ordinary mortal — such a gap ordinary people truly find hard to accept.

Fang Yue also found it a bit hard to accept.

But he also felt unwilling to give up.

With all these skills, his starting point far surpassed other players — he was practically about to take off. To give up just like this was truly hard to swallow.

While he was wrestling with it, Hong Dafu arrived.

Coming with Hong Dafu was a familiar face.

"Xiao Hu?"

Xiao Hu — that was the brother who had shouted at the village entrance last night about refining pills to support his big brother. His full name was Zhanshu Huxi Hu.

(End of chapter)