WJ Chapter 97

Bo Zhou (2)

About half a shichen later, when Ah Ku passed through the long paths between the medicinal fields and entered deep into the Medicine Gate, he couldn’t find Guan Muyan in the usual blood-drawing room.

This temperamental divine physician had always been unpredictable in his movements, unbound by any constraints, and even more unrestrained and unconventional in his actions. Ah Ku had grown accustomed to him appearing and disappearing mysteriously every few days.

In any case, today was the day for blood drawing, so Guan Muyan would come eventually. He sat down on the floor of the blood-drawing room with his knees pulled up, waiting for that old fellow.

Naturally, those in this blood-drawing room were mostly medicine people who had come to have their blood drawn. Each wore light blue cloth robes—some trembling like pigs and sheep awaiting slaughter, others sitting blankly without any sign of life, like a group of the living dead.

Ah Ku felt his skin crawl looking at these medicine people, though he was also somewhat relieved that he’d worked so hard earlier to persuade Yun Changliu not to come with him.

Speaking of the origins of these medicine people, that was a long story. Back then, to detoxify and save Yun Changliu’s life, Yun Guyan had searched the world for rare formulas and strange methods, stirring up the jianghu like a madman. At that time, Guan Muyan was still living in seclusion deep in the mountains, single-mindedly researching evil arts that used human blood as medicine. Yun Guyan happened to see hope in this path, and with iron-blooded authority suppressed all opposing voices within the sect, then turned around and gave the Zhuyin Sect’s Medicine Gate to this seemingly deranged and eccentric divine physician, to be used for developing this evil medicine people art.

Many years had passed, and by now, there were already several hundred medicine people within the Medicine Gate—no longer limited to just those raised to treat Fengchun Sheng. Some were for curing illness, some for detoxifying, and others served as cultivation furnaces—all of the lowest slave status.

…In this chaotic jianghu world, human lives were often as worthless as grass, and this was even more true for an evil sect like the Zhuyin Sect that wasn’t bound by ethical morality.

Whether medicine people or Yin Ghosts, they were no longer regarded as normal “people.” One could only sigh that fate was decreed by heaven. If anyone wanted to pity them, there would certainly be no end to such pity.

That’s what they said, but ultimately the Fengchun Sheng poison in Yun Changliu’s body was the origin of the medicine people. If the Young Sect Leader saw the condition of this group of medicine people, even if he never spoke of it outwardly, his heart would definitely feel uncomfortable again.

Ah Ku sat there lost in thought, thinking about Yun Changliu.

He thought to himself that such a pure and innocent Young Sect Leader was born in a bloody place like the Zhuyin Sect, and had such a ruthless father—putting it nicely, an ambitious hero; putting it harshly, an evildoer—as the Sect Leader. It really was difficult for him.

…He could sense that although Yun Changliu’s nature was pure, he was clear-minded and perceptive. Though the Young Sect Leader had never truly encountered those bloody storms and treacherous schemes, he surely understood in his heart what kind of power the Zhuyin Sect was, and what kind of jianghu this sect existed in.

Though Yun Changliu was gentle and compassionate by nature, this was very different from the kind of kindness that came from naive ignorance and carried no burden. Who knew what he thought in his heart?

Would he feel guilty? Would he suffer?

He had never committed any wrong, never harmed anyone. Even his survival was for his father’s obsession, yet so many sins had to be counted on his head. Not only did he have to bear the pain of Fengchun Sheng, but he was also entangled by so much right and wrong… Would he feel tired of these endless days?

Come to think of it, the Young Sect Leader probably still didn’t know about how Yun Guyan and Guan Muyan had killed dozens of children while testing this medicine people evil art. If someday he found out…

The more Ah Ku thought about it, the more uncomfortable he felt.

Just then, he suddenly heard a commotion outside. Ah Ku’s thoughts returned, and he looked up to see a group of people shouting and barging into the depths of the Medicine Gate.

“Quickly, quickly, quickly! Hall Master Huang can’t wait any longer!”

“Which ones are the detoxifying medicine people!?”

“It’s no good, Leader Li, these medicine people’s blood can’t suppress the Hall Master’s poison!”

A thin man with a sharp, pointed face rushed into the blood-drawing room with fury written all over his face. “Which ones are the detoxifying medicine people!? Hurry up and get out here yourselves!”

This sharp-faced man surnamed Li, called “Leader,” was also dragging a young medicine person. As he spoke, he threw the person to the ground and spat. “Ptui, useless trash when it counts!”

That medicine person was only about eighteen years old. He’d been bled until his face was pale as gold paper, his body soft as if boneless, paralyzed on the ground, trembling like a sieve, his eyes rolling back little by little… clearly beyond saving.

The group following this Leader Li all wore swords at their waists, and their clothing clearly showed they weren’t sect members from within Xifeng City. They must have rushed here from one of the ten branch halls, accompanying their Hall Master to an audience with Yun Guyan.

Since they could be chosen to protect the Hall Master, these people must be outstanding figures from the branch hall. Being fortunate enough to enter the main sect this time should have been enormously prestigious, yet now every person’s face showed anxious unease.

Ah Ku listened to their shouting from the side and gradually gathered the situation. It turned out they were from the branch hall in East Huai City. Unexpectedly, halfway through their journey, they’d been ambushed by enemies of the Zhuyin Sect. Their Hall Master had been severely poisoned and was becoming increasingly critical.

With great difficulty they’d shaken off the pursuers and entered Xifeng City. But the poison had already entered his bones, and even the Medicine Gate’s detoxifying medicine people were ineffective!

Leader Li was clearly the head of this group of guards. He cursed anxiously and irritably, looking around, then roughly grabbed several medicine people to question them.

Suddenly a chill ran down his back—a cold gaze shot from among the cowering group of medicine people in front of the blood-drawing room.

Leader Li turned his head, and his eyes immediately lit up.

Among these medicine people, he actually spotted a child with delicate features. Judging by his age, he was at most ten years old or so.

The harder the medicinal blood was to cultivate, the more it had to be raised from childhood. A child of Ah Ku’s age was obviously a medicine person raised specifically for the Young Sect Leader’s Fengchun Sheng.

—Blood medicine that could suppress even the Fengchun Sheng poison—what poison couldn’t it cure?

Leader Li was overjoyed and pointed at Ah Ku, calling out, “That medicine person, why aren’t you getting over here!?”

Ah Ku’s brows furrowed slightly as he tensed his body and didn’t move.

He already vaguely sensed he’d encountered trouble.

Immediately a sword-wearing branch hall guard rushed over, reaching out to grab him.

This Hall Master Huang was a rough and violent man, notorious for his fierceness among the ten branch halls; and this Leader Li was exactly the type who was habitually harsh, sinister, and arrogant.

As they say, servants follow their masters—there wasn’t a single one with a merciful heart among this group of guards. They were accustomed to treating lowly medicine people with such cruelty and hadn’t expected to encounter any resistance. But unexpectedly, this blue-robed young medicine person coldly dodged backward, and the man actually grasped at empty air.

The guard couldn’t help but be secretly startled. He hadn’t held back with that grab, yet it had been avoided.

The blue-robed child retreated several steps, lifted his beautifully lined chin defiantly, looked at Leader Li with disgust, and spoke in a cold, crisp voice:

“I only give blood to Young Sect Leader Changliu. What are you lot? You’re not worthy to touch me.”

Leader Li’s eyes immediately widened. As if he’d heard the world’s greatest joke, he immediately burst into loud laughter. “Oh ho, a medicine slave with quite the attitude, eh?”

He looked at Ah Ku with a gaze mixing pity and contempt, like looking at a madman, and waved his hand. “Go, take him down. Be careful not to kill him!”

No wonder Leader Li didn’t take Ah Ku’s words seriously. After all, medicine people had lowly status. He naturally thought that as long as they left this child alive and didn’t interfere with the Young Sect Leader’s use of him, it would be fine. Afterward they could report to the Sect Leader—there shouldn’t be any major problem.

With one command, in the blink of an eye four guards stepped forward. Together with the guard who’d wanted to grab Ah Ku, each wielding their sheathed longswords, they came crashing down on Ah Ku’s head!

Ah Ku’s expression turned cold and severe. His body movements dodged several strikes, those scabbards whooshing past with the sound of wind around his body.

He caught the right moment—smack—and caught a scabbard in his palm, sneering coldly. “Heh, even the Sect Leader doesn’t call me a slave—listen well, I am not your slave!”

Those five guards were select figures from among hundreds in the branch hall, yet they actually couldn’t capture a small child for a time. Someone couldn’t help calling out, “Leader, this kid is a bit strange.”

“Hmph… five worthless pieces of garbage!” The Hall Master’s situation was critical. Leader Li was also getting anxious and irritated, and shouted to the remaining people, “All of you, attack!”

More than ten guards surged forward all at once. Ah Ku couldn’t help but feel his heart sink. Under such a siege, dodging also gradually became difficult. In a moment of carelessness, his right knee was viciously struck.

“Ngh…!” Ah Ku’s face went white as he staggered and fell forward. Immediately four or five more scabbards mercilessly struck his body.

Mocking laughter rang out overhead. Ah Ku tumbled to the ground, gritting his teeth and raising his arms to protect his vital points, suffering the incoming violent pain without making a sound.

This group under Hall Master Huang were vicious in their actions, especially the five who’d just been scolded by Leader Li and lost face—they specifically targeted places that weren’t fatal but were hard to endure when torturing people.

For a time, outside the blood-drawing room only the continuous dull thuds of “thump, thump, thump” could be heard. The surrounding group of other medicine people were frightened pale.

Actually, among these medicine people, quite a few recognized Ah Ku and knew this child was very favored by the Young Sect Leader.

But these medicine people’s spirits had long been ground down to timidity. Now seeing how fierce this group of branch hall envoys was, they all cowered submissively—not one dared make a sound.

The guards surrounded the young medicine person and beat him for a full cup of tea’s worth of time before stopping.

When they dispersed, the blue-robed child inside was already lying motionless on the ground, covered in wounds.

“Quickly! Draw his blood!”

“What are you looking for a blood-drawing knife for—use a sword to cut his wrist!”

“Remember to just leave him alive…”

Someone drew their sword to grab Ah Ku’s wrist. But unexpectedly, the child who’d been beaten for so long still had strength. When touched, he suddenly struggled violently, his eyes fierce as a young wolf’s.

Leader Li raised an eyebrow, walked over, and directly grabbed his hair and smashed him to the ground. With a “bang,” Ah Ku was slammed down. Bright red blood flowed from his forehead all the way to his chin. The next moment his throat was seized.

“Let go…” Ah Ku forcibly endured the pain, tightly gripping the hand Leader Li used to choke his throat, yet still felt breathing becoming increasingly difficult. “Let go of me… I’m not…!”

The child’s hoarse voice stopped weakly when he saw Leader Li reveal a contemptuous sneer.

Ah Ku suddenly became confused. Not… not what?

What wasn’t he?

Wasn’t he a medicine person? Weren’t medicine people just like this?

All along, though he was nominally a medicine person, Yun Guyan treated him well, and Young Sect Leader Changliu indulged him in everything. Apart from blood drawing every few months, no one had harmed him, much less humiliated him.

It was only now that Ah Ku suddenly realized under Leader Li’s mocking gaze: so he truly had become such a… lowly thing that anyone could trample and bully at will.

Then several more people came forward. He was forcibly pulled apart at the limbs and pinned to the cold ground, truly like livestock awaiting slaughter pressed on a chopping block.

Ah Ku was dazed and confused. For a moment his heart and lungs felt as if being roasted. All kinds of humiliation and unwillingness suddenly crashed against his consciousness, scattering it. His blood surging in anger, a fishy sweetness suddenly welled up in his throat.

Refusing to show weakness, he forced this mouthful of filthy blood back down. Suddenly, a terrifying roar like thunder came from outside.

“Ahh… I can’t take it anymore! The pain is killing me! Medicine? Where’s the medicine!?”

A stout, pot-bellied brute of a man charged in. The several guards behind him couldn’t stop him and anxiously called out “Hall Master.”

The brute’s face alternated between grayish-purple and bright red, white foam continuously spraying from his mouth corners along with drool. His appearance was extremely terrifying—clearly severely poisoned. His bulging eyes were full of blood vessels, his hands continuously pounding his chest as he roared in extreme pain. “I… I can’t go on… medicine, where’s the medicine person!?”

Leader Li hurried to say, “Hall Master, this young medicine person can definitely detoxify!”

Hall Master Huang, having been tortured by the poison for half a day, couldn’t wait any longer. He stumbled forward, his hands grabbing Ah Ku’s clothing and pulling hard!

With a ripping sound, that light blue, plain medicine person cloth robe was torn open from top to bottom. The young boy’s pale, slender upper body was thus exposed under everyone’s eyes.

Ah Ku’s whole body began trembling uncontrollably—not from fear, but from shame.

“Medicine blood… I want to drink medicine blood!!” Hall Master Huang cried out crazily, drew the short blade from his waist, and slashed down at him.

Ah Ku only saw a line of cold light enlarging in his pupils. He wanted to dodge but couldn’t break free from the shackles on his hands and feet no matter what.

—In the end, he watched helplessly as that blade light swept past his neck side, cutting open skin and blood vessels.

The spurting fresh blood immediately stained his vision red.

The next moment, Hall Master Huang’s obese body pressed down on him. His foul-smelling, drooling mouth eagerly latched onto his neck and began drinking the medicine person’s blood in great gulps.

Ah Ku’s eyes were pitch black and lightless, his hands and feet ice cold.

His entire body stiffened. He could only feel the thick, slippery tongue disgustingly sucking at his skin, hearing the satisfied “glug, glug” swallowing sounds by his ear.

He suddenly stopped struggling and looked calmly at Hall Master Huang, opening his mouth hoarsely, “…I will kill you.”

No one paid him any attention. Hall Master Huang still drank his blood in great gulps. Leader Li still looked down at him from above with a mocking gaze.

The group of guards surrounded him, pointing and commenting. The medicine people in the blood-drawing room cowered even more severely.

But at this moment, the blue-robed child pinned to the ground, helplessly at others’ mercy, suddenly smiled strangely.

“…I am the Young Sect Leader’s medicine person… I know you don’t dare actually kill me.”

Ah Ku softly spoke this sentence, then laughed lowly a couple of times.

A trace of moisture glimmered in his reddened eyes, yet it never formed into teardrops and fell. Only undisguised killing intent and hatred grew more and more intense.

“As long as I live, I will definitely personally kill you… I will kill you all, definitely… definitely.”