WJ Chapter 43

Zijin (1)

Fair and bright she was,
standing by the city towers.

One day without seeing her,
was like a waning moon.

—

Xifeng City, Medicine Gate.

The bitter taste of herbal medicine mingled with the scent of blood, the sound of rushing footsteps mixed with shouting voices. With both the Sect Leader and the Protector injured, the entire Medicine Gate was thrown into chaos.

Inside the inner chamber, things were somewhat quieter. Guan Wujue had been placed on the bed in the innermost room. By the time he was brought to the Medicine Gate, his condition was already critical. Several large bowls of century-old ginseng soup had to be forcibly poured down his throat to revive his weakening pulse. Now his external injuries had been cleaned and bandaged, but he remained unconscious. Guan Muyan was administering acupuncture.

Yun Changliu and Wen Feng waited at the side.

…Or more accurately, Attendant Wen was keeping the Sect Leader company, while Sect Leader Yun was watching over the Protector.

In truth, Yun Changliu should not have been staying here—he should have been lying in the bed next door receiving treatment. During the siege just moments ago, a stray arrow had pierced his right shoulder and had yet to be removed.

However, the Sect Leader was too worried about this side and refused to leave no matter what. Guan Muyan had no choice but to summon a physician to first extract the arrow so the wound could be stanched and treated.

Yun Changliu stripped off his upper garments to his waist, exposing his snow-white back covered in blood.

The arrow shaft had already been snapped off by himself, leaving the arrowhead deeply embedded, with flesh hideously curled back. Judging by the depth, it had possibly already touched bone.

The Medicine Gate physician’s hands trembled as he held the forceps.

He was one of the most skilled physicians at the Medicine Gate, so naturally he had extracted arrows before. But he had never encountered a patient like this—refusing to drink anesthetic, refusing to lie on the bed, and not allowing anyone near to hold him down. The Sect Leader wouldn’t even bite down on a cloth wad, simply sitting down right there and ordering someone to extract the arrow.

Yun Changliu suddenly spoke, his tone cold and heavy. “If you dare not proceed, send for someone else.”

The physician trembled and repeatedly kowtowed in apology. Unable to watch any longer, Wen Feng sighed from the side and said to the physician, “Just boldly extract it directly. The Sect Leader can endure the pain.”

Since even Attendant Wen said so, the physician had no choice but to steel himself and proceed.

The forceps clamped onto the iron tip, and with a “tearing” sound, he yanked forcefully outward—even the sound made one’s bones ache.

“…!” Yun Changliu’s face went deathly pale as he furrowed his brow, not making a sound, only biting down and trembling slightly.

The small section of arrowhead clinked as it was tossed into the tray, dripping with blood.

Upon closer inspection, the tip was viciously barbed, so that the extraction had torn away bits of flesh as well.

The physician, drenched in sweat, applied medicine to stop the bleeding. Looking at the wound made his legs go weak, as if it were he who had the arrow extracted rather than Yun Changliu. “Sect Leader… the wound is too large. It needs to be stitched.”

“Then do it quickly.” Yun Changliu responded absent-mindedly, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on Guan Wujue in the distance.

The physician hurriedly threaded his needle, swallowing nervously as he looked at the wound.

Did he really have to… suture it just like this?

Pierce needle after needle into the Sect Leader’s flesh?

He truly didn’t dare, and knelt down pleading. “Please, you should drink some anesthetic…”

Yun Changliu said expressionlessly, “Won’t drink.”

If he drank the medicine and fell asleep, what if something happened to Wujue and he didn’t know!

This attitude made it clear he couldn’t be persuaded. The wound was already open—the longer they delayed, the more blood would be lost. Wen Feng urged him a few more times, and the physician could only steel his heart, raise his needle, and prepare to pierce.

But just then, Yun Changliu’s expression changed in alarm, and he suddenly stood up. “Wait!!”

“Sect Leader!?”

Both Wen Feng and the physician were frightened out of their wits, the latter’s legs going weak as he even dropped the needle on the floor.

Just now, that needle had been a hair’s breadth from piercing Yun Changliu’s shoulder. If it had coincided with the Sect Leader rising so abruptly, the needle tip could have directly sliced open half his back!!

But Yun Changliu paid no attention. He had only seen Guan Wujue on the bed begin to convulse painfully, fresh blood continuously gurgling from his mouth.

The Sect Leader took two steps as one, rushing over and gripping tightly that cold hand hanging over the bedside, turning his head to look at Guan Muyan in terror. “What’s happening… what’s happening!?”

“Aiyoo, Sect Leader, don’t panic, don’t panic!” Guan Muyan was also startled by Yun Changliu, hurriedly pressing him down to sit at the bedside. “This is stagnant blood—it’s good that he’s coughing it out.”

“His internal injuries are this severe?” Yun Changliu stared blankly, clutching Guan Wujue’s hand and refusing to let go, while blood continued to flow from the arrow wound on his shoulder.

Guan Muyan urgently called for the physician to come forward. “Quick, quick, quick, hurry and suture it…”

The physician hadn’t yet recovered from his earlier fright, and now with a new needle and thread, he was on the verge of tears.

Yun Changliu slowly retreated two steps, took a deep breath, and sat directly on the floor by the bedside.

He said calmly, “Suture.”

Rotten flesh was scraped away bit by bit with a small blade.

The fine needle pulled the wound closed little by little.

Wen Feng had already turned his eyes away, unable to bear watching, but Yun Changliu had already begun to drift into distraction.

The pain was real.

But it wasn’t pain in his flesh—it was pain in his heart.

He had been afraid something would happen to Wujue, which was why he personally pursued him out of the city and dispatched the Yin Ghosts, repeatedly instructing him before parting. Yet in the end, he still hadn’t been able to protect him well…

Yun Changliu couldn’t help but think back to the time when he first met Wujue.

The Four Directions Protector of that time was far from the carefree and unrestrained person he was now. He remembered how his nature had been extremely suppressed and restrained back then, just like the other Yin Ghosts of the Ghost Gate—cold, silent, humble, and forbearing, constantly lowering his head and kneeling at his feet.

His constitution had been very poor too, reportedly damaged by the harsh training at the Ghost Gate. He didn’t get injured often, but every time something did happen, the injuries were to his internal organs, causing him to vomit blood continuously with his life hanging by a thread… When unconscious on the bed, he looked exactly like he did now.

In the end, Yun Changliu couldn’t bear to watch it anymore and simply forbade him from leaving the sect. The rare medicinal ingredients stored at the Medicine Gate were sent daily to Qingjue Residence as if they cost nothing. After carefully nurturing him like this for over a year, he had finally managed to restore his health.

After that, things improved considerably. With Guan Wujue’s own martial arts skills being high, and the Sect Leader protecting him even more tightly, such severe internal injuries rarely occurred again.

Yun Changliu sighed bitterly to himself—how had things ended up like this again…

A soft sound.

The needle was placed back in the bronze tray.

Coming back to his senses, he found the wound had been completely sutured, cleaned thoroughly, covered with a layer of medicine, and finally wrapped with several rounds of bandages.

The physician finally breathed a sigh of relief, kneeling back and reporting, “Sect Leader, for the next few days, do not exert your right arm. The wound must not get wet. Avoid spicy foods…”

Yun Changliu wasn’t listening to the medical instructions at all. He casually pulled on his robe and stood up as if nothing had happened, moving closer to the Protector’s bedside again.

Guan Wujue’s breathing seemed more stable now, but Yun Changliu still couldn’t feel at ease. He still wanted to transfer more internal energy to him. “Should this lord…”

“Aiya, no no, nothing is needed at all!”

Guan Muyan knew at a glance what Sect Leader Yun was thinking and frantically waved his hands in distress.

The old man patted his head and lamented. “Alas… my good Sect Leader, please be more self-aware. Your Fengchun Sheng poison is currently being suppressed entirely by your internal energy. Depleting it like this is unbearable!”

“This isn’t just depleting internal energy—this is depleting your life!”

Yun Changliu acted as if he hadn’t heard, bending down to touch the Protector’s fingers with his lips.

Guan Muyan let out a long sigh, shaking his head. “Alas… truly two children who don’t care about their own lives…”

Suddenly there was a commotion outside. A Medicine Gate attendant pushed open the inner chamber door to report. “Reporting to the Elder, Left Envoy Xiao has arrived.”

The words were barely spoken when a figure in sapphire robes appeared at the doorway. Xiao Donghe’s steps were hurried, and the first thing he said upon rushing in was an anxious: “Where is he? How is he now!?”

Guan Muyan rolled his eyes. “Keep your voice down! He’s out of danger, just still unconscious. Can’t wake up for the time being.”

Xiao Donghe’s gaze swept the room and landed on the person on the bed.

The Left Envoy stared fixedly at the unconscious Guan Wujue, and after a long moment, suddenly slammed his fist against the wall!

Xiao Donghe roared furiously. “I said this madman would bring disaster on himself one day!!”

Everyone present was shocked.

Wen Feng frowned. “Left Envoy Xiao, in the Sect Leader’s presence, please…”

“Daring to run around with a body full of old injuries—if not him, who else would have an accident!?”

Xiao Donghe was emotionally agitated and didn’t hear Wen Feng’s words at all. He gasped violently, his eyes faintly reddening, clenching his fists in regret and frustration. “I, I really… damn it, I shouldn’t have let him go!!”

Yun Changliu’s expression suddenly changed. “Old injuries?”

Behind him, both Wen Feng and Guan Muyan’s faces changed color, exchanging alarmed glances!

But the Sect Leader was completely unaware. As he stood up, what little color remained in his face drained completely away, and he demanded coldly. “He still had injuries on his body!?”

Xiao Donghe stiffened slightly, belatedly realizing what he had said in front of the Sect Leader.

The Left Envoy hesitated, closing his mouth then opening it again:

“Cough… Sect Leader, wasn’t that a year ago when you…”

A year ago…

That bone-crushing whip punishment!?

Yun Changliu was even more shocked and suspicious, his breathing becoming disordered, his voice trembling. “He… was severely injured that time?”

Xiao Donghe’s eyelid twitched as he looked at the Sect Leader with a strange expression, thinking to himself, Isn’t that obvious?

“No, this lord means…”

Yun Changliu closed his eyes. The effects of blood loss seemed to surge up now all at once—a sudden wave of dizziness and dimming vision, tightness in his chest.

Wen Feng cried out in alarm to support the Sect Leader but was pushed away. Yun Changliu asked in confusion. “His injuries were so severe they haven’t healed even now?”

Xiao Donghe’s expression grew even more complex. He began to gradually feel something was strange, saying cautiously, “Sect Leader… the Bone-Crushing Whip is the most severe of severe punishments. With your level of cultivation administering it, the very foundation of one’s body would be destroyed. Moreover…”

Yun Changliu felt as if struck by lightning!

Wen Feng angrily interrupted Xiao Donghe, “Left Envoy Xiao!! Stop spouting nonsense. The Sect Leader has already…”

“Impossible…” Yun Changliu murmured in a daze, and the next moment, a line of fresh blood trickled without warning from the corner of his lips. “Impossible, clearly…”

This isn’t right, this is impossible, this can’t be right…

It was clearly only twenty lashes, only twenty lashes!

How could it possibly require a full year of recuperation without healing?

How could it have destroyed his body?

He clearly hadn’t used his full strength, clearly shouldn’t have left irreparable damage, clearly… where exactly did it all go wrong?

“Sect Leader… Sect Leader!?” Wen Feng frantically supported him, gently shaking him, tears immediately welling in his eyes as he choked out, “Wake up, wake up! The Protector will be fine, don’t be like this…”

Yun Changliu drifted in confusion for a while, then suddenly trembled all over, as if abruptly awakening from a deep dream, turning his head to look at Guan Wujue.

The Protector continued to sleep quietly and palely.

For that moment, the Sect Leader actually felt as if this person might sleep like this forever and never wake again.

Yun Changliu wanted to walk over and examine his Protector more carefully, but he staggered forward two steps, barely managing to support himself against the medicine cabinet nearby to stay upright. It seemed as if screams erupted in his ears, everything around him chaotic.

He couldn’t hear clearly.

Yun Changliu’s entire weight was supported by the cabinet. He coughed weakly in his daze, coughing up blood foam.

The front of his robe, already soaked with Guan Wujue’s blood, was now stained with even more red. The blood of the two men blended together, inseparable.

His hand slipped powerlessly down, unable even to hold on. Yun Changliu closed his eyes miserably and suddenly pitched forward in a fall.

Wen Feng drew in a sharp breath of cold air in extreme terror, a scream catching in his throat unable to come out.

He rushed over and caught the Sect Leader in his arms, but his own legs went weak and he knelt on the floor.

Guan Muyan hurriedly grasped Yun Changliu’s wrist, checking his pulse before wiping the cold sweat from his forehead and saying to Wen Feng, “It’s fine, it’s fine! It’s not the poison flaring up… excessive forced use of internal energy combined with loss of mental stability. I’ll give him a few acupuncture needles and he’ll wake up.”

Only then did Wen Feng let out a breath, slumping down exhaustedly.

He said hoarsely, “As long as the poison hasn’t flared up… that’s good…”

However, in the next moment, the white-robed attendant suddenly raised his head, his gaze fierce as he looked at the equally frightened Left Envoy of the Zhuyin Sect.

Wen Feng handed Yun Changliu into Guan Muyan’s arms, stood up himself, and in two swift steps walked over and grabbed Left Envoy Xiao by the collar, dragging him outside. His fury was beyond control. “Xiao Donghe…get out here!!”