He also reached out and touched it. The scar was indeed gone, and he immediately asked, “What is going on?”
Nan Zhu quickly turned around. “Quickly check yours too. I just checked with Old Nine. The cuts we made yesterday have healed so well that not even scars remain.”
Hearing this, Yu Qing immediately touched the back of his own neck and discovered there was indeed no sensation of injury. His mind had been in turmoil all night, yet he had not noticed this change in his body. He immediately unwrapped the bandage around his neck, pressed his fingers against the skin at the back of his neck, and felt that it was indeed smooth.
Nan Zhu had already climbed up to check. Upon looking, he laughed heartily. “Gone, gone. Really not even a scar remains.”
Yu Qing quickly got up and briskly left the room. He did not go anywhere else, but went straight to find Mu Aotie. He personally checked the back of Mu Aotie’s neck and found that it had indeed healed. This was truly inconceivable.
The pursuing Nan Zhu said cheerfully, “What, would I lie to you? Correct, right? We are all fine.”
Yu Qing frowned. “In the past when we practised martial arts, we also got injured. It was impossible to heal this quickly, and even more impossible to not leave a scar.”
Nan Zhu said, “I was just about to tell you this. You ran off before I finished speaking.” He then immediately unfastened his clothes, exposing his chest. He pulled out one arm, raised it, and pointed to the side of his ribs under the armpit. “Look, see this? Here, this scar left from when Old Five accidentally injured me while practising swordsmanship. You all knew about it. Now it is fine, gone. And the old scars left elsewhere on my body, all gone. I did not notice before. Only after discovering the abnormality just now did I pay attention.”
Mu Aotie also nodded. “Correct. All the old scars on my body are gone too.”
Hearing the two of them say this, Yu Qing immediately took off his clothes and looked all over his body. A person who had practised martial arts since childhood, how could there not be a few scars? As a result, he also found that the old scars on his body were all gone. He had indeed not noticed before.
They were not women. Men would not normally pay attention to these things.
Nan Zhu was beside himself with joy. “This effect is even better than that scar-removing ‘Heaven-Patching Dew’ that women like, worth hundreds of thousands of taels. No need to say more, it must be related to that earthly spring. Old Fifteen, being able to repair injuries this quickly, at a critical moment it can save a life. We may have gained a blessing from this disaster!”
A scene suddenly flashed through Yu Qing’s mind, of Little Black back then in the vineyard’s underground culvert, caught in a trap and bleeding profusely. He quickly put his clothes back on and rapidly left again.
Nan and Mu did not know what his hurried situation was, but it was certainly something. They immediately followed him, all the way to the small courtyard where Wu Hei and his son lived.
Upon seeing Wu Hei, Yu Qing, without saying a word, first voluntarily showed him the back of his neck.
Wu Hei was somewhat surprised after looking. Yu Qing then grabbed his hand and checked the finger he had cut yesterday. Upon looking, he said, “My guess was correct. You have indeed recovered.”
Nan and Mu leaned in to check and found that the skin on Wu Hei’s finger had indeed recovered as before.
Yu Qing then pointed at the two of them. “And them too. The wounds on the backs of Old Seven and Old Nine’s necks have also healed to the point where not even scars can be seen. What is going on?”
Wu Hei was briefly silent, then replied, “It should be related to the earthly spring. Actually, it is not strange. Did you not see Wu Xieshan and my uncle killed yet not die? It is not just them. The three manor lords of Rift Valley Manor, including my family of three, all have the ability to rapidly repair wounds and make injuries recover as before.”
Nan Zhu asked in astonishment, “Could it be that the three of us also possess this ability to withstand fatal injuries?”
Wu Hei had to solemnly remind, “You only came into contact with the water of the earthly spring. You did not undergo a complete transformation in the earthly spring. Whether you can resist that kind of fatal injury, I do not know either. If you want to try inflicting a fatal injury on each other, I have no objection.”
These words made the three fellow disciples break into a slight sweat. Who would dare to stab a knife into their own heart for something so uncertain? Once it failed, there was no medicine for regret. It was better not to try.
Even if someone guaranteed there would be no problem, the three of them would not dare to try, let alone when there was no certainty.
“That is to say, we currently do not know what our condition actually is. It may be the same as yours, or it may not be the same thing. It may allow us to live as long as you father and son, or it may be something that hastens death.”
Yu Qing suddenly voiced a somewhat convoluted theory.
It was not difficult to understand. Wu Hei thought for a moment. “My uncle could live long because a large amount of evil energy was nurtured within his body. Our family can live long because golden blood is nurtured within our bodies. Whether what is on you is something that hastens death, I do not know. However, you can compare yourselves to us. At least it seems there is still a great difference.”
Yu Qing’s expression was somewhat grave, starting again with the same old words. “That is to say, if we do not resolve the problem on our bodies, the three of us are gambling with our lives, betting that the unknown condition spreading within our bodies will not endanger us.”
Bet on this? Could this also be gambled on? Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie were speechless, their expressions also becoming heavy. Now it only itched from time to time. Who knew what it would be like in the future? There was absolutely no precedent to follow.
The problem was, it could only be like this. They could only leave it to fate. What else could they do? Could they find a good doctor to cure it? He estimated that currently in this world, there was probably no good doctor who had seen the phenomenon of a person’s bones transforming into golden bones while alive. How could it be treated?
Moreover, they did not dare to reveal the true cause of their illness to any good doctor.
Wu Hei also did not know how to answer this question, so he simply did not speak, expressing regret for their plight through his silence. He turned his head to look at his son, who was in a corner of the courtyard, standing in a horse stance with eyes closed, concentrating on practising internal breath.
There were some things he also found hard to say. He had long known the earthly spring was strange, long known that contact with it easily invited trouble, yet he had still acted on emotion for the sake of a dead person. Now that he had calmed down, what use was there in regretting?
After the scene was quiet for a while, Yu Qing spoke again. “The human spring can resolve the problem on your father and son’s bodies. It should also be able to restore the three of us to normal, right?”
Hearing this, Wu Hei, Nan Zhu, and Mu Aotie all looked at him in unison, their expressions all containing a sense of astonishment.
After a brief stare, Wu Hei asked back, “You want to find the human spring to return to normal?”
Yu Qing asked back, “Do you father and son not want to?”
There was some sadness in Wu Hei’s expression. “What use is wanting?”
Yu Qing said, “Are you certain the Gold Ruins are truly sealed? Your father guarded the Gold Ruins entrance for so many years. Did he really have no way to open the Gold Ruins entrance again?”
Wu Hei understood his meaning. “First, I truly do not know of any way to open the Gold Ruins entrance. Second, from entering last time, I also understood one thing. The Three Life Springs are three springs, but they are in three separate places. The Gold Ruins only has one earthly spring. The heavenly spring and human spring are in other immortal residences.”
Yu Qing and the other two almost simultaneously widened their eyes, seemingly asking, can your family be any more unreliable? You did not even know whether those things were inside, yet you caused everyone to run in and pay such a great price?
Especially Yu Qing. Thinking of Qiao Qie’er’s death, it was an extremely bitter feeling.
However, he could not blame them either. From the start, he had not been going for any heavenly spring or human spring. He had been going for the gold inside. Even if he had known there were no Three Life Springs, he would still have tried every means to drill into the Gold Ruins. Qiao Qie’er and the others would also have followed him in.
In the final analysis, whether it was his fellow senior brothers, or Qiao Qie’er, or the people sent by the mastermind behind the scenes, they were all following his actions.
Now was also not the time to fuss over this. He immediately pursued, “Which immortal residence is the human spring in?”
Wu Hei said, “I do not know. I only know it is not in the Gold Ruins. I do not know where it is actually located.”
Yu Qing frowned. “Your father is so deeply entangled with the Gold Ruins, and could be considered a person of the ancient immortals. Did he not hear even the slightest clue? Old Hei, think carefully again. See if there is anything you missed. Any fragment of information related to the human spring will do.”
He had been unable to rest or cultivate in peace last night. Why? Because of guilt. Because his impulsiveness had dragged Old Seven and Old Nine into trouble, implicating their lives. He could not act as if nothing had happened. He had to take responsibility.
If Little Martial Uncle found out about this later, who knew how great a temper he would fly into.
Wu Hei shook his head. “No. Otherwise, I would not have mistakenly thought it was in the Gold Ruins. However, if the heavenly spring can be found, it would be the same, and the effects would be even better.”
These words left the three fellow disciples somewhat speechless. Of course they knew finding the heavenly spring would be better. They could return to normal and also gain longevity. It was just too idealistic.
Yu Qing sighed. “Let us first look for something simpler. If we cannot even find the human spring, let us not aim too high.”
Wu Hei calmly said, “I have no clues about the human spring, but I do have some clues about the heavenly spring. I just do not know if they count as clues.”
The three fellow disciples were briefly stunned. Yu Qing hurriedly said, “Tell us first. Which immortal residence, where is the entrance?”
Wu Hei said, “Where the entrance is, you may know better than I.”
The three looked at each other. Nan Zhu said, “Old Hei, you are joking a bit too much.”
Wu Hei said word by word, “The Nether Sea Immortal Residence.”
Upon these words, the three fellow disciples were briefly stunned, then spoke in unison, “The Mirage?”
Wu Hei nodded.
Nan Zhu said, “How is this possible? The Mirage has been explored for thousands of years. If there was a heavenly spring, it would have been discovered long ago. People would have been fighting over it long ago. It could not be kept secret.”
Wu Hei said, “That is why I said I do not know if it counts as a clue. I am only responding to Old Fifteen’s insistence. Since he forced me for clues, I am only telling you what I know.”
Yu Qing raised his hand to signal Nan Zhu not to rush, and also asked, “What is the situation? How do you suddenly know a clue that the heavenly spring is at the Mirage?”
Wu Hei said, “Before leaving the Gold Ruins, my father, in order to let me and Little Black return to normal human bodies, once asked the strongman for guidance on the human spring’s location. The strongman said he had not presumptuously peeked at immortal secrets and did not know the human spring’s location, but suspected the heavenly spring was in the Nether Sea Immortal Residence. His reason was that his own younger sister had been a person of the Nether Sea Immortal Residence, and had once bathed in the heavenly spring to gain longevity.”
Nan Zhu raised doubts. “In the various legends of that immortal residence being opened back then, was there ever a mention of a female giant?”
Wu Hei said, “The strongman was originally a normal person. For some unknown reason, he became a giant. He himself is unwilling to mention it. His sister was a normal person.”
Nan Zhu immediately asked in astonishment, “If that is the case, if she was not killed by those experts who stormed the immortal residence back then, could she not have lived until now?”
Wu Hei said, “This is also the strongman’s own statement. He said his sister had a way to protect herself and may still be alive. So before leaving, he had asked me to go to the Nether Sea Immortal Residence to help him find his sister and inform her of his situation.”