“Are you an alchemist?” Bai Xuan asked. Her beautiful, water-like eyes revealed doubt. How could someone who had once been so notorious in Yao City suddenly turn into an alchemist?
“Of course not!” Ye Chu laughed.
With those words, the flicker of hope that had just risen in Bai Xuan instantly plunged into the abyss. But this made sense. He could not possibly be an alchemist. “Ye Chu! Please stop causing trouble, all right? My father is hanging by a thread. He needs Huang Yong’an!”
“Not being an alchemist does not mean I cannot treat your father. Moreover, in the face of the baleful qi from the great general’s tomb, ordinary alchemists can do nothing at all. Even if you invited an alchemist from the imperial court, your father would still be beyond saving!” Ye Chu said.
“The baleful qi from the great general’s tomb!” Bai Xuan cried out in shock. Her face grew even paler. She naturally knew how dangerous that place was. Had her elder sister and brother-in-law not died there after venturing in? Yet she had never imagined that her father, despite all warnings, had gone there again!
Bai Xuan collapsed onto the edge of the bed, her face ashen as death. She knew Ye Chu was telling the truth. If it really was the baleful qi from the great general’s tomb, her father was doomed. Her father had once said that no one in Yao City could cure such an invasion of baleful qi!
“Get back! Let me take a look!” The man lying on the bed had grown even paler, with black spots appearing on his brow. Ye Chu saw this and dared not delay any longer. If the baleful qi invaded his soul and caused him to go berserk, it would be a major disaster. Who knew how many people might die at his hands!
Bai Xuan, who had just looked utterly despairing, was jolted awake. She realised what was happening and looked at Ye Chu. “Do you really have a way to save my father?”
“Let me try!” Ye Chu smiled. “However, if I succeed in treating him, the condition you agreed to for Huang Yong’an will now be transferred to me, all right?”
Pang Shao, who had just finished beating the man and walked back in, heard this and stood dumbfounded. He could not help cursing inwardly. Damn it! Was this not the guy who always talked about pursuing a higher realm of wickedness? The one who claimed to first capture the heart before taking the body? So what was he doing now?
“Scoundrel!” Pang Shao looked at Ye Chu with contempt, feeling that Ye Chu was far too despicable. He had tricked him into behaving like a decent person, yet when a beautiful woman appeared, he took the initiative himself.
Ye Chu gazed at Bai Xuan with a hint of wicked charm. Noticing more and more black spots appearing on her father’s face, she remained silent for a moment before finally speaking. “Fine! As long as you can save my father, I agree!”
When she said those words, it was as though she had used up every ounce of strength in her body. Her entire frame seemed on the verge of collapsing.
Seeing Bai Xuan in such a state, Ye Chu smiled but said nothing more. He walked to the bedside. The playful demeanour he had shown earlier vanished, replaced by a measure of seriousness. He took a deep breath and reached for Bai Bao’s wrist on the bed.
“Stand further back!” Ye Chu told Bai Xuan to take Yao Yao and move away from him. Bai Xuan watched as Ye Chu grasped her father’s wrist and performed a series of precise movements. Her heart tightened. Although it would come at a cost, she would far rather her father lived. But could this man, who was called a worthless scum in Yao City, really save her father?
Even though she disbelieved it a thousand times over in her heart, did she have any other choice? She could only treat a dead horse as if it were still alive!
Ye Chu’s fingers moved in quick succession. Although the movements were not especially fast, Bai Xuan could clearly see that his fingers seemed enveloped in some kind of qi force. That almost transparent, nearly invisible qi flowed into the black spots on her father’s wrist, and the spots actually faded slightly.
This scene filled Bai Xuan with wild joy. Hope surged in her eyes. “Could it be that this so-called scum and waste of Yao City really can help my father expel the baleful qi?”
Pang Shao and Bai Xuan held their breath as they watched Ye Chu, waiting quietly at the side. Just as hope built in their hearts, a wisp of grey baleful qi suddenly shot out from Bai Bao’s wrist, heading straight towards Ye Chu.
“Be careful!” Bai Xuan cried out in alarm. Everyone knew the danger of baleful qi. If it invaded Ye Chu’s body, another person would likely die an untimely death.
Bai Xuan urged Ye Chu to dodge, yet to her horror, Ye Chu did not evade at all. Instead, he met the grey baleful qi head-on with his palm, drawing several circles in the air. The baleful qi became trapped in his palm. With a sudden clench of his hand, the baleful qi vanished. Whether it had been dispersed by Ye Chu or absorbed into his body, no one could tell.
Pang Shao was used to seeing such things and remained calm, but Bai Xuan’s beautiful eyes filled with astonishment. Her heart could not settle. That was baleful qi, after all, and moreover the kind that had invaded her father’s body. Yet Ye Chu had simply grabbed it with his bare palm. Was he truly not afraid of being invaded by baleful qi and dying?
“Don’t worry! If I cannot even handle this little bit of baleful qi, how could I make you willingly agree to the deal?” Ye Chu smiled at Bai Xuan. “However, your father is gravely injured. The baleful qi has already spread throughout his meridians!”
Ignoring her shock at how this notorious figure from Yao City possessed such abilities, Bai Xuan asked anxiously, “Then do you have a way to treat him?”
Ye Chu fell silent and did not answer her directly. Pang Shao looked at him in surprise. “Even you have no way? Is this baleful qi really so terrifying?”
Pang Shao knew Ye Chu was special. Back then, when their group had recklessly entered the great general’s tomb, the baleful qi had erupted and nearly killed them all. It was Ye Chu who had stood in front of the baleful qi, buying them time to escape.
At the time, they had thought Ye Chu was surely dead. To their amazement, although he suffered serious injuries, he did not die from it. After his wounds healed, his strength had even increased.
From then on, they knew Ye Chu had a unique constitution and special methods for dealing with baleful qi. They simply did not know the exact details. That was something they had all been curious about! And now, if even Ye Chu had no way to treat this, then the man was truly doomed.
Pang Shao did not believe that anyone in Yao City would have a better method against baleful qi invasion than Ye Chu, not even cultivators far stronger than him!
Seeing Bai Xuan staring at him nervously, Ye Chu shook his head. “It is somewhat troublesome, but not impossible to save him. It will just take some time to treat him slowly. The most important thing is that his body has been invaded by baleful qi for too long. If we suddenly expel it all at once, his body may not be able to withstand it. He will need a lingzhi of three hundred years or more to replenish his vital essence.”
“So complicated?” Pang Shao muttered. “Then isn’t this fellow as good as dead? A three-hundred-year lingzhi is not easy to find. By the time we get one, it may be too late!”
“That is not a problem. We can expel the baleful qi slowly and gently to at least preserve his life. Once we find the lingzhi, we can then expel it forcefully to save him.” Ye Chu said. “As for the three-hundred-year lingzhi, I happen to know who has one!”
Bai Xuan heard that her father could be saved and was overjoyed. “Who has it? Can we buy it?”
Ye Chu did not answer Bai Xuan. Instead, he turned to Pang Shao. “Three years ago, on the birthday of the young master of Qingyang Marquis in Yao City, someone gifted him a three-hundred-year lingzhi. With your special status, if you ask Qingyang Marquis for it, he should not refuse.”
Pang Shao saw that Ye Chu was targeting him again and hurriedly waved his hands. “Don’t look for me! I came to Yao City because I did not want to owe anyone any favours. Your king has long had his eye on me. If I owe someone from Yao City a favour, when he asks, it will be hard for me to refuse. Otherwise, do you think I would not have asked your king for a few palace maids? Would I really need to come out and find women myself?”
Bai Xuan’s heart sank once more. She held Yao Yao tightly, tears hanging on her face. Her pitiful yet alluring appearance made Ye Chu’s heart race.
“Auntie, don’t cry!” Yao Yao saw Bai Xuan crying so sadly and kept wiping her tears. Not understanding what was happening, Yao Yao also began to wail. With a sobbing voice, she said to Ye Chu, “Big brother, come and comfort Auntie quickly! Tell Auntie not to cry! Waaah…”
Looking at Yao Yao clinging to his leg, Ye Chu patted her head. He turned to look at Pang Shao, who had turned his head away to avoid his gaze. Ye Chu thought to himself that he had better not let him catch an opportunity later, or there would be hell to pay. “Fine! As for the lingzhi matter, I will handle it for you!”
Ye Chu could not possibly watch Bai Bao die in front of him. He still had questions to ask the man. Ye Chu very much wanted to know what exactly he had brought out from the great general’s tomb. When he had examined him earlier during the treatment, there had been nothing on his body!