Everyone grew on edge at her words. Xu Donglin, who had just regained consciousness himself last night, practically rolled off his bed and rushed forward.
“Granny You, I never thought you could be so despicable! Hmph, we all thought wrongly of you!”
“If you want Han Yunxi to recover faster, you’ll get out of the way!” Granny You shot back.
She didn’t regret helping Han Yunxi, but neither she did regret allying with Cang Qiuzi to besiege the woman. Both times, she had done exactly what she was supposed to do. Now she was acting both for her own principles and Celestial Mountain’s sake.
“You want to hurt our mistress, don’t you? Who’s going to trust your damned lies?” Xu Donglin harrumphed.
Granny You’s face grew dark. She was about to act when the man suddenly asked, “Granny You, you simply took the chance to launch a sneak attack here while His Highness Duke of Qin is fighting with the sword sect master! What kind of righteous hero are you?!”
“Impudence!” Granny You rebuked him. “Don’t blame me for being tactless if you continue to dishonor the sect leader!”
“Dishonor? Heheh, how could I dare? Suppose the sword sect master loses his temper and summon the four elders to besiege us next? I’d die for sure!” Xu Donglin put on a face of fear, yet it was full of nothing but mockery.
As he stalled for time with Granny You, he shot glances at the others to inform His Highness Duke of Qin. Unfortunately, the sharp eyed Granny You spotted them trying to slip out the door and struck out with her palm, swiftly injuring the would-be messengers.
“Feiye and the sword sect master are fighting a fierce battle. If Cang Qiuzi seizes the chance to reap in advantages, none of you will survive!” Granny You’s face was stern as she spoke to the shocked crowd. “It was Cang Qiuzi who instigated everything from the start. Your true enemy should be him!”
Everyone exchanged glances at her words. Although all of them detested the sword sect master, Granny You’s words were right. The real enemy was Cang Qiuzi. His Highness Duke of Qin was fighting with his current strength against the sword sect master, but drawing out the battle would only cause both sides to suffer and leave the advantage to Cang Qiuzi.
Xu Donglin looked at his fellow brothers with some hesitation. Then he said, “This has nothing to do with esteemed wangfei. She’s already unconscious, so she can’t coax His Highness to back down!”
“This old woman has ways to wake her up right now! Only she has the power to convince Feiye now,” Granny You’s voice was solemn.
“Why should we believe you?” Xu Donglin was still on guard.
Granny You lost her temper. “Just on the basis that this old woman is capable to taking all your lives this instant, including hers! If I really wanted to kill her, would I be wasting words with you lot now?”
Xu Donglin had nothing more to say. The dozen or so other brothers all exchanged uncertain looks. Although Granny You’s words held merit, this was too much of a risk for any of them to bear! But as it turned out, Granny You simply took the chance while they were distracted to dart past them in a flash. By the time they regained their senses, she was already sitting on the bed and helping up the unconscious Han Yunxi.
“Granny You, you…” Xu Donglin was startled.
“Shut the door. Everyone withdraw to a corner with their hands over their heads and crouch down!” Granny You threatened. “Otherwise, this old woman will murder her this instant.” At this, she actually moved to hold Han Yunxi by the neck.
Scared to death by her threats, everyone did as Granny You told, especially Xu Donglin. As he crouched down and hugged his head, he shouted, “Auntie You, if you have to kill anyone, kill me first!”
Granny You had had enough of this lot. She supported Han Yunxi with one hand while channeling true qi into her body with the other. Seeing this, everyone exhaled in relief. So Granny You really had come to help esteemed wangfei.
They thought the old woman would only channel a bit of true qi into esteemed wangfei’s body, but she ended up giving half of her true qi into the woman. It wasn’t long before her complexion turned ashen from the effort, but esteemed wangfei still didn’t wake despite her now ruddy complexion.
Granny You was a level six in the Nirvana Heart Arts. Gaining 50 percent of true qi from her body should be enough to cure all of esteemed wangfei’s internal injuries, but at the cost of massive injuries to the channeler! The people in the room were stunned by the sight. Xu Donglin couldn’t believe his eyes and even rushed to the bed for a closer look before he believed what Granny You was doing.
“Granny You, you… You…”
Granny You seemed to have aged a decade with half of her true qi lost. She looked pale, weak, and old, with none of the steely strength present in martial arts practitioners. As she checked Han Yunxi’s pulse, she asked, “Do you believe this old woman now?”
“Even if you let esteemed wangfei regain consciousness, His Highness Duke of Qin will still never forgive you,” Xu Donglin couldn’t swallow his temper.
“This old woman isn’t counting on him to forgive me. I just don’t want Celestial Mountain’s centuries old foundations to crumble!” Perhaps Granny You was the most clear minded one of all.
If it’s destroyed, it’s something you guys brought upon yourselves! Xu Donglin said the words in his heart since esteemed wangfei was still in Granny You’s hands. It wouldn’t do to aggravate the old woman.
Granny You set Han Yunxi back on the bed and personally watched over her. The woman’s internal injuries were severe, but Long Feiye’s true qi had already preserved her life. Now she’d channeled half of her true qi into her body, enough to heal those injuries completely. Han Yunxi’s wounds differed from that of Duanmu Yao’s because they weren’t devastating beyond repair. As long as anyone was willing to give up their inner qi to repair the wounds, she would quickly recover. Judging from her pulse, she was out of danger despite her weak state. It was about time for her to wake up after three days and nights of coma.
But Granny You waited and waited with no signs of Han Yunxi waking up. She grew alarmed. “How can this be? Her pulse is already back to normal!”
Xu Donglin grew fearful. “Just what did you do to esteemed wangfei? You–”
Granny You shoved him aside before he could finish speaking. She tugged on Han Yunxi’s hands until they were meeting palm to palm, then continued channeling true qi into her body. Xu Donglin watched on and verified that true qi was the only thing that passed between them both.
But why isn’t esteemed wangfei waking up? This doesn’t make any sense!
Soon enough, Granny You had wasted 20 percent more of her true qi, but Han Yunxi still didn’t stir. Everyone gathered around the bed in a mixture of apprehension, unease, and fear. Shock and suspicion painted their faces, along with various other expressions…so much that none of them noticed Granny You’s state, including the woman herself.
Abruptly, she drew back her hands and turned aside to spit up a mouthful of fresh blood. Fortunately, she managed to grab the edge of the bed in time before toppling over. Only 10 percent of her true qi remained. If she kept going, she’d lose her life.
But Han Yunxi still wouldn’t wake up! Granny You refused to believe it. She took Han Yunxi’s hands again, ignoring the flashes of darkness plaguing her vision.
Xu Donglin immediately knocked her hands side. “That’s enough, you’ll die!”
“This old woman can afford to die, but…she, she has to wake…” Granny You had lost her energy to speak. “If she doesn’t wake up, Celestial Mountain… Celestial Mountain will be done for!”
At last, grief and sorrow broke through Granny You’s voice. Although she didn’t want to admit it, she dearly regretted not stopping the sword sect master in time before he incited Long Feiye. While master and disciple fought for three days and three nights, she’d watched them both without a wink of sleep. She had no idea how to salvage the situation now! Even if Han Yunxi could convince Long Feiye to stop, what next? How were they supposed to proceed?
Han Yunxi’s identity, Long Feiye’s temper, and the sword sect master’s stubbornness were all inflexible. But Celestial Mountain could never co-exist with the likes of the Poison Sect! Thinking up to here, sadness overwhelmed Granny You until she vomited another mouthful of blood.
Xu Donglin suddenly exclaimed, “Esteemed wangfei just moved! Esteemed wangfei’s eyelids are moving!”
Granny You whirled around to look and saw Han Yunxi’s eyelashes fluttering as her eyes moved about beneath closed eyelids. It seemed that she would wake at any second. Everyone fixated on the sight with hushed breaths. In fact, Han Yunxi hadn’t been truly unconscious the last three days. Instead, she was busy staying in the poison storage space after having broken through to rank two. Lil Thing’s recovery had helped her break off her final shackles to a brand new level. Now she had the ability to absorb any and all poisonous substances into her poison storage space for personal use as long as she detected it ahead of time.
She not only owned the poison storage space, but the poison-sensing detox system as well. With these tools she was all but immune to all toxins. It was also level two that allowed her to fully understand the poison beast. The white wolf wasn’t Lil Thing’s true form, but the Gu Shu was. In other words, Lil Thing would only show its true form when it was weak or injured. The smaller Gu Shu form would neither age nor die, but it could be hurt. Similarly, the white wolf was a transformation of the Gu Shu form that couldn’t die, couldn’t age, and was impervious to weapon attacks.
Lil Thing possessed the ability to transform at any time and escape the Poison Sect’s Skypit, but it had been guarding that place for ages while waiting for its master. When Han Yunxi entered the pit, it had reverted to its true form and slipped into her medical pouch to leave the grounds. She never would have been able to take the poison beast’s blood if it hadn’t changed to its true form. But once she did, Lil Thing’s vitality suffered a huge blow and kept it in its squirrel form.
Because Lil Thing had recognized her as its master, it could cultivate with her in the poison storage space. Thus, her cultivation progress was its progress as well. At level two, Lil Thing was capable of understanding human speech. If she could reach level three, then they would be fully capable of communicating with each other.
Slowly, Han Yunxi regained consciousness. All of the information about the poison storage space and its poison beast gradually fell away in favor of recent events. She remembered her current situation and Long Feiye’s towering rage.
“Long Feiye!” With a shout, Han Yunxi sat up in bed. She was awake!
The sharp pain from the laceration on her stomach further sharpened her senses. She didn’t see Long Feiye, but she did see Xu Donglin and the rest standing around her in a tight circle. Meanwhile, Granny You was smiling at her with pursed lips and a wan complexion.
“You lass, you’re finally awake!” Granny You was on the verge of crying with joy, her eyes growing wet at the corners.
“You…” Han Yunxi was lost in a fog. “Where’s Long Feiye?”
She’d hardly spoken when a rumbling noise sent the door to the room breaking apart. The sword sect master’s roar carried in from outside.
“Han Yunxi, hurry and hand over the antidote!”
The antidote?
“How long have I been unconscious?” Han Yunxi asked quickly.