Chapter 526: Only He Can Save You
In this entire world, perhaps only Shu Xiaolou could help him. That was also Mr. Zhong’s opinion and advice for him. When Mr. Zhong first suggested Yang Ming visit Senior Shu at Peach Blossom House, Yang Ming didn’t understand why. He only learned how close Lin Jin was to Shu Xiaolou later on.
Forget the other appraisers of the academy, even the old man, Zhong Zifeng, was envious of their relationship.
Lately, Senior Shu hadn’t returned to the Beast Appraisal Pavilion so Old Man Zhong had started to feel lonely. Only he knew best what that feeling of abandonment was like.
No one knew what was on Mr. Zhong’s mind, and Yang Ming did not want to make speculations either. He was much more concerned about how he would recover and exact his revenge on his enemy.
Although the Rank 2 tiger had stayed loyally by his side, carrying him wherever he wanted to go, Yang Ming knew that it couldn’t avenge him.
That was why he came here to Peach Blossom House.
“Senior Shu, I’ve come to beg you to treat me. I’m willing to pay any price that you state,” said Yang Ming on his knees.
Now, Lin Jin and Shang’er weren’t in any position to speak. They peered at Shu Xiaolou, who was visibly stunned. Then, it appeared as if she had an epiphany.
“So you’ve come here to ask me for a recovery method? In particular, one that can help you regain your strength, so you can go off and take revenge?”
She had more or less summarized Yang Ming’s plan.
Yang Ming didn’t raise his head when he replied, “I hope Senior Shu can help me!”
“No, I can’t!” said Shu Xiaolou as she waved her hand dismissively. That was the decision she came up with after a few seconds of deliberation. Aware of Shu Xiaolou’s character, Lin Jin knew that she gave this answer because she had no idea how she could help Yang Ming rather than exacerbate his condition. From Yang Ming’s perspective, her reply came too quickly.
“Senior Shu, I am now a useless man. Those fiends harmed my family and killed the family of a good friend. I can’t ever forgive them. Forget revenge, I can’t even fend for myself with this crippled body of mine. According to Mr. Zhong, if there’s anyone in this world who can help me, it’s you, Senior Shu. Please save me, Senior Shu. If I can have my revenge, I’m willing to serve you for the rest of my life.”
Having said that, he started kowtowing before Shu Xiaolou.
His reaction annoyed Shu Xiaolou.
“I’ve already said I can’t do it. The veins in your body are damaged and your body can no longer hold spiritual energy. Without that, you have nothing to convert into mana, so you won’t be able to perform spells. That’s just the first problem. The second problem is the fact that your pet beast has been forcibly stripped from your body, damaging your blood contract foundation. Right now, it’s impossible for you to contract another pet beast, so forget me, even if the great deities were still around, they won’t be able to help you. The only way you can recover is if we recast your body, but you should know that it’s impossible,” explained Shu Xiaolou while holding back her fiery temper.
She could tell that Yang Ming had come here as a final resort, and he had come with great sincerity. However, she wasn’t just trying to dismiss him. These were facts.
She may be his senior and was genuinely capable, but she was still just a beast appraiser, the spirit of a painting. She was no divine physician. It was true that she had no means of helping Yang Ming. Had his request been to prolong his life, she might have entertained it. If recovering his strength was what he sought, Shu Xiaolou could offer nothing to help him.
Yang Ming was also aware that Shu Xiaolou wasn’t trying to dismiss him, that she was being honest. In fact, Yang Ming had already anticipated this response, but he still wanted to try his luck.
For a moment there, Yang Ming fell into a state of despair.
He wasn’t the type of person who could live a wretched life, enduring his hatred and revenge. If that was his only way forward, he would much rather die.
Just then, as if she thought of something, Shu Xiaolou said, “I don’t have any means of helping you, but I can’t doesn’t mean others can’t. Strictly speaking, you’re begging the wrong person.”
It was a sharp turn of events.
To Yang Ming, it sounded like a ray of hope shining down on him. Like a drowning person finding a piece of plank to cling onto, Shu Xiaolou’s words indicated that he still had a second chance at life.
“Senior Shu, please show me the way.” Yang Ming looked excited. Given his current condition, no matter how difficult the challenge, he would push through.
“There, what you seek lays with this man!” said Shu Xialou as she pointed at Lin Jin.
Upon hearing that, silence descended upon the room.
Yang Ming’s eyes widened in disbelief. Lin Jin was stunned, but he soon understood what message Shu Xiaolou was trying to convey.
He may not be able to recast a body but when it came to patching things up, no one could compare to Lin Jin. That was precisely what his pulse-seeking technique was made for.
Shu Xiaolou had been researching the pulse-seeking technique lately she was making some progress in it. Even so, she was still slightly inferior compared to Lin Jin.
For now, it seemed that the pulse-seeking technique was the most promising way to mend a person’s damaged meridian. Lin Jin’s mastery of the pulse-seeking technique was the greatest among them, so Shu Xiaolou was right in pointing at Lin Jin.
What’s more, Lin Jin had one other unique ability.
His second pet beast, the Rank 5 blood ghost.
The creature was lethal on the battlefield, but it was also able to strengthen one’s body to the point where it would become near-indestructible. It also had another supernatural ability, which was to mend a damaged body.
If Lin Jin was willing to share some blood with Yang Ming, the latter could easily mend his veins.
Hence, Shu Xiaolou wasn’t exaggerating when she said that Lin Jin could save Yang Ming. She was speaking the truth.
Although Yang Ming did not know precisely the reason why Senior Shu pointed at Lin Jin, a person like her definitely wouldn’t play him for a fool. Since she had put it that way, it must be true.
Yang Ming immediately prostrated before Lin Jin.
“Appraiser Yang, you mustn’t!” Lin Jin quickly helped him up. There was nothing wrong with Lin Jin abstaining from helping Yang Ming. However, now that Yang Ming had come to beg for his help, he would come across as overly merciless if he were to turn the request down. More importantly, Yang Ming had displayed a strong will to destroy the Demonic Appraisal Association.
This made it clear that Yang Ming was on his side. Now that they were allies, for the sake of taking down the Demonic Appraisal Association, Lin Jin would help him.
“Appraiser Yang, I’ll be brutally blunt. I may have a treatment method but the chances of succeeding aren’t very high. Also, the procedure will be excruciatingly painful as the needle will be inside your body, mending your meridian bit by bit. If you can endure the pain, we may proceed. However, if you cannot handle the pain, you can just forget about what I said.”
There wasn’t much meaning for Lin Jin to say this because Yang Ming accepted it without hesitation. Although he was unsure about what kind of acupuncture technique Lin Jin intended to use, he was willing to give it a shot.
Forget physical pain, he could endure even worse agony than that.
Seeing this, Lin Jin knew that Yang Ming wouldn’t possibly back down so things were settled then.
In fact, Lin Jin had already been analyzing Yang Ming’s condition. Truth be told, mending Yang Ming’s physical body wasn’t that difficult. To do so, Lin Jin would have to rely mainly on the pulse-seeking technique and his blood ghost. He also had the water reservoir scale, which he could use to protect Yang Ming’s heart veins if the procedure ever went sideways.
Despite what Lin Jin said, he was ninety percent sure he would succeed.
He deliberately exaggerated the chance of failure, just so Yang Ming would feel even more grateful to him.
However, the issue of Yang Ming’s new pet beast remained a ball of thorns.