Love & Redemption
Chapter 169: Volume 4 Hua Meng’s Sudden Rift - 26 Eve (Part 8)

Chapter 169: Volume 4 Hua Meng’s Sudden Rift Chapter 26 Eve (Part 8)

"Father!" Xuanji and Linglong hurriedly supported Chu Lei, who could not stand and knelt down to the ground. His face was pale and his lips were dark purple, clearly severely injured. He strained himself and whispered, "Don’t panic! Help me inside."

Dongfang Qingqi supported him, carefully carrying him into the main hall, then turned back to instruct his disciples, "Bring hot water!"

He unbuttoned Chu Lei’s shirt, revealing a fingernail-sized dark purple mark on his chest and abdomen that didn’t even break the skin. It was unknown what Ouyang had used to inflict such a wound. Touching it lightly with his hand, Chu Lei trembled in pain, his forehead breaking out in cold sweat, and suddenly he fainted.

Xuanji and Linglong, with tears in their eyes, clutched his neck, utterly helpless.

The disciples brought the hot water, along with medicinal herbs and bandages, all ready at hand. However, the wound had neither broken skin nor bleeding, just a small mark. How should they treat it? Dongfang Qingqi studied it for a long time before he said in a deep voice, "Min Yan, Si Feng, you children, hold him down well while I take a closer look at what this is."

Yu Sifeng and the others immediately came over, restraining his hands and feet, securing Chu Lei firmly. Dongfang Qingqi poured some hot water on the wound. Chu Lei’s body suddenly trembled violently, as if reacting intensively. He whispered, "Hold tight!" After speaking, he lifted his hand and repeatedly massaged around the purple mark, slowly injecting True Qi. Chu Lei cried out in pain, woke up, and then fainted again.

As more True Qi was injected, the purple mark gradually bulged, looking like it was bitten by some toxic insect, with a needle-point-sized hole at the top of the bulge. Such a tiny wound causing Chu Lei such immense pain left everyone in shock.

Dongfang Qingqi kept releasing True Qi back and forth, but the bulge no longer changed. However, Chu Lei was in so much pain that his face turned deadly pale, his teeth clacked loudly, and blood spurted out.

Seeing this situation, Dongfang Qingqi didn’t dare to continue, feeling powerless and pacing anxiously.

Suddenly, a voice from behind said, "Stop moving, let us take a look. Ah, you masters of the big sects, let alone other things, you are utterly clueless about these crooked and evil methods."

It was Liu Yihuan and Ting Nu. Xuanji, with tears, hurriedly asked, "Brother Liu! Ting Nu! Can you save my father?"

Liu Yihuan didn’t respond but bent down to take a closer look at the purple bulge, gently touching it twice, feeling neither hot nor cold, soft as usual skin, indistinguishable from ordinary skin. Even with his broad knowledge, he couldn’t recognize what it was, only frowning in deep thought.

Ting Nu also came over to look and after a while, shook her head and said, "I can tell it’s from an insect bite, but what exactly it is and how to treat it, I have no idea either."

Seeing even Ting Nu saying so, Xuanji knew there was no hope of healing, feeling utterly disheartened. She turned back to look at Chu Lei, raised her hand to wipe the sweat from his face, and cried out in utter heartbreak, "Father!"

Ting Nu whispered, "Don’t rush to despair. We are ignorant, but there is someone here very knowledgeable, who must know."

"Who?" Xuanji jumped up, looking around.

Ting Nu glanced toward a corner, where a person with a head full of silver hair squatted, seemingly uninvolved with the events that had transpired. He was munching on pastries, leaning against a pillar, appearing to be napping and about to fall asleep. It was Tengshe, who had hurried over upon hearing there would be delicious food, only to find a bitter scene of master and disciple followed by a transformation drama of demons, with no food coming, and out of sheer boredom, he simply squatted there to sleep.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, he suddenly felt a severe pain on his scalp as someone grabbed his hair and shook it vigorously. He cried out in pain, "What are you doing?! Let go!" and instinctively swung a punch. He suddenly saw that it was Xuanji on the opposite side, and the punch he swung softened instinctively, tapping lightly on her arm.

"Let go!" He fiercely yanked his hair back and glared at her with fiery anger, "What are you doing?"

As soon as his words fell, he suddenly saw the tears on Xuanji’s face, her gaze fixed on him. He paused, quite confused, and stood up to look around. With everyone crying or in a daze, he scratched his head and wondered, "What’s wrong? Did everyone get kicked out? Is there nothing to eat?"

Xuanji urgently said, "Tengshe! You’re an immortal from the heavens, right? You know a lot of things, don’t you?"

It was the first time Tengshe had been so praised, and he almost turned his nose up to the sky, boastfully saying, "Of course! I know more than you’ve ever seen..."

"Good! Come here!" Xuanji didn’t wait for him to finish, grabbed his hand, and dragged him in front of Chu Lei, "Quick, look at my father... what’s wrong with him!"

Tengshe helplessly moved closer to take a look, and casually said, "Oh, isn’t this the Internal Cavity Sparrow! Quite common."

The crowd, hearing that he actually recognized it, couldn’t help but be overjoyed. Xuanji repeatedly said, "That’s great! You recognize it! Quick, tell us, how do you cure it?"

"How to cure it?" Tengshe raised his eyebrows, "This isn’t a disease, how to cure? Just take it out and that’s it! It’s one of the tortures, specifically used against disobedient yet powerful immortals. Once the Internal Cavity Sparrow enters the body, it triggers severe pain, gradually causing the loss of Divine Power, tormenting the victim to a state worse than death, until they obediently comply. Oh, haven’t you been subjected to it before..."

Xuanji, not waiting for him to finish, anxiously said, "Then... please, can you take it out?"

It was only then that Tengshe finally grasped the situation; touching his chin, he didn’t answer right away but walked around Chu Lei twice, curiously saying, "This thing shouldn’t exist in the mortal world. Who inserted this into his body? A mortal can’t endure this!"

Yu Sifeng said, "It was a demon... We’ll talk about these matters later. Tengshe, can you remove it?"

Tengshe’s eyes shifted, and he laughed wildly, "For me, it’s naturally extremely simple. But why should I help you? What’s in it for me?"

Xuanji, caught off guard by his attitude at such a time, could only say, "Aren’t you my spiritual beast? Shouldn’t a spiritual beast obey its master?"

"Ah, spit! The spiritual beast is your coercion; I never regarded you as my master!" Tengshe rolled his eyes, touching his chin, his tone utterly cold, "No benefits, why should I save him? What do the life and death of a mortal have to do with me?"

Xuanji took a deep breath and asked solemnly, "Alright, what do you want then? Speak, as long as I can do it, I will satisfy you!"

Tengshe said, "Good! Once a word is spoken, even the fastest horses can’t catch it! I want you to agree to cancel our contract and return my freedom. Also, you are not to tell anyone that I was ever your spiritual beast."

Xuanji was stunned and said, "But I... don’t know how to cancel it."

Tengshe sneered, "Don’t worry about how to cancel, just promise me that you won’t stop me whenever I want to cancel it. Agree to cancel the contract and let me go."

Xuanji fell silent for a long while, then said, "Alright, I promise you. Whenever you want to cancel the contract, I will definitely agree, I’ll definitely accompany you."

Only then did Tengshe show a joyful expression, laughing, "The words you said, you can’t go back on them. Take an oath."

Xuanji spoke earnestly, "When I promise someone, I will definitely do it. If I can’t do it, taking an oath is useless."

Thinking of her identity, Tengshe indeed acknowledged that she wasn’t someone who would lie; thus, he nodded, and without looking, he swept his hand across Chu Lei’s chest and stomach, then spread his hand open, saying, "Look, this is the Internal Cavity Sparrow."

The crowd quickly gathered around, only to see a stiff little bird lying in his palm, already dead, dusty, and only the size of a little finger, with a needle-sharp beak.

Tengshe tossed the dead bird back and forth, playing with it while laughing, "Who would have thought I’d see this thing in the mortal world. It is quite vicious, very annoying, just let me start a fire and roast it to eat."

Upon hearing that he intended to eat it, Linglong immediately frowned, showing a disgusted expression, and said, "How can you eat this thing! It’s filthy!"

Tengshe, with a stern face, said, "It’s all because you kept saying it’s time to eat, and till now, there’s nothing served; I’m already starving!"

As soon as the words fell, Chu Lei moaned, slowly opening his eyes. Everyone rejoiced, bombarding him with questions about how he felt. Chu Lei slowly sat up, touching his chest and stomach, curiously saying, "That was just...?"

Dongfang Qingqi chuckled, patting him on the shoulder, and said, "We’ll talk about these matters slowly during the feast. Let’s go, the banquet is ready. Toss aside the annoying matters for now, let’s drink three hundred cups first!" (To be continued, to know what happens next, please visit www.qidian.com. More Chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)