Godly Doctor Xu rubbed his chin, and muttered, “Right, just now you said you’re the martial nephew of that womaniser young master, Sang Lingxi? Sang Lingxi only has three martial brothers. Since your father, Qiu Yutong has already ascended, then is your teacher Xie Wanting or Bai Hanyuan?”
Qiu Yutong hesitantly said, “Eh, my Teacher is North Snow City’s master, Xie Wanting.”
Zhangmen-Shixiong brought him up; Zhangmen-Shixiong could be counted as half his master, forget Er-Shixiong and San-Shixiong.
“Xie Wanting?” Xu Qiushi coldly snorted, “Even though Bai Hanyuan with that dead face is not much, Qiu Yutong actually dared to entrust you, such an extremely delicate son, to that hypocritical Xie Wanting? Looks like Qiu Yutong’s vision is also quite rotten, tch.”
Dead face. Extremely delicate. Hypocritical. Rotten vision.
This Godly Doctor Xu, had completely derided North Snow City’s entirety in one sentence; an awkward silence descended on the courtyard.
Qiu Yutong’s lips twitched dully and he was about to speak a few words for his shixiongs, but before he could, Xu Dongqing already stamped his feet and said, “Elder Brother, how could you speak of City Master Xie like this?!”
Qiu Yutong glanced at him in surprise.
Oh, looks like the second master of the Medicinal Monarch Manor was a zealous worshipper of ZHangmen-Shixiong. He was obviously very scared of his older brother, but could actually talk back for Zhangmen-Shixiong.
“You’re just a child, what do you understand?! City Master Xie, City Master Xie for an entire day, have you ever seen him? Do you know his personality? You just know how to foolishly cause a ruckus!”
“I, I…” Xu Dongqing wanted to speak but seeing his brother’s face, he shut his mouth.
Xu Qiushi reprimanded his little brother before he thought about it and forced out, “However, since Qiu Yutong willingly entrusted his illegitimate child to Xie Wanting, maybe this City Master Xie who likes to put on a pretense, as some kind of merit. En, just a little bit.”
“… Eh, Teacher is indeed very good,” Qiu Yutong paused and, with difficulty, tried to explain, “Also, Eldest Master, I’m really not Qiu Yutong’s… illegitimate child.”
“No? Why did you interrupt my fun?” Xu Qiushi sized him up, his expression was obviously disbelieving.
“Really,” Qiu Yutong was simply extremely sincere.
“I really don’t understand you people, why are you hiding it all day and night?” Xu Qiushi sneered, “15 years ago, I owed Qiu Yutong a huge debt… if you are Qiu Yutong’s son, I can make an exception and treat your illness. If not, please get out.”
Qiu Yutong was silent for a moment then said firmly, “Since it’s reached this point, I won’t continue deceiving Eldest Master. My father is indeed North Snow City’s Feilai Peak Master, Qiu Yutong.”
Lu Xiao looked down and silently quirked his lips.
Xu Dongqing glanced at Qiu Yutong in extreme surprise. “Young Master Tong, you’re really Immortal Master Qiu’s son?”
Xu Qiushi snorted coldly, “Isn’t this better? I really don’t understand, why is Qiu Yutong’s son so crooked; he doesn’t even dare to acknowledge his own father. This is simply deceptive! It’s fortunate that you’re still a sword cultivator!”
Qiu Yutong blinked, “How did you know I’m a sword cultivator?”
“Your father cultivated the sword, according to his obsessive behaviour, how could he not allow his son to train in the sword? Additionally, when I left the room, you unconsciously grabbed at the empty sport beside your waist. Even though you don’t carry a sword, but that movement, was obviously the instinct of a sword cultivator.” Xu Qiushi narrowed his eyes, “However, it seems like your body is inherently weak, en, and it seems like you have other problems… that should be why you came to find me?”
Qiu Yutong exclaimed sincerely, “Eldest Master has discerning eyes.”
“Does that still need to be mentioned? Come here, I’ll feel your pulse.” Xu Qiushi spoke as he dragged Qiu Yutong into the room. At the same time, he roughly pushed Lu Xiao and Xu Dongqing to the side, “Make way!”
Lu Xiao couldn’t help but take a step forward as if he were going to follow.
Xu Qiushi suddenly turned around, and his finger was practically on Lu Xiao’s nose, “Stand here! This house, only patients can enter!”
Lu Xiao firmly furrowed his eyebrows, “How can you be so stubborn without…”
Qiu Yutong quickly consoled, “Xiao-er, wait in the courtyard, it won’t be long.”
“Oh,” Lu Xiao said unwillingly.
Xu Qiushi dragged Qiu Yutong into the house as he muttered, “You say, two adult men, talking like two overly clingy wives, can you still cultivate the sword?”
Qiu Yutong simply didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Lu Xiao’s face became dark.
After going into the house, Xu Qiushi allowed Qiu Yutong to lie on a short couch. After that, placed three of his chicken claw-like fingers on his pulse.
“En, pulse is steady, but a little weak. The bottom of the heart is a little heavy, but it’s minor. Use the five-element cleansing method for three days, and it’ll be fine,” Xu Qiushi closed his eyes and said.
Qiu Yutong coughed, “Eldest Master, previously, I…”
“Strange! Strange!” Xu Qiushi directly interrupted him, pinching his eyebrows tightly together, “How did your condition come about?! This fluctuation is extremely strange! Extremely strange!”
Qiu Yutong wanted to continue but Xu Qiushi perked up, “You, shut up.”
“Oh, this pulse…” He carefully felt for a while, thinking so hard his thin face had wrinkled all over. After that, he suddenly slapped his thigh, “Haha, I got it! I got it!”
He directly looked at Qiu Yutong, his eyes shining brightly, “It’s North Sea Sword Sect’s Gui Wuya’s Ice Jade Bloodworm! Right? Right? If I didn’t figure it out, it’s because this Ice Jade Bloodworm Gu is usually in the heart blood vessels of the host, but from your pulse, the Gu has already entered your bone marrow! Exactly how did this happen?”
“Eldest Master is, as expected, a godly doctor. Indeed, I have the Ice Jade Bloodworm,” Qiu Yutong couldn’t help exclaiming in admiration. The reputation of the eldest master of the Medicine Monarch Manor is well-deserved. He was indeed a godly doctor, able to detect so many problems from merely the pulse.
“Enough, enough, don’t flatter me. Do you know, how did this gu get into your bone marrow?”
“This… eh, I don’t know either.”
Xu Qiushi stared at him. “After you were poisoned, did you once lose a lot of blood?”
Qiu Yutong thought about the eighty planks and nodded, “Yes.”
“Did you also suffer under the cold for a long time?”
“Yes.”
Xu Qiushi abruptly slapped his thigh. “That’s right! After getting poisoned by the Ice Jade Bloodworm, the eggs inside the gu pellet will incubate into a lot of worms and hide in the heart’s blood vessels of the host, taking the host’s blood as food. But after losing a lot of blood in an extremely cold environment will force the gu to a dead end, forcing these gu to survive by drilling into the host’s bones; this is why they are in your bone marrow. In this way, it has become very troublesome, tch.”
“Is there no way?” Qiu Yutong knitted his eyebrows tightly.
This sounded extremely troublesome; it couldn’t be as Prince Jin said, that he would accompany him to death?
Xu Qiushi rubbed his chin, “Actually, it’s not that there’s no way.”
Qiu Yutong’s spirit roused, “I’d like to hear more.”
“Even though the gu worm has entered your bone marrow, but I have a secret method. I can first use a secret tonic to soak your entire body to force the gu from your bone marrow to your bloodstream. After that, use a hundred needles, pierced across the hundred acupuncture points on your body and force the gu to be released through your blood. It’s just that this entire operation requires an entire seven days and nights, eight hours a day. You will suffer extreme pain. Looking at you, I say forget it.”
“I’m not afraid,” Qiu Yutong stared resolutely at Xu Qiushi and enunciated each word strongly.
What a joke, in order to cultivate the sword, what suffering had he not undergone?
“Whether you’re afraid or not is actually pointless. However, this tonic has a medicinal ingredient which is quite hard to get… en, it’s better to say that it’s impossible to get.”
“What ingredient?”
“The Ice Jade Bloodworm gu pellet is made using the mother gu’s egg in addition to a living person’s heart-blood and refined successfully. Because the gu pellet is used using a living person’s heart-blood, there is an extremely tyrannical ingredient that can drive the gu worm out from the bone marrow.”
“Eldest Master, just speak, what exactly is this ingredient?”
“A rightful emperor’s* heart-blood.”
[T/N: Just to add on here, the direct translation of this term is “A real dragon emperor’s heart-blood”. Emperors are usually represented by dragons, so a real dragon doesn’t mean a literal dragon, but rather someone who is a “real” or “rightful” emperor.]
Qiu Yutong was stunned.
Xu Qiushi paused slightly and sighed, “Also, it has to be fresh, readily available heart-blood. Think about it, seven continuous days and nights and half a cup of blood has to be extracted every day to be used as a medical primer… I cannot go to the capital and invite the emperor of the Chen dynasty over right? Moreover, even though the amount of blood extracted is not much and it won’t be much issue to the body, the process is extremely uncomfortable; will the emperor be willing?”
Qiu Yutong blinked and unconsciously glanced outside.
What a coincidence, there’s a real emperor outside.
He hesitated for a second before he bent and murmured into Xu QIushi’s ear.
Xu Qiushi suddenly widened his eyes, “Really? The one outside? Cough cough cough, a real emperor?!”
Qiu Yutong gave a slight awkward cough, “En, I know that it doesn’t sound probable, but it really is such a coincidence. My… this friend of mine is the current emperor of Dachen dynasty.”
Xu Qiushi stared at him for a long time, “Okay.”
This godly doctor muttered to himself for a moment then squinted his eyes, “But, even if he is the real emperor, is he willing to extract heart-blood to expel the poison?”
Qiu Yutong pondered, “He will.”
He didn’t know why, but he had this feeling that Lu Xiao would definitely be willing.
“Is he really willing? You’re certain?” Xu Qiushi seemed to be unable to believe it.
“I’m certain,” Qiu Yutong confidently said.
Xu Qiushi relaxed his tone, “Since that’s the case, then that’s good. As long as during the seven continuous days, the real emperor’s heart-blood is used when soaking the body in the tonic, driving the gu worm out of the bone marrow, then using silver needles to drain, we can completely expel the gu worm. After that, use the five-element cleansing for three days, the burden on this body of yours will be completely washed away. The cultivation road ahead of you then will be completely unimpeded.
Qiu Yutong let out a sigh of relief, “That’s good. Thank you very much, Eldest Master.”
“However, the process of expelling the gu is extremely painful. Also, I will not be soft, you must be mentally prepared.”
“How painful?”
“I reckon that it’s painful enough that you’ll be doing your utmost to scream, the kind where people hundreds of meters away can hear. Don’t be too disheartened,” Xu Qiushi grinned at his misfortune.
“Eh, is that so…” Qiu Yutong suddenly thought of something and slightly hesitated. Glancing outside, he lowered his voice and said, “Eldest Master, if I may be so bold to ask a favour.”
“Why are you so overly sensitive? That’s enough, spit it out*.”
[T/N: Another addon, the whole phrase here is “if you have words, speak, if you have gas, let it out (fart)”, which is hilarious. I put in a shorter version to get the meaning, but I thought I’d share since I found it funny.]
“…” Qiu Yutong became silent, then said, “The Ice Jade Bloodworm in my body, along with the fact that the previous time I lost blood and endured the cold caused my illness to worsen, could Eldest Master not say it out? Especially that friend of mine, don’t him find out.”
Xu Qiushi stared at him in displeasure, “Why are you so troublesome? I am frank and outspoken, I can’t keep things hidden.”
I just knew that your old man mouth can’t keep things hidden. If you revealed it, I don’t know how the incident with the Ice Jade Bloodworm will be described. Lu Xiao that brat might become so guilty he would jump into the Baishui lake!
“Also, why could I help you lie?” Xu Qiushi said.
Qiu Yutong restrained himself and reluctantly pleaded, “Eldest Master, just do it on behalf of my… father’s face. Could you promise me this request?”
“Alright,” Xu Qiushi’s lips twitched, “En, then I’ll tell him, your body is too weak, and you need to use the five-elements cleansing so that you can continue to cultivate. And this five-element method requires his heartblood to make a medical primer. Saying it like this, is fine right?”
“En, yes, very good.”
The two of them agreed so Xu Qiushi stood up and shouted at the back courtyard, “Hey, that someone, get in!”
Before Lu Xiao could react, Xu Dongqing already gave him a push, “Elder Brother is calling you! Cough cough, he is just like that.”
Lu Xiao took large strides towards the house and gave concerned glances at Qiu Yutonng. He turned to ask Xu Qiushi, “His body is fine?”
Xu Qiushi shook his head and said, “His body is too weak. It could be said to be an inherent weakness and the future is grim. His body is too burdened, he has to use the five-element cleansing before he can continue to cultivate.”
Lu Xiao lowered his eyes and said lowly, “En, so it’s like this.”
Xu Qiushi said, “But, this method to wash the marrows needs a rare medicinal ingredient, and you’re the only one who has this ingredient.”
“What ingredient? Why would I be the only one to have it?” Lu Xiao frowned and said.
“A real emperor’s heartblood,” Xu Qiushi stared at him. “He had already told me your real identity. How about it, Emperor of the Dachen dynasty, are you willing? Relax, we only need to draw out a little every day. I am very skilled and will definitely never affect your body negatively.”
“My heartblood?” Lu Xiao stared, startled, at Xu Qiushi as if he didn’t understand.
“Yes, your heartblood is the primer for this five-element marrow cleansing method.”
Lu Xiao was silent for a moment and didn’t answer for quite a while.
Seeing that he didn’t reply for quite a while Qiu Yutong was slightly disappointed. It wasn’t according to his expectations. His disciple seemed to be unwilling? But then, for seven consecutive days, his heartblood has to be retrieved. Even though it wouldn’t negatively affect his body, but the entire process was extremely painful. It was very natural for Lu Xiao to be unwilling.
Xu Qiushi glanced at Qiu Yutong and that gaze seemed to say: I was right, wasn’t I? Where would there be a person who would be willing to give up their heartblood to treat you?”
The house was completely silent.
After a long, long while, Lu Xiao slowly looked up, his pitch-black eyes looked uncertainly at Qiu Yutong as he said softly, “What do you think?”
Qiu Yutong sighed, “Getting the heartblood will be extremely painful. Every day you’ll have to undergo it once for seven consecutive days. Eldest Master, why don’t we think of another way?”
Xu Qiushi shook his head, “There isn’t another method.”
Lu Xiao was silent for a bit, the contours of his lower jaw moved stiffly as if he had clenched his jaw extremely hard.
He said hoarsely, “You really… want to cultivate that much?”
Qiu Yutong was stunned, “Is that even a question?”
Lu Xiao stared at him for a long while then opened his mouth, his voice as light as a feather, “I understand.”
After that he slowly turned around and stared at Xu Qiushi, “Eldest Master, I am willing to donate my heartblood for the five-element marrow cleansing primer.”
“What did you say?!” Xu Qiushi blinked his eyes, looking shocked. After that, he couldn’t help but be overjoyed at this unexpected news. “Good, good, good, as expected, you have courage!”
Lu Xiao looked down and didn’t answer.
Qiu Yutong sat on the aitai*, staring silently at Lu Xiao and the Xu Qiushi who was all smiles, yet he didn’t feel happy at all.
[T/N: For those who don’t remember, an aitai looks like this:
]
He could tell that Lu Xiao was… very upset.
Qiu Yutong had some suspicions.
He had once promised Lu Xiao that once he had washed his marrows, he would return to Daning Palace with him and be the Imperial Teacher, blessing the weather for the country… But, Lu Xiao looked extremely upset.
That’s right, even though this child was precocious, cool-headed and extremely capable, was actually quite cowardly. He was previously scared of thunder and now he was scared of bleeding.
Qiu Yutong hesitated for a moment before he gently patted the aitai, “Xiao-er, come here and sit.”
“… En.” Lu Xiao paused before he walked over to Qiu Yutong and sat down, looking dazed.
Qiu Yutong looked at his distracted disciple and his heart softened slightly, as he said softly, “Xiao-er, honestly speaking, drawing the heartblood will be extremely painful. Previously, in order to temper my sword, I had it drawn once and the pain nearly killed me… In the end, the tempering failed. Cough cough, but I digress. What I mean is that if you’re not willing, then forget it, there’s no need to force it.”
Lu Xiao stared at him dazedly, his gaze was both frightened and helpless, his eyes were trembling. Even his pitch-black eyebrows seemed to shake slightly.
After a long time, he said softly, “I don’t fear the pain, I just…”
Qiu Yutong said gently, “What is it? It’s fine if you’re not willing, we can think of another way.”
Lu Xiao’s entire body trembled briefly before he shut his eyes in disappointment. He slowly leaned his forehead against Qiu Yutong’s shoulder, and said hoarsely, “I’m willing, I’m willing.”
