Luo Wugou’s eyes widened, and there was an almost unbelievable look of despair in his eyes as if he couldn’t believe that he would die at the hands of a mortal.
Lu Xiao looked down at him with eyes as cold as ice cubes, and the long sword in his hand moved extremely slowly.
“Gurgle gurgle…” With the movement of the long sword, Luo Wugou’s throat made an extremely terrifying dying sound, and a lot of blood-stained pale red foam overflowed from the corner of his mouth.
He stared at Lu Xiao and his pupils gradually dilated.
“Hu…” Lu Xiao sighed softly. Then his body shook slightly, unable to hold it any longer, and fell down softly.
He lay on his back on the cold bluestone brick floor, panting heavily, but after a while, a large amount of thick blood was immersed under his body, and his face was so pale that he almost didn’t look like a living person. After a while, he turned his head with great effort, and his dark eyes turned slightly as if searching for something.
Qiu Yutong stared closely at Lu Xiao; his little apprentice was so helpless, he only felt that his heart was being scorched by the flames… He desperately tried to break free of the hemp ropes on his body, but he was so weak that he couldn’t even move a finger.
“Shi…” Lu Xiao slowly rolled his eyes, looking dazed and stubborn.
After an unknown time, the gazes of the two finally met.
Lu Xiao’s dull eyes lit up slightly as if he was a little angry again, Qiu Yutong felt a pain like a knife being twisted in his heart, and he tried his best to wriggle his lips, and said in a trembling voice, “Xiao-er…”
“I, I’m fine…” Lu Xiao’s voice was so hoarse that he could barely speak.
He took a low breath, tried to smile at Qiu Yutong again, and then turned over with great effort, dragged the long sword with one hand, dug the gap between the bluestone bricks on the ground with the other, and slowly crawled forward.
His slender fingers tightly dug through the cracks of the bluestone bricks, and his five fingernails almost bled out, and he finally managed to climb to a disciple’s side. The disciple looked at him in horror, his lips moved slightly as if begging for mercy, but Lu Xiao completely ignored the other’s pleading eyes, and without hesitation, sent the long sword into the other’s lower abdomen until there was no handle.
Then, he continued to climb to the next…
In less than half an hour, on the ground of the small earth temple, were all messy mottled bloodstains, some of which were the blood of the dead, some of which were dragged from under Lu Xiao. It was almost impossible to tell whose blood it was…
Lu Xiao took a deep breath and raised his head with difficulty, as if he was looking outside the temple. Qiu Yutong froze in his heart, and following his gaze, he raised his eyes to look outside the temple.
That was the last disciple.
The disciple was lying on his back about two feet outside the door of the Earth Temple. He was the farthest away from the fire, and he should have inhaled the least poisonous smoke.
Lu Xiao rested for a while, then slowly climbed to the threshold again, and tried to get out. The threshold of the small temple was only half a foot high. Lu Xiao was very tall and had long legs. Usually, he could step over it casually but he was panting weakly on the ground, looking extremely pitiful.
Qiu Yutong looked at him, and his heart throbbed so hard that he could barely breathe.
His little apprentice lay there blankly, with even the hem of his shirt dragged on the ground was soaked with blood. He looked so discomfited, so helpless, so desperate, just like the one who was lying in the snow more than ten years ago. The child was almost exactly the same… But at this moment, he didn’t have the slightest ability to help him a little…
The disciple outside the door stared at Lu Xiao, his eyes were both frightened and fearful.
He didn’t know how long the stalemate lasted, and suddenly, the disciple’s little finger moved slightly. He was stunned for a moment, and then there was ecstasy in his eyes!
The effect of the medicine would be over soon!
Lu Xiao also seemed to understand something. He stared at the disciple sinisterly, his eyes bloodshot. His slender fingers dug at the threshold, his two fingernails had been turned up, revealing hideous flesh and blood, but he couldn’t seem to feel it at all…
Just a little bit, just a little bit… he had to… he wanted to protect…
The young disciple tried his best to move his fingers, he groped and tore off a small scroll from his waist.
It was a message scroll.
Lu Xiao, Qiu Yutong, and Xu Dongqing all stared at the small message scroll, only to feel that their breathing was almost stagnant. As long as that person threw the message scroll into the air, Chen Wushang and Tu Wuwei would immediately get the news, and everything would be over!
The disciple raised his hand tremblingly, and was about to throw it into the air—
“Ah—” At almost the same instant, Lu Xiao roared like a mad beast, like a severely injured beast!!
He almost exhausted all his strength and desperately threw the long sword forward!!
The scroll fell to the ground.
The sharp sword pierced through the young disciple’s chest, nailing him to the ground, he died with remaining grievance!
Lu Xiao did not say a word and passed out.
The moon showed half of its face from behind the clouds again, the gauze-like light was still cold and clear, and the branches and leaves all over the mountains rustled in the night wind as if everything was no different. But inside and outside this small earth temple, the bodies of the nine Beihai Sword Sect cultivators were scattered all over the place. The strong bloody smell was almost intoxicating.
“Xiao-er, Xiao-er…” Qiu Yutong desperately tried to lift something, even a hand, even a finger, as long as he could move, as long as he could move… He didn’t know how long it took until the tip of his left finger finally moved slightly.
He almost struggled to get rid of the hemp rope on his body, and then forced his weak legs to stand up extremely reluctantly, frantically throwing himself onto Lu Xiao, ” Xiao-er! Wake up! Wake up… I beg you… Shizun is begging you… I don’t allow you to die, you unfilial disciple, you haven’t repaid the kindness of your teacher’s upbringing, how can you die, how can you die…”
Lu Xiao’s dark eyelashes trembled slightly, and slowly opened his eyes, his eyes were extremely confused, “..Shizun?”
Qiu Yutong was full of rapture, “Xiao-er!”
Lu Xiao smiled at him extremely reluctantly and his eyelids drooped uncontrollably, “Shizun, I, I am so sleepy… I really want to sleep… I, I might be dying…”
Qiu Yutong sternly said, “Don’t talk nonsense! I don’t allow you to die! Listen closely, This teacher is ordering you not to die!”
“I don’t want to die, I still want…” Lu Xiao seemed to have lost consciousness, and the sound of his low voice was intermittent, “I, I used to be too naive… I thought I could protect you all my life… I was so naive, so selfish… I, I can’t believe that I did that kind of thing… I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
He apologized in a daze, and suddenly coughed violently, all of which was warm blood, dripping onto Qiu Yutong’s white shirt, so dark red and so dazzling.
Qiu Yutong trembled and suddenly tightly hugged his little apprentice, his voice trembling almost uncontrollably, “What nonsense are you talking about… You will be fine, nothing will happen to you, nothing will happen to you …”
Lu Xiao didn’t seem to be able to hear what Qiu Yutong was saying. After he coughed violently for a while, he gasped for two more breaths and continued to mutter, “In a moment, you… you should gouge out my heart. I have this medicine scripture in my arms, which I took in the refining pharmacy… Inside, there is a recipe for a soup to wash the marrow… Take my token back to the capital and let the imperial doctor make it according to the recipe… You can continue cultivating… When you recover your cultivation, you will never be bullied at random like today… You, you are the strongest sword cultivator in the world, how can you be humiliated at will…”
“What are you talking about?! Stop talking, stop talking…”
Lu Xiao’s voice became softer and softer, and gradually he could hardly hear it, “Shizun, you… don’t forget me. It’s better, it’s better to remember a little longer… just… a little longer, can you…”
“Xiao-er, Xiao-er!” Qiu Yutong panicked completely, and his mind went blank. He almost subconsciously held up Lu Xiao’s upper body with one hand, and tightly pressed the bloody vest with the other, desperately trying to send a little bit of spiritual power into the body.
However, that little bit of spiritual power disappeared with no hope of returning; there was no reaction at all.
Xu Dongqing was tied to the pillar, and his whole body was also soft. He moved his lips hard and said hoarsely, “Let me go, let me try. I, I have some medical skills that I learned from my brother.……”
“What did you say?!” Qiu Yutong suddenly turned his head to look at Xu Dongqing, a little hope ignited in his heart. He stumbled over and almost fell in the middle. With trembling hands, he untangled the hemp rope on Xu Dongqing’s body and helped him to Lu Xiao’s side.
“Help me, lay him down,” Xu Dongqing took care of Qiu Yutong, and the two put Lu Xiao into a lying position with great effort. Xu Dongqing took a deep breath and gently pulled the bloody clothes on Lu Xiao’s chest away, and then he took a breath of cold air – on the strong and broad chest, there was a very deep penetrating sword wound. Thick, warm blood spilled like a spring, and it could not be stopped at all.
“How could this be…” Qiu Yutong stared blankly at the hideous wound, his heart fell straight into an ice cave.
Xu Dongqing gritted his teeth and tapped two acupuncture points on Lu Xiao’s chest with force, then hesitated a little, and tapped another two acupuncture points. After a while, the speed of the blood flow gradually slowed down, but it still did not stop.
Qiu Yutong said anxiously, “How is it? Do you need me to do anything?”
Xu Dongqing took a breath, “My technique is too poor to completely stop the bleeding. He seems to have taken my brother’s Soul Bewilderment charcoal… I don’t know if he took other things, such as wound medicine or something.”
“I’ll look for it,” Qiu Yutong groped in Lu Xiao’s arms for a while, and sure enough, he found a few small bottles and boxes, as well as a thin roll of medicine scriptures.
Xu Dongqing’s eyes lit up slightly and picked up a small black jade box: “Yes, Deer Antler Ink Ointment!”
He held the small box and tried to unscrew the lid, but, he was only a normal young man after all. At this time, the efficacy of the Soul Bewilderment charcoal had not completely passed, and his hands were soft and slippery, so he could not open it at all.
Qiu Yutong grabbed the box and said, “I’ll open it!”
After unscrewing the lid of the box, there was half a box of dark green translucent ointment, which was fragrant and refreshing.
“This Deer Antler Ink Ointment is the best blood staunching panacea in the world. You pick a little bit and apply it to the wound… Just a little bit the size of a fingernail is enough. The rest is up to him, ” Xu Dongqing said hoarsely.
Before he could finish his words, Qiu Yutong had already dug a large lump of deer antler ink jade ointment and carefully pasted it on the wound on Lu Xiao’s chest. Then dug out another lump, and continued to paste it on it, as if he was not holding some precious panacea, but a typical sore medicine worth only five coins on the street.
“Uh, you have applied too much. By the way, if there is spiritual power to activate the veins and help the absorption of the medicine, perhaps his chance of survival will be greater,” Xu Dongqing coughed, “However, I heard my brother say, he seems to have Heavenly Veins, and I don’t know if spiritual power can be channeled…”
“Try it then talk!” After Qiu Yutong finished applying the ointment, regardless of the consequences, he pressed against the Tanzhong acupoint on Lu Xiao’s chest tightly with one hand, and the Lingtai acupoint on the back with the other hand, and then took a deep breath, channeling all the remaining spiritual power in his body.
He used all his effort until he felt that his dantian was empty, and he almost collapsed, but Lu Xiao still closed his eyes tightly, without any response, his face gradually paling.
“Xiao-er…” Qiu Yutong was a little desperate.
He stared blankly at his only little apprentice in his arms, his mind was blank, and he was almost numb to the pain… He didn’t know how long it took. Suddenly there was a soft sound, and a drop of transparent water fell on Lu Xiao’s dark eyelashes.
Qiu Yutong was stunned for a moment, slowly raised his hand in disbelief, and gently touched his cheek.
His hands touched ice-cold wetness.
Was this… was this a tear? He had an innate sword body, had practiced for more than two hundred years, and had engaged in secular society for more than ten years. He had never shed tears… Was this what crying felt like?
Xu Dongqing couldn’t help but purse his lips a little, then carefully felt Lu Xiao’s pulse, and said softly, “Don’t be too anxious, although his condition is not very good, there is still a weak pulse… He can be saved.”
Qiu Yutong grabbed Xu Dongqing’s arm, as if grabbing a life-saving straw, and said hoarsely. “Really, really? What should I do? There was no response at all after I channeled spiritual power.”
“No response? But no backflow?”
Qiu Yutong nodded, “Yes, there was no reaction.”
Xu Dongqing murmured, “According to the medical book, if he has the Heavenly Vein and cannot absorb external spiritual power at all, then your spiritual power should flow back, just like if a river is blocked, it will overflow. He didn’t react at all like this, it’s very strange, I, I can’t figure it out, maybe my brother knows…”
He paused suddenly, unable to speak.
Qiu Yutong took a deep breath, closed his eyes again, and finally calmed down a little, “Heavenly Vein and whatnot, we’ll talk about this later. It’s not suitable to stay here for a long time, we have to leave here immediately, and find another quiet place to treat him well.”
Xu Dongqing woke up from a dream, “Yes, yes!”
After thinking for a while, he picked up Luo Wugou’s yin and yang bag again, “I’ll look through it later, maybe there is some medicine in it.”
“En, you take it,” Qiu Yutong gritted his teeth, shakingly carrying Lu Xiao on his back. Xu Dongqing supported a branch to explore the road ahead, and the two of them pushed aside the long grass and walked deeper into the jungle.
The night was dark, the forest was dark, and the dense foliage made the moonlight almost impermeable. Qiu Yutong carried Lu Xiao on his back and walked with one foot deep and one shallow. It was like being filled with lead… Just when he was almost unable to move, Xu Dongqing suddenly whispered, “There seems to be a cave ahead.”
Qiu Yutong looked up, and under the cold and hazy moonlight, among the trees ahead, there was indeed a small cave.
He took a low breath, “Go in and hide.”
Xu Dongqing pursed his lips gently, “You are too tired, let me carry him for you.”
Qiu Yutong shook his head and rejected his good intentions again, “You are a mortal, and you were poisoned just now… He can’t fall again in this state.”
“It’s all my fault. How could I be so useless,” Xu Dongqing said in a low voice, “I used to think highly of myself, I felt that I had a wide range of contacts and was much better than my brother, but in reality…”
“You’re too young, and things have been smooth sailing in the past. Sudden changes are inevitable, so don’t blame yourself too much, ” Qiu Yutong sighed.
While talking, the three of them had already entered the cave, Qiu Yutong put Lu Xiao on the ground lightly, and quickly felt under his nose. His fingers felt a slightly warm breath. Feeling relieved, he looked up at Xu Dongqing, “What about the medicines?”
Xu Dongqing took out a small jade bottle and poured out a red pill, “Blood has stopped, but it is still very dangerous. This is a Bear Gall Red Sage Pill, which can protect the heart, but the medicinal properties are a bit fierce… No matter what, he should survive first. “
Qiu Yutong nodded, took the small red pill, and tried his best to open Lu Xiao’s mouth and stuffed the pill inside. But Lu Xiao closed his eyes tightly, his throat didn’t move, and he didn’t know how to swallow.
“He doesn’t seem to be able to swallow… What can I do?” Qiu Yutong muttered.
“It would be great if there was water to wash the medicine down. But it’s the middle of the night in this wilderness, where can I go to find water?” Xu Dongqing frowned, unable to do anything.
“What should I do?” Qiu Yutong was a little out of control again, but at this time, Lu Xiao could only rely on him, and he must not panic… He closed his eyes tightly, pinched his palms, and tried his best to calm down.
That’s right, when he was in Daning Palace before, he caught a cold on the Qixue Terrace and slept for five days and five nights due to the cold poison. He refused to drink the bitter medicine in his sleep… At that time, what did Lu Xiao do? Lu Xiao he…
At this time, Qiu Yutong couldn’t care less anymore. He buried his head without hesitation, pressed his two cold and dry lips tightly, and the soft tip of his tongue tried to pry open the closed gap. After searching for a long time, he finally found the small life-saving pill and pushed it hard into Lu Xiao’s throat.
“Hmm…” Lu Xiao’s throat moved slightly, then his dark eyelashes trembled slightly, and he slowly opened his eyes.
