Chapter 1312: Fragrance Fades, Jade Falls

Seeing Xuan Wei lying on the table and Ximen Qingkong slumped nearby, Yucang smiled. He was relieved as well.

Wuxin merely turned his head for a glance. Seeing a group of men forcing their way inside, anger flickered across his face. Xuan Wei was nearly naked at the moment.

But he truly had no attention to spare. He turned back and continued his work, dipping silver needles one after another in medicine and continually inserting them around Xuan Wei's heart and into her head.

He drove the needles in, drew them back out, replenished the medicine on them, then inserted them again at vital points.

At this moment, Xuan Wei was essentially already dead. Wuxin was exhausting every method he knew to preserve the last thread of vitality in her heart meridian and prevent the poison from breaking through it, while also resisting the poison's erosion of her brain. Otherwise, even if he managed to save her life, she would be left an idiot.

If he did not act, then so be it. But once he acted, he had to do everything in his power to succeed. Anything less would be a desecration of his own medical skill.

He was now fighting death itself over Xuan Wei's body. How could he permit even the slightest carelessness?

The outsiders knew none of this. They only thought he had quite the temper.

Yucang glanced at the graceful body half-covered by white cloth and bristling with silver needles. Out of basic propriety, he averted his eyes rather than stare at Xuan Wei's body, then walked around to face Wuxin. "Mr. Wuxin, there's no need to keep busy. Hand her over and let me take her away."

Dugu Jing and Guo Xingshan stood on either side of him with Heavenly Sword Talismans in hand, highly alert to Yan Baoru. To them, she was the greatest threat present.

Still working, Wuxin gave only one answer. "Get out!"

Being told to get out again and again left Yucang losing face. "Wuxin, even if your master, the Ghost Doctor, were here, he would have to think carefully before interfering without authorization in affairs between the states. Even the Nine Saints try not to involve themselves in such matters. You're being far too arrogant. Out of respect for your master, I don't want to make things difficult for you, but you should know when to be sensible. Even if your master came in person, the principle would still stand!"

Wuxin had no time to waste words with him. Since he could not drive the man out, he could only put the life before him first and deal with everything else afterward.

But his refusal even to acknowledge Yucang only made Yucang angrier. His voice sank. "Take her away!"

Men immediately closed in.

Yan Baoru could no longer concern herself with Ximen Qingkong. Afraid Wuxin's stubborn single-mindedness would get him hurt, she rushed forward and hauled him aside.

Abruptly interrupted, Wuxin exploded in anger. He turned on Yan Baoru and slapped her across the face.

Smack!

The slap rang crisp and loud. Yan Baoru froze, but there was nothing she could do. Nor did she become angry.

She understood Wuxin's attitude toward treating a patient. Wuxin, however, did not understand what it meant that these people had dared force their way in. They were nothing like common street thugs. Once provoked, they were people who killed without blinking.

The slap also made Yucang pause. Seeing Yan Baoru take the blow without losing her temper, looking for all the world like a meek maidservant, he could not help smiling and shaking his head.

"What are you doing?" Wuxin turned and saw Xiaoyue Pavilion's men pulling the silver needles from Xuan Wei's body. He erupted in thunderous fury. "Stop!"

Yan Baoru held him back and refused to let go. Protecting Wuxin's safety came first.

The Xiaoyue Pavilion men were not removing the needles out of malice. Xuan Wei's body was covered with them, making her awkward to carry, so they naturally pulled them out as a matter of convenience.

The moment Wuxin saw the silver needles anchoring the vital points disappear, his eyes widened. It was as though all strength had been sucked from him at once. He stood blankly, his knees buckled, and he started to sink to the floor.

In that instant, he realized that no matter how great his medical skill, before overwhelming power he could still be this insignificant, this helpless.

Fortunately, Yan Baoru was holding him and kept him from collapsing.

Yucang also sensed from the scene that something was wrong. He suddenly barked, "The antidote! Quickly! Protect her heart meridian!"

He intended to take Xuan Wei away and pry open her mouth to obtain what he wanted. Naturally, he was relying on the fact that he possessed the antidote to the deadly poison on the Heavenly Mechanism Aura-Breaking Arrows. There had been no need, in his mind, for Wuxin to expend so much effort.

Men moved at once. One used spiritual power while another took out the antidote and forced open Xuan Wei's mouth.

But the instant her mouth was squeezed open, bloody fluid welled between her blue-black lips. Even so, they forced the pill into her mouth and used spiritual power to drive it down into her stomach, intending to help refine the pill and accelerate its medicinal effect.

The man using spiritual power to protect Xuan Wei's heart meridian suddenly twitched at the corner of his mouth. Slowly, awkwardly, he looked up at Yucang. "Pavilion Master... she's... she's dead."

Yucang started. He shoved the man aside and checked her himself.

After the examination, he too went blank. Slowly, he raised his head and looked toward Wuxin, whose face had gone utterly dispirited in the space of a few breaths.

Only then did Yucang realize something. His own arrogance might have made him commit a mistake. Perhaps he truly should have waited quietly until Wuxin finished saving her before doing anything else.

He suddenly turned toward the unconscious Ximen Qingkong and pointed. "Quick! The antidote!"

Xuan Wei was dead, but Ximen Qingkong might still know something. After expending so much effort, Yucang could not allow it all to come to nothing.

Men hurried over in confusion to save Ximen Qingkong and administer the antidote.

Wuxin did not even look at them. He only stared blankly at Xuan Wei lying peacefully on the table. Everything else, including whether they saved Ximen Qingkong, no longer mattered to him. One person had died. What meaning was there to him now in whether one died or two?

The woman on the table lay silent and still, her body only lightly covered by a thin cloth, her face still beautiful as a flower.

Once a mighty chancellor, the last Empress Regnant, she had stood so high above others, surrounded by glory, revered by tens of thousands and supported by countless people.

And she had also been so helpless. To wear the crown was to bear its weight. She had struggled bitterly, trying to save her state, and in the end she had failed.

Just as the man before her had tried to save her life, and in the end had failed as well.

That crown had seemed an invisible shackle. While she struggled bitterly and refused to break free, it was as though her fate had already been bound to decay together with that of her state. The state was gone. Her home was gone. And she seemed to have lost the meaning of her own existence with them.

Only at death's door, when she realized that crown no longer existed and suddenly awoke from her obsession—when she understood at last that the sea of suffering was boundless, and that to turn back was to find the shore—did it seem that she had understood too late.

Her features remained as lovely as flowers and jade. Only the blue-black lips and the streak of blood running from her mouth gave that beautiful face an eerie cast.

The last Empress Regnant ultimately died far from home in a foreign land, in this tiny room filled with the smell of medicine. Even Yucang, staring at her face, felt an inexplicable heaviness settle over him and stood in silence.

From what had just happened, Yucang realized that he might inadvertently have ended the life of the only Empress Regnant among the seven states.

He had always known this woman would die by his hand, because he had never intended to let her go. He simply had not expected it to happen in this fashion.

For some reason, it left him irritated. At the very least, he had not yet made the woman speak and reveal what he wanted to know.

Guo Xingshan, crouched beside Ximen Qingkong, rose and came over to report. "Master, he should be all right. Once the poison is fully cleared, he should wake."

Yucang released a breath. "Search him."

Someone immediately searched Ximen Qingkong. They did not spare Xuan Wei's corpse either, using spiritual power to check whether anything had been hidden inside her body. They even searched through her hair.

For many emperors, not even death brought peace. This was mild by comparison. Since ancient times, there had been no shortage of rulers dug from their graves after burial and their corpses whipped.

Yan Baoru's gaze moved over what they were doing. She looked at Xuan Wei's desecrated body on the table, then at the unconscious Ximen Qingkong. One living, one dead, both in the same room, while the living man knew nothing of the other's passing.

She had heard of Ximen Qingkong's devotion to Xuan Wei.

She had personally seen him carry Xuan Wei into this place, drop heavily to his knees, and beg through tears for her life to be saved.

She did not know how Ximen Qingkong would react when he woke and learned that Xuan Wei was dead...

In the end, they found nothing. On Ximen Qingkong they discovered only several Heavenly Sword Talismans, some valuables, medicinal pills, and similar items.

Yucang's face remained rigid. He looked around, unwilling to miss anything, and shouted, "Search this entire courtyard carefully!"

His men immediately began overturning chests and cabinets. Bottles and jars were emptied, and all manner of medicines were scattered across the floor.

Wuxin, gradually recovering from his stupor, stared coldly at Yucang.

At this point, Yucang no longer cared whether Wuxin was pleased or not. Were it not for the fact that Wuxin had some background, Yucang would have felt like killing him outright.

The residence was not large, but a truly thorough search would still take some time.

Yucang swept a cold gaze over Wuxin. "To avoid any omissions, until I find what I'm looking for, I'll have to trouble all of you to come with us. Once the items are found, you'll naturally be released unharmed."

Yan Baoru flared. "Yucang, don't go too far!"

She understood what he meant. He was worried the dead woman might have handed the objects to them, so to eliminate every possibility, he meant to place them all under control first.

In other words, if he could not pry anything out of Ximen Qingkong, it would be their turn to be interrogated.

"So what if you're number two on the Golden Core Ranking? You aren't qualified to run wild in front of this old man!" Already in a foul mood, Yucang rebuked her and pointed at Ximen Qingkong. "If you don't want to become the second one lying there, cooperate obediently!"

The meaning was plain: even the number-one expert on the Golden Core Ranking had ended up like this. What did she think she was?

"You..." Yan Baoru was furious.

Wuxin, now calm again, tugged at her sleeve and murmured into her ear, "I'm a burden if you take me with you. Don't worry about me. You leave first. The bell under the eaves by the entrance..."

Noticing the two whispering, Yucang pointed at them angrily. "What are you muttering about?"

Yan Baoru drew a deep breath, then suddenly flashed away. Her back slammed into the wall.

Crash!

She burst straight through it.

Brick and stone exploded outward. The people outside had been caught completely off guard and saw only a blur of movement break through.

Knocking several men aside, Yan Baoru landed at the front gate and looked up, only to discover that the bell which had always hung beneath the eaves was gone.

"Stop her!" Yucang's shout came from inside.

Yan Baoru was anxious, but the other side had superior numbers and possessed killing weapons such as Heavenly Sword Talismans and Heavenly Mechanism Aura-Breaking Arrows. There was no reason to suffer an immediate loss. She could only flash away.

Yan Baoru's escape was one thing. Someone else had disappeared as well: Guo Man.

"Where is she?" Dugu Jing demanded from the courtyard.

One man replied, "She left."

Dugu Jing erupted. "Who told you to let her leave?"

That left everyone awkward.

They had only known they were here to seize Ximen Qingkong and Xuan Wei. No one had said they were targeting Wuxin and the others. Combined with the Ghost Doctor's reputation, they had simply watched Guo Man walk away. Put another way, they had never considered her important.

Once he understood what had happened, Dugu Jing pointed outside and roared, "Then why aren't you searching for her?"

One person had escaped. Who could guarantee that Xuan Wei had not given the missing objects to the woman who fled?

Some men went to search for her. Others continued overturning the residence in search of the missing items. Wuxin was escorted outside as well.

They did not treat him too harshly. No one bound him or dragged him by force.

As Wuxin was escorted through the gate, he looked up and saw that the bell beneath the eaves was gone. He said nothing, merely followed Xiaoyue Pavilion's people away in silence.

[End of Chapter 1312]