Chapter 3: A Mortal in the Mortal Realm, Meeting the Cloud Dream Immortal at the Flying (Part 3)
by GideonAfter a period of circulating his internal breath, Wen Jin’s forehead was already covered in a fine sheen of sweat. Yet the body in his arms remained deathly cold. He needed to continuously channel his internal breath, transferring pure yang qi into Lan Xiangru’s body.
A moment later, the partially open door was gently pushed open, and a middle-aged man with purple robes and silver hair walked in.
Feng Shulou bowed deeply in greeting. “Uncle Ji, you’ve arrived.”
Wen Jin had no time to spare, but hearing the address, he knew the newcomer was Ji Yuanfeng, the Deputy City Lord of Fengyue City.
Ji Yuanfeng’s beard and hair were entirely white, yet his skin was as smooth as a young man’s. His white eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and his expression was grave, clearly shocked by the extraordinarily unusual yin-cold aura filling the room.
Only after Wen Jin finished circulating his breath did Feng Shulou finally speak. “Uncle Ji, this is my childhood friend, Wen Jin.” He then turned to Wen Jin. “This is the Deputy City Lord of Fengyue City—the Spring Forest Apricot Hand, Ji Yuanfeng.”
Wen Jin gently laid Lan Xiangru down, quickly dressed, and stepped off the bed. He cupped his fist in greeting to Ji Yuanfeng. “This junior greets City Lord Ji.”
Ji Yuanfeng nodded, then walked to the bed. He did not begin with a pulse diagnosis like an ordinary physician. Instead, he raised his hand and pressed lightly several times on Lan Xiangru’s dantian.
The unconscious man could not speak, yet he instinctively furrowed his brows as if in excruciating pain.
Wen Jin tried to intervene, but Feng Shulou caught his wrist and shook his head, signaling him not to disturb Ji Yuanfeng.
After a moment, Ji Yuanfeng asked Wen Jin, “Who inflicted this injury?”
Wen Jin answered truthfully, “Half a month ago, I passed through a village in Luzhou and found the entire place slaughtered by the Demonic Cult. Only he remained, clinging to a single breath of life.”
Ji Yuanfeng narrowed his eyes. “The Heaven-Seizing Cult?”
Wen Jin added, “I am not certain if Brother Lan’s injuries were caused by the Heaven-Seizing Cult. At the time, besides several dead disciples of that cult, the Yin-Yang Twin Fiends were also present at the scene.”
Ji Yuanfeng fell silent, lost in thought.
Then, Feng Shulou asked, “Xiao Jin, what sect does your friend belong to?”
“We met by chance, and I do not know him well,” Wen Jin said with a faint smile. “I simply could not bear to see him die so horribly wounded, which is why I traveled all this way, hoping someone in your city could save his life.”
Ji Yuanfeng’s voice turned cold. “He cannot be saved.”
Such a definitive statement left Wen Jin stunned. “W-Why?”
Ji Yuanfeng replied, “Reconnecting severed tendons is not difficult, but restoring severed meridians is no simple task.”
Wen Jin cupped his fist in a respectful salute. “Senior, I implore you to enlighten me.”
Ji Yuanfeng replied, “The ‘tendons’ are the foundation of the human body, while the ‘meridians’ are its qi. If the qi meridians are depleted, any attempt to forcibly reconnect them would be futile. His qi meridians are severely damaged. If we were to attempt a tendon reconnection now, he would undoubtedly die.”
Feng Shulou frowned, about to speak, but Ji Yuanfeng interrupted him. “Shulou, your father will emerge from seclusion in ten days. The Demonic Cult has been stirring recently, intent on encroaching upon the Central Plains Martial World. If you wish to protect the hundreds of people in Fengyue City, you must focus on guarding your father’s formation.”
Feng Shulou swallowed the words he had been about to say and nodded. “Yes, Senior.”
With a wave of his sleeve, Ji Yuanfeng turned and departed.
Wen Jin, sensing the hidden meaning in their exchange, realized that Lan Xiangru was not beyond saving. He tentatively asked, “Big Brother Feng, are there certain conditions your city requires to treat a patient?”
Feng Shulou looked at him with a complex expression. “Xiao Jin, we have known each other since childhood, so I will not hide the truth from you. If this person were your close friend, I would spare no effort to treat him. But you and he are mere strangers who met by chance. Fengyue City dares not risk intervening.”
Wen Jin asked in confusion, “Big Brother Feng, why do you say this?”
Feng Shulou got straight to the point. “An ordinary physician would diagnose his pulse and assume the Yin-cold qi within his body is merely the result of accumulated poison. However, Fengyue City is a lineage of both medicine and martial arts, capable of diagnosing and treating what others cannot. Though my skills pale before Father’s and Uncle Ji’s, I can say with certainty that the cold qi within him is no ordinary affliction. It is almost certainly the result of cultivating a specific martial art.”
Wen Jin was slightly taken aback. “Cultivating a martial art?”
Feng Shulou nodded. “Few in the martial world cultivate such Yin-cold techniques. Even if they do, it is usually some form of heterodox art despised by all.”
The implication was clear: Lan Xiangru might not be a righteous cultivator.
Wen Jin gazed at the unconscious man, falling silent for a long moment before speaking slowly. “The internal cultivation methods of the martial world each have their own merits. Big Brother Feng, you cannot judge him to be an evil cultivator based solely on this point.”
Feng Shulou realized he had been too hasty and felt a wave of shame. Before he could even offer an apology, Wen Jin continued, “Brother Lan was someone I pulled from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. Since Yantang Zhengli decided to save him, we cannot abandon him halfway. If he truly turns out to be some unpardonable villain, then one day… I will personally end his life.”
Feng Shulou sighed softly, his voice tinged with guilt. “I spoke out of turn just now. Please, do not take it to heart. Xiao Jin, it is late. You should rest. We will discuss the rest tomorrow.”
He had thought Fengyue City would readily agree to save the man, allowing Wen Jin to depart for his mission in Qianxi without worry. Instead, Lan Xiangru’s identity had become the most pressing issue, forcing him to remain in Fengyue City to negotiate the treatment strategy.
Worry weighed heavily on Wen Jin’s heart. As he recalled Feng Shulou’s words, a wave of conflicting emotions washed over him. After Feng Shulou left, he pressed his palm against Lan Xiangru’s dantian and felt the bone-chilling aura—it was truly extraordinary.
He withdrew his hand in a daze and sat on the edge of the bed, remaining silent all night.
The next morning, Feng Shulou came to the West Courtyard to change Lan Xiangru’s bandages. Seeing that he had awakened, Feng Shulou teased him while applying the medicine, “Brother Lan is so well-kept. You don’t look like a wanderer of the martial world at all, but rather a noble young master from a prestigious family.”
Lan Xiangru was tall and fair-skinned. Without the crisscrossing sword wounds covering his body, he did indeed resemble a pampered young master.
Wen Jin knew Feng Shulou was probing for information, so he waited quietly to the side without offering a word.
Lan Xiangru shifted his gaze, his indifferent eyes gradually focusing on the young City Lord’s face. The man who had remained silent for so long finally spoke. “My father, Lan Chengen, once served as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.”
This seemingly non sequitur answer left both Wen Jin and Feng Shulou stunned.
Though they were men of the martial world, they knew that the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue was a fourth-rank official—a pillar of the imperial court who managed the census, farmland, and taxes of the various regions. Such a position carried immense power and prestige, enough to make anyone tremble in awe.
If Lan Xiangru came from such a noble family, how could he have fallen to such a state?
Feng Shulou pondered for a long moment. After finishing the bandages on Lan Xiangru’s wounds, he continued his probing. “Brother Lan, your injuries are too severe to be taken lightly. Fortunately, Jin-di has taken good care of you these past few days and prevented them from worsening. If your esteemed father and mother saw you covered in such wounds, they would surely be worried sick.”
Wen Jin crossed his arms and leaned lazily against the bedpost. He saw Lan Xiangru’s eyes darken at that moment, his jawline suddenly tightening. “They will never see me again.”
Feng Shulou was bewildered. Before he could ask for clarification, Lan Xiangru closed his eyes, refusing to speak further.
After finishing the dressing, Feng Shulou hurried to Ji Yuanfeng’s residence, the Rain-Watching Pavilion, and reported everything he had just learned.
Though Fengyue City was a martial arts clan, many of its disciples were Confucian scholars, and it held considerable influence within the imperial court. Upon hearing the report, Ji Yuanfeng immediately dispatched secret agents to investigate the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Lan Chengen. Before half a day had passed, a secret letter arrived back in the city.
Ji Yuanfeng’s expression darkened as he finished reading. Seeing this, Feng Shulou sensed that the matter was far from simple. He took the letter and read it, his eyes widening in shock. “The entire family of the Left Vice Minister was exterminated fourteen years ago…”
Ji Yuanfeng frowned. “Lan Chengen’s death was too suspicious. Even the court couldn’t uncover the source of the calamity.”
The Lan Clan Extermination Case had been so bizarre that even the combined efforts of the Court of Judicial Review and the Ministry of Justice failed to solve it. In the end, the court could only hastily close the case, and for years afterward, no one dared mention it again.
Feng Shulou produced a tinderbox, slowly lit the secret letter, and dropped it into a nearby brazier. “The letter also says that although the Lan family met a tragic end, the Left Vice Minister’s only son narrowly escaped. He may still be alive.”
Ji Yuanfeng paced to the window and stood with his hands clasped behind his back, offering no response.
Feng Shulou added, “Minister Lan was an upright official, loyal to the emperor and devoted to the people. If his descendant is indeed Lan Xiangru, our Fengyue City cannot stand by and watch him perish.”
Ji Yuanfeng asked in a deep voice, “And if he is not?”
Feng Shulou was momentarily speechless. After a long pause, he finally spoke. “The Lan Clan Extermination Case was suppressed by the Imperial Court, so ordinary people would not know the inside story. Even if Lan Xiangru is not the son of the Left Vice Minister, he must have some connection to the Lan Family.
“In my humble opinion, we should keep him here for now and find an opportunity to test him. We will surely be able to uncover Lan Xiangru’s true identity, and perhaps even learn the truth behind the Lan Clan Extermination Case.”
A gentle breeze blew outside the window, rustling a strand of Ji Yuanfeng’s white hair. He gazed at a banana tree nearby, as if lost in thought. Only when the wind ceased and the leaves fell still did he say calmly, “You must have noticed the chilling aura within his body. This is a result of his martial arts practice, and I fear it is closely related to the long-lost Azure Nether Heart Scripture of the martial world.”
Feng Shulou asked curiously, “The Azure Nether Heart Scripture? What is that?”
Ji Yuanfeng replied, “The Azure Nether Heart Scripture was the life’s work of the Seven-Fingered Sword Immortal, the master of Murong Shu, the previous Martial Arts Alliance Leader. The scripture is divided into two volumes, Yin and Yang, representing the Yin-Yang Dual Cultivation Mental Method. However, Yin and Yang have always been in conflict; these two mental methods cannot be practiced simultaneously. At best, one would suffer qigong deviation; at worst, they would die a violent death.”
Feng Shulou nodded slowly in understanding. “Since the Azure Nether Heart Scripture was composed by the Seven-Fingered Sword Immortal, then those who practice it must be of the righteous path.”
“Not so,” Ji Yuanfeng countered. “This mental cultivation method vanished nineteen years ago. There are rumors it fell into the hands of the Demonic Cult.”
Feng Shulou’s heart sank. He opened his mouth to speak, then hesitated.
Ji Yuanfeng turned back to him, his expression grave. “I know you want to say that one cannot judge whether a person is righteous or evil based solely on their internal martial arts mental cultivation method. But you must understand, with the Heaven-Seizing Cult now terrorizing the martial world, everyone in the Jianghu is living in fear. Returning Cloud Villa has already been destroyed. How can Fengyue City avoid the same fate? Do not forget, your own brother was murdered by the Demonic Cult.”
Before Feng Shulou could utter a word, Ji Yuanfeng continued, “In extraordinary times, we must take extraordinary measures. A man like Lan Xiangru… cannot be allowed to remain.”
[ Author’s Note ]
City Lord Ji: Lan Xiangru is a demon from the Demonic Cult.
Xiao Jin:
Xiao Lan:
Xiao Jin: He’s not!
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