Song of Adolescence

Chapter 449 Between Life and Death

"Look out!" Wuchan shouted in alarm. He leaped forward, pressed the palms of his hands together, and his entire body flashed with a golden light.

"Thud!" With a loud sound, the ghost doctor's fist struck his body.

Wuchan retreated three steps and vomited a mouthful of fresh blood. His Unbreakable Vajra Body Arts was actually broken by this fist. Xie Xuan spun around and reached out to support Wuchan. He looked at Ye Ya who had lost his consciousness and sighed. "How fanatic was he to refine himself into a medicine man."

Unfortunately, Ye Ya could no longer answer him. His body gradually expanded and carved patterns appeared on the surface of his skin while his fingernails grew longer and sharper.

"It's all an obsession." Xie Xuan sighed, raised his sword and said softly, "Thirty years of hovering between life and death, guarding two hundred miles of a lonely tomb. When night comes the remnant soul returns home, who grooms herself before the bronze mirror?"

The Book of Knowledge left his hand for an instant and Xie Xuan flashed, appearing behind Ye Ya. He reached out and caught his sword before wiping away the blood on the blade.

Ye Ya's body finally collapsed.

Wuchan exclaimed, "Mister, your swordsmanship is really amazing."

Ming Hou looked at Ye Ya's corpse and asked, "Mister, what did the poem you just recited mean?"

"It was a poem in memory of his deceased wife. The ghost doctor Ye Ya was once a disciple of Medicine King Valley, and the shidi of the current Medicine King Xin Baicao. When he was younger, his medical skills were renowned under Heaven, no less than Xin Baicao's. But then his wife became seriously ill. No one could cure her, and she died in Medicine King Valley. Since that day, he became obsessed with medical skills that could reverse death. He was expelled from Medicine King Valley and his whereabouts after that were unknown." Xie Xuan resheathed his sword and sighed lightly. "It's all an obsession. It's impossible to reverse life and death. Even if the person could stand up again, they have become the walking dead."

"Then why did he refine himself into a medicine man?" Ming Hou asked.

"I'm just guessing but perhaps he wanted to know what happened when a person died and became a medicine man. Would this medicine man retain a little bit of consciousness? Will he be considered a little bit alive?" Xie Xuan sighed. "But a dead person is dead. The ghost doctor Ye Ya must have understood this, but he just couldn't accept it."

Ming Hou was startled and hurried forward a few steps. "Then, Yue Ji…"

"Don't worry, this beauty in your arms was refined into a medicine man while she was alive. She's merely lost her consciousness. I heard Xiao Se say that you were the same before? Since you were able to recover, naturally so can she. A dead person refined into a poison parasite man is truly dead. There's no need to worry." Xie Xuan stepped forward, raised a finger and waved in gently in front of Yue Ji. Yue Ji's eyes followed the movements of his finger quickly.

Ming Hou breathed a sigh of relief, but then he was very puzzled. "Mister Xie, what are you doing?"

Xie Xuan frowned slightly, but didn't answer him. He asked Yue Ji in a soft voice, "Do you know who I am?"

Yue Ji looked at Xie Xuan with a bewildered expression.

"Do you recognize the person carrying you?" Xie Xuan asked again.

Yue Ji's expression remained baffled and did not respond.

Xie Xuan was stunned for a moment, then he withdrew his finger and whispered, "Could I have guessed wrongly?" He turned around, leaped into the air and stepped onto the roof to look out into the distance. The horrifying cries and growls were still coming from the street outside and the dead were still rising to their feet, one after another, and charging rabidly at the people in front of them.

"Even killing the parasite host cannot end this chaos?" Xie Xuan tapped the sword in his hand lightly and a sudden thought flashed through his mind with alarm. "What if Ye Ya was not the parasite host at all? Then, the parasite host is…"

"Mister, what's wrong?" Wuchan raised his head and asked. He had just regulated his own qi and managed to suppress his injury.

"Go to the Yong'an Prince Residence!" Xie Xuan took a flying leap and rushed towards the Yong'an Prince Residence in the distance.

In a remote inn in Heavenly Revelations City.

Lady Consort Xuan, all dressed in white, was treating Luo Qingyang's injuries. Luo Qingyang's face changed from black to purple, and then from purple to white. Only after several such changes did Luo Qingyang's breath start to even out again.

Outside the door, the corpses fell one after another and piled up all the way from the room to the stairs. Jin Xuan Gonggong, dressed in his purple python robe, did not have a single bloodstain on him. He turned around and looked at Lady Consort Xuan. "My Lady, Jin Xuan has been standing here as a guard for two hours now. I'm afraid only His Majesty is worthy of such service. Have you finished treating the injury?"

Lady Consort Xuan waved her hand. "Almost done, almost done."

Jin Xuan sighed and shook his head. "My Lady, you've already regulated his qi for three circulations. If you continue like this, the Solitary Sword Immortal's injury that has already been suppressed will recur. Why do this? You're just making use of these poison parasite men to drain my strength so that in a while, it'll be easier for you to escape."

"You're still a cunning old fox." Lady Consort Xuan arched an exquisite eyebrow.

"I don't know if I am a cunning old fox, but I have followed His Majesty for so many years and have witnessed all sorts of treacherous situations in the imperial court. My Lady, these are mere parlour tricks that Jin Xuan simply can't be bothered to expose," Jin Xuan Gonggong remarked.

Lady Consort Xuan stood up, laid Luo Qingyang aside, and walked to the window. "Grand Eunuch, you're here just to keep watch over us, isn't it? So you won't allow us to leave Heavenly Revelations City?"

"Yes," Jin Xuan replied simply.

Lady Consort Xuan also asked directly, "Why?"

However, Jin Xuan didn't know how to answer her question. She was one of the Emperor's consorts, the consort mother of a Prince. If she left with a swordsman from the martial world and word got out, where would that leave the Emperor's face or the Prince's face? Since the Red Prince Xiao Yu wanted to be the emperor, he naturally wouldn't want to be an emperor who would be ridiculed by all under Heaven.

"Yu'er is planning to become emperor using such means. Why would he still bother with the matter of his reputation?" Lady Consort Xuan seemed to have read Jin Xuan's mind and preempted his reply.

Jin Xuan considered his thoughts for a while but still shook his head. "I wouldn't dare to speculate on His Highness's thoughts. I'm merely following orders."

"Following orders?" Lady Consort Xuan scoffed coldly. "If you were really following orders, then right now, you should be in the Hall of Calming Purity and protecting His Majesty. That is your mission."

Jin Xuan smiled and did not answer.

"You're indeed Grand Eunuch Zhuo Qing's true successor. Even your temperament is exactly the same. You have patience, and you're ruthless when you need to be. In comparison, Jin Wei was really ignorant." Lady Consort Xuan closed the window, turned around and said, "Let's go, then."

"Go where?" Jin Xuan was taken aback.

"I have two sons currently within this city. One is half-dead half-alive, the other is either going to put on the dragon robe or wash Heavenly Revelations in blood. How can I leave this city? Bring me to the Yong'an Prince Residence." Lady Consort Xuan smiled beatifically. "I know Yu'er must have gone there."

Jin Xuan sighed lightly. "My Lady has been isolated deep inside the palace for years, but you are rather informed about the news."

On the other side, Luo Qingyang suddenly opened his eyes and came down from the bed. In a deep voice, he said, "Take us there."