Medicine King Valley!
The three words undoubtedly shocked everyone present. The old man scrutinized Bai Hehuai up and down. The current leader of Medicine King Valley was the Medicine King Xin Baicao, but it was said he had only taken on half a disciple—Sikong Changfeng, the current third city lord of Snow Moon City. No one had ever heard of a young girl like her in this generation. Yet, judging by Bai Hehuai’s expression and tone, it didn’t seem like she was pretending.
Bai Hehuai raised an eyebrow. “You don’t believe me?”
The old man hesitated. “Words alone are no proof…”
“Then do you recognize my Thirteen Returns acupuncture technique?” Bai Hehuai flicked her wrist, unfurling a roll of silver needles. With a flourish of her fingers, the row of needles landed neatly in front of the old man.
To an untrained eye, the needles scattered on the ground roughly formed the shape of a human figure. But the physicians present were utterly stunned—because in their eyes, it was as if a person lay there, and Bai Hehuai’s scattered needles had precisely landed on every major acupoint of that figure.
“Elder Xu…” the middle-aged physician from earlier called out to the old man.
The old man’s hands trembled slightly. “It really is the Thirteen Returns…”
“My master taught me that as physicians, we may choose not to save lives, we may seek survival in peril, but we must never lie. Today, I’ll teach you all this principle!” Bai Hehuai said sternly.
The middle-aged physician snapped, “Even if you’re from Medicine King Valley, how dare a little girl like you order us around!”
“Xin Baicao has to call me ‘martial aunt’ when he sees me. What’s wrong with lecturing you lot?” Bai Hehuai flicked her sleeve. “Su Muyu, let’s go!”
“Stop them!” The prefect’s voice suddenly rang out from behind them.
A group of guards wielding long blades rushed out from the corners, blocking their path.
Bai Hehuai sneered. No wonder none of these physicians dared to admit that the prefect’s son had long been dead—it seemed this prefect was far from the kind and courteous man he appeared to be. She turned and said, “Prefect, do you intend to keep us here?”
“Cure my son, and you can leave!” The prefect’s eyes were bloodshot as he snarled.
“Our Medicine King Valley has always had a saying: as long as one isn’t dead, they can be cured. But your son—he’s already dead.” Bai Hehuai sighed deeply. “Persisting is futile. I urge you to end this soon, so your son’s body need not suffer in this world any longer. Take a blade and pierce his heart. The Black Blood carrying the Gu Worm will stop flowing, and he can finally rest in peace.”
“Kill them.” The prefect refused to listen further and roared in fury.
“Why is it that people never want to hear the truth?” Bai Hehuai asked helplessly.
“Everyone just wants to hear what they wish to hear,” Su Muyu said softly. With a single step, he darted forward, seizing the long blade from the nearest guard. With a flick of his wrist, a surge of Sword Qi scattered outward, and the blades in the hands of the other guards all snapped in half, clattering to the ground.
The prefect stood frozen, pointing at them with a violently trembling hand. “You… you…”"The Crane Rain Medicine Manor will remain in Nan'an City. I won't speak of your son's condition, but I advise you—if you don't dispose of his corpse soon, you'll contract the corpse poison too. Then everyone in this prefectural office will become those half-human, half-ghoul creatures. If it spirals out of control, the entire Nan'an City will turn into a living hell." Bai Hehuai said gravely, "I'm not lying to you. I've seen it before."
Su Muyu pondered for a moment before striding directly toward the prefect with his blade in hand.
"Y-you... what are you doing!" The prefect's legs gave way, and he collapsed onto the ground.
Without even glancing at him, Su Muyu turned and entered the inner chamber. The prefect sat stunned for a moment before scrambling to his feet and rushing after him. But it was too late—a heart-wrenching wail echoed from inside, and soon Su Muyu emerged with his blade, now stained with black blood.
The physicians of Nan'an City exchanged bewildered glances. None could believe this man had simply walked in and killed the prefect's son.
Su Muyu looked at them. "All of you, leave. If you stay, he might vent his anger by killing you all."
The elderly physician who had spoken earlier was the first to react. He hastily bowed to Su Muyu. "Thank you, kind... kind sirs!" With that, he fled without looking back, and the other physicians quickly dispersed.
Only then did the prefect burst out of the room, charging at Su Muyu. "I'll fight you to the death!"
"I understand your grief over losing your son," Su Muyu turned and extended a single finger, effortlessly pushing him back, "but if you persist, I'll have to get serious."
"Let's go." Bai Hehuai seemed weary and ignored them, walking straight toward the exit.
Su Muyu tossed his blade aside and followed without hesitation.
Once outside the prefectural office, Bai Hehuai asked Su Muyu, "Why did you go back earlier?"
"Even though you told them their son was already dead, to them, he was still their child. It's too hard for them to accept," Su Muyu shook his head. "In the end, it would have escalated just as you predicted. Since no one else was willing to bear the sin, I did it."
Bai Hehuai sighed softly. "I didn’t want you to be stained by this again."
"It doesn’t matter," Su Muyu replied calmly. "But you—you've been acting strange since earlier. Could that living corpse be related to Medicine King Valley?"
"That kind of living corpse is called a Medicine Puppet, crafted through a very peculiar method. Back when Western Chu and Northern Li were at war, Western Chu used the Art of the Medicine Man to prolong the conflict. The technique defies the natural order, but because it was so extraordinary, even the Confucian Immortal of Western Chu couldn't bring himself to destroy it. He passed it to our Medicine King Valley, hoping we could find a way to turn evil into good," Bai Hehuai explained slowly.
"But Medicine King Valley failed?" Su Muyu asked."It's impossible. The method is so sinister and bizarre that even Xin Baicao couldn't grasp its entirety. But I have another junior fellow disciple, Xin Baicao's younger martial brother, named Ye Ya. After his wife passed away early, he became obsessed with this dark art of resurrection, spending all his time studying the Art of the Medicine Man. Then one day, a village near Medicine King Valley experienced the Corpse Transformation I just mentioned, and the culprit behind it was Ye Ya. Xin Baicao and I worked together to quell that Corpse Transformation, and afterward, Ye Ya left Medicine King Valley, disappearing without a trace." Bai Hehuai turned around and looked at the Prefect's residence again. "And now, Ye Ya is right here."
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