Chapter 693: There Are No "What Ifs" in This World
None of this stirred the slightest ripple in Xiao Huayong's eyes. He closed the parchment scroll and turned to ask, "Will the poison I've been afflicted with be passed on to my descendants?"
If so, he could not give Shen Xihe a child of their own blood. Otherwise, the child might not survive to adulthood, which would be detrimental to Shen Xihe and force her to endure another heart-wrenching separation.
"No," Xie Yunhuai gave Xiao Huayong an answer that eased his heart slightly, but then shifted his tone, "Your Highness, this poison will not be transmitted to your descendants. However, those afflicted with it find it extremely difficult to impregnate others."
The pupils that had shown no fluctuation suddenly constricted sharply. The fingers gripping the parchment tightened, their knuckles turning white.
Sensing Xiao Huayong's suppressed fury, like a tiger restraining itself from destruction, Xie Yunhuai had no choice but to add, "It's merely difficult, not entirely impossible. I will discuss with Aler how we might regulate Your Highness's health."
Xie Yunhuai understood that Shen Xihe needed an imperial grandson no matter what—only then would her future path not be too arduous.
"If conception is difficult, would it harm the child's health?" Xiao Huayong reined in his imposing aura, returning to his usual calm demeanor.
Even without the poison, Xiao Huayong did not wish Shen Xihe to suffer through bearing a frail child.
Xie Yunhuai lowered his head. "No one knows."
In Aler's tribe, many had been poisoned this way. Most never produced offspring, though later some did conceive children. However, these children never cried out at birth, as their mothers died in peril before delivery.
Later, everyone became familiar with this poison, and those who created it were executed. No one in the tribe suffered from it again. Only bold physicians with intense curiosity would ingest the poison and attempt self-treatment, but none of these physicians ever married.
Thus, whether children born to poisoned individuals would be healthy remained unknown. What they could ascertain was that, based on their diagnoses, fetuses carried by wives of poisoned men showed no abnormalities during gestation.
However, they could not rule out the possibility that the maternal barrier prevented accurate diagnosis.
Xie Yunhuai's heart grew somewhat heavy. His eyes turned pale, his gaze somewhat unfocused. The peach blossoms on the early spring branches were delicate and vibrant, even more charming wrapped in the warm sunlight, yet they starkly contrasted with Xiao Huayong's somber figure beneath the tree.
It was as if the brilliant sunlight could not penetrate his being.
After an unknown length of time, Xiao Huayong finally swallowed, his voice low and hoarse. "How is the poison to be cured?"
He was inquiring about the two untested detoxification methods.
"One of them is what the physicians in Aler's tribe believe to be the most likely solution," Xie Yunhuai replied without any concealment. "However, the method is somewhat cruel and has never been tested on humans."
Xie Yunhuai had originally set sail across the seas to investigate the poison in Xiao Huayong's system. Now that he had found it, even without confirming it was the exact poison, given the similar pulse and symptoms, he adopted a "better safe than sorry" approach, mastering every aspect thoroughly.
For this poison, Xie Yunhuai had stayed in the tribe for a long time—so long that he progressed from being unable to communicate to speaking with the local accent fluently. He gained their acceptance and admiration, resolved many troubles for the tribe, and only then earned their respect and received their unreserved disclosure."All things in nature exist in a cycle of mutual generation and restraint. The poison affecting Your Highness originates from a living creature. In Aler's tribe, there exists a counteracting poison derived from a leech-like, blood-sucking worm." As Xie Yunhuai spoke, he retrieved a scroll from his robe and unfurled it before Xiao Huayong.
It was a small painting depicting vividly colored snakes, each no thicker than a thumb and as long as an arm.
"These snakes will draw out the poisoned blood from Your Highness's body."
"Draw out all the poisoned blood?" Xiao Huayong's dark brows furrowed deeply.
"Not all at once," Xie Yunhuai elaborated. "First, the poisoned blood will be extracted. Then, through medication that promotes blood regeneration, new blood will be produced. Since the toxin resides in the blood, the replenished blood should either be toxin-free or contain weakened toxins. This process will gradually reduce the poison in Your Highness's system. The cycle repeats until no trace of poisoned blood remains—a prolonged treatment indeed."
Extract the blood, regenerate new blood, extract again, regenerate again...
Xiao Huayong could already envision it: if this method truly cured him, his body would be covered with snakebite marks.
"Would bloodletting not suffice?" Compared to being covered in snakebites, Xiao Huayong would prefer scars from blade cuts.
"Bloodletting has already been attempted," Xie Yunhuai shook his head. "Using snakes is essential because the venom in their fangs counteracts Your Highness's poison. Aler's ancestors tried extracting the venom directly from the snakes' fangs, but it is highly peculiar—clear as water within the fangs, yet turning turbid and useless within moments of extraction."
Thus, the only effective method was for the snakes to bite Xiao Huayong, allowing their venom to mix directly into his system while drawing out the poisoned blood.
"Are these two poisons truly counteractive?" Xiao Huayong had no desire to replace one poison with another or solve one ailment only to invite another.
Xie Yunhuai rolled up his sleeve, revealing rows upon rows of snakebite marks. "Your Highness, trust me. I have tested this myself."
"You..." Xiao Huayong was taken aback. Few things could strike him so deeply, stirring both shock and emotion.
But the sight of over a dozen rows of snakebite scars on Xie Yunhuai's arm left him speechless.
"All because... she asked you?" Xiao Huayong asked, his voice strained and somber.
Xie Yunhuai's smile was like moonlight breaking through clouds—clear and radiant. "Honoring a promise is one reason. The other is that my thirst for medical knowledge is as boundless as the sea. As a healer seeking answers, even if it weren't for Your Highness, I would still risk my life to understand such a poison, should I encounter it again."
He let out a soft, brief laugh. "I am but an ordinary man, still clinging to life and unfinished pursuits. Hence, I ensure my methods do not endanger my life before proceeding. Your Highness need not worry."
Xiao Huayong gazed at Xie Yunhuai with a complex expression for a long while. Xie Yunhuai remained composed throughout.
Finally, Xiao Huayong averted his eyes and turned to leave without a word. Pausing at the fence, he asked without turning back, "If Youyou were not the Daughter of the Shen Family, unburdened by her clan's legacy... would you still consider her your confidante?"
Xie Yunhuai's smile gradually faded. The scent of flowers wafted in the breeze, warmth scattering like fragmented light across the ground.Both stood in silence, as if the scene had frozen. After a long while, Xie Yunhuai smiled with resignation: "Your Highness, there are no 'what ifs' in this world. I am not one to trouble myself with unnecessary worries, nor would I ever indulge in unrealistic delusions. I have never entertained the thoughts you hypothesized. My eyes only look forward."
Never backward, nor toward empty illusions.
[Unfinished attempt, rest tomorrow, will try again tomorrow, hehe.]
Xie Yunhuai's feelings for Shen Xihe were not merely romantic attraction, but a subtle emotion I've witnessed yet find difficult to describe.
The two were very similar, their personalities almost like twins, though of different genders. There was never any ambiguity between them, nor did they depend on each other. Yet they never desired to be together, while still deeply admiring and protecting one another. However, this protection never surpassed what they would offer to their significant others (their beloved partners). I've actually known such a man and woman in my life.
(End of Chapter)
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