Chapter 9: 第九章 落青云

“Tch! What are you acting so high and mighty for? Telling me to get out? If I weren't afraid that you'd ruin your illustrious reputation as the great Prince Jing by dying from the bitterness of this Soul-Returning Grass juice, would I have bothered running to your completely unguarded, wide-open Prince Jing Mansion?”

Along with this sarcastic remark came a streak of white light, which flew toward Xuanyuan Wuchen at extreme speed.

Hearing the voice, Xuanyuan Wuchen looked up and opened his mouth; that white light shot directly and accurately into his mouth.

Xuanyuan Wuchen did not resist. After the white light entered his mouth, he seemed to collapse from exhaustion, sitting down against the marble table without any regard for his dignified image. He rested his arms on his legs before finally lifting his head to look properly at the person who had just walked in.

At the entrance of the secret chamber stood a slender, somewhat thin young gentleman in flowing white robes. He was lightly waving a folding fan in his hand, smiling as he looked at the exceptionally disheveled and weak Xuanyuan Wuchen on the floor.

The candlelight within the secret chamber flickered, casting a glow upon the white-robed gentleman that made his complexion look like jade. With a high nose, thin lips, and bright red lips and white teeth, he appeared to be only about twenty years old.

“Hmph!” The slumped Xuanyuan Wuchen glared at the white-robed gentleman. After letting out a cold snort, he turned his head away, refusing to look at him further, and sat up straight to slowly regulate his breathing.

The white-robed gentleman did not mind; he simply continued to lightly wave his painted fan as he slowly walked into the secret chamber.

His white robes brushed the floor, yet they did not catch a single speck of dust.

He sat down on a stone stool opposite Xuanyuan Wuchen, turned his head, scanned the secret chamber, and curled the corners of his mouth into a smirk.

“I say, Wuchen, I truly underestimated your willpower. It was a bit bitter, sure, but was it necessary to turn this secret chamber into this state?

Look, just look, what has it become? Why are the medicine racks knocked over? Look, look, even the box for the Soul-Returning Grass has been overturned. This was the most inconspicuous one I, your elder, spent a full ten copper coins to pick out from a pile of boxes!

I say...”

“Luo Qingyun, shut up!”

Xuanyuan Wuchen suddenly snapped his head up, his eyes opening as he roared at the white-robed gentleman in anger.

The hand of the white-robed gentleman, which had been unhurriedly waving the fan, froze, and his facial expression went blank, his eyes filled with utter confusion.

The white-robed gentleman was none other than the Divine Physician, Luo Qingyun.

Everyone assumed that because Luo Qingyun was revered as a Divine Physician, he must be an old man over fifty.

In truth, that was not the case.

The original Divine Physician was indeed an old man, surnamed Luo, though his specific name, Luo Qingyun, was unknown.

From the time Luo Qingyun could remember, he had been learning medicine from an old man surnamed Luo.

The old man surnamed Luo had told him to call him Master.

On the day Master turned eighty, the Divine Physician called Luo Qingyun to his side.

“Yun'er, you are thirteen this year. I have taught you all my skills, and you have now mastered them all.

From now on, the title of Divine Physician belongs to you. I hope you do not disgrace it.”

After speaking, the Divine Physician disappeared before Luo Qingyun's eyes without looking back, never to appear again, as if he had never existed at all.

If it weren't for the fact that his extraordinary medical skills truly existed, Luo Qingyun would have thought his Master was merely a figure from a dream—that once the dream ended, Master would vanish.

Since then, whenever someone came to the Divine Physician Valley seeking medical treatment or medicine, Luo Qingyun would hide behind a black cloth curtain, letting the seeker reach their hand inside the curtain before he would pulse-diagnose and treat them.

From that moment on, a layer of mystery had been draped over Luo Qingyun's life.

Hearing Xuanyuan Wuchen's roar, Luo Qingyun felt that Xuanyuan Wuchen was truly, very, very angry.

Xuanyuan Wuchen was a man of immense restraint. Even when he had been ambushed and poisoned upon his triumphant return, he had never shown such abnormal emotional fluctuations as he did today.

Even when the poison flared up and the pain was unbearable, he had never been seen to even knit his brows.

What was wrong today?

He had merely made a joke; why was he so furious?

Although he was usually cold and serious, he wasn't the type of person who couldn't take a joke.

Especially since Luo Qingyun had saved him three years ago when he was on the verge of death from severe poisoning and had developed a special pill to extend his life,

The two of them had long since become life-and-death friends. How could they turn on each other over a mere joke?

There had to be something wrong!

“Wuchen, what is wrong with you? What exactly happened?”

Luo Qingyun's expression turned solemn, sweeping away his previous cynical and mocking attitude.

“I only ate half a stalk of Soul-Returning Grass.”

Xuanyuan Wuchen had already calmed down.

He didn't know what was happening. Just now, when Luo Qingyun asked why the secret chamber was in such a state, a small, thin girl of eight or nine suddenly appeared in his mind.

The smile in her eyes when she snatched the Soul-Returning Grass looked as if she were mocking his incompetence.

How could he possibly lose to a little girl of only eight or nine years old?

This realization made Xuanyuan Wuchen exceptionally irritable.

“Half a stalk? How could it be half a stalk?”

Luo Qingyun was shocked to hear Xuanyuan Wuchen's words!

He picked up the seemingly unremarkable but actually extremely precious box from the table and inspected it inside and out several times.

“Half a stalk? You only ate half a stalk? Then where is the other half? Where did it go?”

Luo Qingyun asked, looking at Xuanyuan Wuchen in confusion.

Xuanyuan Wuchen's face darkened again, and he remained silent for a long while.

Just as Luo Qingyun's patience reached its limit and he was about to ask again, Xuanyuan Wuchen spoke.

“The other half of the Soul-Returning Grass was snatched away by someone.”

Xuanyuan Wuchen's voice carried a heavy sense of frustration.

“What? Snatched away! How is that possible? Who has such great skill to be able to snatch something from our illustrious Prince Jing?

Wuchen, did you see which sect or faction they belonged to? You should be able to tell their origin from their martial arts style, right?

Have I been out too rarely lately? How come I haven't heard of any new experts appearing whose martial arts are so high that they can snatch something from your hands right in front of you?

Quick, tell me! Once we have a general direction, we can prepare early. Perhaps they are part of the same group that poisoned you in secret last time.

We must catch them! If we catch them, we might be able to learn the source of the poison from their mouths, which will help me find the antidote for you!”

Luo Qingyun grew more anxious and agitated as he spoke, even standing up.

He did not want to miss any opportunity to help his close friend, Xuanyuan Wuchen, find an antidote.

“I will. I will definitely find her! If I find her, I will make her wish she were dead, and regret ever coming into this world!”

Xuanyuan Wuchen said fiercely.