Volume 2, Chapter 43 – Obsession

At the same time, in Longhua Temple, a slender, pale hand finally moved away from the old monk’s wrist.

“All right.” Xiang Xian nodded. “I’ve already reconnected all the severed meridians for you, but some injuries hidden deep in the marrow still need time to heal. You still can’t be fighting anyone for the next three months.”

Directly across from her, on a meditation cushion, sat Master Hua’an, whom Bai Xiang had met before. Hearing this, he immediately frowned. “It’s going to take that long?”

“That’s all because you ignored my warning and didn’t take Huang’er into your body,” Xiang Xian said. Her tone remained gentle, but the reproach in it was practically overflowing. “Otherwise there is no way it would have been stolen by that demon, cutting off the treatment midway and leaving your injuries even worse.”

“Ah, it’s not that bad, not that bad…” Master Hua’an hurriedly waved his hand. “No matter how bad it gets, it’s not going to kill me… Three months is three months, I’ll rest, I’ll rest.”

Xiang Xian gave him a glance, said nothing, and lowered her head to pack away the tools she’d used for the treatment.

A few medicine bottles, a row of silver needles. She carefully wiped the needles several times with alcohol, then sent her Demonic Power over them to dry away all moisture before putting them into a long, slender bamboo tube and hanging it at her waist beside her longsword.

“About that child… are you still looking into it?”

Watching her quietly and busily moving about, Master Hua’an suddenly asked on a whim.

Xiang Xian’s hands suddenly stilled.

“I know, you’re the Dao Lord of Yuming…” Master Hua’an lowered his voice. “Yuming Sword Dao specializes in heavy industry and great armaments. Every Dao Lord of your line has had excellent connections.”

Yuming Sword Dao excelled at studying all kinds of ancient methods, medicines, and the forging of sword weapons, which gave Xiang Xian an extensive network of contacts. Others would rarely choose to cross her lightly.

“But what you’re digging into now…” Master Hua’an shook his head. “I’d advise you to let it go.”

As this woman’s closest friend, Hua’an actually knew things that were top secret to outsiders. Among them was the fact that Xiang Xian had never stopped investigating the death of her beloved disciple back then; she did not believe that slaughter had been a simple misunderstanding.

But that meant touching the Prince of Nanling’s residence.

The Prince of Nanling’s estate sat in command of the southwest and, on paper, actually held jurisdiction and authority over the eight Circuits of the southwest.

Jingshui Circuit, Qinglong Circuit, Ding’an Circuit, Zebei Circuit.

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Together, they formed Zezhou.

Qiyun Circuit, Chilong Circuit, Chuanyun Circuit, Daze Circuit.

Together, they formed Qizhou.

Governor Fang Xiaochun was only able to manage the territory of Qizhou because the “State Governor’s Commission” was personally written by the Imperial House, which in effect overrode the authority of the Prince of Nanling’s residence.

Otherwise, why would the southern wilds— the sort of place that in ancient times was where officials were exiled to grow old— suddenly have an extra “Governor” post, with Governor after Governor sent here to serve?

Wasn’t it precisely because they feared that Prince of Nanling, Yao Qingyuan, would grow too powerful while sitting at the frontier garrisons, and so adopted this as a way to keep him in check?

Whether it was Fang Xiaochun or the State Governors of Qizhou before him, all of them had been placed here by the Imperial House to counterbalance the Prince of Nanling.

“Heh…” Xiang Xian suddenly laughed.

“What makes you think that?”

“Still investigating? If you paid a little more attention to my movements, you’d know I haven’t taken a single step outside Yujing in more than ten years.”

“You haven’t taken a step out of Yujing in over ten years, yet you still have channels dedicated to keeping track of what’s happening over here.” Master Hua’an only shook his head.

“Over ten years without leaving Yujing, yet the moment you heard about that child, you rushed over at once.”

Xiang Xian frowned, but had no way to refute that.

“I’m reminding you only for the sake of our relationship: there are some things you shouldn’t get too deeply involved in.” Master Hua’an pressed his palms together, and most unusually for him, actually chanted a Buddha’s name.

“Amitābha.”

“Lay donor, you need to let go of some of that obsession before you can see through to the realm of Emptied Thought.”

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“Emptied Thought? Isn’t that just the Innate realm?” Xiang Xian let out a small laugh. “Something that depends purely on luck— I gave up hoping for that a long time ago.”

“It’s you I’m more worried about, old monk.” She shot Hua’an a sidelong look. “Of all the bald donkeys I’ve seen in my life, your killing intent is the heaviest.”

Her gaze fell to Hua’an’s neck and shoulders, fixing on that string of white-bone prayer beads.

They were a reduced-size version, but every bead was a demon beast’s skull, ground down from the original bone.

There were eighty-eight beads in all, representing eighty-eight demons at or above the level of the Third Body Tribulation that had died at Hua’an’s hands.

She found it absurd— and he still had the nerve to tell her to let go of her obsessions?

If you really traced it back, who knew whose obsession ran deeper!

“Enough.” Seeing that Hua’an still wanted to nag, Xiang Xian frowned and cut him off. “My business doesn’t need you meddling in it.”

“What about you? Once you’ve recovered, are you planning to go back?”

“No.” Hua’an shook his head. “I’m planning to go back right now.”

“In that much of a hurry?” Xiang Xian frowned. “They’ve even changed the name. What else is there to do?”

“I suspect those Shinu people are still going to stir up trouble later.” The old monk chuckled. “A name change is one thing, land reclamation is another.”

“My instincts tell me their ambitions don’t stop there.”

“Going forward, they’re sure to keep making moves around the whole ‘reclamation’ project.”

“And I’m really not sure the people left in the Protectorate Office can stop that mysterious man. At the very least, I have to go back once more.”

A deterrent, then.

Xiang Xian fell into thought.

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If the other side’s information was any good, they would at least know about the Jade Phoenix Sword. But they wouldn’t be able to figure out how effective it was at healing. The way this bald donkey looked right now was frightening enough as a warning.

After a pause, she asked Hua’an, “Aren’t you afraid that man is a hotheaded idiot?”

“Amitābha!”

Master Hua’an chanted the Buddha’s name again, then drew an object from beneath his robes.

Xiang Xian took a look— it was actually a fragment grenade.

“I’m not stupid.”

The old monk was still grinning from ear to ear.

“Last time was an ambush out in the jungle.”

“If he dares charge the Protectorate, I’ll make sure he pays for it.”

As the sky grew darker, the two of them chatted a little longer, and Xiang Xian finally made to take her leave.

Master Hua’an personally escorted her to the gates of Longhua Temple. Just as Xiang Xian was about to step down the stairs, he suddenly asked, “So you’re planning to pass ‘Jade Divine Heart’ on to her as well?”

“That’s right.” Xiang Xian halted and looked back at him. “Jade Divine Heart isn’t a method that’s only for craftsmanship. If she likes it, there’s no problem with using it purely for combat.”

I don’t believe that kind of computational load is something a human can handle…

Master Hua’an muttered inwardly, but outwardly he was still smiling as he drew a pure white jade box from his sleeve.

“Hm?”

Xiang Xian took the jade box, opened it, and saw inside a stalk of pure white ginseng, its material similar to fine white jade.

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“An eight-hundred-year-old Spirit King Ginseng!”

It carried a thick, rich fragrance, as mellow as fine wine. Xiang Xian merely took in a small breath of it and actually felt a little dizzy!

“Old monk, you…”

This was far too precious. Xiang Xian stared wide-eyed at Hua’an.

For things that cultivated from grass and wood, it was different from flesh and blood; eight hundred years was already unimaginably rare in that category.

“She’s a child I named myself, and your disciple on top of that. I can’t very well skip preparing an Enter-the-Dao gift, can I?”

Master Hua’an waved her off.

“Go on.”

“Refine some ‘Jade Divine Pill’ for her.”

“If there’s any extra, come back and give me some.”

What a bald donkey.

Watching him turn and stride back through the gate, Xiang Xian quickly shut the box, lips pressed together and eyes narrowing.

That stingy glass rooster actually plucked a feather for once; his goal was obviously still to talk me into giving up the investigation.

“But just like you have your own knot in your heart… if I can’t give Nianchan an answer before I’m nothing but bones, how will I have the face to meet her down there?”

She let out a quiet sigh, turned, and her figure swayed slightly as she walked down the long stone steps.