CH 54

People say that doctors have the heart of parents. At a time like this, Xiao Que was actually still here worried over their bedroom issues.

Not to mention, this young man even said those words in an extremely serious manner, as if he had truly reflected over the issue meticulously. 

Feng Ci practically felt too embarrassed to scold him.

Pei QianYue, on the other hand, looked pensive.

He waved Xiao Que away and lowered his head to say something. Feng Ci could basically guess what Pei QianYue planned to say and decisively closed his eyes: “I’m tired. I’m going to sleep.”

Pei QianYue’s low chuckle traveled into Feng Ci’s ears. 

But in the end, Pei QianYue didn’t mention anything else about this and only helped Feng Ci adjust into a more comfortable position. He said: “Go ahead and sleep. The days are long. No need to be impatient.”

…… He wasn’t feeling impatient at all.

Feng Ci cursed silently and stopped replying.

This flying ship was driven by the consumption of spirit energy or spirit stones. The destination can be selected in advance so there’s no need for any manual control during the flight. As such, even though Pei QianYue had sent away all the disciples on the flying ship, leaving only Xiao Que, it didn’t affect the maneuvering of the ship.

The flying ship traversed through the clouds and mist and flew off westward.

Inside the cabin, the burned and depleted spirit stones turned into thick white steam, which floated away in the blue skies above.

The Heavenly Principles had surveyed the grand scheme and concluded that humankind was recklessly consuming spiritual deposits to cultivate, which was causing the spirit energy in the world to head towards exhaustion. But upon a closer examination, it can be seen that actually, the spirit energy used up during a mortal’s many years of cultivation didn’t even match the amount of spirit stones consumed when using this kind of large-scale enchanted machinery just once.

Therefore, to a certain extent, the exhaustion of spiritual energy was actually inextricably connected to WanFa Pavilion’s current developments, as well as the expanding distribution of the enchanted armor and mechanics. 

In the past, the Art of Armor Enchantment and Craft Mechanics could only be activated using spirit energy and spell casting. It was a secret technique that very few people understood.

But in the present day, WanFa Pavilion has lowered the threshold of controlling the enchanted armor and mechanics again and again to amass more wealth to support their research. As long as people spend the money to buy the spirit stones, even mortals can use them.

With this, the misuse of magic items is inevitable.

Feng Ci has already mulled this over a long time ago. 

But considering it from another perspective, WanFa Pavilion has also created plenty of things that made life easier.

For example, right now, without this flying ship, who knows how much time Feng Ci would waste trying to reach Shaman Valley in his current physical condition.

Technological research has always been essential for the advancement and growth of civilization.

This is perhaps the reason why the Heavenly Principles has yet to touch WanFa Pavilion. 

Resting in Pei QianYue’s arms, Feng Ci thought idly to himself.

If there were a way that accommodated both sides……

After a day and night, the flying ship arrived at the Southern Region, LingNan.

The Southern Region of LingNan had a completely different appearance and style from the Central Plains. Feng Ci looked outside through the window and saw towering mountains, precipitous ridges, and a lush jungle. Bluish-gray clouds and mist surrounded the mountain ridges, hazy and ethereal, as if not of this world. 

“How are we supposed to get down there?” Feng Ci asked Pei QianYue.

The areas a hundred miles within this vicinity were all similarly covered by clouds and mist. It was basically impossible to see the location of the Shaman Valley. Don’t even mention sailing by flying ship, even traveling on a flying sword and landing down there would only result in disorientation and the possibility of getting lost.

“The outside of Shaman Valley is protected by miasma. It’s impossible to fly inside directly by sword.” Pei QianYue said: “It has the same function as LangFeng City’s Aerial Prohibition Array.”

Feng Ci turned to look at him: “Then what should we do?” 

His body’s meridians were completely damaged. Even though he was finally able to move somewhat after an entire day and night of treatment from Xiao Que, walking was still a problem.

Entering the valley on foot was clearly quite impossible.

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It was a wooden house furnished in the unique LingNan style.

The walls were painted with strange colorful patterns. On the beams of the house also hung dried herbs and poisonous insects that Feng Ci never saw before. 

Feng Ci looked for quite a while before finally noticing something bizarre: “Has this mirror…… been thrown to the ground?”

“……” Pei QianYue called out coldly: “Xiao Guo.”

There was no answer.

The two people waited for a little while longer. Suddenly the shadow of a person flashed across the mirror. The next second, a young man wearing dark green clothes appeared inside the mirror. 

The young man was wearing a half mask on his face, which covered the upper half of his face entirely. It was impossible to see his true appearance, but his lips were extremely thin and the contour from his cheek to his jaw was deep and smooth. It was possible to see that this should be a pretty good-looking face.

Xiao Guo gave Pei QianYue a smile: “City Master Pei, I trust you’ve been well since we last met. How come you have the free time to contact me today?”

Pei QianYue was too lazy to go around in circles with him and said: “Open the magic barrier.”

The young man clearly didn’t expect him to be so direct. Startled slightly, he finally said with a smile: “What do you mean by this, City Master? I don’t understand?” 

Pei QianYue said coolly: “This Venerable One’s flying ship is already above Shaman Valley. Does the Valley Master not know this?”

“Oh really?” Xiao Guo feigned a surprised expression: “Please forgive me, City Master Pei. This one…… was dealing with a slight issue just now. That’s why I didn’t notice the City Master gracing us with your esteemed presence.”

Xiao Guo spoke these words very sincerely, so it was difficult to discern their authenticity.

But with just this brief verbal exchange, Feng Ci could already tell the difference between this person and Xiao Que. 

Xiao Que was an honest and reliable person, who was gentle and cultured like jade. Prior to this, Feng Ci would have never imagined that his elder brother would have such a…… frivolous and lackadaisical temperament.

Putting everything else aside— In this broad daylight, right in the middle of the day, this person didn’t even have his clothes on properly. His collar laid wide open, revealing a huge area of pale white skin. His expression was also filled with a sense of indolence and satisfaction, who knows what he was really doing right before this.

Compared to Xiao Que’s steady and reliable demeanor, this was basically as different as heaven and earth.

Pei QianYue clearly didn’t want to waste any time speaking with him and repeated: “Open the magic barrier.” 

Xiao Guo pulled a long stemmed pipe out of nowhere and slowly took a drag. He leaned back into the chair behind him: “City Master Pei, when the Immortal Alliance rebelled, my Shaman Valley definitely didn’t participate in any part of that. Don’t—”

“Really?” Pei QianYue sneered: “So that demon(妖) poison in the Endless Valley didn’t come from you, Valley Master Xiao?”

Xiao Guo’s expression changed instantly, but he swiftly concealed it again.

“I was indeed the one who made that demon(妖) poison, but that wasn’t my original intent of use.” Xiao Guo said: “It was Cheng Chao, that old bastard, who screwed me, saying that he was going to use it to deal with a demon beast that was extremely hard to subdue or something.” 

He sat up straight and said with a very sincere expression: “If I had known ahead of time that he was planning to use it on City Master Pei, I definitely wouldn’t have given the poison to him! My loyalty to the City Master can be verified by the heavens—”

“This Venerable One didn’t come here for this.” Pei QianYue aptly interrupted his endless chatter and said coolly: “I came here only to seek medical treatment.”

“Seek medical treatment?” Xiao Guo was somewhat flabbergasted.

Learning that Pei QianYue didn’t come to stir up trouble, he relaxed somewhat and then asked: “But to my knowledge, isn’t my disappointing little brother in LangFeng City? He can’t do anything about it?” 

Pei QianYue: “Open the magic barrier.”

“Okay okay okay, opening it right now.” Xiao Guo smiled: “Now I’m really curious, just what kind of tricky patient you have that’s worth City Master Pei coming in person to seek treatment.”

Saying this, he cut off the mirror communication.

Feng Ci looked outside the window. He saw some clouds suddenly churning amidst the misty mountain peaks. Like a river splitting into two streams, a crack opened up in the center of the clouds. A deep valley could be vaguely seen within the crack. 

The flying ship flew towards that valley. The instant it traveled through the layer of clouds, the clouds and mists on both sides rushed forth and returned to their original state.

The Shaman Valley was located within a valley.

The valley was surrounded by mountains from all directions. The vegetation was dense with only a river traveling through the bottom of the ravine. The terrain in this area was extremely arduous. The houses were built right on the edge of the mountains. The two parts of the valley were connected by a high bridge made of vines. Beneath the bridge, the river flowed turbulently, creating endless waves.

Upon entering the valley, the flying ship stopped on an empty spot on the ground. Pei QianYue carried Feng Ci off the flying ship. 

Xiao Que followed behind them.

As soon as they got off the flying ship, a disciple came to greet them.

The Shaman Valley disciples’ uniform was a dark green shirt, which was convenient for moving and hiding in the jungle. It was actually pretty rare to see people in what Xiao Guo wore— a loose, elegant long robe.

That disciple bowed respectfully to Pei QianYue and said: “Greetings, City Master Pei. My Valley Master is currently awaiting you in the front hall.” 

Pei QianYue: “Lead the way.”

Since entering the valley, Xiao Que has been following behind them at a modest distance. His expression was calm and composed, as if he wasn’t actually revisiting his birthplace, but rather an ordinary LangFeng disciple who arrived as part of the entourage. Likewise, the disciple leading the way did not react at all upon seeing him.

Feng Ci felt like this looked strange and transmitted his voice to ask Pei QianYue: “None of the disciples of Shaman Valley recognize Xiao Que?”

“No.” Pei QianYue answered; “The Shaman Valley’s method of selecting successors is extremely strict. Starting from the moment of being selected as a candidate of succession, that person is immediately hidden away and groomed in secret.” 

“Then, after losing the successor competition, they vanish from this world forever. Even their names and faces are erased.”

This was also why Pei QianYue felt at ease bringing Xiao Que along to Shaman Valley.

Inside the entire Shaman Valley, no one knew Xiao Que’s true identity other than the Valley Master Xiao Guo.

“This is really……” Feng Ci was dumbfounded. 

Such a ruthless and unreasonable custom.

As if guessing Feng Ci’s thoughts, Pei QianYue then said: “But amongst the Six Sects, the Shaman Valley is indeed the only sect to pass on their inheritance from one generation to the next without any severance, and to do it without the loss of any of mystic manuals or techniques.”

Such a strict and ruthless method of choosing the successor— naturally the ones selected were individuals with exceptional innate constitution and talents. Furthermore, eliminating the other candidates also erased all latent factors that might create turmoil within the sect.

Adding in the Shaman Valley’s secluded, sealed off location, the impact of both natural and man-made disasters rarely reached here. 

This was how their inheritance continued without any severance.

That Shaman Valley disciple led Pei QianYue onto the vine bridge. Feng Ci raised his head and looked around in all directions. In comparison to a cultivation sect, the Shaman Valley seemed more like a tribal group. The people of the tribe reside here long-term studying the art of medicine and poison, get married and have children, and then raised the future generations.

There were some people amongst them who probably have never left this place their entire life, but it was exactly this reason that allowed the Shaman Valley to be conserved so perfectly thus far.

So this can be considered the fruit of the sacrifices. 

All of the Shaman Valley’s buildings were made of wood. After crossing the vine bridge, there was a large, austere wooden building at the center.

Long banners hung in the front two sides of the wooden building, currently fluttering slightly in the wind. The banners were also painted with the designs that Feng Ci saw in the mirror some time ago.

That disciple stood in front of the building and said respectfully: “City Master, please.”

Xiao Guo was waiting inside the building. 

The young man in dark green clothing sat at the main seat in the front. Looking up, he gave Pei QianYue an apologetic smile: “Greeting City Master Pei. This one had important business to attend to so I couldn’t leave the Valley to greet you in person. I hope the City Master can forgive me.”

Walking closer, it was finally possible to see that Xiao Guo held a small cat in his hand.

That small cat was already an adult. Its fur was completely snow white except for tufts of yellow on its tail and ear tips. It had been fed fat and round, looking quite adorable.

Feng Ci has always liked this kind of small animal and couldn’t resist taking a few more glances. 

The little white cat was pressed firmly onto the table by Xiao Guo, meowing and struggling ceaselessly. When it noticed Pei QianYue entering the door, the fur on its body puffed up from head to toe as it wailed even more tragically.

Pei QianYue fell silent for a moment: “This is your so-called important business, Valley Master?”

“Naturally.” Xiao Guo raised his head and said seriously: “This is a top priority, hiss—”

Taking advantage of the conversation between Xiao Guo and Pei QianYue, the little cat bit down on Xiao Guo’s finger with a growl. In pain, Xiao Guo released his grip and that little cat swiftly jumped down from the table. It ran past Pei QianYue’s feet in an instant and went out the building, vanishing soon afterwards. 

“Your top priority ran away.” Pei QianYue said expressionlessly: “Are you going to chase?”

“Forget it.” Two deep holes were bitten into Xiao Guo’s finger; blood flowed outward. He placed the injured finger in his mouth. He didn’t even seem angry and was, on the contrary, somewhat delighted: “He has my parasite inside him. He can’t escape.”

Feng Ci: “…..”

Putting a parasite inside a cat… Is this something a human would do? 

Sure enough, none of the leaders of the Six Sects were normal.

Feng Ci thought silently in his heart.

After the small cat escaped, Xiao Guo finally turned his attention onto the unexpected guests in front of him.

Xiao Que was clearly following right behind Pei QianYue, yet Xiao Guo completely ignored him like thin air, as if they didn’t know each other at all. Xiao Guo walked straight towards Pei QianYue and examined Feng Ci, who was in Pei QianYue’s arms. 

“This little beauty is the one here seeking medical treatment?” Xiao Guo scrutinized him carefully for a moment. He had just reached out a hand, but Pei QianYue turned slightly sideways and evaded his touch.

Pei QianYue placed Feng Ci on a couch inside the room and said calmly: “His meridians are damaged. I hope Valley Master can diagnose and treat it.”

Xiao Guo’s hand froze in midair for a second. Then he retracted it nonchalantly as if nothing happened. He followed Pei QianYue into the room and examined Pei QianYue for a moment, then his gaze landed on Feng Ci again. He gave a rather contemplative smile: “Treat. Of course, I’m going to treat him. It’s just that I’ve never seen City Master Pei so concerned for anyone before. What kind of… relationship does this little beauty have with you?”

Xiao Guo said these words in a very vulgar and insinuating tone. His eyes, which were hidden behind the mask, held a frivolous light. It was a sight that made Feng Ci want to hit someone. 

Before he could answer, Pei QianYue drew Feng Ci into his arms and said coldly: “What do you think?”

Ohh. Such a thick taste of vinegar.

Feng Ci shot Pei QianYue a glance and lowered his eyes, not saying anything.

This behavior in front of outsiders undoubtedly seemed like he was in tacit agreement. The amusement in Xiao Guo’s eyes grew. He walked next to Feng Ci to check his pulse. 

The young man completely lacked a healer’s composure and meticulousness. He didn’t dismiss people either and just sat down casually to check Feng Ci’s pulse while chatting idly with him: “Such a fine little beauty, just how did you end up with City Master Pei? He’s such an ice-cold and frigid person. Does he even know the meaning of ‘appreciating and cherishing the fairer sex’?

His tone even sounded rather regretful.

Feng Ci could clearly feel the temperature next to him abruptly turn several degrees colder.

Fortunately perhaps, Feng Ci still needed Xiao Guo’s medical treatment. Otherwise, this young man probably would have been smacked away by Pei QianYue a long time ago. 

Originally, Feng Ci had actually felt somewhat offended by Xiao Guo’s unscrupulous words. However, seeing Pei QianYue like this, Feng Ci actually stopped being angry and instead felt pretty amused.

He thought briefly and raised his free hand to grab Pei QianYue’s hand. He gave it a soft squeeze.

“Who said I’m with him?” Raising his head to look towards Pei QianYue, Feng Ci said with a smile: “It’s obviously he, who is with me . Am I right, City Master Pei?”

The author has something to say: 

Xiao Guo: Thanks, I’m full.