by Mars Gravity
“Oh, is that so… “ Yun Che nodded, “Let’s go, let’s enter and take a look at your father.”
When comparing the ability to observe people, ten Lan Xueruos still could not compare to Yun Che. The first instant Yun Che saw Gu Qiuhong, he could immediately conclude that… this old geezer, was definitely not a good person!
There wasn’t any sort of special reason, and was simply because of a type of feeling; the type of feeling that was nurtured after experiencing an innumerable amount of people trying to kill him, knowledge of every type of evil, and being on the brink of death an unknown amount of times.
Upon entering the chambers, the emperor’s middle aged eunuch immediately went ahead to report.
“Since three years ago when Father suddenly fell ill, he began to spend large portion of his time within his chambers and seldom went out. Because Father’s health was simply too poor, he was unable to bear the slightest bit of wind chill. Even if he were to catch some minor illness, it would still be possible for it to be a danger to his life.” Lan Xueruo said sadly, “With the condition that Father was in, he was no longer capable of managing the affairs of the nation, but my eldest imperial brother and third imperial brother began to act imprudently and had to lead wolves into the household. Afterwards, not only were they disrespectful to Father, they also occasionally tried to coerce Father, which made it impossible for Father to pass on the throne to either of them; he had no other choice but to use his life to stall day by day…”
“Don’t worry.” Yun Che lightly grasped Lan Xueruo’s hand and comforted her, “I’ve already said this before, no matter what illness, as long as it is an illness, I will definitely have a way to cure it.”
These words weren’t Yun Che’s crazy talk. He was the successor of the medical saint; he definitely wouldn’t allow himself to sully his master’s name!
“I believe you.” Lan Xueruo softly replied.
“Your highness, as well as this young fellow, the emperor is waiting for you inside. Please enter.” The middle aged eunuch standing at the door bent at the waist and respectfully saluted.
After entering the emperor’s chambers, Yun Che saw an elderly person leaning on an imperial bed at first glance. Lan Xueruo was nineteen years old, the crown prince would be thirty three in eight days. Logically, the emperor should be around fifty or sixty years old. Having lived in the lap of luxury with countless elixirs and legendary fruits, the emperor shouldn’t look old at that age, but the person on the bed looked withered with a wax yellowed complexion, grizzled white hair, and lifeless expression. He looked like an eighty year old elder past his prime.
Yun Che’s eyebrows abruptly raised. This is…
“Father!” Seeing how bad Cang Wanhe looked, Lan Xueruo’s heart ached. She hurriedly rushed toward the bed and asked worriedly “Just a moment ago, in front of the chamber’s doors, we bumped into Master Gu. He said you caught another cold last night… How do you feel now? Is it a little better?”
“Heh heh,” Cang Wanhe looked towards Lan Xueruo affectionately. Nowadays, he could only feel the warmth of being a parent from this daughter, “It isn’t an issue anymore. We were afraid that you would be overly worried again, so We didn’t tell you. Yue’er, the person you brought with you, shouldn’t you introduce him?”
Yun Che walked forward and cupped his hands: “Blue Wind Profound Palace Inner Palace disciple Yun Che, pays his respects to Your Majesty.”
“Oh? You’re Yun Che?” Cang Wanhe revealed an astounded look, and then started laughing, “Although We have resided in this chamber for a long time, We too, have heard that a youngster with an incomparably shocking talent had emerged from the Blue Wind Profound Palace. He defeated an Inner Palace disciple seven levels above him at such a young age and also successfully wielded the Overlord’s Colossal Sword that no one had been able to use for several hundred years. Simply astonishing.”
Yun Che slightly smiled and said modestly, “Your Majesty is flattering me. This one is just an ordinary disciple of the profound palace who is unworthy of your highness’ praise.”
Yun Che’s words made Lan Xueruo incapable of withstraining her laughter: “Pfft. Junior brother Yun, normally you are overbearing and always have an air of arrogance wherever you go. Why are you suddenly so modest in front of my father today?”
When Cang Wanhe heard the name Yun Che earlier, he only had a slight admiration for him. However, as soon as Lan Xueruo’s words left her mouth, the way Cang Wanhe looked at Yun Che immediately changed; he knew his daughter extremely well, it was the first time he had ever seen his own daughter tease a young male this naturally.
As the Blue Wind Emperor, his eyes were extremely keen. When Lan Xueruo spoke, from the way she looked at Yun Che, Cang Wanhe could see that something wasn’t the quite the same…
Cang Wanhe’s expression did not waver as he kindly asked, “Yue’er, this ‘Junior Brother Yun’ of yours, should be the person you spent two years looking for?”
Last night, she had completely revealed all her secrets and untied the knots in her heart. Lan Xueruo no longer needed to avoid the topic of the Blue Wind Ranking Tournament in front of Yun Che. She calmly nodded and replied, “Yes. In regards to Junior brother Yun’s talent, Father should have already heard about it; I believe that after three years, Junior brother Yun can reach a very high level. He definitely has the possibility of entering the top one hundred… But the reason I brought Junior brother Yun here today, is not just to introduce him to you. Actually, Junior brother Yun is not only very talented in the profound cultivation. He is also versed in the medical arts and even has frequently claimed to be a genius doctor.”
“Oh?” Cang Wanhe’s face revealed his growing interest, “You’re also versed in the medical arts? Could it be that you intend to treat our illness?
“I will try my best.” Yun Che replied somewhat conservatively… From the moment he entered the door, he had been observing Cang Wanhe’s complexion, and gradually began to have a bad premonition.
“Heh heh, good.”
Even Gu Qiuhong couldn’t do anything, so it was impossible for anyone else in the Blue Wind Empire to be able to treat him, let alone a seventeen year old youngster. But Cang Wanhe did not refuse and gently replied, “It’s rare for someone to have such compassion, and since you are also the person Yue’er brought over, We naturally do not have any reason to refuse. Only, We have to tell you first, that according to Master Gu, what We have isn’t an illness, but rather permanent damage to our life veins due to accumulated labor; therefore, there is no need to force yourself if you don’t know what to do.”
Chapter 159: Soul Devouring Life Binding Parasite
“Your Majesty, let me see your pulse first.”
Cang Wanhe’s appearance gave Yun Che a terrible premonition, but he did not dare to make any assumptions. He walked forward a couple of steps and arrived in front of Cang Wanhe. After pressing two fingers on his right hand on top of his pulse, he closed his eyes.
Lan Xueruo suddenly held her breath. Cang Wanhe also did not say anymore; his slightly muddied vision silently sized up the man that his daughter chose. But in his heart, he didn’t have any hope that he would be able to aid his condition in any way. Perhaps his medical expertise was outstanding, but he was just too young. Such a thing like medical expertise, does not depend on knowledge from studies; it required many years to accumulate and compile.
Yun Che didn’t take very long to assess his pulse. Ten or so seconds later, he said softly, “Your Majesty, next, I will use profound energy assess your internal organs. Please do not resist.”
“Alright. Just go ahead and do your best. We have already said that you are the person Yue’er had brought over. We can definitely trust you.” Cang Wanhe nodded.
Immediately afterwards, Yun Che’s released a very small amount of profound energy that flowed through Cang Wanhe’s internal organs. He also did not continue for too long and withdrew his profound energy soon after. Then, he opened his e
yes with a complicated expression.
“How is it?” Lan Xueruo asked hurriedly. Although the total time of Yun Che’s observation was not more than a minute, it was apparent to anyone that, an “illness” which made even Gu Qiuhong helpless, could not possibly be diagnosed by a seventeen year old youngster’s short observation. But a young girl whose heart belonged to a man, would always had a sort of blind trust towards their own man, no matter what. Lan Xueruo, titled the Blue Moon Princess, also could not break free from the mindset of that sort of girl.
Yun Che was silent for a little while, and then asked, “Your Majesty, is there a scar that shouldn’t be too long on your chest area? If there is, was it left there approximately three years ago?”
Cang Wanhe thought about it for a bit, and then nodded as his pupils revealed his amazement: “That’s right. On our chest, there is in fact, a scar about an inch long that was also indeed left behind three years ago… How did you know that we have this scar on our body?”
Seeing Cang Wanhe nod, Yun Che’s expression became ugly.
Yun Che’s facial expression immediately caused Lan Xueruo to worry. She nervously asked, “Junior brother Yun, how is my father’s condition? Did you find something out?”
“Phew…” Yun Che let out a long breath as his face became serious, “What your majesty has, is in fact, not an illness, nor poison. But it is also not the damaging of your life veins that Gu Qiuhong had said… Rather, someone implanted a parasite in you!!”
“Ah? Parasite?” Lan Xueruo’s fragrant lips opened wide as shock spread across her face.
“Oh? How did you determine this?” Cang Wanhe was still, nevertheless, calm and indifferent. It was very clear that he didn’t believe Yun Che’s words; this was not because he did not trust Yun Che, but because he trusted Gu Qiuhong even more. In these past three years, his body’s condition remained stable under Gu Qiuhong’s care. Moreover, one’s name shook the entire Blue Wind Empire as the number one doctor and one was a mere seventeen year old youngster. No matter who it was, they could not believe the words of a youngster and question a person who possessed a century of fame as the number one genius doctor.
Yun Che wrinkled his brows, “This type of parasite is called the ‘Soul Devouring Life Binding Parasite’. This parasite is planted inside the body and relies on the heart’s blood to mature. After maturing, it lives near the heart’s veins and lives by consuming a person’s vitality. This type of parasite is very small, but it requires an incomparable amount of vitality to grow; nearly half of the hosts’ vitality could be consumed by it. The reason why Your Majesty’s health had been weak beyond compare these few years while also aging at an extreme pace, is because an entire half of your vitality had been swallowed by this ‘Soul Devouring Life Binding Parasite’.”
Cang Wanhe’s expression was as calm as before. Then, he revealed a trace of suspicion, “If it is truly as you say, then there is no way this formidable parasite that had been implanted in our body gone undiscovered by Gu Qiuhong, whose medical expertise had been the absolute best since long ago. It would be possible if you were to say that he wasn’t able to discover it in the first treatment, but in these three years, Gu Qiuhong has been treating us for several dozens of times. It is extremely unlikely that he was unable to discover it every single time. Yun Che, could it be that you have misunderstood something somewhere?”
“Impossible!” Yun Che shook his head without the slightest hesitation. “Absolutely impossible. I knew that Your Majesty would certainly not believe me, so please allow me a chance to prove it to Your Majesty… Allow me to cut open that scar on your chest. I will reveal the parasite in front of Your Majesty’s eyes.”
Cang Wanhe immediately wrinkled his eyebrows. How noble was his imperial body? How could he let a little youngster cut open his body? Before he said anything, Lan Xueruo had already opened her mouth, “Father, I believe Junior Yun, and I even more so, believe in his character. He would never do anything that would harm Father’s body. Father’s illness has never changed for the better from the start; even Master Gu could not do anything. Even if Junior brother Yun is unable to produce a favorable change, it would at least, not bring about any harm.
Something like making cuts on the emperor’s body, was naturally not a small matter. But Lan Xueruo still persuaded Cang Wanhe without hesitation. On one hand, she hoped that something would take a turn for the better. On the other hand, she had an extremely deep trust in Yun Che. As soon as she opened her mouth, the words Cang Wanhe originally wanted to say were swallowed down. He slowly nodded his head, “Alright then… Even if you cut open this wound in vain, you do not need to be nervous and blame yourself for it.”
Yun Che nodded and did not speak anymore. He pulled apart the clothes around Cang Wanhe’s chest. On the area near his heart, there was indeed an inch long scar. Such a long time had passed, so this scar had already become very light. However, it could still be clearly seen.
Yun Che extended his finger forward and profound energy rush towards his fingertips. Just as he was preparing to cut towards Cang Wanhe’s chest, his movement slightly slowed down, because just a moment ago, he felt a profound energy firmly lock on his own. This profound energy was hidden extremely well; normal people would definitely find it hard to discover, but how sharp was Yun Che’s perception? Not only that, he also sensed that this profound energy came with an incomparably terrifying piece of information; the strength was of, at least the Sky Profound Realm!
After the instant of astonishment, Yun Che immediately calmed down. How the emperor not have top experts protecting him at his side? But he was not trying to harm this emperor, so he didn’t have the slightest fear of the consequences. As his finger lightly cut Cang Wanghe’s chest, it directly cut the one inch long scar open and drops of blood quickly flowed out. Yun Che’s then quickly placed his other hand upon the cut and carefully let his phoenix’s flame energy enter. In an instant, he found the place where the “Soul Devouring Life Binding Parasite” was hiding.
Parasites naturally fear fire, and the Phoenix Flame just happened to be the king of flames. The frightened “Soul Devouring Life Binding Parasite” immediately fled in the opposite direction, away from where the Phoenix Flame was and was slowly lured towards the position of the wound by Yun Che.
“It’s coming out.” Yun Che opened his eyes and said softly.
After his voice fell, the wound on Cang Wanhe’s chest suddenly started abnormally wiggle. Afterwards, a slender, completely golden parasitic worm about half an inch long, stretched out half of its body and violently wriggled.
“Ah!!!”
Lan Xueruo was so frightened that she cried out in fear. Her rosy face lost all its color. Even the emperor, Cang Wanhe, was struck dumb as his entire body stiffened…
“Don’t move!!” Yun Che roared out, putting a stop to the all of the possible movements from Lan Xueruo, Cang Wanhe and the secret person. He quickly lifting his left hand and used the phoenix flame to force the gold colored parasite to quickly return back into Cang Wanhe’s veins. Then, he released his profound energy, sealed Cang Wanhe’s wound, and staunched the bleeding.
“Our… Our body actually had something like that inside of it!” Cang Wanhe seemed as if he had already calmed down, but his stiff body showed that he was still in the frightened state he was in before.
“Junior brother Yun… why didn’t you take that… that parasite from before out, instead letting it return back into Father’s body? It… It had already been clearly, drawn out by you.” Lan Xueruo’s small face was completely white. Girls usually had a natural fear for these types of unusual insects; what’s more, it was still in Cang Wanhe’s body.
Yun Che shook his head and replied: “It’s not that I don’t want to take it out, but that it is simply impossible. If this were any other type of parasite, regardless of whether it was even more terrifying, as long as its location is found, it is possible to find a method to lure it out or directly kill it. But this type of parasite
… it is called the ‘Soul Devouring Life Binding Parasite’ because not only does it swallow a large amount of the hosts’ vitality, after this parasite drinks the blood of its host, it turns the host’s life into its own, and thus shares life and death with its host. In other words, the Soul Devouring Life Binding Parasite within Your Majesty’s body, is sharing a life with your majesty! If Your Majesty were to die, it would die. Conversely, if it were to die, Your Majesty would also die!”
“Ah!!” Lan Xueruo widened her beautiful eyes as they trembled dramatically.
“Wh… What? In this world, there actually exists this type of sinister creature!” Cang Wanhe also had a face full of fear.
Yun Che continued to speak, “It also needs to absorb Your Majesty’s vitality to live. If it leaves Your Majesty’s body, it would immediately die. And for its entire life, it can only have one host; even if it was moved to another host’s body, it would still be of no use. So not only should this type of Soul Devouring Life Binding Parasite not be removed from Your Majesty’s body, it also needs to be carefully ‘supported’. There is no other choice but to helplessly allow it to swallow the body’s vitality at all times and it mustn’t be allowed to die.”
Yun Che paused as his voice became even more serious, “Senior Sister Xueruo, Your Majesty, my following words, will be a bit cruel… The lifespan of a parasitic worm isn’t too long. According to what I know, this Soul Devouring Life Binding Parasite’s life expectancy is five years. And the time it has been in Your Majesty’s body, already exceeds three years. After two more years, this Soul Devouring Life Binding Parasite will die. In other words… Your Majesty’s remaining life span, is at most, two more years.”
“How could it be like this… How could it be like this… “ Lan Xueruo covered her lips and soundlessly sobbed.
Cang Wanhe gasped in a large breath of air. The parasite within his body and Yun Che’s words, undoubtedly threw his mind into complete disarray, so much that it also seized him with terror. He spoke in a deep voice: “Who could it be… Who infected us with such a malicious parasite! We will definitely find him… and dismembering his body into ten thousand pieces! !”