Chapter 9: If Life Were Only Like First Meeting (Part Three)
Watching Nan Ke’s reaction, Chen Changsheng became even more certain of his judgment. Since he had already spoken, he wanted to finish what he had to say. At certain times, he habitually took on the role of a physician and could not accept a patient hiding their illness out of fear of treatment, even if that person was his enemy, and even though he was in an absolutely disadvantaged position—this was the only angle he could exploit.
“I have a lot of experience with problems caused by innate bloodlines. I think you should know this. If you’re willing to let me treat you, I might actually find a way,” he said, looking at Nan Ke.
The first time this continent learned his name had nothing to do with that marriage contract, nor with the Ivy Banquet or the Grand Examination. It was because he became Luoluo’s teacher. He became Luoluo’s teacher and gained the tacit approval of that saintly couple far away in White Emperor City because he solved Luoluo’s meridian problem, allowing her to successfully master human Daoist arts. Zheshou traveled from the Snow Plains to the capital to participate in the Grand Examination, not to view the steles at the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, but because he knew of Chen Changsheng’s abilities in this area and came specifically to seek treatment. These two facts fully proved his medical skill, especially in this field.
Nan Ke’s problem lay in bloodline awakening. Although different from the problems Luoluo and Zheshou encountered, there were many similarities. She stared at Chen Changsheng, not noticing the emotional fluctuations of the subordinates behind her. After a moment of silence, she suddenly said, “If… I really am unwell, and you cure me, I’ll let you leave.”
Chen Changsheng thought, even now you won’t let that white-clad girl leave—who exactly is she? He certainly wouldn’t accept such an arrangement. He said, “If I walk up to you, you’ll definitely kill me. So the most feasible approach should be for me to treat you after we leave the Zhou Garden.”
Nan Ke said, “Why should I trust you? After leaving the Zhou Garden, you’ll return to the Li Palace, and I won’t be able to find you.”
Without hesitation, Chen Changsheng replied, “If it’s a promise, I will naturally keep it.”
In a world full of deceit and treachery, before the blood feuds between humans and demons who stop at nothing, keeping promises was utterly laughable. Yet somehow, looking at Chen Changsheng’s calm expression, Nan Ke felt his words were incredibly sincere, to the point where she couldn’t help but believe him.
This feeling made her uncomfortable and displeased. She said, “Why should I trust you?”
This was still a repeated question. By now, Nan Ke finally noticed the problem. A trace of anger appeared in her somewhat dull eyes, and she tried to cover her true emotions with another approach. Her tone remained flat as she said, “Why should I believe what you say? Can you really tell I’m sick with just one look?”
This was the third repetition. Chen Changsheng said very seriously, “Yes, I can tell with just one look.”
Nan Ke’s expression was blank, the anger in her eyes fading, leaving only numbness. She asked, “How can you tell?”
Chen Changsheng thought for a moment and said, “Your problem is different from Princess Luoluo’s and Zheshou’s. Theirs is mainly a conflict between bloodline and meridians, but yours… is a conflict between soul and body. Judging by your name, the soul in your body should be a reincarnated peacock? Peacocks have always been known for their powerful souls, which is why they’re called the Great Bright King. You inherited its soul and bloodline, and your own talent and comprehension are extremely strong. When you were very young, its soul awakened in your body and kept growing robustly, far surpassing the maturity of your physical body. The two can’t synchronize or harmonize, gradually creating conflict—that’s the root of the problem.”
Nan Ke was silent for a while, then said, “What I’m asking is, how did you see it?”
“The soul resides in the sea of consciousness, but the Great Bright King’s soul within you is a second soul, so it dwells here. In medical texts, this is called the pineal gland.”
Chen Changsheng pointed between his eyebrows and said, “The peacock’s soul awakened and kept maturing, causing your pineal gland to grow larger and larger, while your body’s growth couldn’t keep up. So it’s very clear that your brow and eyes are wider than normal… or rather, wider than a demon’s. Moreover, you sit in self-contemplation day and night, your mind completely focused, which creates a very special situation…”
He thought about how to describe that situation. After thinking for a long time, he found only one word could describe it most accurately. Looking at Nan Ke on the shore, he said, “The reason I could see the illness in your body at a single glance is because… you’re cross-eyed.”
Cross-eyed?
Cross-eyed?
All around the reeds was silent, especially on the shore, which was deathly still. Both the two maids and the old man playing the zither had very ugly expressions, looking at him as if he were a corpse.
Nan Ke’s expression remained calm, even somewhat wooden. But for some reason, even though there was no wind at the moment, the black hair draped over her shoulders began to flutter. Her pupils gradually turned a ghostly green, and paired with her pale, childish face with its slightly wide brow and eyes, she looked extremely eerie and terrifying.
At the summit of Twilight Peak, when Xu Yourong first saw Nan Ke, she had been just as surprised as Chen Changsheng was earlier—not just because the rumors said Nan Ke was only a dull little girl, but because her brow and eyes were indeed wider than normal, her gaze somewhat vacant, making her look like she had incomplete intellectual development, and her pupils did seem to converge toward the center.
But Xu Yourong hadn’t said anything, because she regarded Nan Ke as a worthy opponent, and commenting on someone’s body was very rude.
Chen Changsheng had always been a very courteous person. Even facing an enemy like a demon, he could fight them, but he wouldn’t deliberately humiliate them over a physical disability. The reason he called Nan Ke cross-eyed to her face was, first, because he knew it wasn’t true cross-eyes—it was a symptom of the conflict between her soul and body, a sign of illness, not a disability—so he felt it was okay to mention. Second, at this moment, he saw Nan Ke as a patient, and as a physician, he naturally had to speak without holding back. He truly had no malice and hadn’t realized how insulting the word “cross-eyed” would be to a young girl. Yet it was precisely his casual, earnest, and sincere words that seemed so genuinely credible, which made Nan Ke feel utterly enraged.
Seeing Nan Ke’s ghostly green eyes and windless fluttering black hair, he felt he might have said something wrong. He quickly gestured with his hands to explain, “Of course, it’s not as exaggerated as I made it sound. Your brow and eyes are just a bit wider, and your pupils are affected by the soul, instinctively converging toward the center, so you look a bit dazed. But there’s definitely nothing wrong with your intelligence.”
Truly worthy of being the honest and reliable young gentleman of the National Academy—this explanation was worse than no explanation at all.
Nan Ke’s expression remained indifferent, but her black hair fluttered faster and faster, and her breathing grew heavier.
With several sharp whooshing sounds.
Without any warning, she raised her right hand and pointed at Chen Changsheng. Five rays of light tinged with faint green shot through the air, piercing straight toward Chen Changsheng’s chest!
These five green lights contained her primal power, infused with that proud and cold soul between her brows—this was the terrifyingly powerful Peacock Feather!
After a fierce battle the previous night, her true essence had been severely depleted, and like Xu Yourong, she had lost a lot of blood. In this state, using such an attack at the cost of her primal power meant she was truly furious beyond reason. She no longer cared about any illness; her only thought now was to kill this utterly detestable human youth!
Nan Ke’s injuries hadn’t healed, but even such a powerful attack was more than Chen Changsheng could withstand, especially given his even worse condition. Fortunately, the black dragon sleeping in the lake outside his Nether Palace kept releasing frost energy, helping to repair the cracks in his internal organs. Most importantly, the scattered lake water and ice replenished some of his true essence.
The amount of true essence was still very thin, not enough for battle, but at least it allowed him to do something. His divine sense stirred, and the thin frost on the wasteland within him ignited. A sound like metal grinding and colliding seemed to ring out simultaneously. The yellow paper umbrella appeared in his hand, fluttering in the wind.
At this moment, there was no wind around the reeds. The wind that came to meet the umbrella naturally came from those five terrifying Peacock Feathers.
With several terrifying impacts in succession, the reeds instantly turned to countless particles, scattering toward the sky and the shore like exploded snow.
The five Peacock Feathers struck the umbrella’s surface in no particular order, violently and simply. Chen Changsheng could no longer stand. Burning his last true essence, he desperately gripped the umbrella handle. His feet left the reeds, and he floated into the sky, drifting dozens of zhang away before falling along an arc and crashing heavily into the grassland.
Thanks to the yellow paper umbrella, his descent was slowed, but he still landed hard, splashing a huge spray of water.
Beneath the endless wild grass, just like the outer reed marshes, many pools of water were hidden.
The slightly cool water struck his face like hard stones. The immense recoil nearly made him spit blood, but he forced it back down.
He struggled to stand up from the water, ignoring his newly aggravated injuries, and dragged his even heavier legs forward, starting to run.
Being struck by Nan Ke’s domineering and terrifying Peacock Feathers and landing in this grassland—this was something he had prepared for in advance. The angle and position were all without deviation. In other words, he had intended to flee into this grassland. Yes, although everyone knew that entering this mysterious and dangerous grassland meant never being able to leave, he had no choice.
Because if he didn’t enter this grassland, he would die. Entering, at least he could live a little longer, even if it might only be a few more breaths.
From time to time, sharp sounds of tearing energy echoed through the sky. Nan Ke’s terrifying attacks continued.
He didn’t look back at the shore. This had nothing to do with a real man not watching his building collapse; he just wanted to save time and leave faster.
The water in the grassland wasn’t deep, just up to his waist, but walking through it was very difficult and exhausting. There was no way to speed up.
To avoid a clump of water grass in front of him, he turned his head and looked at the unconscious white-clad girl, puzzled. He thought, she’s not very tall, so why is she heavier than expected?
(Only one chapter these past few days. I’ll report to everyone when I resume two chapters.)