Chapter 39: Leniency for Confession: Yes! I Cured That Little Bastard
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Yun Qing entered the hall, and the doors closed behind him once more.
He walked slowly toward the desk. Before Li Muchen could say a word, he simply took a seat in one of the chairs on either side.
The moment Yun Qing sat down, the hall doors opened again. A palace attendant brought in tea, then withdrew.
Now, only Yun Qing and Li Muchen remained inside.
“Why are you here so early?”
“I thought you had only broken through and advanced yesterday. I assumed you would sleep in today.”
“Heh…”
“I had intended to sleep a little longer.”
“But something suddenly came to mind, and I couldn’t fall back asleep.”
“Since I was coming here anyway, I figured I might as well come early.”
Li Muchen asked curiously, “What could possibly be troubling the renowned God of Medicine of the cultivation world enough to keep him awake?”
Yun Qing raised his head and cast Li Muchen a faint glance.
“Hmm…”
“It has something to do with you as well.”
“With me?!”
Li Muchen grew even more curious.
“Come on, tell me. What is it?”
Yun Qing did not hurry to answer. He lifted his teacup and savored the tea at his leisure.
Only after finishing it did he slowly set the cup down.
“It’s nothing major. It concerns Wu Shanggui.”
Li Muchen’s eyes immediately rose, a trace of surprise flashing through them.
“Wu Shanggui? Isn’t he mixed up with the people from Azurewood Mountain?”
“What could he possibly have to do with your Seek Immortality Sect?”
“I’ve heard that the First and Second Princes of the Northern Ji Kingdom are at odds.”
“I also heard that the Seek Immortality Sect has ties to the First Prince…”
“And Wu Shanggui told me about the relationship between Azurewood Mountain and the Second Prince.”
“You are a member of the Seek Immortality Sect, while Wu Shanggui is from the Great Zhao Kingdom. How could there be any connection between you and him?”
“If there really is some connection…”
“Yesterday, the people from Azurewood Mountain tried to kill you and seize your cultivation. That would certainly count as a grudge.”
“But the Sacred Lord of Azurewood Mountain is dead, and the mountain has been thoroughly defeated.”
“Could it be that you intend to settle accounts with the Second Prince behind all this?”
Unable to think of any reasonable explanation, Li Muchen could only make a wild guess.
“No.” Yun Qing shook his head.
“Some time ago, Wu Shanggui pledged allegiance to the First Prince of the Northern Ji Kingdom.”
The words left Li Muchen frozen in place.
What?
What had he just heard?
“You… mean…”
“Wu Shanggui… betrayed the new emperor of Great Zhao… and pledged allegiance to the First Prince of the Northern Ji Kingdom?!”
Li Muchen wondered whether he was hearing things.
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Impossible—?!
Wu Shanggui had only just betrayed him, the deposed emperor, and now, in the blink of an eye, he had betrayed Great Zhao’s new emperor as well?
Suddenly, someone came to mind.
Wu Sangui, the historical figure from the modern world who had invited the Qing forces through the pass.
Their names sounded similar, and the disgraceful things they had done were remarkably alike.
That said, Wu Shanggui really was something else.
He had betrayed one emperor, only to turn around and betray a second.
Li Muchen still could not understand why Wu Shanggui had betrayed the new emperor.
It had clearly been only a short while ago that the man had led troops in an attack.
He had looked nothing like someone preparing to betray that new dog emperor.
Only after Yun Qing explained everything did Li Muchen understand what had happened.
“Holy crap—!!”
“So you really cured that bastard Wu Shanggui?!”
Li Muchen slammed his palm onto the table and stormed over to Yun Qing, furious.
“I went out of my way—on purpose—to cripple that bastard!”
“You’re my master, for heaven’s sake… Dad…!!”
“How could you possibly cure that bastard?!”
Faced with Li Muchen’s furious outburst, Yun Qing had to make considerable effort to calm him down.
“You are being far too emotional.”
“Besides, I was not your master when I treated Wu Shanggui.”
“I—!!” Li Muchen began to flare up again.
He was just about to explode when Yun Qing stopped him once more.
“Wait.”
“My master owed the First Prince a favor.”
“The First Prince called in that favor, and my master could hardly refuse.”
“Besides, you can rest assured…”
“Although I had not met you at the time, I still despised Wu Shanggui’s conduct as a petty villain.”
“With my abilities, I could have restored not only Wu Shanggui’s limbs…”
“I could even have restored his former martial cultivation.”
Li Muchen’s eyes widened like bells as he stared fixedly at Yun Qing’s face.
“But rest assured, I did not do that.”
“I merely restored that bastard—cough—Wu Shanggui’s limbs to normal.”
“For the rest of his life, that bastard—cough—that fellow can forget about practicing martial arts ever again.”
“Are you satisfied with that explanation, disciple?”
Yun Qing felt a headache coming on.
Taking a disciple was truly troublesome. He had to worry about the boy’s emotional fluctuations at every turn.
Yun Qing pressed a hand to his forehead in speechless exasperation.
Was it too late to regret taking a disciple?
Li Muchen seemed to see exactly what Yun Qing was thinking and hurriedly issued a warning.
“Hmph—”
“All right, all right.”
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“Seeing as you only healed that bastard halfway…”
“I, Li Muchen, will still acknowledge you as my master.”
“But let me make one thing clear. When you and I became master and disciple, we established a spiritual-root pact before Heaven and Earth.”
“For the rest of this life, Yun Qing, don’t even think about running away.”
“Even if you flee to the ends of the earth, you will remain my master for life.”
Li Muchen had completely latched on to Yun Qing—and to the Seek Immortality Sect.
“By the way, Dad—!!”
“When are you going to take me back to the sect to have a look?”
“However you put it, I am your only direct disciple now.”
“If I do not even recognize the sect’s gates, wouldn’t that be humiliating?”
Li Muchen rubbed his fists together, gazing at Yun Qing with eager anticipation.
“Ahem…”
“That matter isn’t urgent for now.”
Yun Qing pressed his forehead again, regretting more and more that he had taken this unruly disciple.
“Sigh… I have lived for thirty-eight years…”
“Suddenly having a disciple is truly something I am not accustomed to.”
Yun Qing shook his head and sighed.
Li Muchen abruptly raised his head and stared at Yun Qing in shock, his handsome young face filled with disbelief.
“Master, you’re… thirty-eight?”
“Yes.” Yun Qing glanced at him. “What of it?”
Li Muchen continued staring at Yun Qing’s face, still looking as though he could not believe it.
“How is that possible?!”
“Master, you look barely over twenty.”
“And you’re saying… you’re thirty-eight??”
Then wouldn’t that mean—
He was a full twenty years older than Li Muchen.
Li Muchen refused to believe it.
The very next moment, however, Yun Qing’s words struck him like a slap in the face.
“Oh, you mean this?”
“Ten years ago, I became famous overnight.”
“At a young age, I became a spirit-healer cultivator whose cultivation was second only to that of my master—the Medicine Immortal.”
“From that moment on, my appearance remained fixed as it had been ten years ago.”
Ignoring Li Muchen’s exaggerated expression, Yun Qing continued:
“All right, enough about that.”
“You have only just awakened your spiritual root. I will teach you how to regulate your breathing and refine your qi first…”
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