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Chapter 1176: Are You Going to Do It, Or Am I?
“Wait,” Yun Jianyue suddenly said, feeling confused. “Did we forget something?”
Yan Xuehen was stunned. She replied, “Did we?”
Both of their expressions changed immediately afterward and they exclaimed, “Yu Yanluo!”
All of their attention had been focused on Zu An’s safety. Besides, Yu Yanluo had been some distance behind them, so the two had actually ended up forgetting about her. But she had also done everything she could to save the two of them! They felt apologetic and quickly ran toward where Yu Yanluo lay.
Even though Yun Jianyue was seriously injured, she was still a grandmaster. She took a pill from her sect and managed to recover a bit of strength. She supported Zu An with her shoulder and walked toward Yu Yanluo. After some time, however, she turned around and shot Yan Xuehen a look, asking, “What are you doing? You’re empty handed, but you’re slower than me?”
She really needed the other woman to help her carry Yu Yanluo too. After all, she was extremely weak at the moment. It really would be quite tiring if she had to carry both of them. But with her pride, how could she possibly bring herself to beg for that?
She had initially expected Yan Xuehen to suggest that, while she would refuse once. Afterward, she would reluctantly agree. But this woman didn’t seem to get it at all. She hadn’t offered to help at all even after so much time. She couldn’t help but feel upset when she saw the other woman was moving so slowly.
“None of your business. Just take care of yourself,” Yan Xuehen shot back, her expression cold.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Yun Jianyue exclaimed angrily, thinking, Even if this stone cold woman loves arguing against me, can’t she pick a better time to do this? She didn’t feel like paying the other woman any more attention, and just continued to walk toward Yu Yanluo while carrying Zu An.
Only then did Yan Xuehen stop hiding her hand. It was covered in blood that was starting to turn black, and she was holding a dagger-shaped tooth. The black light fired from the Scaled Deathworm’s mouth when she tried to save Zu An had been that very tooth.
She hadn’t been able to evade the worm’s attack and could only forcibly block it with her own body. However, instead of announcing her injury, she had used ki to seal the acupoint on her back to prevent the poison from spreading.
After taking some White Jade Sect medicines, she quickly followed along, and soon arrived next to the others. It was difficult to tell whether Yu Yanluo was alive or dead. Her complexion was as pale as paper, her black hair dull. There wasn’t a trace of her previously devastating beauty.
“What happened to her?” Yan Xuehen asked Yun Jianyue, who had arrived before her. Zu An had already been set down on the ground next to a large rock.
“Her situation is a bit more severe than even Zu An’s,” Yun Jianyue said, letting go of Yu Yanluo’s hand after checking her pulse. She pointed at the other woman’s skin and continued, “The surface of her skin is already showing signs of petrification. It looks like a side-effect of forcefully activating the Medusa’s Bloodline.”
“But this is really strange… With her cultivation, even after using that kind of power just now, the effects shouldn’t have been so severe,” Yun Jianyue muttered, her brows furrowing tightly.
Yan Xuehen sighed and explained, “I was chasing after them previously. She has already used her Medusa skill twice.”
Yun Jianyue’s eyes widened and she cried, “Miss Yan, you really love screwing everything up!”
Surprisingly, Yan Xuehen didn’t argue. This entire situation had indeed been caused by her. If she hadn’t insisted on chasing after Zu An and Yu Yanluo, they would all still be in good health. Instead, she took out a pill and said, “Feed this to her. Even though it is not the Ice Heart Pill, its effects are not bad…”
Yun Jianyue rolled her eyes and retorted, “Do you think I lack medicine? She probably wouldn’t even want to eat any medicine from you at this point.”
She didn’t take the pill, and instead took one out herself before trying to feed it to Yu Yanluo. But her expression quickly froze. Yu Yanluo’s mouth was closed, and she couldn’t be fed the medicine. Damn it, why do I have to do the same thing for her as for Zu An?!
She turned around to look at Yan Xuehen and asked, “Do you want to do it?”
Yan Xuehen blushed and looked away, saying, “Since you want to help her, you should do all of it.”
Yun Jianyue was speechless. Still, she didn’t think too much of it. Seeing as she had even kissed Zu An already, she didn’t mind kissing another person. Either way, Yu Yanluo was a woman.
She put the pill in her mouth, then lowered her head to feed Yu Yanluo the pill. Afterward, she quickly got back up. As if to hide her embarrassment, she said with a sigh, “As expected of the capital’s number one beauty, her lips are soft and sweet. I was able to achieve something so many men yearn for in this world, but will never get to experience, haha… Hahaha.”
But after a few moments of laughter, she noticed that Yan Xuehen was looking at her as if she were an idiot. She felt somewhat embarrassed.
Just then, they heard a sudden groan. Yu Yanluo’s eyelashes moved slightly, and she slowly opened her eyes.
“You’re awake?” both Yun Jianyue and Yan Xuehen asked out of concern.
“Where is Ah Zu?” Yu Yanluo asked. Her first reaction was to look in the direction of the deathworm.
“Don’t worry. That bug has already been destroyed. Zu An ended up getting hurt a bit, but he’s over there,” Yun Jianyue explained somewhat ambiguously. She was worried that Yu Yanluo’s condition would worsen if she learned about Zu An’s condition.
Yu Yanluo looked visibly relieved when she saw Zu An, saying, “I can feel at ease then.” She closed her eyes and fainted again immediately after.
Yun Jianyue checked her condition again. She said with a grave expression, “I didn’t expect the medicine to only allow her to remain conscious for that bit of time. She… might not make it.”
Yan Xuehen was silent. At any other time, the two of them might have been able to rely on their astonishing cultivation to treat Yu Yanluo together using ki, to see if that would help. But at that moment, it was hard to say if they would even recover fully themselves, so what else could they possibly do?
“Ah, this is so damn frustrating! I, Yun Jianyue, have never owed anyone any favors, and yet not only won’t I be able to return this favor, cough cough…” Yun Jianyue trailed off, beginning to cough intensely. Her speaking had ended up making her injuries worse.
Yan Xuehen suddenly cried out in alarm, “He… Why is he bleeding?!”
Yun Jianyue turned around and saw that fine cracks had begun to cover Zu An’s body, leaking out small droplets of blood. He was soon covered in blood due to the sheer number of those wounds. She exclaimed in horror, “He used the Star Shattering Imprint too many times. His body can’t take it and is starting to break down!”
“What do we do?” Yan Xuehen asked. She had never panicked so much in all the years she had been alive. She felt as helpless as a new cultivator.
“There’s no cure!” Yun Jianyue cried, her expression downcast.
There were many before her who had cultivated this technique, and quite a few of them had used it more times than the limit. All of them had ended up passing away without exception. Otherwise, the technique’s secret manual wouldn’t have warned against it so strictly. This was a lesson learned through blood. However, Zu An had used it five times. The fact that he hadn’t exploded into a bloody mist on the spot already spoke volumes of his ridiculous talent.
Yan Xuehen suddenly asked, “Is his life force breaking down? Could he be saved as long as his life force was replenished?”
Yun Jianyue’s eyes widened. She began, “Are you saying…”
Yan Xuehen nodded and explained, “The techniques we cultivate probably both have intertwining cultivation techniques. When yin and yang intersect, life force flourishes; the cosmos harmonizes and brings forth natural luck. The area would be suffused with the great dao laws of the universe. With our cultivation rank, we should be able to supply him with the life force he needs.”
Yun Jianyue’s jaw was about to hit the ground. She obviously knew that there were intertwining cultivation techniques; when dao companions cultivated them together, they would help each other improve, leading to even greater results. But with their status and cultivation, they hadn’t had any interest in seeking out any dao companions.
When she heard Yan Xuehen’s explanation, her first thought was to be alarmed. But she was knowledgeable, and after thinking about it, she concluded that such a plan did have a chance of success. But she still said seriously, “There’s too much of a cultivation gap between us and him. If we really carry out such intertwined cultivation, our own cultivation might suffer. Besides, there’s only a chance of success, and it might not necessarily work.
“Of course, he’s only in his current state because he was trying to save us. It’s fine to lose a bit of cultivation to give it a try. But the biggest problem is that his relationship with us is too awkward!”
If it were any other man, she might just decide to go through with it. Even though she had remained a virgin her entire life, that was only because she hadn’t found someone she liked. She didn’t have too great of an attachment to something like that.
Zu An wasn’t a bad choice, but he was their disciples’ man! What the hell was this situation?!
Unbelievably, however, Yan Xuehen acted as if she hadn’t heard a thing. She said coldly, “Are you going to do it, or am I?”
Yun Jianyue: “???”