Xue Beng Retreats, the Blue Silver Emperor's Marvellous Use
Xue Qinghe again? How was he involved in everything? Just how far did this guy's reach extend?
Xue Beng cursed inwardly, but he kept that foppish smile on his face. "Your Highness the Crown Prince has countless affairs to attend to every day. How does he have time for such a trivial matter?"
"Anything concerning Ye Lingling is no trivial matter to my Brother Xue." Lin Chen couldn't be bothered to beat around the bush any longer and made his position clear. "If Your Highness the Fourth Prince has no other business, please leave."
Xue Beng opened his mouth, wanting to say something else, but Ye Lingling stepped forward at that moment and said coldly, "Your Highness the Fourth Prince, please leave."
Xue Beng turned to look at Ye Lingling, finally unable to maintain his expression. "Miss Ye, you'd better think this through—"
"I've already thought it through." Ye Lingling interrupted him, her voice firm. "Please leave."
Xue Beng's face turned alternately green and white. He stared hard at Ye Lingling for several seconds, then turned to look at Lin Chen. Finally, he stamped his foot, angrily flung his sleeves and turned around.
"Ye Lingling, you'll regret this!"
With those parting words, Xue Beng left the courtyard with his two servants, looking thoroughly disgraced. Their footsteps gradually faded, and the courtyard fell quiet again.
Ye Lingling stood where she was, her fingers slowly loosening their grip on her sleeve. She let out a soft breath.
She turned and bowed earnestly to Lin Chen. "Thank you."
"It's nothing. It's what I should do." Lin Chen waved a hand dismissively. "That guy Xue Beng throws his weight around just because he's a prince. Sooner or later, someone will deal with him."
Ye Lingling nodded and said nothing more. She simply turned and headed for the inner room at the back of the courtyard. "Come with me. My mother is inside."
Lin Chen followed Ye Lingling down a short corridor and into a softly lit room.
The room was small and simply furnished, and a faint scent of medicinal herbs hung in the air.
A pale middle-aged woman lay on the bed. She looked to be around forty, and her features bore some resemblance to Ye Lingling's.
Hearing their footsteps, she slowly opened her eyes. When she saw the six- or seven-year-old boy following Ye Lingling, a trace of confusion appeared on her face.
"Mother, this is Lin Chen. He... has come to help treat you," Ye Lingling said quietly as she walked to the bedside.
The woman struggled to sit up, but Lin Chen hurried forward and waved a hand. "Auntie, don't get up. Just stay lying down."
The woman paused, then gave him a weak smile. "Sorry for the trouble."
"It's no trouble at all," Lin Chen replied with a smile. Without saying anything more, he went straight to the bed and sat down. He placed a hand on the woman's wrist and sent a wisp of Soul Power into her body.
His Soul Power slowly traveled once through her meridians, and Lin Chen's brow furrowed more and more deeply.
He found that although the Soul Power in the woman's body was still circulating normally, her vitality was like a wooden bucket with a hole in its bottom, leaking away from every part of her body at an extremely slow rate.
The loss was so slight that, had his spiritual power not been strong enough, he wouldn't have noticed it at all.
Her vitality is leaking away... what's going on?
Lin Chen withdrew his hand, his brow tightly furrowed as his mind raced.
Has she been poisoned? That doesn't seem right either. I've seen Dugu Bo's poison arts, and the symptoms are completely different.
Something she was born with? That's even less likely. Ye Lingling's mother clearly only fell ill in the past three months. She was healthy before that.
Lin Chen thought for a long time, running through every possibility in his mind, but none matched completely.
"How is she?" Ye Lingling couldn't help asking when he remained silent for so long. "Can my mother still be saved?"
Lin Chen looked up and saw that Ye Lingling's pale gray eyes were filled with anxiety and hope. He opened his mouth, nearly saying the words, "There's nothing I can do."
But just as the words reached his lips, he suddenly remembered something.
Wait... isn't the Blue Silver Emperor in the Wishful Hundred Treasure Pouch?
An idea flashed through Lin Chen's mind.
The Blue Silver Emperor was the king of Plant-type Soul Beasts, with an extremely tenacious life force. Back then, Tang Hao had planted her in a cave where the sun never shone, yet she had still survived. That alone showed how terrifying her vitality was.
And Ye Lingling's mother's illness was precisely a constant loss of vitality.
If I put the Blue Silver Emperor beside her and use her vitality to replenish what's being lost...
Lin Chen's eyes lit up. He turned to Ye Lingling. "I have an idea."
Ye Lingling's breath caught. "Really?"
"But I'm not sure whether it'll work." Lin Chen smiled and nodded. "Still, we can give it a try."
"We can try anything!" Ye Lingling nodded vigorously, her voice full of urgency.
Lin Chen stood up and took the Blue Silver Emperor seedling out of the Wishful Hundred Treasure Pouch.
The seedling glimmered with a faint, deep-blue light, and delicate golden patterns traced its leaves. As soon as she emerged from the pouch, a fresh, rich breath of life filled the air.
"Go get a flowerpot," Lin Chen told Ye Lingling.
Although Ye Lingling didn't know what he intended to do, she immediately turned and went out, soon running back with an empty flowerpot. Lin Chen took it and carefully planted the Blue Silver Emperor inside.
The moment the Blue Silver Emperor's roots touched the soil, she instinctively began drawing in nutrients. Her leaves unfurled at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the faint golden patterns grew brighter.
Compared with her listless state in the cave, she looked almost like a different plant now, and the vitality she gave off was several times stronger.
Lin Chen placed the flowerpot on the nightstand beside Ye Lingling's mother's bed.
"Auntie, relax and don't think about anything," Lin Chen said softly.
The woman nodded and closed her eyes.
The Blue Silver Emperor's leaves swayed gently, releasing wisps of pale golden light that were almost visible to the naked eye. They slowly enveloped the entire bed.
Ye Lingling's mother's breathing hitched slightly, then grew much steadier. The pallor in her face began to recede at an extremely slow pace, and a trace of color returned to her lips.
Ye Lingling stood by the bed, watching her mother intently without blinking. When she saw that her mother's complexion really was beginning to improve, her whole body trembled.
"Mother!" She rushed to the bedside and took her mother's hand, unable to contain the excitement in her voice.
The woman slowly opened her eyes. Looking at Ye Lingling's face, which had finally regained some life, she smiled faintly. "Lingling, I think... I feel much better."
Ye Lingling could no longer hold back her tears. She nodded fiercely, then turned and bowed deeply to Lin Chen. "Thank you... thank you so much..."
Lin Chen shook his head and reached out to help Ye Lingling up. "You don't have to be so polite. I told you, it's what I should do."
He glanced at the flourishing Blue Silver Emperor on the nightstand and thought for a moment before speaking. "Since this Blue Silver Grass is useful, I'll leave it in your care for now. Just take good care of it."
Ye Lingling nodded vigorously. "I will. I'll definitely take good care of it!"
"This Blue Silver Grass has a strong life force. As long as it's here, your mother's condition should gradually stabilize."
Lin Chen clapped his hands and added, "But I don't know whether this method can cure her completely. I'll come back to check on her later."
"Mm!" Ye Lingling wiped the tear tracks from her face and looked earnestly at Lin Chen. "No matter what, you saved my mother. I'll remember this kindness."
Lin Chen smiled and said nothing more. He simply glanced at the Blue Silver Emperor and thought silently, Stay here and behave yourself. You've done a good deed too, in a way.