What If... I Tried?

At that moment, Ling Jing ran over to pick up the ball. Seeing the scene before him, he was just as baffled as everyone else and asked:

"What the heck is going on?"

Jing Pu immediately frowned at Ling Jing.

"Did you use True Qi to hit the ball again? Look, you hit someone so hard they threw up blood."

Ling Jing hurriedly protested, looking completely innocent.

"No, I didn't! I just returned it normally!"

Hearing Ling Jing's words, Jing Pu couldn't help but freeze. It did seem that way... That last shot hadn't even been that fast, and Yun Qiyao had caught it, hadn't she?

What was going on?

Was she faking it?

Jing Pu stood there, utterly baffled. Behind Yun Qiyao, the old man hurriedly caught her as she fell. He checked her condition and also noticed the Demon Pill in her hand.

The instant he saw the Demon Pill, the old man snatched it from Yun Qiyao's grasp, his face filled with horror.

"This... you... why do you have something like this?!"

Jing Pu glanced at the Demon Pill in the old man's hand and raised an eyebrow slightly... What was wrong with this thing?

But the old man had no time to worry about that. He tossed the Demon Pill aside, then knelt down with Yun Qiyao, supporting her as he looked at Jing Pu in terror.

"Senior, we were presumptuous today. Please put aside our offense and save Miss!"

Save her?

Actually... he could save her. His Medical Saint skills had long since reached perfection. But treating an ordinary person was one thing; treating a cultivator... would that even work?

Besides... wasn't this just a scam?

Jing Pu looked at the old man, who was on the verge of tears, and frowned in confusion.

"What exactly is wrong with her?"

The old man was bewildered by Jing Pu's question. He stared at him in disbelief.

"Senior doesn't know? Miss's curse is about to flare up! We came to beg you to help suppress it."

A curse?

Suppress it?

What nonsense was this?

Jing Pu had never even heard of such a thing. He stared blankly at the old man.

"I don't know... Besides, how could I possibly do that? I'm just a mortal. How could I know how to suppress a curse?"

Was this some kind of joke? He was just minding his own business here, planting vegetables, writing, painting landscapes, and playing ping-pong with his friends in his free time. Who'd gone around spreading rumors that he could suppress curses?

The old man looked at Jing Pu and listened to his words, unable to tell whether he truly couldn't help or simply didn't want to.

But just then, Yun Qiyao, who had been unconscious on the ground, suddenly opened her eyes. Her face twisted in pain, her whole body glowing with a black-red light, as if she were about to go berserk.

The old man saw this and cried out inwardly, "Oh no!" A green light shimmered around one of his hands as he pressed it directly against the top of Yun Qiyao's head.

That managed to suppress Yun Qiyao for the moment. But her face was contorted in such agony that she looked as if she'd lost her mind.

The old man snapped back to his senses, nearly in tears with worry. He looked at Jing Pu and pleaded:

"Senior, I'm truly begging you! If you save her, you'll be the great benefactor of our entire Cloud Monster Royal Family. We'll be forever grateful to you!"

The old man was so desperate he was on the verge of tears, and Jing Pu was damn near crying too. He really didn't know how to help.

How could he possibly know how to suppress a curse? He wasn't some shaman...

Jing Pu could only reply helplessly:

"I really don't know how... I've never even heard of the thing you're talking about."

Ling Ju hadn't said a word this whole time. She had been thinking about the matter from the very beginning.

The Cloud Monster Royal Family's curse had been inflicted three thousand years ago. The senior from back then had probably already ascended to the Upper Realm, so it was only natural he wouldn't know about it.

Ling Ju hurriedly addressed the old man, whose eyes were red with worry.

"Senior definitely doesn't know about the curse. Don't beg him. For now, you should use your own methods to suppress it."

Despair appeared on the old man's face after hearing Ling Ju's words.

Though Ling Ju and Yun Qiyao were sworn enemies, even the Demon Race respected Ling Ju's character. If Ling Ju said this senior didn't know, then he definitely didn't.

Seeing Yun Qiyao in this state, Jing Pu hurriedly said:

"Bring her inside first."

They couldn't just leave her lying outside. The old man nodded repeatedly at Jing Pu's words, while Ling Ju stepped forward to support Yun Qiyao from the other side.

On the way inside, Yun Qiyao kept acting as if she were having a fit, suddenly trying to go berserk every so often. Only when the green light in the old man's hand flared brighter did she quiet down a little.

They didn't go into the house; it was too far. Instead, they carried her to the ping-pong table, removed the net in the middle, and laid Yun Qiyao down on top of it.

As soon as Yun Qiyao was laid down, the old man, whose hand had been glowing green, froze. He seemed to have sensed something and stared in astonishment at the oddly shaped table. But at a time like this, he had no time to be curious about such trivial things.

Green light rose all over his body. He held his hand gently above Yun Qiyao's forehead, sending streams of green light into the space between her brows.

At that moment, four black-clad figures dressed just like the old man appeared in the sky and landed in the courtyard.

They took in the scene before them but asked no questions and said nothing. Like the old man, they went to the ping-pong table and began making the same movements.

Watching everything unfold, Ling Ju asked in shock:

"Why is her condition so severe? Shouldn't this be her third tribulation? But at this rate, she's already at the fifth, isn't she?"

The old man was drenched in sweat. Gritting his teeth, he answered without turning around:

"Yes... it's the fifth... Miss is different from the others... Hurry, Qing Yi, use the Heart Protection Divine Mirror!"

As soon as he finished speaking, one of the black-clad figures immediately took out a mirror shimmering with green light and held it up toward Yun Qiyao. But... the effect was negligible.

The old man's eyes reddened as he looked at Jing Pu, who stood behind him with a bewildered expression. He asked in despair:

"Senior... is there really nothing you can do?"

Jing Pu answered awkwardly:

"I don't know where you heard that I could save people, but... I do know a few things. My skills might not be useful on you, though."

He could treat an ordinary person's illness, sure. But how could he possibly know how to deal with a curse?

Hearing Jing Pu's words, the old man looked at him anxiously.

"Senior, please just give it a try! I'm begging you, truly! If you don't step in, Miss may really die from her body exploding."

Looking at the old man, who was nearly in tears, then at Yun Qiyao, whose face was twisted in agony and who seemed on the verge of losing her mind, Jing Pu swallowed with difficulty.

"Then... what if... I gave it a try?"