Healing the Baron - Prelude to Obtaining a Soul Ring

"Who is it? What is it?"

The servant replied from outside, "Young Master, the Duke asks that you come to the hall. He says someone needs your treatment."

Yan Hongchen was puzzled. At this hour? Still, he changed into formal clothes and, after opening the door, had the servant lead the way.

When he arrived in the hall, Yi Hongchen was standing there with several people behind him. Yan Hongchen swept his gaze over them, and his pupils contracted slightly.

Behind Yi Hongchen stood a man whose face was pale as paper. He was wrapped in thick bandages, with blood faintly seeping through from beneath them.

There was also a girl of around ten, with wheat-colored skin, swollen red eyes, and tear tracks still streaking her face.

Further back was a woman trapped inside a metal cage. Her eyes were vacant and lost, her hands hanging limply at the sides of the cage. She looked as though her soul had been drained away.

"Little Yan." Yi Hongchen's voice was hurried and low. "This is the baron I told you about. See if you can treat him."

Yan Hongchen froze for a moment, then understood. No wonder his father had suddenly said they were returning to stay at the ducal residence—the man had been brought here. There were too many people at the academy, making it inconvenient.

He quickly walked over to the man and gestured for him to sit in a chair. The man nodded weakly and, supported by the girl, slowly sat down.

Yan Hongchen closed his eyes and activated his martial soul. The instant his martial soul underwent beast transformation, his skin took on a watery sheen, and his eyes became Glazed Rainbow Eyes.

His second soul ring suddenly lit up. A jade-green halo spread outward like ripples, bathing the entire room in gentle light.

He closed his eyes, pressed his palms together, then slowly pulled them apart. The moisture in the air began to stir, gathering between his hands into a pale green cloud of mist, within which specks of blue light flickered.

"Second Soul Skill, Spring Rain Brings Life!"

The cloud drifted toward the man's body. Jade-green light began to envelop him, spreading from his chest to his limbs. Everywhere it passed, the wounds beneath the bandages healed at a visible rate.

The man's complexion gradually shifted from deathly pale to waxy yellow, and his ragged breathing steadied, though he remained weak.

Spring Rain Brings Life's single-target healing method leaned toward wrapping the target in mist, while its group healing method leaned toward raining down mist.

Seeing that it was about enough, Yan Hongchen withdrew his soul power, opened his eyes, and glanced at Yi Hongchen.

"Dad, did you rob these people or something?" His tone carried a hint of teasing, but his gaze was serious.

Yi Hongchen waved a hand. "Quit with the nonsense, brat. Something happened just as I got there. The woman behind me seemed unable to control herself and nearly killed this baron." He paused. "He can still be saved, right?"

Yan Hongchen looked at the man, then at the imprisoned woman. After a moment of thought, he said, "It's fine. The injuries aren't especially fatal. But this man is an ordinary person. Even if I heal him, he won't live much longer—probably only a few years."

The moment he finished speaking, the girl let out a suppressed sob. She clutched the man's arm as tears streamed endlessly down her face.

"Dad... Dad..."

The man raised a hand and gently stroked the girl's hair. His lips moved, but no sound came out.

Yan Hongchen looked at the little girl and sighed inwardly. She must be Ghost Nana. The unfortunate girl from the original story—her mother controlled by an evil soul master, her father dying horribly, leaving her all alone. Saving even one person was still something.

Unfortunately, he had no idea where that little angel Ye Guyi was. All he knew from the original story was that she first appeared at the underground Commoner Alliance merchant association; nothing at all was known about her earlier experiences.

Ghost Nana cried while clutching the man's arm for a long time before finally lifting her head. She wiped her tears with her sleeve and turned toward Yi Hongchen.

"Thank you, Duke Hongchen." Her voice was soft and choked with tears, but she had managed to steady herself.

Once the baron had recovered somewhat, he also struggled to sit upright and clasped his hands in salute. "Thank you, Duke Hongchen, for saving my life."

Yi Hongchen waved a hand, his gaze settling on the imprisoned woman. "No need for thanks. I want to ask—what happened to your wife?"

The man's expression stiffened before pain flooded his face. "Please save my wife, Na Ning, Duke. She was controlled by someone. She didn't do it willingly."

Ghost Nana pleaded from the side as well, "Please save my mother, Duke..."

Yi Hongchen frowned slightly. "Were you targeted by someone? I killed several evil soul masters along the way."

After a pause, he lowered his voice. "Were they... members of the Holy Spirit Church?"

He was not entirely sure, but Jing Hongchen had told him about the Holy Spirit Church during this period. It was a secret organization made up of evil soul masters, one that operated covertly and used cruel methods.

Jing Hongchen had specifically warned him: if he encountered evil soul masters on this journey, he had to clean up every loose end and leave no clues behind.

This time, he had used the Sword of Judgment, relying only on physical strength and pure soul power. He had kept his unique aura as concealed as possible, and had even used the metal cage to isolate the woman's aura and prevent it from leaking. They probably would not be traced.

At the words "Holy Spirit Church," the man's face changed dramatically. He nodded repeatedly. "Yes, Duke! My wife was controlled by them—that's why she hurt me! Is there a way... is there a way to save my wife?"

His voice grew increasingly frantic. He leaned forward and nearly slipped from his chair. Ghost Nana supported him, tears spilling from her own eyes again.

Seeing this, Yan Hongchen stepped forward and turned his spiritual power into Gentle Wave, lightly brushing over the father and daughter. His spiritual power was like a warm spring, soothing their taut nerves and panicked emotions.

Their breathing gradually steadied.

"She has already been controlled." Yan Hongchen's voice was not loud, but it carried a steady calm. "We still need to examine her. If the problem isn't serious, we'll resolve it for you. If it's too severe, there's nothing we can do. Calm down, all of you."

The man looked at him, his eyes full of gratitude and hope. The warmth from the treatment still lingered around this child, and that gentle aura inexplicably made him feel at ease.

"Child, thank you." His voice was hoarse. "Thank you for saving me."

Ghost Nana also raised her head, looking at Yan Hongchen with swollen red eyes. "Thank you... If it hadn't been for you, my dad would have... And my mom too..."

She could not continue. Lowering her head, she began to cry again.

Yan Hongchen said nothing more and turned toward the imprisoned woman—Na Ning.

He activated the beast-transformation talent of his martial soul: Spiritual Detection. His spiritual power became strands of invisible threads that slowly reached toward Na Ning.

He did not use Spiritual Sharing. That direct connection method was far too risky. Ghost Nana possessed a soul-type martial soul, and this woman was already close to the Soul Emperor level; the gap between them was simply too great.

If he suffered backlash, he might not even be able to withstand the soul beast sacrifice for his third soul ring in the Extreme North.

Yan Hongchen's spiritual power circled Na Ning's martial soul, and he "saw" the layer of gray-black restraints. They were not merely shackles of spiritual power, but a deeper form of control rooted in her soul.

The patterns of the restraints were tangled and intricate, wrapping around her like a spiderweb. With every heartbeat, a poison-like will was injected deep into her consciousness.

Yan Hongchen frowned and tried condensing his spiritual power into a slender sword, intending to sever one of the thinner restraint patterns.

The blade fell. The restraint pattern trembled, but did not break. He tried twice more, each strike like cutting into tough hide, leaving only faint marks before dissipating.

Yan Hongchen withdrew his spiritual power, opened his eyes, and shook his head. "Sorry."

There was a trace of apology in his voice. "There is a soul restriction within her. If I want to remove it completely, I'll have to try again after obtaining my third soul ring. She may be able to return to normal, but if she wants to recover completely, she would need to destroy her own martial soul. Then she could only become an ordinary person like you."

Yan Hongchen had phrased it tactfully, but his meaning was clear. Once she was awakened, if she destroyed her martial soul and no longer had a ghost martial soul, allowing her soul to fully return to her body, that method of control would likely be difficult to carry out.

Sigh, if only Electrolux were here to give me some guidance...

The man fell silent for a moment before slowly nodding. "As long as she can live, that's enough. I only want my family to be safe."

Seeing that the matter had temporarily come to an end, Yi Hongchen spoke. "Do you want to remain in the Sun Moon Empire, or go somewhere else? Tomorrow morning, I plan to take the children to the Extreme North of the Heaven Dou Empire to obtain soul rings. Are you planning to leave?"

The man's eyes lit up, and he answered almost without hesitation. "Thank you, Duke Hongchen! I am willing to leave. I... I have no way to repay you, and I don't know what I can do. If you need any help, I will spare no effort."

Nana also raised her head, her voice resolute. "Nana is also willing to repay Your Grace."

Yi Hongchen glanced at Yan Hongchen before saying to the man, "We do indeed need something from you. This child of mine has a spiritual-type martial soul and wants to study how ghost martial souls leave the body. He wants to find soul beasts like that for his soul rings, so he needs to understand the characteristics of your martial souls. Don't worry, we won't harm you. We only need to sense them."

Nana understood. They were looking for her. Her mother was in no condition to do anything now, and she was the only one in the family with a ghost martial soul.

"Nana is willing." Her voice was quiet, yet firm. "Nana trusts Duke Hongchen, and Nana also believes Duke Hongchen's child will not hurt me."

Yan Hongchen examined Nana's soul power fluctuations. She was only in her twenties in level, and he nodded. "No rush. Your cultivation is still too low. Perhaps you'll only be able to accomplish something once you reach the four-ring Soul Ancestor realm. If we can solve your mother's problem, your family can live peacefully for a while. I'll come find you then."

He turned to Yi Hongchen. "Dad, please keep Nana's mother under control. I'll try again after I obtain my third soul ring. Get some rest first. We're leaving tomorrow."

Yi Hongchen nodded, sealed Na Ning's soul power, secured the metal cage, and arranged a suite of guest rooms for the family to stay in temporarily.

After everything had been arranged, Yi Hongchen did not return to his own room. Instead, he walked straight to Yan Hongchen's bedside and lay down.

Seeing the expression on his father's face that clearly said, "I'm sleeping here tonight," Yan Hongchen said nothing.

It was only for one night. He was nearly eight years old already. First Liu Yueming had done this, and now Yi Hongchen was doing the same.

Moonlight streamed in through the window, falling over father and son. Their breathing soon became long and even.

The night passed.

Early the next morning, while the sky was only beginning to brighten, the entrance to the ducal residence was already bustling.

Yi Hongchen looked up at the sky. The east was tinged with the pale white of dawn, and there was not a cloud in sight. It was good weather for travel. Time to set off—for the Frost Forest of the Extreme North!