The guest courtyard's gate stood open, and servants were sweeping inside.
In the main room, Bu Qingya sat cross-legged on an Arhat Couch, draped in a black cloak, his eyes covered with a strip of black cloth. The coiled Ink-Black Chains rested on the back of his hand. He was utterly silent and unresponsive to the outside world.
Nangong Ye had heard Bu Qingya's name as a child. His impression then had been that the man was formidable; almost everyone had believed he would succeed the Gu Poison Sect's Sect Master. What happened afterward had certainly been unexpected, but the premature deaths of cultivation prodigies were all too common, and Nangong Ye had gradually forgotten him.
Having experienced in Huzhou just how overbearing this former second-in-command of the Gu Poison Sect's Divine Soul Curse Techniques were, Nangong Ye still held some respect for him. He first cupped his hands in greeting, then asked:
"What condition is Uncle Bu in now?"
Looking at her father's almost unchanged face, Bu Yuehua sighed softly.
"Part of Bai Xu's soul is currently sustaining his bodily functions. To keep the cuckoo from taking over the magpie's nest, I can only seal away all of Bai Xu's soul. But with his soul incomplete, he can't regain self-awareness. He can only act on my instructions. Father, have a sip of water."
Hearing her voice, Bu Qingya stopped cultivating, picked up the teacup beside him, took a sip, then went still again.
Nangong Ye was not proficient in Divine Soul arts, but between what he had seen in Huzhou and what he saw now, he could roughly understand it this way: Bu Qingya had retained all his abilities, but the portion of his soul responsible for self-awareness had been stripped away. Given instructions, he could draw on everything