Healing and Questions

Lu Yuan did not let go.

"Don't move." His voice was steady, and he didn't stop walking. "Find a place to treat your wound. If the poison in your shoulder isn't neutralized within half an hour, you'll be dead."

Lin Xiao struggled against his back, but couldn't break free.

"You... know what kind of poison?"

"I don't know," Lu Yuan said honestly, "But the man in gray had a bead on him that smelled of medicine. I bet it was for suppressing [the ailment]."

Lin Xiao remained silent for a few moments.

"East," he said hoarsely, "About half a mile away, there's a rocky cliff. There should be a crevice at the bottom."

Lu Yuan glanced at him sideways.

The boy had his eyes closed, and the claw mark on his face looked particularly deep in the moonlight.

"We scouted the place before, hiding from them," Lin Xiao's voice trailed off, "Hurry... I can't hold on much longer."

Lu Yuan stopped asking questions and quickened his pace.

Following Lin Xiao's directions, they indeed saw a steep cliff. Vines hung down at the bottom of the cliff; parting a few clumps, they found a narrow crevice behind them.

I squeezed in sideways; it was pitch black inside. I lit a tinderbox, and a faint flame flickered.

It was a natural stone cave, about five or six steps square. The ground was dry, and there were piles of dead branches in the corners.

He carefully put Lin Xiao down and sat against the stone wall.

A tinderbox was stuck in a crack in the rock. Lu Yuan squatted down and first examined the dark green bead. He brought it closer to the firelight and saw fine lines on the surface. It smelled cool with a fishy, bitter odor.

Without understanding pharmacology, all you can do is gamble.

Open your mouth.

Lin Xiao opened his eyes, his amber pupils shrinking slightly in the firelight. Without asking any questions, he opened his mouth directly.

Lu Yuan inserted the bead.

Hold it in your mouth, don't swallow.

Lin Xiao closed his mouth, his cheeks puffing out slightly. After a few breaths, his brows furrowed.

"Bitter," he mumbled.

Is it effective?

"... The numbness in my shoulder has subsided a bit."

Lu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. It's good that it worked.

He turned and left the cave, gathered dry firewood, and cut long grass. He returned to start a fire, and the cave gradually warmed up.

There was still half a pot of water in the water bag. Pour it into a small tin bowl and put it on a fire to heat.

Lin Xiao watched him busy himself without saying a word.

The flickering firelight illuminated the boy's pale face. The wound on his left shoulder was gruesome, the flesh torn and twisted, dark green lines spreading along the veins to his collarbone. Though slower, it didn't stop.

The water has boiled.

Lu Yuan tore off the sleeve of his inner garment, soaked it in hot water, wrung it out, and squatted down next to Lin Xiao.

"Bear with it."

Without waiting for a response, she began cleaning the wound.

His movements were steady. He peeled back the blood-stained strips of cloth one by one, revealing the blackened flesh beneath. After wiping with hot water, Lin Xiao's body tensed, his knuckles clenched until they turned white, but he didn't utter a sound.

Lu Yuan glanced at him.

That's tough enough.

After cleaning, I took out the Moonlight Orchid Powder and sprinkled it evenly on the wound. The powder made a soft hissing sound and emitted white smoke upon contact with the wound.

Lin Xiao gasped.

"What kind of powder is this?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"A mixture of Moonlight Orchid * root." Lu Yuan's hands continued moving. "It stops the bleeding and promotes healing. Its effect on toxins is moderate."

"You're not worthy?"

"Given to me by someone else."

Lin Xiao stopped asking and stared at Lu Yuan's hand.

Those hands weren't large, but their movements were precise. Applying medicine, pressing, bandaging—each step seemed practiced, yet not quite as fluid as a healing Soul Master's.

It looks like they're conducting some kind of experiment.

"You're not an ordinary work-study student," Lin Xiao suddenly said.

Lu Yuan didn't look up and continued tying the knot.

"Your Martial Soul," Lin Xiao continued, "Is used a bit strangely."

What's strange about it?

"I can't explain it." Lin Xiao frowned. "Level three Soul Power, Blue Silver Grass... Logically speaking, even releasing Soul Power should be difficult. But just now, your timing in controlling those fluorescent vines was frighteningly precise. Your Soul Power output was also stable, unlike a novice."

After Lu Yuan finished bandaging his wound, he sat back down opposite the fire.

The flames crackled and popped.

"Plants react to Soul Power," he said calmly. "Different species react at different frequencies. Fluorescent plants are sensitive to high-frequency, short pulses. I just tried a few frequencies and found the right one."

Lin Xiao was stunned.

"Frequency? Pulse?" He repeated these two words, his eyes slowly brightening. "Soul Power fluctuations, like ripples in water?"

"Almost."

"Then how do you know which 'frequency' to use?"

Lu Yuan remained silent for two seconds.

"Observe, record, and experiment," he said. "The Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul has a natural affinity for plants. I've tested the reaction thresholds of dozens of common plants. I keep the data in my head and can retrieve it when needed."

Lin Xiao stared at him as if he were some kind of monster.

Why are you testing this?

"It'll be useful," Lu Yuan said briefly, "Like tonight."

The cave became quiet.

The firelight illuminated two young faces. One was pale and wounded, with sharp eyes; the other was calm and weary, with a depth in his eyes that far exceeded his years.

Lin Xiao suddenly smiled.

He grimaced as he tugged at his wound, but the smile didn't fade.

"Interesting," he said. "This is the first time in my life I've heard someone refer to Soul Power as 'frequency' or 'pulse.' All those old fogies in my family know how to chant 'qi follows the heart' and 'power flows throughout the body'..." He curled his lip, "Utterly useless."

Lu Yuan added another piece of firewood to the fire.

"The technique is wrong?"

"It's more than just wrong," Lin Xiao sneered. "The ' Shadow Art ' passed down in my family is said to be a top-tier agility-based attack technique, proven over a century. But after practicing it for eight years, I always feel an awkwardness in the flow of my Soul Power —like fighting in ill-fitting armor!"

He became more and more agitated as he spoke, and suddenly tried to sit up straight, but a sharp pain shot through his left shoulder wound, causing him to gasp and lean back.

Lu Yuan raised his eyes.

What exactly feels off?

"I can't explain it." Lin Xiao scratched his short hair in frustration. "Every time I unleash my full power, my Soul Power flows through a few specific points and stagnates for a fleeting moment. It's very brief, almost imperceptible. But in a life-or-death battle, that one moment can be fatal."

He paused, then looked at Lu Yuan.

"You just mentioned 'compatibility'... is that what you mean?"

Lu Yuan did not answer immediately.

Reaching out, the Blue Silver Grass appeared in his palm. In the firelight, the grass leaves shimmered with a very faint, luminous green.

"Martial Soul has a structure," he said slowly. "The path of Soul Power circulation is essentially the flow of energy within that structure. If the flow pattern designed by the cultivation technique doesn't match the Martial Soul's own structure, it will cause stagnation, loss, or even backlash."

He looked at Lin Xiao.

"Your Martial Soul is a mutated Hell Spirit Cat. The direction of this mutation is probably not even fully understood by your family. The cultivation technique they gave you is based on an optimized version of the 'standard Hell Spirit Cat ' structure. Of course, it's not suitable for you."

Lin Xiao's pupils contracted.

The firelight flickered in his eyes, reflecting shock and a hint of excitement.

"You can tell?" he asked in a low voice.

"It's a guess," Lu Yuan said honestly, "But the logic makes sense. Mutated Martial Soul are rare, and matching cultivation techniques are even rarer. To control risk, large families often require their descendants to cultivate a unified technique—even if it means sacrificing some of their potential."

Lin Xiao remained silent for a long time.

I looked down at my right hand. My fingers were spread open, then clenched again. The dark keratin at my fingertips gleamed coldly in the firelight.

"So..." he murmured, "It's not that I didn't try hard enough, it's that I went astray from the very beginning?"

Lu Yuan didn't reply.

He picked up the tin bowl, poured in some water, and put it on the fire to heat. He took out a hard cake from his cloth bag, broke it in half, and handed one half to Lin Xiao.

"Have something to eat."

Lin Xiao took it and mechanically took a bite. As he chewed, he suddenly looked up.

"And what about you?" he asked. "Blue Silver Grass, half-level innate—your start is even worse than mine. How did you...?"

He didn't finish speaking, but the meaning was clear.

Lu Yuan took a bite of the biscuit and chewed slowly.

"I was lucky," he said. "I stumbled upon some old notes, which contained some different ideas."

"Notes?" Lin Xiao raised an eyebrow. "What kind of notes can allow someone to manipulate Soul Power in such an elaborate way?"

"Some things that were considered waste paper," Lu Yuan said calmly. "Many people thought they were useless and threw them away. I picked them up, looked at them, tried practicing on them, and found they were useful."

That's half true and half false.

Lin Xiao stared at him, his amber pupils narrowing slightly, as if judging truth from falsehood, or weighing something.

Finally, he let out a sneer.

"Forget it, I'm too lazy to pry." He finished the pancake in a few bites. "Anyway, you're my savior now. I won't pry into my savior's secrets."

Lu Yuan glanced at him.

This young man, though seemingly arrogant, is actually quite insightful.

The water has boiled again.

Lu Yuan mixed the remaining Moonlight Orchid powder into a paste and applied it around Lin Xiao's wound. He then re-bandaged the wound, his movements more practiced than before.

Lin Xiao let him fiddle with him, then suddenly said, "Your theory... can it help me optimize my cultivation technique?"

Lu Yuan paused.

"I haven't seen a complete structural diagram of the Hell Spirit Cat," he said, "Let alone its mutation direction. Optimizing the cultivation technique requires a large amount of data."

"I'll provide the data," Lin Xiao said immediately. "The flow path of Soul Power, the locations of stagnation points, the subtle sensations during the burst—I can describe them all clearly."

His eyes were intense.

"As long as you're willing to help me."

Lu Yuan did not agree immediately.

Tie the cloth strips into knots, sit back down, and watch the firelight.

"Why me?" he asked. "Your family has elders and mentors. They have more experience."

"Because in their eyes, I'm just a 'family genius,'" Lin Xiao's voice turned cold. "A tool, a weapon, a vessel for inheritance. They don't care whether I'm comfortable in armor, they only care whether I can win."

He paused.

"But you're different. Your technique in treating the wound was a bit clumsy, but you strived for the best solution at every step—stopping the bleeding, cleaning the wound, applying medication—the order was impeccable. You only see the 'problem' and the 'solution.' I like that attitude."

Lu Yuan remained silent.

The flames crackled, reflecting off his serene face.

After a long silence, he spoke.

"I can give it a try," he said, "But it will take time and your full cooperation. And there might be risks—during the optimization process, if the Soul Power paths clash, you could get injured."

"It's better than this." Lin Xiao grinned, then pulled at his wound and hissed, "Damn... it hurts."

Lu Yuan shook his head and handed him the last bit of water.

Lin Xiao finished drinking and leaned back against the stone wall. His face was still pale, but his eyes were much brighter.

The cave fell silent.

Lu Yuan added firewood, and the firelight illuminated the watermarks on the rock wall. Faint wolf howls could be heard in the distance.

"Perhaps," he suddenly said, "It's not that the armor doesn't fit."

Lin Xiao turned his head to look at him.

"It's the armor they want you to wear," Lu Yuan continued calmly, "It's completely different from the 'battle robes' you were born to wear."

Lin Xiao was stunned.

He pondered those words, a glint in his eyes, as if something had been revealed.

Silence spread.

The fire gradually dwindled, and Lu Yuan stopped adding firewood. Moonlight streamed through the cracks in the fire, casting long, narrow patches of light on the ground.

"Where are you going?" Lin Xiao suddenly asked.

Lu Yuan took the letter out of his pocket.

"Vast Sea City, Old Shipyard Alley."

Lin Xiao raised an eyebrow.

"What a coincidence." He grinned, then gasped. "That place... I know it too."

Lu Yuan looked at him.

Have you been there?

"No," Lin Xiao shook his head, "But there are records in the family. Old Shipyard Alley is a place for all sorts of people, from the underworld to spies; there are all sorts of shady characters. There are also a few... weirdos who research 'things that can't be brought to the table'."

He paused.

"It's not on my way, but I can give you a ride."

Lu Yuan remained silent.

Lin Xiao looked at the embers and lowered his voice.

Anyway, I can't go back now.

He was referring to his family and his pursuers.

Lu Yuan put away the letter and lay down. The stone floor was cold, but he was too exhausted to care.

"Go to sleep," he said. "We'll set off at dawn."

Lin Xiao hummed in agreement and closed his eyes.

Only the sound of breathing and the faint sound of wind in the distance remained in the cave.