Chapter 494 – Leftover Tea Shatters the Crimson Gown (2/2)

The Great Crimson Gown was worthy of being called the strangest of all mental attack techniques. He had managed to commit this deed silently. Neither Chen Changsheng nor Tang Thirty-Six had been able to sense it.

However, even the strongest mental attack ultimately had certain limits. Zhou Tong's Great Crimson Gown could not let him know what was going on in Chen Changsheng's sea of consciousness at every moment. It was more like a spy, concealed in the grass behind enemy lines. It would record everything it saw, then when Zhou Tong called it back in the future, he would be able to know everything and everyone Chen Changsheng had met with in the past few days.

Of course, that strand of spiritual sense that was similar to a ranger, on certain special occasions, could also infiltrate the enemy camp and launch a suicidal attack against the general.

This was also a technique Zhou Tong had prepared beforehand. He wished to control Chen Changsheng's life and death with a single thought.

Yet against his expectations, his strand of spiritual sense had actually been discovered and then utterly annihilated!

The annihilation of the spiritual sense had caused a backlash on his sea of consciousness, causing him to suffer extremely harsh injuries.

Who? Who had been able to discover that strand of spiritual sense he had hidden in the depths of Chen Changsheng's sea of consciousness? And just who possessed such divine power to be able to so easily shatter his Great Crimson Gown?

Zhou Tong's complexion was deathly pale and his eyes streaked with blood. Shocked and perplexed, he thought with a chill: could it be the Pope?

There were very few people in the world that could see through the secrets of his Great Crimson Gown. There were only a scant few in the capital, and it was only right that the Pope was among them. It was just that he had specifically made arrangements to hide his technique from the Pope, so how could the Pope have seen through it?

……

……

Chen Changsheng woke up and realized that he had been sleeping on the stone table.

He raised his head and saw that the middle-aged woman had already departed. The teapot and tea cups had also vanished without a trace, as had the Black Goat. The dark forest of the Hundred Herb Garden was still beautiful and secluded, the lively cries of insects rising up from every direction.

This place was as beautiful as a dreamland, and he felt that he really had just been dreaming a moment ago.

He had not met that middle-aged woman by the pool, not followed her to the Hundred Herb Garden, and had not sat across from her and drunk tea.

He inadvertently rubbed the space between his eyebrows and realized that the spot was a little moist and cold to the touch.

He withdrew his finger and glanced at it, but it was impossible to tell if that moisture really was that drop of tea.

But that moist and cool feeling felt particularly good. Through his brow, it seeped into his mind, making him feel incomparably fresh and cool.

For some reason, he felt much more relaxed, and also much more clear-headed. It was as if something had washed him from the inside out, leaving not a speck of filth behind.

……

……

As he made his way back to the Orthodox Academy from the Hundred Herb Garden, Chen Changsheng recalled what had just happened. Somewhat uneasy, he began Introspective Meditation under the great banyan tree, yet found nothing strange. His Ethereal Palace, sea of consciousness, and meridians were all as usual. Those severed meridians were still blocked up, his true essence had not been consumed, his spiritual sense was no stronger. But…it seemed that there was now an extra sort of Qi.

If his spiritual sense could once be described as calm as water and heavy as a mountain, it could now be said to have been washed by a spring rain. The surface of the water seemed much more flexible and the mountain seemed to have grown moister.

Was this change brought about by that single drop of tea? Chen Changsheng did not know nor did he understand. He sat by the lake in a stupor for quite some time before finally getting up.

Upon returning to the house, he went as usual to Zhexiu's room. Inserting needles into the neck, sending a light pulse of true essence, helping the medicine spread—these were his methods of treating illnesses.

After so many days of treatment, coupled with the medicines requested from the Li Palace or stolen from the Hundred Herb Garden, Zhexiu's condition had greatly improved. Many days ago, he needed some support to walk a few steps. However, he still spent long hours on the bed, not even turning over unless it was absolutely necessary. Xuanyuan Po had once indicated his confusion over this, but only Chen Changsheng knew the reason for it.

Zhexiu's dark period in Zhou Prison had left far too many wounds on his body. Those wounds seemed to have gradually recovered on the surface, but the pain still remained within his body.

Injury was pain, and the phrase 'pain from injury' was impossible to separate. If Zhexiu moved, he would be afflicted by a horrifying pain, so much so that even this wolf youth famed for his willpower found it better to lie motionlessly on his bed in such a good-for-nothing manner.

(TN: 'pain from injury' is a single phrase in Chinese, 伤痛. 伤 means injury and 痛 means pain.)

Chen Changsheng knew how much pain Zhexiu was in, so he didn't believe that Zhexiu was a good-for-nothing. On the contrary, every time he saw Zhexiu's expressionless face, he would always sigh in admiration at Zhexiu's ability to endure until now without a single tear.

”After your meridians are repaired, we can invite the priests of the Thirteen Divisions of Radiant Green to come and use the Sacred Light technique.”

Chen Changsheng said somewhat consolingly as he removed the needles from Zhexiu's body.

Suddenly, his fingers stopped. At this time, his thumb and forefinger were resting on the final needle in Zhexiu's neck.

He was keenly aware that below this needle was a meridian important to both human and demi-human, reaching from the Ethereal Palace directly to the lower edge of the sea of consciousness.

When Zhexiu was imprisoned in Zhou Prison, the first Zhou Tong did was use some secret method to sever this meridian and cripple Zhexiu's cultivation.

That meridian was far too important and far too sensitive. Let alone touching it, even gently brushing against it with the spiritual sense would make someone uncomfortable. If it were actually touched, that sort of pain…Chen Changsheng could only imagine it. Of all the people he knew, only Zhexiu had endured it, so whenever he placed a needle here, he would always act with particular care and precaution.

He clearly understood that this particular meridian could not be restored through any outside force, only time. As a result, he had never given a time for Zhexiu's complete recovery and had even mentally prepared himself for the fact that it might require three years, or even longer. Yet, just as he was prepared to remove this needle, he suddenly felt a faint vibration emanating from below the needle.