Chapter 286 - The Return (1) (1/2)

Huangfu Xin’er stood at the gate outside the yard, looking in her best since she got injured. Xiao Chen got up and brushed the soot off his hands. He walked over to her and said, “It’s cold out here. You should be resting indoors.”

“I’m leaving.”

Her voice sent a chill down all that heard her as if her voice, like a glacier that never melts, was colder than the harsh frost around them, that the two young men were stunned beyond words.

Xiao Chen’s forehead curdled into a frown as he placed his hands on her shoulders. “It’s not easy to return to Tianyuan City from here, Xin’er. How about resting for a few more days until you feel back, hmmm?”

Huangfu Xin’er let out a cold and cynical smirk. Her eyes drifted to the herbs strewn across the cobbled ground of the yard before they shifted to the pestle lying idly on the ground and the mortal still containing half-grounded herbs. Derisively, she mocked, “The Young Lady must be a gorgeous lass, is she not?”

“Wha-what?!”

“What else would explain your zeal in searching for these herbs? Would you have done the same for a man instead?”

Xiao Chen could find no words to contradict her; she was right, he would have hardly cared if the patient was a man. And the two now standing behind him would have ensured that.

“Heh heh heh, so stay if you will. I bid you an early congratulation, if in any case, you end up as the Governor’s son-in-law. I’ll be taking my leave now.”

With an icy tone, she left her message and brusquely turned to leave.

“Xin’er! Wait! Listen to me!”

Xiao Chen ran up to her and wrapped a strong hand around her forearm to stop her. “It’s very far from here to Tianyuan City. You’re hardly fit enough for a journey so far. Moreover, I have given my word to Governor Ye that I will help him cure his daughter. Would you not wait for me so that we could go back together?”

Huangfu Xin’er turned to face him, her eyes, steady and untrembling, held him in a fixed stare. “Are you staying because of my injury or because of the Young Lady’s?”

“They don’t seem to be contravening to me…” Xiao Chen muttered sheepishly after a heartbeat of thought.

“Humph.” Huangfu Xin’er snorted wryly and walked away, leaving him frozen at where he stood.

There he stood for seconds, watching helplessly as she walked away. At length, he meandered back to the yard and saw the two young men still waiting for him. Irate with annoyance, he hissed at them, “What are you lot still doing here?”

“HUMPH!” The two men threw their sleeves disdainfully into the air and left the yard.

Zhiluan stood in front of him and muttered jauntily, having witnessed the entire episode, “How sweet youth is, to feel Love’s keen bite…”

“Bite my foot!” Xiao Chen snarled at him.

Xiao Chen remained a valued guest at the Governor’s manor for the next ten days where he finally succeeded in expelling the infernal aura from Ye Mulian’s body. News of her recovery enraptured the all and sundry of the city and the household save for Gongsun Tai and his two disciples, who were seething with indignance and jealousy as they began to realize that the only chance to redeem their dignity would only be to challenge Xiao Chen.

Even though the days had passed without any work on his magic, but Xiao Chen’s improvements in the skills of brewing medicine had all but made up for it. More so, that he was confident that his mastery in healing made him no inferior than any common Tier Four Elixir Kings in the Violet Manor.

It was finally time for them to return to Tianyuan City; it has been two months since they were transported here. Moreover, Huangfu Xin’er had made a great recovery. She was still behind her full strength, but her condition was ready for the journey.

At their sending off back to the Five Continents, Ye Lingfeng brought an entourage with him to meet them. For their trip home, Elder Plum had had a Flying-Cloud Stone prepared and stocked with provisions. Two of his students would be coming along to see them off safely. Outside the city, Ye Lingfeng saluted humbly. “I’m greatly indebted to you, Master Xiao! Safe journeys, I bid you!”

Standing at her father’s elbows, Ye Mulian smiled shyly. “It’ll be a long journey, Master Xiao. Best of luck!”

Xiao Chen grinned, happy to see her restored as well. “Let’s hope we’ll meet again, everyone.” To the Three Friends of Winter, he said, “Rest assured that I will report about everything here—including the blight of the infernal aura—to the Daoist League of the Five Continents, Seniors.”

“Understood. Thank you so much, Young One.”

The huge fanfare of Xiao Chen’s departure attracted many onlookers who thronged the gates of the city to watch. “Who is that? Even the Governor is sending him off personally…” Some began murmuring with interest.

“An emissary from the Daoist League of the Five Continents, or so I heard. They say he could even cure patients infected from the unholy aura.”

“That’s a relief. It’s glad tidings indeed for everyone here at this Burg.”