Chapter 446 - The Ungodly Decay (2/2)
Xue Qingshan tried his best to placate a very irate Ziyun’er, smiling weakly. “Please, young lady. Please… Let me think… let me think…” He pondered in silence for minutes until he finally looked up. “Your life is seeping away bit by bit and your physical body is decaying… Could this be the symptoms of the Ungodly Decay?”
Everyone shuddered at the mention of the ominous words and Qingluan, all colors drained from her face, drew her weapon with deadly precision with Royal-blood Blade and held it at the elderly man’s throat. “Be careful of what you speak, old man!” She hissed.
A cold fury glinted off the moss-green blade of the weapon and Xue Qingshan held his breath, trembling for his life. Xiao Chen’s face was equally pale with his back slick with cold sweat. His fingers quivered as the words ‘Ungodly Decay’ reverberated endlessly in his mind. No one had ever successfully escaped the Ungodly Decay once it had taken hold. It was certain death. An inescapable and inevitable end that no demons, gods, or human can run from.
There are two manners of the Ungodly Decay: the major Decay or the minor Decay. The minor Decay is a precursor; a dismal harbinger of the future coming of its more-grievous counterpart and what Xiao Chen was presently experiencing was exactly that. But what comes after is the actual Ungodly Decay that has never failed to strike fear into all that hear this name. It was like a judgment from Heaven: fateful and formidable. The Heavenly Emperor, the Nether Emperor, the Lord Buddha, or even a mage so powerful with the powers as great as the Supreme Realm or the True Nirvana Realm; nothing matters. No one escapes the Ungodly Decay.
Xiao Chen’s face could not be any paler and his breaths and heartbeats began to race. At this exact moment, he began to feel helpless and distressed. There were just so many things he wanted to do, so many bonds he could not sever, and so many things he could not leave behind. He had yet to repay his parents for their love and care. He had yet to find any news of his teacher. His thorny romance with Huangfu Xin’er. And he had yet to see his Brother Yifeng and Muxue safe and sound…
The knot in his gut tightened and Xiao Chen felt a sourness so strong that he would have been amazed at his own inability to describe it. He felt his eyes watering. “Qingluan,” he croaked hoarsely. There was a beat of silence before he went on, “Put away your weapon. Show no disrespect to Master Xue.”
Qingluan obediently obeyed her young lord’s command and the elderly man breathed easily at last, realizing that it was his folly that almost cost him his life. “Rest at ease, young friend. It’s just a simple observation that requires more confirmation before I can be certain.”
Xiao Chen nodded gently, hardly hearing the rest of what the old man was trying to say. The old man’s gaze wandered and suddenly rested on the Elixir King Scripture lying just beside him. Disbelieving what he was seeing, the healer stammered, “Wh-what the… Th-this… this is…!”
“Oh,” Xiao Chen saw what had caught the attention of the old healer. He shut the tome with a gentle slam and tossed it over his pillow. “It’s just a simple book about medicine.”
Xue Qingshan nodded gently, dismissing it away. “Well, I’m sorry that my skills are too inadequate to be of help. But if there’s anyone in these lands that can help you… it would only be…” “Who?! Speak up!” Qingluan pressed urgently.
The ancient healer nodded meekly and said, “There’s a place called Jueming Gorge somewhere to the south of the Middle Continent. The person you seek resides there. His name is Liu Liancheng. He’s barely twenty years of age, but he is one of the youngest Elixir Saints alive, widely known as the Young Maestro Liu Liancheng in our circle. But no one knows who his teacher is, only that he could well be one of the best healers alive without any equal. He is who you seek; the one most qualified to be the Nemesis of Death itself. He has the reputation of being able to cure almost all sicknesses and ailments in just three days and there is no sickness beyond his ability to cure.”
“Are you for real?” Ziyun’er gasped with a frown of doubt. “I would never dare to lie to you both,” Xue Qingshan husked, his eyes peering warily on their weapons. But he stopped, wondering uncertainly before he spoke again, “But Liu Liancheng is known also to be a strange person. He has an eccentric temper. He will never help if he feels like it and no matter how he will stand by his decision, even at the threat of death or torture.”
Qingluan and Ziyun’er shared a dark look before the former asked again, “So how should we get him to agree?”
“Hmm…” The old healer stroked his beard, pondering, until he finally revealed, “Blood Oath. He will first make his patients swear a Blood Oath. An unbreakable and binding magical contract that guarantees Liu Liancheng a favor that he would one day call upon…”
“Ridiculous!” Ziyun’er’s cut him off with a curse, “So his patients would have to be his slaves? Bondage for all eternity?!”
Blood Oaths are one of the oldest spells in the magical world of mages and sorcerers. Performing a Blood Oath is similar to magical contracts that bind one’s Life Source. Both are unbreakable oaths that if broken, would result in imminent death. But Blood Oaths are more complex and potent magical contracts of the two.
Xiao Chen rubbed his chin, contemplating his option for several minutes. He had yet to receive any news about Gui Xian’s whereabouts. Going to Jueming Gorge seemed to be a more viable option rather than a hopeless search for help elsewhere. “Is there no other way other than performing a Blood Oath?” he asked. Performing Blood Oaths was the last thing he would allow himself to do.
“Well… Not really, I believe,” Xue Qingshan allowed and answered, “But he should expect a favor from you. A favor which would expectedly be hard and difficult.”
No one spoke a word, not even Qingluan and Ziyun’er. Xiao Chen rose up slowly and bowed. “Thank you so much, Master Xue. I’m sorry for the trouble.”
“No, please…” Xue Qingshan bowed and returned the courtesy. He turned to Qingluan and her sister and whispered timidly, “So… can I leave now, my ladies?”
“Begone then!” Ziyun’er scoffed. With a relieved grin, Xue Qingshan slipped quickly away. Never once he had had to suffer such dishonor as an Elixir King until he met these two sisters today.
Ziyun’er watched the old healer scurrying away and grumbled, “And he dares to address himself as an Elixir King! Humph! Lousy healer!”
“What would you do now, My Lord?” Qingluan asked.
“The Middle Continent. To the Jueming Gorge,” Xiao Chen said simply as he looked out the window, catching a glimpse of the water from the lake nearby churned with fishy fins and whirled with glinting scales as he breathed slowly.