588 Yun Yang’s Destiny (1/2)
”Yun Yang, do you feel anything unusual? You can be honest about any anomaly, any discomfort or any weird sensation!” Ling Xiaozui was terribly anxious.
He could not afford not to be anxious. How could he be nonchalant about a strike that was considered certain to succeed, a strike dealt by someone like Mr. Nian?
In addition, the Cycle of Four Seasons Palm was a cyclical palm strike; Yun Yang had been struck four solid times and should have been on the brink of death. He should be in a state where death would appear at any time,without the help of a proficient cultivator to prolong his life. Otherwise, how could their combined forces be weakened?
Yun Yang was exceptionally muddled as well. How could he, as a think-tank of the Supremes, not think the same thoughts as Ling Xiaozui did? In spite of this, the reality was undeniable; after careful cultivation and repeated inspections, he was absolutely fine.
As the victim, Yun Yang had felt it the moment he was hit. There was a strange energy that forced itself into his body and Yun Yang was hopeless then, thinking to himself, 'There goes my life! Mr. Nian must have known my real identity!'
Yet, there was no other feeling after that moment of hopelessness. Not even a tiny inkling. The strange, toxic, force that was soft and vile had vanished completely.
What had just happened? Yun Yang could not figure it out.
Gu Chaliang tipped his head and drank a pot of wine, saying, ”The heaven blesses the kind, who seems to have dodged a bullet! It looks like you good fellows need not hold me captive in exchange for the remedy… Reach the Spirit Breeze Mountain in three days? How scary that would be!”
Dugu Chou asked, ”Are you certain he's fine? Will there be any hidden injuries?”
Ling Xiaozui and Feng Xiange looked at each other, momentarily speechless. What Dugu Chou had said was what they thought to be the worst case scenario.
After some time, Feng Xiange could not help scratching his head and commented, ”This is the first time this old man has seen this in my life. How unbelievable!”
He continued with a frown, ”Young Brother Yun doesn't seem to have been injured at all. It's unbelievable, but it's the best situation we could have hoped for. You may not know it, but this isn't the first time I've seen the Cycle of Four Seasons Palm. This strike can be said to be the martial world's most vicious art. I have personally met it's victim before. According to the victim, the first day after being struck, he was high in spirits, radiant. However, from the second day onwards, the signs of rapid aging presented themselves. When the victim came to me, it was already the third day. No matter what I did, I had no way to stop the process. In the end, I could only watch as the victim aged and wilted, perishing like rotten wood. The person's cultivation was still some distance away from ours, but he was already proficient in Dao realm, not just some ordinary practitioner.”
”During the rescue, I inspected the victim's state multiple times. Where the victim was struck, something akin to a tree's annual ring will appear. In one day, only one day, it could reach fifty years of annual rings! Two days, two hundred annual rings. After the third day, it was utterly rotten.”
”These signs have not appeared on Young Brother Yun at all…” Feng Xiange was deep in thought with a frown on his face.
”Does it mean that he's fine?” asked Ling Xiaozui.
”We can't be blindly optimistic.” Feng Xiange continued, ”Even if he looks fine now, it doesn't necessarily mean that is the case. The person I tried to save back then didn't come to me on the first day. The particular situation was narrated by the victim himself, so it's hard to be sure. I'm only afraid that if the annual ring shows itself on Yun Yang after dawn… it'd mean that he has been afflicted.”
Once he finished, he glanced at Gu Chaliang who was casually drinking his wine.
If his worries came true and the worst case scenario happened, it would be the trickiest thing to decide if they wanted to exchange Gu Chaliang for the remedy!
”If this is being considered, why don't…” Dugu Chou suggested faintly, ”Why don't we let Gu Chaliang look into Young Brother Yun's destiny? Even if he can't speak about it openly, it's still possible to see if his life is at stake.”