"Heavens, I knew my left eyelid had been twitching that night, so it turns out Senior Sister and Junior Brother Wan jumped off the cliff."
Hearing Wan Yunting recount how he and Zhou Ruoxi were pursued by the two assassins from the Heavenly Eye Divine Cult, pushed to a desperate situation and forced to leap into the mountain valley abyss, made Jiang Tingxia and Li Zihang's hearts pound. Jiang Tingxia said, "You truly have great fortune. Falling into the water pool, if not for that, you..."
"Indeed, otherwise you wouldn't see Senior Sister and me now," Wan Yunting said with a smile.
"What happened next?"
Li Zihang, hearing they had fallen into the hot spring pool at the bottom of the valley, felt a surge of curiosity.
Yang Jingyi and Chang Wude, walking ahead, along with Wu Weizi, occasionally looked back at Wan Yunting trailing behind. They hadn't expected them to experience such danger.
Yang Jingyi and Chang Wude felt heavy-hearted and angry, unable to believe Sima Boyong would be so heartless as to send people to pursue Wan Yunting and Wu Weizi, and even implicate so many innocent people.
"Junior Sister Zhou and I were both injured, but fortunately, it wasn't cold at the bottom of the valley. Because of the hot spring pool, the temperature was around twenty-six or twenty-seven degrees Celsius. Most importantly, there were many wild rabbits at the bottom of the valley, and we survived by roasting them for those few days. But..."
As he spoke, Wan Yunting picked up the Junzi Sword in his hand and smiled at Jiang Tingxia and Li Zihang, "We actually found two swords and a martial arts manual at the bottom of the valley!"
Instantly, Jiang Tingxia and Li Zihang's eyes lit up as they stared at the sword in Wan Yunting's hand, also noticing that Senior Sister Zhou Ruoxi's long sword was not her usual one. "Junior Brother Wan, Senior Sister, what kind of swords are those, and what martial arts manual is it?"
At this point, even Yang Jingyi, Chang Wude, Wu Weizi, Xu Lingwei, and Duan Yingying all looked at the swords in Wan Yunting and Zhou Ruoxi's hands. Wan Yunting said, "This one is the Junzi Sword, and Senior Sister Zhou's is the Shunu Sword. We discovered a peerless sword art, a dual sword art practiced together!"
"Junzi Sword, Shunu Sword?"
Jiang Tingxia couldn't help but cover her mouth and giggle as she looked at the swords in their hands.
Zhou Ruoxi's pretty face flushed slightly, knowing full well why the girl was laughing.
"It sounds like a husband and wife sword art," Li Zihang teased, looking at Wan Yunting and Zhou Ruoxi.
"It doesn't just sound like it, it is," Jiang Tingxia said with a charming laugh.
Wan Yunting shot her a look and said, "Stop interrupting, let me continue..."
So he recounted how he and Zhou Ruoxi were healing their injuries at the bottom of the valley while practicing the peerless sword art, until Ma Sai and Liu Hongwei descended the valley to find them. He said, "So Junior Sister Zhou and I unleashed the newly learned peerless sword art and defeated those two from the Heavenly Eye Divine Cult. One was knocked into the water pool and drowned because he couldn't swim, and the other was killed by me."
Jiang Tingxia's emotions surged upon hearing this, and she clapped her hands in approval. "Well killed, evil people deserve to be killed."
"Indeed..."
Li Zihang nodded in agreement.
Chang Wude narrowed his old eyes and asked, "Boy, are you sure the pursuers were from the Heavenly Eye Divine Cult?"
Wan Yunting nodded and said seriously, "I'm sure. They said they were seeking revenge. I encountered two people from the Heavenly Eye Divine Cult pursuing me in the disaster area before, and they were part of this group."
"So, Sima Boyong has a connection with the Heavenly Eye Divine Cult?" Yang Jingyi frowned. This matter was quite unexpected.
"The Heavenly Eye Divine Cult is an evil cult. We've previously found their followers active in our area, and Senior Brother even sent Zhi Shan and Zihang to investigate their traces..."
Wu Weizi frowned and said, "I didn't expect Sima Boyong to be involved with the Heavenly Eye Divine Cult. Hmph, it seems he's been planning this for a long time!"
"Ambitious enough."
Chang Wude's old eyes widened. He truly hadn't expected Sima Boyong to be associated with cult members. "I even suspect he's a member of the Heavenly Eye Divine Cult, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to mobilize experts of that caliber to pursue you, and Sima Boyong's status within the Heavenly Eye Divine Cult is likely not low!"
Wan Yunting nodded, his brow furrowed. "It's just that we didn't capture any survivors. If we could have apprehended them and forced confessions, proving Sima Boyong's guilt, then we could have brought them down!"
Li Zihang glared. "Didn't we capture the spies Tao Zifu and Lu Bao? Doesn't that constitute Sima Boyong's crime?"
"It cannot."
Wan Yunting shook his head. "Tao Zifu and Lu Bao merely led the way and left markers; they didn't even know if that group was from the Heavenly Eye Divine Cult. Even if they confessed that Sima Boyong ordered them, it doesn't prove that Sima Boyong sent the Heavenly Eye Divine Cult members to pursue us!"
He truly regretted killing Ma Sai with a sword in the valley before. If Lu Feiyue and the others had arrived earlier and Wan Yunting had kept Ma Sai alive, perhaps he could have identified Sima Boyong's hired assassination.
"Is Sima Boyong still in the county town?" Wu Weizi asked.
"According to the disciples in the county town, their father and son returned to the capital long ago," Yang Jingyi said.
"Hmph, they fled quite quickly."
Wu Weizi glared, gnashing his teeth. "Otherwise, I would have run to the county town and stabbed that traitor to death with a sword."
"Don't worry, there will be plenty of opportunities to settle the score with him later," Chang Wude waved his hand.
Yang Jingyi nodded. The group had returned to the Wuliang Daoist temple, and the disciples at the entrance greeted them, helping to take the items from Li Zihang and Xu Lingwei...
"It's getting late, you should all go back and rest," Yang Jingyi said to Wan Yunting and the others.
However, he shook his head and said, "Auntie, I should go see Uncle Master Sect Leader first."
"Let's go, let's go..."
Before Yang Jingyi could speak, Chang Wude immediately grabbed Wan Yunting's arm and led him towards the Sect Leader's residence, saying, "Your Uncle Master hasn't been well these past few days. If you found the Phoenix Tail Grass, hurry and go detoxify and treat him..."
Wan Yunting nodded. Yang Jingyi had also been wanting him to go see her husband, as Duan Wuyu's condition had worsened daily, reaching a point of extreme exhaustion where recovery seemed impossible.
Xu Lingwei, Li Zihang, and Duan Yingying followed their mother, while Zhou Ruoxi and Jiang Tingxia also accompanied them to see him.
The group soon arrived at the Sect Leader's residence. Yang Jingyi pushed open the courtyard gate, letting Wan Yunting, Chang Wude, and the others enter, heading directly towards the room. They saw an elderly man sitting on a stool by the bed. Yang Jingyi introduced him to Wan Yunting and the others, "This is Old Mr. Wu. He is the most famous traditional Chinese medicine doctor in our Buxi Da county town, and we've troubled him to stay guard these past few days."
Wu Weizi knew Old Mr. Wu and nodded to him. Wan Yunting also nodded politely upon hearing this, then went directly to the bedside. But upon seeing Duan Wuyu lying on the bed, Wan Yunting couldn't help but be startled. His face was extremely pale, and his lips had turned from purple to black.
Even the temples on his cheeks had black marks, and he had lost a significant amount of weight. He was so weak that his breathing was barely audible, as if he were a corpse lying on the bed, causing Wan Yunting's brow to furrow with grave concern.
Old Mr. Wu stood up. Wan Yunting nodded slightly at him, then sat on his stool and took Duan Wuyu's right wrist from beneath the covers to feel his pulse.
"Alas, Sect Leader Duan is at the end of his strength. Even if a great immortal were to come, it would likely be too late."
Old Mr. Wu did not know Wan Yunting but knew that Wu Weizi and the others had gone to find the Phoenix Tail Grass to detoxify Duan Wuyu from the Lei Gong Teng poison in his internal organs.
However, due to the recurrence of Duan Wuyu's chronic illness, coupled with the effects of the Lei Gong Teng poison, his chronic illness had become even more ferocious and severe. Therefore, even with the Phoenix Tail Grass to detoxify the Lei Gong Teng poison in his body, it could no longer extend Duan Wuyu's life!
"What? This is impossible..."
Duan Yingying's eyes widened in disbelief upon hearing this, unable to accept that her father was beyond help.
"Old Wu, don't talk nonsense. We've already retrieved the Phoenix Tail Grass. How could we not save my Senior Brother?" Wu Weizi's old eyes also widened, speaking somewhat agitatedly to Old Mr. Wu.
"Yes..."
Li Zihang was also anxious, and Xu Lingwei's face was equally grim, her heart filled with tension.
Zhou Ruoxi and Jiang Tingxia, standing at the back, exchanged glances upon hearing this, but secretly hoped Sect Leader Duan could hold on. At least with Wan Yunting finding the Phoenix Tail Grass, there was still a glimmer of hope.
However, Yang Jingyi and Chang Wude appeared quite calm, seemingly having already accepted this outcome for Duan Wuyu!
Wan Yunting, still feeling Duan Wuyu's pulse, furrowed his brow increasingly, his expression becoming more grave. He looked at Duan Wuyu, who resembled a corpse on the bed. At this moment, Duan Wuyu slowly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with sorrow as he looked at Wan Yunting. Duan Wuyu slightly parted his lips, his breath as thin as a thread, his darkened mouth moving slightly, but he couldn't utter a sound.
Wan Yunting grasped his withered, skeletal hand, his heart filled with grief and self-reproach. His eyes red, he looked at Duan Wuyu and said, his voice trembling, "Uncle Master, why couldn't you have waited just one more day for me..."