Chapter 256

Chapter 256

Lord Xiao had gone to tremendous lengths for my sake, and now he had been captured by the Linghai Dragon Clan. How could Liu Junyan possibly stand by and do nothing?

But on the other hand, Liu Junyan was himself a member of the Linghai Dragon Clan. The Dragon King and the others were all his elders, and his mother was still being held in the Forbidden Zone. They would undoubtedly find ways to use her against him.

I tightened my grip on Liu Junyan’s hand, my heart aching with guilt. “I’ve dragged all of you into this.”

“Silly Xiao Jiu. Helping you was our choice,” Liu Junyan said. “You have no idea how chaotic the Big Dye Vat known as the Linghai Dragon Clan really is. Whether this had happened to you or not, Brother Xiao and I would still have had to face them sooner or later. All you’ve done is move that day forward.”

At that, Liu Junyan gave a wry smile. “He’s been trying to talk me into going back to the Linghai Dragon Clan and stirring up trouble for ages. I was the one who kept hesitating, unable to take that first step. Well, this time he finally got his wish.”

In the front seat, Hui Moqiong slapped the steering wheel and declared boldly, “I also think you’ve lost the decisiveness you had back then, Seventh Master! What’s there to be afraid of? If they’ve pushed us this far, let’s take those bastards down!”

Li Qingying reached over and pinched his arm, scolding him in a low voice. “Could you stop fanning the flames? Seventh Master has his own plans.”

Hui Moqiong shrugged and muttered, “Fair enough. Back then, he really did look ready to turn on every last one of his relatives, and it didn’t exactly end well for him.”

He glanced at Liu Junyan through the rearview mirror as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he swallowed the words.

My instincts told me that something must have happened at the Pawnshop while I was away.

Neither Liu Junyan nor Hui Moqiong elaborated, which probably meant the matter was still unresolved and rather troublesome.

We chatted idly along the way until we arrived back at the Pawnshop.

To my surprise, there was a car parked outside. I recognized it at once as Tang Tang’s.

When I entered the Pawnshop, I discovered that not only was Tang Tang there, but Uncle Huo had also come.

Tang Tang immediately pulled me into a hug. “Xiao Jiu, you’re finally back! I was scared to death.”

Tang Tang had always been open with her feelings, so enthusiastic hugs like this were perfectly normal between us.

But this time, it felt completely different.

Tang Xun was her paternal aunt, but she was also my maternal aunt. All of a sudden, Tang Tang and I were connected by blood.

It was a wonderfully unfamiliar feeling.

Tang Tang released me and pulled me over to sit on the couch. “Uncle Huo, please check Xiao Jiu’s pulse. She has quite a few injuries.”

Uncle Huo nodded. He first examined my face, then placed his fingers on my wrist.

He checked my pulse over and over for a long time. His eyes narrowed more and more, while the furrow between his brows deepened.

It was a full fifteen minutes before he finally withdrew his hand and said to Liu Junyan, “Most of Shopkeeper Xiao Jiu’s external injuries are burns and cuts. They’re nothing serious. With some medicine and proper rest, she’ll recover. But… if I haven’t misread her pulse, she has two pulses. The other is faint and intermittent, and extremely unstable…”

Liu Junyan was just about to ask a question when Tang Tang beat him to it. “Uncle Huo, what do you mean by two pulses?”

Uncle Huo shook his head. “It’s rare, but there are many possible causes…”

“It’s because of my mother.”

Everyone present was among my closest and most trusted friends and family, so I told them about my mother without holding anything back.

That included the Symbiotic Curse and Tang Xun’s true identity.

By the time I finished, everyone was stunned.

Tang Tang asked incredulously, “So… my father’s younger sister is also your biological maternal aunt?”

I nodded. “She told me herself. In the Phoenix Clan, her name was Feng Yixun. She’s my mother’s younger twin sister.”
After a moment of silence, Tang Tang suddenly threw herself at me and hugged me tight. “So we’re really cousins? I knew there had to be a reason I felt drawn to you the moment I saw you at school.”

Her excitement was plain to see.

But the next moment, Liu Junyan pulled her away.

He tucked me protectively into the crook of his arm and warned, “Don’t hurt Xiao Jiu.”

Only then did Tang Tang calm down. She sat beside me, wanting to hug me again but too wary of Liu Junyan. Her hands hovered awkwardly, as if she had no idea where to put them.

I almost laughed, warmth spreading through my heart.

Then I turned to Uncle Huo. “Uncle Huo, I want to return this Fragmented Soul of my mother’s to her younger sister. Can you help me?”

Uncle Huo was an Occult Physician. Since he had been able to detect two separate pulses in me, surely he had some way to separate my mother’s Fragmented Soul from me and merge it into Tang Xun.

Tang Tang also stared eagerly at Uncle Huo.

He hesitated for a long time before answering, “From what you’ve described, your mother’s Fragmented Soul is attached to your Inner Core. If you were otherwise in good physical condition, I could separate it directly. The problem is that your own Souls are incomplete. Forcibly separating the Fragmented Soul may damage your Souls or even cause your soul to scatter beyond recovery.”

Liu Junyan’s arm abruptly tightened around my waist.

“However, if acupuncture is used during the separation to stabilize your Souls, the chances of success will increase significantly,” Uncle Huo continued thoughtfully. “With my own acupuncture skills, I’d only have about a twenty-percent chance. But if Bai Jingmo performed the treatment, that would rise to fifty percent.”

“Fifty percent?” Liu Junyan shook his head. “That’s still too low. Is there a better way?”

Uncle Huo pondered for a long time before saying, “About thirty years ago, when I was still young and apprenticed to my master, I witnessed a similar case. I vaguely remember my master coating the Silver Needle with a certain liquid to enhance its soul-stabilizing effect.”

Tang Tang’s eyes lit up. “What kind of liquid? Just tell us. The Tang Family has plenty of connections. We’ll definitely find it as quickly as possible.”

“It won’t be easy,” Uncle Huo said. “That liquid is called Soul Piercing.

“When a hedgehog cultivates until it becomes a spirit, every hundred years, barbed spines grow all over its body and burrow beneath its flesh, tormenting it both physically and mentally.

“During that process, its state of mind becomes unstable, making it easy to make mistakes or succumb to inner demons. If it fails to overcome the ordeal, its entire body will fester. In severe cases, even its skin and spines will rot away together.

“Only if it successfully survives will the barbed spines embedded deep in its flesh naturally fall free. Soul Piercing is refined from the blood essence extracted from those spines.”

When Uncle Huo finished, Li Qingying and I looked at each other at the same time.

We had both thought of the same person — Bai Xian’er.

Bai Xian’er had to be well over a hundred years old, didn’t she?

During the last period when she appeared, her body had been covered in festering sores.

Could it have been because she had failed to survive one Centennial Grand Calamity?

Regardless, if we wanted Soul Piercing, we would have to ask the Bai Family for help, whether by purchasing it or offering something of equal value in exchange.

And even after obtaining Soul Piercing, we would still need Bai Jingmo to perform the acupuncture.

I raised a hand and pinched the bridge of my nose. After all those twists and turns, I hadn’t expected us to become entangled with the Bai Family again. I was reluctant to have anything more to do with them.

After everything involving Bai Xian’er, Little Monster, and the Bai Family Matriarch, I had long since lost any goodwill I might have had toward Bai Jingmo.

As for his family’s White Immortal, I had never dealt with them and knew nothing about them, so I had no opinion.

Liu Junyan, however, asked, “If we obtain Soul Piercing and have Bai Jingmo perform the acupuncture, what are the chances of success?”

“Conservatively, ninety percent…” Uncle Huo replied.