After driving the nosy black bird back, the atmosphere became a bit quiet. Only the newly blossomed osmanthus flowers continued to exude their overwhelming presence.

They had spent so much time together that they were already very familiar with the feeling of having the other nearby, and silence didn’t feel awkward.

But this time, the silence seemed to carry a little something extra.

For the first time, Xie Liufeng felt that the scent of osmanthus was a bit too strong.

It made people restless.

Chu Xinghui, as usual, tugged on Xie Liufeng’s sleeve and said: “I’m going back to my room.”

Xie Liufeng thought for a moment but couldn’t come up with anything to say, so he just replied with an “Mm.”

Chu Xinghui called him again: “Xie Liufeng.”

Xie Liufeng was a bit afraid of him now. The moment he heard his name, he raised his eyes cautiously.

Chu Xinghui put on a calm and proper expression: “There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you, but I kept forgetting.”

Hearing his tone, Xie Liufeng thought he was going to talk about something serious and was briefly stunned: “What is it?”

Chu Xinghui asked him seriously: “What is our relationship now?”

He thought for a moment and politely rephrased: “Or, to ask more directly—can we be Dao companions now?”

After all, they had already kissed for quite a while. Saying they were just master and disciple or senior and junior would sound pretty rude.

He was a responsible person and couldn’t tolerate kissing someone—or being kissed—without owning up to it afterward.

Xie Liufeng didn’t answer right away.

This time, he didn’t try to change the subject or joke around like usual. He was silent for a moment.

After a long while, he sighed, reached out to pinch Chu Xinghui’s face, and said resignedly: “You’re my ancestor.”

Chu Xinghui: “…”

He grabbed Xie Liufeng’s hand, which was messing with his face, bit it hard, and went back to his room.

Xie Liufeng watched him enter and close the door. Only then did the suppressed emotions slowly rise up.

He held his forehead and, finally, couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

One major reason the two of them rushed back from Hanshuize was for Chu Xinghui’s eyes. Before they returned, Xie Liufeng had already arranged meetings with several respected cultivators in the relevant field.

After resting for a day, Xie Liufeng began taking Chu Xinghui to visit those cultivators the next morning.

But after several well-known alchemists and doctors examined Chu Xinghui, none could determine what kind of poison had affected his eyes.

In the end, Xie Liufeng had no choice but to take Chu Xinghui directly to Danding Sect to seek out Xie Tinglan.

Though Xie Tinglan didn’t specialize in poisons, she was one of the top alchemists of the current generation and had broad knowledge. Perhaps she might recognize something.

Xie Liufeng had already sent a message ahead about Chu Xinghui’s condition. Xie Tinglan arranged a room for them and made time to examine Chu Xinghui.

Cheng Yu happened to be in the sect at the time. Hearing that her friend had come, she followed Xie Tinglan over.

When they arrived, Xie Tinglan looked at the quietly sitting Chu Xinghui on the couch and couldn’t help sighing.

She wondered what kind of bad luck this child had. Every time she saw him, she could find an injury or illness that most people wouldn’t encounter in a lifetime.

…Although this matter might not be entirely unrelated to her own profession.

But the frequency with which these two came for treatment was a bit excessive.

Feeling helpless, Xie Tinglan removed the cloth covering Chu Xinghui’s eyes and used spiritual power to carefully examine his condition.

The meridians around his eyes were intact with no sign of damage, but there seemed to be something strange within them, blocking the eyes from functioning properly.

…It indeed looked like symptoms of poisoning.

Yet Xie Tinglan felt that something was off, so she furrowed her brow and used several other methods to examine him again.

Cheng Yu assisted her attentively. Noticing that her methods were gradually deviating from standard diagnostic techniques, he grew somewhat afraid and couldn’t help but ask: “Master, is something wrong?”

Was his friend suffering from some rare and incurable disease?

Xie Tinglan was silent for a moment and didn’t speak.

Even Xie Liufeng couldn’t help but look toward her.

As the one involved, Chu Xinghui was surprisingly calmer than the two of them. He even reached out and gently held Xie Liufeng’s hand.

He could feel that Xie Liufeng was a little tense.

“His eyes…” Xie Tinglan put down the tools in her hand and, with a headache, said: “You’ve come to the wrong person.”

Xie Liufeng subconsciously tightened his grip on Chu Xinghui’s hand and asked: “Cousin, you can’t even identify this kind of poison?”

Xie Tinglan shook her head and gave her assessment: “…This isn’t poison at all. It’s a type of curse.”

She looked at Xie Liufeng: “You should have heard of this kind of thing.”

Xie Liufeng’s gaze hardened slightly: “Evil arts.”

Few people knew about such things. Not only did they consume massive resources, but they could also harm the practitioner. It had been many years since they were seen in the cultivation world.

Xie Tinglan nodded: “Many years ago, my master and I encountered a similar person. One day, he suddenly lost his sense of taste, and no method could uncover the cause… After that, he gradually weakened and came to look like an old man.”

She looked at Chu Xinghui and continued to explain: “This type of curse follows the principle of ‘equivalent exchange.’ For example, he’s now lost his sight, and the person casting the curse was likely blind, and now will gain his vision. Next, what may be exchanged are the senses of smell, taste, hearing… until finally—”

Xie Tinglan didn’t continue, only said: “The person I saw back then weakened and died just like that. The caster, in turn, gained his spiritual roots, constitution, and fortune… and returned from the brink of death. Many years later, the victim’s friend finally found and avenged him.”

Xie Liufeng suppressed the urge to draw his sword and continued to ask calmly: “What’s the medium?”

Xie Tinglan shared what she knew: “This kind of evil art isn’t widespread in the cultivation world, so I don’t know much either. Currently, there are only two known effective mediums. One is direct contact between the victim and the caster. The other… is the caster using some method to sacrifice the victim’s blood relatives, thereby indirectly affecting the victim. But that method is less effective, and the farther the blood relation, the lower the success rate.”

By now, the cause and effect were quite clear.

Chu Xinghui lost his sight because after falling into the seal, he had direct contact with the black-robed man.

And Yue Yao making a deal with people from Lingxiang Sect, followed by Mu Lingxuan’s disappearance, was likely not for her own sake but aimed at Chu Xinghui on behalf of the black-robed man.

The black-robed man himself had no physical body left, so naturally, he had nothing to exchange with Chu Xinghui. What awaited Chu Xinghui next would likely be the gradual loss of all his senses and other things.

Chu Xinghui frowned slightly.

This process… matched what Yue Yao had said before leaving.

Very few people in the world understood curses. If they hadn’t happened to find Xie Tinglan or traced the people from Lingxiang Sect, and things had continued to develop…

Once he lost all five senses, Yue Yao’s words would’ve become a prophecy, even if they weren’t meant as one.

Clearly, Yue Yao knew far more than they had guessed… Her stance relative to the black-robed man might not be entirely opposing either.

Moreover, she likely hadn’t told the truth in her dealings with the people from Lingxiang Sect.

Relying solely on Mu Lingxuan, or even adding Mu Zeqing, probably wasn’t enough for the black-robed man to complete the entire curse. Most likely, his ultimate target was still Mu Chengjin and his wife.

No matter how willing Mu Chengjin was to sell his children, he wouldn’t go so far as to sell himself.

Just as Chu Xinghui thought this, he heard Xie Tinglan give her suggestion: “If all else fails, maybe try going to the people of Bihai Taohua Island. Those mystics probably know more about this stuff.”

Chu Xinghui: “…”

Xie Liufeng rubbed his temples and told Xie Tinglan the entire story.

Xie Tinglan: “…”

No wonder. She was wondering how a junior like Chu Xinghui could encounter such bizarre misfortune—it turned out it was the people from Bihai Taohua Island stirring things up.

Xie Liufeng’s tone now carried cold and solemn killing intent: “If we kill the person who cast the curse, that should lift it, right?”

Chu Xinghui squeezed his hand and called his name: “Xie Liufeng, there’s still time.”

As long as he wasn’t going to die right away, there was time to plan.

Xie Liufeng closed his eyes and forced himself to calm down: “…I’ll have Fang Yan and the others keep an eye on those people from Lingxiang Sect first.”

As long as the black-robed man couldn’t make contact with Chu Xinghui directly, or obtain close-blood relatives, Chu Xinghui would remain temporarily safe.

If the black-robed man couldn’t be found for a long time, then he would just go kill those from Lingxiang Sect to reduce the risk.

Xie Tinglan looked around as well, finding the situation rather tricky. She could only call to Xie Liufeng: “Although I can’t break the curse, long-term blockage of the eye meridians isn’t good for the body. Even after the curse is lifted, there may still be problems. I’ll prepare some medicine for Xinghui. Xie Qinghe, come with me to get it.”

Xie Liufeng’s expression was still somewhat cold, but his voice softened as he first reported to Chu Xinghui: “I’ll go out with my cousin for a bit, alright?”

Chu Xinghui let go of his hand and nodded.

Before leaving, Xie Tinglan glanced back at Chu Xinghui and suddenly realized something.

…She had heard that after Chu Xinghui joined the Beiyue Sword Sect, he had been living on Qingjing Peak for quite a while. Last time, he even came to ask her about Xie Qinghe. Was this kid still unwilling to call Xie Qinghe ‘Master’?

After the two elders left, Cheng Yu stayed behind temporarily to chat with his long-lost and very unfortunate friend.

The two of them briefly talked about their recent situations.

While speaking, Cheng Yu sighed repeatedly and occasionally waved his hand in front of Chu Xinghui’s eyes to test his vision.

Chu Xinghui: “…”

He found that both his friends really liked studying his eyes after he went blind.

Cheng Yu sighed again.

Chu Xinghui couldn’t help but voice his opinion: “…Stop sighing.”

Cheng Yu’s sighing made him start to suspect that he wasn’t cursed or blinded, but instead had contracted some incurable disease.

After hearing Chu Xinghui’s thoughts, Cheng Yu looked even more distressed: “You heard what my master and the Sword Sovereign said earlier. Your condition sounds worse than an incurable disease.”

An incurable disease at most just killed someone. Chu Xinghui’s situation sounded like even dying wouldn’t be easy.

Chu Xinghui: “…”

He couldn’t help but start to doubt his taste in friends.

His friends all seemed too good at talking.

Shouldn’t someone in this situation be comforting the unlucky patient and casually cursing the one who cast the spell to die instantly?

On the other side, Xie Liufeng took the medicine Xie Tinglan had prepared and was escorted out by her.

Xie Tinglan hesitated for a moment and still felt she should comfort her younger cousin: “About your disciple… don’t be too anxious. There will always be a way.”

Xie Liufeng shook his head and explained: “He’s not my disciple anymore.”

Xie Tinglan was taken aback.

She knew how close those two were and became very worried upon hearing this, trying to console him: “Though the situation is a bit tricky right now, it’s not to the point of expelling him from your sect, is it?”

That would sound too heartless.

Xie Liufeng didn’t expect her to misunderstand and was both amused and exasperated: “…That’s not what I meant. It’s just that we’re not in a master-disciple relationship.”

Xie Tinglan was puzzled: “Then what’s your relationship?”

Xie Liufeng touched his nose, unusually hesitant: “It’s not settled yet… we’ll talk about it once this is over and Xingxing’s eyes get better.”

After thinking for a moment, he added: “Anyway, thank you for everything. Cousin, when the time comes, I hope you’ll sit at the main table.”

Xie Tinglan looked at him, confused, and after confirming he wasn’t just joking as usual, she returned to her work in a daze.

What kind of relationship required her to sit at the main table?

 

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