In the end, just knowing about Yang Lu put Ah San to ease. In fact, Ah San merely caught a distant glimpse of Yang Lu from across the street while he was outside the inn.
Chi Nanwei had intended to invite Ah San inside, but he shook his head and declined the offer. He even specifically asked her not to let Yang Lu know he had been there. Chi Nanwei was curious about his reasoning, but found that Ah San seemed unwilling to explain further.
Even though Ah San had taken her hostage when they first met, Chi Nanwei didn’t seem to consider him a bad person. Her first impression was partially influenced by Ye Beizhi hiding Ah San's association with Qi Zongbi from her. On the way back to the inn, Chi Nanwei explained how Yang Lu and Baili Gucheng were doing to Ah San, who nodded thoughtfully.
After lunch in the inn’s lobby, seeing Yang Lu head upstairs, Ye Beizhi glanced toward the street across the way and quietly tugged at Baili Gucheng. Baili Gucheng looked at Ye Beizhi in confusion, not knowing what he intended.
"Someone’s looking for you," Ye Beizhi said, pointing outside the door.
Baili Gucheng followed his gaze and saw a figure dart into the alley across the street.
He glanced at Ye Beizhi, then at the street across the way, hesitated for a moment, but ultimately walked out.
At the mouth of the alley, Baili Gucheng stopped and looked inside. Suddenly, a blur of motion appeared before him. His heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively thrust a palm forward to repel the figure. However, the stranger grabbed his wrist before his palm could fully extend.
"Long time no see, Impending Sword," Ah San said in his deep voice. "Miss Chi was telling the truth after all. You really have been crippled."
"It’s you?" Baili Gucheng narrowed his eyes, angrily yanking his hand back. Ah San didn’t resist and released him willingly.
Baili Gucheng scrutinized Ah San from head to toe and said, "What’s this? Did you come here to seek revenge?"
Ah San let out a disdainful laugh. "Impending Sword, you think too highly of yourself. Even if you were at your peak and not the cripple you are now, when have I ever feared you? You’re not worth the trip."
Baili Gucheng gritted his teeth in anger but knew Ah San wasn’t wrong. After a moment, a thought seemed to cross his mind, and he asked hesitantly, "Could it be... you’re here for Yang Lu?"
Upon hearing his junior sister’s name, Ah San fell silent for a moment before shaking his head.
Baili Gucheng wanted to ask more, but Ah San interrupted him. "Stormqueller doesn’t like to talk, but he’s far smarter than you. Enough questions. Give me your hand."
Baili Gucheng stepped back warily. "What are you trying to do?"
Ah San ignored his resistance, grabbed Baili Gucheng’s hand, and sneered. "In your current state, you’re not even worth the effort."
Baili Gucheng struggled to pull his hand back, but Ah San barked, "Don’t move!" Immediately, Baili Gucheng felt a bone-chilling cold surge from Ah San’s grip into his body, quickly spreading through his meridians.
In just a moment, a thin layer of frost formed over Baili Gucheng’s eyebrows. His lips trembled as he exhaled a puff of cold air.
"What... what did you do to me?!"
Ah San closed his eyes and said nothing, though his eyeballs occasionally moved under his lids.
After a while, Baili Gucheng felt the cold energy within him gradually dissipate, and Ah San released his grip. Baili Gucheng quickly withdrew his hand, glaring at Ah San with suspicion.
"What are you trying to do?"
Ah San seemed to mutter to himself. "I’d heard about the Transcendence Stone from my master before, but I never imagined its medicinal properties were this potent..."
"You’re treating my injuries?" Even someone as oblivious as Baili Gucheng couldn’t help but realize it now.
Ah San neither confirmed nor denied it and continued, "If my junior sister still had her martial strength, she would have already identified the issue with your body. But now that she has no inner qi, she is powerless despite her good intentions.
"However, she and I trained under the same master, and our cultivation techniques share similarities. I can roughly guess the cause of your problem."
"You have a solution?!" Baili Gucheng, upon hearing this, no longer cared whether Ah San was friend or foe. His greatest concern at the moment was regaining his martial strength. Only with his power restored could he accomplish what he needed to do.
Ah San nodded. "It’s worth a try."
Baili Gucheng was impatient. "What do I need to do?"
"Sit down first," Ah San said, pointing to an empty spot on the ground beside them. "Let me explain. Your qi from years of cultivation has not disappeared. It is simply locked in your acupoints by the medicinal properties of the Transcendence Stone. That is why your qi does not respond to you."
"Then... then isn’t it the same for Yang Lu?" Baili Gucheng exclaimed in delight. "Tell me quickly, how can we treat her?"
Sitting behind Baili Gucheng, Ah San shook his head with a bitter smile.
"I’m afraid my foolish junior sister’s situation isn’t so optimistic. Previously, she used her Spring Zephyr Art to suppress the sword energy in your body to protect your meridians. However, while the Transcendence Stone has its mystical properties, it is ultimately a lifeless thing.
"Even though it healed your injuries, it mistook her inner qi as the source of the illness and completely destroyed it in one go. The remaining medicinal energy of the Transcendence Stone has accumulated in your acupoints. Your sword qi was trapped as a side effect of the healing process.
"My cultivation technique, the Winter Zephyr Art, can guide out the medicinal energy of the Transcendence Stone. If you sense your sword qi surging within, seize the opportunity to break through the restriction in one fell swoop."
Baili Gucheng was silent for a moment before asking, "How is Yang Lu’s situation different from mine?"
At this, Ah San’s tone grew cold. "Different? Do you even have the audacity to ask? You stabbed my junior sister with your Seeking Immortality technique! If she hadn’t mustered her inner qi at the last moment to protect her heart meridians, she would have died on the spot!
"Aside from the daily elixirs you used to sustain her life, the Spring Zephyr Art played a crucial role. But the Transcendence Stone’s medicinal power was too overwhelming. The moment she ingested it, her inner power was utterly destroyed, as if swept away by a storm. Now, she’s truly nothing more than an ordinary person."
The atmosphere fell silent, and no one spoke again.
After a while, Baili Gucheng shifted the conversation away from the heavy topic. "I know why you came to Liangzhou... The imperial army has entered the city, and Qi Zongbi has come as well, hasn’t he?"
Ah San let out a cold snort, pressing a finger onto the Tianzhu acupoint on Baili Gucheng’s back, and said sternly, "Sit properly!"
Baili Gucheng immediately straightened his back. Soon after, the familiar chill spread through his body from the Tianzhu acupoint. As the cold coursed through his acupoints, he gradually felt another warm current rising from his limbs, chasing after the cold.
As Baili Gucheng focused on the sensation of alternating cold and warmth in his body, Ah San’s strained voice came from behind him again. "Hold your breath and concentrate! Find your sword qi!"
Baili Gucheng’s expression tightened, realizing he had been distracted earlier. He quickly closed his eyes and quietly searched for his inner qi again.
He wasn’t sure how much time had passed when Ah San’s voice came again, this time more urgent. "Aren’t you done yet?! The medicinal energy is too strong! I can’t hold on much longer!"
Baili Gucheng couldn’t spare the attention to respond, focusing entirely on sensing the energy flowing through his body.
After an indeterminate amount of time, a faint stinging sensation suddenly came from his lower abdomen, as if a small sword was trying to burst out of his body!
Baili Gucheng’s eyes flew open, and before Ah San could react, a powerful surge of inner energy erupted from Baili Gucheng’s body.
The energy was sharp and unstoppable, charging through his meridians and tearing apart the remnants of Ah San’s Winter Zephyr Art in an instant.
Ah San cried out in alarm and tried to withdraw his hand, but it was too late. The energy transformed into a sharp sword qi, slicing his arm into a bloody mess.
Baili Gucheng slowly stood up, his presence now entirely different. He radiated a sharp, imposing aura, like an unsheathed sword, reforged and standing alone in the world.
Ah San endured the pain in his arm as he stood. Baili Gucheng turned to him and gave a deep bow.
Ah San waved him off. "This wasn’t for nothing. My junior sister is now just an ordinary woman. Remember what I told you last year outside the imperial capital. Take good care of her for me."
"Of course. That is what I always intended to do," Baili Gucheng nodded. Then his gaze grew colder, and Ah San’s heart skipped a beat. Baili Gucheng continued, "Now then... where is Qi Zongbi?"
"Damn it," Ah San cursed quietly.