Chapter 15: The Third Serpent Pattern

Glazed tile roofs and gray-blue brick walls stretched out like a long serpent winding beneath the hazy crescent moon.

Holding a large porcelain bowl tightly pressed against the wall, Ling Xuan tilted his ear to listen. Ye Ziyan looked utterly bewildered. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“Listening at the wall,” Ling Xuan chuckled. “See if there are any spies from the Yuwen clan.”

“Can you really hear anything that way?” Ye Ziyan was taken aback. “Wouldn’t it be easier to just let the little white snake crawl over there?”

“You don’t understand,” Ling Xuan’s lips curled into a slight smile. “This is pulse listening—a skill only a healer can master to detect subtle differences. Besides, the little white snake’s already been there.”

“Why go through all this trouble?” Ye Ziyan scoffed. With a graceful leap, she alighted lightly onto the glazed tiles, her eyes flashing with purple light. Her jade hand waved gently. “Come up. There’s no one here.”

“Look up,” Ling Xuan pointed toward the sky.

Though the crescent moon was faint, it still cast shadows, and a dark silhouette flitted across—it was undoubtedly a gray falcon.

The Yuwen family’s gray falcon had been watching him ever since he left the Luoshui Tavern.

Stepping out of the Yue King’s Mansion, it circled overhead again. Only now did Ling Xuan understand what Yang Xuangan meant.

The Yuwen clan not only controlled the Demon Hunter Camp but also held sway over Luoyang’s city defenses, which explained the falcon’s brazen behavior.

However, the Demon Hunter Camp had since split in two, and the Yuwen family only controlled one part.

Yet the city’s defenses remained firmly in Yuwen hands, commanded by the great general Yuwen Cheng of the Tianbao era.

“Still can’t investigate?” Ye Ziyan sighed softly.

“Patience,” Ling Xuan grinned slyly. “The Grand Historian will get in eventually, but not yet. We have to let the Yuwen falcon perform well first.”

“You have a plan?” Ye Ziyan swiftly descended.

“No, but the Imperial Medical Office does,” Ling Xuan concealed the porcelain bowl, a mischievous look on his face as he glanced at the falcon. “Fly well now, don’t ruin my plan. Let’s see how many days you can still circle over Luoyang.”

Suddenly noticing Ye Ziyan’s body trembling, purple phoenix patterns frosted with icy veins, Ling Xuan’s expression darkened. He hurriedly reached out. “Cold toxin? Why is it flaring up?”

“Purple Phoenix needs Qi to nurture it. With the Qi sea unsettled, the cold toxin intensifies. Using true Qi only spreads the chill further,” Ye Ziyan explained quickly. “Don’t worry, I can still hold on.”

“Hold on, my foot!”

He scooped her up and rushed into the room. Placing his hands on her, Ling Xuan was momentarily speechless—his body felt chillingly cold.

His grandfather’s teachings echoed in his mind: “When using needles, supplement if deficient, drain if excessive; when blocked, remove; if evil prevails, supplement deficiency.”

Ye Ziyan swallowed the Tianshan Snow Lotus. Though it contained intense Yang energy, it was transformed from ice-crystal cold Qi, perfectly embodying the principle of supplementing deficiency.

The lotus’ medicine hadn’t fully dispersed yet but had already aggravated the profound ice curse within her. Although her Qi sea had opened, and true Qi was no longer merely stored in the meridians but held in the Qi sea, the slightest use of true Qi would awaken the undispersed medicine’s effect, worsening the cold toxin.

The benevolent needle box snapped open, and three needles—black, white, and red—immediately leapt out.

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Ye Ziyan gritted her silver teeth, urgently pleading, “I can still endure!”

“Nonsense. You don’t want to be widowed, and I don’t want to lose my wife,” Ling Xuan said. At this point, ordinary silver needles were useless; only the nine benevolent needles could be used, harnessing the power of the spirit snake entwined with the moon.

A red Taiji pattern instantly appeared on his palm. The three needles, embossed with silver snakes, writhed. The black needle pierced the perineum, immediately enshrouded in a layer of frost.

The white needle stabbed into the Baihui point, white mist billowing from its tail.

The red needle floated upward, drilling into the Mingmen point, releasing a whirlwind of ice crystals.

The red Taiji on his palm rotated; the small snake mark on Ye Ziyan’s chest writhed as red Qi waves converged, swiftly pressed into the Qi whirlpool.

“Hurry, activate the cultivation method!” Ling Xuan shouted. “Don’t make me suffer for nothing.”

The nine benevolent needles—Ling Xuan wasn’t sure if they were life-saving or death-dealing.

Inside the cavern, facing the Yuwen squad leader, they had already tried. Snake patterns appeared on Ye Ziyan’s arm, but if they didn’t use them, the Tianshan Snow Lotus’s medicinal power wouldn’t dissipate, and the profound ice curse would worsen, freezing her in an instant.

The snake patterns on her arm were both a sign of demonization and a manifestation of the spirit snake entwined with the moon’s power. When nine snake patterns appeared, the crescent birthmark would immediately shine with an orange star.

When the snake patterns appeared, whispering voices could be heard. Before, Ling Xuan had heard them unclearly, making no sense. Now, with a third snake pattern on her arm, he clearly heard the words and nearly spat blood—it was “Once in a thousand years.”

A thousand years? That was precisely the Warring States period, a time of war and chaos, when people were displaced.

Just thinking of that era filled Ling Xuan with dread. Having crossed over during peaceful times, who would want to experience such devastation?

Yet, since he had come to this era, history’s wheel would turn regardless.

The image of the little girl undergoing chemotherapy appeared before his eyes, and her dying words echoed in his ears: “Big brother, you made it easy for me. From the Purple Sun Realm to the Red Sun Realm, only then could the spirit snake enter the body…”

Purple Sun Realm? Red Sun Realm?

Ling Xuan was momentarily dazed. In the Purple Sun Realm, the sun is purple; in the Red Sun Realm, the sun blazes red. These two realms exist in parallel, with different flows of time.

He slapped his forehead. “Why am I only remembering this now?”

“What did you remember?” Feeling the warmth of Ling Xuan’s hand, Ye Ziyan’s ears flushed, a rosy glow blooming on her face as she softly asked.

“The origin of the spirit snake entwined with the moon,” Ling Xuan muttered, words failing him.

When the little girl was on her deathbed, she pressed her forehead against his chest. At the time, something seemed to flow into his body, though he felt nothing.

Only after drinking did he suddenly realize there was truly something moving within.

Having crossed over and mastered the ancestral Taiji Infinite Technique, what flowed inside him was indeed that red little snake. The crescent birthmark was the key.

It could be said that the little girl’s journey from the Purple Sun Realm to the Red Sun Realm was all to restore the spirit snake to its rightful place.

However, how Ling Xuan had traversed from the Red Sun Realm to the Purple Sun Realm, he still did not know.

The little girl had said other things he couldn’t recall. And the white-clad woman in the abyss looked so much like her. Ling Xuan was uncertain of the connection.

Could it be that after the white-clad woman escaped, she transformed into the little girl, searching for him everywhere? To truly restore the spirit snake entwined with the moon? To steer the fate of the world?

“Crack, crack,” the ice crystals of the Tianshan Snow Lotus shattered continuously. A sound like roasting beans popped inside Ye Ziyan’s body as the medicine’s power dissolved. A rush of air burst forth, sending Ling Xuan flying backward.

“Bang!”

Ling Xuan flipped several times before the back of his head struck the wall.

The black, white, and red needles, stimulated, instantly flew out and returned to the benevolent needle box.

His aching scalp throbbed. Jumping up, Ling Xuan exclaimed, “My wife, you’re biting the hand that feeds you!”

“Get lost! Who told you to be distracted?” Ye Ziyan’s cheeks flushed again, her anger softening. “The medicinal power is merging, the Qi sea expanding, cold penetrating the marrow, two drops of fresh blood every month.”

“I’m just asking for trouble,” Ling Xuan muttered, staring at the third snake pattern on her arm, which suddenly emitted an orange glow. He shook his head. “Wife, I demand a reward!”

With a flash of white light, the little white snake darted swiftly onto his shoulder, softly hissing in his ear.

Ling Xuan was momentarily stunned. Now he could actually understand the snake’s language. Unsure if he should be happy or worried, he habitually smirked. “See clearly now?”

The little white snake nodded its triangular head three times.

“Not bad, not bad,” Ling Xuan petted the little white snake with a roguish grin. “Once I get into the Imperial Medical Office, I’ll send the Yuwen family a big gift and take the chance to investigate what secrets the Grand Historian is hiding.”

“Be careful. I can’t enter the Imperial Medical Office,” Ye Ziyan quickly stood and asked softly, “With the third snake pattern appearing, you only have seven days. Have you found any clues about the orange needle?”

“Shh…” Ling Xuan’s lips curled. “If your cold toxin flares up four more times, I’ll have enough snake patterns to summon the spirit snake.”

“Summon the spirit snake?” Ye Ziyan’s heart trembled. The situation was urgent, yet Ling Xuan was so nonchalant. She was surprised.

After understanding the whispers, the demonization intensified sharply. The time to find the orange needle was even more pressing. But with seven snake patterns, it was truly possible to summon the spirit snake entwined with the moon.

Ling Xuan chuckled, “Wife, how about a little reward?”

“Remember, once demonized, if I shatter your heart meridian, you’ll die by my hand,” Ye Ziyan pouted stubbornly. “Even if widowed, I’ll be the one to do it.”

Could this be the curse of the spirit snake entwined with the moon? That he was destined to die at her hands?

A slight ripple crossed his heart. Ling Xuan’s brow twitched. “Looks like I need to hurry into the Imperial Medical Office to discover what exactly the shikigami is, and understand the connection between the Purple Phoenix and the Nine Phoenixes Devouring Evil.”

—End of page three—