Chapter 3: The Canine Conspiracy

“Needles themselves hold no moral quality; it is the practitioner who may be good or bad. A healer must wield the needle with a compassionate heart.”

With a soft clang, his thoughts drifted back, the echo of his grandfather’s teachings on the Taiji needle technique ringing in his ears. Hastily, he pushed open the door. Ling Xuan chuckled quietly, “Here comes the chance to make some money.”

Uncle Gou clenched his teeth, slipping into unconsciousness, his face twisted in agony. Blue veins snaked across his body like writhing little serpents. His contorted form defied the villagers’ efforts to restrain him—they simply lacked the strength.

No need for diagnosis through observation, listening, questioning, or pulse-taking now; a single glance told Ling Xuan all he needed. The meridians were blocked, energy trapped with nowhere to vent. Without venting this qi, life would be at risk. Drawing out a silver needle, he declared, “I’ll give it a try.”

“You?” the villagers questioned doubtfully. “You haven’t even mastered half of your grandfather’s skill. What good will that do?”

“If I cure him, who’s paying the fee?” Ling Xuan’s lips curled into a smirk as he tilted his head toward the villagers. “Grandfather just passed, and I just got married—I have a family to support.”

With a sharp glance, Ye Ziyan retracted her hand instantly. “Hurry up. No more talk.”

He sighed softly, “Fine. For my wife’s sake, I’ll show you what I can do.”

Holding the needles in both hands, Ling Xuan targeted key acupoints—the Fengchi, Huiyin, and Yuzhen points—and swiftly inserted the silver needles. The previously writhing Uncle Gou instantly stilled.

“Is it really working?” the villagers murmured in disbelief. Was this the same carefree Chu Lingxuan?

Yet Ling Xuan’s pupils constricted sharply. It felt as if something alive was crawling inside Uncle Gou’s body. The needle tips sent faint stabbing sensations, his left hand sensed a scorching heat at the needle’s tail, while his right hand felt an influx of dark, chilling cold.

He recalled his grandfather’s words: all ailments could be seen as mischievous worms, and Taiji needle technique was about finding and dispersing those pests into nothingness.

He activated the Taiji Wuji energy. The crescent-shaped birthmark on his chest emitted a refreshing coolness. The red snake mark writhed; the red qi surged up along the Governor Vessel, while the black qi sank down the Conception Vessel, converging in his palm into a faintly glowing red Taiji symbol—yin and yang in his hand.

The pain vanished abruptly. Ling Xuan’s heart leapt with joy. This was the interplay of yin and yang energies. Who would have thought this curse could have such an effect?

With a flick of the silver needle, a wave of scorching heat surged forth, dropping blood onto the ground with a sizzling sound. The blue-green tiles emitted a wisp of black smoke, and a small pit formed where the blood fell.

The needle’s tail radiated a strand of red qi; the wound’s black qi churned as if boiling water had been poured over it.

“This is… the yang meridian energy?” Ye Ziyan’s pupils narrowed.

Another flick, and a rush of icy cold swept over. The silver needle instantly frosted over with a layer of frost.

“Yin meridian energy?” Ye Ziyan’s eyelashes quivered. “Grandfather said that when the Taiji needle technique is mastered to its peak…”

Reversing her hand, she pressed the Taiji energy back into Uncle Gou’s wound. The scales shattered with a crisp crack. Ling Xuan smiled in secret, “Just as expected… Yin and yang are interdependent, restraining and nurturing one another.”

Ye Ziyan’s purple jade phoenix hairpin suddenly brushed against her neck. “Summoning a demon soul into your body—do you want to die?”

The silver needle trembled, red and black energies swirling at its tail. Ling Xuan laughed teasingly, “No, fighting poison with poison. Is this your way of caring for me, my dear?”

No sooner had he spoken than the silver needle quivered and pierced the Baihui point. A plume of black mist erupted from Uncle Gou’s wound, condensing into three twisting, coiling serpents.

The serpents’ eyes snapped open, and suddenly all the bronze vessels in the room emitted a rustling sound, sharp enough to make one’s teeth ache and ears ring.

***

The candle flames on the table stretched eerily, their reddish-yellow hearts glowing faintly, reflecting in the bronze mirror like ghostly eyes.

Villagers, seeing this, trembled and fled in panic. Some, too frightened, turned pale and collapsed onto the ground, wetting themselves in terror before scrambling away.

“Is this the demon soul?” Ling Xuan was stunned, leaping up like a startled rabbit, pulling out the silver needle.

“Pfft!” Uncle Gou spat a mouthful of black blood, suddenly opening his eyes wide. “A snake… a huge white snake.”

His gaze caught Ling Xuan’s face, confusion flickering in his eyes. Sniffing sharply, a chill ran down his spine. “You…”

Before he could finish, Uncle Gou sprang up, moving faster than a rabbit, as if unharmed, and vanished in a flash.

The central black serpent shot out like an arrow from a bow, its jaws wide open, revealing rows of serrated, inverted triangular teeth.

Ling Xuan instinctively leaned back, the serpent’s fangs barely grazing his throat. He was dumbfounded as a burning sensation surged from the birthmark on his chest. A mist of blood exploded forth, summoning a giant red serpent’s apparition.

The red snake was exactly as he had seen in his dreams, save that its single eye was closed, mirroring the mark on his chest perfectly.

Out of the corner of his eye, a flash of purple light appeared. Ye Ziyan’s reflexes were lightning-fast, severing two snake shadows.

The middle snake shadow was swallowed by the red serpent apparition with a hiss, disappearing into his body, leaving only black qi drifting toward the red snake mark.

The scorching energy coursed through the Ren and Du meridians, transforming into yin and yang energies within. Strange images flooded his mind.

A young man wielding a folding fan adorned with an eagle hawk, its feathers gray and eyes orange, surrounded by nearly a hundred people—Uncle Gou was just one among them.

As the orange eyes turned toward him, the scene abruptly froze. The last wisp of black qi entered the red snake mark, and the severed snake shadows instantly transformed into a sheet of black paper.

Blood-red characters flashed before Ling Xuan could read them, then burst into flames, igniting the black paper.

The same vision appeared before Ye Ziyan, who blinked in surprise. “What is this?”

Her violet eyes gleamed as she read, her expression turning cold. “You absorbed a demon soul?”

The bronze mirror cracked with a web of fine lines like spider silk, the deepest crack splitting Ye Ziyan’s shocked face in two.

“What demon soul?” Ling Xuan was still dazed. “Could the red giant serpent I saw just now be the demon soul? Ye Ziyan didn’t see it—only I did?”

A shadow flickered at his feet and he was kicked down again, his hand brushing against something hard. Quickly picking it up, he found it was a copper coin, the twisted marks on the ground suggesting it came from Uncle Gou.

This coin was identical to the one that had fallen from his parents’ scroll painting—bearing the words ‘Tianjia’ clearly, though without the character ‘Xuan’ and with two faint lines behind it.

Ye Ziyan’s phoenix hairpin brushed against her neck again, and she snapped coldly, “Shall I kill you now, or wait until you’re fully demonized?”

Ling Xuan broke out in a cold sweat but grinned, “If you drink my blood, you’re mine. Not afraid of being widowed, are you?”

A faint blush flickered across his cheeks. Ye Ziyan snorted softly, “Since you still have some use, I’ll spare you for now. Tell me honestly—what did Grandfather do to you to let you absorb demonic energy?”

Was the red giant serpent a gift from Old Master Chu?

***

Ling Xuan could hardly believe his ears. Laughing, he replied, “Wasn’t it you who told me to find a way to restore my cultivation? I gained some insight in Grandfather’s room just now.”

“Even I was shaken back. With your Ren and Du meridians not fully connected, how could you possibly do this?” Ye Ziyan sneered.

“The needle technique—the Taiji needle method—requires absorbing both yin and yang energies simultaneously.” Ling Xuan’s back was drenched in sweat, but he feigned ease as he used the copper coin to pry open a thin blade.

Ye Ziyan laughed coldly. “Daring to absorb a demon soul? You’re not far from death.”

Not far from death? Wasn’t that a kind of concern?

Feeling his body, he sensed no discomfort; instead, the flow of qi inside him was smoother, and his strength in his hands had increased. With a cheeky grin, he asked, “My dear, are there really demons?”

“Of course,” Ye Ziyan snapped, “If there were no demons, why would the Divine Emperor build the Demon Suppression Abyss?”

“The Demon Suppression Abyss? What’s that?” Ling Xuan was baffled. He had never heard of such a thing in Great Sui.

Ye Ziyan snatched the copper coin and clenched it in her palm. “Chu family scoundrel, if you can’t even remember the Demon Suppression Abyss, do you even know this is the Divine Dynasty of Great Sui?”

Great Sui? Was this really Great Sui?

A surge of secret joy swelled in his heart. If it truly was Great Sui, might he witness firsthand the turbulent era and its glorious days?

Just then, Uncle Gou returned in a panic, shouting loudly at the door, “Ling Xuan, run! The villagers have reported you as possessed by a demon soul. The village head and the local militia are on their way—already at the village entrance!”

“Stop! Don’t come in!” Ye Ziyan immediately grabbed the silver curved bow from the wall, nocked an arrow, and shouted fiercely, “Snitches always come back to report!”

“I was just saved by Ling Xuan,” Uncle Gou explained, raising his left foot to step inside.

A black arrow whizzed through the air, its tip lodged at an angle, the feathers trembling slightly.

Ye Ziyan’s fury flared. “Grandfather just passed, and you’re already playing these tricks?”

“Hurry, don’t get caught,” Uncle Gou said, unable to get through the door. Sniffing sharply, a cold smile crept onto his lips as he quickly retreated. “I’ll find a way to hold them off.”

“Stop right there!” Ye Ziyan snorted coldly. “Isn’t this about military service?”

Military service? What military service?

Before Ling Xuan could grasp what was happening, Ye Ziyan yanked his ear. “Grandfather ordered you to enter the Imperial Medical Department, or you’ll never see him again.”

What did that mean? Could it really be Grandfather? He often said that when teaching the Taiji needle method.

Ye Ziyan snorted lightly. “If you want to be my husband, first figure out why the snitches are testing you.”