to speak the truth and had to lie to her to cheer her up,” he thought to himself.

Old Man put his arm under his daughter’s neck. “Why don’t you sit up a little? It will be easier this way when you take the medicine. The medicine didn’t come easy at all. We’d better not waste any of it,” he explained.

The girl slowly sat up and Old Man immediately placed two pillows behind her back to make it a little more comfortable for her. The girl opened her eyes and then caught the sight of Linghu Chong. Utterly surprised, she rolled her eyes and stared at Linghu Chong.

“Dad, who…who is he?” she asked.

“Him? He is no human. He is medicine,” Old Man beamed.

“He is medicine?” the girl was baffled.

“Yes. He is medicine indeed. The effect of the ‘Life-Extending Eight Pills’ are way too strong for you, my darling, that’s why I had this man take the pills instead so I can draw blood from him as medicine for you,” Old Man replied.

“Draw blood from him? Won’t that inflict pain for him? That’s…that’s probably not a good idea.” The girl murmured.

“This man is a retard. He won’t feel any pain,” Old Man comforted her.

The girl answered with a hum and then closed her eyes.

With a feeling of mingled shock and fury, Linghu Chong almost broke out swearing, but then on a second thought, he changed his mind.

“Although I didn’t take the girl’s life-saving pills intentionally, if she dies because of it, there’s still fault on my part. Besides, I don’t want to live on like this, anyway, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to atone for my mistake by saving her life with my blood.” At that thought, he let out a mournful smile and kept his silence.

Old Man stood next to Linghu Chong, ready to seal his Silence Point as soon as the first word came out of his mouth. But to his great surprise, he found a well-composed and unconcerned Linghu Chong smiling at him quietly, instead. Of course, he had no clue that Linghu Chong had remained disheartened ever since Yue Lingshan had fallen in love with someone else. Especially when Linghu Chong heard the mysterious man chiding Yue Lingshan and Lin Pingzhi for defaming him behind his back, and then seeing them dating secretly ashore, he had completely lost the desire to live on and couldn’t have cared less about his own life.

“I am going to cut open your heart and use your warm blood to treat my daughter now. Aren’t you afraid?” Old Man asked.

“Why should I be afraid?” Linghu Chong replied calmly.

Old Man cast a side glance at Linghu Chong for a moment, and sure enough, there was no trace of fear to be found anywhere on Linghu Chong’s face.

“After I cut your heart open and draw your blood out, you are going to die. Now don’t blame me for not telling you that beforehand!” Old Man said.

“Everyone will die sooner or later. It’s really not that big of a difference whether one dies a few years earlier or a few years later. It would be great if my blood can save your daughter’s life. Definitely beats me dying for nothing, and no good for anybody,” Linghu Chong replied indifferently.

He could almost see in his imagination how apathetically Yue Lingshan would have reacted to the news of his death. She might even throw in a few comments on top of that like “that’s got to serve him right” or “he’s got what he deserves.” A strong feeling of self-pity welled up in Linghu Chong’s heart.

Old Man raised his thumb. “You are a real tough guy! Man, I’ve never seen anyone like you before,” he praised. “It’s too bad that my daughter will definitely die if she doesn’t drink your blood, otherwise, I’d have let you go.”

Making a trip to the kitchen, Old Man returned with a basin of boiling hot water. While holding a sharp knife with his right hand, he soaked a towel in the hot water using his left hand and then placed it on the pit of Linghu Chong’s stomach. Suddenly, Zu Qianqiu’s voice shouted from outside.

“Old Man, Old Man, open the door. I’ve got some good stuff for your daughter Not-Dead.”

Old Man frowned. With a swift swing, he sliced the hot towel in half, and then stuffed half of it into Linghu Chong’s mouth.

“What good stuff?” he murmured to himself as he set down the knife and the basin before opening the front door to let Zu Qianqiu in.

“Hey, Old Man, how are you going to thank me for this?” Zu Qianqiu spoke excitedly as soon as he entered the room. “It was in such urgency, but I couldn’t find you, so I took your ‘Life-Extending Eight Pills’ and fooled him into taking them. If you had known about it, you would have brought those catholicons of yours to him, yourself, but I bet you he wouldn’t take the pills that way.”

“What nonsense….” Old Man rebuked. But after Zu Qianqiu whispered something right next to his ear, he jumped up all of a sudden.

“Is this real? You…you…are not joking about it?” he asked loudly.

“Why would I joke about it? From what I heard, it is absolutely true. Now Old Man, we have been bosom friends for decades long. Tell me, did I do it the way you would have wanted me to or not?” Zu Qianqiu replied.

“Right, right! Damn, damn!” Old Man shouted, stamping his foot to the ground in agony.

“Wow…what’s going on? What right and what damn?” Zu Qianqiu was confused.

“You are right, and I am damned!” Old Man answered.

“Why are you damned?” Zu Qianqiu was even more confused.

Dragging Zu by the hand, Old Man led him straight into his daughter’s bedroom. As soon as he saw Linghu Chong, he dropped onto his knees and started kowtowing frantically.

“Young Master Linghu, Grandpa Linghu, I must have been so damned blind to have offended you today. Thank Heavens that Zu Qianqiu got here just in time. If I had cut you open and killed you, I would have been damned to hell. Even if someone had roasted me to death and stewed all my fats into grease, it wouldn’t have been enough punishment worth of my crime.”

With the half towel still stuffed in his mouth, Linghu Chong only answered with some indistinguishable grunts. Zu Qianqiu hurriedly dug the towel out of Linghu Chong’s mouth and asked.

“Young Master Linghu, how did you get here?”

“Senior Master Old, please, please get up! I am certainly not worth of such etiquette from you. You are really embarrassing me now,” Linghu Chong spoke hurriedly as soon as the towel was out of his mouth.

“I had no idea about the relationship between Young Master Linghu and my savior. How dare I to offend you like this? Alas, I am such a moron. Alas, I should have gone to hell. Even if I had a hundred daughters and all of them are dying right now, I dare not to even imagine having Young Master Linghu to shed one drop of blood to save their cursed lives,” Old Man mumbled on.

“Old Man, why did you tie Young Master Linghu up here?” Zu Qianqiu rolled his eyes.

“Alas, in a word, it was I who have committed all kinds of outrages and perverse acts. Can’t you just shut up and spare me some embarrassment?” Old Man replied.

“And why do you have a basin of hot water and a sharp knife over here?” Zu Qianqiu asked again.

Old Man didn’t answer his question; instead, he raised his hand and started slapping his own face hard. His fat face already looked like a pumpkin to start with, now after the strong slaps, it puffed up even more.

“I must have been very muddle-headed that I have no clue about what has happened recently. Will you, senior masters, please shed some lights for me?” Linghu Chong beseeched.

“Why don’t we talk that over some drinks?” suggested Old Man as he and Zu Qianqiu untied the rope around Linghu Chong hastily.

Casting a side-glance toward the girl on the bed, Linghu Chong asked, “Would your daughter’s illness get any worse?”

“No, it will not. Even if it does, alas, well…that’s….” Old Man kept murmured to himself words that no one except himself could recognize.

After ushering Linghu Chong and Zu Qianqiu to the front hall, Old Man filled three bowls with wine and also took out a large plate of pork strips to go with the wine. Raising his wine respectfully, he proposed a toast to Linghu Chong. Linghu Chong poured the wine down his throat in continued gulps. The wine only had a light taste and was quite ordinary. But if compared to the wine he had drunk from Zu Qianqiu’s wine cups, it tasted at least ten times better.

“Young Master Linghu, I am such a stupid muddle-head to have offended you. Alas, this…that…really….” Speaking with a terrified face, Old Man was out of words to express his sincere regrets.

“Young Master Linghu is a large-minded man. He won’t blame you. Besides, if the ‘Life-Extending Eight Pills’ of yours are truly effective and could mend Young Master Linghu’s health, then you will be the one to thank for,” Zu Qianqiu comforted him.

“Well, I don’t…deserve the credit. Brother Zu, we’ve got to thank you,” Old Man answered.

Zu Qianqiu grinned. “Since I took your eight pills, I was afraid that it might hinder niece Not-Dead’s recovery. Here are some ginsengs for her to take as a tonic.” He stooped down and then took out a basket. After removing the lid, he pulled out holds of ginsengs, some thick and some slender. There were perhaps at least ten pounds of them.

“Where did you get so much ginsengs?” Old Man asked.

“Where else? From the medicine shop, of course. I borrowed some,” Zu Qianqiu answered with a mischievous grin.

“Like when Liu Bei borrowed the city of Jinzhou,[5] there’s no returning,” Old Man burst into loud laughter. Even though he forced a smile, he still couldn’t completely hide the grief and worries written on his face.

“Mister Old and Mister Zu,” Linghu Chong said, “although you had good intentions trying to mend my injures, one of you tricked me and the other one tied me up. Now isn’t that a bit disrespectful for me?”

Hearing that, both Old Man and Zu Qianqiu stood up immediately and bowed to Linghu Chong with their hands folded in front. “Young Master Linghu, we are so sorry. You can punish us anyway you see fit; we certainly deserve it,” they answered in unison.

“Fine! I have a question. You must give me a straight answer. Will you please tell me who is behind all these that have made you show such great respect to me?” Linghu Chong asked.

Old Man and Zu Qianqiu exchanged a stare at each other.

“Well…that…that’s your question?” Old Man murmured.

“Young Master Linghu, of course you know this person. Please forgive us for daring not to mention this person’s name,” Zu Qianqiu answered after a pause.

“But I swear that I don’t know who he is,” Linghu Chong assured them. He couldn’t help but ponder. “Is it Grand Uncle-Master Feng? Or is it Great Master No Commandment? Or even Tian Boguang? How about Elder Bamboo-Green? It doesn’t seem to be any of them. Grand Uncle-Master Feng certainly has such respectful reputation and prestige, but he is living a secluded life and didn’t even allow me to let out his whereabouts? How could he have left Mount Huashan for this?”

“Young Master, what you are asking here, brother Old and I most definitely dare not to answer. Even if you kill us, we wouldn’t dare answer just the same. You already know the answer in your heart, why do you have to force us to spill it out?” Zu Qianqiu replied.

Hearing the firm tone in his voice, Linghu Chong knew that it would be of no use to try to force the answer out from him. So he said, “Fine. Your not answering my question is certainly not helping with venting my fury. Mister Old, you tied me up to a chair and scared the wits out of me. It’s my turn to tie the two of you up this time. And maybe I still wouldn’t be relieved and would want to cut out your hearts.”

Old Man and Zu Qianqiu exchanged another stare and then answered in unison, “If you want to tie us up, we dare not resist in any way.”

Old Man took out two chairs and a bunch of thick ropes. The two of them first tied their own feet to the legs of the chairs tightly and then placed their hands behind their back. “Young Master Linghu, if you will,” they said, both thinking that Linghu Chong wasn’t really going to tie them up to vent his anger and most likely he was just joking. But to their great surprise, Linghu Chong actually picked up the rope and tied their hands behind their backs as tightly as he could before picking up Old Man’s knife.

“I can’t seal your pressure points with my finger because I lost all my inner energy. But I am afraid that you would try to get out of the ropes. That’s why I am gonna strike your pressure points with the knife handle to seal them that way,” Linghu Chong explained.

He turned the knife over and then struck the two with much strength at the Huan-Tiao, Tian-Zhu, and Shao-Hai points using the knife handle. It took him a while to finally seal the pressure points. Stunned, Old Man and Zu Qianqiu looked at each other in speechless despair, and soon felt tickles of fear growing into swarms of terror, not knowing what Linghu Chong had planned next.

“You wait here for me,” Linghu Chong exclaimed as he turned and walked out of the hall.

Holding the knife in his grip, Linghu Chong walked until he was outside of the girl’s bedroom. He cleared his throat and then asked.

“Miss Old…um…miss, how are you feeling?”

He had wanted to address her as “Miss Old,” but then he decided against that. Even though the girl’s family name was Old, in her young age, it wouldn’t sound very appropriate to call her “Miss Old,” and “Miss Old Not-Dead” would simply be unimaginably queer. The girl didn’t answer, and only let out a slight snort.

Linghu Chong lifted the cotton curtain and then entered the room. He could see her still in a sitting position, leaning against the pillows, her eyes slightly open, half awake and half asleep. Linghu Chong took two steps forward. Now he could see that her skin on her face almost looked like crystal. Blue veins could clearly be seen underneath the light yellowish muscles; it almost appeared as if he could see blood flowing slowly along the veins. It was so quiet in the room. Everything was in a standing still, not even a trace of brisk wind, as if the blood inside her was also coagulating drop by drop, except her tender breathing, so weak that it seemed as if every time when she breathe out, that was one less breathe for her.

“This young girl could have survived if I didn’t take her medicine pills by mistake. I don’t have many days left anyway. It doesn’t make much difference whether I live a few days more or a few days less, does it?” Linghu Chong thought aloud.

He reached out and grabbed a china bowl. Placing it on the small bed table, he raised his left wrist and then sliced it open with the knife. Blood immediately gushed out like a spring and poured down into the china bowl. Noticing that the basin of hot water Old Man had prepared earlier was still letting out hot steams, he set the knife down and then splashed some hot water over the cut on the wrist so the blood wouldn’t start clotting too soon. Within moments, blood had filled more than half of the bowl.

Even in the wooziness, the girl soon noticed the strong smell of blood and as soon as she opened her eyes, the sight of blood dripping all over from Linghu Chong’s wrist terrified her. She let out a shriek in shock.

Seeing that the bowl was almost filled with blood, Linghu Chong walked next to the bed and then held the bowl right next to the girl’s mouth.

“Hurry, drink this. There are panaceas in the blood that will be able to cure your decease,” he urged gently.

“I…I…I am scared. I don’t…want to drink that,” the girl rejected.

After shedding a bowl worth of blood, Linghu Chong felt as if his head had become completely drained and his legs almost gave out under him.

“If she doesn’t drink this because she is scared, wouldn’t I have shed my blood for nothing?” he thought to himself.

Grabbing the knife into his left hand, he yelled, “If you don’t do what I tell you, I’ll kill you with this knife.” Right after the last word, he placed the tip of the blade next to the girl’s throat.

The girl feared for her life and had to swallow down the entire bowl of blood. For several times she almost vomited from the nauseating, but every time when she caught the sight of the shinning blade in Linghu Chong’s hand, the terror overwhelmed her and prevented her from throwing up.

Linghu Chong watched her drink up the entire bowl of blood. The wound on his wrist had slowly stopped bleeding as blood clots started forming around it.

Linghu Chong thought to himself, “I took Old Man’s ‘Life-Extending Eight Pills,’ but what went into the girl’s stomach was perhaps even less than one tenth of it. Once I use the restroom a few times, I am afraid even more would be lost. I’d better feed her a few more bowls of blood while I still can, until I am too weak to move about.” At that thought, he cut open his right wrist, also, and as soon as the bowl was filled with blood, he rushed to feed the girl again.

The girl frowned. “Don’t…don’t force me. I can’t take anymore of this,” she pleaded.

“It’s not up to you. Hurry up! Drink! Hurry!” Linghu Chong urged.

The girl drank some more reluctantly and had to stop for a moment to catch her breath.

“Why…why are you doing this? Doing this is very harmful for your body,” she said.

“It’s quite alright. Don’t worry about my body. It’s all for your good.” Linghu Chong let out a forced smile.

As soon as Branch Fairy and Fruit Fairy fell into the fishing net booby trap set by Old Man, they immediately tried to set themselves free, but the more they struggled, the tighter the fishing net became, and soon they couldn’t even move their arms or legs any inch. Although the two of them couldn’t move, that did not prevent their ears from functioning perfectly well and their tongues from arguing back and forth. At the time when Linghu Chong had tied Old and Zu to their chairs, Branch Fairy had predicted that he would certainly kill the two while Fruit Fairy had predicted that he would definitely come out and set the two Fairy brothers free first. But that debate ended up a total waste of time. Neither of them had gotten it right. Linghu Chong had entered the girl’s bedroom instead. Since the girl’s bedroom was sealed very well with all the cotton sheets, only segments of Linghu Chong and the girl’s conversation could be vaguely heard. For Branch Fairy, Fruit Fairy, Yue Buqun, Old Man, and Zu Qianqiu, even though all five of them had resourceful inner energy, they still couldn’t tell what Linghu Chong was doing in the girl’s bedroom, so they had to let their imagination run wild. When suddenly the girl’s scream broke out, all their faces changed color.

“Linghu Chong is a guy. What is he doing in a girl’s bedroom?” Branch Fairy asked.

“Listen, that girl was in terror,” Fruit Fairy exclaimed. “She said, ‘I…I am scared!’ And Linghu Chong said, ‘If you don’t do what I tell you, I’ll kill you with this knife.’ He said ‘do what I tell you.’ What does he want the girl to do?”

“What else? Of course he is forcing the girl to be his woman.” Branch Fairy concluded.

“Ha-ha, how funny! That short melon-size man’s daughter of course has to be a short melon-size girl as well. Why would Linghu Chong want to force her to be his woman?” Fruit Fairy disagreed.

“Different people favor different things! Maybe Linghu Chong has this thingy for fat girls, and as soon as he spots a fat girl, he’d find himself in heaven and totally forget about everything else.” Branch Fairy argued.

“Wow, did you hear that? The fat girl is begging him now. I think she said something like, ‘Don’t force me. I can’t take it anymore.’” Fruit Fairy imitated.

“That’s right. But the chap Linghu Chong is determined. He said, ‘It’s not up to you. Hurry up! Hurry!’” Branch Fairy followed.

“Why is Linghu Chong asking her to hurry up? Hurry up doing what?” Fruit Fairy asked.

“You never got married and are still a virgin, of course you don’t understand,” Branch Fairy mocked.

“Like you’ve ever married anyone, you shameless jerk!” Fruit Fairy fought back.

“You know that I never got married. Why did you ask me for?” Branch Fairy reproved.

“Hey, Old Man! Linghu Chong is forcing your daughter to be his woman. Are you just going to sit there and watch her die?” Fruit Fairy shouted out loud.

“Mind your own business,” Branch Fairy admonished. “How do you know that fat girl is going to die? Isn’t his daughter’s name ‘Old Not-Dead’? How can she die?”

Ever since Old Man and Zu Qianqiu were tied to their chairs and their pressure points sealed, they listened through everything, from Miss Old’s scream to the sound of her begging for mercy. Gazing at each other with blank dismay, they were totally out of ideas. They had suspected the same thing themselves, and the loud arguments from the Peach Valley’s two Fairies in the courtyard only confirmed their suspicion.

“Brother Old, we’ve got to stop this. Who would have expected Young Master Linghu to be such a lubricious man? I am afraid he is going to get into big trouble,” Zu Qianqiu said to Old Man.

“Alas, I wouldn’t have minded him deflowering Not-Dead the kid, but…but that would really be unfair for the other one.” Old Man heaved a sigh.

“Listen, listen to that,” Zu Qianqiu suggested. “Your daughter Not-Dead has grown quite some affection for him. She said, ‘Doing this is very harmful for your body.’ And did you hear how Linghu Chong responded?”

“He said, ‘It’s quite alright. Don’t worry about my body. It’s all for your good!’ God damn it! These two kids!” Old Man replied.

“Brother Old, congratulations, congratulations!” Zu Qianqiu burst into loud laughter.

“Congratulations my ass!” Old Man scolded angrily.

“What are you getting angry for? Congratulations for getting a wonderful son-in-law!” Zu Qianqiu grinned.

Old Man let out a loud shout and reproved with a yell, “Stop the nonsense! If this gets out, do you think we’d still be alive?” When he spoke these words, his voice was filled with utter fear.

“Right, right!” Zu Qianqiu replied. His voice also quavered.

Yue Buqun had been hiding on the tree outside of the wall and was even further from it. Although he initialized the “Divine Art of the Violet Twilight,” he was only able to hear fragments of the conversation. At first, when he heard Linghu Chong forcing the girl, he had wanted to rush inside to stop it, but then he changed his mind, thinking that all these people, Linghu Chong included, had been so secretive and unusual, who was it to say that they weren’t conspiring something. The best thing for him to do at the time would be to observe calmly and not act recklessly. So he simply listened on with his ‘Divine Art of the Violet Twilight’ fully loaded. Then the dialogues between the Peach Valley’s Two Fairies and the ones between Old and Zu kept ringing in his ears. He was also convinced that Linghu Chong must have taken advantage of the girl’s precarious condition and had molested the girl. Later when he heard the conversation between Old and Zu, he figured that since Linghu Chong was a dissolute and unconventional young man and the girl probably did carry her father’s genes and was a short and fat, ugly girl, it would only be natural for her to fall in love with Linghu Chong after losing her virginity to him. Seeing how ludicrous the episode has become, he couldn’t help but shake his head in despair.

The girl’s screaming voice rose again all of a sudden. “Don’t…don’t…too much blood. I beg of you….”

Suddenly, someone shouted from outside the walls, “Old Man, I’ve finally lost those Peach Valley’s Four Goblins.” Then came a gentle thud as the man leapt over the wall and entered the hall. It was none other than the man with the white banner who had provoked the Peach Valley’s Four Fairies into chasing him.

“What’s going on?” He was shocked to find Old Man and Zu Qianqiu both tied up to their chairs. He flipped his right hand swiftly and a shining dagger magically appeared in his palm. Waving his arms hurriedly a few times, he had cut lose the ropes around the two’s legs and arms.

The girl’s scream rose from her room once again, “Please…please…I beg you…no more.”

Picking up the urgency in her tone of voice, the man uttered a cry of shock, “It is Miss Old Not-Dead!” He dashed toward the door.

Grabbing the man by his arm quickly, Old Man yelled, “You can’t go in there!”

Stunned, the man put a halt to his steps. Then came the voice of Branch Fairy from the courtyard.

“I bet you the short melon must be thrilled to have a son-in-law like Linghu Chong.”

“Linghu Chong could die any day now. Why would he be so thrilled to have a half-dead half-alive son-in-law?” Fruit Fairy challenged.

“His daughter could die any day as well. They make a perfect half-dead half-alive couple,” Branch Fairy explained.

“Now, who will die and who will live?” Fruit Fairy asked.

“What a dumb question! Of course Linghu Chong will die. Miss Old Not-Dead’s name is Old Not-Dead. How can she ever die? Dummy!” Branch Fairy mocked.

“That’s not necessarily true. Does one’s name always reflect the reality? What if everybody in this world were named Old Not-Dead? Would every one of them grow old yet do not die? If that’s the case, then our training in martial arts would have been no good at all,” Fruit Fairy rebuffed.

Amid the arguing between the two brothers, a loud thud came from inside the room. Something had collapsed onto the floor. Miss Old screamed again, though her voice was weak, it was filled with panic.

“Dad, Dad! Come here, hurry!”

Old Man sprinted into the bedroom, only finding Linghu Chong lying on the floor unconscious, a china bowl leaning by his chest upside down and blood all over his upper body. Miss Old leaned by the bed. There was also blood by the corner of her mouth. Zu Qianqiu and the other man stood behind Old Man and stared at the bizarre scene, each with a stomach full of questions.

“Dad, he…he cut himself to draw blood, and then forced me to drink two bowls worth…he…he wants to cut himself more….” Miss Old exclaimed.

The shock struck Old Man like a thunder. He rushed forward and propped Linghu Chong’s upper body into his own arms. Now he could see the cuts on both of Linghu Chong’s wrists from which blood was still gushing out nonstop. Scared out of his wits, Old Man sprinted out of the room and returned with gauzes, bandages, and medication within moments. In the fluster, even though this was his own home, he still bumped his head on the doorframes, resulting in a big swelling on his forehead and a large hole on the wall.

When Branch Fairy heard the banging sound, he thought Old Man must have given Linghu Chong a good beating, so he shouted.

“Hey, Old Man, Linghu Chong is a good friend of the Peach Valley’s Six Fairies. Stop beating him. If you beat him to death, I promise you that the Peach Valley’s Six Fairies will tear all your fats into strips.”

“Wrong! Wrong!” Fruit Fairy reproved.

“What’s wrong?” Branch Fairy inquired.

“If he had muscles all around his body, then of course you can tear them into strips. But all he has are fats. You’ll end up with a bunch of grease. How can you tear fats into strips?” Fruit Fairy argued.

Old Man applied the medication to the wrist wounds and then wrapped the wounds well with bandages. After a good while of massaging the pressure points on Linghu Chong’s chest and stomach, Linghu Chong finally regained his consciousness.

Feeling slightly relieved and utterly grateful, Old Man muttered in a shaky voice, “Young Master Linghu, you…even by smashing us into bits and pieces wouldn’t have…alas…wouldn’t have….”

“Young Master Linghu, it was only because of a misunderstanding that Old Man tied you up earlier. Why did you take it so seriously? You are just making him feel even more embarrassed,” Zu Qianqiu said.

Linghu Chong let out a weak smile. “My internal injury cannot be cured by any catholicon. I truly appreciate the kindness of senior master Zu for feeding me the ‘Life-Extending Eight Pills’ that belonged to senior master Old. But it was really a waste…I hope this girl’s desease can be cured….” A strong feel of disorientation, caused by losing much blood, suddenly consumed him, and he passed out, once again.

Carrying Linghu Chong in his arms, Old Man walked out of his daughter’s bedroom and set Linghu Chong down on his own bed. “What now? What now?” he muttered distractedly with a long, worried face.

“Young Master Linghu lost a lot of blood. I am afraid he is on the edge of his life. What do you think if we three load all our inner energy and inject the inner energy into his body to revive him? What do you say?” Zu Qianqiu suggested.

“Naturally,” Old Man concurred.

He gently propped Linghu Chong up and placed his right palm on the Da-Zhui point at Linghu Chong’s back. As soon as he initialized his energy flow, his entire body suddenly shocked violently. A loud crack echoed as the chair he sat on collapsed to the floor and was smashed into bits and pieces.

Branch Fairy burst into loud laughter. “Guess how Linghu Chong inflicted his internal injury at the first place? It was all because our six brothers tried to heal him with our internal energy. Now the short melon decides to play the ape. Aren’t you just going to cause Linghu Chong new injuries on top of what he already has? Ha-ha! Ha-ha!”

“Hey, did you hear that loud cracking sound? That short melon must have been shocked by the inner energy inside Linghu Chong and smashed into something. Linghu Chong’s inner energy is actually our inner energy. The short melon, once again, is suffering from the wrath of the Peach Valley’s Six Fairies! Wonderful! Wonderful!” Fruit Fairy added.

“Alas, if Young Master Linghu stays unconscious like this, I guess there’s only one thing left for the Old Man. I’ll just have to kill myself,” Old Man heaved a heavy sigh.

The man came in last suddenly yelled out loudly, “Hi, the one on the jujube tree outside, are you Mr. Yue, the Head Master of the Huashan School?”

Yue Buqun was dumbfounded. “So he knew I was hiding here all along,” he thought aloud.

“Mr. Yue, you are a guest from afar. Why