Chapter Thirty-Nine: Turning Peril into Safety

“Hurry, someone come! Mo Fei is ill—go inform the Patriarch and call for a physician at once.” Forcibly pulling Ning Mo Fei aside, Yu Youwei climbed out of bed, dressed quickly, and covered him with all the bedding.

A maid on night duty spoke up from outside, “Young Madam, Yongqing Hall is sealed with a formation at night—no one can get out. The passage to the secret chamber is also locked, and there’s a soundproof barrier. There’s no way to notify the Patriarch.”

“How convenient, isn’t it? Mo Fei just happens to fall ill, and Yongqing Hall is suddenly sealed so thoroughly that we can’t contact the Patriarch?” Yu Youwei’s first thought was that the old Patriarch was scheming against her again—this could very well be another one of his plots.

“Master Mo Fei’s cold poison always acts up on schedule, typically on the sixteenth of each month. It was supposed to happen tomorrow. He must have gotten drenched in the rain today, so it happened early.”

“What’s the story behind his cold poison?”

“He was born with it. When the Seventh Madam was about to give birth, she was ambushed and struck with the cold poison. To avoid a tragedy that would cost three lives, the Seventh Master had the Patriarch force the cold poison into Master Mo Fei’s body. Master Mo Fei was lucky enough to survive, but now the poison flares up on the sixteenth of every month. Normally, the Patriarch comes to purge the poison. He surely didn’t expect it to erupt today.”

“Damn it!” Yu Youwei grew desperate. The old man had laced her healing pill with an aphrodisiac, no doubt scheming for her to consummate her marriage with Ning Mo Fei—her fire-attribute spiritual power could counteract his cold poison. Now, in this moment of crisis, would she have to abandon her original resolve to save his life?

In the brief moments that followed, a thin layer of frost crept over Ning Mo Fei’s contorted features, his body temperature plummeting rapidly. Yu Youwei gripped his hand and poured fire essence into him, but his life force continued to fade, the ice thickening across his skin until he looked like nothing more than a corpse entombed in ice. Any further delay would be fatal.

“Mo Fei, let’s see if luck is on your side!” Gritting her teeth, Yu Youwei produced a third-grade Mystic Fire Petal.

The Fire Petal was like a tongue of flame, highly toxic and fiercely potent. If swallowed directly, it was safe so long as spiritual power wasn’t activated, but the moment it was, the heart would explode and death would follow. The leaves induced hallucinations. Taken whole, the toxins would neutralize each other, strengthening the heart, but the medicinal power was far beyond what an early-stage cultivator could withstand.

Yu Youwei crushed the entire herb, squeezing its juice onto Ning Mo Fei’s lips. The fiery liquid melted the frost there instantly. In his near-dead state, his Adam’s apple moved ever so slightly, swallowing the burning elixir that then surged towards his heart.

Ning Mo Fei’s body convulsed, a strange crimson glow blooming beneath his ashen skin. Yu Youwei quickly fished out a violet-glimmering crystal and pressed it into his palm, speaking urgently and sternly, “Mo Fei, try to refine this Thunder Crystal—it might break the cold poison within you. It will be agonizing, and dangerous, but if you don’t try, you’ll die for certain.”

His lips—now red instead of ashen—quivered. Two tears slipped from the corners of Ning Mo Fei’s eyes. He struggled to lift his eyelids, the helplessness in his gaze mingling with longing and trust, twisting Yu Youwei’s heart with pain.

“Don’t… understand… refine.” Four words, spoken in two labored gasps—he was clearly spending his last strength.

Yu Youwei’s voice softened, “I’ll help you refine it. Don’t resist.” Placing her palm atop the Thunder Crystal in his hand, she channeled her spiritual power. The crystal melted, her power guiding it through his palm, coursing along his meridians.

Since Ning Mo Fei knew nothing of cultivation and Yu Youwei had no time to analyze his techniques, she could only follow the meridian paths of the “Evolution of Fire Art,” guessing that its level surpassed whatever he’d previously learned. Shifting the flow of his spiritual power didn’t trigger any backlash, and his own energy followed her lead.

Thunder energy is the purest, most potent force in existence. As it surged through him with crackling fury, the cold poison freezing his meridians evaporated in wisps of frost. The pain twisted his features, his eyes bulging; even the relief of unconsciousness was denied him.

“Mo Fei, hold on! Only if you endure will you survive!” Fearing he’d bite through his tongue, Yu Youwei tore the white dragon jade pendant from his neck and thrust it into his mouth. She could sense his dantian continually expelling energy. After one complete cycle, the Thunder Crystal’s energy was depleted, and she immediately produced a second.

Another crystal’s energy was exhausted. Blood seeped from all seven orifices of Ning Mo Fei’s face. Fortunately, the jade pendant, sturdy as it was, withstood his desperate biting, making only a cracking sound but not breaking.

A third, fourth, and fifth crystal—after the energies of five Thunder Crystals had been consumed, the cold poison outside Ning Mo Fei’s dantian was cleared away, but the core remained entrenched. By then, the blood from his seven orifices had become a steady stream, and he’d lost the strength to even bite the pendant, staring at Yu Youwei with deathly resolve.

If things continued this way, whether or not the poison could be cleared, Ning Mo Fei would surely die from pain alone. Yu Youwei fetched a Frost Crystal and said, “Mo Fei, hang in there—I’ll try to use my wood-element technique to heal you.”

Ning Mo Fei’s eyes, more white than black, could barely blink.

Yu Youwei had obtained a wood-element technique in the Ning family library—the first level was “Spring’s Renewal,” the second was “Withered Tree in Spring,” and the third, “Spring’s End, Spring Begins.” Mastering the second level allowed her to use the “Lesser Spring Renewal Technique” to repair meridians. Her own wood-element power was weak from scant practice, so after some thought, she took out a handful of spirit herb seeds, drawing their essence directly to supplement her power and begin mending Ning Mo Fei’s meridians.

The seeds’ energy was quickly depleted. Yu Youwei drove the maids away from the bedside to seek help and sent the little white bear to fetch healing herbs, which she then consumed and converted into power, using the “Lesser Spring Renewal Technique” to heal Ning Mo Fei’s meridians. At the same time, she continued refining Thunder Crystals to purge his cold poison—juggling these tasks sapped her spiritual strength to its limits.

“What a show-off! You’ll play yourself to death at this rate!” The little white bear watched in horror and distress as all the precious herbs it had painstakingly gathered were being wasted.

Yu Youwei had no time to reply. She was already treating a dead horse as if it might live, but at least she’d managed to suppress the cold poison long enough for the Ning family Patriarch to arrive.

A furious shout erupted outside: “How is Mo Fei?” The old man appeared at the bedside in a flash. By now, the ice encasing Ning Mo Fei’s body had melted, faint sparks of lightning flickered on his skin, and the air was thick with the stench of char. Yet his meridians were slowly healing within.

After examining Ning Mo Fei, the old man shouted excitedly, “Mo Fei’s wife, what did you do to him?”

Madam Yu, who had arrived at dawn to inquire after her third son, burst in upon hearing the shout, only to see her fourth son in such a dreadful state. Her heart nearly stopped. “What happened to Mo Fei?”

Yu Youwei, utterly exhausted, could no longer hold herself upright and failed to answer in time.