Chapter 417: In the Whole World, Who Doesn't Have a Grudge Against Your Master?

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"Tell me, do you fancy the notion of women looking upon you with utter loathing and disdain?"

Meng Jingzhou harbored a growing conviction that Lu Yang was suffering from some profound mental affliction.

Indeed, ever since they had crossed into the desolate wastes of Huangzhou, Lu Yang's psychological state seemed to have degenerated precipitously.

"The matter stands thus: I have sought out Shuang Feiyan, the Valley Master of the Seven Emotions. Mistress Shuang shares a certain acquaintance with our Fourth Elder and is well-disposed to remedy your karmic backlash. Yet, her prowess is not without limit; she can but mitigate a portion of it, leaving the rest untouched."

En route to his companion, Lu Yang had pondered whether Mistress Shuang's cultivation might prove insufficient for a complete cure, and whether they might instead implore the previous Valley Master or perhaps some grand elder of the Seven Emotions Valley to intervene.

To this, Mistress Shuang had countered rather tartly—"Do you presume that every soul of a generation senior to my own has automatically ascended to the Tribulation Transmutation Stage?"

"Mistress Shuang is capable of altering the manifestation of your karmic backlash. Instead of 'being utterly barred from setting eyes upon women,' it shall become 'any woman who sees you shall instantly detest you.' As for a thorough eradication thereafter, we must needs devise further stratagems."

Meng Jingzhou’s countenance twisted into an expression of profound dubiety. "Why does it strike me that these two outcomes are six of one and half a dozen of the other?"

"How can you claim they are one and the same? Heretofore, you could not so much as cross the threshold of a pleasure house; now, at the very least, you may cross it freely."

"Next time, I should be vastly obliged if you would employ a less colorful analogy."

Squatting upon the earth and stroking his chin in deep contemplation, Meng Jingzhou reflected that if a portion of the curse were lifted, he would no longer be condemned to linger daily in remote ravines, returning only to endure Lu Yang's boastful accounts of his own romantic fortunes. He would be permitted to enter the towns; his movements would no longer be constrained, nor would he live in perpetual terror of sudden calamities descending from the heavens to send him fleeing for his life. URL

"Very well, then we shall trouble Mistress Shuang. Yet... how precisely am I to communicate this to her?"

Lu Yang let out a weary sigh. Mistress Shuang and Meng Jingzhou could not meet face-to-face, and Old Ma was utterly dependable for nothing of the sort. The burden of acting as a living messenger fell squarely upon his own shoulders.

Resigning himself to his fate, he retraced his steps until he found Mistress Shuang sitting in quiet meditation beneath the shade of a tree.

"Have you discovered your companion?"

"I have. He is entirely willing to submit to your treatment."

Mistress Shuang inclined her head in assent, though a sudden thought caused her brow to furrow slightly.

"Is there something amiss, Senior?"

"His curse is extraordinarily labyrinthine. To dissolve it even partially presents an immense challenge. I must observe his specific condition firsthand ere I can determine the proper method of dispelling it."

"But as matters stand, you and Old Meng cannot look upon one another, can you?"

"Precisely. Therein lies the dilemma."

Having walked the earth for more than two millennia, Mistress Shuang possessed an ocean of experience far eclipsing Lu Yang's, and a solution soon manifested in her mind.

"A way presents itself. We may employ the art of the suspended thread pulse."

"However, the dense flora of this grove will surely interfere with the diagnostic efficacy. It is ill-suited for the technique. Go, bring your companion to the entrance of the Seven Emotions Valley, where the ground is clear of obstructions."

Leaving him with these instructions, Mistress Shuang took flight and soared back toward the valley to prepare the magical treasures required for the diagnosis.

Lu Yang journeyed back once more to the desolate mountain where Meng Jingzhou awaited, bidding Old Ma to convey them both to the Seven Emotions Valley.

On this occasion, Old Ma did not tarry, invoking spatial magic to swiftly return the pair to their destination.

By now, the throngs of supplicants seeking relief from curses outside the Seven Emotions Valley had entirely dispersed, and the disciples who had been attending them had carried their low stools back into the interior. Meng Jingzhou encountered no obstacle in returning to the valley's gates.

Lu Yang stepped inside and received the ritual treasures for the suspended thread diagnosis from Mistress Shuang.

The suspended thread pulse was an ancient diagnostic methodology originating in the Great Qian Dynasty. When a consort of the Qian Emperor fell ill, the imperial physicians were summoned to diagnose her; yet, as she was the exclusive property of the sovereign, no other man could be permitted to touch her skin.

The clever physicians of Great Qian devised a stratagem: they would bind one end of a silk thread around the consort's wrist while holding the opposite end themselves. Relying upon the vibrations transmitted through the thread—the pulse, the flow of spiritual energy, and myriad subtle factors—augmented by their own vast medical erudition, they would discern the malady.

Physicians of even greater genius, well-versed in the arts of evasion, preferred to steal into the consort's chambers under the cover of night, diagnosing her in absolute, undetected secrecy.

"I comprehend the underlying principles, but why have you bound me so tightly? Was it not agreed that the suspended thread diagnosis required only a single strand around the wrist?"

Meng Jingzhou roared in indignation, his entire frame enveloped in white silk threads until only his mouth remained uncovered.

"Peace, peace!"

Lu Yang promptly wrapped the silk over his mouth as well.

"What else would you have me do? Yours is no ordinary karmic backlash. If we hope for a successful diagnosis, a single thread is woefully inadequate; wrapping your entire body ensures a far more accurate reading. Endure it patiently; this is the explicit command of Mistress Shuang."

Defeated, Meng Jingzhou fell silent, meekly awaiting the Valley Master's assessment.

Lu Yang re-entered the valley, where Mistress Shuang sat with a great cluster of thread ends clutched in her hand, her eyes closed in deep meditation as she pondered the solution.

Lu Yang held his breath, daring not to disrupt her diagnosis.

"A Double-Single Golden Core. You possess no small measure of audacity."

"You can discern that it is a Single Golden Core?" Lu Yang asked in astonishment. This was the very first occasion someone outside the Immortal Sect had recognized the nature of Meng Jingzhou's core.

"In my youth, I encountered an individual possessing a Single Spiritual Root. Their talent was formidable indeed, yet they could not compare to this companion of yours."

"And this lineage signature, combined with the surname Meng... ah, so he is a lad from the Meng Clan," Mistress Shuang murmured with a smile, a memory of her younger years drifting through her mind.

"This karmic backlash is quite intriguing; it is far more severe than what the Old Nomad described. Fortunately, it does not exceed my expectations."

Having formed a plan in her mind, Mistress Shuang calculated the precise method required to partially dissolve the backlash.

"Have you ever studied the principles of curses?"

"I have not."

"A curse possesses a dual nature, binding both the soul and the flesh. To dissolve it, one must employ remedies that address the physical vessel while simultaneously treating the spirit."

"Here is toad skin, dried centipede, five-venoms powder... you shall feed these substances to the Meng youth in the exact sequence I have arranged for you. Remember, they must be consumed raw to dissolve the curse upon his flesh. Thereafter, use this set of Seven Stars Silver Needles to pierce him and draw blood. Once the wounds heal, pierce him and draw blood anew, repeating the cycle thrice. The Seven Stars Silver Needles possess the virtue of binding the soul, thereby dissolving the curse upon his spirit."

"Have you committed all my instructions to memory?"

"Allow me to verify one detail. Are you entirely certain that the toad skin and other ingredients must be consumed raw?"

"They may be boiled if you wish, but raw consumption is far more efficient."

"More efficient in terms of absorption?"

"More efficient in terms of time; it spares one the leisure of boiling them."

"Very well, I shall remember." Lu Yang turned to depart, but Mistress Shuang called him back.

"Tarry a moment. There is a matter I must confirm with you."

"Pray speak, Senior."

"Is that old rogue Buyu truly still among the living? I am well aware that certain Sect Masters prefer to keep a death secret, fearing the profound repercussions of its disclosure. If the old rogue has indeed perished, speak truly to me, and I shall personally escort you to the Corpse Refining Sect to learn the art of fashioning a living corpse."

"Do you harbor a grudge against my master, Senior?"

Mistress Shuang let out a succession of cold sneers. "Under the vast heavens, is there a single soul who does not harbor a grudge against your master?"

"I recall when your master was cast into prison, the Old Nomad and I went together to visit him. Upon seeing me, your master boasted that he was entirely immune to curses, claiming no hex could harm him in the slightest. He told me that if I doubted his words, I was welcome to try. Naturally, I disbelieved him, and so I afflicted his body with several varieties of curses—whereupon your master was promptly released on medical parole."

Lu Yang: "......"

"When the deception was subsequently uncovered, the constables apprehended both your master and myself on charges of abetting a jailbreak, tossing us both into the dungeon."

"......Master is very much alive and well. Not long ago, he was still confined within a prison cell; I know not whether he has been released by now."

"What a pity."

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