Chapter 113: The Method of Nurturing
"This isn't poison, but merely a natural mixture of herbs that stimulates vitality consumption while simultaneously inducing sleep." The burly man in a bamboo hat did not admit his identity but spoke slowly.
After the repeated tug-of-war by Feiyue Lake, Huang Tankong's energy was greatly depleted. Coupled with the effects of this herbal mixture, Huang Tankong had already lost his combat power.
Even if he wanted to use secret techniques, there was nothing left to squeeze out from his body, and his mana had almost completely drained.
"Please... spare the Huang Family, everything was my own doing."
Huang Tankong's voice was hoarse as he pleaded, his consciousness was nearly slipping into oblivion.
Lan Chang'an had kept him alive to uncover a certain truth. He transmitted his voice, "Fellow Daoist Huang, your lifespan is near its end. I originally did not want to deal with you."
"But to force me to show myself, the Huang Family sent people to assassinate Mu Bingyun. Wasn't that too much?"
"No... no... My Huang Family didn't do that!"
In his dying moments, Huang Tankong uttered his final words and closed his eyes.
Under Lan Chang'an's spiritual sense, this emaciated body quickly ceased all signs of life.
Lan Chang'an, who practiced the Evergreen Technique, was very sensitive to vitality and had a strong spiritual sense. Any means of faking death could not deceive him.
"Not the Huang Family?"
Lan Chang'an believed about sixty to seventy percent of what Huang Tankong said before his death.
When he came to know Mu Bingyun was attacked, Lan Chang'an had thought deeply afterward and felt something was off.
From Huang Tankong's perspective, he was secretly lying in wait, and Lan Chang'an was unaware of it, or at least could not be certain.
Ambush and assassination depend on luck as well. If he didn't move to catch the target, Lan Chang'an would remain unaware and wouldn't completely side with the Mu Family.
If he targeted Mu Bingyun, Lan Chang'an might not care. However, if he did care about the girl and the ambush failed, the Maple Leaf Huang Family would gain a formidable Foundation Establishment enemy.
If it wasn't the Huang Family, then who?
Lan Chang'an had no leads for the moment. This was because, with the fall of the Huang Family, many surrounding cultivation families would profit from the situation.
...
Lan Chang'an took one last look at Huang Tankong's corpse but did not feel the urge to kick it. He left the man with an intact body.
Huang Tankong's death appeared natural at first glance. There were no signs of struggle or evidence of poison use at the scene.
The previously used natural herbal mixture would naturally dissipate in the body and night breeze.
There was one advantage to such an ending: The few core members of the Huang Family who knew the truth would only confirm that Huang Changling had died an unnatural death. They wouldn't link the deaths of two Foundation Establishment cultivators to a single killer.
In reality, the Maple Leaf Huang Family was left with only one female Foundation Establishment cultivator, struggling to survive and posing almost no threat.
Lan Chang'an did this to naturally stabilize the situation.
The storage pouch on Huang Tankong contained only some pills, an offensive magic weapon, and a few miscellaneous items, none of much value. The man prepared to die together, so naturally, he wouldn't carry anything valuable on him.
Thus, Lan Chang'an decided against touching anything, preserving the perfect appearance of a natural death.
Soon after, this decision proved to be prudent.
...
After erasing his traces, Lan Chang'an concealed himself into the night.
The sky began to lighten.
A few cultivators from the Huang Family arrived, led by a ninth-layer Qi-Refining cultivator.
"Uncle Tan!"
"Great Elder!"
Several Huang Family cultivators mournfully gathered before Huang Tankong's corpse.
After a preliminary examination, they found his clothes intact, with no signs of a struggle, indicating a natural death.
"Two Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Huang Family have died, and the family's soul tokens have reacted. The only remaining Foundation Establishment cultivator, 'Huang Yingchun,' indeed did not dare to come out."
On a hill a few li away, Lan Chang'an watched for a moment before quietly leaving.
...
Two days later, Lan Chang'an returned to Feiyue Manor.
Inside one courtyard, the aura of the illusory figure simulated by the Illusory Truth Talisman was still present.
If the Mu Family had a spy within the Huang Family, they would learn that Lan Chang'an had not left Feiyue Villa in the past few days.
Ten days later.
Lan Chang'an announced his departure.
Li Erqing, family head Mu Chengji, Mu Yunfei, Mu Ershun, and others all came to see him off.
This time, however, things were different: beside Lan Chang'an stood a pale-faced maiden dressed in green robes, her appearance gentle as fine jade.
"Senior Lan is taking Mu Bingyun away?" Among the young cultivators observing from afar, some revealed reluctance or dissatisfaction.
The Mu Family's branches were extensive, with many non-close relatives who could marry freely.
Mu Bingyun was the number one beauty among the young generation of Feiyue Lake, with good talent, and was also a talisman master.
"No need to see me off any further."
Lan Chang'an rode a flying boat, breaking into the clouds, leaving a final word.
"I am now a second-rank talisman master residing in Wuqi Mountain. Fellow Daoists of Feiyue Lake, the green mountains remain unchanged, please take care."
Upon hearing this, Li Erqing and the high-level members of the Mu Family present had subtle changes in their expressions.
They realized the implication in Lan Chang'an's words.
Farther away by the lakeside. Willow Pavilion, top floor.
A veiled woman, whose age and appearance were unclear, watched the flying boat in the sky.
She scrutinized the vaguely visible young man in white.
Finally, she looked at the girl in the green robes behind him, her gaze carrying some deep meaning.
In a trance, her heart seemed to fly far away, merging with the graceful figure of the girl in the green robes.
...
On the flying boat, Mu Bingyun looked downcast, silent.
From today on, she would leave Feiyue Lake, where she was born and raised, parting with her kin and master.
Looking at the young man in white in front of her, who was as serene as an ancient wood, Mu Bingyun's clear eyes gradually became firm and calm.
Ten days later.
Ten days later, the flying boat entered Wuqi Mountain, where the misty clouds were fresh and clear, and descended toward one of its three main peaks: the Little Turtle Peak.
Mu Bingyun's heart stirred slightly, sensing a spiritual energy environment better than Moonheart Island.
"Brother Lan, you're back!"
A crisp, bell-like female voice came, carrying seven parts joy and three parts coquettishness.
Dressed in a beige skirt, the pure-looking Guan Qiaozhi came forward.
Behind her was a basket-sized spirit turtle, like a clumsy follower, constantly sucking at the heel of her skirt.
"Who is this young lady?"
Guan Qiaozhi paused upon seeing Mu Bingyun.
The girl in the green robes before her had arched brows like green willows, a face as white as snow, and an aura of aloofness.
Her beauty and temperament were rarely seen in Guan Qiaozhi's life, only surpassed by that Foundation Establishment fairy Zhao.
Guan Qiaozhi was stunned by her beauty but also felt a sense of crisis.
"This is Mu Bingyun, the disciple of an old acquaintance." Lan Chang'an introduced them.
"So, it's Miss Mu. Please take a seat and consider this place as your own."
Guan Qiaozhi warmly welcomed her as half a hostess.
"Thank you, Aunt Guan."
Mu Bingyun greeted cautiously, not wanting to offend Lan Chang'an's close companion.
Aunt Guan?
Guan Qiaozhi's smile froze, her chest heaving with anger: "Is she mocking my age?"
"You two can address each other as peers."
Lan Chang'an saw through Guan Qiaozhi's thoughts.
In the early days, he and Master Guan had a relationship that was both master and friend.
Guan Qiaozhi was several decades younger than him, with an age gap larger than that between most fathers and daughters.
Of course, Mu Bingyun was even younger, not yet thirty, and by seniority, was the great-niece of Mu Xiuyun.
"Peers?"
Guan Qiaozhi thought for a moment, feeling even worse.
Was Senior Brother Lan planning to take Mu Bingyun as a concubine, hence suggesting they address each other as peers?
That day, Guan Qiaozhi prepared a feast of spiritual food to welcome Mu Bingyun to Little Turtle Peak. Mu Bingyun chose a side room within the cave mansion, thus settling down at Little Turtle Peak.
...
Three days later, Lan Chang'an finalized a plan for Mu Bingyun to restore her foundation.
Besides the secret technique of the Evergreen Technique for treatment, there was also a nourishing medicinal soup from his past life.
The medicinal soup was a cover, perhaps slightly effective if consumed but it could not repair the damage done to her foundation.
"Uncle Lan."
Mu Bingyun walked into the medicine room, ready to undergo the nurturing treatment.
Inside the medicine room, besides some common medicinal supplies, there was a soft bed.
"Drink this bowl of medicinal soup, then lie flat on the bed."
Lan Chang'an instructed.
"Okay."
Mu Bingyun drank the nourishing soup, lifted her skirt, and lay on the soft bed.
Earlier, Lan Chang'an had given her a jade slip, explaining the process of the treatment.
On the bed, Mu Bingyun's figure was slender, her waist like a willow, her curves graceful, and her skin as white as snow, like a piece of natural ice jade.
As the soup entered her stomach, Lan Chang'an extended his pale hand, placing it on her abdomen.
Now at Foundation Establishment level, he no longer needed to press directly against the skin to treat a person like he once did.
"Relax."
Lying down, Mu Bingyun closed her eyes, her long eyelashes fluttering slightly.
Lan Chang'an's hand, through her clothes, felt the smoothness of her abdomen, with a faint lotus-like fragrance lingering at his nose.
"Alright."
Lan Chang'an only symbolically performed treatment for a moment, using the Evergreen secret spell, consuming a day's lifespan.
Mu Bingyun lifted her skirt and got off the bed, her head lowered, her pale face tinged with red.
"Hmm? This is..."
Mu Bingyun, calming her emotions, sensed a kind of pale green warmth filled with vitality, seeping into the damaged part of her dantian, akin to the nurturing provided by the mother's womb.
"How do you feel?" Lan Chang'an asked.
"Very comf..."
Mu Bingyun, blushing, changed her words, "The discomfort in my dantian seems to have lessened."
"That's good. We will continue this treatment every two months." With those words, Lan Chang'an left the medicine room.
...
"Can I infuse my Evergreen secret spell into the medicinal soup?"
Back in his secret room, Lan Chang'an had a thought.
This intimate treatment inevitably carried some degree of suggestive and awkward implications between a single man and woman. Especially in the abdominal area, it might affect the girl's mental and emotional state.
Lan Chang'an immediately experimented.
Consuming several days of lifespan, he used the Evergreen secret spell to infuse a sprout-like green glow into the medicinal soup.
In his perception, the life force containing the mystery of time in the soup quickly dissipated and faded. It was as if worldly cultivators couldn't grasp time.
Lan Chang'an shook his head; at least, ordinary medicinal soup would not suffice.
...
A year later, Lan Chang'an turned eighty-four.
On this day, he received a letter from Li Erqing, informing him of the Maple Leaf Huang Family's situation.
"The Huang Family is left with only one Foundation Establishment cultivator, and the surrounding forces are eyeing the Bamboo Leaf Mountain Market Town."
"But six months ago, the remaining Foundation Establishment female cultivator, 'Huang Yingchun,' married a late-stage Foundation Establishment expert. The Huang Family's assets and the Bamboo Leaf Mountain Market Town were preserved."
This outcome surprised Lan Chang'an but was also within reason.
The remaining Huang Family Foundation Establishment cultivator was a beautiful woman. Foundation Establishment female cultivators were rare in the cultivation world, let alone those who possessed massive assets. Naturally, their union would entail some form of mutually beneficial exchange; however, exactly what price the Huang Family had paid or how many details were involved remained unknown to outsiders.
A late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator was a powerful deterrent. Starting from Foundation Establishment, each major realm's late stage was referred to as a great cultivator of the same realm. It represented the pinnacle of that realm, with formidable strength.
Last time, Lan Chang'an's second-rank superior-grade lightning talisman had instantly dispatched Huang Changling, whose protective shield had been as flimsy as paper.
It was equivalent to a late Foundation Establishment cultivator's spell summoned by a top-tier magic weapon, its power was great.
Lan Chang'an had some apprehension about late Foundation Establishment cultivators; they were not easy to handle. It was best to avoid confronting them.
Fortunately, Lan Chang'an had left any loose ends regarding the Huang Family incident and Huang Tankong's death appeared natural.
The late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator merely used their dao companionship status to provide protection in exchange for benefits, not to serve as a hired thug of the Huang Family.
(End of chapter)