Time never felt so hard to grasp for Yan Jiangnan. On one hand, it felt as if he had slept for a long time. On the other hand, it felt as though the conversation with Ming Feizhen had only been paused for a moment.
Rather than feel uncomfortable due to the absence of sensations, Yan Jiangnan felt grounded. The only feelings he had was the burning sensation from his and chill from his rear end.
… My rear?
Yan Jiangnan went from slowly parting his eyelids to parting them as fast as he could. Lo and behold, Ming Feizhen was holding his trousers.
Ming Feizhen stopped to think upon meeting eyes with Yan Jiangnan, then said, “Congratulations. You have been purified.”
“Huh?!”
To overcome one fear, one needed only to replace it with something scarier.
“You weirdo. Why is the first thing I see upon waking you holding my trousers? Wait… Were you locked up here because of,” Yan Jiangnan moved his gaze up and down, “this…?”
“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Ming Feizhen threw another pair of pants onto the ground. “Jiang Chen kidnapped me because he was jealous of my good looks and feared my talents. You think you’d have the fortune of laying your eyes on my great self, otherwise?”
Despite being able to touch his lower back, Yan Jiangnan still had his doubts. His bones were shattered, yet he felt brand new; he’d never heard of anything so magical.
“If I didn’t pull apart your pants, I wouldn’t have any thread to close the incision. Since I had to use your pants for that, I had to wear on your brother’s pants for you. I didn’t know you’d suddenly wake up then of all times.”
Frankly, Yan Jiangnan wasn’t convinced. As he went to sit up, he felt a throbbing pain that deterred him from trying. “H-how come I still haven’t recovered?”
“Do you honestly believe I’m a god? Given the limited instruments I have here, the most I can do is temporarily put your bones back in place. You’ll need another three months to be back to the usual. It won’t be easy, but you can walk now; it’ll take practice to adjust your gait so that nobody can tell you have an injury.”
Recalling the deal he struck with Ming Feizhen, Yan Jiangnan started to feel sick again. “What do you want me to do for you?”
“Act.”
Ever since Yan Jiangnan came to, Ming Feizhen was constantly busy with his hands and hardly ever looking up.
“Just act beside me, and that’s it. I’ll provide the script when it’s time,” elaborated Ming Feizhen.
Yan Jiangnan bitterly smiled. “Even if you say so, now that I’ve lost all my internal energy, I’m unab-”
“Cut the b.s. You lost all your internal energy because you learnt Demon Sect’s skill. At the same time, it’s qualified you to learn your ancestor’s palm skills. Else, with the way you were going, you and your brother would’ve caused your qi and blood to flow in reverse and have killed yourselves sooner or later.”
“You can’t fool me.”
“Fool you? Your old man is still alive. How did you grandpa die? How did your uncle die? Oh, that’s right. They experienced qi deviation, went crazy, danced and pranced for three days until they died of exhaustion. Need me to list their symptoms again? Your old man is, uh, quite old this year. Give him two more years, and he’ll meet his end in a relatively similar manner.”
Yan Clan’s discipline derived from “Sinister Soul Breaker Palms”, which Ming Huayu picked up at one point purely by chance. Although innovative, numerous parts of it were incomplete. As a consequence, if their scions were to learn it, most of them would inflict self-harm upon reaching a certain point. Ming Feizhen was the genius behind several of the amendments that Ming Huayu spent several days making.
“By making you erase your skills, I gave you the chance to start over.”
“But it’s not like I can return to where I was in a few decades. What’s… the plan?”
“I certainly don’t have a few decades to wait for you, which is why I’m going to use a shortcut method. In several days, you’ll be able to surpass your previous level.”
He’s knowledgeable and has all sorts of wild skills. Maybe he really can help me surpass my peak. He’s a conniving one, but he doesn’t think I won’t need him once he helps me? I can just take him to Jiang Chen as a bargaining chip. This guy is unpredictable, so I best limit my interactions with him. I’ll play along for now and then catch him off g-
“Argh! Wh-wh-why does it hurt so much?!” Yan Jiangnan coiled up on the ground.
“I put in an insurance policy when I performed your surgery,” replied Ming Feizhen, still working on whatever it was that he was doing. He took out a nail-sized white pill from his hair. “This is a snowsilk gu from Tang Clan. It’s been a long time since I’ve used one. I’ve been keeping them on me ever since I’ve felt uneasy.” Smirking, he continued, “You’re dishonest, despicable and stupid. The first question I asked you was how long I had slept for, and you answered two hours when I had slept for four hours. If I’m not cautious of you, life is too unfair, don’t you think?”
Yan Jiangnan didn’t know Ming Feizhen had a method of distinguishing the time.
How come I can’t seem to hide anything from him?
“I-I’m just trying to protect myself. I never had any intention of undermining your abilities. Please pardon me.” As soon as he finished pleading, Yan Jiangnan’s pain ceased.
“I’m not afraid of you. The snowslk gu follows my order. If I tell it to eat your heart out, you’ll die within an hour – painfully, hundreds of times more painfully compared to your brother and Wu Ping. Let’s move.”
Yan Jiangnan hurried after Ming Feizhen without knowing what he was supposed to do. Ming Feizhen stopped at the exit. While it could be opened from the inside, it wouldn’t have been wise to leave when patrols were right outside.
“I don’t have the luxury of time to waste here, but you’re more than welcome to stay here for eternity if you please.” Ming Feizhen worked the door contraption, opening the door.
The guards who had their ears on the door were bewildered to see the door open. “Wh-what are you d-”
“I was hurt quite bad in my tussle with the intruder, so I recuperated behind these doors. What’s the situation?”
“The eight doors have been lowered. Those opening up from outside should have opened up to the fifth gate by now… Mr. Wu, may this one boldly ask, what is the situation ins-”
“Don’t waste my time! What good is guess work? I asked what the status with the doors is and if the intruder has been found!”
