After a night of fierce battle, he had lost an unknown amount of blood. Only now did Xia Ningshang realize that her junior disciple's composure from start to finish had been nothing more than sheer, iron-willed determination holding everything together.
With injuries like these, anyone else would have died a dozen times over. Yet he had clenched his teeth and endured it all — just so he could fight alongside her, slay the last enemy, and claim the Nine Yin Essence Condensation Dew.
Once it was all over and his mind finally let go, there was no way he could hold on any longer.
Swallowing the ache in her heart, Xia Ningshang frantically rummaged through what remained of Yang Kai's medicinal pills. Then she searched Wen Feichen's body, forced herself to steady her nerves, and fished out a few healing medicines to place in Yang Kai's mouth.
But Yang Kai was unconscious — how could he take any pills? Left with no other choice, Xia Ningshang crushed the pill between her own teeth and fed it to him directly.
While she was in the midst of this desperate effort, the Nine Yin Eight Lock Array that had sealed the entire valley suddenly shuddered, then collapsed.
Dawn had broken! The sun was rising in the east, and the Nine Yin Eight Lock Array had dissolved on its own.
Xia Ningshang noticed none of the changes to the valley. She was still doing everything in her power to save Yang Kai.
A powerful yet gentle sweep of Divine Sense passed over her. Xia Ningshang's body trembled, and she jerked her head skyward. An instant later, a figure materialized before her out of thin air.
"Master!" As if she had seen salvation itself, the emotions Xia Ningshang had been suppressing all this time finally found release, and tears streamed down her face in a flood.
Meng Wuya's old face was set in a stern scowl, ready to give his disciple a thorough scolding. But then he noticed something was wrong and couldn't help but startle. "What happened?"
Old Meng had spent the better part of the night outside the Nine Yin Eight Lock Array, not daring to break it. He had assumed that capturing the Nine Yin Essence Condensation Dew would go smoothly this time — after all, he had spent years preparing everything for Xia Ningshang. All they needed was Yang Kai's cooperation, and the Dew would be theirs for the taking.
The only cost was that his precious disciple would have to make certain sacrifices.
He had spent half the night outside, and he had spent half the night stewing in frustration. What kind of master gets drugged by his own disciple? He was probably the only one in the world. It wasn't the lost dignity that bothered him — he was furious that Xia Ningshang had recklessly ventured so deep into Black Wind Mountain. What if she had encountered danger?
So Meng Wuya had originally planned to give Xia Ningshang a stern lecture once the array fell — though not too stern. He treasured this disciple like a jewel.
But the scene before him now made the words catch in his throat. He descended to the ground in shock, his expression heavy as he looked down at Yang Kai, who lay unconscious. In a grave voice he asked, "What happened?"
"Master, please save him first!" Xia Ningshang wept, her face streaked with tears. She pleaded through her sobs.
Meng Wuya didn't hesitate. He immediately bent down, extended two fingers to Yang Kai's wrist, and swept his Divine Sense through the young man's body. His brow furrowed deeply. "Such severe injuries?"
In Meng Wuya's assessment, Yang Kai's wounds were more than severe — the boy was on the brink of death. He had no idea what had happened. The internal damage to his chest and the external wounds were bad enough, but the real crisis was that his Yuan Qi had fallen into complete disarray. His meridians and flesh were devastated.
Injuries of this magnitude could not be treated without some supreme-grade spirit pill — and even then, a skilled physician would be required.
Meng Wuya had neither.
"Master, is he going to die?" Xia Ningshang asked, wracked with grief, her voice breaking with worry.
One look at his disciple's expression told Meng Wuya that things had gone terribly wrong. A silent lament echoed in his heart — calamity, true calamity! He had taken every precaution he could think of, and it still wasn't enough.
Unable to bear seeing Xia Ningshang suffer, Meng Wuya comforted her: "Don't worry. As long as I'm here, he won't die."
As he spoke, he produced a small vial from inside his robe and tipped out the single pill within. It was about the size of a longan fruit, golden throughout — unmistakably no ordinary medicine.
When Xia Ningshang saw the pill, some of the panic and tension on her face subsided. She knew exactly how powerful it was.
With a visible flash of reluctance, Meng Wuya hesitated for a moment. Then, under Xia Ningshang's insistent stare, he pried open Yang Kai's mouth and moved to drop the pill in.
"Let me!" Xia Ningshang suddenly snatched the pill from his hand, popped it into her own mouth, and crushed it with a few bites. Then she leaned down, wrapped the crushed medicine with the tip of her tongue, and deposited it into Yang Kai's blood-stained mouth.
Hey, hey, hey — I'm still standing right here! Meng Wuya screamed inwardly, hurriedly averting his gaze.
Seeing his disciple so unhesitatingly intimate with a young man left a sour taste in Meng Wuya's heart. It was as though the daughter he had raised through all those years of hardship was about to leave him for good.
Once the pill reached Yang Kai's stomach, his complexion seemed to improve slightly — but not nearly as much as expected.
Meng Wuya took the opportunity to survey the surroundings. His previously clouded eyes suddenly sharpened with glints of cold light. He spotted Wen Feichen's corpse, and Long Hui's dismembered remains.
All his doubts evaporated.
The reason Yang Kai had sustained such grievous wounds, the reason his disciple looked like she had been through a nightmare battle — he had finally found the answer.
A surge of fury churned in Meng Wuya's chest, and a trace of killing intent surfaced on the old man's face.
He didn't ask immediately. Now was not the time. There would be days ahead, and chances enough to learn exactly what had happened during the night.