Chapter 72: Su Clan (Part 2)
Shen didn’t waste any second. He immediately sneaked behind and sent a strong kick at the head of the attacker. Before the kick connected, the skinny man put up his hand and blocked the attack.
BOOM!
The skinny man successfully blocked the kick but he was sent flying from the force. His body smashed on the house wall causing cracks to spread around. Shen didn’t pay attention to him anymore and brought his attention to Su Rou’s father.
“Kitty, come out,” softly whispered Shen. He conjured 12 black needles, all being 12 inches in length.
The conjured needles precisely embedded themselves surrounding the greatsword. The needles rotated counter-clockwise, and the surrounded flesh became dark blue in seconds. Simultaneously, A golden cat appeared out of nowhere and immediately dashed toward the skinny guy who was rushing at Shen.
Both of them clashed, and unsurprisingly the skinny guy was pushed back. He couldn’t believe it. The slender and frail looking cat which he thought would turn into smithereens from a single slap actually pushed him back!
He swore he saw the cat yawning! Did it just woke up from its nap?!
“Kitty, break his leg and hands. Then go around and kill any people from the opposing side. If possible leave the powerful experts alive. You don’t have to mind about their condition.” Shen commanded, his voice devoid of any motion. He was about to see something he didn’t wish to.
“Dad! Dad open your eyes. It's me, Dad! Please open your eyes...” Su Rou grabbed her father’s arm and pleaded miserably. Her face was now filled with tears and anxiety.
Shen strongly wished he hadn't seen this. He felt worse than what he felt during going through his trauma. If only he rushed here right after he learned about the Su family’s dilemma, things might have been much better. If only he didn’t consider meeting with Yan QingQing. He might have been able to reach here faster.
Alas, some things can't be changed and regret bears no fruit. “RouRou, don’t agitate him anymore. He will be alright.” Su Rou’s father already passed out from the pain. The greatsword remained stuck inside his chest.
Shen grabbed the handle of the sword, and slowly pulled it out. Surprisingly there was no blood rushing out of the gaping hole. He touched the sword with a finger and licked it.
“It's poisoned. It’s not strong but fatal to a Marital King.” Shen thought and spat out the poison from his mouth. He looked at the wound and conjured another 12 needles. Of them, six were of dark green and the other six were bright shiny green.
The dark green needles were made of pure wood qi and the other six were from nature qi.
“This better works. No, this must work.” Shen muttered under his breath and pierced six needles made of wood qi outside of the already placed needles. He pierced the rest six needles at the edge of the wounds.
Although he reassured Su Rou, he didn’t have absolute confidence. Even when he had the knowledge and skills. His experience was near zero. He took a deep breath and didn't let it bother him, cause when one acts they must act with confidence. Hesitance mid-way will only make things worse. It’s true for most of the things in life.
Six strands of Qi spread from Shen’s hand and connected with the needles made of Nature Qi. The needles rotated clockwise and Nature Qi spread in the body. The Nature Qi is the most of righteous qi in this world. It has resistance against any impure qi in this world, also, it can ward off any normal contamination.
The bluish flesh regained its original color slowly, but the wood needles placed near the Absolute needles slowly gained a bluish color. The process was slow and Shen had sweat dripping from his face.
All this happened in a matter of seconds. While Shen treated Su Rou’s father, Kaidi in her golden cat form broke hand and legs of the skinny man. The scream of pain didn’t touch anyone’s heart. Neither Shen or Su Rou tried to even look up.
The girls also caught up with Shen and silently stood behind him. Mingyue Gelou and Wenren Wushuang comforted Su Rou as they understood what was happening. Only QingQing fell out of place and also a bit intimated. Any people in this place could kill her with a finger, but she remained undaunted. She had already made the choice, she won't cower anymore.
“Kawa, Black Bird. Come out,” Shen suddenly said, and immediately a wolf and a black bird came out of the immortal realm. To others, it felt like they came out of nowhere as he didn’t even use a “beast token”.
“RouRou... Weeping tears won’t take you anywhere. Your father is out of danger and only needs some pills to recover. But your family members aren’t safe yet. What do you wanna do? Weep tears or...”
Su Rou froze in her place. She wiped her tears and stood up. She was too caught up with her feelings, but he was her father. If her mind didn’t shake even after seeing her father in that state, it would have been weird. Shen said he is out of any danger. And she decided to trust him. What could she do other than trusting him?
Seeing the resolve on her eyes, Shen nodded. “Good. Let’s head for the Alchemy Hall first. We will kill anyone that blocks our path.”
The deep green needles already changed to a dark blue color. Shen called back the needles with a hand motion and stored them inside a porcelain bottle. The needles dissolved and only dark blue liquid remained. These were the poison that entered Su Rou’s father’s body.
Shen took out another porcelain bottle and poured the content on the wound. It was Golden Ointment Sore but with the "strengthened" additional effect. It healed the wounds faster.
Shen took Su Rou’s father and sent a mental message to Kaidi, who was already out for annihilating anyone that she judged to be an enemy. The black bird flew in the sky and it would inform Shen anything that was happening from the sky. Although the bird couldn’t talk, it could convey the meaning to Shen. Due to their connection both of them understood each other.
Su Rou led the way and Shen and the others followed behind them. Anyone below Martial King Realm was intercepted by Su Rou and the wolf, Kawa. If there was anyone with Martial King Realm either Shen would use a quick method to deal with them, or a “golden arc” would take care of it. But every time Shen moved to intercept any enemy the needles on the body of Su Rou’s father would be in an unstable state. They would either start dissolving or start shaking.
Every time his concentration moved from the needles, they would become unstable. Shen, for the first time, realized the importance of physical needles. Physical needles were a nuisance from the perspective of Shen. If he wanted to circulate qi through a physical needle, the speed would be comparable to a snail's pace. During a crucial time they can be life threatening! Which was also why he had yet to create any needles made of physical materials, but now he understood their importance. He decided he will make needles with the best materials available.
Fortunately, the skinny guy was the most powerful cultivator they met so far. As for the next one with the highest cultivation was only 4th Grade Martial King. Eventually, they arrived at the Alchemy Hall without any major incident.
Su Alchemy Hall!
Su Clan’s Alchemy Hall was big in size. There was no sign of fights in this place and Shen quickly laid him in a bed.
“Who are you people?” an old voice sounded startling both QingQing and Wushuang.
“Elder Sang, dad is severely injured. Please, he must not die!” Su Rou seemed to instantly recognize the old man and hurried to convey the situation.
Elder Sang rushed toward the bed. Seeing the strange needles placed on the Clan Head’s chest and he frowned. He grabbed Clan Head’s hand and circulated qi through his body.
Along with his arrival, Elder Sang brought a scent of medicine with him. Shen instantly understood this man was an Alchemist. As for his achievement, Shen didn’t doubt it was mediocre. While some alchemist has a scent of herbs with their body, Elder Sang had too much. During cultivating pills, he wastes too much medicinal properties of the used herbs.
Elder Sang’s face went pale. He looked up to Su Rou and said in a stammering voice, “Miss Su... Clan Head Tong—”
“He is fine! I need some herbs, just bring them for me.” Shen interrupted the old man Sang. He knew what he wanted to say, but like hell, he would let that happen. He turned towards Su Rou, “RouRou, everything here is stable. I have some pills that I must give to your father and he will be fine. Go and find your mother and sisters. You just have to find them, the rest will be taken care of by my companion.”
After Shen reminded her only then did she realize that her mother and sisters were also in danger. She felt her heart almost bursting through her heart. How did this happen? Just because of rejecting a marriage they had to suffer through the annihilation of their clan?
“I-I’m going,” she didn’t even think anymore before running off.
“Shuang, follow her. She is going through a lot.”
Wushuang nodded and followed after Su Rou.
Shen brought his attention to the pale-faced Elder, “Elder Sang, I need some acupuncture needles. I believe you have them?” Elder Sang hesitated for a moment but nodded and went to fetch the needles. Then he turned toward Mingyue Gelou, “Gelou, I need you to stay here and make sure nobody touch Su Rou’s father. Is that clear?”
Mingyue Gelou nodded, simultaneously Elder Sang brought a small silvery box with him. Shen took the box and opened it.
24 silver needles greeted him. All of them were of 9 inches of size. Shen took twelve needles and replaced them with his 12 black needles. Shen conjured a bit of Primordial Genesis Flame and controlled its temperate to a minimum. He heated the needles, at the same time purified with the effect of the flame.
Elder Sang's eyes lit up when he saw the fire Shen conjured. He was not a good alchemist but he knew the fire on Shen's hand was not an ordinary flame.
He dissolved the needles made of nature qi as they were not needed anymore. Su Rou’s father, Su Tong’s, external wound already scabbed due to the Golden Ointment Sore. If only he could heal the internal injury...
“Do you have the Flower of Life and Phoenix’s Tail?” After Shen was done tending to Su Tong, he immediately asked Elder Sang.
Elder Sang was speechless! The items Shen asked were both legendary items! How can a normal clan in Greencloud Continent possess such items? Even he only happened to read them in an archaic text. “Do you even know what you are asking for, boy? Besides, there is no hope for Clan Head Tong. What do you want to achieve by such miraculous herbs—”
“I don’t have time to explain. Take me to your herb storehouse.” Shen impatiently cut him in.
Elder Sang frowned. While he didn’t mind the disrespect in this situation, he couldn’t take a random boy to their herb storehouse.
“Take me there. I don’t have too much time.” A vein popped on Shen’s forehead. He was getting impatient. He knew Su Tong only had a minimum of one hour and a maximum of one and a half. “If you are worried about me stealing them, no need to worry. Your young miss is my lover and if I wanted to steal from your clan I wouldn’t be here in this situation.”
Elder Sang had an enlightened face. No wonder the young miss obeyed the young man. He was also right, in this situation he wouldn’t be here if he wanted to steal. “Follow me,” he said and rushed toward the storehouse.
Shen gave both Kawa and the bird another mental order before following behind Elder Sang. They reached the storehouse in 30 seconds as it was next to their Alchemy Hall, in the underground of a house.
“500-years-old fungi, 2000-years-old Ginseng, Gallbladder from Poisonous Snake...” Shen listed out a long list of medicinal items and most of them aged more than 500 years.
Elder Sang followed his wish even though he had no idea what he wanted to do. Is this young master an Alchemist? He thought it was very unlikely that he could refine pellets. Even if he was an alchemist, didn’t he know refining pill requires time and luck? Nevertheless, he followed the wishes of Shen and took out any herbs that were available.
“Alright, Elder Sang. You go back. I’ll return within a few minutes.” Shen said as he stored all the herbs inside the Immortal Realm.
He already disappeared before Elder Sang could warn him about the danger. “I hope I didn’t make any mistake. That boy took too many herbs...”