The thought of Liu Xuanyi’s injuries instantly shattered all my wild fantasies.
I urged him to eat quickly. “Finish your meal and return to Dragon Locking Valley to focus on healing. We can discuss everything else once you’ve recovered.”
Liu Xuanyi reached out and gently touched my head, his gaze deeper than ever before. “Huai Yan, believe me, if there’s any chance to help you, I will do so without hesitation.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck, wanting to thank him, when Chang Di hurried in.
“Fifth Brother, the Feng family heard you’ve returned and sent someone to invite you. The car is waiting outside.”
The Feng family’s information network was truly efficient.
I asked, “Can’t we just give them the turtle shell directly? Your Fifth Brother is still injured.”
Chang Di shook his head, looking troubled as he glanced at Liu Xuanyi.
Liu Xuanyi turned to me. “Do you want to come along?”
I thought for a moment and nodded. “Yes.”
Given my entanglement with the Feng family, I naturally wanted to see what Feng Yuejiu looked like.
And I also wanted to keep an eye on Liu Xuanyi’s injuries.
·
During my last visit to Baxia Village, I had only gone to the ancestral hall and Feng Lao’s home. This time, Feng Lao led us to the back mountain.
At the foot of the mountain stood a forest of stone tablets of varying heights, forming a dense array.
He guided us through the tablet forest, and ahead lay a massive canyon. As we ventured deeper along the canyon, the temperature steadily dropped.
After walking for about twenty minutes, Feng Lao triggered some hidden mechanism. Suddenly, a cave appeared beneath the steep cliff on the right.
The cave was tall but narrow, barely wide enough for one person. It was pitch dark inside. We squeezed through, stumbling along for about two hundred meters before the space abruptly opened up.
Inside was a natural icy pool, its surface shrouded in a dense, white mist. Floating motionless above the water was a boy who appeared to be in his early teens, his eyes closed in stillness.
Was this Feng Yuejiu?
Wasn’t it said that Feng Yuejiu was born in the same year, month, and day as me?
Why did his twenty-two-year-old self appear trapped in the body of a ten-year-old?
Feng Lao leaped into the air, his toes lightly skimming the water’s surface. With one hand, he lifted Feng Yuejiu and placed him on a turtle-shaped stone bed by the shore.
Each corner of the stone bed was connected by iron chains to four ancient, low stone tablets. Above these tablets burned four eternal lamps.
“My grandson has not awakened since he fell into a coma at the age of twelve. His body hasn’t grown an inch since then. It’s as if his life was frozen in time a decade ago.”
Feng Lao glanced at me before turning to Liu Xuanyi. “I can only hope that the turtle shell from the Eastern Yi Salt Sea can truly awaken him and allow him to live a normal life.”
With a wave of his hand, Liu Xuanyi produced a small, dark green turtle shell in his palm.
The shell was no larger than half an egg, its surface coated with a layer of glistening white salt crystals, delicate as a work of art.
Feng Lao frowned skeptically. “I’ve heard that the ancient turtle of the Eastern Yi Salt Sea is as large as a roc, shedding its shell once every ten thousand years. Its shell couldn’t possibly be this small, could it?”
“You may not be aware, Feng Lao, but the smaller the turtle shell, the more precious it is,” Chang Di explained. “The ancient turtle has long cultivated into a spirit. Its physical body is merely a shackle to it. After reaching a certain age, it no longer cultivates its physical form but its spirit body, shedding its spiritual shell instead.”
Liu Xuanyi added, “Whether it’s a treasure or not, we can test it.”
As he spoke, he channeled True Qi into the turtle shell. Instantly, the shell glowed with a deep, translucent green, its edges radiating golden light. The light projected onto the cave walls, covering them with intricate turtle shell patterns resembling Sanskrit script, evoking a sense of awe.
The True Qi dissipated as quickly as it had appeared, and the turtle shell returned to its original state.
Feng Lao’s eyes were already gleaming with excitement. He stepped forward, took the Turtle Shell, scooped up some cold pond water, shattered the shell with one hand, dissolved it in the water, and fed it into Feng Yuejiu’s mouth.
Not long after, Feng Yuejiu slowly opened his eyes and sat up.
He looked around, his gaze finally settling on me, and gave me a faint smile.
At that moment, a sudden thunderbolt struck down from above, hitting Feng Yuejiu directly.
In the next instant, flames erupted from his body, his skin cracking inch by inch, the flesh within the fissures trembling like molten lava.
He groaned in agony, and Feng Lao, frantic and helpless, cried out, “What’s happening? Why has he reverted to his original state again!”
Ignoring the flames engulfing Feng Yuejiu, Feng Lao grabbed him and threw him back into the cold pond.
The pond water surged several meters high before crashing back down, bubbling and frothing. The splashes that landed on the skin were scalding hot!
Immediately after, another thunderbolt struck, aiming straight for Feng Yuejiu.
Without a second thought, Feng Lao lunged forward, taking the thunderbolt’s impact in Feng Yuejiu’s stead.
But before anyone could react, a third heavenly thunder followed in quick succession.
Panic spread among everyone. No one had expected such a bizarre turn of events. What sin had Feng Yuejiu committed to provoke the heavenly thunder to pursue him relentlessly?
This scene suddenly reminded me of the night they burned the marriage contract, when thirteen heavenly thunderbolts struck around my home in succession!
“Feng Yuejiu is suffering the backlash of the marriage contract!”
When Grandmother arranged the four marriage contracts for me, each party had sworn an oath: if they initiated the annulment, the violator would be struck by heavenly thunder and die a wretched death!
Feng Yuejiu had awakened, but the marriage contract had been burned. The Feng family had broken the vow first—this was their retribution!
With my shout, Feng Lao understood everything.
Burning the marriage contract did not mean the engagement was truly dissolved—the key lay with me.
Only I could completely sever the engagement.
Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Feng Lao knelt before me with a thud. “Huai Yan, I beg you to spare my grandson’s life.”
I instinctively glanced at Liu Xuanyi, who gave a slight nod.
After all, Feng Yuejiu was innocent, and Feng Lao had willingly surrendered the ‘Shen.’ There was no need for me to seize on others’ mistakes and drive them to ruin.
I helped Feng Lao to his feet and asked, “What should I do?”
After a brief moment of thought, Feng Lao had an answer. “When the engagement was established, your grandmother and I sealed it with a blood oath. Now that the marriage contract is gone, we shall dissolve it with blood as well.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Xuanyi extended his arm, wrapped it around my waist, and lifted me into the air, flying toward Feng Yuejiu.
I bit my finger and, with Liu Xuanyi’s support, let my blood drip directly onto Feng Yuejiu’s body.
Liu Xuanyi brought me safely back to the ground, but the flames on Feng Yuejiu’s body burned even fiercer, engulfing him entirely. All that could be heard was the crackling sound of his skin burning.
Had Feng Lao miscalculated? Could dissolving the engagement with blood not save Feng Yuejiu?
Feng Lao rushed toward Feng Yuejiu again, intending to suppress the flames with his lifelong cultivation and save him.
“Feng Lao, wait!”
Liu Xuanyi grabbed Feng Lao. Just as Feng Lao tried to struggle free, a loud bang echoed as the flames exploded, and the pond water bubbled violently, blood gushing out.
“Yuejiu! My grandson!”
Feng Lao cried out in despair, his body nearly collapsing. Everyone rushed to the cold pond to help retrieve him.
Before long, Feng Yuejiu was pulled out and placed on the stone bed.
What was astonishing was that the previously cracked and peeling skin all over his body had already shed, replaced by a new layer of tough skin that protected his flesh and blood like a turtle shell.
More importantly, at the center of his brow, a green water ripple mark flickered faintly in and out of sight.
Feng Lao saw that mark, his voice trembling with excitement: “The Water Command Token! The Water Command Token lost for over ten generations of the Feng family has returned! My dear grandson, I always knew you were exceptionally gifted, the hope of our entire Feng family!”