Death… and me

Chu Le'er turned around and looked at Chu Yang. She even smiled serenely. Slowly, she said, "I'll have to bother you then."

She struggled out of Chu Feiyan's arms and quietly walked to Chu Yang. She surprisingly looked very calm. Her eyes seemed a little blank. At such a young age, she looked mature, as if she clearly knew about life and death.

Chu Yang knew that she was suffering from the illness as she walked. She was experiencing a headache, but the strong little girl did not show any agony on her face.

She was used to enduring it!

She had come there, only so her mother wouldn't worry about her or pity her.

She was only eleven years old!

Chu Yang knew that she had actually completely given up. She had only come to give her mother a glimpse of hope. She didn't think that she could be cured!

Even Duan Shuyi believed that Chu Yang could not cure her. She was just so desperate to treat her daughter's illness that she was willing to grasp any opportunity that passed her by. The entire Nine Heavens was at a loss concerning that illness. Even Medicine Valley, which gathered the most skilled and knowledgeable practitioners, didn't know what to do. Who else could treat it?

Duan Shuyi brought her daughter there not to treat her illness, but to tell her: "I haven't given up on you!"

"Don't give up yourself!"

Looking at Chu Le'er's calm face, Chu Yang's heart fluttered. An extreme pity overwhelmed him. This… was his sister from his own clan.

She had neither cultivation nor charming looks, but she was strong and loyal. Anyone would be moved by her.

"Sit down," Chu Yang said warmly.

Chu Le'er sat down quietly. She extended her hand and placed her arm flatly on the table, palm up. She did this quite adeptly.

Chu Yang's heart dropped again as he looked. Chu Le'er's hands were half as thick as other girls her age. She was scrawny and looked like skin wrapped around bones.

She already had creases on her skin.

Chu Yang took a deep breath and placed his fingers on Chu Le'er's wrist.

In the Nine Tribulations Space, the sword spirit sent a wisp of its consciousness into Chu Le'er's meridians through Chu Yang's fingers.

A moment passed…

"Her condition is the same as the last time I checked!" the sword spirit informed Chu Yang.

Chu Yang's heart sank as he let go.

"How is it?" Chu Feiyan asked nervously. Duan Shuyi stood by her daughter with her two hands held tightly together. She did not even dare ask.

Chu Yang took a deep breath. His face looked dark and he did not speak.

Everyone's face was mournful. Like after every diagnosis by a 'divine doctor', their faces sank. Is it that…

Chu Le'er sat quietly. Her face looked blank, as if everything, including what Chu Yang was going to say, didn't concern her. She said softly, "Brother, please feel free to say what's on your mind. I've already heard those words hundreds of times… Don't worry. It doesn't matter if I listen to them once more."

She had heard this all before…

Chu Yang's heart throbbed again.

He took a deep breath and helplessly repeated the sword spirit's words, "Le'er's illness is a congenital one, which has occurred because the mother's womb was injured while Le'er was still in it. This condition is extremely rare. Normally, once ill, the fetus either dies in the womb or doesn't live more than three years after being born… But Le'er is now eleven years old. This shows how much effort third uncle and third aunt have put in all these years…"

"You can see this?" Duan Shuyi's jaw dropped. She looked at Chu Yang, her eyes gleaming with hope for the first time.

Chu Yang said, "This illness originates from slight brain damage. Its symptoms are constant headaches, drowsiness, muddled thinking, occasional spasms or prolonged comas. The most painful symptom is the cramps affecting her from the brain to the shoulder and from her spine down to her feet… They may even cause her entire body to coil up. This feeling is even worse than the most brutal form of execution that is known to man: death by dismemberment."

Chu Le'er fixed her eyes on Chu Yang. Tears slid from her lids and trickled to the ground.

Duan Shuyi covered her face as her tears welled up. These were tears of agony as well as those of hope.

After all these years, Chu Yang was the first person to have stated the symptoms so clearly after just taking Le'er's pulse. At least, no one up until now had talked about the cramps!

Duan Shuyi understood this the best. Every time her daughter had an attack, Duan Shuyi would hold her tightly in her arms and feel her daughter's body twitch helplessly. She could see how her daughter's nerves bulged, moving and twisting as they deformed her body…

Her own heart could only throb and break at that moment…

"Can it be cured?" Chu Feiyan asked anxiously.

"Cure…" Chu Yang took a deep breath and said, "It's very difficult to cure…"

"Very difficult to cure!" Chu Feiling, Chu Feiyan, Yang Ruolan, and Duan Shuyi shouted out at the same time.

Even the disheartened Chu Le'er was carried away and raised her head. She looked at Chu Yang with gleaming eyes. Her pale and shriveled lips began to tremble slightly.

Very difficult to cure… what does that mean?

Very difficult to cure, it means that… there's still a cure!

Although it's difficult, there's still hope!

In the past, all the doctors, including the divine doctors from Medicine Valley, said: It can't be cured! Or: No medicine can cure it, so it's incurable…

At best, the high priest from Medicine Valley wrote them a prescription for elongating her lifespan, which contained large amounts of elixirs. He mentioned that any one of them could be used to prolong Le'er's life. At the same time, he warned, "Her life can only be prolonged until she is thirteen years old. There's absolutely no hope of finding a cure! Even if all the elixirs in the prescription are found, they won't have any effect!"

"There is no one in the whole world capable of treating this illness!"

For years, Chu Feihan and his wife had given up almost everything for their daughter. Chu Feihan was constantly gone, desperately seeking information, earning purple crystals, and going to remote locations that even Martial Saints did not dare to go to get medicine…

The entire Chu clan had exhausted the purple crystals in their reserve just to treat Chu Le'er's illness!

But the invaluable elixirs on the prescription list were just drops of water in the ocean!

The prescription… was simply one made out of desperation!

In addition to dozens of elixirs, the Nine Great Herbal Medicines of the Nine Heavens were included!

Such a prescription was enough for any of the nine dominant clans to whittle away all their fortune, let alone the Chu clan! Moreover, these remedies could only be used for lengthening one's life, but could not cure diseases!

Chu Feihan ended up rejecting the clan's assistance. He instead chose to leave home to look for medicine, for her daughter, by himself. Up to today, he had found fewer than ten elixirs out of the hundreds in the prescription.

The couple had made up their minds: Even if their daughter lived only one more day with the elixirs, they would never stop searching! Even if she lived for only two more hours, they would try their best to keep her alive!

But if the entire Chu clan were about to fall apart, it would be a burden that the couple would not be able to bear!

Now, Chu Yang had said: It's very difficult to cure!

Difficult to cure meant a cure was still available!

Duan Shuyi wept with joy.

The oil lamp on the table shook. Out of it burst a cluster of light.

Chu Yang slowly went to close the door. He sat down in front of a table and said with a low voice, "There are no strangers here, so I'll tell it straight. Third aunt, Le'er's illness is very troublesome. I have no medicine with me and that is only the first problem…"

"The second problem is… Le'er will only survive for a maximum of two years!"

His words shocked everyone!

They could not help but believe that Chu Yang was able to cure Chu Le'er.

Only the high priest from Medicine Valley had said that Le'er's life would end at thirteen. This information was highly confidential! No outsiders knew about it.

But today, Chu Yang had said precisely that.

"What about the third problem?" Duan Shuyi said, trembling.

"The third problem… While we search for the required remedy, I will still be able to extend Le'er's life but only by two years! That should give me more time to look for the solution," Chu Yang said.

Duan Shuyi's eyes were overflowing with tears. "Extend by two years… extend by two years… Great, great…"

She suddenly covered her face and wept.

The fact that her daughter could only live till she is thirteen was a heavy blow for Duan Shuyi. The word 'thirteen' was like a curse to her. She felt like she was losing her mind every single time she heard it.

But now, not only did she hear that there was hope for curing Le'er, but she also got to know that Le'er's life could be further extended by two years if medicine could not be found before Le'er turns thirteen.

For Duan Shuyi, this news was heavenly!

Chu Le'er had a doleful expression. Her delicate face was clouded and cold.

She clearly knew what 'extending her life for two years'… meant. It meant that she had to suffer through this incessant pain for another two years!

The little girl bit her lips and her eyes revealed a turmoil of emotions.

Such prolonged suffering had profoundly altered her mind which couldn't be compared to that of an ordinary eleven-year-old girl anymore. She looked at Chu Yang with confliction, then looked at her mother who was now weeping with joy. She clenched her small fists tightly.

For the sake of Father and Mother, why shouldn't I… bear another two years? Isn't it just pain? I've already dealt with it for eleven years. Another two years… it's just nothing.

Besides, I really don't want to leave my mother and my home… "You said there are two possibilities. What's the second one?" Chu Feiyan asked hurriedly.

"The second possibility is… I can treat Le'er now so that she will not feel a hint of pain for the next three months. Her illness can be suppressed temporarily! She can act like normal children. She won't feel drowsy and won't have spasms and headaches…" Chu Yang said quietly.

As everyone listened, their eyes and mouths opened with shock and joy.

"But… her illness can only be suppressed for two years!" Chu Yang said heavily, "… And if the medicine can't be found after two years. I… don't have any idea… that means I can't extend her life for those extra two years."

…