Chapter 303: Fail to Salvage
Chapter 303: Fail to Salvage
Translator: chuchutrain Editor: DavidT, Rock
Ling Jian straightened his back with a 'shua' sound, "Yes! Young Noble! I hear and obey!"
Ling Tian nodded his head and indicated for him to sit down as he continued, "The same applies to all present here! No matter who he is, or what group he belongs to. If the leader of the mission has met with a misfortune or has been killed, captured, or missing for more than three days, then the mission will be continued by the next in command! None of you are to go against this, or else I shall execute without any pardon!"
Ling Tian's ice cold eyes glanced towards Feng Mo and Wang Han now, "The same applies for the elite troops of the courtyard! If the commander of the platoon dies on the battlefield, then the vice commander is to unify the troops! If the vice also dies, then the deputy will take over! So on and so forth, until the small section commander! No matter when or where, and no matter how intense it is, you have to guarantee that the heart of the soldiers remained unmoved, even to the last man! Do you understand?!"
"Understood!" Both men chorused. Everyone present could hear the naked underlying message from Ling Tian's speech that in the near future there would be an all-out war. Hearing such news, the stifled warmongers amongst them started to feel their blood racing once again.
Ling Tian grunted in satisfaction, and continued, his tone bereft of warmth and affection, "In addition, every half year, perform a check on all those in command. If they are found to have conspired against their superiors in order to promote themselves, then execute their entire family, and remove all their nine generations from the face of the earth! Those of you present are included! I do not wish to personally act to silence you guys, but if I ever catch wind of this, I will never show mercy!"
"Yes!" Everyone felt cold sweat running down their backs!
After staring at everyone's face for a while more, he finally gave the order, "Other than the chiefs responsible for the Northern periphery, the rest are dismissed!"
In front of the secret chamber, an old man with snow white hair was pacing back and forth, a look of anxiety on his face. Now and then, he would raise his head to glance at the tightly closed door, but seeing the stone-faced guards in front of him, he would lose his courage to proceed further. His wrinkled hands with skin like dried orange peels kept pulling on his goatee, and in his nervousness, he didn't even notice that he had already pulled out a few strands.
When the stone door opened, a group of people with varying expressions such as happiness, solemnity, or shame walked out. Some of them stopped briefly to exchange greetings, but none of them tarried, immediately walking away. From far off came the sound of horses galloping off, fading into the distance.
These people were all assigned to different areas, and to have come here today had already taken up quite a bit of their time. There were a million and one problems still waiting for them back at their workplaces for them to tidy up, hence they couldn't afford to waste any more time.
But everyone present had the same thought in their heads: The winds of these lands were going to shift! The calm right now was merely the final preparations. All the major influences were carrying out their final preparations, and no one could afford to be the last in this race!
In a short moment, another group of ten or more walked out. However, the group this time looked completely different. Every one of them walked with hasty steps, some even full out sprinting, as though their rears were on fire. All had on apprehensive faces, and some didn't even stay to bid farewell, immediately snatching the reins of the nearest horses and rushing away from the place.
Seeing Ling Tian finally walking out, the old man immediately rushed forward, close to tears. He covered the distance quickly and whispered, "Young noble, things aren't good. The life of the little princess of the Shui Family is hanging by a thread. I'm afraid…."
Ling Tian shuddered, and grabbed the man by the collar immediately, lifting his shriveled body up as he shouted, "Afraid of what?"
The old man was precisely the physician of the Ling Family Courtyard, and his skills were incredible. Right now, being grabbed like this by Ling Tian, he had difficulty breathing. His entire face was gradually turning red as he stuttered out, "Afraid… that I have failed to salvage the situation!"
"What!" Ling Tian received a great shock, immediately turning anxious, "Hurry, take me there!"
Ling Tian immediately rushed over, his heart endlessly calculating the consequences. Shui QianRou couldn't die right now! First, the plot between Northern Wei, Sky Bearing and the Water of Heavenly Wind hadn't been revealed yet; if she were to die then all leads would be cut. Second, because of her, Ling Tian had mercilessly cut down the two Yu Family Elders. That would be equivalent to offending the two greatest families in history if Shui QianRou died! Even if he were to shift the blame over to the green-robed expert, the losses would still outweigh the gains. Third, if Shui QianRou were to die, then he would lose the perfect bargaining chip he had against the Water of Heavenly Wind!
The way Ling Tian did things was to throw his all into his objective, with every bullet he fired hitting the bullseye. He definitely wouldn't accept anything that wasn't to his benefit. "Continuously taking advantage, never suffering a loss" was his motto! But this time, if Shui QianRou were to really throw away her life, then all his efforts would go down the drain. It was as good as losing a free treasure.
Shui QianRou lay on the bed, her matted hair spread all over the clean white sheets. Her eyes were closed shut, with a few tear marks still seen on the corners. That beautiful face of hers was awfully pale, and she looked like a person on their deathbed. Her hands were freezing cold, and only the slight rise of her chest now and then showed that she was a living person.
Her attendant Die'er sat at the side, bereft of any strength from all her crying.
With deft steps, Ling Tian reached Shui QianRou's side, and grasping her wrist with a hand, he circulated his internal energy. What he saw made him frown!
The meridians in Shui QianRou's body were all sluggish, an obvious sign that she was a dying lamp. If this continued, then in less than a few hours she would be lying in a coffin! What should he do?
Ling Tian's face fell, and he ordered, "Everyone present is to get out. Ling Chen, stand by the door, and do not allow anyone to disturb me!" He added in another sentence for good measure, "If you receive any news regarding the war front, make the decisions in my place!"
Ling Chen knew that this was a life-threatening situation, and with a cold expression she compiled, chasing everyone out.
However, Die'er pounced on Ling Tian and shook him vigorously, screaming, "It's you! You killed our Princess! I'll fight it out with you, b*st*rd!"
Ling Tian sent a cold glare and a harsh slap her way, knocking her away from him. He indifferently spat, "If you still want your princess to live, then you had better stay quietly by the door! Of course, if you wish for her death, then you can stay here and continue making noise, in which case I can guarantee that she will die!"
The face of Die'er had five fresh red imprints on her pale face, but she didn't even notice the stinging pain, so obsessed she was over Ling Tian's words. She immediately retreated from her current position, and kneeled down, knocking her head on the floor, "Please save the princess, please save the princess! As long as you save her, I'll let you treat me however you wish!" She then dashed out.
Ling Tian only shook his head, then gently supported Shui QianRou's body. He sighed in his heart at her grievous injuries. While her external injuries looked serious, they wouldn't have caused a fatal problem with her current cultivation level. The only reason it happened was that Ling Tian had harshly struck two blows to her psyche and mental state!
In order to heal someone who was fatally injured, while the competency of the doctor played a part, the more important part was the willpower of the patient! If the patient had no more desire to continue living, and only begged for release from their illness, then even if the reincarnation of Hua Tuo 1 was here, he would be completely helpless!
Right now, Shui QianRou could be compared to such a scenario, with her heart already having lost the will to survive! With her vitality greatly diminished, her ability to heal her own injuries also decreased, allowing them to worsen. Her mental anguish also caused problems with her meridians, and because of a lack of timely diagnosis, it would come as no surprise if she had died! Luckily, the old physician had given her a slice of ginseng earlier to prolong her last breath of life, so that they could carry out acupuncture to stimulate her vitals and save whatever vitality she still had.
Lightly arranging her body into a sitting position, Ling Tian then sat beside her. After regulating his breathing, he no longer hesitated, immediately bringing his hand to touch her navel acupoint, with his other hand flat on her back. His Divine Shocking Dragon Formula immediately released two strands of internal energy, one Yin and one Yang, slowly circulating it around her body, reviving her atrophied meridians, so as to stimulate her self-regenerating abilities.
He had barely used his strength, but he could already feel Shui QianRou's resolve to die! Her meridians were almost fully clogged, and even with his current strength, he was unable to smoothly circulate his energy. If he took the action of forcibly powering through a path, he might even cause her meridians to shatter. In that case, even if the God of Immortality himself visited, he would fail to salvage this situation!
With this thought in mind, he suddenly retracted the majority of his internal strength, leaving only a thread of energy to slowly circulate around her body, using this compressed needle-like stream to pierce through her acupoints and meridians!
While this stream of energy appeared thin, it was frighteningly penetrative, and it threaded through Shui QianRou's meridians like a hot knife through butter. While it might leave some damages to her body, at least her network of meridians had begun to show some signs of life, unlike that deathly state just mere minutes ago. Even after revolving one complete cycle, Ling Tian's face didn't relax. He sent out yet another thread and revolved another cycle, further clearing up her acupoints and meridians. His third thread was sent out shortly after, then the fourth… then a fifth...