Chapter 169: Chapter 166: Qian Duoduo’s Suffering
"Oh? It seems you have some principles, do you?" Mo Qi shot Qian Duoduo a sidelong glance.
Qian Duoduo smiled proudly. "Of course! Your dear brother here can hold his ground on many things. For instance, if anyone ever tried to kill you, they’d have to step over my—Mo Duoduo’s—dead body first!"
Heh!
As if Mo Qi would believe Qian Duoduo’s nonsense. He stroked his chin and said nonchalantly, "If you handle this matter for me, I can help you eliminate the hidden affliction in your body."
He paused, then added, "I’m not talking about your Dantian. I’m talking about the thing that has plagued you for eleven years!"
At these words, Qian Duoduo froze on the spot as if he had turned to stone.
Even Nangong Yan, Zhu Fan, and Zhao Zijun gaped, their faces etched with disbelief.
Qian Duoduo was the only son of Qian Juduo, the current Patriarch of the Qian Family.
From a young age, he had displayed extraordinary talent for cultivation. Selected by the Imperial Academy at three, he began Qi Refining at five and was Refining the Divine Being by six. By age eight, he had already reached the Peak of Divine Refining, achieving the Half-Step Purity Realm and shocking the entire Mountain and Sea Empire.
Forget his peers; even young prodigies twice his age were completely overshadowed by him.
He was the sole heir of the Qian Family’s Direct Lineage, his pedigree pure and unanimously approved by all the clan elders.
But later, for some unknown reason, Qian Duoduo’s cultivation stagnated at the Half-Step Purity Realm.
From age eight to his current nineteen, a span of eleven years, he had not progressed in the slightest.
Not only that, but Qian Duoduo’s body also grew weaker by the day.
Despite the Qian Family’s immense wealth and overwhelming power, and even with the help of the Royal Li Family, the countless famous doctors and Pill Masters they summoned were never able to determine what was wrong with Qian Duoduo.
If the Qian Family hadn’t periodically spent a fortune on Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures to nourish his body, he would have wasted away and died long ago.
Because of this, Qian Duoduo was stripped of his status in the Direct Lineage and left the Imperial Academy.
He went from being a peerless, widely admired genius to slowly becoming an utterly prodigal wastrel.
This was a source of pain for him, as well as for his father, Qian Juduo.
Unable to cure his son, Qian Juduo felt he had failed him, which was why he indulged his every whim.
But now, a problem that countless famous doctors and Pill Masters had failed to diagnose was laid bare by Mo Qi in a single sentence—he even knew the exact time frame.
"Are you sure you can do it?" Qian Duoduo’s heart was torn between hope and fear.
He hoped Mo Qi could truly solve his hidden affliction.
He feared that hope would turn to disappointment.
"You don’t believe me?" Mo Qi smiled. "If I’m not mistaken, for the past eleven years, not only has your cultivation failed to advance an inch, but your body has also grown weaker by the day. What’s more, on the fifteenth of every month, for a two-hour period around midnight, you endure excruciating pain, as if millions of bugs are scurrying through your body. It happens month after month, year after year, without fail."
Nangong Yan and the other two were startled. They knew Qian Duoduo had a problem, but they had no idea about these specifics.
They cast questioning glances at Qian Duoduo.
Qian Duoduo nodded.
"If you still don’t believe me, I can keep going. For instance, your voice, your physique, certain... manly functions..."
"Enough!"
Qian Duoduo cut Mo Qi off, but instead of being alarmed, he was overjoyed.
There were some things he hadn’t even told his father, Qian Juduo. For example, ever since he turned eight, while he had grown taller, he hadn’t gone through puberty like other boys.
In other words, even now at nineteen, he still had the body of a boy. He had no beard, no Adam’s apple, and he was utterly incapable of reacting to women like a normal man... because a certain part of him was still stuck at the age of eight!
This was the reason why, despite being a son of the Qian Family who had degenerated into a wastrel, he was never surrounded by beautiful women.
It was also the reason why, when he met Niu Kexin, he had only teased her with a few words and never actually tried anything.
And it was also the reason why Mo Qi hadn’t killed him after he harassed Niu Kexin.
Because Mo Qi had already discerned Qian Duoduo’s physical condition back then. He had harassed Niu Kexin purely because he had a big mouth, not out of any lewd intent.
Otherwise, given how much Mo Qi cared for Niu Kexin, how could he possibly have let him go?
"Dearest Brother, just tell me what you need! Do you want me to sneak into the Qian Family’s treasury? Or do you want our family’s secret manuals? Just say the word! Your little brother here would face death a thousand times over for you. I guarantee I’ll handle it perfectly!"
Qian Duoduo vowed, slapping his chest, having completely forgotten what he’d said just moments ago.
Everyone: "..."
’So much for having a bottom line.’
Mo Qi’s face twitched. "Didn’t you just say that you can only represent yourself, not the Qian Family?"
Qian Duoduo nodded without batting an eye and threw the Qian Family under the bus. "That’s right. That’s why my name is Mo Duoduo now. The Qian Family has nothing to do with me."
Only Qian Duoduo himself knew what he had gone through all these years.
To fall from being a lofty, star-like genius to a common nobody—the pressure that followed such a change was enough to crush most people.
They say that behind every comedy lies a tragedy. By the same token, though Qian Duoduo always seemed to be laughing and joking, completely shameless, the truth was that he was in more pain than anyone. He carried a burden others could never imagine.
So, if there was even the slightest chance to change his situation, he would seize it without hesitation.
Mo Qi had revealed his greatest secret, which proved he understood his condition like the back of his hand.
Combined with the miracles that had happened to Zhu Fan and Zhao Zijun, Qian Duoduo chose to believe in Mo Qi.
"Dearest Brother, look at your little brother. So pitiful, so cute. Can you really bear to watch me suffer?"
Qian Duoduo batted his eyes, repeatedly trying to give Mo Qi a flirtatious look.
BLECH!
’So damn disgusting!’
"Take it, take it! Now get out of my sight and go fix your Dantian!"
Mo Qi couldn’t take it anymore and irritably tossed the Medicinal Pill to Qian Duoduo.
"Hehe, thank you, my good and kind Brother."
Qian Duoduo caught the Medicinal Pill and popped it into his mouth with satisfaction.
"Chew it!" Nangong Yan suddenly reminded him in a low voice.
"Huh? What’d you say?" Qian Duoduo tilted his head back and swallowed it whole before looking at Nangong Yan in confusion.
Nangong Yan: "..."
"Nothing. As long as you’re happy."
Qian Duoduo was completely bewildered. ’What was that all about? How strange.’
A moment later, the Medicinal Power surged through him. He had no time for further thought; he sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began to absorb it.
Watching the finally quiet Qian Duoduo, Mo Qi fell into deep thought.
He didn’t know if his decision today was right or wrong, nor did he know what kind of storm he would be dragged into after curing Qian Duoduo.
He just saw a shadow of his former self in Qian Duoduo.
If anyone could best understand Qian Duoduo, it was undoubtedly Mo Qi.
Although he had never experienced a fall from a great height, he himself had climbed up step by step from the very bottom.
He had lost count of how many scornful looks and taunts he had endured during that process.
He knew that for the past eleven years, although Qian Duoduo appeared dazzling on the surface, he had actually been living a very bitter life.
It wasn’t a bitterness of lifestyle, but a bitterness of the heart.
But even under such circumstances, Qian Duoduo had managed to maintain an optimistic spirit. This was what moved Mo Qi the most.
It was also the most important reason why Mo Qi had decided to step in and cure him.
