Chapter 251: One Misstep Followed By Countless Mistakes
Xiahou Chengqin entered the place with the elders, her face calm and confident all the way.
Cecily spared her a glance, then looked towards Gu Xiqiao nervously. She was feeling anxious on her behalf, the sweat sliding down her face.
Gu Xiqiao didn’t let Jiang Shuxuan take off his clothes, and tore a hole in it from the back instead. She looked at the deep wound on his back, and some white of the bone that could be seen from it. She stood still, staring at it without a word. Her eyes were heavy as she looked at it.
Xiahou Chengqin thought that Gu Xiqiao had stopped because she was scared, and she laughed lightly, “Let me do it instead. You’re still young, it’s still reasonable that you won’t be able to treat this.”
The elders around her were also laughing mockingly. “Mistress Sorceress, why bother to tell her so much. Let her know that there are always people who are better than them out in the world, she really thinks that she can compare to you, what kind of thinking is that? Other than you, there’s no one else who can heal this injury. I don’t know what Young Master Jiang is thinking, letting that girl treat him!”
“With Young Master Jiang’s attitude, we will know the truth later. I’m sure it’ll be interesting,” The other elder said, shaking his head as though he could already foresee the future.
The other elders all agreed with his words.
It was just a young little girl, what kind of capabilities would she have? Can it be any better than the sorceress of their Lisu Tribe?
Xiahou Chengqin’s mood eased at the elders’ words, and she turned to look at Gu Xiqiao, pity in her eyes. She watched the girl take out a set of silver needles, and she shook her head at that. “Evil spirits can’t be banished with silver needles. Young Master Jiang’s condition is complicated and you can’t simply insert needles into him, otherwise even I can’t help him at that time.”
Saying that, she looked to Yi Tong and Yi Bing, hoping that they would come forward to support her words, but she didn’t expect that the two would stand on Gu Xiqiao’s sides, blocking off Xiahou Chengqin’s path to her. This made Xiahou Chengqin shocked, and she said vehemently under her breath, “Such pigheadedness, just wait till you start crying!”
Cecily heard the words that she had uttered, and felt even more uneasy. She took a step forward. “Qiao Qiao, maybe it’s better if you let her treat this wound. This is not something to joke about.” Having said that, she looked at the wound on Jiang Shuxuan’s back, and felt more panic when she saw it. It was just a deep wound, and a very dense malicious aura around it. How could a regular person treat this?
Gu Xiqiao raised her head to look at Cecily, and seeing that it was concern that was reflecting in the other’s eyes, a hint of warmth entered her eyes and she relaxed.
Without saying anything more, her hands plunged a silver needle into one of his acupoints.
Xiahou Chengqin saw that Gu Xiqiao had really inserted a needle, and a disapproving look appeared on her face. She shook her head and sighed. Seeing that Yi Bing and Yi Tiao hadn’t made any move to stop her, she bit her lip, her eyes still mocking. She didn’t believe that there were other people in the world who could control the malicious auras, and so she coldly laughed inside as she watched Gu Xiqiao work. With a sneer, she noted that Gu Xiqiao was only using needles for her treatment, and the ridicule in her face just got more intense.
As a sorceress of the tribe, she was revered and admired by the people in the tribe. She didn’t use to be such a jealous and bitter person as she was now, but when she saw the gaze that Jiang Shuxuan had given Gu Xiqiao, she couldn’t control herself.
Gu Xiqiao didn’t have time to bother about Xiahou Chengqin as her eyes were focused on Jiang Shuxuan’s injury. As she inserted needle after needle, she was also glaring at him at the same time.
Her hands were shaking.
Jiang Shuxuan couldn’t help it. She seemed to think that she was doing a good job glaring at him, but you could see the concern and distress that were clear in her eyes.
He couldn’t help but laugh. Did she know how to glare at a person or not?
He was laughing? He was actually laughing?! Gu Xiqiao ignored him, her hand raised and a breath of vitality leaking out from her hand.
The color of the wound on Jiang Shuxuan’s back that was surrounded by the malicious aura started to shift, the change visible to the naked eye. If she was treating any other person, she would have suppressed her aura a little so not to appear as a monster to the people around her. However, having met Jiang Shuxuan, what else did she need to cover up?
She healed the wound in an instant, not showing a hint of mercy to it at all.
Too bad for the people around her.
The first to bear the brunt of the sudden surge were the people standing next to her, Yi Tong and Yi Bing. The both of them watch the majestic vitality power rise from Gu Xiqiao’s body, and the black aura on Jiang Shuxuan’s back that was dissipating slowly, feeling strained under it all.
Gods, was this person even human? Yi Bing and Yi Tiao watched with slacked jaws.
Then they looked again, what! It looked like there was new flesh growing over the wound! What the heck! This was! Yi Tong and Yi Bing could no longer describe what they were feeling with words.
They already knew that Gu Xiqiao was not anybody ordinary, that she had a good relationship with Zhu Yuan, so they didn’t doubt her one bit when she said she could heal Jiang Shuxuan. But they had thought that she would be using normal medical methods, not something like this!
Even Yi Tong and Yi Bing were stunned, what more of the others who were around them?
At this time, the silence in the room was heavy. They were all watching the scene unfold in front of him in shock, being stunned speechless. They looked like they had seen a ghost, and struggled to remember to breathe under it all.
If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, they would never believe that such a miracle had happened in front of them.
Xiahou Chengqin was stupefied, staring at Gu Xiqiao in shock to the bones, her face frozen. Gu Xiqiao calmly pulled out and inserted the needles in an orderly manner, and once the evil spirit was no more, she proceeded to remove all of them carefully. The people watching then realized that she had inserted the needles to stem the blood flow.
Halfway through pulling the needles out, Gu Xiqiao lowered her head to look at Jiji. Jiji immediately pulled out a roll of bandage and a bottle of white ointment from its chest, and Gu Xiqiao reached out to take it. She wrapped the bandages around Jiang Shuxuan’s body, her pale lips looking to have bruised from how hard she had been biting down on it.
The elders who had been watching her, making fun of her and expecting Jiang Shuxuan’s anger could only watch in dumbfounded silence. They had watched as the malicious spirit on Jiang Shuxuan’s wound slowly dissipated, which was completely impossible.
Even if the sorceress of their tribe did the treatment, they had to use talisman papers to gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, slowly get rid of the evil spirit at noon every day, and it would take a whole seven days to do it. But what had they seen? This less than twenty-year-old young girl had instantly stripped it away?
A time that was less than a blink of an eye?
How was that possible? How the heck was that possible?! They must have seen it wrongly!
They rubbed their eyes, and looked again. There was no change, that girl had cured Young Master Jiang!
Other than the sorceress from their tribe, there was actually someone else who could get rid of malicious spirits? Who the heck was this girl?
“Mistress Sorceress, didn’t you say that you’re the only one who could get rid of this evil?” An elder, whose face had paled dramatically, uttered. His legs felt like jelly, as though it could collapse anytime. He had thought that with the sorceress in his tribe, they would be able to bring prosperity to the Lisu Tribe by going through Jiang Shuxuan, allowing them to move to the Imperial Capital, the center of the ancient martial arts world.
Unexpectedly, they had directly offended him instead! This girl definitely had some relationship with Young Master Jiang!
The more they thought about it, the more fearful the elders became. They knew what kind of person Jiang Shuxuan was, the entire ancient martial arts world was basically supported by the Jiang family, and they had offended them! Did the Lisu Tribe still stand a chance at this rate? The more he thought, the more blood drained from his face. His face grew darker as the thoughts continued to invade his mind, and he looked towards Xiahou Chengqin, a reproachful look in his eyes.
If it weren’t for her pledge, they wouldn’t have offended Young Master Jiang!
This was the first time the elders were looking at her like this, and Xiahou Chengqin’s face was flushed red. An indescribable sense of frustration arising in her heart. She had thought that Gu Xiqiao was just some wallflower, she didn’t expect her to be able to get rid of the malicious spirit!
As soon as she looked up, she saw Cecily’s unabashedly mocking and contemptuous gaze on her. Xiahou Chengqin’s face was so dark it looked like it was going to blow any second.
She couldn’t help but think of the words that she had just said, that the girl shouldn’t simply insert the needles. Now it looks like Gu Xiqiao could have been laughing at her from the beginning, right? Compared to her, Xiahou Chengqin looked like a sad joke.
Especially since Gu Xiqiao had so easily gotten rid of the evil spirit, giving Xiahou Chengqin a heavy blow. She had thought that she was the only one in the world that could rid that evil spirit, and didn’t expect this random powerful girl to appear out of nowhere. Not only did the girl get rid of the malicious spirit, she even did it so much faster than her!
How was that possible to compare to that? It was impossible to even compare at all!
While Xiahou Chengqin thought that way, the elders behind her didn’t think so. Thinking back to words they had said, ‘there are always people who are better than them out in the world’, they felt ashamed. They wished that they could turn back time, just to stop themselves from putting a foot in their mouths! They lowered their heads, embarrassed and fearful.
At this time, it was hard to tell whether they were more ashamed or afraid.
Gu Xiqiao solemnly tied the bandage in her hands, and observed Jiang Shuxuan’s expression carefully. It didn’t look any different than before, and there was no hint of anything hidden behind it. She felt relieved at that, and then turned her head to look at the Lisu Tribe.
Gu Xiqiao’s eyes were bright and clear, an indifferent expression on her face. If there was any other way to describe her now, it would be ‘marble cold’.
The elders of the Lisu Tribe recalled their words again when they looked at her, and were feeling extremely embarrassed, trying to hide their faces behind their sleeves, not daring to look at her face.
“Since ancient times, the Lisu Tribe has always been strong, advancing, heroic and a powerful image in the ancient texts. This was especially true for the first generation of great sorcerers, who relied on their powers to make a clan in the ancient martial arts world. They were able to call the wind and rains, praying for mankind protecting them for generations after generations. I didn’t expect that the Lisu Tribe I would see today would turn out to be like this today. Do you truly comprehend the books that have been handed down since ancient times?” Gu Xiqiao raised her hand slightly, the talisman paper in Xiahou Chengqin’s hand floating to her hand out of thin air. “This is the talismans left behind by the great sorcerer, which was originally able to call down the winds and rains. It has been ruined by you all, and even misnamed.”
“Back then, your ancestors relied on their own strength to enter the core of the martial arts world, and were admired by countless people. Everyone was proud to be known as a member of the Lisu Tribe during that time! Now the Lisu Tribe has fallen, becoming so weak, with delusions to enter the ancient martial arts world through a side door. Are you still proud members of the Lisu Tribe?” Gu Xiqiao shook her head, reaching out to draw something on the blank talisman.
After finishing, she threw the paper, which instantly turned into a vast river, separating the elders of the Lisu Tribe from them.
The elders watched this scene unfold with a blank look on their face, her words sending them into a deep shock. Everything that Gu Xiqiao had said was the same as the words recorded in the history of their Lisu Tribe.
They knew of the glorious past that the Lisu Tribe once had, but they didn’t believe in it at all. Calling the winds and rains was something that could only be done by the gods, right? But right now, the talisman that Gu Xiqiao had thrown out had turned into an ocean instantly, which made them feel mystified, but it also sent a wave of pride in their hearts.
It turned out that what their ancestors recorded had been true, they were really brilliant, the people of the Lisu Tribe!
Immediately after thinking that, they were even more ashamed. They didn’t expect to be treated like this, with how they had treated her previously. This lady didn’t hold any grudges, and was even teaching them like this. How righteous this person was!
The shame was accompanied by shock, from easily dispelling the malicious spirit, to easily using their Lisu Tribe talisman paper.
The things that she easily did, were things that even the Lisu Tribe people themselves found hard to do.
The elders were now looking at Gu Xiqiao with respect, awe, and gratitude.
With such powerful strength and talents, she shouldn’t be just some random nobody, but who the heck was she? Why hadn’t they heard about her in the ancient martial arts world before? It was as though she had appeared out of thin air.
Xiahou Chengqin’s entire being was shocked. Looking at the gaze of the elders towards Gu Xiqiao, her face was flushed in complete embarrassment. She stood in the same spot, her body frozen stiff. Thinking about how she had deliberately tried to stop Gu Xiqiao just now, luring the elders into a false sense of security, there wasn’t a hole deep enough that she could bury herself!
She had thought that she could use the fact that she treated Jiang Shuxuan’s wounds to make a name for herself, but she didn’t expect not only to be unsuccessful, but she would even be slapped so vehemently in the face like this! One misstep, and countless mistakes had followed after! What a complete and utterly miserable loss this was!
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