Romans PaiPai - Chapitre 53
A chilling sword aura rose from his dantian to his brow. Baili Wushuang slowly turned around, his face as cold as ice, and said indifferently, "If you're willing to make a house call, then agree to go to Suoding City. If you're not, I won't force you. What exactly does Divine Physician Yang mean by this?"
The peach blossoms around her were ravaged by the sword energy, falling like rain. Yang Luoxue, however, seemed oblivious, lazily shifting her posture against the tree trunk. "So, the person you begged me to save isn't all that important to you—you can't even stand a few words, how could you be worthy of my help? If you're going to save someone, you should save someone who's worth saving, right? You won't even put aside your young lady's airs for that person, so why should I give up this beautiful scene for him?"
As he spoke, he picked up the teapot, poured himself a cup of tea, and leisurely watched the tea being poured into the cup. "Young Miss, put away your sword energy. It doesn't matter if you hurt me, but it would be bad if you damaged the harmony between Suoding City and Medicine King Valley."
The last sentence made Baili Wushuang stop in his tracks.
Over the years, as the head of Suoding City, Suoding City's interests had long outweighed her own joys and sorrows. She quickly withdrew her sword energy and said calmly, "It is said that doctors have the heart of parents. I thought that as the eldest disciple of Medicine King Valley and the successor of Medicine King, the Divine Doctor would have some doctor's heart. It seems that I was wrong."
Chapter Ninety-Seven
As she spoke, she turned and left. The instant she turned her head, the red light between her brows faded, no longer as intense as before. A sudden look of alarm appeared in Yang Luoxue's eyes, and he abruptly stood up to check her pulse.
The Baihui point on the top of the head, the Qihai point in the abdomen, and the pulse points on the wrists are forbidden areas for martial artists. The moment Yang Luoxue's fingertips touched Baili Wushuang's wrist, without any hesitation, sword energy naturally surged up his arm. Yang Luoxue felt a sudden, powerful force throw him over, sending him flying and crashing into a tree trunk. In an instant, peach blossoms fell like rain, and a trickle of blood escaped from the corner of his lips.
Baili Wushuang was a little surprised. Although she had long heard that Yang Luoxue was devoted to medicine and had only average martial arts skills, she did not expect him to be "average" to this extent. However, she immediately understood that he did not use any internal force when he attacked her—he did not intend to ambush her; he simply wanted to take her pulse.
"I'm sorry, Divine Physician Yang." Although he said sorry, his face remained indifferent, showing no remorse whatsoever. "You suddenly touched my pulse, and I unconsciously shook you off."
"Cough cough..." Yang Luoxue's chest heaved, her breath uneven. "Such strong sword energy..." He didn't seem displeased; instead, his eyes shone with an unusually bright light, completely different from his lazy and indifferent demeanor just now. "Let me check your pulse. I'll go to Suoding City with you."
Baili Wushuang raised an eyebrow. "Is that really true?"
Why would I lie to you?
As he spoke, his fingertips were already on her pulse point. His appearance was as delicate as a virgin's, but his eyes were filled with a sharp and fervent light.
When a person's martial arts skills reach a certain level, a force will emanate from their dantian (lower abdomen), circulating throughout the body via the blood and meridians. This is internal energy (Neifu). The pulse of a martial artist is often steady as a mountain and long as the sea; some can even alter their pulse using internal energy. However, the power displayed in Baili Wushuang's pulse is completely different from ordinary internal energy. If someone completely ignorant of medicine were to listen to her pulse, they would feel that her heartbeat is much faster than normal. But when Yang Luoxue's fingers touched it, she immediately felt that the faster heartbeat wasn't actually a heartbeat!
That was another force, with its own pulse, sounding as if there were two hearts in Baili Wushuang's chest.
Throughout my years of medical studies and in the countless medical texts left by my predecessors, I have never encountered such a pulse. This may be an unprecedented case in the history of medicine. Another life force is hidden within the body… Even my master, the Medicine King, has never encountered such a symptom, has he?
“I’ve long heard that Baili Wushuang of Suoding City possesses an invisible sword aura. I always thought it was just a type of internal energy, but I didn’t expect it to be so special.” His gaze fell on her brow, where there was a red glow. At first glance, it looked like a delicate red ink painting on a woman’s face, but upon closer inspection, it was like a hazy mist, appearing and disappearing. “Did this red glow come with the sword aura?”
"Yes." Baili Wushuang glanced at him with a hint of surprise. This man's current enthusiasm was completely different from when he was sitting under the tree just now. "When did you get it?"
"Ten years old."
"Is this a unique martial art of Suoding City?"
"No, I don't know where this sword energy came from either."
Chapter Ninety-Eight
Yang Luoxue blinked, her eyes sparkling. "You don't know either?"
“Unconsciously, when I circulated my qi, I felt a flow of energy emanating from my fingertips. Gradually, this energy grew stronger and stronger, and I could activate it with a single thought.” Baili Wushuang answered calmly, his slightly hoarse voice like the sound of wind passing through a konghou (a type of Chinese harp). “Besides this, is there anything else you want to know? If there’s nothing else, I need to go back to the Buddhist hall to see my friend. The ceremony will end in three days. Please come with me to Suoding City, is that alright?”
“Sure, sure.” Yang Luoxue became unusually agreeable, a faint smile on her face. “I haven’t been to the Buddhist hall since I arrived. Let’s go together.”
He had only taken a few steps when he suddenly clutched his chest, his face turning deathly pale. Baili Wushuang knew that his sword strike had gone too far. "If you don't mind, I'll help you circulate your qi."
"Is Miss joking? I am a doctor myself, why would I need someone else to treat my injuries?" He opened his needle pouch, inserted a few acupuncture points, and finally patted his chest, "Ugh—" spitting out a purplish-red blood.
He took out a silk handkerchief and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. His hand loosened, and the handkerchief fell to the ground. He looked up and smiled slightly. "Let's go."
These few moves were so fast they were almost too quick for Baili Wushuang to see. He finally realized that Baili Wushuang's reputation as the world's number one divine physician was well-deserved; his strangeness had its own source of confidence.
The Buddha statues in the temple stood solemnly, chanting sutras and reciting mantras. A prayer wheel turned, and eighty-two monks sat in rows, with the abbot standing in the center. Yang Luoxue casually asked, "Where's your friend?"
"Would you like to get to know it?" Baili Wushuang walked to the Buddha, took down the sword box, opened it, and said, "Its name is Chongli."
It was a sword. Like the deepest darkness, yet faintly, an unseen radiance shone within it.
Yang Luoxue blinked. "Your friend is it?"
Baili Wushuang's fingertips traced the scabbard of Chongli's sword, his touch gentle, and even his voice softened: "Yes."
At that moment, Yang Luoxue realized that the rumors about his eccentric temperament were unfounded; at least his friends were human. He couldn't help but ask, "Is this ritual for this sword?"
Baili Wushuang glanced at him, "Does the divine physician not use a sword?"
"I am a doctor, I do not need weapons."
“Those who do not use a sword cannot understand the emotions of a sword. No wonder you cannot sense its malevolent aura… I hope this ritual will be effective.”
"The sword's...emotions?"
“A sword is also a kind of life, with joy, anger, sorrow and happiness, and its own temperament. For example, Chongli, if its evil energy cannot be removed, it will become bloodthirsty in the future, and the person who uses it will find that it is particularly easy to use killing moves…” She paused here, “Never mind, Physician Yang, you don’t use a sword, so you won’t understand.”
“No matter how good the sword is, it’s just a weapon to hurt people to me.” Yang Luoxue glanced at Chong Li. “It’s because of these things that there are so many patients in Medicine King Valley.”
Baili Wushuang was silent for a while, then said, "The fault lies not with it, but with people."
"Yes, the sword was forged by people, the sword was used by people, and the person who went to Medicine King Valley for medical treatment was also a person."
"When a person is injured, there is a doctor; when a sword is wounded, it is simply discarded."
"Can't it be melted down and recast?"
Chapter 99
“The reforged sword is not the original one.” Baili Wushuang placed the sword box back in front of the Buddha statue. The Buddhist hall was deep and spacious, and although it was broad daylight, the light inside was dim. The flames of the candles reflected in her eyes like tiny flames, and the red light between her brows seemed particularly red. “A sword with self-respect would rather be discarded than reforged—a sword is more proud than a person.”
Yang Luoxue looked at her without saying anything.
Even the gods and Buddhas watched him silently.