Hua Xianle

Chapter 83:

A high vaulted ceiling and the gauzy silks of his bed chamber are what Hua Xianle opened his eyes to. He could feel the warmth of Shuang’s fur against his neck, Jiaohua’s body on his side, and even the warmth of Xia Zhu on his stomach. There was even a steady hand on his wrist, the calloused fingers belonging to his beloved Qing-jie.

“Aiyah, Qing-jie,” he quipped, his voice a bit rough. “Perhaps one of these days I will stop getting myself into trouble.”

As he turned his head to look at his favorite physician, he was surprised to see that she was not wearing her mask. Her face was in full view and he could see how wrought with worry she was. When their eyes met, it was clear she had been crying, though she did her best to remain her stoic self.

“Hua Xianle, you absolute idiot,” she snapped without any heat, releasing his arm before removing something from his neck. Doing so made it so much easier to move. “Do you have any idea how much danger you were in? I lost count of the number of times you nearly qi deviated! And that damn sword…”

“Suibian?” 

Hua Ying scanned the room for his sword, finding it resting in its scabbard on the stand bolted to the wall. However, it wasn’t alone. Right beneath it was an ebony blade that could have been Suibian’s twin. The butterfly and flower motifs were replaced with spider lilies and a pattern that was almost reminiscent of the Xuanwu’s shell. Even from across the room, the prince could feel the dark energies of the blade.

“Suibian is fine,” Wei Qing informed him, plucking a few more needles from the boy’s arms and neck. “The dark blade that you apparently plucked from the shell of the Xuanwu of Slaughter, which we will be discussing at length later, seems to have become quite attached to you. Wei Ning attempted to remove it from your arm while it was in bracelet form and…”

She grimaced, turning away as her emotions threatened to boil over. Hua Ying sat up as best he could, aided by his spirit animals in his endeavor. He reached out, putting a hand on his Qing-jie’s shoulder in support.

When his Ning-die and Qing-jie were very little, their village was attacked by a resentful statue known as the Dancing Fairy. It was a difficult beast to get rid of, specifically because it would devour the souls of any who got near it. From the stories Hua Ying had been told, Qishan Wen couldn’t be bothered to deal with the statue and had told the Dafan Wen to deal with it. Being healers, they could not, so they got the aid of some rogue cultivators: None other than Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren.

Unfortunately, even with the Dancing Fairy dealt with, little Wen Ning had been attacked before it could be taken down. The result had been a weakened spiritual cognition and a blight on his core that could never fully be removed. As such, he was susceptible to Yin energy and could be rendered sick when exposed to a large concentration of it. It was why he needed his mask so much when the siblings were in the Ghost City.

“Is Ning-di okay now?” Hua Ying asked quietly.

With a wet laugh, Wei Qing wiped her eyes and turned back to the prince. “You were the one unconscious for nearly a week with fever and corpse sickness, and yet you worry about another? Next, you’ll be pressing about your friends and your precious Lan.”

With a cheeky smile, Hua Ying nodded. “As a matter of fact…”

“Brat.” Wei Qing cuffed him lightly on the side of the head, then took a breath. “Wei Ning is fine now. He is resting in his room under the care of Uncle Four. Unfortunately, he will need time to rest away from Ghost City and receive some spiritual transfusions for another week or so.”

“Then it’s a good thing he has an entire family of doctors and healers to take care of him.” Hua Ying’s smile never faded. “I’ve heard they’re the best in the world.”