The Yao Emperor and His Human Doctor.

Chapter 73 - Facing Destruction.

Su Ning felt a great sadness in his chest. His shifu's method, which was supposed to serve good, proved to be a lethal weapon for the world and all his hard work was lost. Two of the swords were destroyed, now only one was missing. He gripped the sword with all his strength, until his hand started to bleed.

Then using the weapon making technique, the blood wrapped around the sword like several tentacles and broke it into thousands of tiny, shining pieces, almost reducing it to dust. Su Ning leaned forward a little, sweat was also running down his forehead. It was painful! Terribly painful! He could barely breathe and with great effort he inhaled and exhaled slowly until he tried to get used to the pain.

Qiang Yong frowned. It was a suffocating sensation and he approached the doctor. He tried to touch it, but his hands just went through the memory image. He felt the impotence of not being able to intervene in the past. However, Su Ning had not finished his mission. He needed to get rid of the technique.

He destroyed the sword, using the blood connection he had with it. In Cheng Doi's case he had to cut that connection and then destroy the sword. Now, with the tips of his two fingers he easily managed to use air blows like blades with one gesture and then he directed this gesture against his own spiritual core.

Despite the pain of mutilating his own soul, he focused on the memory he wanted to remove and began to slowly pull it out of the core, as if pulling a thin thread. This was a technique known as Soul Craftsman, it was a forbidden technique, obviously the name already indicated why. It was also a very difficult technique to control and required great skill on the part of the user.

Very few cultivators were able to use it. Tung Shiu was one of those and his disciples, only Su Ning learned it perfectly. At that moment, the doctor ripped the memory out of the nucleus, forming the fissure that now existed within it. The pain was so intense that he couldn't contain the tears that flowed as the memory was cut from his soul.

He quickly grabbed the thread, and as if he had a needle he began to stitch Qiang Yong's spiritual wound. The emperor stared at him in shock. So that's how he cured him??? Using this soul fragment?? He couldn't believe it, especially since he was healing him while he was bleeding profusely. Even when he blocked his acupuncture points, it took a long time for the blood to stop.

The spiritual core was also collapsing and the only alternative he had was to block as many meridians as possible to prevent the loss of qi. Finally, when he was finished with Qiang Yong, he began to draw other spiritual strings from one of the meridians and used them to mend the core itself. This cord was different from his soul and would only serve to stop the loss of energy until the core healed.

Su Ning's breathing was labored and the exhausting task was finished, all he was left with was excruciating pain and weakness. He lost blood, qi, the spiritual weapon and one of his memories, the latter two linked to fragments of his soul. No wonder the core was so damaged!

He looked at the yao, his breathing had already balanced but there could still be pain. The line made from his memory was now just spiritual energy devoid of meaning. He would have no way of obtaining information about him. Su Ning managed to make it somewhat useful for something, since he couldn't use it on himself and also didn't have much qi left to make a second cord to heal the yao.

He tried not to think about the pain in his chest or his blurry vision or the sweat that wouldn't break. He was developing a fever and was collapsing from exhaustion. As a last-ditch effort, he took from a small qiankun bag a bottle containing pain medicine, just like the one he had given to Chen Doi.

He lifted the yao's head a little and helped him drink and swallow the pills. He might still feel pain when he woke up. He took in the beautiful features of her now peaceful face. It looks like it's from the dragon clan, he thought. This was the first time he had seen a dragon. His features were imposing and his skin was the color of wheat. His hair was so black, like ink.

He cleaned it, stitched it up and bandaged the cut on his chest. He also left another flask, containing water, and a small rice ball wrapped in a bamboo leaf. He intended to leave a smoke signal in front of the cave, there was a Yao army camping nearby, they should be looking for this member.

So he gathered some dry leaves that were brought by the wind in front of the cave to make a fire when he left. Then he unlocked the acupuncture points he hit earlier on the yao's chest and waited for a while to see how he would react. This was the part that Qiang Yong remembered. The yao slowly woke up, looking very confused.
Su Ning was relieved. It seemed like everything was fine now.

He was watching him from a distance to prevent the yao from feeling intimidated again. Qiang Yong observed this care for the other and hated himself for his terrible initial reaction. The dragon managed to sit up and saw the dressing done. At the same time he saw the cultivator from before getting up and making to leave. He had a moment of lucidity and shouted with the energy he had left, "WAIT!"

"Ah... you don't need to worry. It's okay now." The doctor replied in a weak voice, keeping his distance. The pain only seemed to get worse with time. The watching Qiang Yong could feel the fading sensation and the torture he was undergoing. The core wound burned as if it was being burned with a hot iron. It was a thousand times worse than he anticipated... The dragon smelled the strong smell of blood and it certainly wasn't his!
"Hang on! You're hurt too, aren't you? At least tell me your name.”

Yes! I'll take care of you! I will hug you and protect you from everything that tries to hurt you! The other Qiang Yong gritted his teeth. Su Ning hesitated a little, but his wound was complicated, not even he knew if he could treat it...
"No need to worry. They will come soon."
"You don't need to be afraid. You helped me, I won't hurt you. I will repay your help, let me reward you."
"There's no need. This war will be over soon. And that's what matters."

"How...how do you know that?"
"This war... will soon come to an end. And humans and yao will finally have peace. You can wait. The human emperor will ask the yao emperor for a truce. There is no point in continuing this."

It was better to leave and recover little by little. They were in a war and he still needed to help the human emperor issue the decree they agreed upon.
"There's also water and food. I'll leave a fire here at the entrance... there's a yao camp nearby, they'll definitely come when they see you."
Su Ning smiled beneath the veil covering his face. In the dim light, Yao captured that image. He looked like a young man, maybe in his early twenties.

"You seem to be well informed about this." The yao managed to get up, realizing that he didn't feel that much pain. He saw the dark blood dyeing the cultivator's blue robe. Maybe if he held him back, he wouldn't be able to get away. But he could fight back too. He needed to catch him off guard. "At least say your name... I want to be able to thank you."
Su Ning was suspicious of the other's intentions and moved further away. After all, the yao had no reason to like humans.

"You do not owe me anything." He just nodded, snapped his fingers, and the dry leaves he gathered caught fire. So he jumped, this time, with difficulty, to hide in one of the caves located higher up the mountain. The dragon tried to stop him but it was too late, he couldn't see which direction he went and couldn't find him anymore.

Author's Note

What a shame, but Su Ning really couldn't trust the dragon, they were still at war and Qiang Yong's reaction the first time he saw him was not favorable at all.😢