27: Chapter 27 Trouble Encounters on Returning Home Late

He stayed in the valley for another two days, and Ye Chen thoroughly consolidated his cultivation at the Meridian Opening Stage Five Middle Phase.

He refined and absorbed the suitable parts of the newly obtained medicinal materials, his aura becoming increasingly steady and refined.

He studied the strange booklet obtained from the Black Wind Stockade several times.

He felt more and more that the "bone-eroding pill" recorded within it was somewhat similar to the poison Lin Qingxue had been afflicted with.

But lacking evidence, he could only temporarily suppress the doubts in his heart.

It was time to return to Qingyun City.

The Grand Competition was imminent; Ye Chen needed to return to understand the situation and also needed a relatively safe environment to make his final preparations.

More importantly, he had a faint feeling that Lin Qingxue might need him.

On the third day at dusk, Ye Chen took Xiaoyu and left the valley where they had been staying.

He did not disguise himself again, instead restoring his original appearance.

The increase in his strength gave him a certain degree of confidence.

Hiding blindly was not a long-term solution.

Ye Chen still chose the mountain paths, but his speed was much faster than when he arrived.

Having broken through to the Meridian Opening Stage Five Middle Phase, his comprehension of the "Mist Transformation Steps" was deeper, his movement technique ethereal, stepping on snow without leaving a trace; even with Xiaoyu on his back, traveling through the mountain forest was as easy as walking on level ground.

Xiaoyu lay on her brother's back, feeling only the wind whistling by her ears, trees on both sides receding rapidly; it was both thrilling and comforting.

The scene shifted; at nightfall, the tall silhouette of Qingyun City was already visible in the distance.

The city walls were brightly lit, the figures of patrolling soldiers were numerous, and the security seemed stricter than usual.

Ye Chen did not approach the city gate directly, but stopped in a dense forest a few miles away from the city.

He put Xiaoyu down and whispered, "Xiaoyu, you wait here for brother. Brother will go into the city first to check the situation and come back to pick you up before dawn."

Xiaoyu nodded sensibly, found a large tree to climb up, and hid in the dense canopy.

"Brother, be careful."

"Mm."

Ye Chen ruffled her hair, his figure flickering, disappearing into the night like a ghost.

He circled to the northwest corner of the city, where the defenses were relatively weak; the city wall there was in disrepair, with a collapsed gap that, although simply blocked, was practically non-existent to him.

After observing for a moment and confirming no one was around, he lightly tapped his toes on the ruined wall, his figure like smoke, silently flipping over the city wall and landing inside the city.

The city was quieter than outside; the curfew time had arrived, the streets were empty, and only the sound of the watchman's clapper echoed in the distance.

A tense atmosphere permeated the air.

Ye Chen did not return to the small courtyard in the south of the city; it was too obvious a target.

Relying on his memory, he sneaked towards the direction of the abandoned residence in the north of the city.

It was relatively secluded and might serve as a temporary foothold.

However, just as Ye Chen passed through a quiet street near the back alley of the Lin family, the jade pendant on his chest suddenly transmitted a rapid, warm sensation!

In his Sea of Consciousness, that indigo-blue bond light chain representing Lin Qingxue flickered violently, its light wavering, transmitting a sense of chaos, pain, and weakness!

Lin Qingxue was in trouble!

Did the Cold Poison flare up?

And this time it seemed exceptionally violent!

Ye Chen's heart tightened, and he immediately changed direction, speeding toward the Lin Manor.

He dared not take the main entrance, so he circled to a quiet corner of the back wall of the Lin Manor. Sensing the gap after the patrolling guards had just passed, his figure flipped over the high wall like a civet cat and landed inside the manor.

He was already quite familiar with the paths of the Lin Manor, so he avoided several teams of patrolling guards and, with practiced ease, sneaked towards the bamboo grove courtyard where Lin Qingxue lived.

The closer he got to the courtyard, the heavier the chill in the air became; one could even see a layer of white frost condensed on the bamboo leaves around the courtyard.

The courtyard was quiet both inside and out, but Ye Chen could feel that at least four not-weak auras were hidden in the dark, which should be experts from the Lin family guarding it.

Ye Chen held his breath, concealing his aura to the extreme, and with the cover of bamboo shadows and the night, silently sneaked to the foot of the courtyard wall.

There were no lights in the courtyard, but that bone-chilling cold was emanating from the main room.

Just then, the door of the main room was gently pushed open with a creak. A maidservant carrying an empty medicine bowl walked out with red, swollen eyes and whispered to an old nanny guarding the door.

"Nanny, Young Miss has just taken her medicine and fallen asleep, but... but this time the Cold Poison backlash is too severe. Even Elder Li is helpless and says she can only rely on herself to endure it."

The old nanny sighed, waved her hand to let the maidservant leave, and kept watch at the door, full of worry.

Ye Chen was anxious. Even the Elder retained by the Lin family had no way?

It seemed this Cold Poison attack was no small matter! He must go in!

Ye Chen waited patiently until the old nanny, due to her old age and frailty, could not hold on and was dozing off against the door frame, before he drifted to the window like a fallen leaf.

The window was latched from the inside, but he condensed a trace of extreme cold Qi at his fingertips, gently probed into the window crack, and silently froze the window latch until it cracked.

Then he pushed open a crack and slipped inside.

The room was not lit. By the faint moonlight shining through the window, he could see Lin Qingxue lying on the bed in the inner room, covered with a thick quilt, yet still shivering.

Her face was as pale as paper, her lips were tinged with blue-purple, a small patch of frost had condensed between her eyebrows, and her breathing was so weak it was almost imperceptible.

The whole room was like an ice cellar, with a thin layer of ice covering the tables and chairs.

Ye Chen's heart ached, and he walked quickly to the bed.

Being closer, he could feel the violence of the Cold Poison in her body even more, as if it wanted to completely freeze her vitality.

The painful thoughts transmitted by the bond light chain became clearer.

Daring not to delay, he immediately sat by the bed, extended his finger, and gently tapped her icy wrist.

Where he touched her, the chill was bone-piercing.

"Miss Lin?" he called out softly.

Lin Qingxue seemed to sense something; her eyelashes trembled, but she could not open her eyes, only emitting an extremely weak groan from her throat.

Ye Chen immediately circulated his Cultivation Technique, attempting to guide the Cold Poison in her body.

However, the violence of this Cold Poison far exceeded the past; the moment his True Qi probed in, it was like a clay ox entering the sea, instantly dispersed by that violent chill.

Instead, it triggered a trace of Cold Poison to backlash along his finger!

Ye Chen let out a muffled groan, his entire arm instantly numb!

What powerful Cold Poison!

He hurriedly urged the jade pendant and his own True Qi to barely neutralize the backlash of Cold Poison.

This won't do! Conventional methods cannot guide it at all!

What to do?

Cold sweat seeped from Ye Chen's forehead.

Looking at Lin Qingxue's painful appearance, he was anxious.

Suddenly, he remembered the record about the "bone-eroding pill" in that strange booklet, as well as his deeper understanding of cold energy after absorbing the ten thousand year profound ice Origin.

This Cold Poison seemed not just purely cold, but also carried a strange characteristic of corroding vitality and freezing the Soul!

Perhaps... he could try using that trace of "Nirvana" Concept from the Profound Ice Origin to neutralize this strange corrosiveness?

This was an extremely risky idea!

The Nirvana chill of the Profound Ice Origin was equally overbearing; if he didn't control it well, not only would he fail to save her, but he might accelerate her death!

But at the moment, there seemed to be no better way!

Ye Chen steeled his heart, his eyes becoming firm.

He extended his finger again, tapping Lin Qingxue's wrist.

But this time, he was not simply guiding it; instead, he carefully mobilized that trace of Origin cold energy in his Dantian, obtained from the profound ice, which contained the Nirvana Concept.

He condensed it at his fingertips, turning it into an extremely subtle cold ray that carried a sense of ancient dead silence, slowly passing it into Lin Qingxue's Meridians.

This was an extremely delicate operation, like walking a tightrope.

Ye Chen had to control the intensity of this Nirvana chill; it had to be able to neutralize the corrosiveness of the Cold Poison without harming Lin Qingxue's own vitality.

Bean-sized sweat drops rolled down Ye Chen's forehead, instantly condensing into ice beads.

He immersed all his focus into it, sensing the subtle changes of the two cold energies in Lin Qingxue's body.

At first, after that trace of Nirvana chill entered, Lin Qingxue's body trembled violently, and the look of pain on her face became more intense.

But soon, Ye Chen keenly noticed that the originally violent and corrosive Cold Poison, upon contacting this higher-level, purer Nirvana chill, it was as if it had met its nemesis, its corrosive characteristics being rapidly neutralized and disintegrated!

Although the chill remained, it became much "purer"!

It was effective!

Ye Chen was overjoyed and controlled the Nirvana chill even more carefully.

Like the most agile embroidery needle, it roamed through Lin Qingxue's main Meridians.

Wherever it passed, it peeled away and purified those strange, bone-adhering Cold Poisons bit by bit.

This process was slow and consumed a huge amount of energy.

Ye Chen's True Qi and mental focus poured out like floodwaters from an opened sluice.

But he gritted his teeth and persisted, his gaze locked tightly on Lin Qingxue's face.

I don't know how long it had been, but the frost between Lin Qingxue's eyebrows gradually melted, a trace of color returned to her pale cheeks, her tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed, and her breathing became steady and long.

The violent Cold Poison in her body was finally temporarily suppressed.

Ye Chen let out a long sigh of relief, his whole body feeling as if it had collapsed, almost unable to sit steadily.

He withdrew his finger, wiped the cold sweat and ice shards from his forehead, and looked at Lin Qingxue, who had fallen into a deep sleep with steady breathing on the bed; the heavy stone in his heart finally landed.

This time, he had finally made it in time.

He dared not stay long, fearing he would alert the guards outside.

Just as he was about to get up and leave, the person on the bed let out a faint whimper.

Lin Qingxue slowly opened her eyes. Those cold eyes appeared exceptionally bright in the darkness.

With a trace of confusion from just waking up, they immediately focused on the figure by the bed.

Their eyes met.

The air seemed to have frozen.