Tune of Chaos (2)

"A-Ahmmn... I don't feel any pain last night or even right now... My arm does not hurt. But, my eyes are indeed shedding tears for no reason! I can't control it!" Zui Qingxing spoke in dread. He had just realized that he had been wiping his eyes after arriving at the apothecary.

"N-No pain?" Wang Si slightly poked one of the wounds using his index finger. The flesh on the skin really moved but the old wine merchant did not even flinch a bit.

"Based on its appearance, it should be extremely painful! The marking wounds on his skin are really bizarre. No pain even though it was deeply carved that some of the flesh could be seen, I've never seen such a case!" Wang Aija commented on the side.

Zui Qingxing could not feel any pain from it. Yet, his watery eyes were evidence that the Hex Mile of Tears was effective. But, how is it possible for him not to feel pain, yet, got afflicted by the illness?

"This is the very reason why I firmly believed that I was just fine before I came here. Nothing is wrong with my body! Until I saw this formation on my arm." said Zui Qingxing while continuously wiping the tears on his face.

Qiaolian pondered for a while. "Thank you, Old Zui. I think I roughly understand this how you were afflicted with this illness. Just take a rest. We will take our leave to properly plan for the cure."

The others quickly understood Qiaolian's intention. They already gathered the necessary information about the patients' condition. All they need to do was to brainstorm the situation and start discussing how to cure their illness.

"Let's go to the Chuangjian Pill Hall. We have several records of illnesses and diagnoses triggered by formations." Wang Si gestured for them to follow his lead.

Soon after, the four of them reached the hall with a huge cauldron at the center. Qiaolian stared at the body of the cauldron for a while before she proceed to walk beside Elder Xia. "Elder, the cauldron is made of gold?"

Elder Xia nodded his head but did not speak any further details of the cauldron.

'Maybe I'll ask old Wang about it later,' Qiaolian secretly thought. She had never been in a pill hall before. And it was also the first time that she had seen a golden cauldron that large. Such a thing was no doubt a rare treasure!

Wang Si pressed a small stone on the corner of the wall and it immediately moved the entire section. The group entered a secret room one after another.

Qiaolian scanned the entire place and glanced at the long marble table but there was no chair available for them to sit on. The walls were full of papers pinned on the walls.

"A-About the Twin Songs of Harmonious Sea... It's the lost tune... Lady Xue, please help us understand it and how the Hex Mile of Tears formation is connected to the tune?" Elder Xia started while Qiaolian was reading one of the papers on the wall.

"Although there are only two tunes mentioned in that cultivation manual, there are various cultivation methods and techniques that came out of it. The Tune of Calmness is widely practiced. So, I won't talk about the first tune. The other tune... I only knew three techniques under the Tune of Chaos. And it was by mere coincidence," Qiaolian started and faced the direction of the elder.

Coincidence that she had the elixir field of her father within her. And utilizing musical weapons was part of the cultivation that the Zhou Clan practiced.

On the side, Wang Aija and Wang Si attentively listened to her. They maintained calm expressions on their faces as if what Qiaolian said was not out of the ordinary.

However, Elder Xia's expression was the opposite. He could feel his heart beating loudly and even if he tried his best to conceal any emotions he felt, they would still be visible on his face.

Three techniques under the path of dark cultivation! Despite his life and death experiences in the past, hearing it was extremely shocking for the elder!

'Could it be that the Zhou Clan practiced the path of dark cultivation and it was the reason why they were massacred?' the elder could not help but think of the possibility.

Before Elder Xia could express his thoughts, Qiaolian continued to speak...

"There is no need for me to tell you the techniques that I knew. It is not relevant to the Hex Mile of Tears formation. But, about the musical weapon I've seen last night, it produced several invisible vibrations. And the technique was called Declination of Suffering."

"Declination of Suffering? Is it a refusal method?" Wang Aija questioned.

Qiaolian tilted her head upwards and appeared to be in deep thought.

"It's more than just refusal. It's a denial of elements of the suffering and channeling it to a different host."

Wang Si gasped in shock. "Very vicious!?"

"It is. But, it's not from the Tune of Chaos. It's rather different and unique... I'm almost certain that the reason why old Zui cannot feel the pain of the wounds in his arm was that... The cuts on the skin had been received by its primary victim. The primary victim took the pain of the wound but the Hex Mile of Tears illness was not. And I am not sure who triggered the Declination of Suffering. I do have three theories..."

Elder Xia took a big gulp and suddenly felt thirsty. It also sensed that his knowledge of Cultivation Methods and Techniques would be tested by their discussion! He slowly gestured for Qiaolian to continue.

"First, whatever the identity of the skeleton that I saw... It was the primary victim of the Hex Mile of Tears. Because it's already dead... The Declination of Suffering may just be purely accidental after its string produced the vibrations. The skeleton was shackled by the formation without fulfilling the death by crying. And since the victim is not fit for the formation anymore, it was looking for a different host. It's unfortunate that old Zui and his boatman was there when it produced vibrations. Pure badluck perhaps?"

Elder Xia slightly shook his head, "Purely accidental seemed impossible to believe."

"That's right. Well, the second reason I could think of, hmmm... It's the sea monster that Harem King Huan Hougong accidentally killed when he attempted to remove the inner core of your Master Huan Xue. I've used one of the methods that I knew in the Tune of Chaos called Nightmare of Dreams. However, the sea monster died before it could even fall asleep. The sea monster was using the skeleton weapon and a method of the Tune of Chaos to transfer the illness?"

This time, Qiaolian purposely left intricate details about the repulsive vibrations and the Detachment of her consciousness that she activated and just picked the obvious reasoning. Elder Xia clasped both of his hands while looking at Wang Aija and Wang Si. The two apothecary owners were obviously confused but did not probe Qiaolian.

"And the third reason, Miss Xue?" Wang Aija muttered softly.

"Ohh... It's not really a reason. But, it's an important clue for solving this illness. You see, only those bodies with divine bloodline can initiate the Declination of Suffering... In this continent, I have never known any clans or sects that have divine bloodlines. That skeleton..." Qiaolian trailed and waited for any of them to speak.

After a long silence, Elder Xia took a deep breath and exhaled loudly.

"The Empress of the Open Sea?! Or the Majesty of the North?! But, the majesty is alive... and he is ordinary royal blood not divine descent... Only the Empress... W-We doesn't know any news about the Open Sea. It's beyond our continent!" Elder Xia exclaimed while staring intently at Qiaolian.