Chapter 164 - A Different Kind of Healing

"Master Ao, Madame Hou," Yun Bing interjected amidst the unfolding drama between the two parents. "While I dislike repeating myself, I feel like the misunderstandings occurring here will only cause more pain if they aren't addressed. If you prefer that I not meddle, I will leave now and you may sort things out yourselves," she said calmly. "Doing so, however, will only result in more pain, more suffering, and more injustice. I dislike all of those things and would prefer to prevent them if you will listen to a few words."

For several moments, neither Ao Yang nor Hou Jia knew what to say. Ao Yang's mind still reeled at what his wife had done to their daughter while Hou Jia's heart trembled in fear at what Master Yun's words might mean for her. Was she about to be hurt by yet another cultivator who said that they were going to do what 'should be done' no matter the hurt it caused? 

"Since you haven't objected, let me explain why I'm here," Yun Bing said, giving neither parent the opportunity to protest after they'd remained silent for so long. "Flood Dragon Venom is rare on the peninsula but it's much more common in river deltas along the coast of the mainland. I've tended to people who suffered from the bite of a genuine Flood Dragon and from the venom of Spirit Folk who had sufficiently strengthened their bloodlines to produce it. I came here because I've never heard of an instance of a mortal being saved from Flood Dragon Venom without consuming the heart and liver of a genuine Flood Dragon." 

"Consuming the heart," Hou Jia said, shuddering in revulsion. "Surely there are other ways," she said. "Soldier Long Ma didn't intend for my husband to die, he was just using him to get back at that woman for embarrassing him in front of so many influential people. I'm certain he had an anti-venom prepared for A'Yang to take once he'd gotten his revenge and embarrassed that woman a bit," she said, refusing to use Ao Wen's name or acknowledge her relationship with her. 

"Madame Hou," Wu Lin said carefully. "We searched Long Ma and the Long manor. No anti-venom was found anywhere, nor did we find any other Flood Dragon Venom. Long Ma killed his own brother and consumed his heart in some strange ritual to gain power. He intended to do the same thing to Alchemy Novice Ao Wen." 

"What? That's ridiculous," Hou Jia sputtered in disbelief. "How would consuming Ao Wen's heart give him any power?"

"He didn't want her heart my love," Ao Yang said, his voice flat and hollow. "He said he wanted her 'Dragon Core', whatever that is. He said a lot of things that didn't make sense."

"I'm told that Master Ao possesses an unawakened Earth Dragon bloodline," Master Yun said. "And that you passed that bloodline on to your daughter. If she succeeded in awakening her bloodline, she would form a Dragon Core that would provoke the jealousy of any Flood Dragon. He must have wanted to consume her Dragon Core very badly to resort to taking a mortal hostage to advance his aims."

"Then, you're saying that he didn't do this because of what that woman did at the banquet?" Hou Jia asked. This couldn't be right, could it? Wasn't this all just retaliation for Ao Wen's own actions?

"I can't speak to the motivations of the deceased," Yun Bing said softly. "I can, however, tell you the results of my examination of Master Ao Yang and the healing method used on him," she said, diverting the conversation back to where she wanted it to go. "For alchemists, one of the most difficult things to do is to treat mortals for injuries caused by cultivators. The powers of cultivators are too great and even lingering energies of a strong enough cultivator can be fatal to mortals such as yourselves. Oftentimes, the cures we would use on fellow cultivators would be more than fatal to a mortal patient suffering the same injury. With very rare exceptions, mortals cannot consume the pills used by cultivators at all. Elixirs can be consumed with great care and often need to be diluted and consumed over the course of several days instead of all at once. Alchemists have a reputation among some mortals for being unwilling to help but the reality is that we are often unable to," she explained patiently. 

"You're saying that even though her flames hurt me badly, other medicines she could have used would have killed me," Ao Yang said, looking into Yun Bing's placid eyes to ensure he understood what she was saying. "Wen'er said that her Master used dragon flames to purify some kind of Yin sickness from her flesh and that she was using, um, Emerald Phoenix Flames to purify me the same way. The way she talked about it, whatever she'd been suffering, it was even worse than the Flood Dragon Venom." 

"I deeply wish that I could meet your exceptional daughter," Alchemist Yun said. "Or her honored master. It must take an extraordinary conviction as a healer to develop a method like this one. Either extraordinary conviction or extreme desperation," she amended quietly. "How badly must someone want to save a person's life to subject them to such a method? How hopeless must things have been to resort to it?"

"I'm sure you'd have liked to meet her," Ao Yang said, relaxing on hearing Alchemist Yun's explanation. "When she fought Long Ma, I felt like I was watching one of my Grandfather's stories come to life. As much as I hated seeing her hurt so badly, I was also very proud. I'm glad I can be proud of her healing too."

"A'Yang," Hou Jia said. "I think I've made a very big mistake. Can you, can you tell me what happened? I want to understand what," she started, only to lose her voice as quiet sobs choked her throat. 

"Sure, I'll tell you everything," Ao Yang said softly, stroking his wife's back with his one remaining hand and pulling her close. "And then, maybe someone knows where our Wen'er went."

"Lantern City," Wu Lin said, pushing himself away from the wall he'd been leaning on since the conversation became so intensely personal. "She went with Understudy Feng, Soldier Tang, and Young Lord Zhang Bai to Lantern City. She said something about learning to immerse herself in Darkness to hunt monsters."