Chapter 55: The Lin Family’s Aftermath

Lin Family Reception Hall.

Ye Chen waved his hand, and a gentle surge of spiritual power lifted the still-unconscious Yan Hongxiu, laying her flat on one side of the hall.

He took out a fragrant pill, flicked his finger, and the pill transformed into a green light that entered Yan Hongxiu’s lips.

The warm medicinal power instantly spread, like a stream of warmth, beginning to mend her nearly depleted spiritual sea.

Ye Chen’s gaze paused on her pale face for a moment.

No major problem.

Though her spiritual power was almost completely drained, her Golden Core foundation remained intact.

With a period of proper recuperation back at the sect, she would be fine.

His eyes then shifted to another person—Lin Tianxiong, who had been placed on the ground.

“Brother! Brother!”

Lin Tianzheng and Su Shi rushed over, crying out in grief as they looked at the body on the floor, drained of all vitality.

In their eyes, he was no longer the spirited Golden Core cultivator from three years ago, but merely a withered husk at death’s door.

Sunken eye sockets, sallow skin clinging tightly to the bone—were it not for the faint rise and fall of his chest, he would have been no different from a corpse.

“Immortal Master! Please, please save my brother!”

Su Shi suddenly turned, kneeling before Ye Chen, tears streaming as she kowtowed.

“Your powers are vast—you must have a way. I beg you!”

Ye Chen’s expression did not waver.

He only shook his head lightly.

“His Golden Core is shattered, and the Divine Soul Fire is like a candle flickering in the wind. The slow drain of the formation over three years has already eroded his foundation.”

“The breath he holds now is merely a final flicker after leaving the formation. Within half an hour, he will pass.”

These words were like a basin of cold water, extinguishing the last ember of hope in Lin Tianzheng and his wife’s hearts.

As his words fell, Lin Tianxiong’s finger twitched slightly on the ground, his eyelids trembled with difficulty, and he slowly opened them a sliver.

His gaze fell on the younger brother and sister-in-law crying over him, his cracked lips moving as if trying to speak.

At that moment, Ye Chen’s figure quietly faded, vanishing from the spot.

The next instant, he was above the Lin residence, hands clasped behind his back atop the clouds, overlooking the mansion steeped in sorrow below.

Let the final words, the last secrets, be spoken by themselves.

He was merely a passerby, a cultivator who had fulfilled a commission.

Not long after, a stifled and despairing wail drifted up from the reception hall below, only to return to silence before long.

The dust had settled.

Another incense stick’s time passed before Lin Tianzheng, eyes red and swollen, walked out of the hall, looking up at the sky and bowing respectfully.

“Immortal Master…the female cultivator you brought has awakened.”

Ye Chen’s figure silently appeared behind him, nodded, and then stepped back into the hall.

Inside, Yan Hongxiu was already standing.

Her injuries had largely healed under the effect of the pill; though her face was still pale, her spiritual power flowed steadily within her.

She looked inward, finding that though her Golden Core was dim, it was whole.

She let out a long, relieved breath.

Then, she saw Ye Chen slowly entering from outside.

Yan Hongxiu’s pupils widened slightly, the final image she saw before losing consciousness suddenly overlapping with the cold, clear figure before her.

“Ye Chen…Shidi?”

She murmured, disbelief filling her voice.

“It…it was you who saved me!”

Ye Chen smiled faintly, the expression subtle.

“It can be called fate. I accepted a sect commission, and happened to find Shijie trapped here.”

At this time, the Lin couple were supporting each other as they carried Lin Tianxiong’s still-warm body toward the rear courtyard, seemingly to prepare for the funeral.

In the vast hall, the waiting servants had already withdrawn, leaving only Ye Chen and Yan Hongxiu.

The atmosphere grew slightly awkward.

Yan Hongxiu moved gracefully, approaching Ye Chen.

She lowered her head, seeing the hem of his Dharma Robe stained black by ashes and boots dirtied by earth.

She suddenly raised her gaze, looking at his overly handsome profile, her heart skipping a beat without reason.

She hurriedly lowered her eyes again, and to Ye Chen, performed a formal, noblewoman’s courtesy.

“This great kindness…”

Her voice was gentle but trembled.

“Hongxiu has nothing to repay with…”

“Shijie, there’s no need for formality.”

Ye Chen interrupted her, his gaze turning toward the window and sky.

“You’ve just escaped danger, your vitality greatly injured. You should return to the sect and recover properly, lest your foundation suffer.”

The gratitude Yan Hongxiu had prepared was left unspoken.

She looked at Ye Chen’s ever-calm face, biting her lower lip softly, her heart in turmoil.

Twice.

This man had saved her twice.

Once was a life-saving grace, once a kindness of rebirth.

He said it was fate…

Perhaps, it really was.

A strange urge rose in her heart—to find a shoulder to lean on, something she’d never felt before.

Yet, another figure involuntarily surfaced in her mind—the one who always followed behind Ye Chen, eyes tinged with obsession… Xiao Xiao.

The light in her eyes dimmed a little.

She quietly put away the fleeting, unrealistic thoughts in her heart.

Ye Chen did not notice the woman’s complicated emotions or subtle movements behind him.

He was thinking of other matters.

He did not ask why Yan Hongxiu had been inside that demonic formation.

Everyone has their secrets, especially a seeker of the Dao—such things might touch on their deepest wounds.

He did not wish to probe.

Though he had not told Xiao Xiao about either of his encounters with Yan Hongxiu, there was no panic in his heart.

Because to him, Yan Hongxiu was the same as himself—a pure seeker of the Dao.

Their interactions were based on a shared pursuit, not entangled by mundane feelings.

With her, Ye Chen felt no psychological burden.

He even thought, if Xiao Xiao, Xiao Liuli, and Ling Qingshuang could be as transparent and pure as Yan Hongxiu, how much trouble could be avoided.

He sighed silently inside, slowly turning as if to speak again.

His gaze met Yan Hongxiu’s for an instant.

In the next moment, Yan Hongxiu averted her eyes like a startled rabbit, even turning slightly to the side, unable to meet his gaze.