The Foolish Son Hunts for Medicine in the Deep Mountains, While the Gorgeous Pavilion Mistress’s Back Hall Overflows With Heat

"Only a forty percent chance?"

Lin Mubai turned around, the light in his eyes startlingly bright.

He strode up to the wheelchair in a few steps, both hands gripping the armrests as he stared at his mother with burning intensity. "Mom, let’s try it! Even if it fails, the worst that happens is that things stay the same. We’ve got nothing to lose!"

Shen Qingyun folded the silk handkerchief and tucked it into her sleeve. "The Frost Abyss qi has been tangled with her meridians for more than a decade. If we’re even a little careless, both legs could be permanently crippled. Forty percent is already the limit."

Xue Ning did not answer at once.

She lowered her lashes, her gaze falling on her knees, once again hidden beneath her skirt.

The sharp sting and numb tingle from that moment a moment ago still seemed to echo in her marrow.

More than ten years.

She had once thought she would spend the rest of her life trapped in this small wooden chair, watching the Sword Pavilion decline day by day.

"Treat her," Lin Mubai said as if he had made up his mind to the utmost. "Senior Shen, so long as you can cure my mother’s legs, everyone in the Sword Pavilion is at your disposal!"

Xue Ning’s brows knit slightly. She wanted to chide her son for speaking so recklessly, but when she saw that almost obsessive hope in his eyes, the words on her lips went back down.

She let out a soft sigh and looked at Shen Qingyun. "Then I’ll be troubling you."

Shen Qingyun nodded lightly and said nothing more.

That night, the guest quarters of the Sword Pavilion.

Sikong Lin, dressed in black, leaned by the window and idly played with the jade slip in her hand.

Moonlight fell across her profile, outlining a sharp jawline.

"You really can cure his mother’s legs?" she asked without turning around.

Shen Qingyun sat at the table, unhurriedly pouring a cup of tea. "That boy has exceptional talent, but his temperament still needs shaping. His whole heart is tied to his mother. If we forcibly take him away, resentment will surely follow later. Healing his mother’s legs will remove his worries and count as forming a good connection."

Sikong Lin turned around, one brow lifting. "The sect selection is imminent, and Chu Qingqiu has issued a dead-serious order. Are you sure of yourself?"

"I only have a forty percent chance," Shen Qingyun said, taking a sip of tea and looking up at her. "But if you help, it can go up to eighty percent."

Sikong Lin gave a cold laugh. "I only kill people. I don’t know how to save them."

"I don’t need you to save anyone."

Shen Qingyun set down her teacup. "I still need one key medicinal catalyst: the demon core of a Scarlet Flame Tiger. That thing isn’t easy to find, and that boy needs some training too. Take him to the Sunset Mountains once. First, to gather the medicine; second... to see what he’s really made of."

Sikong Lin was silent for a moment, then snorted. "You do know how to scheme. Fine, I’ll take him. But if he can’t even handle a single Scarlet Flame Tiger, then trash like him isn’t fit to enter the Taiwei Sect."

In the days that followed, the Sword Pavilion’s back hall became Shen Qingyun’s private clinic.

Every morning and every evening, she would arrive on time to massage Xue Ning and promote blood circulation.

At first, Xue Ning was still a little self-conscious.

After all, there were differences between men and women, and Shen Qingyun had once been the boy she’d watched grow up.

But Shen Qingyun’s movements remained restrained and professional. Aside from the warm spiritual energy flowing from his fingertips, there was no trace of impropriety.

Gradually, Xue Ning relaxed as well.

"How do you feel today?" Shen Qingyun asked as she knelt on one knee in front of the wheelchair, expertly lifting the hem of Xue Ning’s skirt to reveal that pale, snow-white calf.

"Better than yesterday. Occasionally I can feel a faint soreness," Xue Ning said softly, leaning against the chair back.

Only the two of them were in the room now, and the air was filled with a faint medicinal fragrance.

With Lin Mubai absent, that swords-drawn tension had vanished without a trace.

Shen Qingyun’s thumb gently pressed on the Zusanli acupoint, spiritual power seeping in like fine threads. "The Frost Abyss qi is receding, but the meridians have atrophied for too long. Recovery will take time."

Xue Ning looked at his focused expression, and for a moment, the calm, restrained man before her overlapped with the memory of that always-sooty boy who used to trail after her shouting, "Sister Ning."

"Qingyun..." she called softly.

Shen Qingyun’s hands paused slightly. He looked up. "What is it?"

"All these years... at the Taiwei Sect, have you been doing well?"

Shen Qingyun lowered his lashes and continued the massage. "Pretty well. Big sects have abundant resources. Even though the competition is fierce, I’ve still broadened my horizons."

His tone was flat, betraying no emotional fluctuation.

But Xue Ning knew that in a place like the Taiwei Sect, where geniuses were gathered in droves, he must have suffered a great deal.

"That’s good," Xue Ning said with a soft sigh, asking no more.

Shen Qingyun’s hands did not stop, spiritual energy moving through his fingertips as it combed inch by inch through those rigid, lifeless channels. The room was quiet for a while, broken only by the occasional rustle of fabric.

"Why haven’t I seen your husband these past few days?" Shen Qingyun asked as if it were a casual remark, her gaze still fixed on the acupoints on Xue Ning’s instep.

"He’s dead."

Xue Ning answered without the slightest hesitation.

"I’m sorry."

"It’s fine." Xue Ning tugged down the skirt fabric that had curled up over her thigh, covering that exposed stretch of cool white skin. "It’s been many years already. I’m used to it."

She seemed unwilling to linger on the subject, shifting her gaze toward the window.

Shen Qingyun did not ask again, but the spiritual power at her fingertips seemed to grow even more sustained than before.

Ten days later.

The outer perimeter of the Sunset Mountains.

Sikong Lin stood with her sword in hand, looking at the blood-soaked youth not far away.

Lin Mubai gasped for breath, his long sword planted in the ground, a massive Scarlet Flame Tiger corpse lying at his feet.

He wiped the blood and grime from his face and grinned. "Senior Sikong, I did it!"

Sikong Lin said nothing. She simply stepped forward, flicked her sword, and dug out the Scarlet Flame Tiger’s demon core before tossing it to Lin Mubai.

"Your talent is passable, but your actual combat experience is too poor. You rely entirely on instinct. If this Scarlet Flame Tiger hadn’t already been injured, you’d be a corpse right now."

Her tone was icy, but a trace of barely visible approval flickered in her eyes.

This boy’s combat instinct far exceeded her expectations.

Given time, he would surely become something formidable.

"Heh, yes, senior, lesson taken," Lin Mubai said without the slightest irritation, carefully putting away the demon core. "With this, my mother’s legs are saved!"

The two of them rushed back to the Sword Pavilion that very night.

The moment he stepped into the back hall, Lin Mubai shouted impatiently, "Mom! Senior Shen! I got the demon core!"

He hurried into the room, but froze hard when he clearly saw what was before him.

Shen Qingyun was kneeling half in front of the wheelchair, holding a warm towel and carefully wiping Xue Ning’s jade-like feet.

Her movements were tender, as though she were handling a rare treasure.

Xue Ning, meanwhile, had her head slightly tilted back, cheeks flushed red, eyes shimmering with water, as if she were doing her utmost to endure something.

This was originally the sort of thing only a personal maid would do, but when Shen Qingyun did it, it carried an indescribable intimacy and ambiguity.

"Mubai, you’re back." Hearing the movement, Xue Ning hurriedly lowered her skirt, covering that alluring sight.

Lin Mubai stood stiffly in place, his gaze flicking back and forth between Shen Qingyun and his mother.

For some reason, an inexplicable irritation suddenly surged in his chest.

"Mm... I’m back," he replied woodenly, handing the demon core to Shen Qingyun. "Senior Shen, this is the Scarlet Flame Tiger’s demon core."

Shen Qingyun took the demon core, her expression unchanged. "You’ve worked hard. With this medicinal catalyst, your mother’s legs can be fully healed."

Over the next month, the treatment entered its final stage.

With the aid of the Scarlet Flame Tiger’s demon core, the Frost Abyss qi in Xue Ning’s legs was completely driven out, and the atrophied meridians began to regain their vitality.

Only, during each treatment session, the room returned to being occupied by three people.

Lin Mubai was like a wolf cub guarding its own pack, staring dead at every move Shen Qingyun made, afraid she might take advantage of his mother.

Shen Qingyun didn’t care at all and continued the treatment methodically.

Until the eve of the final treatment.

Shen Qingyun placed a scarlet pill on the table, her expression grave. "This is the 'Rebone Blood-Merging Pill' refined from the Scarlet Flame Tiger’s demon core. Once you take it, and combine it with my massage, your meridians can be completely reshaped. However..."

She paused and looked at Lin Mubai. "This pill is extremely potent. After taking it, one’s blood and qi will surge violently, and the senses will be magnified several times over. In other words, the pain during the massage, and even certain subtle touches, will all be amplified beyond measure."

Lin Mubai’s brows tightened. "Will it hurt a lot?"

"It depends on the person," Shen Qingyun said calmly. "But it may also produce certain... side effects."

"What side effects?"

Shen Qingyun did not answer directly, but instead looked at Xue Ning. "Pavilion Master Xue, have you decided on this final step?"

Xue Ning stared at the pill, which gave off a faint warmth, and bit her lip.

Of course she understood what Shen Qingyun meant by "side effects."

Over this past month, as sensation gradually returned to her legs, the numbing, tingling pleasure that spread from deep within her bones had already nearly made her lose composure several times during the massages.

If her senses were magnified several times over... she didn’t dare imagine what sort of disgraceful expression she would end up showing.

"It’s fine!" Lin Mubai answered for his mother without the slightest hesitation. "As long as my mother’s legs can be cured, what’s a little pain? Mom, don’t be afraid. I’ll be right here with you!"

Xue Ning looked at her son’s determined eyes, her heart in utter turmoil.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and said, "Then... I’ll be troubling Envoy Shen."