Li Banfeng stood at the door of the sickroom, looking at Cui Tiq and another person.
Li Banfeng hadn’t seen him before, and the current situation made it difficult to recognize him.
Wan Jinxian’s condition was very complicated. Patches of green blisters had already covered his body, and now he had to face an assault from both Cui Tiq and Li Banfeng.
This was Cui Tiq’s hospital, and Wan Jinxian couldn’t even find an escape route.
Luckily, Cui Tiq wasn’t going for the kill.
He really wanted to kill Wan Jinxian, but at the moment, he was more interested in something else.
Cui Tiq looked at Li Banfeng and said, "This is my Senior Martial Brother. Although this is our first meeting, we hit it off very well. Please go back to the sickroom and continue taking care of your friend. My Senior Martial Brother and I will go somewhere else to chat so we won’t disturb you."
Li Banfeng returned to the sickroom.
Cui Tiq had helped him; that was true.
He and Cui Tiq were friends; that, too, was true.
But for Li Banfeng to fully trust Cui Tiq was very difficult.
In Medicine King Valley, Cui Tiq had almost killed Li Banfeng.
In Blue Poplar Village, Cui Tiq had also sought out Li Banfeng.
And now his Senior Martial Brother had arrived.
The two had just clashed in the corridor, and Li Banfeng had heard it.
Currently, Cui Tiq was hostile towards this Senior Martial Brother. However, with Cui Tiq’s temperament, it was very likely that he could become friends with this Senior Martial Brother in the next second.
But Li Banfeng needed to know what exactly they were discussing.
Li Banfeng touched his earrings. The Silk-pulling Earrings began to trace the voices of Cui Tiq and Wan Jinxian.
Cui Tiq invited Wan Jinxian into the emergency room. Wan Jinxian hesitated for a moment, then followed him inside.
Cui Tiq took off his white coat and hung it on the door.
The Silk-pulling Earrings said to Li Banfeng, "Master, he has a Spiritual Object that blocks Peeping Cultivation."
"Can you bypass it?"
In the past, the earrings naturally lacked such an ability. Zhou Yujuan, who had made the earrings, was only a First Layer Peeping Cultivator.
But now, the level of the earrings was different; Li Banfeng had slowly nurtured them using the flesh and blood of others.
The pendants on the earrings swung back and forth, and gradually, Li Banfeng began to hear some voices.
In the emergency room, Cui Tiq asked Wan Jinxian, "You just said you killed your master to graduate from your apprenticeship. What do you mean by that?"
Wan Jinxian looked at Cui Tiq without saying a word.
Cui Tiq reminded him, "I know you’re trying your best to neutralize the pathogens in your body, but you cannot succeed. Your current situation is very bad. If you want to survive, you must honestly answer all my questions. I may already know the answers to some of them and could just be testing you, so do not lie to me."
Wan Jinxian nodded and asked, "The person who targeted He Jiaqing at Yuezhou Sanatorium—that was you, wasn’t it?"
Cui Tiq looked at Wan Jinxian and said, "Don’t get the order wrong. I’m the one asking questions here."
After a moment of silence, Wan Jinxian said to Cui Tiq, "Orthodox Disease Cultivation has a fixed lineage and a specific Gang, called the Plague Sect."
Cui Tiq shook his head. "I’ve been in Puluo State for a long time, and I’ve never heard of such a Gang."
"Very few people in the world have heard of the Plague Sect because, most of the time, the Plague Sect consists of just one person."
Cui Tiq asked, "How can a single person be considered a Gang?"
Wan Jinxian looked at Cui Tiq, waves of doubt rising in his heart.
"How did you enter the Taoist Sect?" Wan Jinxian asked.
Cui Tiq smiled. "The process of my Entering the Path was quite unique. If I were to tell you, it might take a long time. Considering your current condition, you probably don’t have time to listen to my story, so please focus on answering my questions."
Cui Tiq left a sentence unsaid:
Wan Jinxian also recognized the reality and didn’t ask any further. "The Plague Sect doesn’t usually recruit disciples. Only when a Disease Cultivator feels they are at the end of their lifespan do they establish the sect to take on three disciples—and only three. These three disciples must follow their master and learn for a year. After that year, the three disciples must use the skills they’ve learned to fight each other for a month, with only one survivor.
"The surviving disciple must then sign a Contract Book with the master, promising not to take on more disciples in the future, while also ensuring the sect’s heritage isn’t extinguished. They must continue the sect according to these rules.
"Finally, only one more thing needs to be done: after the master’s death, the disciple must eat the master’s corpse. Only then will they have truly entered the sect."
"So the master’s corpse is the ’elixir’ for initiation?"
Wan Jinxian nodded.
Cui Tiq was silent for a moment, then asked, "Who established these rules?"
Wan Jinxian shook his head. "I don’t know. These were the rules when I entered the sect."
"Did you eat your master?"
"Otherwise, I couldn’t have entered the sect."
"I see. So this is what you meant when you said that, for the most part, there is only one Disease Cultivator in the world?"
Wan Jinxian nodded. "So I can’t understand why there’s an additional fellow practitioner like you in the world. What I understand even less is how this fellow practitioner is a Foreign Devil."
Cui Tiq smiled. "I have something else I’d like to ask you. We Disease Cultivators are long-lived because we can resolve diseases. As long as we don’t suffer fatal wounds, only time can take us.
"If a Disease Cultivator is particularly tenacious and accepts a disciple, yet years later still hasn’t passed away, will he choose to commit suicide to complete this inheritance, or will he make his disciple wait indefinitely?"
Wan Jinxian scratched at a blister on his body. "I don’t know about previous situations, but my master’s master was a very long-lived person. He thought he was on his last breath, so he took a disciple. Yet my master stayed with him for nearly fifty years before he finally passed away. This resulted in my master only Entering the Path of the Taoist Sect at sixty-five. Until the day he died, he was merely a Second Layer Cultivator."
Cui Tiq laughed. "It seems you were quite lucky; your master wasn’t so long-lived."
Wan Jinxian shook his head. "My master was also a long-lived person. It’s just that, at that time, he was too old."
"So you killed him?"
Wan Jinxian scratched open another blister and retorted, "What’s the use of asking so much about my master and me?"
Cui Tiq shrugged. "Sorry, it seems I brought up some rather unpleasant memories. Let’s talk about something useful. Why did you target Ma Junyang?"
Wan Jinxian replied, "You should be able to guess. Ma Wu has a friend named Li Qi."
"So you targeted Li Qi to get the Mysterious Red Life Lotus he possesses?"
Wan Jinxian didn’t deny it. "Didn’t you save Ma Wu for the Mysterious Red Life Lotus as well?"
Cui Tiq shook his head. "That’s not it. I’m not interested in the Mysterious Red Life Lotus."
Wan Jinxian sneered.
Cui Tiq said, "It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe me, but I’m telling the truth. Li Qi and I are friends, and I truly have no interest in the Red Lotus. What really interests me is you, the Ling Family brothers, and some other people—individuals in Puluo State with identity, status, and strength who seem to be taking orders from someone from the Outside Provinces. Is that right?"
Wan Jinxian didn’t answer.
Cui Tiq asked again, "That person from the Outside Provinces—his name is He Jiaqing, right?"
Wan Jinxian still remained silent.
Cui Tiq licked his lips.
Many of the blisters on Wan Jinxian’s left hand had receded.
"Senior Martial Brother, do you see? I can cure the blisters on your body, but you cannot. Your life is in my hands."
Wan Jinxian heaved a long sigh. "You once targeted He Jiaqing. Don’t you know the inner workings of this?"
As his words fell, more blisters erupted on Wan Jinxian’s body.
Cui Tiq frowned slightly. "Senior Martial Brother, don’t answer my question with another question, or you will pay the price. Since He Jiaqing is your leader, does your organization also have a Gang?"
"It could be considered one. He Jiaqing named it the Brotherhood Alliance. We all address each other as Brother."
"What’s the purpose of establishing this Gang? He Jiaqing is the He Family heir; he lacks neither money nor status. What exactly is he trying to achieve?"
Wan Jinxian looked at Cui Tiq and said slowly, "He wants to recreate a different Puluo State."
"Different? What’s wrong with Puluo State? What kind of Puluo State does he envision?"
Wan Jinxian considered how to best explain. "I don’t mean to question you; I just want to know one thing. Have you ever been to the Inner State?"
Cui Tiq nodded. "I have. I went there with a Guide Token. It’s an unpleasant place, but the people there treated me well. In the Inner State, they called me a ’friend of the nation,’ which is much nicer than how people from the Outside Provinces treat me. The ones who treat me the worst are the people from Puluo State; they always call me ’damned Foreign Devil.’ In truth, I’m a good Foreign Devil, and I deeply love Puluo State."
Wan Jinxian said, "If you’ve been to the Inner State, you should know some things. You should be aware of the suffering those Cultivators who have surpassed the Tenth Layer endure there."
Cui Tiq nodded. "I’m aware of that."
Wan Jinxian continued, "As for the Outside Provinces, you’d understand if you’ve had any contact with a Border Defense Envoy just how much Puluo State is exploited by them."
Cui Tiq nodded again. "I know a bit about that too."
"Puluo State has suffered too much, shamefully exploited by both the Inner State and the Outside Provinces. He Jiaqing told me he wants to restore Puluo State’s dignity, to allow all its people to live with dignity. I trust this young man, so I followed him. Have I made myself clear this time?"
Cui Tiq nodded. "He’s quite an incredible person. I have a lot of respect for him."
Wan Jinxian looked at the blisters covering his body. "Junior Martial Brother, I’ve lost to you. I’m thoroughly impressed. I’ve seen countless diseases in my lifetime, but never such formidable ones."
Cui Tiq chuckled. "More difficult to deal with than the ones you inflicted on He Haiqin?"
Wan Jinxian blinked, then laughed helplessly. "He Haiqin was also saved by you? I’m truly impressed. You really are my nemesis. Since I’ve already lost, if you want to kill me, do it swiftly. If you intend to let me live, just state your conditions. Don’t keep this dragging on; it’s uncomfortable for both of us."
Cui Tiq pondered for a moment, then took a deep breath.
The blisters on Wan Jinxian’s body quickly disappeared.
"Junior Martial Brother, are you just letting me go without any conditions?"
Cui Tiq shook his head. "Of course, there are conditions. I’m very interested in your Brotherhood Alliance and would like to hear more about your affairs. Can you tell me?"
Wan Jinxian asked, "What kind of stories do you want to hear?"
"I want to hear about future events."
Wan Jinxian was taken aback. "How would I know about future events?"
Cui Tiq smiled. "Then tell me when you find out."
The words were a bit convoluted, but Wan Jinxian understood.
He touched his back, feeling a single, crystal-clear blister.
Cui Tiq stood up. "Senior Martial Brother, there will always be one blister on you that won’t disappear. Exactly which one, I can’t say for sure. If I want information about the Brotherhood Alliance in the future, you must tell me."
PS: Don’t worry about He Jiaqing; the Brotherhood Alliance is large, and he has many more brothers.