Yanmei wasn't lying about the pain.
She cut deep into his side, deeper than the original wound reopening it to see the internal damage with no anesthetic beyond a numbing salve that barely took the edge off. Her hands moving in with absolute certainty, her fingers probing inside his chest cavity like she could see through flesh.
Longwei "hmmm'd" through the pain. He should be used to it by now, after all he survived a fall down The Ravine of Broken Oaths.
Mei held his shoulders down, she could feel his agony but still didn't let go.
It was better for him.
"Lung is torn," Yanmei announced it as if discussing the weather. "Three ribs are cracked and the infection has spread to the pleural cavity. This is going to take a while."
She got back to worked, threading spiritual energy through her needles, and stitching not just his flesh but Qi pathways. Pouring tinctures directly into the wound (the burned), Pressing her hands against his chest and flooding him with a strange warm energy that wasn't Yin or Yang but something else entirely.
Life Force.She's a life cultivation practitioner. Rare specialty.
The voices in his head began screaming louder, disturbed by the foreign energy invading his system. They lashed out, trying to contaminate Yanmei's healing.
She bit her tongue in annoyance. "Your resentment is fighting me. Typical." She pulled out a jade token, pressed it to his forehead. "This will sting."
That was an understatement. The token flared with pure white light, life essence condensed into physical form. It burned through his skull like a brand, searing directly into his consciousness.
The voices shrieked then fell silent but it wasn't gone just merely suppressed. Forcibly contained.
"Better," Yanmei muttered. "Now we can work."
Two hours passed, maybe three. Time lost meaning somewhere between the seventh and eighth instance of her pouring liquid fire into his chest cavity.
Finally, she stepped back.
"Done. You'll live." She wiped blood off her hands with a clean cloth. "The lung is sealed, the ribs are stabilized and I've cleared most of the infection but you'll need rest, proper nutrition and daily cleansing cultivation to handle the resentment... But you're not dying today."
Longwei tried to speak but he couldn't, everywhere still hurt so much.
Yanmei turned to Mei. "Your turn. Shoulder wound is infected, probably full of demonic Qi from whatever attacked you. Sit down."
Mei hesitated, looked at Longwei then back at Yanmei.
Mei sat.
Yanmei's treatment of her was faster, the shoulder wound was serious but not life threatening. Still, Mei gasped and gritted her teeth through the process especially when Yanmei dug out fragments of corrupted flesh.
"You've been ignoring this for too long," Yanmei scolded. "Another week and you'd have lost use of the arm. Cultivators, always prioritizing combat over common sense."
When she was done, both of them lay on separate beds exhausted and hurting but alive.
Yanmei washed her hands thoroughly, then pulled up a stool between their beds.
"Now," she said, settling in with clear anticipation. "Let's talk about blood cultivation."
And They Talked...
Or rather, Yanmei asked questions and Longwei answered. Mei interjected occasionally but mostly listened, watching the physician with wary eyes.
Yanmei wanted to know everything. How he'd found the Primordial Scripture. What the blood cultivation techniques felt like. The mechanics of absorption. The resentment contamination. The Ladder system. His fight with Lian Xue.
She was so focused, even occasionally taking notes on a small journal she produced from her robes.
"Fascinating," she murmured after he described the Crimson Tide technique. "So the blood Qi acts as both weapon and siphon, it's quite an elegant design."
"You sound like you're studying a particularly interesting disease," Mei said sharply.
"In a way, I am." Yanmei looked up from her notes. "Blood cultivation is one of the most feared and least understood paths. The sects call it evil without explaining why and I've always been curious about the truth behind the propaganda."
"And now you know," Longwei said. "Are you going to turn us in?"
"Why would I?" She closed her journal. "You haven't threatened me. You answered my questions honestly... I think? And frankly, you're more useful alive than dead, I don't get many chances to study rare cultivation methods up close."
"Study?" Mei's voice was ice. "We're not a research subjects."
"Everyone's someone's research subject, whether they know it or not." Yanmei stood and stretched. "But if it makes you feel better, I have no intention of sharing what I've learned. Your secrets are safe with me."
"Why?" Longwei asked.
Yanmei went quiet for a moment, then she pulled down the collar of her robe, revealing her collarbone.
There, etched into her skin in silver characters glowing a little, was a mark. Not a tattoo, spiritual marking.
"Immortal's Geas," she said quietly. "A binding placed on me by my father, I'm forbidden from harming patients under my care or revealing their secrets without permission or trust." She pulled her collar back up. "It's not that I'm trustworthy by nature, It's that I'm literally incapable of betraying you while you're my patients."
"Your father is an Immortal?" Mei breathed.
"Was... Maybe still is. It's complicated." Yanmei waved a hand dismissively. "Point is, the geas makes me the safest person you could have stumbled across. I couldn't betray you even if I wanted to or the binding would kill me first."
Longwei studied her and through his cultivation senses he could feel the mark she'd shown them was a powerful, ancient and absolute. She wasn't lying.
"Why do you have that binding?" he asked. "What did you do?"
"That's a story for another time." Yanmei moving towards the door. "You should rest here for three days, give your wounds time to heal properly. I have rooms upstairs, it's basic but clean, consider it part of the treatment."
"We need to keep moving," Mei protested. "More hunters will come."
"Then they'll find two wounded cultivators who can barely stand." Yanmei's voice was firm. "Or they'll find two rested cultivators at full strength. Your choice."
She had a point.
"Three days," Longwei agreed. "Then we leave."
"Good decision." Yanmei opened the door. "Oh, and one more thing. The blood cultivator who wounded you... The Blood Lotus, you spared her?"
"How did you..."
"I have my sources." She smiled. "For what it's worth, I think you made the right choice. Mercy is rarer than murder in the cultivation world and It has value."
"Value to who?"
"To people like me... You know, people who remember that cultivators started as humans and not the other way around." She stepped through the door. "Rest. I'll bring food later, and tomorrow, we'll start working on your resentment contamination problem."
The door closed behind her.
Longwei and Mei lay in their respective beds, processing the last few hours.
"I don't trust her," Mei said.
"The geas..."
"Could be fake, might have loopholes, or it could be exactly what she says it is and she's still planning something we don't see." Mei turned her head to look at him. "We've been betrayed before, both of us. I'm not too eager to repeat the experience."
"Fair, but right now, we need her help and she's right... three days of rest will make us stronger than running on empty."
She was reluctant, definitely didn't like it but she agreed with the logic.
"Besides," Longwei added, "did you notice her cultivation?"
"Core Formation Stage Two, unusual for a physician... most focus on Qi Condensation or Foundation, enough to power healing techniques without needing combat strength."
"Exactly. She's stronger than necessary for her profession, and that mark... an Immortal's Geas? How many people have Immortals for fathers?"
"What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking Liu Yanmei is hiding more than she's revealing and we should figure out what before we leave."
Mei chuckled.
"You're already collecting strays, aren't you? First me, now a mysterious physician with daddy issues."
"I'm not collecting..."
"You spared Lian Xue because you saw something redeemable in her, and you're trusting Yanmei despite obvious red flags. You have a pattern, Longwei."
"Pattern?"
"You see broken things and want to fix them. Want to prove that mercy and honor can survive in this world." Her voice softened. "It's admirable, also stupid. But admirable."
He didn't have a response to that.
They lay in silence, listening to the sounds of the village outside. Mortals going about their business, cultivators passing through. A world that didn't know or care about the Crimson Ladder, about blood cultivation, about the desperate fight for survival happening in its shadows.
I'm so tired, Longwei thought. Tired of fighting, tired of voices in my head, tired of drawing lines and wondering if I'm on the right side of them.
But with the bond Mei's warmth wrapped around him. Comfort without words, support without judgment.
But I'm not alone. And he finally closed his eyes.
The voices still whispered but softer now. Yanmei's token were still suppressing them for now.
Downstairs, in her workshop, Liu Yanmei pulled out a different journal. This one bound in black leather, marked with silver characters:
Blood Cultivation Research - Subject Observations.
She opened it to a fresh page and began writing.
Subject: Shen Longwei, Rank #7,392
Observations:
- Five kills, massive power accumulation in short time
- Resentment contamination severe but not consuming (unusual)
- Strong partnership bond with Mei Xuefeng (87% compatibility)
- Chose mercy over absorption when given opportunity
- Shows genuine internal conflict about path
- Conclusion: Viable candidate
She paused, with the pen hovering over paper then added one more line:
Father was right. This one might actually survive.
She closed the journal and locked it in a hidden compartment behind a fake shelf.
Then she pulled out a jade communication token. Channeled Qi into it, and waited.
A voice emerged...
"WELL?"
"He's here. Just as you predicted."