Chapter 72: An Inescapable Fate?

A moment ago, I said there is no remedy for this…” Old Doctor Zhang stroked his beard with a sigh. “His current condition is extremely unusual. If we were to administer medicine recklessly, it could disrupt the delicate balance between his pure yang constitution and the poison from the arrow. Whether that would bring fortune or disaster, no one can say.”

“Does that mean he can only endure it on his own?” Ning Hongwu spoke with some anxiety. “He’s already gravely wounded—if something happens to him, we won’t even have a chance to make amends.”

“There is, in fact, a way that might serve both ends…” Old Doctor Zhang seemed to remember something. “I’ve heard that martial artists who have reached the Innate Realm can use their true qi to shield the meridians and vital organs throughout their bodies. The poison in Liu Shen’s body attacks the heart. If a master of the Innate Realm were willing to help, protecting his heart meridian, it could be done.”

“Innate Realm martial artist…” Ning Hongwu was momentarily dazed by these words. Inexplicably, he recalled what the elder Huayangzi once told him: “Some fates cannot be avoided no matter how you try, while others cannot be forced no matter how you strive.”

Feng Jun, hearing the doctor mention the Innate Realm and noticing his chief’s absent-mindedness, leaned over to remind him softly, “Second Master…”

“I know…” Ning Hongwu turned and left the room, calling over a member of the Green Sand Gang. He whispered a few instructions, and only after seeing him hurry away did he return to the sickroom.

He cupped his hands to Old Doctor Zhang and smiled. “The Innate Realm master will arrive shortly. I must thank you for your guidance, doctor.”

“Oh?” Old Doctor Zhang looked at him in surprise, his face full of curiosity. “Might I ask who you are?”

“I am Ning Hongwu,” Ning replied with a smile. “Currently the leader of the Green Sand Gang. I saw you were focused on your patient earlier and didn’t want to disturb you with introductions. I hope you will forgive me.”

“So it is Leader Ning in person…” Old Doctor Zhang nodded in sudden realization. Though he was not a man of the martial world, he knew well the status the Green Sand Gang held in Heyang County, so he offered a compliment with a genial smile: “Though you are in your middle years, Leader Ning, your vigor rivals that of a man in his thirties. Quite a rare thing, indeed.”

Ning Hongwu’s face twitched at these words, but he found it awkward to explain his actual age. He could only reply stiffly, “You flatter me, you flatter me.”

Elsewhere…

Ning Sanniang had never cared much for gang affairs or deliberations. Now, seeing her elder brother leave on business, she welcomed the peace and returned to her room, clutching the “Heavenly Gang Chapter” of the Primordial Unity Manual she’d pilfered from her master.

She knew that on Huayang Mountain, tradition dictated that yin and yang should eventually harmonize and return to the source…

But she had always been impatient and fiercely competitive. If she truly found a junior “disciple” she could accept, she’d be willing to give it a try.

Yet now, having reached the Fifth Realm herself, she was only one step away from breaking through the shackles of the “Earth Fiend Chapter.” How could she not feel anxious?

What if she couldn’t find this so-called “junior brother” any time soon? And even if she did, what if he failed to meet her expectations? If she advanced to the Sixth Realm, and her “junior brother” was only beginning to study the “Heavenly Gang Chapter,” how many years would it take before they could harmonize yin and yang and return to the origin together?

So, while seeking a “junior brother,” she devoted herself to studying the “Heavenly Gang Chapter”…

If she could fully comprehend both the “Earth Fiend” and “Heavenly Gang” chapters, and deduce the mysteries of the Return to Origin Realm, would she need a “junior brother” at all?

And if not, at the very least, mastering the “Heavenly Gang Chapter” would allow her to teach that junior brother how to cultivate swiftly and avoid detours…

“Second Master, I have a message…” The Green Sand Gang member sent by Ning Hongwu arrived, panting. “The Chief asks that you go immediately to the Tongda Hall Clinic in the south of the city.”

“So flustered…” Ning Sanniang frowned. “What is it?”

“I don’t know…” The gang member shook his head blankly. “The Chief just said you should go right away, and he asked me to deliver a message.”

“What message?”

“He said, the junior brother you’re looking for—there’s news.”

Ning Sanniang’s eyes went wide, and in her excitement, she crushed the armrest of her chair to splinters.

Seeing this, the gang member shrank his neck, wanting to urge her to hurry, but when he looked up, he found the Second Master had already vanished.

What?

“My master has only just left, and now my brother has found me a junior brother? Could this be the fate my master spoke of?” With her heart in turmoil, Ning Sanniang sped toward Tongda Hall in the southern city like a gust of wind. Before she even entered, she called out impatiently, “Brother!”

When she saw Ning Hongwu emerge at the sound, she glanced behind him. “Brother, where is my junior brother?”

“He’s lying on the sickbed…” Ning Hongwu pursed his lips and muttered, “About to die.”

Ning Sanniang’s expression froze, her aura becoming unsteady. “About to die?”

“Mm…” Ning Hongwu nodded, and explained how he’d learned from his subordinates that Liu Shen was gravely injured and unconscious, how he’d hurried over to visit, and how, by chance, he’d learned from the old doctor that Liu Shen possessed a pure yang body and needed the aid of an Innate Realm master to protect his heart meridian.

Ning Sanniang blinked in confusion, clearly struggling to digest this convoluted and strangely serendipitous turn of events.

She composed herself and asked, “Where is he?”

“In here…” Ning Hongwu, knowing his sister’s temperament, led her in and addressed Old Doctor Zhang. “Doctor, my younger sister’s martial skills have reached the Innate Realm. May she attempt to help Liu Shen by protecting his heart meridian?”

“Of course, that’s entirely possible…” Old Doctor Zhang nodded, casting a furtive glance at Ning Sanniang—her reputation as a remarkable woman was well-known, even in the clinic.

Ning Sanniang gazed at the bedridden figure, her expression dazed.

The last time she’d seen Liu Shen was that night by the docks, when he’d been cornered and, right in front of Zhang Wanxuan, had slain his son Zhang Shichen…

His desperate will to live, that fierce, defiant energy, and his audacity to declare his name before Zhang Wanxuan had left a deep impression on her.

She had always thought that such a man was worthy of respect—at least, among the Green Sand Gang.

Who would have thought that the second time they met, Liu Shen would be lying gravely wounded on a sickbed…

And even more unexpected—Liu Shen possessed a pure yang constitution. Wasn’t this far too coincidental?

Her elder brother had once said that she and Liu Shen had been fated as early as five years ago—the first time. The night at the docks would be the second. Now, this was the third.

“Some fates cannot be avoided, no matter how you try; some fates cannot be forced, no matter how you strive…”

Remembering her master’s cryptic words, Ning Sanniang couldn’t help but feel her heart beat a little faster.

Could it be… could this Liu Shen truly be the fate that I cannot escape?