The whole of Mu Qian Fan’s hand looked as if it had been splattered with boiling oil and not a single part of the flesh was whole. The red blistering flesh was filled with yellow pus and looked just like a badly rotted piece of meat. Half the tip of his little finger had already rotted off and the white finger bone was visible under the gory mess.
The overpowering stench of blood and rot suddenly spread within the room.
Qiao Chu and the others suddenly turned pale.
Mu Qian Fan was suddenly very conscious of himself and he was thinking of wrapping his bandages back over his wounds in a hurry when a fair and tiny hand held down the other end of the bandage that had fallen onto the table.
Jun Wu Xie’s eyes narrowed as she stared at the cankerous and festering sores on Mu Qian Fan’s hand. The condition that the hand was in, showed effects that was rather similar to one of the poisons she had previously concocted but in terms of the speed that the rot, it was relatively shorter and did not seem like new flesh would grow back like hers.
Seemingly completely oblivious to what a revolting sight the rotting hand was, Jun Wu Xie instead stood up and carefully inspected the hand up close.
Mu Qian Fan was shocked by Jun Wu Xie’s action. Why was such a young youth not showing any signs of fear at all? He had not only not shrunk back in fear but had instead come up close to inspect his condition carefully. The Heavens know even he himself had been badly disgusted by the rotting flesh all over his body.
But the youth had not batted an eyelid and seemed perfectly calm.
Mu Qian Fan had just wanted to say something when Qiao Chu, who had been sitting directly opposite him suddenly gave him a sign, gesturing him to remain quiet, and even giving him a friendly and knowing smile after.
Mu Qian Fan did not know what Jun Wu Xie wanted from him. But as a man about to die, he was not too concerned about it. If Jun Wu Xie was not afraid, and wanted to take a close look, he had no qualms about showing them his revolting wounds.
After a while, Jun Wu Xie went back to her seat. Her eyes were cold as she looked at Mu Qian Fan and said: “I want to cut out some flesh.”
When Jun Wu Xie’s words came out of her mouth, not just Mu Qian Fan, but even Qiao Chu and Fei Yan had expressions of utter shock on them.
Cut some flesh?
What flesh?
She really wanted to cut out a piece of flesh from Mu Qian Fan’s hand!?
Mu Qian Fan’s eyes opened up wide, seriously doubting what he had just heard.
“You….. want my flesh?” Even if he had accepted that his death was imminent, Mu Qian Fan was nevertheless still badly traumatised by Jun Wu Xie’s words.
Volume 6
Chapter 553: “Mysterious Black Stone (10)”
However, Jun Wu Xie was completely unaware of how fiendishly demented her request had sounded and just nodded calmly.
“A little bit will do.”
Mu Qian Fan froze in place for a while, not understanding how such a tiny sized little youth would be so gutsy. He had not flinched in the slightest from the grotesque wounds on his hand and had now even wanted to cut out a piece of his flesh…..
Didn’t he find it disgusting?
“I’ll pay you.” Jun Wu Xie added.
Mu Qian Fan waved his hands before him quickly, “No need, no need. I will not live long anyway. If you….. really want to…..” Mu Qian Fan clenched his jaw and took out a short dagger. He was doomed anyway, and the wounds were giving him so much pain that he had problems eating and sleeping, so cutting out a tiny bit of his flesh would not hurt him any much more than that. Since Jun Wu Xie had bought the black rock from him, he was already a great benefactor to him, and he did not deem it proper to collect anymore money from his benefactor.
As he spoke, Mu Qian Fan was going to cut out a piece of his flesh when Jun Wu Xie raised a hand to stop him.
“I’ll do it.” Jun Wu Xie said.
Mu Qian Fan was speechless, and he woodenly turned the dagger around and handed it over to Jun Wu Xie.
Jun Wu Xie held the dagger skillfully, having held a scalpel countless times in her previous life.
Staring at Jun Wu Xie’s inverted way of holding the dagger, Mu Qian Fan chose to remain silent.
Jun Wu Xie inspected Mu Qian Fan’s wounds carefully a moment and just when Mu Qian Fan thought that the youth did not dare to do it, Jun Wu Xie suddenly quickly and skillfully cut into the side of his palm and carved out a thin slice of flesh about the size of his thumbnail.
The dagger was handled with such quick precision that he did not feel the pain till a little while later.
Cutting off sliver of his flesh with a single slice, Jun Wu Xie had not even blinked. She held the dagger horizontally with the sliver of flesh on top. She retrieved an empty bottle from within her robes with her other hand and emptied the piece of flesh into it.
“……..” Mu Qian Fan could not find the words to describe the youth before his eyes.
The youth had cut out a piece of his rotting flesh. But did he really just keep it in a bottle!?
Did he intend to keep it as a souvenir?
After keeping the bottle containing the rotted piece of flesh carefully, Jun Wu Xie dug out another bottle from within her robes. The palm sized bottle placed right before Mu Qian Fan.
“Three times a day, one pill each time. Take with warm water.” was Jun Wu Xie’s curt and simple instructions.
Mu Qian Fan did not understand what was happening at that moment and only stared blankly at Jun Wu Xie, and turned his eyes to stare at the bottle of medicine before him.
Having gotten used to Jun Wu Xie’s abnormal miserliness with spoken words, Qiao Chu consciously cleared his throat and generously explained it for Mu Qian Fan: “The medicine will help you with your injuries. Just do as you are told and it will be fine.”
Mu Qian Fan suddenly recovered his senses and shook his head in a hurry: “No need, the medicine will be wasted on my condition anyway. The fact that you purchased the black rock is more than enough and I am deeply grateful for it.”
He tried to refuse and wanted to return the medicine to Jun Wu Xie.
However, Jun Wu Xie only gave the medicine bottle a glance and raised the little bronze bell in the room and shook it gently. The attendant outside the room quickly shuffled in.
“Warm water.” Jun Wu Xie said.
The attendant was rather quick to realise what Jun Wu Xie was asking for and slipped out of the room quickly and returned with a pot of warm water before he quickly stepped out through the door once again.
“Dumb Qiao.”
“Here!”
“Pry his mouth open.”
“……..”
Mu Qian Fan’s face paled in shock. Qiao Chu hesitated just a moment before he jumped onto Mu Qian Fan and immediately pried his mouth open. Fei Yan stood on one side and swiftly removed a single elixir from the bottle, quickly throwing it into Mu Qian Fan’s mouth while Rong Ruo followed up by pouring the warm water directly into Mu Qian Fan’s mouth!
Volume 6
Chapter 554: “Heaven’s End Cliff (1)”
‘Glug….. Glug…..’
Mu Qian Fan found himself forced to swallow the unidentified elixir under the coercion of several youths.
Only after the warm water had washed the elixir down his throat did Qiao Chu and the others release Mu Qian Fan.
Mu Qian Fan almost choked to his death from the water forcefully poured down his throat. He stared helplessly at the bunch of brutal youths and was just about to speak out in protest when he suddenly felt a cooling sensation spread throughout his body. The consuming burning pain that had constantly wrecked at his body was gradually being soothed and it slowly dissipated as the cooling sensation took over him, driving the agonizing pain out of him.
His eyes widened in great surprise and he stared at Jun Wu Xie.
“The elixir…..”
“Will only provide relieve.” Jun Wu Xie said simply. She was still not able to fully ascertain what kind
of poison Mu Qian Fan was afflicted with and it would have to wait till she ran a few tests before she would be able to concoct the proper antidote for it.
Mu Qian Fan was feeling deeply shocked. He finally understood why Jun Wu Xie wanted a piece of his flesh. The youth before him was intending to cure him of his poison!
Mu Qian Fan stood up suddenly and bowed deeply before Jun Wu Xie.
“Your benevolence will be deeply remembered! As long as my worthless life remains, it will be the Young Master’s to command!”
Jun Wu Xie did not reply, but only glanced briefly at Mu Qian Fan.
Mu Qian Fan was deeply grateful. But Jun Wu Xie and the others just stood up to leave. They had other things they needed to attend to.
The Black Jade Stone had already been sent back to the inn and after Jun Wu Xie and her companions got back there, they immediately enquired with the innkeeper on where they would be able to locate a smithy. After they acquired the location, Fan Zhuo hired a horse carriage and made his way there. He wanted to extract the Black Silver from the Black Jade Stone as soon as possible. In case he would suddenly feel unwell, Rong Ruo went along with him.
At that moment in Jun Wu Xie’s room, there was only herself, Qiao Chu, Fei Yan and Hua Yao.
“Regarding what Mu Qian Fan had said, Brother Hua, what are your thoughts?” Fei Yan was sitting at the table, his usual mischievous personality absent as he asked with uncharacteristic sternness.
Hua Yao replied with a slight frown: “I suspect that the Dark Emperor’s tomb lies below the Heaven’s End Cliff.”
“Why do you say that?” Jun Wu Xie asked, her interest piqued.
“We have a map with us, and Little Xie, you know that as well. We managed to lay our hands on it from the Qing Yun Clan and over this period, while we were in the Zephyr Academy’s branch division, we had been investigating into the location of the second piece of the map and also studying the map we have. Fei Yan has dug up every map of the different areas we know of and tried to compare it to the human skin map we have but we have not been able to find any match. If we are to look at the map carefully, the terrain is very flat and there are no hills or mountains reflected upon it. Initially, we had thought that it might be somewhere with wide plains but after hearing what Mu Qian Fan said, I suspect that the location that the map is specifying, is actually the terrain at the bottom of the Heaven’s End Cliff.” Hua Yao said, his eyes narrowed.
The Dark Emperor’s tomb was in the Lower Realm and that was known to all of them. Before they had gotten the map, they had made made full preparations. Fei Yan had roamed the lands and made use of his abilities to map out all the areas he had been to. They had wanted to prepare themselves for the day that they would complete the collection of the human skin maps and locate the Dark Emperor’s tomb in the shortest time possible.
But the first piece of the map they had gotten did not match any of the maps that Fei Yan had compiled. They had thought maybe the map they received was not complete enough or maybe the area that the map specified lay in a place they had never been to before.
But they had never considered that the map they held was a map of the terrain at the bottom of Heaven’s End Cliff.
According to Mu Qian Fan’s words, the lands below the Heaven’s End Cliff were extremely vast and fully covered in impenetrable fog, making it impossible for him to explore. And the only thing he brought back from the bottom of the cliff had been Black Jade Stone that could only be found in the Middle Realm.
Volume 6
Chapter 555: “Heaven’s End Cliff (2)”
All the signs were telling them in no uncertain terms that the Dark Emperor’s tomb was highly possibly located beyond the Heaven’s End Cliff, and all the members of the Twelve Palaces that had been mercilessly murdered and their families rooted out had actually mapped out the terrain at the bottom of the Heaven’s End Cliff.
Otherwise, with the overwhelming might of the Twelve Palaces, it was impossible that they were still unable to find the Dark Emperor’s tomb if it had been anywhere else.
But if the place was completely filled with traps and covered completely in impenetrable fog, a complete and precise map would be needed to locate the place.
“Mu Qian Fan mentioned that some time ago, someone had seeked them out to entrust them with the mission to go investigate the situation below the Heaven’s End Cliff. That would mean that those people could possibly hold a portion of the map. Were they from the Twelve Palaces or someone working for them? Or maybe, the person who seeked Mu Qian Fan out was the person in the Zephyr Academy who holds the map?” Fei Yan rubbed at his chin as his brow creased deep in thought.
“It should be one of the powers beholden to the Twelve Palaces here in the Lower Realm.” Jun Wu Xie said resolutely, sounding very sure of herself.
“Why?” Fei Yan sat up surprised.
Jun Wu Xie replied: “The Twelve Palaces are still trying all ways and means to complete their collection of the maps, so that naturally means that they strongly suspect that the Dark Emperor’s tomb is at the bottom of Heaven’s End Cliff, and that they are aware of the vile conditions of the terrain down there, so they would not be so dumb as to get Mu Qian Fan and his band of brothers to go find out the precise location of the place. If my guess is correct, the Twelve Palaces are not entirely sure whether the Dark Emperor’s tomb is at the bottom of the Heaven’s End Cliff and they are only guessing and hence, they have not made any significant and obvious moves towards the place. This recent expedition must have been the work of someone from one of the palaces, who managed to trace the clues to the Heaven’s End Cliff and gave orders to their contracted powers here. Meanwhile, the person who received the orders was not willing to carry it out himself and entrusted the task to Mu Qian Fan and his band to scout out the place.”
Jun Wu Xie thought a moment before she continued: “According to what Mu Qian Fan said, the person who entrusted him with the mission is made aware of the dangers below the Heaven’s End Cliff now and I do not think he will be making any other moves in the near future.”
The Heaven’s End Cliff, was just a guess by the Twelve Palaces and they were not able to ascertain that fact for sure. Hence, they did not dare to pour all their strength into place filled with untold dangers.
Considering all that, people from the Twelve Palaces must have gone to the Heaven’s End Cliff before this but the result might not have been much better than Mu Qian Fan and his brothers. Those rumours about the Heaven’s End Cliff must have been spread by the Twelve Palaces themselves in order to draw people who did not know the truth to seek it by setting forth towards the Heaven’s End Cliff, to provide them with more clues about the place.
“So, should we go take a look at the Heaven’s End Cliff then?” Qiao Chu was feeling a little excited. If the Dark Emperor’s tomb was really at the Heaven’s End Cliff, even if they had to stay there for a decade, they would do it to find the Dark Emperor’s tomb!
Hua Yao admonished gently: “You are looking at it too simply. If the Dark Emperor’s tomb can be located so easily at the bottom of the Heaven’s End Cliff, then the Twelve Palaces would not be so anxious. Mu Qian Fan had said as well, that eleven of them had gone down to the bottom of the Heaven’s End Cliff and had stayed there for only two days, but had moved only a mere hundred meters into the place. Only one had come out alive from the eleven people and that should give you an idea of how dangerous the bottom of the Heaven’s End Cliff is. Without a complete map of the area, making your way into that place will only result in certain death.”
He was not reluctant to go, but there were many other considerations to make.
If all of them were to die at the Heaven’s End Cliff, there would be no one to exact revenge for the cruel injustice done upon their parents.
Qiao Chu quietened down. He knew what Hua Yao was saying was right.
Jun Wu Xie squeezed on Lord Meh Meh’s little hoof and said with her eyes lowered: “We can go, not absolutely necessary to
locate the Dark Emperor’s tomb. Seeing for ourselves the actual situation in the bottom of the Heaven’s End Cliff beforehand might still be a good idea.”
Volume 6
Chapter 556: “Heaven’s End Cliff (3)”
“We can do that….. But we don’t know where the Heaven’s End Cliff is…..” Qiao Chu said, scratching his head.
Hua Yao suddenly laughed, and he turned to look at Jun Wu Xie, his eyes showing sudden understanding.
“The reason you wanted to save Mu Qian Fan was for this reason?”
Jun Wu Xie nodded.
Qiao Chu was a little befuddled and luckily Hua Yao was willing to explain it to him. “The fact that Little Xie was willing to save Mu Qian Fan’s life was because only Mu Qian Fan knew where the Heaven’s End Cliff was. More than that, he had even gone down to the bottom of the cliff and he knows more about the Heaven’s End Cliff than anyone else. If we can bring him along with us, then going to the Heaven’s End Cliff will not be a difficult task. Just as Little Xie said, we need not rush ourselves to go locate the Dark Emperor’s tomb, but to go down for a look, to ascertain if that is a possible target would be good enough.”
Qiao Chu was suddenly enlightened and he turned to Jun Wu Xie with a look of utmost admiration.
“Little Xie, aren’t you being a bit too smart, you actually thought that far ahead?” He had thought that Jun Wu Xie saw the pitiable state that Mu Qian Fan was in and that had brought out the benevolence in her, and did not expect the little lass to have planned so far ahead.
Jun Wu Xie raised an eyebrow, but did not reply.
“Actually,….. There is one more thing I would like to speak to you guys about.” Hua Yao expression suddenly became hesitant.
The smile on Qiao Chu’s face faded as well. “What Brother Hua wants to talk about is about Little Zhuo isn’t it?”
Hua Yao nodded.
Genius Doctor: Black Belly Miss Volume 6 Page 15
