When I woke up, the entire cultivation world was talking about my master.

Even now, when Linlang recalls the events of those five days after Chu Xianlan's accident, she still feels a lingering fear.

At that time, they were unaware of the truth about the Heavenly Spiritual Root, and everyone was in a state of panic.

Linlang initially judged that Chu Xianlan had been affected by some kind of forbidden technique, but the person who cast the spell was unfathomably powerful, perhaps even surpassing all of them.

After finally managing to stabilize the situation using a formation, the boy's condition kept fluctuating.

The backlash from forbidden techniques comes without any warning.

Unable to wake up, Chu Xianlan continued to endure excruciating pain in her dantian, as if she had suffered a fatal calamity.

The pain of the backlash was intermittent, tormenting me day and night.

When the attack occurs, it feels as if a knife is ripping and tearing flesh apart from the inside out. When the boy is in so much pain that he can't even scream, he can only whimper and moan unconsciously. Blood comes out of his mouth and nose, his whole body convulses and he is covered in cold sweat. Even his hair is dripping wet. Even if several young apprentices come forward together, they can't hold him down.

Pain-relieving decoctions, anesthetic pills, healing techniques, channeling spiritual energy, and forbidden techniques for countering...

The witch doctor tried almost every method of appeasement.

With little success.

So when Yi Chen asked if there was a way to transfer all the backlash to herself, Lin Lang remained silent for a long time.

She said slowly, "Yes."

In the cultivation world, some healers, when traveling, will use patients who are beyond saving to create medicine dolls, and then apply a curse seal to them, transferring all the injuries, poisons, backlashes, and curses they suffer to the medicine dolls so that they can remain unharmed.

Originally, Linlang felt that the path of enduring the backlash was too risky. After all, it was a curse mark used on medicine people, and who knew what would happen if it were used on cultivators? The situation was already a mess, so what difference was there between this and making things worse? She cursed herself for being impulsive and unworthy of being a doctor. Not only could she not cure the patient, but she also suggested such a crooked and evil method.

No medical practitioner with a clear sense of right and wrong could propose such a solution.

No rational monk would agree to such a proposal.

But before the witch doctor could explain the risks, Yi Chen nodded without hesitation, his voice carrying a calm, detached quality:

"Thank you for your help."

Upon hearing this request, Linlang's first reaction was to check Yichen's expression, trying to ascertain whether he understood what the backlash from the transfer meant. Unexpectedly—

Those eyes were now bloodshot, like fine cracks torn open on ice, as if the calm facade would collapse at any moment.

An indescribable gloom lingered around Yi Chen, a gloomy aura of helplessness.

How could things really be calm?

Even so, the man's touch on the boy's hand was still tender and gentle.

The witch doctor couldn't bear to do it, but he had no idea how to refuse.

Doing this could harm two people.

But if they don't do this, will they be able to live in peace?

In the past, Yi Chen's aura always seemed unfathomable. Lin Lang had also secretly wondered whether the relationship between the master and disciple was one of affection or romantic entanglement.

Being able to go to such lengths for each other without hesitation, sharing hardships and supporting each other until now, seems unimportant regardless of the nature of the feelings involved.

For someone like Yu Yichen, actions always speak louder than words. No amount of concern is of any practical use; he doesn't care about gains or losses anyway, so he might as well directly bear the other person's pain for them.

Fortunately, the curse seal worked.

Although the curse seal was far less effective on cultivators than on specially crafted medicine figures, it successfully alleviated most of Chu Xianlan's pain. He was finally no longer tormented by the intense pain in his dantian, and his condition began to improve.

On the fifth day, having survived the most difficult period, Chu Xianlan woke up.

In the days that followed, Chu Xianlan took medicinal baths and recuperated, completely unaware of the matter of the curse seal.

Yi Chen remained calm, but the pain of the backlash was not weakened by his Nascent Soul stage cultivation. During the ten days or so that Chu Xianlan was gradually recovering, most of the pain that should have been borne by him during each unconsciousness or bleeding was transferred to another person.

Under immense pressure, the witch doctor concealed the truth and, in order to atone for his dereliction of duty, desperately tried to find a way to free the master and apprentice from the damned forbidden spell.

Thinking of this, Linlang let out a soft breath: "Once you enter the Northern Underworld tomorrow, the tracking of the forbidden technique will be ineffective. At that time, Immortal Lord can simply follow my method to remove the curse seal. As for the reconstruction of your spiritual root, that will have to be done by Fellow Daoist Chu himself."

Yi Chen nodded and asked decisively, "How can I repay you? Please tell me."

"No need for thanks." Linlang said sincerely, "What I did was actually not much. If it weren't for that day when Immortal Lord Jixue... Alas, if Fellow Daoist Chu knew that you took the backlash of the forbidden technique for him, he would surely be very moved."

Yi Chen's fingertips twitched almost imperceptibly as he said, "There's no need to make a fuss about this."

Moved?

I'm afraid...

He acted on his own initiative out of pity, out of love, and also for himself. Yi Chen doesn't need Chu Xianlan to be grateful, nor does he need him to feel indebted.

The shackles of fate weighing on the boy were already heavy enough.

Seeing this, Yi Chen couldn't help but want to share his burden.

Linlang roughly guessed what the other person was thinking, and nodded helplessly, saying, "You... are so good to him."

At the same time, Linlang couldn't help but hesitate.

Even if the transfer of the backlash was out of necessity, is it really okay to keep it a secret after the fact?

After all, the two of them cared about each other very much, and neither wanted to see the other suffer.

Linlang concluded, "Fortunately, Fellow Daoist Chu's condition is becoming more stable day by day. Once he gets through this hurdle in his destiny, everything will surely go smoothly for him in the future."

"He will." A gentle tenderness flashed in Yi Chen's eyes.

With that, the witch doctor got up and left.

The night outside the courtyard was quiet, and there was no one around. A few lanterns by the gate were still lit, swaying in the wind.

As soon as I stepped out of the gate, I saw a figure squatting against the wall, looking lost and dejected.

Linlang's expression changed slightly, "Chu..."