Who is spreading rumors that my filial piety towards them has changed?

Chu Mingkong took out the Asura Heavy Sword. Holding a good weapon gave him a sense of security. Unfortunately, he had only prepared swords and spears casually, and had not yet encountered a suitable weapon for him to snatch.

"Good mother, do you have any weapons that suit my status?"

No, but there are weapon blanks available for exchange, of similar quality to the unfinished Extinction Weapon by Zuo Qiuchi.

That's like hammering forging materials into the shape of a weapon, right? Well, at least it's sturdy enough.

Unfortunately, Chu Mingkong's body was still dominated by the Abyss Injury and suppressed by the Yang Power. The pills he took would still have their effects neutralized by the Yin Power, so they would be useless.

But that's fine too, it saves him the trouble of buying pills. The only things worth buying are medicines related to extreme yin and yang. He can prepare some Golden Crow Heart Marrow in advance, which might be able to be given directly to Empress Pei.

"It seems that, of all the things that have come and gone, the one that has been of the greatest practical help to me is still the 'Hehuan True Scripture'."

Chu Mingkong was content. Sensing that the power of the colorless shadow had been restored, he did not seek any more external help. He silently prayed that the colorless shadow would not cause any problems this time. For metaphysical reasons, he also held a dustless talisman with depleted spiritual power in his hand.

Leaving the room, Chu Mingkong once again disappeared into the night, quickly approaching the palace.

Even if all you see when you look at the imperial city from the outside is its walls, the oppressive sense of its golden splendor is still quite strong – that's the unique aura of the imperial city.

Chu Mingkong waited nearby for a while, and when a patrol team turned back into the palace gate in an orderly fashion, he followed behind the team and slipped into the imperial city.

He immediately found a dark corner to hide in; it had been a long time since he had felt this anxious.

"The atmosphere in this palace feels strange..."

He muttered to himself, but since he had only been inside for a short time, he couldn't immediately tell what was wrong.

Chu Mingkong looked toward the emperor's bedroom. From this position, he could only see part of the eaves of the bedroom and the warm light shining from the windows, but for some reason, the more he looked there, the more he felt it was like a desolate, lonely temple in the wilderness.

After waiting for a while, Chu Mingkong watched the two patrol teams pass by, but nothing happened on his side.

"We can't waste any more time. If the technique fails in Jin Yu's room, we can hide. But if it fails outside, it will be difficult. We can only hope that the other side is blind."

He had just taken a step when he suddenly stopped, realizing where that strange feeling lay.

Chu Mingkong stared intently at the guards along the path leading to the emperor's bedchamber... He couldn't sense any human presence from them, nor could he catch their gazes as they probed the surroundings!

Another patrol team passed by, and in the light they passed, Chu Mingkong could see this strange sight—the patrol team near the palace gate, some of whom were wearing masks. In the light they had just passed, the eye sockets of their masks were empty, and the pale white of their skulls was faintly visible.

"They're things like skeleton soldiers. Where did the emperor get such strange things to be guards?"

What puzzled Chu Mingkong even more was whether these skeleton guards would be repelled by the dragon energy of the imperial city.

However, he was even more relieved that he hadn't acted impulsively when he entered. Just now, while entering the palace gate, Chu Mingkong had a fleeting thought of switching places, killing a patrolling imperial guard, and then wearing his imperial guard armor.

If successful, even if the colorless shadow mark fails, his status as a member of the Imperial Guard can buy him some time.

But if these Imperial Guard soldiers are all like this, then he has set himself up in a trap.

Without further hesitation, Chu Mingkong went directly to the Empress's bedroom. The guards and maids around there were much more normal. As soon as he entered the Empress's bedroom, the strange feeling he had felt outside dissipated considerably, and a faint aura of extreme yang energy could be detected inside the bedroom.

Lights were on at the entrance to the bedroom, and palace maids were anxiously going in and out with basins of water to change it. Inside, one could hear Empress Pei's voice and the old woman's concerned greetings.

"Cough cough... cough..."

Empress Pei's cough was weak and her breath was shallow and pitiful. Jin Yu stayed by her side, her eyes red. She looked at Empress Pei with concern, wanting to show her concern but not knowing how to do so. She could only watch helplessly, and then turned her pleading gaze to the elderly and experienced female imperial physician.

However, the female imperial physician could not diagnose the problem either. She could only take Empress Pei's pulse with a heavy heart and helplessness, and ordered the palace maids in charge of the prescription to prepare a calming decoction, a panacea, and continue to observe her.

Chu Mingkong approached, and Empress Pei's stunning beauty remained undiminished, still as beautiful as ever. Even when she was sick, a beauty of her caliber possessed a delicate and charming allure, a beauty that was the decaying beauty of a peony in its fading glory. However, this was a beauty that no one wanted to see.

Her face was deathly pale, beads of sweat constantly dripped from her forehead, and her beautiful black hair clung wearily to her powdered face. Her trembling eyebrows revealed the pain she was enduring, but she only pursed her pale lips and, apart from an involuntary cough, did not utter another sound.

Chu Mingkong was even more puzzled. He looked at the female imperial physicians, then at Jin Yu, and a question arose in his mind:

"Can't they see the tattoo-like black veins on Empress Pei's neck? Wiping away sweat is useless; it's even more excessive than drinking more hot water!"

He reached out and stroked Jin Yu's face. The beautiful woman, with tears streaming down her face, was immediately delighted. She knew who had come, but she quickly realized that she couldn't be too obvious, or she would expose Chu Mingkong.

Jin Yu urgently commanded:

"You've been looking for so long without any definite news, so you all go out first and don't disturb the Empress Dowager's rest! I'll take care of her, so wait outside!"

The female imperial physicians all wanted to advise Princess Jinyu not to act rashly, but they couldn't come up with a reliable diagnosis for the time being, so they had to leave first to give Princess Jinyu some space to calm down. The more people come and go, the more anxious the people will become.

After they all left and closed the door, Jin Yu closed the window as well. Chu Mingkong then activated a soundproof barrier before revealing himself.

He still held the mystical dust-free talisman in his hand and asked:

"Jinyu, what happened to Your Majesty the Empress?"

Jin Yu no longer cared that her mother was in front of her. Helplessly, she clung to Chu Mingkong's arm, shaking her head repeatedly, burying her pretty face in his clothes, and covering her tears.

"...I don't know either. I just heard from a palace maid that my mother had suddenly fallen ill. I rushed to the palace to see her, and that's how my mother ended up like this. The imperial physicians couldn't diagnose the illness for a long time and could only bring over calming and soothing soups!"

To be honest, Chu Mingkong's most successful treatment cases to date, aside from the simple bandaging of his own wounds when he was a child, were giving Rong'er a medicinal ingredient to suck...

Jin Yu wanted to get some answers from him, but he couldn't bring himself to ask, so she started by asking about her earlier doubts:

"Did you see the black lines on Her Majesty the Empress's neck?"

Jin Yu rubbed her teary eyes to clear them and leaned over to look:

"No......"

Chapter Sixty-Six: Touch Therapy

What's going on? Am I really the only one who can see it?

Chu Mingkong checked again. Although he wasn't particularly apprehensive, he still apologized to the mature and beautiful Empress Pei before pointing his finger at her soft neck.

That was where he saw a dark line in his field of vision. He slid his fingertip along the line until he reached his collarbone.

Further down is an unsuitable area; one shouldn't even look at it, let alone touch it—at least not in front of Jinyu.

Empress Pei was only physically uncomfortable due to this strange state, but her mind was clear. She could feel the fingertips of the man who had tried to offend her earlier brushing across her neck. The tingling sensation from his touch briefly overcame the suffocating discomfort.

Unable to rest her head on the pillow, her swan-like neck unconsciously lifted, and her thin lips, which had been holding back all day, turned a rare rosy hue, letting out a seductive moan from deep within her throat.

Jin Yu didn't think so much. She assumed that her mother was uncomfortable again, and didn't suspect that Chu Mingkong's gentle touch was anything unusual. Her mother had been wiped by her for so long and was fine. What could Chu Mingkong be so careful about?

She said in a panic:

"Mother, are you feeling unwell anywhere?"

Chu Mingkong frowned and stared at his fingertips. The black lines on the spot he had just touched had faded!

That's the power of extreme Yin! Just now, when he touched her, the power of extreme Yin in Empress Pei's body was absorbed by his injuries, and her core, which had already become extremely Yin, would automatically absorb the power of extreme Yin.

He only realized it was extreme Yin power after absorbing it, because this extreme Yin power was indeed... a bit "gentle".

This might not fully convey the extent of Empress Pei's current discomfort, but any patient suffering from the Extreme Abyss Injury would be overjoyed to find that Empress Pei's discomfort from the Extreme Yin Power was only this mild.

"Mingkong, have you discovered anything?"

Chu Mingkong said with mixed feelings:

"Let's leave aside the cause for now. I feel that the extremely yin energy that caused the Empress discomfort was indeed absorbed by me after I touched it."

Jin Yu was still completely bewildered because she couldn't sense any extreme Yin power on her mother. Logically speaking, since she cultivated an extreme Yang technique, she should have been able to sense it. Not to mention her half-baked, hastily-developed technique, her mother had solidly cultivated to the Great Perfection level, so she shouldn't have fallen into the trap without even realizing it.

Chu Mingkong found it difficult to explain to Jin Yu, because she couldn't even see the black network. He then gently pulled up Empress Pei's arm. Her skin was fair, and he felt an irresistible urge to touch it. He suppressed his desire and pointed to a spot on her arm.

"Your Majesty, can you see any discomfort in your arm?"

Empress Pei did not speak; speaking was too strenuous for her at the moment, and she could only shake her head slightly.

Chu Mingkong was surprised.

Wow, what kind of technique is this? You can't even see yourself being hit. That's too ruthless.

He could see mostly because of his injuries; the Abyss Injury was having an increasingly significant effect on him...

He placed his hand directly on Empress Pei's jade-like arm, giving it a light squeeze before releasing it, hoping to absorb the black veins directly. However, he failed; this light touch was clearly not enough, and he had to slow down.

However, this makes it look like they are playing with Empress Pei's slender forearm.

Chu Mingkong, staring at Jin Yu's suspicious gaze, finished touching her and absorbing the extreme Yin energy within her, and quickly asked:

"Does Your Majesty feel any better?"

Empress Pei watched as her daughter was being caressed by him, and in her heart she really wanted to glare at this audacious lecher to death, but she had to admit that her arm felt much better.

The stunningly beautiful empress nodded gently, her complexion improving slightly.

Jin Yu was overjoyed, knowing that Chu Mingkong's words were not empty boasts; he truly could cure her mother. But...

She looked at her lover with concern. He couldn't withstand too much Yin energy either, and his injuries were only maintained by the balance of the two forces through combined cultivation.

While Jin Yu was still hesitating, Chu Mingkong grabbed Empress Pei's other arm without saying a word, gripping it from the wrist upwards and covering her upper arm.

"..."

Empress Pei felt utterly powerless and had no reason to resist. She could only silently endure his warm, large hand gently reaching under her armpit, her sensitive and tender flesh trembling slightly.

She closed her eyes, whether out of shame and anger or because her energy had been restored, the stunningly beautiful mature empress had a flushed face, alluring and captivating, and even lying quietly, she could not hide her peerless beauty and graceful demeanor.

Chu Mingkong took a deep breath and subtly asked the patient's family:

"Jinyu, look at the Empress's legs..."

Jin Yu had been taking care of her mother for so long, and finally saw a glimmer of hope for a cure. She didn't care about anything else and quickly said:

"The Empress Dowager's life is of utmost importance. There are no outsiders here; this is just treatment! Mingkong, you also need to take care of yourself. Tell me if you feel unwell. Don't let the Empress Dowager recover before you collapse again..."

Chu Mingkong felt extremely guilty and showed no signs of excitement, agitation, or desire. Under Jin Yu's supervision, he carefully treated Empress Pei's long, plump, snow-white legs.

It was not advisable to proceed with treatment further into the deeper areas, so he turned his attention to her jade-like neck. Chu Mingkong gently grasped the young empress's neck and sucked away the black veins on it. It was his turn to treat the discomfort.

This wasn't an act; the injury was genuinely flaring up.

Chu Mingkong sat on the chair, his arms supporting his heavy forehead, struggling to regulate his breathing.

“Mingkong…” Jinyu squatted down beside him worriedly, looked up at him, and looked at him with heartache and self-blame.

"It's alright, just let me calm down." Chu Mingkong reached out and stroked Jin Yu's head to soothe her anxiety.

Before his injuries were suppressed by the dual cultivation method, he had endured them like this, and he was used to it. However, after being comfortable for so long, it was very difficult to suddenly return to the feeling of his cultivation being suppressed and his ability to exert his full strength.

This level of condition isn't a problem; he can adapt to it again in a while. However, this state cannot be maintained and must be dealt with as soon as possible. Otherwise, he won't be able to maintain his full combat strength in a place like the palace, which would be somewhat risky.

Jin Yu looked at him and whispered:

"Let me take you to my room. We'll rest for a bit and then come back later..."