"Aye, I told you not to look in there!" Yunxiao's face was reproachful. "It serves you right not to listen to my advice. Young Master Long Hao's taste is not acceptable for average people."
Chen Zhen stood up while trembling, his face deathly pale. "Young Master Yun, I didn't know picking up soap is out of trend now."
After vomiting for a while, Long Qing began to shiver with rage. "Li Yunxiao! What the hell is going on!" he bellowed.
He had seen his beloved son at a glance in the dungeon, and the shocking scene had made him completely break down. Regardless of the final outcome, as Zhang Qingfan and others had seen this scandal, his family would never be able to raise their heads up in the capital!
He was on the verge of going mad. Had it not been for so many people here, he would have dismembered Yunxiao and fed him to the dogs.
Yunxiao snorted coldly, his eyes gradually turning cold while a chill emanated from him. "Lord Long, your beloved son had invited me to be a guest here without any reason, so it should be me who asks you what the hell is going on!"
Long Qing was startled, and his eyes flashed with surprise. Although Yunxiao was only a teenager and the strength he revealed showed that he was merely a three-stars warrior, he gave him an unfathomable feeling. It was as if even if he attacked, he might not be the latter's match!
'Why do I have such a feeling?' He consoled himself in his heart, 'It must be what I saw just now being too disgusting, which is why I felt the wrong way.'
His face grew cold as he said gravely, "I don't know what happened between you and my son, but you are standing here safe and sound now while my son...he..." As he said this, his anger almost gushed out of his eyes. After today, Long Hao could no longer stay in the capital!
The aura emanating from Yunxiao soon caught the attention of Zhang Qingfan and Xu Han. Both of them were third-tier Grand Master Alchemists, and their divine senses were extremely sensitive. They immediately discovered Yunxiao's difference, and they looked surprised at the same time.
Zhang Qingfan swallowed a few pills and finally calmed his queasy stomach, then said with a pale face, "Your son has a very strong taste. What does it have anything to do with Li Yunxiao? And this is your residence, so why would your son obey him?"
Long Qing was speechless for a moment. 'He's right. This Li Yunxiao was taken captive by Hao'er, so how could he have the ability to defeat Hao'er and his men? Does Hao'er really have such a fetish?' He was immediately dumbfounded.
Jia Rong smiled coldly and said, "Hmph! Like son, like father!" When he went into the dungeon just now, he saw his disciple indeed being one of them. He was so frightened that his whole body was drenched in cold sweat. Fearing that Yunxiao would settle the scores with him later, he quickly jumped out to show his loyalty.
Upon hearing his words, everyone moved away from Long Qing, keeping a distance of at least three to four meters from him as they stared at him with strange eyes.
Long Qing's face turned pale instantly as he stood there in complete embarrassment. Pointing at Jia Rong, he said angrily, "Nonsense! As the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Guards and a Great Martial Master of the Three Powers realm, how could I be a homosexual!"
"Which of those men inside is not a warrior?" Zhang Qingfan said coldly. Paying no more attention to Long Qing, he turned to Yunxiao as his gaze suddenly softened. "So, you are Li Yunxiao?"
Yunxiao nodded slightly and said, "So, you are Zhang Qingfan?"
"Do you know me?" Zhang Qingfan asked in surprise.
Yunxiao chuckled. "To your left is President Xu Han of the Alchemist Association, and to your right is Teacher Luo, the commander of the State Guardians. As you stand between them, besides His Majesty the King, you can only be Zhang Qingfan or Xiao Qingwang. It was very easy to guess who you are."
Zhang Qingfan smiled knowingly as he nodded and praised, "You are indeed somewhat different from the rumors. Do you know how to stimulate acupoints with gold needles?"
"I can give it a try," Yunxiao said with a grin.
"Give it a try?" Zhang Qingfan put on a straight face and said seriously, "If you are not confident enough, I will not allow you to treat the Princess!"
Yunxiao spread his hands as he made a helpless look and said, "If you don't let me try, do you have any other way?"
Zhang Qingfan was taken aback. He pondered for a few seconds, then burst out laughing. "Well, then you can try." After saying that, his face turned gloomy and he said in a cold voice, "If you save the princess, I can protect you no matter what happens to you in Tianshui. But, if you fail, even Li Chunyang will not be able to save your life!"
What he said seemed to point toward something. Yunxiao's face flickered as he sneered, "My life is always in my own hands."
Seeing that the atmosphere was getting a little tense, Jia Rong said hastily, "We shouldn't waste time here. The Princess is still waiting to be treated."
Yunxiao glanced at Meng Wu and suddenly smiled. "Last time you set me up, but you have brought them here to save me this time. We are even now."
Meng Wu flushed with shame, and she wished she could find a crack in the ground to hide in.
"It just happens that I need an assistant. Come help me treat the Princess," said Yunxiao smilingly.
"Me? No, no, I can't do anything!" Meng Wu quickly waved her hands and said.
"When I say you can, you can!" He turned to Zhang Qingfan and said, "Master Zhang, I need two assistants—one is Meng Wu, and the other is Teacher Luo. As for the payment for asking them to help me, I need you to reimburse them for me."
Zhang Qingfan was somewhat shocked, but he then nodded and said, "As you wish! Everyone is at your disposal now!"
Yunshang was delighted in her heart, and she gave Yunxiao a grateful look. Stimulating acupoints with gold needles was a legendary technique that only a few senior alchemists in the continent had secretly mastered. No alchemist would miss the chance to witness it.
"Young Master Yun, didn't you say you wanted me to be your assistant?" Jia Rong asked hastily.
Yunxiao's face darkened. "Junliang is your disciple?"
'I'm finished this time!' Jia Rong thought as shivers ran down his spine. He wiped beads of cold sweat from his forehead and said anxiously, "He used to be my disciple, but I have expelled him in my heart just now. In fact, I didn't care about him since a very long time ago. Ugh, it's true! Don't go, Young Master Yun…Listen to me, Young Master Yun! Actually, I don't know him at all…Don't...don't go...!"
…
In a secret ice chamber on the fourth floor of the Alchemist Association, Ruxue wore a white dress and lay on a pale blue jade bed. Her face was so blue that it almost looked purple, and there were five faint dark red lines streaked across it. Moreover, her vitality was very weak right now.
After glancing at her, Zhang Qingfan's face grew unsightly. "This jade bed can slightly suppress the Princess's illness, but it has obviously reached its limit."
Yunxiao sighed. 'My soul power is too weak. Otherwise, I should have discovered her condition, and it wouldn't have been delayed until now.' He waved and said, "You all can go out now. Meng Wu and Teacher Luo will stay here with me."
Yunshang could not help but ask, "Do we just need a gauze curtain and thirty gold needles? No other things?" She was a little nervous. "Li Yunxiao, do you really have the confidence?"
Resting his chin on his hand, Yunxiao was lost in thought, and his appearance made Zhang Qingfan very nervous. "Li Yunxiao, tell me honestly, how sure are you? If your confidence level is too low, I'll inform His Majesty now." The meaning in his words was obvious. If Yunxiao failed, it might be time to bid farewell to the princess.
Everyone's heart sunk and was not optimistic about the situation. After all, Yunxiao was too young, and stimulating acupoints with gold needles not only required an extremely precise control, but also no margin of error in terms of sequence, timing, and intensity. According to their estimation, it was fortunate to have a thirty percent success rate!
Yunxiao sighed and said, "If the Princess was a man, I could treat him face to face, and the success rate would be one hundred percent. But she is a girl, so I can only stimulate her acupoints with flying needles while standing within fifteen meters on the other side of the gauze curtain. In addition, I was greatly frightened by Young Master Hao's fetish just now, and my spirit is still a little weak. If all the factors are added up, I am about ninety percent sure."
"Stimulating acupoints with flying needles! Did you just say you are going to stimulate her acupoints with flying needles while standing within fifteen meters on the other side of the gauze curtain!" Zhang Qingfan felt a mouthful of blood rushing up into his throat while his head was buzzing. "So, the purpose of the gauze curtain is to avoid direct contact with the Princess!"
"The success rate is one hundred percent for face-to-face treatment, and ninety percent for using flying needles!" Xu Han sucked in a cold breath. Somewhat dazed, he said, "It turns out that stimulating acupoints with gold needles is such an easy technique. I thought it is a very advanced method." But when he finished, he suddenly shook his head hard and said, "No, this is not right! I once heard the Master say that it requires at least the soul power of a fifth-tier alchemist or a well-seasoned skill to successfully stimulate acupoints with gold needles!"
Yunshang was stunned for a moment as well, then her face suddenly grew dark as she shouted angrily, "Do you think you are Lord Yang Di? A success rate of one hundred percent? Stimulating acupoints with flying needles? The Princess's life is at stake now, you'd better be serious!"
"I'm already very serious!" Yunxiao said with a wry smile. "Since you know Ruxue's life is at stake, you should stop disturbing me. Let's start the treatment now. Meng Wu, I want you to hold the Princess. Teacher Luo, help me put up the curtain."
Zhang Qingfan grabbed the gauze curtain and threw it out with force. In a fit of rage, he shouted, "To hell with the curtain! You will stimulate the Princess's acupoints face to face! The Princess is extremely precious to us. I won't allow you to take this matter lightly!"
Yunxiao's eyes grew wide as he glared at Zhang Qingfan. "It is because she is very precious to you that I have to treat her from the other side of the curtain. To stimulate acupoints with gold needles, the patient must strip naked. If Ruxue's naked body is seen by me, and then His Majesty commands me to marry her, how am I going to refuse? Damnit, are you trying to set me up? I won't fall into your trap!"
Everyone fainted in an instant.
Zhang Qingfan felt a little dizzy. This was such a serious matter, and yet Yunxiao made it look like a child's play. He had a feeling that this guy seemed to be playing with him...
Just then, Yunxiao's expression suddenly changed. Staring at Ruxue's face, he said in a deep voice, "The Five Yins terminated meridians are about to converge in her head. If you delay me any further, her life force will completely vanish when the Five Yins gather together. By that time, even a ninth-tier Sovereign Alchemist will not be able to save her!"
Everyone turned to look at the princess's face at the same time. Sure enough, the five tiny dark red lines had grown longer and begun to spread to the top of her head.