Senior Disciple Lie's eyelids lightly shuddered as he pondered intensely, trying to decide which was the better path for him.
After a short moment, his tightly closed eyes snapped open as he stared intently at the pill in Xu Su's hand with a feverish gaze.
Xu Su did not say anything more and inserted the pill into Senior Disciple Lie's mouth. The white foam around his mouth did nothing to stop him from swallowing the pill, and after it was fully ingested, Xu Su slowly retracted all of the silver needles from Senior Disciple Lie's body.
After the retrieval of all the silver needles, the Essence Extraction Pill began to take effect. Senior Disciple Lie's pale face started to take on a reddish hue. At this moment, his body started to convulse again and his limbs started to shiver as a low drone issued from his throat.
Senior Disciple Lie did not want to be a laughing stock in front of Xu Su, so he tried unsuccessfully to suppress his pain-filled voice.
The low drone involuntarily got louder and louder as the shivers got more intense. It was only after a long period of time that the droning began to slowly subside.
Finally, Senior Disciple Lie recovered as his face returned to its normal, pale color, and his body stopped convulsing. This signaled that he successfully endured the last of the backlashes from consuming the Essence Extraction Pill.
Senior Disciple Lie straightened his body, crossed his legs, and close his eyes in order to enter meditation, attempting to circulate his Qi to heal his injuries. Xu Su found a large and clean rock nearby and sat down on it, watching Senior Disciple Lie.
After the time it took to eat a meal, the Senior Disciple Lie, who was in a state of meditation, abruptly wrenched open his eyes and drew his saber in a flash, placing the shining blade on Xu Su's neck.
"Give me a reason not to kill you!" Senior Disciple Lie's eyes were full of coldness and filled with killing intent.
"I just saved your life. Is that not a good enough reason?" Xu Su stated calmly with no change to his expression except for the twitching of his brows. If one did not study Xu Su's face intently, they would not have seen it.
Senior Disciple Lie's face slightly softened, but his eyes were still filled with killing intent as he stared at Xu Su.
"Before I made the decision to save you, I already guessed that you might kill me to protect your secret, but I didn't think that you would act so swiftly." Xu Su bitterly laughed as his face was filled with self-mockery.
"Ke! Despite knowing that saving you would bring calamity upon myself, I, a student of medical arts, couldn't simply sit by and watch you die." Xu Su sighed.
As Senior Disciple Lie heard his words, his face took on a somewhat embarrassed expression, and he shifted the saber from Xu Su's neck a little but did not fully remove the blade.
Xu Su secretly let out a breath of relief, and he continued his speech more determinedly.
"You have no need to worry that I would divulge your secret. One look at my face and you would know that I'm not one to gossip, if you are still worried, I could swear a binding oath. You should be able to tell that I'm not skilled in martial arts, so if you discover that I broke my vow, you could easily kill me," Xu Su calmly suggested.
"Okay, swear a binding oath then." Senior Disciple Lie said straightforwardly.
It was only now that Xu Su relaxed. Before he saved Senior Disciple Lie, he could infer that Senior Disciple Lie was not a cruel or viscous person, but he was not completely sure of his assessment. If he was wrong and Senior Disciple Lie was a person that returned kindness with viciousness, he would only be able to defend himself with his secret life-saving method.
Knowing that he would not have to use it, Xu Su stealthily retracted his hand from within his robes.
After Xu Su swore a binding oath, Senior Disciple Lie finally retracted the saber and returned it to its sheath.
Xu Su slightly felt a slight trace of blood on his throat, caused by the keen edge of the saber. It was sticky to the touch, and as Xu Su's heartbeat returned to normal, he could feel cold sweat trickling down his back.
'What a close call! My evaluation prior to saving Senior Disciple Lie was not comprehensive enough. I'll have to learn from this mistake to prevent my life from being in the control of someone else's hands ever again.' He still had some fear lingering from this event.
'If there's no guarantee of my safety, I will definitely not save others in the future.' Xu Su decided immediately.
This was the first time Xu Su had saved someone, but the experience left him with a bad taste in his mouth. This event only helped to reinforce that the world was full of unexpected turnouts, and the last vestige of kindness in him was slowly being discarded away. Even though he had not turned evil, he was far from being a saint.
"You have saved my life and agreed to keep the matter a secret. I, Lie Feiy, owe you a big favor henceforth. As long as I'm still alive, no matter what you need help with, you can look for me. As long as I am able to accomplish the task, I will definitely help you." As he reclaimed the items that Xu Su ransacked through, Senior Disciple Lie stated his vow straightforwardly, using his own name as a guarantee after he fully recovered from the pill's backlash.
"I fear that I currently have nothing to trouble you with, but you should already have plenty of troubles, no?" Xu Su had a slight smile on his face as he faced Senior Disciple Lie with another question.
"How did you know?" Lie Feiy was startled and slightly lost his composure.
"Anyone would have easily guessed. You are just a normal disciple under a Protector, yet with your skills, you have surpassed the disciples of the Vice Sect Leaders, Division Heads, and Elders. How could they possibly let you live peacefully!" Xu Su's response was like a needle drawing blood; with a single prick, he went straight to the heart of the matter.
Senior Disciple Lie's expression was gloomy and overcast as he agreed in silence.
"Your troubles are your own, I have no wish to interfere and cannot interfere even if I wanted to, but, regarding the excruciating backlash from consuming the Essence Extraction Pill, I could help you lessen the pain."
"Truly?" Lie Feiy suddenly snapped to attention as his previous gloomy expression was replaced with anticipation and excitement. He was giddy since the backlash of the Essence Extraction Pill was extremely torturous.
"Why would I lie to you when there is nothing beneficial for me to gain by doing so?" Xu Su glanced at Senior Disciple Lie. He had already concocted a remedy that would greatly lessen the pain felt by others, a medicine that he researched in his spare time for Zhan Yue. It was extremely effective, greatly cutting off the nerves ability to feel pain.
"This is truly excellent! Excellent!" Lie Feiy clasped his hands as he looked at Xu Su with wonder and excitement.
"Why are you looking at me with such an expression? I don't have the medicine on me right now. I need to return to Green Eye Valley before I can concoct it for you."
After Lie Feiy heard what Xu Su said, he had a slightly embarrassed look on his face. He had just threatened to kill Xu Su and now, he was requesting his help.
"Tomorrow at noon, wait for me at the entrance of the Green Eye Valley. I'll deliver the medicine to you there. Since Physician Wu is currently away, I can't allow anyone to simply enter Green Eye Valley," Xu Su explained.
"Very well, I shall be there on time. Thank you, my dear brother." Scared that Xu Su would change his mind, Lie Feiy quickly responded with his confirmation.
"My name is Xu Su, I am Physician Wu's personal disciple. Your cultivation in martial arts is very high, so you can just directly call me Junior Brother Xu in the future."
After Xu Su heard the words "my dear brother" he couldn't help but shiver and thus, quickly told Senior Disciple Lie his name to prevent him from calling Xu Su any more embarrassing titles.