The next day, after the whole night and morning under the healers' care, Zhao Weixin's condition finally stabilized. Although he still remained unconscious, at least his fever dropped down, almost returning to normal.
Worried about his disciple, Yu Qingyu couldn't sleep well, and returned to Zhao Weixin's room shortly after sunrise. Or rather to waiting in the hallway in front of the door to Zhao Weixin's room, because the healers wouldn't let him back inside. He even would have forgotten about the meals, if it wasn't for Liu Wei bugging him about it until he came to the dining area downstairs.
Finally, early in the afternoon, the healers finished treating Zhao Weixin, and let Yu Qingyu in.
Zhao Weixin was lying on the bed, asleep, his breathing rather shallow, but regular. His complexion was pale, much paler than usual, his face gaunt and tired, showing how serious his condition had been.
Yu Qingyu looked at his disciple, with worry written all over his face. "How is he?" he asked one of the healers.
"We have managed to get the infection under control, so his recovery should progress smoothly from now on. However…" the healer paused for a moment, glancing at the patient. "We were unable to remove the demonic qi completely. It has already infected his spiritual core, and attempting to cleanse it might result in damaging his meridians beyond repair."
Hearing the healer's words, Yu Qingyu gulped, his eyes widening. "So… how will this affect him in the future?"
"His ability to cultivate will most likely be limited. Moreover, he will need to learn how to keep the demonic qi inside him under control, otherwise it is likely to consume his spiritual core. Alternatively, we can dissolve his spiritual core. This would solve the problem permanently. However, it would also result in him never being able to cultivate again," the healer explained.
Yu Qingyu dropped down on a chair with a heavy sigh. "…Is there really no other option?"
The healers exchanged looks with each other. They didn't expect that Chunren Peak Master would take the news so badly. It might have been concerning one of his disciples, but it was the disciple with weak cultivation anyway. Everyone thought that Master Gu Huiji had given up on Zhao Weixin long ago… But it seemed that they were wrong, after all?
"Ahem, we can attempt to cleanse his core again, after his health recovers," one of the healers spoke up after a moment of silence. "However, we cannot promise any results."
Yu Qingyu nodded his head, barely listening, looking at Zhao Weixin with unfocused eyes. "Thank you…" he muttered in a tired, defeated voice.
The healers left the room to get some rest, leaving Yu Qingyu alone with his unconscious disciple. Or at least Yu Qingyu thought he was alone. Lost deep in his thoughts, he hadn't even noticed Liu Wei, who was standing on the side, leaning against the wall, and observing Yu Qingyu with an unreadable expression on his face.
'520, what's going to happen now? If Zhao Weixin can no longer cultivate, then isn't my mission over now?' Yu Qingyu consulted the system, letting out a sigh.
[I am uncertain. Currently, the mission is still ongoing, meaning there is a chance that Host can turn things around. If Zhao Weixin's core was to be removed, then probably the mission would end in failure. But perhaps he can still somehow become the next Peak Master, even with his cultivation limited.]
'Is that so…' Yu Qingyu sighed yet again, entangling his calloused fingers in his long hair and massaging his temple. He wasn't sure how much of what 520 said was what the system truly thought, and how much was said only to cheer him up. After all, in the previous world, when another transmigrator first appeared, 520 also suggested a lot of different possibilities, only for the worst case to turn out to be the truth…
How would the mission eventually end, only time would tell.
But after the events in Hushi town, Yu Qingyu's confidence dropped significantly. He was always slightly insecure with his decisions, but now, he felt like whatever he was going to do, he was bound to mess up in one way or another.
If only he hadn't taken Zhao Weixin with him to fight the demons… None of it would have happened.
What if Zhao Weixin started to resent him because of that?
***
It took them almost a month since they left before they finally returned to Chunren Peak. By then, Zhao Weixin's wounds have all closed up, leaving a collection of ragged scars, stretching from his shoulder, across his chest, all the way to his hip. Although Zhao Weixin didn't seem to mind, Yu Qingyu couldn't help but feel guilty every time he caught a glimpse of his disciple, even when the scars were hidden underneath his robes.
But he felt even guiltier about Zhao Weixin's spiritual core. To the point that he couldn't even face Zhao Weixin properly, and avoided him as much as possible.
After they finally returned to the sect, Yu Qingyu started hiding away in his room, spending whole days researching all the possible methods of dealing with demonic qi. He seemed to have looked through most of the books from the sect's library, he even read about various myths and legends, desperate to find a solution. He stumbled upon several mentions of some extremely rare plants, but… According to the healers, their very existence was highly questionable. No one had any idea where to even look for them.
Yu Qingyu closed the book he was reading with a sigh, and laid down on the table. He read through everything he could find twice already, and still didn't have any answers…
Now that Zhao Weixin's health recovered, all of the healers attempted to cleanse his spiritual core one by one, but to no effect. Even maintaining it under control proved to be difficult.
But there was no notification of the mission ending from the system yet, so not all hope was lost. According to 520, if the goal was no longer achievable, the mission would fail immediately, regardless of how much time was left… Meaning there must have been a cure existing somewhere.
However, with all of his responsibilities as the Peak Master, how could Yu Qingyu possibly leave everything behind and embark on the journey? Especially with Liu Wei around? The responsibilities could eventually be ignored, but Liu Wei… He was afraid to leave him out of his sight, but he didn't want Liu Wei to accompany him either.
Lost in his thoughts, Yu Qingyu listened to the wind rustling the trees and the rippling of the stream coming from the outside through the open window. The air was pleasantly chill and fresh. He glanced at the overcast sky. It seemed it was going to rain soon.
All of a sudden, knocking on the door resounded in the room, disturbing the calming ambiance.