Qin Nian's mouth slightly agape, she zoned out for a moment before coming back to her senses, a delicate blush spreading across her face, reaching all the way to her ears.
Although the two claimed each other as siblings, they were not related by blood.
After a long silence, Qin Nian gathered her courage and asked in a low voice, "Do I need to take off my underwear, too?"
"As long as your upper thigh is exposed, that's enough."
Qin Chuan felt embarrassed and hurriedly explained, "I need to first stimulate your meridians with acupuncture before applying the medicinal paste for treatment. During acupuncture, I need to…"
Before Qin Chuan could finish his sentence, Qin Nian said, "Brother, you don't need to explain it to me. Illness does not hide from a doctor. I'll cooperate in any way necessary."
She glanced at her legs wrapped in white bandages and said dejectedly, "Right now, I just want to get out of bed quickly."
Seeing Qin Nian's worried face, Qin Chuan felt as though his heart was breaking. He silently swore that he would make sure Qin Nian's legs fully recovered.
But now, he was penniless and didn't have the money to buy the ingredients needed for the Jade Muscle Continuation Ointment. Once he had gathered these ingredients, he planned to immediately start Qin Nian's treatment.
Suddenly, Qin Nian asked, "Brother, you haven't told Grandpa about my injury, have you?"
Qin Chuan shook his head: "A few days ago, Grandpa called, asking why he couldn't get in touch with you. To not worry him, I told him you were attending an enclosed training where phones couldn't be used. It's too late tonight; remember to call Grandpa back tomorrow."
Qin Nian had grown up with her grandfather since she was a child, until one day, ten years ago, when Grandpa brought home a bloodied Qin Chuan, and since then, their home had one more family member.
This year, Qin Nian had just turned twenty-three and was a senior at Jiangcheng City University. She had only one term left until graduation.
"Nian Nian, are you feeling unwell somewhere? Why are you sweating so much?"
While the siblings were chatting, Qin Chuan suddenly noticed Qin Nian's forehead was covered in sweat, and she looked very uncomfortable.
With a flushed face, looking like she could drip water at any moment, Qin Nian said softly, "Brother, I need to pee."
"Ah..."
It took a moment for Qin Chuan to snap back to reality. Qin Nian couldn't get out of bed and simply couldn't go to the bathroom by herself.
But now, the only person who could help Qin Nian was him.
"Brother, I can't hold it any longer. Can you carry me to the restroom?"
Qin Nian shivered slightly and looked at Qin Chuan with a blushing face, her eyes carrying a hint of pleading.
"Alright, alright, I'll take you to the restroom right now."
Seeing Qin Nian's urgency, Qin Chuan no longer cared about the propriety of men and women. He picked up Qin Nian and carried her into the restroom.
Coming out of the restroom, Qin Nian's face was rosy with blush. Thinking back to the embarrassing situation just now, she wished she could bury herself in a hole.
Qin Chuan was in the same boat. Sharing a room with Qin Nian, he felt at a loss, especially since the scene from a moment ago filled his mind, causing an inexplicable restlessness within him.
"Nian Nian, I'm going to step outside for a bit; you go to sleep first," he said.
Suddenly standing up, Qin Chuan quickly left after dropping those words, as if fleeing the scene.
Watching Qin Chuan escape in such a hurry, Qin Nian let out a chuckle, her eyes filled with tenderness. She murmured to herself, "Brother, Liu Fei's loss is her betrayal of you. If possible, I wish to be your new bride."
Meanwhile, Qin Chuan stepped outside into the yard. The breeze helped ease the restlessness he was feeling.
"Ten years ago, when I woke up, I had forgotten everything from my past. Now, suddenly, blurry memories have started to fill my mind. Could it be that these memories belong to my past?" he wondered.
Thinking about everything that had happened in the past couple of days, it all felt like a dream.
"Does a place like the Kunlun Divine Prison really exist in this world? If it does, why haven't I heard of it in all these years?"
"And what about the 'The Ancient Medical Treasure' and the medical techniques recorded within it? Are they real? If not, how do I explain having saved Nian Nian using the Seven Extremes Divine Needles?"
The more Qin Chuan thought about it, the more shocked he became.
He closed his eyes, and those memories reemerged, but they were still incredibly hazy, too vague to be seen clearly.
He tried hard to focus and see the images, but the effort caused a severe pain to throb in his head.
In his memory, he saw an ancient tome with a black cover placed alongside "The Ancient Medical Treasure", with a few golden characters vaguely visible on the cover, yet nothing else could be discerned.
Qin Chuan gritted his teeth, enduring the intense pain, and persisted, "What exactly is it?"
The shock that "The Ancient Medical Treasure" brought to him was already immense, and now that he saw another ancient book placed with it, he had a premonition that this book would bring him even greater surprises.
"Tai!"
Finally, he saw the first character clearly.
At this moment, his whole body was soaked with sweat, yet he could only make out one character, with the other three remaining obscure.
"Hiss~"
The severe pain in his head made him involuntarily take a sharp breath of cold air.
But he still didn't give up, these memories were all about his own origins, and he didn't want to just let go. Enduring the intense pain, he tried hard to make out the remaining three characters.
"Xuan!"
Five minutes later, he discerned the second character.
"Zhen!"
Another ten minutes passed, and the third character became clear as well.
"Jing!"
Finally, after enduring half an hour of excruciating pain, all four big characters on the ancient book became clear.
"Great Mysterious True Scripture!"
When he saw these four golden characters, information about the Great Mysterious True Scripture flooded into his memory.
"This is actually a cultivation technique! Just by recalling the Seven Extremes Divine Needles from "The Ancient Medical Treasure", I revived Qin Nian, if I were to cultivate the Great Mysterious True Scripture, wouldn't it be..."
Thinking this, Qin Chuan's eyes sparkled eagerly, and without any hesitation, he immediately started cultivating according to the methods in the Great Mysterious True Scripture.
However, as soon as he began cultivating, he was assailed by a suffocating sensation, as if an invisible force was trying to rip his brain apart.
One clear image after another emerged in his mind.
"Qin Shengtian, he is your son, are you really going to send him to Kunlun Divine Prison?"
A young woman in red held a boy about three or four years old tightly in her arms.
Opposite her, a man dressed in sumptuous attire spoke coldly, "A piece of trash with no spiritual roots does not deserve to be my son. If you continue to obstruct me, do not blame me for being ruthless!"
The woman in red stared fiercely at the man and said through clenched teeth, "I would rather die than let you send my son to the Kunlun Divine Prison."
Suddenly, she pushed the boy forcefully, and a gentle power sent the boy flying over ten meters away.
At the same time, she yelled at the boy, "Chuan'er, run!"
"Humph!"
The man in luxuriant garments moved swiftly, catching up to the boy in almost an instant. He held the boy in his hands like a small chicken and said coldly, "Boy, don't blame me for being heartless. If you must blame something, blame your own worthlessness! Whether you live or die depends on your fate!"
After speaking, he casually tossed the boy, whose body fell toward a bottomless abyss.
"No!"
The woman in red let out a heart-wrenching scream of agony.
...
"Ah..."
Qin Chuan suddenly opened his eyes wide, his face contorted with ferocity, and he let out a pained roar to the heavens.
A terrifying aura erupted from within his Dantian.