Chapter 1079: I Must Save Emperor Peerless
Jiang Chen didn’t know whether to hate her, scorn her or be impressed by her. Her love was truly selfish because she tried to push Emperor Peerless and herself into the grave without obtaining his permission. This could only be explained as an expression of jealousy and selfishness. However, she didn’t bear any resentment towards her love rival despite loving Emperor Peerless to the point of madness. The fact that she put her heart and soul into taking care of Madame Yun was proof that her nature was good and that she valued her sisterly relationship with Madame Yun. She didn’t say a single bad word about Madame Yun at all, and the only fault she admitted to was knowing Brother Mo too late.
A different woman would’ve hated her love rival and felt that Madame Yun had robbed her of her love, but not only did the thought never cross Miss Qing’s mind, she even tried to keep Jiang Chen, an innocent person, out of her scheme. This proved that she was a good-natured woman and not someone with the heart of a snake. A bit of understanding dawned upon Jiang Chen at this point.
Why had Miss Qing tried to convince him to leave and not treat Madame Yun’s injuries? It was because Brother Mo would leave with his wife the moment she recovered. If that happened, Miss Qing would be forced to stay alone in this place and watch her beloved departing with his own beloved.
Maybe it was Jiang Chen’s fault as well? Maybe his presence had unwittingly added to Miss Qing’s madness. He couldn’t help but blame himself a little at this point. At the same time, a different thought surfaced to his mind: I cannot allow Old Brother Mo to depart this world in such a manner. I must save Old Brother Mo!
“Miss Qing, actually… there’s something I haven’t discussed with you all this time…” Jiang Chen suddenly said.
She was completely absorbed in her own world as she waited the arrival of her death with a smile. It was obvious that she had poisoned herself too. The only reason she hadn’t fallen into a coma yet was because she poisoned herself a little later than Emperor Peerless.
Miss Qing didn’t show too much reaction at Jiang Chen’s words. With a tired smile, she asked, “What is it?”
“Why must you wait until the next lifetime or the next if you truly wish to be together with Old Brother Mo?”
Miss Qing shook her head. “Hehe, I know you’re trying to change my mind, little guy, but it’s useless… Brother Mo can only ever love Sister Yun, not to mention that I refuse to share him with anyone else, not even with someone who’s so close to me. Love is selfish after all.”
In this world, it wasn’t uncommon for a powerful male cultivator to have several partners. However, Miss Qing was obviously not the kind of woman who was willing to share her man with multiple women. Of course in her case her love could only be counted as a one-sided love. After all, Mo Wushuang wasn’t even aware of Miss Qing’s affection, much less requite it.
“Miss Qing, you say you love Old Brother Mo, but does he know about this? How will you know that you love him if you never let him know? If he can love Madame Yun for all his life during this lifetime, then surely his love won’t change even after he reincarnates into his next life.” Jiang Chen advised patiently. “I don’t know much, but I do know that you should at least boldly let him know of your love. You shouldn’t hide your love the way you did and destroy it like this in the end.”
Miss Qing sighed softly. “It’s too late, it’s all too late to say anything now! The poison I used is the Seven Emotions Poison, and it is something that cuts off the emotions and senses of a person completely. The poison has already reached his heart, so isn’t it all too late?”
“The Seven Emotions Poison?” Jiang Chen cried out with shock. “Do you mean that poison that’s refined from the fusion of several heartless ingredients?”
Miss Qing smiled with distress. “You seem to know a lot. It is unfortunate that you’re going to die here at such a young age. Alas… when I met him on the banks of the pond that year, two heart became one. My love! After you left, my thoughts, my feelings, I put them all into the guqin. But try as I may to adjust the strings, I can’t play a tune of love no matter what…”
Her answer suddenly turned into a song. It was mournful and sad even as a smile fleeted across her face from time to time…
Jiang Chen had no time to spare for Miss Qing. He strode right past her into the room. Emperor Peerless was seated upright before his bed like a frozen statue. It was obvious that his consciousness had been restrained by the Seven Emotions Poison. Madame Yun was lying sideways on the bed. Although her complexion looked a lot better than before, her consciousness was sealed just the same.
There was no time to mince courtesies, so Jiang Chen slung them both on his shoulders and walked towards outside. When he saw Miss Qing gradually slipping into a coma, he sighed inwardly and couldn’t bear to leave her in the end. He grabbed her with one hand and strode out of this quiet courtyard. He arrived at one of the more impressive-looking inns and rented a few rooms of the highest quality immediately.
All kinds of strange things happened in Frostmoon City, so a person slinging a few people over their shoulders wasn’t uncommon. Neither the shopkeeper nor the attendants even bothered to ask. Of course, their motivation mainly came from Jiang Chen’s striking bearing and generosity. The young man had slapped a couple million saint spirit stones on the table and paid for an entire month’s worth of rooms. There was nothing more welcomed by an inn than a non-fussy guest.
After putting them in their respective rooms, Jiang Chen was about to walk out when he thought for a moment and decided to summon Long Xiaoxuan. “Brother Long, please watch over them for me, will you? I’m heading out to a spirit herb store.”
Jiang Chen knew about the Seven Emotions Poison, but wasn’t satisfied with his current level of knowledge. He took a sample of Emperor Peerless and Madame Yun’s blood for analysis. He needed to confirm exactly which seven types of heartless ingredients Miss Qing had used to refine the poison.
The Seven Emotions Poison was an extraordinary poison. Not only was it deadly poisonous, it was neigh undetectable by most people. Of course, Emperor Peerless was a great emperor. He wouldn’t have fallen for it had he been on his guard. Unfortunately, he never thought to be on his guard around Miss Qing, much less entertain the idea that she might poison him one day.
Long Xiaoxuan had taken on human form ever since he reached emperor realm a long time ago. However, he wasn’t willing to show his face too much because he was naturally shy. He would never admit to this though.
Jiang Chen quickly headed for the most populated spirit herb distribution center in Frostmoon City. Just like Pillfire City’s Skyfire Avenue or Veluriyam Capital’s Farmer God Market, this district was the place with the heaviest concentration of pill factions in the city. Of course, Jiang Chen was aware that Pillfire City currently had the biggest amount of spirit herbs for sale, but he obviously didn’t have the time to make a round trip. He had to gather all the ingredients here.
Since the Seven Emotions Poison was refined with seven types of heartless poison, he had to gather seven types of spirit herbs that countered each ingredient to cure this poison. Every one of these spirit herbs was rare enough, but there were three that were especially rare.
After visiting several stores and splashing out a large sum of money, Jiang Chen quickly gathered the first four types of counteracting spirit herbs he was looking for. Two of the three last spirit herbs were earth rank spirit herbs, and he managed to gather them after four hours by paying an even higher price.
However, the same couldn’t be said about the last ingredient. This spirit herb was known as the Smiling Bodhi, and it was also the most important ingredient he needed to refine the antidote. It was an incredibly precious spirit herb that was categorized as a quasi-sky rank spirit herb, and a high quality Smiling Bodhi could even be categorized as a sky rank spirit herb.
Jiang Chen couldn’t find a Smiling Bodhi no matter how much he asked around, and he couldn’t tell if these people were purposely keeping him on tenterhooks or truly out of stock. The Smiling Bodhi was precious, but it shouldn’t be so precious that not a single one could be found in a city as big as Frostmoon City. He visited at least a dozen or so of the best spirit herb stores to find the ingredient. However, the results were disappointing. He couldn’t believe that none of them had a Smiling Bodhi.
“My friend, a Smiling Bodhi is a sky rank spirit herb, and sky rank spirit herbs are all precious things you can only chance upon normally. It’s only natural that you can’t buy one no matter how rich you are.” The shopkeeper of the last spirit herb store he visited smiled. He was a very amiable man.
Money can’t buy it? Jiang Chen thought carefully for a moment and discovered that it might be as the shopkeeper had said. Sky rank spirit herbs was always in high demand in the human domain, so the chances he could buy one with money was next to zero.
Take the Radiant Celestial Grass for example. If the spirit herb hadn’t fallen into the hands of the short origin realm cultivator, Liu Zhen, or if he’d been an emperor realm expert, who in their right minds would put it up for auction?
The news depressed Jiang Chen a little. Emperor Peerless, Madame Yun and Miss Qing’s lives were trickling away with every passing second. Even fifteen wasted minutes was enough to put them in greater danger. The best time to cure them of the Seven Emotions Poison was three days. If he couldn’t find the Smiling Bodhi in three days, then the chances to save them was minimal even if he did obtain the spirit herb afterwards.
I must find the Smiling Bodhi no matter what the cost. Jiang Chen thought resolutely.
Seeing the worry leaking out of Jiang Chen’s expression, the shopkeeper advised. “My friend, the Smiling Bodhi is an antidote ingredient and there’s almost no chance you’ll run into one if you rush things like this. If you aren’t in a hurry, you can try head over to Pillfire City. Pillfire City’s spirit herb stock is ten times our city’s, and whatever that’s absent in their warehouse is sure to be missing the entire human domain as well.”
There obviously wasn’t time to rush to Pillfire City, so the suggestion was completely meaningless to Jiang Chen. The young man laughed painfully before asking, “Do you have another way, shopkeeper?”
The shopkeeper thought for a moment. “I believe that there’s a Smiling Bodhi somewhere in Frostmoon City, but as I said earlier, a sky rank spirit herb isn’t something you can buy with spirit stones.”
“Oh?” An idea suddenly passed through Jiang Chen’s mind. “What if I trade with a different spirit herb?”
He suddenly recalled that he had a bunch of sky rank spirit herbs in possession. They were from Mt. Rippling Mirage and the desolate wildlands, and although he had given some to Lin Yanyu, they weren’t all gone.
“You want to trade a spirit herb for a spirit herb?” The shopkeeper looked surprised. “Do you have a sky rank spirit herb?”
Jiang Chen’s eyes lit up. “Shopkeeper, do you think that someone will be willing to trade me a Smiling Bodhi for a sky rank spirit herb?”
The shopkeeper answered frankly, “That depends if the spirit herb you have is what they need. Plus, considering how urgently you need it, the other party is sure to bargain with you and up the price as much as possible. They may even fleece you by a great amount.”
“As long as someone is willing to make the trade, then I’m willing to give them a sky rank spirit herb and two earth rank spirit herbs in exchange as well. A Smiling Bodhi is just a quasi-sky rank spirit herb. It’s not even a real sky rank spirit herb.”
The shopkeeper laughed. “If you have need of it, then it will become more precious than any sky rank spirit herb that exists. It is true that the trade will go smoothly in the norm especially considering your generous offer, but your urgency is plain for all eyes to see, so you better stop deluding yourself thinking that this will be a fair trade.”