My Gentle and Pure Sect Leader Husband - Chapter 42

Lu Xiaofeng was dragged away by Wang Lianhua to the adjacent room, while Yan Hongyin also took Yu Luocha back to her room for examination.

Hua Manlou walked almost pressed against Yu Luocha’s leg, his lips tightly pursed, his small face filled with worry and seriousness.

Beside them, Ximen Chuixue’s gaze also remained fixed on Yu Luocha.

After changing out of that outfit and releasing the three children from the secret chamber, Yan Hongyin stood with her hair flowing loosely, wearing a plain white robe with large sleeves, frowning in deep thought in front of the medicine cabinet.

Yu Luocha looked like a house cat that had gone out to fight with a big cat, lost, and returned covered in dirt and dishevelment. He opened his mouth, which pulled at the wound on the corner of his lips, causing him to hiss in pain.

Hua Manlou anxiously knelt beside the chaise lounge, not daring to put pressure on Yu Luocha for fear of touching his wounds. “Uncle Yu, does it hurt a lot?”

Yan Hongyin was brought back from her thoughts by this cry of pain. She walked over with a porcelain bowl and said to the two worried children nearby, “Ah Xue, could you help me boil a bucket of hot water?”

Ximen Chuixue nodded solemnly.

“Ah Lou, could you help me get five ounces each of datura flower, Ligusticum chuanxiong, Salvia miltiorrhiza… these herbs from the medicine cabinet in the backyard and place them in the bathing room?”

Hua Manlou nodded firmly. “Yes!”

The two children, finally feeling they could be of help, hurried off to work. Yan Hongyin stirred the crystal-clear medicinal paste in the porcelain bowl and said softly, “Take off your clothes.”

Yu Luocha paused briefly, then very obediently stripped down to just his underwear.

Judging by his face, Yu Luocha only had a cut and blood stains at the corner of his mouth, but once his clothes were removed, it was clear that hardly any part of his skin remained uninjured. Wang Lianhua initially had no intention of taking Yu Luocha’s life, but he certainly hadn’t shown any mercy in his attack.

“So… he really is your master?” Yu Luocha lowered his eyes and asked Yan Hongyin. “Someone like him could work for the Jinyiwei?”

How big of a heart would the emperor need to have to entrust such a person with the Jinyiwei?

“Yes and no,” Yan Hongyin had figured out in this short time some things she hadn’t understood before. “He might be considered half my master, but he wasn’t with the Jinyiwei.”

“You had two masters?” Yu Luocha’s muscles tensed when Yan Hongyin’s fingers touched the blood-tinged bruise on his shoulder.

Honestly, if he were the emperor and learned that his Jinyiwei commander’s master was someone like Wang Lianhua, he would never have entrusted her with such responsibility.

“I always thought I had only one,” Yan Hongyin’s eyes showed a trace of peculiarity. “The master who raised and taught me from childhood was indeed a woman. She mainly taught me the usual skills of the Jinyiwei: intelligence gathering, covert movement, internal energy, hidden weapons, and such. But when I was eleven, I noticed that occasionally my master’s entire demeanor would change dramatically. During these times, she would teach me things beyond the Jinyiwei.”

“Medicine, poisons, movement techniques, some almost-secret martial arts from the jianghu, and the ability to identify disguises at a glance…these were all taught by him. But I was too young then, and my master intentionally covered for him, so I never realized the irregularity of his identity.”

“After my master passed away and I officially took over the Jinyiwei, he never appeared again.” Yan Hongyin pressed firmly on the edge of Yu Luocha’s bruise. “Fortunately, there’s no damage to your internal organs. It will probably hurt for a day or two.”

Wang Lianhua had struck places that would affect every movement, so Yu Luocha would likely be uncomfortable for the next few days.

“So he’s not really your master then, which is interesting,” Yu Luocha hissed with pain but still managed to talk. “But going back to what was said, didn’t he retire overseas? Based on what you’re saying, he returned to the Central Plains over ten years ago?”

“That Xiao Feng said Wang Lianhua had a female disciple who lived in Lin’an Prefecture. I initially thought he was referring to you, but then I realized… before your gold needle sealing acupoints, you weren’t often in the Jiangnan area, were you?”

“He certainly wasn’t referring to me, but I know who it is,” Yan Hongyin paused, then gave him a hint. “Over ten years ago, there was also unrest in another place.”

Although Yu Luocha had only been paying attention to the Central Plains for the past two years, he had people dig deep into many power shifts. If there was turmoil ten years ago, and the location was Lin’an Prefecture, there could only be one…

“The black market?”

Yan Hongyin nodded.

“The black market appeared much earlier than his age…” Yu Luocha put himself in Wang Lianhua’s position, imagining what he might have done. He narrowed his eyes and guessed, “Did he return to the Central Plains over ten years ago and usurp the position of the black market leader?”

And the young black market leader they had all seen, who now managed the black market business, was likely Wang Lianhua’s other female disciple.

“His background is too complex to be certain, but he definitely had a connection with my master.”

Yan Hongyin applied the ointment from the porcelain bowl to Yu Luocha’s wounds, covering the red, swollen, and bruised areas with a nearly transparent, cicada-wing-thin film.

The black market had always been clear about Yan Hongyin’s identity but had never acted against her. They had even tried to subtly warn her by hanging a corpse on her door when Yu Luocha initially infiltrated around the unknowing Yan Hongyin.

“Tsk… what level of martial arts did he reach?” Yu Luocha recalled the frustration of being beaten by Wang Lianhua and pouted.

Yan Hongyin thought for a moment, then said, “Over ten years ago, he was probably already at the peak of the Grandmaster realm.”

Yu Luocha’s expression froze, and he said in disbelief, “…Really?”

“When he shook the jianghu in his youth, he had already reached the Grandmaster level. If Shen Lang and Zhu Qiqi hadn’t taken him away from the Central Plains, who knows what the martial world would look like now.”

“So he beat me because I married his disciple?” Yu Luocha couldn’t understand Wang Lianhua’s hostility toward him and mumbled, “But he’s not really your master… What if I tell him I was the one who married into your family? Do you think that would appease him?”

“No, that’s not right… Evil mother-in-laws have always been difficult to deal with, but this is like facing an abyss-level challenge…”

“Were you truly unable to fight back?” Yan Hongyin asked skeptically.

Yu Luocha looked up slyly. “Not exactly. If it came to a life-or-death struggle, I could manage to take him down with me.”

Yu Luocha was skilled with the curved blade, but since entering the Central Plains, he had never held any weapon.

Yan Hongyin’s lips curved slightly.

Yu Luocha also smiled and continued to watch Yan Hongyin’s movements.

Yan Hongyin’s hand with the jade piece scooping the ointment had moved to Yu Luocha’s abdomen. Yu Luocha’s abdomen contracted slightly from the cold temperature of the medicine. Her long hair hung down in front of her, trailing in Yan Hongyin’s field of vision.

She thought about the information she had obtained from Hua Ruling, the origin of the phoenix hairpin, and Wang Lianhua’s subtle protection and concessions toward her. She lowered her eyes to hide the waves in her gaze and suddenly said:

“I need to return to the capital.”

“Now?” Yu Luocha raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“Yes, my mother’s death anniversary is approaching, and I need to burn incense for her,” Yan Hongyin said while applying medicine to Yu Luocha. “But before that, I need to know about the Loulan tribe survivors.”

Yu Luocha hadn’t expected Yan Hongyin to ask so directly, especially within two hours of learning about this matter.

He paused, then chuckled lightly. “Is this an interrogation of a prisoner’s motives… or an inquiry about your newly-wedded husband’s family?”

Yan Hongyin’s hand paused briefly, then continued applying medicine to the wound on his abdomen. Without looking up, she replied, “Both.”

Yu Luocha narrowed his eyes, and after a while, he first pulled at the corner of his mouth in a low laugh, which gradually grew louder until he was lying back on the chaise lounge, his face and eyes filled with joyful and satisfied laughter.

Yan Hongyin was unable to apply the medicine due to his movement. She looked helplessly at Yu Luocha, who was laughing so hard his body shook, wincing from the pain of his wounds. She gave a light tap to this inconsiderate man and softly scolded, “Don’t move!”

Instead of stopping, Yu Luocha smiled even more, his eyes curved into crescents. He reached out to Yan Hongyin and said in a drawn-out tone, “Can’t get up, it hurts~”

Yan Hongyin: “…”

With an expressionless face, she extended her hand to help him sit up properly. The tips of her ears had quietly turned crimson, and she unconsciously raised her hand to brush her hair to cover them slightly.

Yu Luocha sat up straight with a smile, no longer teasing Yan Hongyin, and began to answer her earlier question. “The Loulan tribe was skilled in cultivation. They had a rare medicinal herb with powerful effects, said to be able to revive the dead and heal broken bones. It was highly sought after by countless people from the Western Regions and Central Plains visitors, and Loulan became famous because of it.”

“The Mongol dynasty, warlike by nature, tried to persuade Loulan to surrender several times. When that failed, they resorted to military force to occupy it, forcing the Loulan people to grow medicinal herbs for their wars. The entire Loulan nation fought back and died rather than surrender.”

“It was at this time that the Ming founding emperor, who was already rising to power, approached the Loulan royal family. He offered to help Loulan against the Mongols, but on the condition that Loulan would serve his righteous army from then on. This was rejected by the Loulan chieftain, who had always refused to engage in warfare.”

“Later…”

Yu Luocha seemed to fall into the story his mother had softly told him in his childhood, his voice clear and distant, carrying a vague melancholy.

He had never experienced that fiery history, yet because of it, he had lost the warmth of his childhood home.

“It was the leader of the Ming Sect who saved the remaining Loulan royalty and protected their survival. The Ming Sect was the backer of the righteous army, and because of this, the Loulan survivors provided medicinal herbs to the righteous army for a time. Until shortly after the Ming dynasty was established, the Ming Sect rebelled, and the sect split into factions. In the end, both sides suffered heavy casualties, leaving only a broken remnant that didn’t even dare call itself the Ming Sect but became the Sun Moon Holy Sect. The Loulan survivors completely disappeared from the surveillance of the Ming royal family.”

Yu Luocha placed his hand over Yan Hongyin’s, and said word by word, extremely solemn. “In my childhood, my family was destroyed, and I became a wanderer. To seek revenge, I began practicing the remaining martial arts manual kept by my clan. That manual was the Ming Sect’s treasure…the Great Heaven and Earth Shift.”

“When I first obtained that manual, the latter half of the mental cultivation technique had already been burned, leaving only the first four levels. I completed the fifth level technique, but there was no record or clue about the sixth and seventh levels. Once you begin cultivating the Great Heaven and Earth Shift, if you stay too long at any level before reaching perfection, you will go mad with blocked meridians and die.”

“Fortunately, all Persian Ming Sect techniques originate from Buddhist scriptures. I created the last two levels of mental cultivation from Buddhist texts, but without the experience of predecessors, I made mistakes when cultivating to the sixth level.”

He looked up at Yan Hongyin and said softly, “Then, at the dead-end crossroads where the road was about to end, you picked me up and brought me back.”

Yu Luocha’s palm was scorching hot, but Yan Hongyin was like a blade under an icy lake. Wrapped in this warmth, she revealed the softness beneath her icy shell. This softness, though still carrying the sharpness of a blade, was all the more precious.

Yan Hongyin tapped Yu Luocha’s hand, indicating he should release her so as not to interfere with her medicine application, and said calmly:

“Back then, Ming Sect leader Zhang Wuji possessed two supreme martial arts manuals, the Nine Yin and Nine Yang Scriptures, and before he went into seclusion, he left handwritten copies with the Ming founding emperor.”

“But with the succession of imperial thrones, those two priceless martial arts manuals were also damaged. Now, only parts of the healing section from the Nine Yin Scripture and the first half of the Nine Yang Scripture’s mental cultivation technique remain.”

“The technique I used on your acupoints was the healing method recorded in the fragment of the Nine Yin Scripture.”

“But this method can only treat your symptoms, not the root cause.”

The Great Heaven and Earth Shift had long disappeared in the tumult of history. Before Yu Luocha mentioned it, Yan Hongyin had only caught glimpses of fragments in very old Jinyiwei records. Finding the complete mental cultivation technique was almost impossible.

It could only be said that Yu Luocha had been a fearless newborn calf at the time, and later, it was his amazing talent that allowed him to survive step by step until now. This kind of success would have been certain death for anyone else.

“It’s fine. Even the most powerful martial arts techniques were created by people. If others could do it, so can I,” Yu Luocha’s eyes blazed, and he raised his chin in a proud manner. “I survived before, and I will certainly survive in the future.”

Yan Hongyin paused, then acknowledged with a sound.

Yu Luocha then asked, “You’re not planning to take me with you when you return to the capital this time?”

Yan Hongyin’s gaze passed through the window and fell on the wall separating them from their neighbors in the courtyard.

Yu Luocha understood, “You want me to hold him back?”

Yan Hongyin nodded. “If he learns I’m returning to the capital, he will certainly try to prevent me from investigating old matters.”

“That won’t be an easy task, but…” Yu Luocha pressed his cheek against Yan Hongyin’s hand, his voice twisting and turning with intimacy, “As you command, my Commander Daren~”

Teased like this, the tips of Yan Hongyin’s ears, which had just lost their color, reddened again. She glared at Yu Luocha and said, “That’s enough, go take a medicinal bath.”

Yu Luocha’s flirtatious expression instantly froze. “…Now?”

With his injuries, soaking in a medicinal bath of that temperature would be agonizingly painful, wouldn’t it?

Yan Hongyin remained unmoved. “Right now, your body’s blood and qi are abundant, and your dantian’s energy is active. It’s the most suitable time for stimulating the medicinal effects. I’ll add more datura flower to numb you, so it won’t be too painful.”

Yu Luocha: “…”

He wasn’t sure if other couples gazed at each other lovingly after intimate conversations, but in their home, right after confessing feelings, he was about to be boiled in a medicinal bath.

“Your heart is like iron…” Yu Luocha unhappily puffed his cheeks, his small eyes cast forlornly at Yan Hongyin.

Yan Hongyin’s mouth twitched, not wanting to deal with this big cat that kept trying to cling to her. She grabbed an outer robe and wrapped him in it, maintaining the aloof image of a principled man. “Will you walk yourself or shall I carry you there?”

Yu Luocha: “…???”

As a dignified, tall and strong man, if his wife carried him to the bathing room, would he still have any face left in front of the two children at home?!

……

In the bathing room, the two children had already prepared everything together. After watching the two adults begin the medicinal bath, Hua Manlou finally sighed in relief, then took the initiative to lead Ximen Chuixue out, thoughtfully leaving the two adults with private space.

Grimacing as he sank into the scalding hot bath, Yu Luocha’s face no longer showed his previous restraint and depth. His pitiful, miserable expression was like a sunflower turning toward Yan Hongyin’s direction. Wherever she went, he turned.

The medicinal broth in the tub splashed noisily as he moved.

Yan Hongyin was finally amused by his antics and brought a small stool to sit near the fire opening under the medicine tub, occasionally reaching out with tongs to adjust the firewood.

“By the way, Ah Yin, about Hua Ruling…”

Yan Hongyin looked up, her expression threatening. “The second condition of our three agreements.”

——Do not interfere with each other’s whereabouts and intelligence.

Yu Luocha drooped his eyes, unhappy with Yan Hongyin’s lack of trust. “I don’t want to do anything, I just wanted to ask… if I could intimidate him a little.”

Yan Hongyin didn’t understand. “Why would you want to scare him?”

“I have a reason,” Yu Luocha said. “An item I previously left with someone else has ended up in Hua Ruling’s hands. Before, it didn’t matter; it was just being kept safe regardless of where it was. But now I want to take it back.”

“When Ah Yin returns to the capital, will you take that item with you?”