Chapter 27 The Scheming Disciple and the Charming Master 27

Chapter 27: The Scheming Disciple and the Charming Master 27

After flying all the way back to Lingxiao Peak, Lin Huaiqing used a jade token to send a message, summoning his junior sister, a highly skilled medical cultivator, to help treat Qin Du's injuries.

"Senior brother, how did your disciple get injured like this?! Who did he get into a fight with this time? Could it be... is it possible..."

Shen Qiuyue was greatly shocked. Seeing her senior brother's furrowed brow, she wondered if his two disciples had gotten into another fight.

"No, it wasn't Yunting." Lin Huaiqing frowned, wearing a worried expression. "It was an elder from the Baqi Sect."

"What?!"

"Xiaodu snuck down the mountain and ran into people from the Baqi Sect, and somehow a fight broke out."

Shen Qiuyue had a hot temper. Upon hearing it was the Baqi Sect, she hurled the empty medicine bottle down and erupted in fury:

"This is outrageous! The Baqi Sect is basically declaring war on our Xuantian Sect! Senior brother, you don't know—at today's assembly, Yuan Tianba publicly called out the Sect Master, saying... saying..."

"Saying what?"

"Saying the spirit-suppressing stone you brought back is a fake, and that you've colluded with the demons and become the Demon Lord's puppet."

In fact, what Yuan Tianba, the Baqi Sect's Sect Master, said at the assembly was a hundred times worse.

Chu Xiuyuan nearly came to blows with Yuan Tianba defending his junior brother.

But before she came, the Sect Master had specifically told her not to mention this to Senior Brother Lin, afraid he'd worry and overthink.

Before long, a disciple from the medical cultivation branch brought a new bottle of medicinal powder. After bandaging Qin Du up, Shen Qiuyue left.

She told Lin Huaiqing to keep a close eye on Qin Du through the night, and to call her again if he spiked a fever in the middle of the night.

Lin Huaiqing nodded at each instruction.

A thin sheen of sweat had formed on the unconscious Qin Du's forehead. Lin Huaiqing gently wiped it away with a handkerchief.

The young man on the bed seemed trapped in a nightmare, limbs twitching and face twisted in pain.

It made Lin Huaiqing's heart ache to see.

After all, this was his disciple, the one he'd raised himself. Even though he wasn't the main character, seeing him get bullied like this by outsiders, he couldn't just sit back and do nothing.

Tomorrow, he was definitely going to the assembly to demand an explanation from that Baqi Sect elder who'd hurt Qin Du!

"Master... Master!" Qin Du suddenly cried out in his sleep.

"I'm here! Master's right here!" Qin Du suddenly grabbed the hand Lin Huaiqing was using to wipe his sweat.

"Master... this disciple really wants... really wants..."

Qin Du's voice got softer and softer, until Lin Huaiqing had to lean right next to his mouth to hear him.

"What do you want?"

"Really wants..."

In the end, Lin Huaiqing still couldn't figure out what Qin Du wanted.

Water? Food? The bathroom?

Just in case Qin Du woke up in the middle of the night needing something, Lin Huaiqing stayed in the side hall all night.

He stayed right by Qin Du's bedside.

Luckily, Qin Du had a tough constitution, and with the demon race's quick recovery, he didn't run a fever all night.

When Qin Du finally opened his eyes again, his lower abdomen was throbbing with pain. Even the slightest movement made him wince and grind his teeth.

Hearing Qin Du's muffled groans, Lin Huaiqing, half-asleep, immediately thought he might have a fever.

He quickly got up to check, only to see Qin Du was already awake.

Much earlier than Shen Qiuyue had predicted.

"Xiaodu, you're awake. How are you feeling? Does it still hurt?"

Seeing his master sitting on his bed, face full of worry, Qin Du's heart felt both bitter and tight.

He'd originally wanted to tell his master not to worry, but on a whim, he forced himself up and collapsed into Lin Huaiqing's arms.

"Master~ Why'd you take so long to come~ Your disciple was almost beaten to death by those people."

Thirty percent fear, seventy percent grievance. The moment he opened his mouth, that little act totally melted Lin Huaiqing's heart.

Lin Huaiqing held Qin Du—who was half a head taller than him—in his arms, soothing him with gentle words:

"Alright, alright. Isn't your master here now? So, does your stomach still hurt?"

"It hurts!"

"Then let your master have Aunt Shen come over and take a look at you."

"Alright..."

Shen Qiuyue, the ever-reliable errand girl, rushed all the way from the Fragrant Waterside Pavilion, only to see this scene.

The master and disciple sat on the bed, with the tall and sturdy Qin Du curled up in the arms of the naturally slender Lin Huaiqing.

No matter how she looked at it, something just didn't add up.

"Cough, cough..."

Shen Qiuyue deliberately coughed a few times before Lin Huaiqing snapped back to reality and somewhat laboriously pressed Qin Du back down onto the bed.

"Junior sister, Xiaodu is awake. Please take another look at him."

"Mm..."

When it was Shen Qiuyue's turn to sit by his bedside, Qin Du had already put on a completely different, defiant expression.

"Does this hurt?"

"It hurts."

"Still dizzy?"

"Dizzy..."

The more Shen Qiuyue asked, the more something felt off. She turned to look at Lin Huaiqing, who stood nearby, nervously picking at the bed frame.

Helplessly, she said, "Senior Brother, let me examine him. Could you wait outside for a moment?"

Though Lin Huaiqing didn't understand why he had to leave when he couldn't see anything anyway, since his junior sister had said so, he could only temporarily step out.

As soon as Lin Huaiqing left, Qin Du dropped the act completely.

"Does this hurt?"

"No. But you're pressing too hard."

"Dizzy?"

"No."

"..." Shen Qiuyue was completely done with this master-disciple duo.

What the heck kind of disciples did her senior brother take in?!

"Alright, quit the act. You're fine." Shen Qiuyue rose to leave, but Qin Du called out to her.

"Senior Uncle, I got stabbed in the lower belly. It shouldn't mess with certain parts down there, right?"

Being a medical cultivator, Shen Qiuyue obviously knew what the kid was getting at.

"What kind of effect are you hoping for?"

"It's just that it was pretty close, and I'm still young, so I'm worried..." He was too embarrassed to spell it out in front of a female cultivator. "Anyway, it shouldn't cause any problems down the road, right?"

Shen Qiuyue shot Qin Du a glare and sneered, pursing her lips:

"You got hit in your dantian, and instead of worrying about your spiritual root, you're worried about that?! With that kind of attitude, how did you even form a Golden Core? You must've popped some pills!"

"A root's a root—they're all roots, and they all count!"

Shen Qiuyue was totally beaten by Qin Du's shamelessness. She stormed out and slammed the door shut.

"Hey, Junior Sister, how's Xiaodu doing?"

Shen Qiuyue snapped, "He's doing great!"

With that, she left.

When Lin Huaiqing got back to the room, Qin Du was still lying there all weak and lifeless.

That made him doubt it.

This is what she calls doing great?

"Xiaodu, the Immortal Sects Conference is starting soon. Everyone from the Baqi Sect is here. You stay lying down, and I'll go get revenge for you!"

"Wait! Master, hold up!"

The moment he heard "avenge," Qin Du suddenly found his strength.

He shot up from the bed in one quick move.

"Take me with you, Master. That way, they can't make stuff up when I'm not around!"

"Can you handle it?"

Only then did Qin Du realize he'd gotten up too fast. He immediately went back to his weak, sickly act.

"Your disciple can tough it out!"

"Very well then!"

Lin Huaiqing personally flew his sword, taking the badly injured Qin Du to the main peak's council hall.

The originally spacious hall was now packed to the brim, with a dense circle of Sect Masters seated around the perimeter.

In the center of the hall stood several members of the Baqi Sect, chattering endlessly before the crowd.