~~~

Liu Jin stares at the ceiling with a blank look on his face. His muscles do not so much as twitch. Even his chest rises and falls so slightly one could be forgiven for thinking he is not breathing. He just lies on the bed, unmoving. Some would say this is not the most productive use of his time, but it is all Liu Jin feels like doing right now.

Ruan Goutin has decided against killing him. For now, at least. The awed looks the disciples gave him when he walked out of the throne room said everything about how unlikely that outcome had been. However, that doesn’t mean Liu Jin is out of danger. Far from it, really.

Branch Master Ruan has allowed Liu Jin to return to his cell. However, he only did it so that he may deliberate in silence. Ruan Goutin has yet to decide on the most crucial matter.

Will he allow Liu Jin to treat him?

A reasonable person would see there are no other options. The only doctor able to identify Branch Master Ruan’s condition so far has been Liu Jin. The best doctors in Five Bats City tried and were found wanting. Ruan Goutin can scour the city all he wants. He won’t find a better doctor than Liu Jin. That is something he should already know. For Branch Master Ruan, there is only one path forward. It is in his best interests to allow Liu Jin to treat him.

Unfortunately, Ruan Goutin is not stable enough to be reasonable.

How long has it been since that wound was first made?

At least two months. Liu Jin is sure of that.

Ruan Goutin has been spending his every waking moment since then trying to keep his dantian from shattering. However, no matter how hard he tries, he cannot stop the damage. He can only delay the inevitable. He can only watch as a lifetime of effort crumbles.

The one who made that wound must be a very cruel person.

Cruel and without any regard for others.

By leaving Branch Master Ruan in such a state, he had turned him into a danger to everyone around him. Paranoia and desperation are the ones guiding Branch Master Ruan. That is why Liu Jin’s life could end at any moment. The idea of someone else knowing his condition and having to trust that person is simply too scary for a man like Branch Master Ruan.

Well, for a certain definition of trust, at least.

Liu Jin frowns as he rubs his neck, well aware of the black symbols now imprinted on it like some sort of collar.

“You will not speak of what you’ve learned here,” Branch Master Ruan had told him. “Since this is a sensitive matter, I have deemed you worthy of having your tongue bound by me.”

It had happened in an instant. Ruan Goutin waved his arm and glowing symbols appeared around Liu Jin, burning themselves into his skin. Had Liu Jin been capable of it, he’d have screamed. Alas, such a simple thing is now beyond him. Branch Master Ruan’s words had not been said carelessly.

Liu Jin’s tongue is now bound. His mouth has become a decoration. No sounds will leave it no matter how hard he tries.

“Should you try to circumvent this measure, you may find your head becoming a stranger to your body.”

That was the last thing Branch Master Ruan had said to Liu Jin before sending him away. He cannot even say Ruan Goutin is being overly cautious, because, well…

If Liu Jin could talk, he would.

What he had learned changed everything about the situation in Five Bats City. Branch Master Ruan has gotten away with much for two reasons. People fear the Eternal Raging Valley, and they fear angering someone in the Emperor Realm.

However, only one of those fears is valid.

How long has it been since Branch Master Ruan left the Emperor Realm?

It probably happened early on. It is natural that having to continually repair his dantian negatively affected his cultivation. Over time, Ruan Goutin fell to the Renegade Realm. That is why things have become such a disaster.

To overcome the Heaven Realm, one must endure Heaven’s fury. However, the Renegade Realm is dangerous in a different way. It magnifies the cultivator’s feelings and desires, leading him towards madness. Many had fallen to it, and Ruan Goutin has proven himself no different. Desperate and struggling to stay in control of himself, he had summoned the best doctors in the city. Upon finding out they could not help him, he had been overcome by rage and killed them. That is most likely what happened.

That was when he started forcefully bringing in other doctors, hoping the outcome would change. It hadn’t. He just kept falling and falling.

The current Ruan Goutin is not one out of the hundred Emperor Realm cultivators in the Empire.

He is merely one of over a thousand Heaven Realm cultivators.

There are people in the city who could defeat him if they could just find the courage to challenge him. Ruan Goutin is not unaware of that. In fact, knowing his powerbase is so unstable has definitely been feeding his paranoia.

It would explain why Liu Jin has not seen a single Heaven Realm cultivator in the Eternal Raging Valley.

To not see a cultivator in the Renegade Realm is only natural. In the Xiao Sect, not a single one of the Elders had dared to step into that realm, choosing to stay in the Ninth Level of the Heaven Realm instead. That sort of attitude is not rare. In fact, there are probably more Emperor Realm cultivators than there are Renegade Realm cultivators. That is how daunting the Renegade Realm is.

However, for there not to be a single Heaven Realm cultivator in a Sect as esteemed as the Eternal Raging Valley, even though this is just one of many branches, is preposterous.

Yet, that is the reality Liu Jin has found.

For as long as he has been here, he has not seen or felt a single Heaven Realm cultivator. He has also not seen a single Elder.

Did Ruan Goutin send them away on a mission to give himself time?

Or perhaps, the Heaven Realm cultivators were the first victims of his “tests”?

Liu Jin releases a noiseless sigh. Oh, how he wishes he could let people know what he has learned. There is no reason to be afraid of Branch Master Ruan. The Emperor-class aura emanating from him is nothing but trickery. That is why it has never once flared, no matter how angry he was. He is disguising his power somehow. If only Liu Jin could tell someone, the situation would drastically change.

However, Liu Jin doesn’t dare to try. Branch Master Ruan’s Qi lingers ominously around his neck. A single thought is all it’d take to kill him. He might not be in the Emperor Realm right now, but he is still much stronger than the current Liu Jin.

Liu Jin turns around, looking away from the ceiling and coming face to face with the wall.

It occurs to him that he could probably break it and flee.

It wouldn’t be easy, but it wouldn’t be hard either. He’d just need to create enough Poison Qi to corrode his way through. At most, it’d take some hours. The disciples didn’t take away his spatial pouch, likely taking it for granted he wouldn’t be able to flee even if he had it, so he wouldn’t be abandoning anything.

Liu Jin clicks his tongue, or rather, tries to. Failing to do something so simple just worsens his mood.

Who is he trying to fool?

There is no way he can escape the mansion. Even if he could somehow escape the compound using Art of the Roaming Thief, the symbols around his neck won’t disappear. While Liu Jin is fairly sure he could manipulate them with his Qi, Ruan Goutin would sense it and kill him before he could free himself.

Besides, running away won’t change what truly matters.

Branch Master Ruan is a highly unstable man. The weaker he grows, the more desperate he’ll become.

Once enough time passes, Branch Master Ruan will lose his cultivation. However, how long will that take? A year? No, it will be less than that. At the rate he is diminishing, he’ll reach the Earth Realm in a month, perhaps two. At that level, repairing his dantian will be much harder. The rate of degradation will speed up.

Two months.

It only took a single night for Eastern Port City to fall. How much damage can a man like Ruan Goutin do in two months?

The door opens. Liu Jin looks up, startled.

It is Ren He.

“Follow me. Branch Master Ruan has reached a decision.”

~~~

In spite of the dramatic announcement, what follows is considerably less so. Ren He does not take him to Branch Master Ruan. Instead, he leads Liu Jin to a different room.

It has windows, which Liu Jin appreciates. He was starting to lose track of time after being locked in a cell for so long. The room lacks any sort of fancy decorations, carpets, or even a single bed or sofa. Instead, it has boilers, furnaces, grinders, and shelves stocked with potions and ingredients.

“Branch Master Ruan has graciously allowed you to make use of this room so that you may better serve him. Should there be anything you need, write it down, and it shall be brought to you.”

Liu Jin stares at Ren He.

It would have been nice if he had led with that instead of leaving him to wonder what was to become of him. Perhaps sensing his irritation, Ren He shuffles awkwardly in place before bowing his head and leaving with a muttered, “Sorry.”

Lei Kong is brought in a few minutes later. He stares at the room with wide eyes before rushing to Liu Jin.

“My lord, you are okay? I heard the disciples talking. Is it true what they say? Will you heal the Branch Master?”

Liu Jin shrugs his shoulders and waves at the room. Lei Kong is left blinking.

“My lord, why are you not…” Liu Jin points to his neck. “Ah, I see.”

Huh, that was much faster than Liu Jin expected.

Is this type of punishment common then?

“My lord, you may not have your voice, but this Lei Kong will do his best to understand your orders.”

Good. Liu Jin drags Lei Kong over to one of the tables and puts a chopping knife in his hands. He then goes to one of the cabinets and takes out a 200-year-old root, which he tosses at Lei Kong.

Lei Kong barely manages to catch the expensive ingredient in time

“My lord! What are you doing?”

Liu Jin points to the knife, then to the root, and makes chopping motions with his hand.

“You want me to chop this? But my lord, I’m not sure how…”

Chop. Chop. Chop. Liu Jin keeps on repeating the motion even as he shoots a significant glance at the door. Lei Kong’s mouth opens slightly as he gets the idea. Chopping sounds soon fill the quiet room. Liu Jin sighs as he takes a seat. The noise should be enough to convince the guards outside that something is being done. That should give him enough time to think.

Can he heal Ruan Goutin?

Liu Jin would never call himself a bad doctor. While not as great as the ones who taught him, Liu Jin considers himself to be at least competent. Branch Master Ruan’s injury, however, presents a problem he has never dealt with before.

Liu Jin does not know how to heal a soul.

Old Jiang had mentioned the subject a few times, but the focus of his lessons had always been on the physical aspect of medicine. Right now, that seems like an odd oversight on his part. There is no way his master didn’t know how to deal with that sort of wound.

After all, the only way for his father to cripple himself so effectively would require him to mutilate his soul.

It is not something Liu Jin has thought much about, but now that he has seen Branch Master Ruan, it all makes sense. Cultivators in the higher realms can easily mend and rebuild their bodies. Considering who his father was and what he had done, there is no way he had failed to reach those heights. Had he merely struck his physical body, he’d have easily been capable of acquiring his cultivation back.

In other words, his father had to have struck his soul in order to cripple himself.

Liu Jin never learned to do something like that. Is it because, as Lei Kong said, people usually wait to broach that subject? It would make sense. Even if Old Jiang had tried to teach him about the soul, he wouldn’t have been in a position to fully appreciate those lessons. Maybe he still isn’t. However, Old Jiang knew his time was limited. Did he willingly leave Liu jin half-trained or perhaps…?

Liu Jin’s hand drifts to the spatial pouch tied to his waist.

Inside of it is a small wooden box with his master’s last lessons to him.

Is it finally time for him to look at them? Is it time for him to learn all that his master has to teach him? To see the memories he left behind for him?

Liu Jin frowns. His hand moves away.

No.

Today is not that day. If he uses his master’s last teachings for the benefit of someone like Branch Master Ruan… doing something like that feels like dirtying them. However, if he doesn’t do it, he’ll die. Branch Master Ruan will only be content to wait for so long. Liu Jin needs to come up with something quickly.

If he doesn’t heal Branch Master Ruan, he’ll keep hurting the people of Five Bats City in his search for a cure. However, would healing him truly change that? Branch Master Ruan will no longer be desperate, but will his sanity return to him? Liu Jin doesn’t think that is likely. The current Ruan Goutin has already left the Renegade Realm, yet he is still cruel and callous. It may be that the damage is already done. By healing him, Liu Jin might just be giving a horrible person more opportunities to be horrible.

Liu Jin takes a deep breath and ponders. His eyes close. His arms cross. His fingers tap against his elbow.

What is right? What is proper?

What is just?

Liu Jin thinks about it for a long time.

~~~