Chapter 255

Although Lan Chui Han woke up and was not in danger of dying, it was as if his soul had been taken away from him. He did not speak and ignored Xie Bi An's concern.

Xie Bi An sighed: "How dare I let Pavilion Master Lan know when he is in such a state?"

"The fact that he is alive is already great news for Xianyue Pavilion."

"Can he still recover?"

"It's hard to say." Fan Wu She shook his head, "Most of the people who have experienced the nightmare suffer from mental impairment. They suffered physically and mentally in the Infernal Hell. So, even if they leave there, they mostly don't remember anything."

"But he is a living person, not just a ghost with a wisp of a human soul. Moreover, he didn’t stay there for a long time." Compared to the ten years and decades of imprisonment in Hell, a few days really didn’t sound like much.

"Anyways, we can't help him. We have to take him to Chunyang Sect. He has the foundation of the Chunyang Technique, and the best physicians in the immortal cultivation world are gathered there, so maybe they can save him."

Xie Bi An looked at Lan Chui Han, who was lying on the bed with a stupefied expression, and felt suffocated in his heart.

"Chunyang Sect also has branches all over Jiuzhou, so perhaps they can help us find Xu Zhi Nan."

"Right." Xie Bi An nodded, "Let's depart for Chunyang Sect."

Lan Chui Han's body obviously couldn't tolerate sword flight, so they rented a carriage. The mountain was high, and the distance was far. It’s bound to take a lot of time.

---

On the way for several days, Fan Wu She did not mention what happened in the Infernal Hell, which made Xie Bi An somewhat relieved, but he still avoided it intentionally or otherwise. He still didn’t know how the two of them should get along. He could no longer be as cold as before to Fan Wu She. From that moment he called out "Xiao Jiu" himself, and from that moment when he strongly wanted to "rescue" him, he could not wipe out the scars of the past. What he really wanted was to stay away, completely away, but now their fate was tied together again.

Fan Wu She was getting some fresh air outside the carriage, while Xie Bi An was inside the carriage feeding medicine to Lan Chui Han. Lan Chui Han's body was getting much better under their care, but his vigor still hadn’t recovered, as if something was enclosed in this shell which couldn’t be touched by the outside world.

Xie Bi An spoke to him as usual. He called his name and tried to attract his attention. Of course, he got nothing.

A few days later, they arrived in Jingzhou. Zhao Wen personally welcomed them into Luojinwu.

Coincidentally with the recession of Wuliang Sect, Chunyang Sect was also showing a declining trend, and then looking at Cangyu Sect, which didn’t know where to go and probably didn't dare to step into the Central Plains in their entire life, the three major sects in the former days were all nearing their ends. The Immortal Alliance also ceased to exist except in name since a long time ago. When the immortal cultivation world came to this scene, it was even more dismal than the era of the Supreme Demon a hundred years ago. The most terrifying thing was that the disaster was not over, which may not be the worst outcome.

After Zhao Wen heard about Lan Chui Han’s situation, he immediately sent someone to Jiangnan to send a letter to Xianyue Pavilion. At the same time, he summoned three elders of Chunyang Sect to treat Lan Chui Han. These three elders were all famous doctors in the immortal cultivation world. As a result of practicing the Chunyang Technique, they were not only proficient in medicine and acupuncture, but they could also use the Chunyang Technique to cure people's wounds and diseases. By combining the two, they could at least alleviate any difficult and miscellaneous diseases in their hands.

But after listening to Xie Bi An's description and carefully diagnosing Lan Chui Han's pulse and spiritual veins, they stroked their beards and shook their heads from time to time. No one spoke first.

A room full of people were waiting for them.

Finally, the three elders got together in a corner and discussed in a low voice.

It took an hour for the three to finish their discussion.

Elder Chen arched his hand, "I will speak."

"Elder, please."

"The cause of this disease is too bizarre. To be honest, we have never come across it before, but these symptoms are quite similar to the Soul Loss*."

The so-called Soul Loss referred to the fact that a person's soul left its shell when they were excessively frightened or experienced great joy and sorrow. Usually, they had to find a cultivator to get that wisp of soul back. But if it has been away from the body for too long, even if they got it back, he might become a fool. The majority of the cases of people suffering from Soul Loss were mostly related to evil spirits.

However, for an immortal cultivator, especially a cultivator such as Lan Chui Han, who had exceeded the level of elders, it was impossible to lose his soul unless he encountered some extreme situation or attack, and Lan Chui Han had just gone through what was unheard of ---- being sent to the Infernal Hell as a living person.

"Soul Loss." Xie Bi An said gravely, "So he really lost his soul?"

"No. His three immortal souls and six mortal forms are alive and well, and his physical body is fine. The Yin energy of the Infernal Hell did harm his body. In addition, he did not eat or drink for many days, that's why he became so weak, but all these injuries will be cured. However, his illness is really not easy to deal with."

"Since he didn't lose his soul, what should we do?"

"We speculate that ..." Elder Chen stroked his long beard lightly. After looking at the other two elders, he said, "That the 'Chamber of Nightmares’ is aptly named. We speculate that he is trapped in a nightmare."

"What does that mean?"

"The word 'nightmare' is derived from frightening dreams. According to legend, there is a type of ghost called a nightmare ghost, which appears in people's dreams. It haunts people in their sleep, making them 'unable to breathe'. For example, many people are in a dream, yet they can't wake up. That means this nightmare ghost is haunting them. But nightmare ghosts are usually very weak. They only absorb vital essence from people. Eventually, people will still wake up by struggling.”

Xie Bi An nodded: "I know the nightmare ghost."

"Lord Lan is not possessed by a nightmare ghost. It's just that his symptoms are very similar to being trapped by nightmares. The punishment he received in the nightmare room made him sleep soundly in the nightmare of his most painful memory, and he couldn't wake up."

Xie Bi An gasped: "I understand now. What the elder means is that he can only wake up on his own."

Elder Chen nodded: "The more tired and weak a person is, the easier it is to be possessed by a nightmare ghost. Similarly, Lord Lan was immersed with Yin energy in the Infernal Hell. He was weak, and the punishment was too cruel, so he was trapped in the nightmare. What we can do to help him is to take good care of his physical body and let him regain his strength, while constantly calling him and talking to him, but it still depends on his own will to really wake up."

"He needs some kind of stimulation." Fan Wu She crossed his arms and leaned on the side of the door. He intentionally stayed away from everyone because he knew these people were afraid of his proximity, but his tall body still caused an inescapable oppression, "Just talking to him won't work. We have to get to the point. Whatever reason that trapped him in the nightmare, we have to take those memories to stimulate him."

"This..."

Fan Wu She said coldly, "I have suffered the torture of the nightmare. If I say it works, it works."

"Yes, absolutely." Elder Chen nodded his head in a hurry.

"But what are we going to stimulate him with?" Xie Bi An frowned, "No one knows what he went through in his previous life. Maybe his memories are in the Golden Trunk Jade Policy."

"I know a name."

"What name?"

"Jiang Qu Lian’s name in the previous life." Fan Wu She glanced at Lan Chui Han, "It should be useful."

----

Xie Bi An sat by the Jinwu Lake, facing the sparkling lake, leaning against a thousand-year-old camphor tree, and wiping his sword with his head down.

He always loved to polish his sword in his spare time, even if it had been polished until it’s brilliant enough to reflect one's image, he would still polish it over and over again. In the past, he loved to plant flowers in his leisure time, but now the garden of orchids was probably abandoned long ago. Only this Junlan sword in his hand could be a little consolation.

The huge camphor tree emitted a burst of a pungent odor that couldn’t stop wafting into the nostrils. He used to hate this smell. He has loved flowers since he was young. He lived in the fragrance of fresh and elegant flowers all day, so how could he tolerate such a strange smell? And the smell of camphor wood was toxic. Ordinary people only used a little to prevent insects from coming into their homes, but no one plants camphor trees in the place where they live.

Only Chunyang Sect, and only Luojinwu.

However, this view was biased. It's not that the old-fashioned and eccentric cultivators of Chunyang Sect liked to plant camphor trees in the place where they live. It's that there was a thousand-year-old tree in this land. At the same time, there was a cave that all the cultivators in the world would go after like a flock of ducks. Therefore, the ancestors of the Chunyang sect had to settle down here. They didn't dare to ruin the Fengshui here, so this tree naturally became the holy thing in Chunyang Sect.

Later, the Chunyang Sect cultivators found that although the smell of the camphor tree was bad, it was refreshing and beneficial to cultivation.

Xie Bi An came to sit under the tree for a while because his thoughts were in turmoil. Indeed, he became gradually sober and was able to sort out all the things that had happened during this period.

Zhao Wen told him that they were not the only ones searching for Xu Zhi Nan. After the battle in Fengdu City, Chunyang Sect mobilized all its forces to find Xu Zhi Nan in order to get back the Golden Carved Jade Suit, which was the treasure of the Chunyang Sect. And according to the reported news, Xu Zhi Nan might have never left Shu land, or even the area of Mount Shu.

Based on Xu Zhi Nan's condition at that time, he looked like he couldn’t have gone far, so he probably did not go far. Naturally, it was impossible for him to run back to Chidi City. After all, the Cangyu Sect would not let him go.

They planned to return to Shu land and search for Xu Zhi Nan with the cooperation of the cultivators of Chunyang Sect after Lan Zi Zhen, the master of Xianyue Pavilion, arrives.

To snatch the Golden Trunk Jade Policy from Xu Zhi Nan was naturally much easier than snatching the Book of Life and Death from Jiang Qu Lian.

Only when they got one of them could they deal with Jiang Qu Lian.

As he was thinking, a series of footsteps interrupted his thoughts. He didn't have to turn around to feel the familiar scent.

A pair of feet stopped beside him, and a moving voice came from above his head: "Big brother, what are you thinking?" That voice was obviously low and deep, even a little hoarse, and it could make people feel creepy when he was austere. But there was a kind of profound tenderness when the tone was changed.

Xie Bi An didn't answer. He just raised his sword and repeated the action he did thousands of times----wiping all the way from the underside to the edge of the sword with the white handkerchief.

"Let me guess." Fan Wu She sat down beside Xie Bi An, "You're thinking about Lan Chui Han, Xu Zhi Nan, Official Lord Cui, Bo Zhu, and Jiang Qu Lian."

"Mm."

"Hand over Lan Chui Han to his father, and our mission is done. It's not your fault that he turned out like this. Don’t think too much anymore."

"He will get better." Xie Bi An said lightly.

"We will find Xu Zhi Nan too."

"Mm."

"About the others, we are going to deal with them one by one. It's no use thinking too much at this time."

"What exactly do you want to say?" Xie Bi An put down his sword.

Fan Wu She blinked: "Did you think of me?"

 

----

Soul Loss*[失魂症]--- a condition of being frightened and "chronic somatic suffering stemming from emotional trauma or from witnessing traumatic experiences lived by others”

 

Edited on 4 July 21 (Emzie)

 

←Previous Chapter                                                                                            Next Chapter→