Against the Gods (Web Novel)

“Gu Qiuhong?” Lan Xueruo’s words caused Yun Che to be shocked for a while, and he fell into deep thought afterwards. Someone who was permitted to make a cut on Cang Wanhe’s body, moreover on the location of his heart, must be someone he trusts very much or was extremely intimate with. Yun Che had originally thought it would be the crown prince or the third prince, or other princes; he hadn’t expected that the person Lan Xueruo called out would be Gu Qiuhong.

But according to what Lan Xueruo said, Gu Qiuhong didn’t seem to have any reason to deliberately plan to harm Cang Wanhe. Unless…

“Yun Che…” Cang Wanhe’s expression was incomparably complicated; he asked with some difficulty: “This type of parasite that exists in the heart’s vessels, is it extremely difficult to be discovered?”

Yun Che understood why he would ask such a question, and answered straightforwardly, “Ordinary doctors, especially those who haven’t studied parasitic poisons and parasitic bugs, do in fact have a hard time discovering its existence. However, if Gu Qiuhong’s medical expertise is as excellent as the rumors say, it is impossible for him to not have discovered the ‘Soul Devouring Life Binding Parasite’s existence. Naturally, if he was the one who implanted the parasite… He obviously would not ‘discover’ it.”

“I see…” Cang Wanhe’s heavily breathed out a turbid breath. With his body leaning on the bed, his complexion was pale, as if he had suddenly become much older. “Yue’er, there is no mistake; all the facts testifies that the person who implanted the parasite was Gu Qiuhong. This scar on my chest, was precisely left by him three years ago. It was also after that day, that I was bedridden with a serious illness for three years. Yun Che already forced the parasite out for us to see; it truly exists, this is the truest of facts, and everything else… is all fake.”

At this moment, he felt that he didn’t deserve to be the Emperor. In these three years, he actually had always relied on, and even respected the person who was poisoning him. Thinking back on it now, he, who was the revered Blue Wind Emperor, was virtually being toyed around in their palms like a fool… It really was stupid to the point of being extremely laughable.

“But, why would Master Gu do this? Our imperial family has always been on good terms with him; even Father deeply respects him. So why would he do such a thing?” Lan Xueruo still had a hard time accepting it, and she tightly bit her lips together.

“Perhaps he doesn’t have a direct reason, but he definitely has an indirect reason. For example, he could have made some sort of deal with those unfilial sons Cang Lin and Cang Shuo… It also could possibly involve the Xiao Sect or the Burning Heaven Clan. Moreover…. Yue’er, you are too pure and kind in nature; you had always respected Gu Qiuhong, so much that you viewed him as a saint. But when We had associated with him in my early years, I had already discovered that his nature was not as virtuous and harmless as he seemed on the surface. On the contrary, there are times that he would secretly do despicable acts. But the excellence of his medical expertise was unquestionable, so We had always tried to be on good terms with him. But the people who want to be on good terms with him are too many; compared with those enormous sects, our title of emperor, perhaps cannot be considered very much at all.”

Cang Wanhe shook his head, revealing a sorrowful expression on his face. Even though he was the Emperor, he was actually devastated to this extent in secret; bedridden for an entire three years while facing difficulties in his bedchamber, he was virtually not too far off from a dead person. And if he hadn’t “fallen ill”, how would Cang Lin and Cang Shuo dare to act recklessly; they more so, would not have had the opportunity to lead the wolf into the house.

“Yun Che, thank you. If not for you, perhaps even until We died, We still would not have known why We died; at the end of my life, perhaps We would even be grateful to the one who harmed us in our ignorance.” Cang Wanhe self mockingly laughed, “I actually doubted your medical expertise earlier, I am honestly ashamed.”

“Please don’t say such things, Your Majesty.” Yun Che promptly waved his hand, “Your Majesty, about this matter of you being infected with the parasite, I have a suspicion, and I wish Your Majesty would give me an answer. Of course, if this matter involves the imperial family’s secrets, then Your Majesty obviously does not have to answer me.”

“Go ahead and ask. We are already a lingering life. My final wishes, are all on Yue’er. You are Yue’er’s most trusted person, so towards you, We also have no secrets.” Cang Wanhe’s eyes were closed. His complexion was tranquil without any turbulence.

Yun Che was moved… These words coming from an emperor’s mouth, one can imagine the weight. These few sentences projected the gloom in his heart, and more so contained his pampering and love for Lan Xueruo. After being bedridden for three years, he finally saw what the most valuable treasure he had always possessed in his entire life was… Not the seat of emperor, not his beloved subjects and seven sons, but his only daughter.

Yun Che said slowly: “According to what I know, this Soul Devouring Life Binding Parasite is extremely difficult to to raise. Not only is the parasite’s origin hard to find even if one had an immense amount of money, in the process of raising it, only one in a thousand would succeed; all of the others would die. Thus, obtaining a single Soul Devouring Life Binding Parasite would require enormous time and money. And once this Soul Devouring Life Binding Parasite entered the body, it would be extremely difficult to discover. The victim’s body would weaken, deteriorate very quickly, and will certainly die within five years. The Soul Devouring Life Binding Parasite would also simultaneously die with the host, become a pool of watery blood in the person’s body, and not leave behind any trace of its existence. And so, this type of parasite is normally used to secretly kill someone without leaving a trace. It would make others unable to realize how they really died, and believe that it was due to an illness.”

“But rumors say that the Crown Prince and the Third Prince are both anxiously fighting over the throne, while the Xiao Sect and Burning Heaven Clan secretly fueled the fire. Gu Qiuhong implanting the parasite in your body, definitely has something to do with them. But since they urgently wished for Your Majesty to pass away, why do they not use faster methods such as assassination or poison, and instead used this kind of method that was not only troublesome, but would also take a long time to kill? If Xiao Sect and Burning Heaven Clan really had this kind of ambition, then secretly assassinating or poisoning the emperor should be more rational. The only explanation I can think of… Is that behind the emperor, there is something that even the Xiao Sect and Burning Heaven Clan are afraid of, making them afraid to leave behind any traces?”

Cang Wanhe already knew what Yun Che wanted to ask halfway through his speech. After Yun Che finished speaking, he slowly nodded. Not wanting to hide anything from Yun Che, he softly replied, “Because of the Heavenly Sword Villa.”

“Heavenly Sword Villa?”

“The Blue Wind Imperial Family and the Heavenly Sword Villa were established on the same day of the same year. Our ancestor and the founder of the Heavenly Sword Villa were like blood brothers with different surnames. After the Blue Wind Imperial Family came into power, they had continuously promoted the Heavenly Sword Villa with all of its efforts; straight until it became Blue Wind Empire’s number one sect. And the Heavenly Sword Villa, has always existed as the guardians of the imperial family. Although through the passage of time, the relationship between the imperial family and Heavenly Sword Villa has gradually become distant, some agreements, have never been broken. They will not get involved with movements within the Imperial Family, but if an external force threatened the Imperial Family, they will step in. Also, if We were to die from assassination or poison, they will definitely mobilize and investigate it thoroughly to the end.”

“... But Xiao Sect, Burning Heaven Clan and Heavenly Sword Villa have been called the Four Major Sects, why would they be so afraid of the Heavenly Sword Villa?” Yun Che asked, in a somewhat confused way.

Cang Wanhe slightly shook his head, “Perhaps you didn’t know of this. Even though they have been named the Four Major Sects, in theory, the combined strength of Frozen Cloud Asgard, Xiao Sect and the Burning Heaven Clan cannot compare to the Heavenly Sword Villa. Although the Heavenly Sword Villa is jointly named with them, its level actually completely surpasses theirs. Moreover, the Heavenly Sword Villa’s background, would cause the other three great sects to tremble with fear.”

“Background? The Heavenly Sword Villa still has a background?” Yun Che was startled once again. Heavenly Sword Villa was already Blue Wind Empire’s number one sect and was already at the top. They actually still had something behind them?

“Have you heard of the ‘Four Great Sacred Grounds’ of the Profound Sky Continent?” Cang Wanhe asked.

“Four Great Sacred Grounds… I seem to remember Grandfather mentioning it…” Yun Che thought about it for a while and suddenly asked, “but, aren’t the Four Great Sacred Grounds things of legends? Could it be that they actually exist?”

“Haha, if we talk about levels, the Four Great Sacred Grounds are indeed legends, so much so that their existence is like myth. Even We, do not qualify to approach that level, or even have the qualifications of hoping for it. Our Blue Wind Empire’s Four Major Sects, in front of the Four Great Sacred Grounds, are like ants. If the Four Great Sacred Grounds are willing, destroying the Profound Sky Continent’s seven empires would be be no obstacle.”

“There’s still actually… this sort of existence.” Yun Che’s was stunned, “Could it be, the Heavenly Sword Villa’s background is one of the Four Great Sacred Grounds?”

“Right.” Cang Wanhe slowly nodded, “Absolutely Monarch Sanctuary, the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, Sun Moon Divine Hall, and the Supreme Ocean Palace… these are the names of the Profound Sky’s Four Great Sacred Grounds. Because they exist for their duty of ‘guardian’, they will never participate or meddle in the internal struggles of the seven empires. As for the Heavenly Sword Villa, they have a relationship with the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region of the Four Great Sacred Grounds because the founder of the Heavenly Sword Villa, was also the oldest son of a certain senior practitioner of the Sovereign Profound Realm. But because his aptitude was too poor, he had no qualifications to stay in the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. As a result, he was expelled, and later on established the Heavenly Sword Villa on this piece of land. The sword arts that the Heaven Sword Villa uses, also possesses a shadow of the ‘Mighty Heavenly Sword Arts’.”

A disciple abandoned by the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region, would unexpectedly establish Blue Wind Empire’s number one sect. The Four Great Sacred Grounds terror, was simply unimaginable.

“Because of the ancestor’s relationship, every three years, the Heavenly Sword Villa would send offerings to the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. At first, the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region didn’t pay any heed, but afterwards they finally accepted them; thus, establishing a connection between the Heavenly Sword Villa and the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. Although this relationship was very weak and superficial, it was still the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region. Even if it was only a sliver, no one dared bully the Heavenly Sword Villa, nor would they dare to provoke them. We have also heard, that the Mighty Heavenly Sword Region secretly imprisoned an extremely important ‘Demon’ within the Heavenly Sword Villa a hundred years ago. It is clear that they value the Heavenly Sword Villa with a certain amount of importance.”

“Blue Wind Empire’s many sects are always fighting all year round whether openly or secretly, but never has there been a Sect that thought about touching the Heavenly Sword Villa’s title of the number one sect. They want us to die, yet they have no choice but to worry about the Heavenly Sword Villa. So using this type of method that won’t leave behind any clues, is in fact, only natural.”

After Cang Wanhe finished speaking, he let out loose a long sigh as exhaustion spread across his entire face.

Yun Che didn’t speak for a long time, and silently digested Cang Wanhe’s words.

The anxious Lan Xueruo did not listen to much of the words between them and they weren’t what she was the most concerned about. She tugged on Yun Che’s sleeve and nervously asked: “Junior brother Yun, you still haven’t told us… Since you know this type of parasite, then is there any way to remove this type of parasite?”

Yun Che continued being silent for a while and then slightly nodded afterwards, “There is.”

“Ah——” Lan Xueruo’s pleasantly surprised voice cried out softly as her pair of beautiful eyes momentarily became incomparably bright. Cang Wanhe also opened his eyes all of a sudden; a luster of hope was revealed in his gloomy gaze, “Yun Che, was what you said… true? This parasite is not unremovable?”

“All living things form a balance, everything has something that subdues it. This world, does not have parasites that cannot be removed. Only, to remove this Soul Devouring Life Binding Parasite, if one were to say it’s easy, it is extremely easy; if one were to consider it difficult.... It is also as difficult as climbing up to the blue sky.” Yun Che calmly stated.

“Then how exactly can it be removed?” Lan Xueruo tightly grasped Yun Che’s arm as her complexion flushed from excitement, “As long as it can save father, no matter how hard it is, I will definitely still do it.”

“Burning Soul Flower.” Yun Che looked at Lan Xueruo and softly said this name, “Only a Burning Soul Flower’s petal is necessary for me to remove the Soul Devouring Life Binding Parasite from His Majesty’s body. Only, this Burning Soul Flower… is extremely rare.”

————————————

Author Note: The key word in this chapter is actually “Demon”. The rest is all bullshit.

————————————