Dual Cultivation

"Indeed, I have no reason to help him, nor do I intend on being his guardian angel. However, I do not plan on ignoring him, as there’s no telling what he’ll do once he reaches that point where he’s fully consumed by madness," said Su Yang.

Those who walk the path of cultivation using corrupted techniques are usually violent in nature, and as a resident of the Profound Blossom Sect, Su Yang didn’t want his peaceful residence to be disturbed by anyone.

"So what do you have in mind? Are you going to kill him?" asked Qiuyue, who supports such an idea, as it is a quick and efficient method of getting rid of problems like this one.

"He’s only recently started cultivating the Depraved Technique so he’s not completely helpless. However, if words cannot convince him, I’ll have no choice but to silently take care of him, as this place prohibits disciples from killing each other unless it’s an official deathmatch."

"Why don’t you just leave him to the Sect?"

"That’ll lead to an investigation and will cause an even louder ruckus than if I deal with it myself. It is very common for disciples to disappear or die without anyone knowing, and the Sect will usually ignore the situation if the individual is not someone of importance— people like Outer Court disciples," said Su Yang. "And I’m sure the Sect would also prefer to deal with him silently, as having a corrupted cultivator as a disciple would greatly tarnish their reputation if word gets out."

"...Then I will be here if you need me to erase him without leaving a trace," said Qiuyue in a nonchalant voice.

Su Yang smiled and left the room.

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After leaving the room, Su Yang went directly to the Medicine Hall to seek for Lan Liqing, who was giving lectures to her disciples at the time.

"Su Yang? What are you doing here?" Lan Liqing stopped her lecture to ask him.

The disciples there all turned their heads when they heard the name ’Su Yang’.

"I apologize for interrupting your lecture, but I need your help with something," he said.

"You need my help?" Lan Liqing suddenly recalled the previous time he went to her for help and the results of her helping him, and her face naturally reddened for some reason.

"Don’t worry, I did not eat anything weird this time," said Su Yang with a smile.

His words gave Lan Liqing the impression that he somehow knew what she was thinking about, and that caused her face to flush even more.

"Will this take long?" she asked.

"No, this will only take a few minutes of your time."

"Very well..." she nodded.

Lan Liqing then turned to look at her disciples and spoke: "Go take a small break and be back in twenty minutes."

"Yes, Master!"

The disciples dispersed and Lan Liqing approached Su Yang.

"Well? What do you need help with?" she went straight to the point.

"I am looking for the living quarters of a certain Outer Court disciple," he said.

"You are looking for another Outer Court disciple? Why don’t you just ask around your fellow disciples? I may not even know this disciple you are looking for."

"Even if you don’t know that person, don’t you, as a Sect Elder, have something that records the whereabouts of disciples? I’m sure it’ll be a lot faster than going around and asking people randomly."

"Naturally, we as Sect Elders have something to keep us informed of our own disciples. However, that is not something we normally use unless there’s an emergency. Who are you looking for anyway?"

"I am looking for a disciple named Meng Jia. She is the partner of Tang Hu, my roommate."

"You were looking for a female disciple?" Lan Liqing frowned upon learning the fact. "Why are you looking for her?" she then asked, her heart feeling uncomfortable for some reason.

Su Yang chuckled at her reaction and said: "It’s not what you think. I just wish to speak to her regarding a slight problem I’d recently encountered."

"Who said I was feeling jealous because you are looking for another female?!" Lan Liqing said in a voice that was slightly louder than a whisper.

Su Yang’s mouth opened slightly from surprise. When did he say anything about her being jealous?

Lan Liqing blushed when she realized her blunder, and she quickly cleared her throat and continued: "Give me a moment to look for her..."

She then swiftly went upstairs to her room while taking large strides.

After a few minutes, Lan Liqing came back down with the information Su Yang wanted.

"Outer Court disciple Meng Jia, correct? She’s currently located in Court 1 at Building 136."

"Thank you, Liqing," Su Yang said in a low voice so the other wouldn’t hear him addressing her so intimately.

"If I come to find out that you had used me to fiddle with another woman, then this will be the last time you’ll ever receive any help from me!" Lan Liqing said to him with a serious expression.

Su Yang simply smiled at her threats, and he turned to leave.

Once Su Yang left, Lan Liqing slowly calmed down, wondering why she was feeling agitated.

"Is this... jealousy?" she pondered with a frown on her face.

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Su Yang arrived at Court 1 shortly after leaving the Medicine Hall.

He then followed the single wide path that was surrounded by buildings on both sides until he arrived at his destination— Building 136.

When he finally arrived in front of Building 136, Su Yang frowned at the solemn atmosphere that surrounded the place.

Although nothing seemed out of the ordinary in appearances, it was obvious to Su Yang’s sharp senses that there was something amiss about this place.

Ignoring the atmosphere, Su Yang knocked on the door until a pretty young lady opened the door.

This young lady, however, was not the person he was looking for— it was Meng Jia’s roommate that had opened the door.

"Who are you?" The young lady asked him with a frown on her face, and her narrowed gaze at him was filled with wary, looking as though she was on high alert.

"I am Su Yang, an acquaintance of Meng Jia. Is she here now? I would like to speak with her," he said, ignoring her unfriendly gazes.

"She’s not here right now, please go away," she immediately replied.

It was now clear to Su Yang that something unpleasant had happened to Meng Jia, which explained her roommate’s unnatural reaction to his visit.

"I know something happened between Tang Hu and her, and I am here to give her my assistance. If you do not let me speak to her, things will only worsen from this point forth."

Su Yang’s words caused many complicated emotions and thoughts to appear within the young lady.

After a few moments of silence, the young lady finally nodded and allowed him inside.

"Where is she? And what’s her condition?" he asked the moment he entered.

The young lady solemnly answered: "She’s currently inside her room. As for her condition... I have never seen anything so terrible in my life."

Su Yang silently followed the young lady to Meng Jia’s room that was left slightly open.

"Please wait out here for a moment while I let her know about your arrival."

The young lady opened the door and entered the room while Su Yang remained outside, and although he didn’t enter the room, he was still able to see inside the room.

Inside the room, Meng Jia was on her bed, seemingly asleep.

However, what Su Yang first noticed when looking at Meng Jia was not her sleeping face but the brutal wounds that were all over her arms and legs.

She had clearly been physically abused by someone, and it was to a great extent.

Su Yang’s eyes immediately narrowed with disgust upon seeing her horrible condition.

"Tang Hu... you bastard... what have you done?" he mumbled, his voice filled with coldness.

"Sister Meng... you have a visitor..."

When Meng Jia heard her roommate’s voice, her eyes slowly opened to look at the handsome figure outside her room, but even that small movement looked like it was causing her pain.

"Su... Yang...?" she quickly recognized him and mumbled.

"Did he... sent you here...?" she asked him with fear in her eyes.

"No, Tang Hu has no clue," he said while shaking his head.

The fear in Meng Jia’s eyes vanished after hearing his relieving words.

"How... did you know?" she then asked.

"I knew something was wrong when I first noticed his terrible appearance, so I came here to ask you about it. However, I didn’t know it was this serious," he sighed.

"May I come inside?" he then asked.

"Un..."

After getting her approval, Su Yang entered the room.

Once he was beside the bed, he took a closer look at her bruises.

"Tang Hu... he..." Meng Jia tried to speak but was quickly interrupted by Su Yang.

"You can tell me your story after I relieve you of your pain."

Su Yang then looked at her roommate and asked: "Do you have any medicine in the house?"

"Eh? Yes, we have some—"

"Bring me all of the medicines you have here and I will immediately start my treatment," he said.

"U-Un!"

The roommate then swiftly ran out of the room to look for medicines.

"We can deal with Tang Hu later, but for now, let me see your wounds," he said to Meng Jia in a tender voice, giving her a sense of security and comfort.

"I will have to remove your clothes for the treatment, okay?"

Meng Jia’s eyes widened with surprise, but she still nodded a moment later.

"Okay..." she mumbled, feeling all kinds of emotions at this moment.

Su Yang nodded and began cutting her robes open until she was fully naked so she wouldn’t feel pain from the robes touching her wounds during the removal.