Chapter 160 – The Four Great Sacred Grounds of Legends
“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?”