“Young Master!”
Right at that moment, Wang Dashan’s voice came from outside the tent. “Liuzi made some discoveries in the city and brought something back. Qiu Bing is examining it. Would you like to take a look at it?”
Coming to himself, Ling Zhang looked out of the tent and said, “Okay. I’ll be there in a jiffy.”
Yuwen Tong took in a large gulp of air against the pain which felt as though it were churning his insides like congee, and then said to Ling Zhang, “You may go there and check it out. Some of my men should come back to report to me soon, so I think I’ll just stay here.”
Ling Zhang inclined his head, cast him another apprehensive glance, and, seeing that Yuwen Tong’s face was far more pallid than it had been a moment ago, stiffened briefly. “Are you not feeling well? Why are you looking so much paler?” he asked.
Yuwen Tong replied, “It takes some effort to keep my cool.”
As he made the reply half in jest, Ling Zhang was unable to tell whether he was lying. He switched his gaze to Xie Shi, who gave an affirmative nod at him in response.
“Don’t worry. It’s a normal symptom.”
It was only then that Ling Zhang rose to his feet, deciding to get the matter handled as quick as possible. “I’ll go and take a look and be back in no time.”
Yuwen Tong inclined his head and walked him to the doorway of the tent. The moment Ling Zhang quickly disappeared from view outside the tent, he fully relaxed and slumped into a chair, cold sweat instantly welling up on his forehead, his face frighteningly pasty. Even sitting there seemed to be causing him pain, not to mention breathing.
With an exclamation of alarm, Xie Shi immediately hastened up to him, quickly produced some silver needles and stuck them into a couple of key acupoints in an attempt to help Yuwen Tong recover himself, because only when Yuwen Tong calmed down would all his pain ebb away.
Meanwhile, Ling Zhang, shortly after leaving the tent, felt his mind instantaneously clear as a chill wind whipped his face, and with that he came to a halt, knitting his brows.
Something was not right.
It was a Gu worm that had taken that envoy’s life. In other words, the one who had orchestrated the whole thing was at least a Gu master. How come Yuwen Tong was suffering from poisoning instead of Gu? Also, why would the culprit go to such trouble as to use a strange, non-lethal poison when that envoy could meet Yuwen Tong face to face?
Ling Zhang’s heart started racing madly, his worry intensifying instead of dissolving.
He immediately swiveled around and unhesitatingly returned to the main tent.
A while ago, when Yuwen Tong had come out to welcome him, he had felt rather strange, for Yuwen Tong’s manner had been uncharacteristically restrained – Yuwen Tong had merely stroked his hair and held his hand for a few moments; after entering the tent, Yuwen Tong hadn’t touched him on his own initiative except for that hug.
While these details were quickly flashing across his mind, Ling Zhang lifted the fly of the main tent.
Yuwen Tong’s clothes were undone. He had just received acupuncture treatment performed by Xie Shi and was now limply lying in a chair, trying to cool himself down, his eyes closed, his hand on the table balled into a fist from the effort of fighting pain, blue veins standing out on the back of his hand, his face ghastly white, his forehead covered with fine beads of cold sweat. Maybe because he was concentrating all his efforts on battling against the anguish, he failed to notice that Ling Zhang had suddenly come back.
Xie Shi, like Yuwen Tong, hadn’t bargained on Ling Zhang returning so soon either. He was taken aback at the sight of Ling Zhang standing in the doorway. “Your–Your Highness?” he stuttered.
On hearing Xie Shi’s astonished voice, Yuwen Tong promptly opened his eyes, which then met Ling Zhang’s dismayed ones.
“You lied to me,” said Ling Zhang, his hand which was holding the fly quivering, his eyes staring squarely at Yuwen Tong.
His chest and throat felt dry and constricted as though there was a lump in either of them, his lips pressed tightly together. Every breath he took brought him knifelike pain, as if the sight of Yuwen Tong cutting a feeble figure were a dagger sticking in his heart.
“I’m okay.” Yuwen Tong managed two words in a would-be consoling tone, looking at Ling Zhang, the apple of his throat giving a quick bob.
But the state he was in made him very unconvincing. At the sight of the scared and seemingly injured look in Ling Zhang’s eyes, he found himself unable to utter another word, and the pain that had just subsided surged in his heart again. Yuwen Tong stifled an anguished groan, slightly hunching forward in spite of himself, cold sweat streaming down his forehead, his fist on the table clenching.
Ling Zhang, who had never seen Yuwen Tong like this before, was scared out of his wits and hurried up to him as quick as he could. “Where’s your pain? Where’s your pain? Xie Shi!”
Xie Shi was faint with anxiety. At the sight of Ling Zhang reaching out a hand to touch Yuwen Tong, he subconsciously yelled, “Don’t touch Sire!”
Ling Zhang was amazed, but after only an instant, he rapidly withdrew his hand. He had no idea what was happening to Yuwen Tong, and Xie Shi was a physician, so he was willing to heed Xie Shi’s words, but the next moment, Xie Shi said, “Your Highness, I’m afraid I have to ask you to leave!”
Ling Zhang found that request somewhat unacceptable. How could he leave Yuwen Tong when the latter was like this?
“I’ve already seen this. Is there something else you want to keep secret from me?”
Xie Shi hastily shook his head. “I’ll explain it to you later. If you stay here, Sire–”
“Shut up,” huffed Yuwen Tong through gritted teeth, casting Xie Shi a ferocious look. Then he slowly unclenched his tight fist on the table and made an attempt to take Ling Zhang’s hand.
Xie Shi had his heart in his mouth. Why did Sire still want to hold His Highness’ hand when he was already in such great pain? Was he trying to kill himself with the agony?
Ling Zhang felt that there was something terribly wrong with the current situation, and this feeling was particularly strong when he noticed that Xie Shi had almost jumped in alarm at the sight of Yuwen Tong reaching out to hold his hand. A quite vague idea crossed his mind and with that he subconsciously dodged Yuwen Tong’s hand.
An expression of disbelief instantly appeared in Yuwen Tong’s eyes as his attempt to hold Ling Zhang’s hand failed. Though what with the pain, cold sweat was still trickling down his face constantly, in that instant his eyes turned ferocious like never before, some kind of anger and resentment welling up inside him. Someone wanted him to suffer pain every time he thought of Ling Zhang, and they wanted to make sure he could never touch Ling Zhang again. How could he yield like this? He would hold Ling Zhang tight and in no circumstances would he let go, not even if the anguish killed him!
“You will not leave!” Right after Ling Zhang withdrew his arm, Yuwen Tong flung out a hand, grabbed Ling Zhang’s and pulled him into a rib-cracking hug.
The cuddle was so tight a pained expression appeared on Ling Zhang’s face as he was drew into Yuwen Tong’s embrace. Yuwen Tong’s arms were wrapped around him so firmly as though they were made of iron. Yuwen Tong was hugging him very hard, but the pain it caused was nothing. What startled Ling Zhang was Yuwen Tong’s reaction in that instant, his now abnormally high body temperature and the deathly pale face of Xie Shi who was standing opposite him. Even if Ling Zhang were retarded, which he was not, he would have by now come to realize that they were concealing something from him. He raised his hands and grabbed Yuwen Tong’s arms. “I’m not leaving. Let go of me and let Xie Shi treat you!” he said urgently.
“There’s nothing he could do,” said Yuwen Tong, resting his head on Ling Zhang’s shoulder. The pain in his heart was so sharp his vision began to blur, but his eyes were still fierce, his arms still binding Ling Zhang tightly. “The pain is endurable, but not seeing you is not.”
These words struck Ling Zhang as rather weird. Was there some kind of conflict between seeing him and letting Xie Shi treat him? And, Xie Shi couldn’t cure him? How was that even possible? Given Xie Shi’s consummate medical skills, he sure as hell should be able to cure Yuwen Tong. After hearing those words, Ling Zhang decided to stop Yuwen Tong from acting willfully, forcibly pulled Yuwen Tong’s arms off him and demanded, “What happened exactly? How come Xie Shi couldn’t cure you? What kind of poisoning are you suffering from? No – that envoy was killed by a Gu worm. Is there a Gu worm in you as well?!”
Realizing how the situation was developing, Xie Shi no longer dared keep the truth back and decided to be honest with Ling Zhang so that Yuwen Tong would let him help, though Yuwen Tong might mete out punishment to him afterward.
“Previously I was uncertain about it, but now that we’ve come to know the cause of that envoy’s death, I’m sure there’s a Gu worm inside Sire’s body. This Gu worm is very strange. It’s not poisonous, and normally it doesn’t cause any harm, but once Sire thinks of you, he feels a throbbing pain in the heart. The closer you are to Sire, the worse the pain. Before meeting you, Sire was able to subdue the pain, but now it’s getting past his endurance.”
Xie Shi finished what he wanted to say in one breath, allowing Yuwen Tong no time to stop him.
Ling Zhang stiffened at the explanation, his heart sinking. Where did such a weird Gu worm come from? With this worm inside Yuwen Tong’s body, Yuwen Tong felt pain when thinking of him, and anguish when touching him.
He made an attempt to free himself from Yuwen Tong’s embrace, but Yuwen Tong, who had anticipated it, tightened his hug, refusing to let go.
“Let go of me,” said Ling Zhang anxiously. “Let go of me. I won’t leave here.”
Yuwen Tong took a deep breath. Sweat was welling up all over him faster and faster, and blue veins were flickering in his temples, but eventually he still slowly slackened his embrace.
No sooner had he released Ling Zhang when the latter immediately left his side and said aloud, “Xie Shi, take care of him!”
With that he quickly left the tent without pausing for a single moment.
Yuwen Tong abruptly started coughing badly, pressing his hands onto the table and exerting himself to stand up. “Come back! Come back here!”
“Only when you calm down will I talk to you. If you keep acting like this, I won’t say another word to you,” replied Ling Zhang, standing outside the tent, not showing the slightest inclination to walk back into the tent.
“Sire, His Highness is doing this only because he’s worried about you. You need to listen to me and stop moving, or else His Highness might never be able to see you again!” Xie Shi cautioned Yuwen Tong.
Yuwen Tong clenched his teeth, staring fixedly at Ling Zhang’s figure outside the tent. It was quite a while before he sat back into the chair, leaned against the back of it again and closed his eyes. “Do it,” he said.
“Yes, Sire.” Xie Shi was relieved and immediately resumed the acupuncture treatment.
Ling Zhang stood outside the tent. For a few moments his mind was blank and he was at a loss what to do. He had made the decision instinctively. He had been holding his breath during that long silence of Yuwen Tong’s, and it was not until he had heard Yuwen Tong sit back into his chair to let Xie Shi resume the acupuncture that he had heaved a sigh of relief, his mind gradually starting to function normally.
Yuwen Tong had fallen victim to a Gu worm.
This Gu worm was very odd. It caused Yuwen Tong to suffer throbbing pain in the heart whenever Yuwen Tong thought of him, and if Yuwen Tong touched him, the pain would be even severer. Never once had he seen Yuwen Tong act like that before.
There was nothing Xie Shi could do about that weird Gu worm.
In other words, they didn’t have a way to settle this matter, at least not until Mr. Mu arrived.
Ling Zhang looked in the direction of Shengzhou Pass, his brows knitted. Even if Mr. Mu traveled non-stop, it would still take him at least seven days to finish the journey from Shengzhou Pass to this encampment.
Yuwen Tong would continue suffering pain in the next seven days. More importantly, there was no telling whether or not the Gu worm inside his body would suddenly cause any other forms of harm to him!
Ling Zhang involuntarily balled his hand into a fist, pressed it against his lips, opened his mouth and clamped it between his teeth. He was exerting himself to calm down as quick as possible, inwardly telling himself to stay composed and figure out a temporary expedient.
His hand which had coiled into a fist was quivering in spite of himself, so he raised his other hand and gripped it to make it stop trembling.
