Chapter 3: Death is Imminent

  At this moment, the surroundings were quiet enough to hear a pin drop. The scene in the room also seemed to have frozen: at the door of the room scattered with wood shavings, a disheveled girl was being held by two men, one tall and one short, her eyes brimming with tears; in front of the girl, a young man with bushy eyebrows and beady eyes was pinching her cheek, his playful smile frozen on his face. All four people were staring at Nie Kong sitting on the bed in stunned silence.

  The girl woke up first, looking at Nie Kong moving his legs to the edge of the bed, overjoyed and hastily shaking off Wu Tong's three men who were still in a daze, rushing to the bedside, incoherently shouting: "Wake up, finally wake up...... Uncle, you didn't die, it's really great......" Tears fell down.

  "Sister-in-law, don't cry, I'm fine."

  Nie Kong let out a long sigh, forcing a smile onto his face. His gaze fell on the girl's face, and his eyes were warm with a natural sense of closeness and warmth.

  This was his sister-in-law, Hua Mei, only nineteen years old, with a clear and beautiful face, delicate features, and a lovely appearance. Although her eyes were red and swollen from crying, this tearful look added to her charm, making her even more endearing. It's no wonder that Nie Feng Xing had been infatuated with her since she married into the Nie family three years ago.

  The three people at the entrance also came back to their senses.

  That man with the bushy eyebrows and beady eyes swaggered over, sizing up Nie Kong with a mixture of surprise and disdain. He snorted in laughter: "So you're not dead yet, your life is really tough. It's good that you're not dead, Hua Mei, now there's no need to prepare for your little uncle's funeral, what other reason do you have to refuse going?"

  "I... I'll go with you..."

  Hua Mei stopped crying, her face suddenly turned pale, and she bit her lip.

  Nie Kong pressed down on Hua Mei's shoulders, her eyes staring straight at the man, her gaze as if looking at a dead person. After a moment, the corner of her mouth twitched: "Wu Tong, you're already at death's door, yet you're still acting as a tiger's lackey?"

  After being stunned for a moment, Wu Tong held his belly and laughed until he fell to the ground. "Really, this is the funniest joke I've heard in over 20 years. This morning, I just broke through the barrier of Jiling Ninth Rank and became a Tongling First-Rank Spirit Master, and I'm still healthy and pain-free, with more than enough vitality to live to be 100 years old. You actually said that I'm on the verge of death? Nie Kong, I think you've gone brain-dead."

  Hua Mei looked at Nie Kong with some concern.

  Spirit Masters are a powerful group of people in this world who can cultivate using the spiritual energy between heaven and earth, with a lifespan much longer than ordinary people. The cultivation of Spirit Masters has nine levels: Gathering Spirits, Communicating with Spirits, Merging with Spirits, Transforming into Spirits, Controlling Spirits, Void Spirits, Elixir Spirits, Cave Spirits, and Heavenly Spirits, each level further divided into nine ranks. Wu Tong has achieved the first rank of Communicating with Spirits, which can only be considered a low-level Spirit Master, but for ordinary people, it is already worthy of admiration.

  Wu Tong wiped away the tears that had formed at the corners of his eyes, his face suddenly darkening. "Second Lin, Third Mu," he said coldly, "take Hua Mei away."

  He glanced at the two men walking towards them, one tall and one short. Nie Kong didn't seem to be in a hurry, and with a hint of a smile, he said to Wu Tong, "If you don't believe me, you can try poking your finger between the seventh cervical vertebra and the first thoracic vertebra. See what kind of reaction you get. You don't need to use spiritual power, just three-tenths of your strength will do."

  Wu Tong said with a strange smile, "Poke poke just poke poke, can't you just poke me to death?" As he spoke, his right index finger touched the gap between the cervical and thoracic vertebrae at the back of his neck, and applied some force. The next moment, Wu Tong felt his scalp explode, his vision turned black, his whole body went numb, and he stumbled forward a few steps like a drunk before stabilizing his body, his face starting to turn pale.

  Nie Kongdao: "How does it feel?"

  "What's going on?"

  Wu Tong stared at Nie Kong with a deadpan expression, his heart racing slightly. Although he had steadied his footsteps, the dizziness in his head and the numbness in his body still hadn't completely dissipated.

  Looking at his expression, Hua Mei knew that Nie Kong was right. The watery eyes were suddenly filled with surprise. Er Lin and San Mu also involuntarily stopped in their tracks.

  "This is a hidden illness caused by your improper cultivation, which was not obvious at first. If your cultivation had remained at the Gathering Spirit Realm, it might have taken ten years to manifest. But since you entered the Transcending Spirit Realm prematurely, this hidden illness has erupted ahead of time. Judging from your condition earlier, it's clear that it's already very severe."

  Wu Tong's face changed color, and he forced a smile: "A joke? Nonsense! If I really had this so-called hidden illness, how would I not know?"

  Nie Kongdao said: "You broke through to Tongling this time, it must have been very difficult for you, right?"

  "How did you know?" Wu Tong blurted out.

  That's right.

  Nie Kong did not respond, merely nodding lightly before shifting his gaze to Er Lin and San Mu, "The two of you also have the same hidden ailment."

  Upon hearing Nie Kong and Wu Tong's conversation, the two had already believed 80% of what Nie Kong said. Now that they heard Nie Kong say this, their faces suddenly changed greatly, and they raised their hands to poke at the back of their heads. Wu Tong stared intently at the two, and after a moment, he indeed saw them sway unsteadily, with vacant eyes.

  Er Lin and San Mu's heads were spinning, and cold sweat had already broken out on their backs.

  Wu Tong's face turned even uglier, his two small eyes rolling around rapidly as he dryly laughed and said: "Really... really absurd talk. When I was cultivating, I completely followed the instructions on the spiritual manual, how could I have cultivated incorrectly to cause such a hidden illness? Er Lin, San Mu, you guys say it's true, right?"

  The two nodded, their faces ashen.

  Nie Kong shook his head and didn't speak, helping Hua Mei up from her half-kneeling position in front of the bed. As Hua Mei sat down on the edge of the bed, Nie Kong was already panting heavily, with cold sweat beading on his forehead. Although he had forcibly broken free from his vegetative state, after speaking for so long, he had almost exhausted his energy and was now relying solely on willpower to hold on.

  Huāméi gently stroked Niè Kōng's back, letting out a worried sigh. Niè Kōng hastily smiled and grasped her icy small hand, indicating that he was fine. Huāméi withdrew her palm like a startled deer, with two faint blushes rising to her cheeks. Only then did Niè Kōng realize his own rashness.

  Nie Kong remained silent, Wu Tong's heart was a bit panicked, and he said: "Nie Kong, why aren't you speaking?"

  Nie Kong's eyelids lifted slightly.

  Wu Tong smiled kindly: "You're not saying we have a hidden illness, are you? How did this hidden illness appear? You should tell us clearly!" Er Lin and San Mu also stared at Nie Kong with eager eyes, their faces full of smiles, with a hint of flattering meaning.

  "What are you to me? Why should I tell you?"

  Wu Tong felt extremely annoyed, and suddenly his eyes rolled over, he made a gesture to Er Lin and San Mu, pointing at Hua Mei and said sternly, "Take her to see Third Young Master."

  Nie Kong sneered and said, "It seems that some people are really not afraid of death. If my sister-in-law were to meet the three young masters, she would probably not survive either. In that case, having three people accompany her in burial wouldn't be bad. Sister-in-law, what do you think?" Hua Mei nodded in agreement several times.

  Wu Tong's face stiffened, and Er Lin and San Mu, who had rolled up their sleeves, also hesitated and stopped in their tracks.

  He originally wanted to threaten this sickly youth, but unexpectedly found himself being threatened instead. Wu Tong suppressed his anger and spoke in a gloomy tone: "Nie Kong, what exactly do you want?"

  Nie Kongdao said: "What I want you to do is very clear."

  "Alright, you win. We won't bring Huāméi back today."

  "What about tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the day after that?"

  Wu Tong's eyes widened, about to erupt, but thinking of his hidden illness, his expression softened again. "The rules of the Nie family are clear, your father died for the Nie family, as long as you're still alive, even if Third Young Master is the son of the patriarch, he won't dare be too excessive. If I get a chance, I'll also say a few words to Third Young Master, but this can't drag on for much longer. If you want to keep Huamei safe, it's best to think of another way soon."

  "Very well." Nie Kong nodded and said, "The three of you got into that kind of trouble mainly because...you don't have the surname Nie."

  "What does it mean?" The three Wu Tong were all bewildered.

  Nie Kong looked at them with a stupid expression: "You are not the real Nie family, you can only be considered as servants. Will the Nie family pass on the complete spiritual formula to you? You have practiced the flawed spiritual formula, especially Wu Tong, barely promoted to the Tongling realm, and will stimulate the hidden disease more severely. This is not a secret, all Nie surname clan members know it, just hiding from you these foreign surname servants."

  Three people were left with their mouths agape, Wu Tong's face changing between sunny and cloudy: "Is what you said true?"

  Nie Kongdao said: "You can go find other servants to verify it."

  "How can this hidden illness be solved?" Wu Tong took a deep breath.

  Nie Kong said slowly and clearly, "I'll tell you, it won't hurt to say. First, stop cultivating. Second, use your spiritual power to press and rub the center of your palms, soles, and the top of your head for half an hour each time, three times a day. The rubbing action has its own rules..." Nie Kong brought out some massage techniques from his previous life.

  Er Lin and San Mu nodded their heads like chickens pecking at rice, Wu Tong asked in doubt: "Is that all?"

  "This is just the first stage. After persisting for a month, the hidden disease will have some relief. To cure it completely, we must proceed with the second stage of treatment."

  "What is the second stage?" Wu Tong frowned and asked.

  "A month later I will naturally tell you."

  "Alright! Nie Kong, I hope what you said is true, otherwise..." Wu Tong gritted his teeth and turned to leave the room. Er Lin and San Mu hastily followed him, they couldn't wait to try out the moves that Nie Kong had mentioned, after all this was a matter of life and death.

  "Tell Nie Feng Xing that I will return the Spring Dew to him as soon as possible." A humming noise came from outside, and Nie Kong's eyes narrowed, leaning back against the headboard in a state of exhaustion.