Chapter 13: He Wanyi Has No Soul?

In the end, He Shu could not win against Mu Xinlian. Under her attentive care, she ate every bite of the white porridge and the steamed bun.

After finishing the meal, He Shu rested for a while, reflecting on everything that had happened over the past few days.

Hua Yanyun has been grinding down my will these past few days, and I have no way to resist this erosion. My condition is getting worse and worse. I don’t know how much longer I can hold on.

He Shu could not help feeling low in spirits. At this rate, she could only take things one step at a time.

That evening, Hua Yanyun arrived as expected. She toyed with He Shu ruthlessly before forcing her to perform acts that pleased her but disgusted He Shu.

The days continued to pass in this manner. Under Hua Yanyun’s relentless torment, He Shu’s body grew weaker with each passing day.

……

That night, Hua Yanyun came to He Shu’s room as usual. The girl lay limply inside the cage, eyes tightly shut, her expression peaceful.

Hua Yanyun glanced at her and thought nothing of it. Ever since the first day He Shu had been locked up here, the length of time she remained unconscious after fainting had grown longer and longer.

He Shu’s daily routine had become a vicious cycle: being played until she passed out, lying comatose for an entire day, being kicked awake by Hua Yanyun, suffering a round of teasing, and then being played unconscious again. Her total time awake each day rarely exceeded twenty minutes.

Hua Yanyun opened the cage and stepped inside. As always, she planted one foot squarely on the black-haired girl’s body.

Normally a single step like this would have woken He Shu, but today it did not.

“Hm?”

Hua Yanyun frowned slightly, though she was not overly concerned. She delivered a hard kick. He Shu’s body slammed violently into the cage’s Jade-Smooth Profound Steel bars.

The force behind the kick was considerable, yet He Shu remained sprawled on the soft cushion like a puddle of mud.

“Still not waking up?”

Hua Yanyun seized He Shu by the hair with one hand and lifted her up, then flung the girl back onto the soft cushion as if she were nothing more than a toy.

“Could it be that this emperor has actually played her to death?”

Hua Yanyun finally sensed that something was wrong. She immediately released her divine sense and swept it over He Shu’s entire body.

“She’s still alive, at least. She has simply fallen into a deep coma.”

Hua Yanyun breathed a sigh of relief. She had finally found such an interesting little toy; she had no intention of letting her die so easily.

She took out a talisman paper—an Nascent Soul-grade transmission talisman.

Nascent Soul cultivators possessed the ability to traverse the void, a hallmark of that realm. Naturally, this Nascent Soul-grade talisman shared that property, and in some ways it was even stronger. After all, only a cultivator’s Nascent Soul itself could cross the void at that stage; bringing the physical body along required Divine Transformation cultivation.

After writing a short message on it, Hua Yanyun poured her spiritual power into the talisman. It instantly vanished into the void.

Moments later, an elderly man radiating the aura of the Soul Transformation realm emerged from thin air. His appearance was that of an immortal sage.

The old man cupped his hands and bowed. “This old one, Zhang Sanshan, pays his respects to the Monarch.”

“Rise. Examine the little girl inside the cage and find out exactly what is wrong with her.”

Upon receiving the order, Zhang Sanshan opened the cage and carefully inspected the unconscious He Shu while Hua Yanyun stood outside, watching in silence.

After a thorough examination, Zhang Sanshan stepped out of the cage and bowed once more. “This old one recognizes the girl. Your Majesty publicly announced that she is the former He Wanyi. However, her cultivation was not lost due to a cultivation deviation. It was deliberately and completely sealed by an immortal technique.”

Hua Yanyun arched an eyebrow at the pointed remark but admitted it openly. “Indeed, this monarch personally placed the seal that crippled her cultivation. Your guess is correct, Sir Zhang. As expected of a master of the medical path. However, the important matter at hand is her current condition. Please state your findings.”

Now that he had the answer he sought, Zhang Sanshan delivered the diagnosis directly. “The girl’s coma was caused by severe injuries compounded by prolonged malnutrition. Treating it is not difficult, except…”

He trailed off, his expression turning strange as he looked back at the still-unconscious He Shu inside the cage.

Hua Yanyun grew curious at the hesitation. “Except what? Feel free to speak plainly, Sir Zhang.”

“This old one has served as Supreme Elder of Myriad Medicine Hall for one thousand eight hundred years. I have seen a great many things in my time, yet I have never encountered a case like this girl’s.”

Zhang Sanshan stroked his long white beard, deliberately pausing for dramatic effect before delivering the shocking news. “This girl has no soul.”

“What?!”

Even Hua Yanyun was stunned by the revelation. Her sharp gaze locked onto He Shu, her expression darkening as killing intent flashed in her eyes.

She instantly guessed the possibility.

“So He Xiu, that old hag, planned this far ahead with such cunning methods. He Wanyi’s true identity is nothing more than a highly spiritual immortal puppet.”

“No wonder the investigation turned up nothing. She never existed to begin with!”

“I truly underestimated you, He Xiu!”

Hua Yanyun’s face twisted as if she had swallowed a fly. She spat the name “He Xiu” through gritted teeth.

Medicine was not her specialty. Had this little incident not prompted her to summon the medical grandmaster Zhang Sanshan, she might never have discovered the truth.

Zhang Sanshan listened to Hua Yanyun’s muttered words and felt a twinge of unease. It seemed he had stumbled upon some explosive secret.

He quickly spoke up. “Please calm yourself, Your Majesty. The girl does not truly lack a soul. Rather, her soul is in an unusual state—it has completely fused with her physical body. The two are inseparable and inextricably linked.”

“Therefore she is not an immortal puppet. She is indeed a living, breathing person.”

Only after hearing Zhang Sanshan’s explanation did Hua Yanyun calm down slightly.

A cultivator’s soul and body were closely related yet remained two distinct parts. Once a cultivator’s soul grew powerful enough, it could leave the body through special methods and exist independently. This was the fundamental principle behind soul possession and rebirth used by certain powerful demonic cultivators.

“Separating the soul is easy, but fusing soul and body is fundamentally impossible. Any forced fusion would cause the soul to collapse and dissipate on the spot.”

This was a restriction at the level of natural law, yet He Shu had somehow broken it.

Hua Yanyun found the matter deeply intriguing. Before leaving, she gave Zhang Sanshan instructions.

“Consort He is now in your care for treatment. You may stay in Wanyi Tower for the time being. This emperor will have someone prepare a room and a medical chamber for you.”

After Hua Yanyun departed, Mu Xinlian crept quietly into the room. She found Zhang Sanshan seated on a sturdy wooden chair, watching her.

She immediately dropped to her knees. “Mu Xinlian pays her respects to Lord Zhang.”

She was merely a Foundation Establishment junior, while Zhang Sanshan was a mighty Soul Transformation elder. Offending him could mean death without even knowing how she had died.

Zhang Sanshan waved a hand to dismiss the formality. His divine sense had already enveloped the entire Wanyi Tower, so he had been aware of Mu Xinlian’s presence and was not surprised by her arrival.

“This old one will be staying here for the next few days to look after Consort He. I happen to need an assistant for odd jobs. Since you are also a medical cultivator, why don’t you serve as my helper?”

“If Lord Zhang commands it, Mu Xinlian dares not refuse. Please give your orders.”

Zhang Sanshan chuckled at her quick-witted response.

“You are a clever girl. Follow this old one these next few days. Who knows—you may even learn a few of the medical path’s finer points.”