Chapter 53: Bloodline Shackles

Life in Moon-Dwelling Courtyard seemed to pass slowly, and very quietly.

Ever since that day when Gu Qing decided to brew the medicine himself, a silent understanding had formed between him and Qin Xiyan.

Every afternoon, Gu Qing would watch over the small clay stove emitting a bitter aroma in the kitchen, while Qin Xiyan would be by his side, either fanning the flames or resting her chin in her hand as she read a book, occasionally peeling a Honey Spirit Fruit candy and popping it into Gu Qing’s mouth.

There were no grand vows of love, no heart-stirring declarations.

Only a gentle warmth akin to that of an old married couple.

Even though both of them were still very young.

Until that dusk, half a month later.

The evening clouds on the horizon were burning brightly, dyeing the entire Moon-Dwelling Courtyard a shade of orange.

The two of them were sitting on a terrace playing a game of Go.

Gu Qing held the black stones, Qin Xiyan the white.

Qin Xiyan’s Go skills were terrible, basically just random moves, but she thoroughly enjoyed it.

Every time she captured one of Gu Qing’s stones, she would gloat for a long time.

“Gu Qing, look, I’ve cut off your big dragon!”

Qin Xiyan placed a stone with a giggle, her purple eyes full of mischief.

Gu Qing looked helplessly at the board.

This wasn’t cutting off a big dragon at all; it was more like she had forced her own dead group right into the mouth of his living one.

“Yes, yes, the Third Young Lady’s skill is unmatched. I concede defeat.”

Gu Qing smiled and was about to resign.

Click.

A soft sound.

A white stone in Qin Xiyan’s hand suddenly slipped from her grasp, fell onto the board, rolled a few times, and dropped to the ground.

“Ah…”

She let out a soft exclamation, instinctively bending to pick it up, but the moment she tried to stand, her body suddenly swayed violently, pitching forward.

“Xiyan!”

Gu Qing reacted swiftly, catching her shoulders.

Where his hands touched, it was ice-cold.

No, to be precise, it was a bone-piercing chill.

It was the dusk of midsummer, and Moon-Dwelling Courtyard had a Constant Temperature Formation, but Qin Xiyan’s body was cold to an impossible degree.

Qin Xiyan leaned against his chest, her body trembling uncontrollably and violently.

“Gu Qing…”

Her face visibly paled at a rapid pace.

Those originally lively purple eyes now seemed to lose their focus, clouded over by a layer of mist.

“I… my head hurts so much… so cold… why is it… suddenly snowing…”

She murmured, her exhaled breath actually condensing into frost in the air.

Gu Qing’s heart sank heavily.

He grasped Qin Xiyan’s wrist, wanting to check her condition, but an overwhelmingly domineering Yin-cold energy surged back through their point of contact.

Hiss—

Gu Qing felt as if countless fine needles had simultaneously pierced his fingers.

A terrifying aura he had never encountered before was surging forth from within Qin Xiyan’s body.

Was this an illness?

Was this what they meant when they said Qin Xiyan was frail and sickly?

This was definitely no ordinary illness!

“Momo! Qin Momo!”

Gu Qing didn’t care about anything else and shouted loudly towards the lower floor.

Almost the instant his voice fell, a figure materialized on the terrace.

It was Qin Momo.

All traces of her usual kindness were gone, her wrinkled face filled with panic.

She glanced at Qin Xiyan’s state, her pupils constricting sharply.

“How could it have erupted ahead of schedule?!”

She wasted no time on words, not even pausing to explain.

Her hands swiftly formed seals, and a powerful spiritual energy barrier instantly enveloped Qin Xiyan, isolating her from all external influences.

“Young Master Gu, leave this to me.”

“You stay here.”

With that, she picked up the now unconscious Qin Xiyan, her figure flickering as she transformed into a streak of light, shooting straight towards the distant, towering Jianmu Divine Palace.

On the terrace, only Gu Qing remained.

Along with the unfinished game of Go and that lone, solitary stone on the ground.

The evening breeze blew past, rustling the Go manual on the table.

The warmth from just moments ago seemed like nothing more than an illusion.

Gu Qing looked at his stiffened fingers, the tips still seemingly retaining a trace of the cold.

He muttered to himself, “What in the world… was that?”

He had originally thought it was just a sudden chill, a minor incident.

But Gu Qing didn’t expect that this parting would last half a month.

Qin Xiyan did not return.

Qin Momo did not return either.

Gu Qing’s life returned to how it was at the very beginning.

Even more desolate than at the beginning.

No one fanned the flames for him while he brewed medicine, no one handed him candy, and no one pestered him for stories about Canglan Star.

Hong Gu in the kitchen still delivered the medicinal herbs on time every day, but a trace of pity had appeared in her eyes, as if looking at a poor soul about to fall out of favor.

Gu Qing did not inquire, nor did he make a fuss.

He knew that given his status in the Qin Family, going would only cause trouble.

He simply became more silent than before.

Every day, he still got up on time, practiced his fist techniques, read books, and brewed medicine.

He still drank that bowl of bitter medicinal soup every day.

But without that Honey Spirit Fruit candy, the medicine seemed to taste even more bitter.

During the quiet of the deep night, Gu Qing would sit on the Guanxing Tower, gazing at the massive Jianmu in the distance.

It was brightly lit there, radiant with flowing light and colors.

That was the core of the Qin Family, a world he could not touch.

“You’ll be fine.”

“You’re the Qin Family’s little princess. If the sky falls, there are taller people to hold it up.”

“When you come back, I still owe you a game of Go.”

Gu Qing told himself.

Then, he closed his eyes.

Grow stronger.

He must grow stronger.

He had had enough of this feeling of powerlessness, of only being able to wait for a verdict.

—

Deep within the Jianmu Divine Palace.

This was a forbidden area of the Qin Family, and also one of the places with the highest medical standards in the entire Big Dipper Star Field—the Reviving Spring Divine Hall.

In the center of the hall, a spirit bed carved from special warm jade floated in the air.

Qin Xiyan lay there quietly.

At this moment, she had none of her usual liveliness, resembling an exquisite yet lifeless statue.

A strange purplish-black aura flowed within her body, like living vines slowly growing and spreading through her flesh and blood.

Her skin was almost transparent.

One could clearly see countless rare spiritual medicines transformed into mist, continuously pouring into her body, yet they could only slightly slow the spread of that purplish-black aura.

On one side of the great hall.

Qin Tianheng stood with his hands clasped behind his back, facing away from the spirit bed.

His posture could not conceal his exhaustion.

This overlord, whose single step could shake the entire Big Dipper Star Field three times, now appeared heavy and aged.

Beside him stood several elders.

Each possessed an aura of profound and unfathomable depth, clearly all pillars of the Qin Family’s foundation.

One of them, an elder in white robes with white hair and beard, walked back from the spirit bed holding a jade slip, his brows tightly furrowed.

“Family Head.”

The elder sighed, his voice aged.

“The thing inside the Third Young Lady… has awakened.”

Qin Tianheng did not turn around, only the hand behind his back clenched tightly.

“Can it not be suppressed?”

“Difficult.”

The white-robed elder shook his head.

“According to the calculations, as long as the Third Young Lady does not cultivate, does not draw the world’s spiritual energy into her body, that thing would remain dormant, ensuring at least a hundred years of peace.”

“But now it seems we underestimated the overbearing nature of that curse.”

“It is not an illness, nor a poison.”

“It is karma engraved into the bloodline.”

The elder glanced at Qin Xiyan, a flash of pity in his eyes.

“Just like the Mistress back then…”

Hearing the word “Mistress,” Qin Tianheng’s body trembled slightly.

“Do not mention her,” he said in a low voice.

“Yes.”

The elder nodded and continued:

“This bloodline curse originates from an extremely ancient era. So ancient that even the Qin Family had not yet taken root in this star field at that time.”

“According to ancient records, an ancestor of her lineage once offended a… being beyond description.”

“That being had even reached—”

“The Legendary Realm,” Qin Tianheng said slowly.

The great hall fell deathly silent.

The Legendary Realm.

It was a phrase that filled all cultivators with despair.

In the current cultivation world, this realm existed only in history, its path severed long ago.

And the curse on Qin Xiyan came from that era, from a truly terrifying existence.

Using current methods to try to break an ancient curse was like an ant trying to shake a tree.

Logically, such an ancient and dreadful curse should have long since eradicated this lineage entirely.

But Qin Xiyan’s mother came from that era.

She once held an extremely high status and was sealed away by a great power using special means for countless ages.

Originally, it was to buy time, waiting for someone in the future who could unravel the curse.

But unexpectedly, after a great upheaval of heaven and earth, her original family had long since vanished into the dust of history.

Later, Qin Tianheng accidentally broke her seal, and they fell in love.

He thought the curse had long since dissipated.

But the facts proved otherwise.

“Xiyan’s mother… left this way.”

Qin Tianheng turned around, looking at his daughter’s pale face, his eyes full of pain.

“I exhausted every method, even sparing no expense of my own origin to extend her life, and only managed to delay it for ten more years.”

“And now, is it Yan’er’s turn?”

“Is this fate?”

This powerhouse who controlled the lives and deaths of countless millions now seemed like a helpless mortal.

“Family Head, it is not yet time for despair.”

The white-robed elder pondered for a moment before speaking:

“Although this curse has no cure, there may still be methods of suppression.”

“Our Qin Family’s revered ancestor…”

“If there is still one person in this world who can unravel this curse, I’m afraid it is only him.”

Qin Tianheng smiled bitterly.

“But you also know how many times I have gone.”

“The Vermilion Bird Star Field, that remote corner, the small planet named Canglan.”

“I searched every inch of that land, scoured every secret realm.”

“But there was nothing there.”

“Not even a scrap of his clothing could be found.”

“If the revered ancestor wanted to see us, he would have long ago.”

“If he does not wish to be seen, even if I turn Canglan Star upside down, I will not find him.”

The Medicine Elder fell silent for a moment.

“Aside from the revered ancestor, is there no other way?”

Qin Tianheng asked.

“There is one more… a method that is not really a method.”

The Medicine Elder took out a communication talisman from his sleeve.

“Previously, the Family Head issued a wide call for heroes, offering a reward to find a method of suppression.”

“Although most were charlatans and frauds, recently… news came from the Shadow Guards that someone has taken up the call.”

“Taken up the call?”

Qin Tianheng raised an eyebrow.

“Who?”

“The other party did not reveal a name, only sent a single sentence.”

“What sentence?”

The Medicine Elder’s expression turned grave.

“She said: ‘This is not a cold poison, but divine punishment. If you wish to save her, a special method is needed to seal and transform the curse.'”

Hearing the words “divine punishment,” Qin Tianheng’s eyes sharpened abruptly.

To recognize this as divine punishment and not a cold poison at a glance was no ordinary person.

“Where is she?” Qin Tianheng asked urgently.

“Unknown.”

The Medicine Elder shook his head.

“The message came from a black market at the edge of the star field. The other party disappeared after leaving this sentence.”

“However, she said—if the Family Head is willing, she will personally visit in nine days.”

Qin Tianheng took a deep breath, a look of determination flashing in his eyes.

“No matter who she is, a charlatan or a true master.”

“As long as there is a sliver of hope, I must try it.”

The Medicine Elder nodded.

“Pass down the order, be ready to receive the honored guest at any time.”

“Yes, Family Head.”