Chapter 92: Stricken by a Strange Illness, Beyond All Cure

When Chu Feng saw the melancholy in Lei Jianqin’s eyes and heard the grief in her voice, his heart gave a violent lurch.

He had done nothing to wrong her, and yet he suddenly felt as though he had deeply let her down.

“Miss Lei, you misunderstand me,” Chu Feng said, shaking his head, though he could not bring himself to meet her gaze for long.

“Do I?” Lei Jianqin gave a bitter smile and asked softly, “I can feel it, Young Master Chu... you do not like me. Even if you truly have some unspoken difficulty, in your heart, you have never regarded me as someone you love, have you?”

“Well...” Chu Feng no longer wished to dither over it and simply spoke the truth. “My ambition lies in martial cultivation. I want to achieve something great on the path of martial arts, and for now I have no mind for love or marriage. I have never even thought about taking a wife.”

As soon as he said this, Lei Yingfeng raised his brows and said, “Chu Feng, if you are determined to devote yourself to martial cultivation, that is certainly a good thing. I, Lei Yingfeng, fully support you! But cultivation and marriage do not conflict. Qin’er is also a martial artist. She would never hold you back; on the contrary, she could offer you great help. The two of you together would surely be the best of both worlds, would it not?”

Han Mo also smiled and said, “Nephew Chu, as for Jianqin’s appearance, I would never dare boast that she is peerless or comparable to a fairy from heaven, but at the very least, she cannot be said to be inferior to anyone else, can she? For us martial practitioners, when choosing a wife, one should first look at character and ability, then at prospects on the martial path. As for appearance, with looks like Jianqin’s, is she not already among the finest blossoms among female martial artists?”

Seeing that Lei Yingfeng and Han Mo were not backing down at all, but pressing the matter even harder, Chu Feng felt bitter in his heart. For them to offer up their only daughter was an extraordinary display of regard for him; how could he possibly say outright that he felt nothing for Lei Jianqin?

Then an idea struck him. He shook his head and said, “Master Lei, Uncle Han, and Miss Lei, you have all misunderstood. The truth is... I am ill. I suffer from a strange and incurable malady, and at any moment I may die!”

“Oh?”

At those words, the three of them were all stunned.

“Chu Feng, you are not joking?” Lei Yingfeng asked.

“Of course I am not joking,” Chu Feng said with a nod. “I have this strange affliction, and there is no cure. It may flare up at any moment, and I may lose my life at any moment. For that very reason, no matter what Miss Lei may think, I absolutely cannot be with her. Naturally, I cannot be with anyone. A man like me, whose life is always hanging by a thread, would only drag down whoever stayed by my side!”

“Surely not, it is that serious?” Fan Shang interjected in surprise. “Young Master Chu, you look in excellent health. Your inner energy is flowing smoothly. You do not seem to have any illness at all!”

“Exactly! With the speed at which your body has improved, there is no way you could be someone with a hidden ailment!”

Lei Yingfeng also fixed Chu Feng with a steady look, his tone absolutely certain. “When you first came to the Wind-Thunder Martial Hall, you were only at the fourth level of Body Tempering. After coming out of the Wind-Thunder Stone Cavern, you reached the fifth level. And just a few days ago, with the help of the Primordial Martial Qi Technique, you advanced again to the sixth level of Body Tempering. In just a little over ten days, your strength has broken through two whole realms. Such astonishing progress—if you had even the slightest illness, you could never have managed it!”

Chu Feng silently praised him for being formidable, but his face remained impassive. He only shook his head and said, “The sickness I suffer is highly unusual. It was discovered by an expert at the ninth level of Body Tempering!”

“Oh? Ninth level of Body Tempering? Chu Feng, you know someone with that level of strength? Who is this expert? And did this person say how you came to suffer such a strange illness?” Lei Yingfeng asked at once.

In the Nine Mountains and Eighteen Veins, there were only three or five dozen martial artists at the ninth level of Body Tempering at most. Excluding those whose whereabouts were unknown, those who had gone into hiding, and those secluded for years in remote mountains and deep waters, the number active among the Nine Mountains and Eighteen Veins likely did not exceed ten. Someone with Lei Yingfeng’s breadth of experience would either have met such a person or at least heard their name.

Chu Feng said, “That ninth-level expert was none other than the second young lady of the Heavenly Mechanism Wood Clan, Mu Qiaoxue. It was she who told me that I suffer from a rare and strange illness and may die suddenly at any time. She did not say how I came to have it. Because of that, I threw myself into cultivation, hoping to settle matters with the Fear Sect as soon as possible!”

As he said this, Chu Feng kept his expression unchanged, but inwardly he could not help feeling guilty. Was he not, in effect, selling Mu Qiaoxue out?

After all, back in the Heavenly Mechanism Wood Clan, Mu Qiaoxue had indeed said that the aura of the Golden War Python within Chu Feng was far too violent, and she had even given him a Clear-Mind and Pacify-Fury Pill. But that was all in the past. The tyrannical qi of the Golden War Python in Chu Feng’s body had long since been completely dissolved.

In other words, Chu Feng’s body now was vigorous and full of vitality, with not the slightest trace of sickness.

Still, having come this far, Chu Feng truly had no better option than to bring Mu Qiaoxue out as a shield. However he put it, he had to get through this hurdle first.

“So that is how it is!”

Fan Shang nodded and said, “The Heavenly Mechanism Wood Clan is unrivaled throughout the Nine Mountains and Eighteen Veins when it comes to mechanisms, puppet constructs, alchemy, and medicine. And that Second Young Lady Wood is said to have come from the main Wood family in Zhongyue Imperial City. Her breadth of knowledge is probably beyond anything we can imagine. What is more, she herself is at the ninth level of Body Tempering, with insight that allows her to perceive another person’s flesh and uncover things we would never know!”

Smack!

Han Mo suddenly clapped his hands and said, “Nephew Chu is right! Now that I think of it, I remember it too! The last time I went to the Heavenly Mechanism Wood Clan, I heard Mu Zhendong mention that when Nephew Chu was using a secret art to form golden meridian needles for the Second Young Lady Wood, he coughed up blood and collapsed. And once he fell, he remained unconscious for a full day and night! Looking at it now, Nephew Chu’s words are not false—he truly does suffer from a strange illness!”

At this, Lei Yingfeng and Fan Shang both became tense, while Lei Jianqin was especially stricken with worry. Her delicate brows drew tightly together, her face clouded with sorrow.

Chu Feng, however, was secretly delighted. He had not expected that a lie he had casually invented would actually come full circle in Han Mo’s mouth and seem to explain itself. Truly, how strange, how marvelous!

“Since there really is such a matter, then I, Lei Yingfeng, have even less reason to let this stand! Since I have heard that you, Chu Feng, suffer from a strange illness, I shall no longer betroth Qin’er to you. What kind of man would that make me? Not to mention that Chu Feng has shown kindness to my Lei family and to my Wind-Thunder Martial Hall—even if he had not, once a man gives his word, how could he go back on it?”

Lei Yingfeng’s tone was utterly decisive, his words like iron nails driven home, even firmer than before.

Chu Feng felt bitter inside and said, shaking his head, “Hall Master Lei, I truly appreciate your kindness. But in the days when my life hangs by a thread, I do not wish to drag down any girl. I only want to put all my time and effort into martial cultivation. Please, Hall Master Lei, take back your order!”

Though he felt distressed, Chu Feng also understood the sincerity behind their intentions. Lei Jianqin was Lei Yingfeng’s only daughter. In the Nine Mountains and Eighteen Veins, the number of young men qualified to speak of marriage with her would not exceed the fingers on one hand. Those who were not outstanding heirs of powerful factions would have to be young talents renowned throughout a region. Ordinary men need not even dream of it.

What moved Chu Feng most was that Lei Yingfeng, knowing full well that he suffered from a strange illness, still insisted on marrying his daughter to him. That was not a decision just anyone could make. If one day he truly died, whether Lei Jianqin remarried or lived as a widow, it would be a bitter and miserable fate either way.

“Brother Lei, in my view, there are two reasons. First, Chu Feng is now wholly focused on the martial path and truly has no mind for matters of love. Second, a forced melon is never sweet. Better to listen to Chu Feng and withdraw the order,” Han Mo said as well. He was a broad-minded man, and in truth he had more or less already sensed Chu Feng’s real intention; he had simply followed the flow of the conversation without exposing it.

“This...” Lei Yingfeng was momentarily at a loss. He turned to Lei Jianqin and asked, “Qin’er, what do you think?”

The meaning behind his question was plain: if his daughter was truly willing to be with Chu Feng, then as her father he would absolutely stand his ground.

Lei Jianqin looked at Chu Feng, bit her lip, and forced back the tears welling in her eyes. Only then did she compose herself and say, “Father, a gentleman helps others accomplish what they desire. I think... we should respect Young Master Chu’s wishes. You should not insist any longer. Take back your order now.”

“This... alas! What should have been a beautiful and joyous matter—how did it come to this?”

Lei Yingfeng shook his head and sighed.

He had originally meant to use this banquet, before the eyes of martial artists from all directions, to betroth his daughter to Chu Feng and give him a great surprise. He had not expected that the interference of Xiong Wu would fail, while the matter would instead be ruined by Chu Feng himself.

Thinking of this, Lei Yingfeng’s heart suddenly stirred, and he said, “No good! The martial companions from the Three Mountains and Five Peaks have basically all left already. If I withdraw the order now, would it not be too late? Once word gets out later about Chu Feng and Qin’er, they will naturally spread it everywhere. What are we to do then?”

At those words, Chu Feng’s heart immediately tightened.