Of the people present, no one except Qin Shu understood what Pei Zhao meant.
Even so, the words carried weight. They were like a carrot dangling in front of a donkey cart, tugging everyone’s emotions upward and quietly giving rise to a little unspoken hope.
The younger shamans had all gathered inside the small house, each sitting cross-legged on the floor conserving their strength, ready to step in and assist at any moment.
Liu Yang Yang, looking somewhat nervous, was forcibly dragged to the very front by Pei Zhao and assigned the role of exceptionally strong orthopedic assistant.
“Forgive me.” After a simple consecration of the dragon bones, Pei Zhao personally began removing Granny A-Shu’s ribs one by one.
He needed no surgical instruments. His cold fingertips merely traced the air above her withered, purplish skin, and flesh split apart on its own, layer by layer, accompanied by unsettling cutting sounds. Large beads of scarlet blood welled up immediately, then under the young shamans’ softly chanted spells swiftly gathered together like a living red centipede and leapt by itself into an earthenware jar they had prepared beforehand.
An elderly gu master’s entire body was a treasure for raising gu. Her blood, especially, was precious life essence that could not be wasted. Even though Granny A-Shu was approaching death, that fact did not change.
This was standard practice in Phoenix Village, but Qin Shu still found it rather difficult to watch. He forcibly drew his gaze back and focused instead on Pei Zhao’s face.
Mm. Instantly much better.
Pei Zhao looked completely absorbed in his work and ignored Qin Shu’s stare. He accepted a slender dragon bone from Liu Yang Yang. After the consecration, the formerly stark white, cold, hard bone revealed its true appearance: golden light flowed through it, while visible wisps of dragon qi curled from its surface. This was Ao Run’s blood essence and vitality.
For the Dragon King of the Western Sea, this tiny bit of dragon qi was practically useless. For Granny A-Shu’s extraordinarily weak body, however, it was nourishment among nourishment.
Pei Zhao paused, then instructed the young shaman kneeling beside the bed, “The dragon qi repairs too quickly. Xiaocao, don’t let her wounds close immediately. Keep them open. Keep the blood flowing.”
“Yes.” Cold sweat covered the young shaman’s forehead, but she answered immediately. Then she uttered a strange incantation and spat a tiny black insect from her mouth, letting it crawl twice around Granny A-Shu’s wound and leave behind a little translucent mucus from the end of its body.
Rather than accelerating healing, the mucus made Granny A-Shu bleed faster. One scarlet “centipede” after another formed from the blood and leapt into the earthenware jar. A technique for killing, and a technique for saving lives. Yuanbao curiously poked its head out, apparently interested in jumping into the jar too, only for Qin Shu to immediately stuff it back into his pocket.
Once they had ensured that the wound remained open and that the divided flesh would not heal on its own, they reached the most critical step: bone replacement.
The process was much easier than Qin Shu had imagined. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that the difficulty depended entirely on who was performing it.
Pei Zhao was clearly not doing this for the first time. In fact, he was far too practiced. He had done this many, many times before.
Qin Shu almost failed to see the movement. All he heard was the wet, disturbing sound of bone separating from flesh. It vanished in an instant, followed by another equally unpleasant noise.
Click!
The dragon bone, shimmering with golden light, locked into the chest cavity with absolute precision beneath the left lung. Because of Phoenix Village’s unique environment, Granny A-Shu should not have had an audible heartbeat, yet in the very next instant her battered heart began quietly beating, pumping even more crimson blood through her body.
The rib Pei Zhao had removed was swiftly collected by another young shaman. Still dripping blood, it was wrapped in thick cowhide, apparently for another use.
“Xiaocao. Stop collecting blood.”
“Yes!”
“Liu Yang Yang, the fourth rib needs to be ground thinner. Qin Shu, give him your knife.”
Qin Shu jolted and immediately yanked Yuanbao out.
The restless little centipede reacted even faster than he did. It opened its mouth and spat out a cold, sinister dagger, entirely black, with ancient mysterious patterns carved into its sheath.
It was one of the useful treasures they had stripped from Zuo Zhe. Made of Profound Yin Cold Jade, it was probably the sharpest weapon in the room, and the only thing there capable of shaving down dragon bone. Qin Shu drew the dagger and silently handed it to Liu Yang Yang.
The cold made Liu Yang Yang’s eyelid twitch, but the solemn atmosphere kept him from making a sound. He obediently picked up another consecrated dragon bone, pressed it against the offering table, and began grinding.
He was soon drenched in sweat. After working for ages, he had barely managed to shave off a layer thinner than a fingernail. The look in Liu Yang Yang’s eyes was so expressive that Qin Shu could practically hear the despairing rant inside his head: This is the hardest damn thing I’ve ever tried to shave in my life!
“Zhaozhao, I can help,” Qin Shu tentatively offered, but Pei Zhao shook his head.
“Conserve your strength. I’ll need you to do something more important in a little while.”
“What?”
“Hold her down,” Pei Zhao said quietly as he fitted the second rib perfectly into her chest. “Dragon bones possess spirits resembling their master. Proud. Arrogant. They do not willingly submit beneath another.”
Those few sentences explained enough. Qin Shu did not need to imagine what “arrogant” meant. He only had to think about that white dragon.
If the son was that arrogant, then the father could only be worse.
Qin Shu said nothing more. Instead, he returned obediently to his chair and conserved his strength as Pei Zhao had instructed.
Replacing the bones took less time than expected. Because the dragon bones carried such abundant vitality, they did not need to supply Granny A-Shu with any additional energy. If anything, they had to prevent the opposite problem: too much energy could overwhelm her body and rupture her heart meridians.
Most of their time was spent maintaining that delicate balance and waiting for Liu Yang Yang to grind the bones into the shape Pei Zhao wanted.
It was not simple, but practice made perfect.
One dragon bone after another entered Granny A-Shu’s chest. One bloodied human rib after another was wrapped in thick cowhide. One jar after another filled with blood. The metallic smell of blood and the elegant scent of incense battled endlessly in Qin Shu’s senses, until the sticky sound of flesh healing suddenly became exceptionally clear.
Qin Shu stared at Granny A-Shu’s chest, at the enormous wound that had remained open for several weeks, and suddenly heard something very wrong.
An enraged dragon roar.
Qin Shu shot to his feet. Without hesitation, he jumped onto the bed and lowered his center of gravity, sitting across Granny A-Shu’s legs and pinning them back down the moment they began twitching. “Where do I hold her?”
“Both shoulders. It’s fine. You won’t block my view.”
Pei Zhao had not even finished speaking before Qin Shu moved. He adjusted his posture immediately, his knees locking Granny A-Shu’s legs down like shackles while he half-knelt and pressed both hands firmly against her shoulders. “Ready.”
“Good. I’m going to start closing the wound.” Pei Zhao produced a roll of soft golden thread and pulled several inches free. “The dragon spirit will resist very violently. She may bite you.”
“No problem. My skin’s thick.”
The moment Qin Shu finished speaking, he let out a muffled grunt. It felt as though someone had abruptly punched him in the stomach, and he bit his lip to keep from losing strength under the impact.
The dragon spirit’s resistance did not rely only on Granny A-Shu’s body. It could actually use magic to attack him. The Dragon King’s pressure, both familiar and strange, wrapped around Qin Shu. When the first strike failed, several more bursts of golden light shot outward, hammering relentlessly at his joints.
Fortunately, his skin really was thick. After being hit once, Qin Shu did not make another sound. He simply stared expressionlessly into Granny A-Shu’s glowing golden eyes. No. Into its eyes. And calmly met its gaze.
The pressure grew stronger and stronger, condensing through the room until it almost became tangible. Several shamans could no longer withstand it and nearly coughed up blood on the spot, so Liu Yang Yang, whose skin was apparently thick as well, hurriedly hoisted them up two at a time and carried them outside.
Liu Bai Long stayed. She had personally experienced the descent of Nüwa. This amount of Dragon King pressure was hardly worth mentioning in comparison, and she could endure it easily.
“Granny A-Shu, wake up. Look at me. Look at your Amei,” Liu Bai Long said softly and gently, kneeling on the other side of the bed. “I was saved. You’ll be all right too. Granny, I want to eat the rice noodles you make.”
Her words seemed more effective than ten Qin Shus put together. The body occupied by the dragon spirit struggled even more violently. It was about to open its mouth and bite Qin Shu on the chin when another, much smaller force of resistance suppressed it.
Qin Shu could see the veins bulging at Granny A-Shu’s temples, the huge beads of sweat forming across her forehead as she fought herself, and the smell of blood growing thicker.
At the same time, Pei Zhao’s movements became faster and faster. The golden thread, finer than a strand of hair, stretched and danced between his fingertips. Again and again, it pierced through flesh and bone marrow, starting from the deepest layers and rapidly stitching the ruined body back together, bit by bit, drawing everything tighter and closing everything until even the outermost flesh finally fused together.
Qin Shu heard a painful, unwilling roar. The golden light in Granny A-Shu’s eyes suddenly flared, striking toward his Purple Palace like a red-hot branding iron.
Two months ago, Qin Shu probably would have been terrified. A month ago, he might have panicked.
But this Qin Shu had seen the void with his own eyes. This Qin Shu had personally dragged Ao Run’s true body out of the abyss. To him, it merely felt as though a dragon claw had scratched between his brows, a little painful.
“Oh? Even now, you’re still trying to possess me? Dragonkind really is tenacious.” Qin Shu raised an eyebrow and at last smiled, meeting its glare with effortless defiance. “You’re not Ao Run. Get the hell back in there.”
You’re not Ao Run. The instant those words were spoken, the enraged dragon roar stopped completely. Qin Shu could even see a flash of astonishment and confusion in its gaze.
That moment of hesitation bought Pei Zhao the last fraction of time he needed. No matter how much unwillingness or instinct for survival remained inside the dragon spirit, everything was crushed completely in that brief half-second and vanished from Granny A-Shu’s eyes.
The golden light faded, leaving Qin Shu looking into a pair of old, deep eyes.
“Granny!” Liu Bai Long noticed first that she was awake and finally could no longer hold back her tears of joy. “Thank goodness! Granny, you’re awake! You’re back! Say something to me. Granny A-Shu, are you thirsty? Does it hurt?”
Before Liu Bai Long could finish fussing over her, Granny A-Shu slowly raised her left hand. The movement was awkward and unpracticed, as though she were operating an unfamiliar machine. She clumsily patted Liu Bai Long on the head. “Want… beef.”
Liu Bai Long froze, staring at her blankly, unable to react.
Qin Shu climbed down from the bed. Exhausted, he dropped into a chair and pulled Pei Zhao onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around his cold boyfriend and, finally able to relax, burst out laughing without restraint. “Mm, mm. Granny A-Shu’s been living on liquid food for so long. Of course she’s craving meat. Village Chief, can I have some beef too?”
“…Yes. Right away. Want some juice? Iced. I had a few of the Amei prepare it in advance.”
Qin Shu’s eyes lit up. “Even better. I’m really thirsty!”
Liu Bai Long rushed outside while loudly announcing that Granny A-Shu was awake, could speak, and could move.
Deafening cheers erupted instantly from every direction around the forest cottage, nearly causing a minor earthquake.
Only then did Qin Shu realize that it was not merely the shamans and Liu Yang Yang present, nor just Chen Shui and several Amei waiting outside. During the bone-replacement procedure, the entire village had apparently gathered.
Earlier, they had hidden silently among the trees, waiting and standing guard. Not one of them had even stepped on a twig loudly enough for Qin Shu to notice.
“Incredible,” Qin Shu clicked his tongue in admiration. “If war ever reaches this place, every invader is going to die in Phoenix Village without even knowing what killed them.”
“Indeed.”
A strange woman’s voice suddenly sounded beside his ear, old and hoarse, carrying a faint trace of weary amusement.
This was not Granny A-Shu’s original voice. Her previous voice had sounded more like Senior Yuxu’s: far too young and far too smooth, carrying an eerie sense of dissonance. This aged voice, however, perfectly matched a woman over a hundred years old.
“Good children. Thank you.” Granny A-Shu sat up by herself, requiring no support, her eyes bright and alert. “I was bedridden for several weeks, but I did not lose consciousness for even a second. Everything you did for me, Granny saw it all. I must repay you with a generous gift.”
“Granny, that’s too formal. The Village Chief already gave me enough mountain goods to eat for ten years. I absolutely can’t accept anything more.” Qin Shu still could not help reaching over to support her, looking at her pale face drained from blood loss. “You should lie back down first. Dragon bones nourish the body, but they can’t restore you completely in one second. Listen to me. Lie down, lie down.”
Granny A-Shu did not resist. She settled quietly back against the pillow and, after thinking for a moment, said, “The Village Chief gave you the phoenix feather. If that’s the case, then I truly don’t have much better to offer. Do you still want red pills? I secretly hid several more jars. They’re buried in the cellar.”
“Yes. Thank you, Granny.”
Pei Zhao suddenly spoke.
“Oh, good child.” Granny A-Shu immediately smiled and seemed to relax as well. “That’s how you should be. Don’t ever be polite with Granny. If you want something, just tell me. You can go get them yourselves later. Take as much as you want. They’re under that divine-bird rug. Lift it up and dig underneath. You’ll see them. There’s also…”
“Granny! Beef incoming!”
“Granny, your favorite A-Shui is here!”
Before she could finish, the two loudest voices in Phoenix Village charged into the room.
Liu Yang Yang and Chen Shui returned carrying roasted beef and drinks. With great enthusiasm, they shoved an entire basin of beef at Qin Shu, then squeezed him aside without hesitation. One after another, they began fussing over Granny A-Shu, fighting to feed her while simultaneously reporting every major and minor event that had happened in the village recently.
Granny A-Shu was the first to lose patience. “Both of you, quiet. I can eat by myself! I wasn’t unconscious these past few weeks. I remember exactly how many times you farted in my kitchen!”
“Uh… hahaha… Then Granny, you eat by yourself. Slowly, slowly.” Liu Yang Yang laughed awkwardly and turned to pour juice for them. “I missed you so much, Granny. Wow, this beef smells amazing. Brother Qin, give me a bite.”
Qin Shu was speechless for a moment. Still, he did not fight him over the food. Instead, he handed the juice to Pei Zhao and said ominously, “You really should eat more. Because you’re next.”
“Huh?”
“Zhaozhao plans to give you and Chen Shui a little surgery too. There’s dragon bone left over. Might as well put it to use.”
“Huh?!” Chen Shui whipped his head around too, his eyes full of terror.
Pei Zhao took a sip of iced juice. Comfortably nestled against Qin Shu’s lap, he narrowed his eyes in obvious contentment, then slowly swept his gaze across the two terrified muscular men. “Liu Yang Yang, you can replace one section of your spine. You have extensive accumulated damage. Everything else is excellent, so there’s no reason to alter it. Chen Shui needs his leg bones replaced. If there’s enough left… your partner can have replacements too.”
Chen Shui had been frightened at first, then his eyes abruptly lit up. “Wait. You mean… A-Dou can get dragon bones too?!”
Pei Zhao nodded. “If you’re willing to do it, I’ll replace A-Dou’s bones as well.”
“Then I’m doing it! Right now!”
Chen Shui sprang to his feet. “Where? I’m ready! Brother Pei, I’ll be your little brother for life! I’m not afraid of pain!”
“Hey, hey.” Qin Shu raised an eyebrow. “I’m sitting right here. You think it’s your turn to be his little brother? Don’t rush. Wait until we finish eating. I’ll still have to help hold you down.”
“Cough… all right, all right. Then I’ll be your little brother. Happy now?”
Liu Yang Yang snorted. “That won’t work either. My relationship with Brother Qin is way stronger than yours. You’ve got to queue behind me.”
The group joked and laughed as they wolfed down the food, finishing two extravagant basins of roasted beef as quickly as possible.
Granny A-Shu said little, but her appetite had not diminished in the slightest. Without making a fuss, she ate nearly two-thirds of the roasted meat herself. Everyone stared in shock while she merely smiled, enjoying the long-missed warmth of family around her.
That was how immediate the effect of replacing her bones with dragon bone could be.
Seeing Granny A-Shu so energetic helped Liu Yang Yang relax as well. He knew his spine was damaged, repeatedly and severely, and years of hardship and accumulated exhaustion eventually settled into the most critical parts of the human body, becoming stubborn old injuries that were difficult to treat.
Broken arms and legs were superficial problems. But if one day his spine could no longer endure the strain and shattered, and it could not be repaired immediately, he would lose all ability to fight and move on the spot. He would become nothing more than a plump piece of meat waiting for slaughter, helpless on the ground.
To avoid such a grim future, Liu Yang Yang could not turn away from an opportunity placed directly in front of him. No matter how afraid he was, he had to grit his teeth and let Pei Zhao operate.
They did not disturb Granny A-Shu’s rest any longer. Instead, everyone moved to the Village Chief’s house for the next operation.
The moment they left the forest cottage, one Phoenix Village resident after another popped out from among the trees. Each carried fresh fruit or medicinal herbs from their own home, eagerly rushing inside to visit Granny A-Shu. Even the youngest Amei moved with astonishing speed.
“It’s good. Everyone’s finally getting their spirit back. They don’t all look miserable anymore like before… hiss! Ow, ow, ow! You already started?!”
Liu Yang Yang was lying facedown on the Village Chief’s large bed. He had barely finished speaking when Pei Zhao mercilessly opened the back of his neck.
From the nape all the way down to the tailbone, the flesh along Liu Yang Yang’s spine split open in one continuous line. Those reinforced bones that the white dragon had once smashed over and over without breaking seemed like an easy-tear package beneath Pei Zhao’s hands.
Blood flowed everywhere, but a corpse herder’s blood had no particular special use, so there was no need to collect it separately. Liu Yang Yang himself was healthy and sturdy as well and needed no small assistants. Qin Shu stood nearby holding a disinfected towel, specifically responsible for wiping away blood.
The spine removed from a human naturally could not be replaced with some ordinary fragment. What Pei Zhao intended to put in its place was the spine of a Dragon King: a section of tailbone that had nearly been ground to pieces by the storms of the void.
Pei Zhao was never stingy with his own people, so naturally he would give Liu Yang Yang the best material available. But if you wanted the best thing, you had to pay the price that came with it.
Liu Yang Yang was fully conscious. His body was strong and his sense of self was powerful, but his soul was nowhere near as resilient as Granny A-Shu’s.
When he actively fought against the dragon qi and dragon spirit entering his body, it felt like being slapped across the face dozens of times in succession. The pain nearly killed him on the spot. By the time Pei Zhao began rapidly stitching his flesh closed, Liu Yang Yang was practically howling and trying to start an in-bed boxing match with Qin Shu.
The sight left Chen Shui trembling in terror. Unfortunately, escape was no longer an option. The instant Liu Yang Yang rolled and tumbled off the bed, Qin Shu smilingly grabbed Chen Shui and pressed him down in his place.
Screams echoed across the mountaintop of Phoenix Village and rolled through the sky.
On the other side of the mountain, Granny A-Shu listened to the children howling with such impressive strength and, feeling thoroughly reassured, cooked herself another pot of beef.