Chapter 896 - 862: Secret Door

Before coming here, the three had already rehearsed, and it was now Yan Hong’s turn to take the lead after meeting Cao Mulan.

Yan Hong pulled out the letter written by his uncle Yuanrong: "President Cao, my uncle wrote a letter and wanted me to personally deliver it to the Sect Leader."

Cao Mulan replied indifferently: "I can pass it on for you."

Hua Zhuyue’s heart stirred; it seemed the rumors of Xiahou Zun’s death were false, otherwise, Cao Mulan wouldn’t have said such a thing.

Yan Hong glanced at Xu Chunliang; his uncle had instructed him to deliver it personally to Xiahou Zun.

Xu Chunliang silently cursed this fool. Why was he looking at him? Anyone could tell he was seeking his opinion. Xu Chunliang lowered his head and continued to sip tea, ignoring Yan Hong’s gaze.

Yan Hong said, "President Cao, I’m sorry, but I must personally deliver this letter to the Sect Leader."

Cao Mulan said: "Mr. Yan has already entered a monastic life and is not one of us. If you insist on doing so, I must ask you all to leave." Her meaning was clear: Yuanrong’s face could be given or not, but if you don’t follow my rules here, there’s no need to continue talking.

Yan Hong pursed his lips, initially thinking that the uncle’s letter would make meeting Xiahou Zun easy, but unexpectedly faced obstacles right from the start. He couldn’t help but glance at Xu Chunliang again.

Cao Mulan’s gaze also shifted to Xu Chunliang: "What do you think?" Xu Chunliang’s judgment was correct; Yan Hong’s actions were indeed seen through by her. Xu Chunliang was the real protagonist tonight.

Xu Chunliang said: "President Cao passing it on is also fine."

Only then did Yan Hong hand the letter to a girl dressed as a maid, who presented it to Cao Mulan. Cao Mulan reached out to take it and picked up a two-inch long ring-headed small copper knife from the table, and opened the letter.

Yan Hong wanted to stop it but was too late; the uncle had specifically instructed that the letter must be opened by Xiahou Zun himself. Cao Mulan was too brazen, daring to open the Sect Leader’s letter.

Xu Chunliang noticed that all her tools were ancient; her movements in opening the letter were crisp. It was not just skill but also showed that she had specifically practiced blade techniques; experts like Xu Chunliang excel at finding mysteries in details.

After reading, Cao Mulan frowned tightly: "So all three of you were secretly plotted against?"

Yan Hong nodded and said: "Yes!"

Cao Mulan said: "Who is so bold to dare make a move against people of our sect?"

Yan Hong looked at Xu Chunliang again, about to respond, when Cao Mulan pointed at Xu Chunliang: "You say!"

Xu Chunliang said: "His name is Xu Chunliang."

"Xu Chunliang? Never heard of him; is he very skilled?" Cao Mulan’s expression was full of disdain.

Yan Hong said: "Very skilled indeed; he planted poison needles in our meridian points, called... Autumn Death Needle. He said that the needle would gradually move within our meridians over time, leaving us with at most six more months to live, and during these months we would live in agony..." His words flowed smoothly, being the truth.

Yan Hong covertly glanced at Xu Chunliang again, feeling bitter resentment; this person’s methods were truly vicious.

Cao Mulan snorted coldly: "Autumn Death Needle, I’ve never heard of it."

Hua Zhuyue said: "President Cao’s ignorance doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist."

Cao Mulan looked at Hua Zhuyue: "When did it become your turn to speak here?"

Yan Hong said: "Please don’t blame us, President Cao; we really have no alternative but to seek the Sect Leader’s help. We hope President Cao will let go a little."

Cao Mulan said: "No rush; since Mr. Yan entrusted this matter himself, I will truthfully report it to the Sect Leader. It’s late today; you three must be tired. I have guest rooms for you to rest. Please rest assured for the night, and I’ll give you a reply in the morning. What do you think?"

Yan Hong subconsciously glanced at Xu Chunliang again.

Xu Chunliang cursed silently; this fool really exposed them. Cao Mulan would certainly know he’s leading.

Xu Chunliang said: "We are poisoned with a strange venom, our lives in peril. We hope President Cao will consider our sect brotherhood and let go, and quickly deliver the letter to the Sect Leader."

Cao Mulan smiled: "Strange venom? I’m somewhat curious. If you don’t mind, I can offer you a free pulse diagnosis."

Xu Chunliang sat opposite Cao Mulan and extended his right hand.

The inch pulse can be divided into inch, barrier, and foot, usually marked by the radial styloid process behind the wrist; its inner side is the barrier, the front is the inch, and the rear is the foot. The inch-barrier-foot has three divisions and nine evaluations: floating, middle, and sinking.

Throughout history, the technique of pulse diagnosis has always remained consistent in its fundamentals.

Cao Mulan used her left hand to diagnose Xu Chunliang’s right hand and her right hand for the patient’s left hand, aligning the fingertip level, slightly arching her fingers at a 45-degree angle to Xu Chunliang’s body surface.

The index finger determined the barrier, with the forefinger pressing the pre-barrier, the ring finger the post-barrier, and the finger spacing appropriate; an expert’s skill shows immediately, and Xu Chunliang could tell Cao Mulan’s medical skill was not low.

Cao Mulan’s finger movements were practiced, her techniques precise and unerring.

The distribution of viscera now follows the ’Upper Collect Upper, Lower Collect Lower’ principle from ’Inner Canon,’ dividing the inch pulse’s divisions: left inch for the heart, right inch for the lungs, covering diseases above the chest and head; left barrier for liver/gall, right barrier for spleen/stomach, covering diaphragm to navel; both feet for kidneys, covering navel to feet.

Last night, due to abruptly stopping the state of no self, Xu Chunliang’s meridians were damaged, requiring time to recover. He intentionally wanted to test Cao Mulan’s medical skill.

Cao Mulan pressed and searched, her technique extremely skillful, two sword-like eyebrows almost knotted together, she whispered, "Did your meridians recently suffer an injury?"

Xu Chunliang silently praised her. Just from his pulse, she could deduce that his meridians were damaged. Cao Mulan’s level in diagnosing pulses had already far surpassed experts in the field.

Xu Chunliang said, "I was struck by someone with the surname Xu, spat blood on the spot, and then felt my entire body’s meridians breaking, it must be for this reason."

Cao Mulan found Xu Chunliang’s pulse extremely strange, varying speeds, sometimes eight beats in a breath, sometimes two, alternating long and short pulses occurring, large and small pulses mixed, and varying pulse force.

Normally, checking the pulse for fifty beats would be enough, but Cao Mulan checked for a full 150 beats and still could not determine what exactly was wrong with Xu Chunliang from his pulse.

Cao Mulan’s hand finally left Xu Chunliang’s wrist. She could only conclude that Xu Chunliang’s meridians were damaged, as for the complex nature of the pulse, she could not yet make a judgment.

Xu Chunliang deliberately controlled his pulse to appear worried, "President Cao, what do you think of my condition?"

Cao Mulan replied with four words, "Not optimistic."

Xu Chunliang said, "Does President Cao mean I have more misfortune than fortune?"

Cao Mulan sighed and said, "Forgive my limited knowledge and experience; I’ve never seen such a strange pulse."

Even though Yan Hong was sincere, Cao Mulan still refused their request to see Xiahou Zun that night. She had her subordinates arrange for the three of them to rest.

It may have been a deliberate arrangement, but Xu Chunliang and Hua Zhuyue were arranged in the same room.

Xu Chunliang looked at the double bed in the room and said, "Sister Hua, it seems that tonight we have to squeeze in together."

Hua Zhuyue gave him a look, reminding him to be cautious and vigilant, first checking the room to ensure there were no monitoring or listening devices before leaning close to his ear and saying, "I always feel there’s something strange here."

Xu Chunliang said, "Never mind, let’s sleep first; do you think the police might come for a room check tonight?"

Hua Zhuyue giggled, "So you’d better behave yourself."

Inside the Hundred Herbs Building, Cao Mulan closed the room door. Alone inside, she slowly walked to a nearby bookshelf, reaching out to shift two books sequentially. These books were the mechanism to activate a secret door. The bookshelf slowly moved aside, revealing the iron door behind it. Cao Mulan pressed the code beside the door, and the iron door moved open.

Cao Mulan entered the elevator behind, pressing B2.

After exiting the elevator, she walked a little over 50 meters along the orange-lit passage and entered an arched space. Despite being underground, the air wasn’t stifling, and there was a faint herbal fragrance.

An elderly man wearing a gray linen Tang suit, his beard and hair white, sat cross-legged on a meditation mat with his eyes closed, resting.

Cao Mulan did not disturb him immediately, but stood by, looking at several pages of paper on the desk, filled with dense symbols.

The elderly man took a long breath, opened his eyes, and said, "Mulan, why have you come so late?"

Cao Mulan said, "Father, three unexpected guests came tonight wanting to see you." This elderly man is her father, Xiahou Zun.

Xiahou Zun didn’t even think and directly refused, "I will not see them!"

Cao Mulan handed over the letter Yan Hong brought to her father.

Xiahou Zun took the letter, read it, and said in a deep voice, "There still exists a poison that even Yan Wuyue can’t cure?"

Cao Mulan said, "It’s said to be the Autumn Death Needle."

Xiahou Zun shook his head, "Impossible!"

Cao Mulan said, "I have already investigated the identities of these three people. One is Yan Wuyue’s nephew, Yan Hong, one is Dongzhou’s Xu Chunliang, and the other is Orchid Sect’s Hua Zhuyue."

Xiahou Zun said, "Hua Zhuyue? Is it Hua Zhuyue whom Wu Yuanyi hates to the bone?"

"Yes, she is the actual controller of Orchid Sect now."

Xiahou Zun said, "We have no dealings with Orchid Sect whatsoever. Wu Yuanyi and Hua Zhuyue are purely personal enemies. Why are they seeking me out?"

Cao Mulan said, "I’ve just observed, Yan Hong revealed many flaws, evidently coerced by the other two, but this Xu Chunliang’s pulse is very strange, unlike any I have seen."

Xiahou Zun said, "There are still pulses you haven’t seen."

Cao Mulan said, "Father, didn’t you say that a true master could control their pulse at will?"

Xiahou Zun said, "How old is this Xu Chunliang?"

"Just over twenty."

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

Cao Mulan said, "If Father doesn’t believe, you can see for yourself."