CHAPTER 1348: ONE WEEK

Medical Valley,

Yang Qing’s first stop in the Medical Valley was the River of Coalescence Courtyard, where Ma Yuan’s daughter, Ma Ling, had been undergoing treatment. Her treatment could basically be considered complete. The memory gu had been successfully removed, along with all the other things the Ice Emerald Sect had introduced into her body without her knowledge as a means of controlling her mother.

Every single dangerous element had been eradicated, and her body was now in top shape. In fact, she was even better. During the course of treatment, she had managed to break through a few levels, rising from the seventh stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm to the ninth stage. It was a rather commendable feat, considering she had blue-grade pillars. Pillars of such grade and above required considerable accumulation of resources, time, and talent to form, especially toward the latter stages.

The fact that she had advanced by two pillars in just a few short months, and while undergoing treatment at that, was a testament to her talent as well as the foundation she possessed. If there was one thing to be thankful for in the entire debacle, it was that regardless of their motives, the Ice Emerald Sect had still put effort into nurturing her. Otherwise, she would never have developed those blue-grade pillars, no matter how talented she was.

For a genius to shine, while resources were important, so was guidance. The right guidance was like giving wings to a tiger.

Yang Qing slowly made his way to the third level of the courtyard, where he found Ma Ling talking animatedly with her father, whose presence there wasn’t much of a surprise to him. If Ma Yuan wasn’t at his abode, then he would be at Chief Song’s, and if he wasn’t there, the only other place he would be was here, with his daughter.

Yang Qing concealed his presence from them. A small smile crept onto his face as he watched and quietly admired the scene. Unlike before, when they had seemed no different from strangers, the way they interacted and the air between them now made them seem like a proper father and daughter. It no longer needed their similar facial resemblance to confirm that they were related.

Ma Ling was no longer as awkward and distant as she had been at the start, when they first began interacting, when she had no idea who he was, courtesy of the memory gu. She was laughing and gesturing animatedly, grabbing her father’s hands as she showed him a water spell that looked like a jellyfish.

Ma Yuan, on the other hand, didn’t say much and mostly nodded along, offering praise here and there. The wide smile on his face and the glimmer in his eyes, filled with tenderness and overflowing warmth, were more than enough to show how overjoyed he was to be able to interact with his daughter like this.

They both looked like they were at the precipice of breaking into tears of joy, and all it was waiting for was one of them to start to trigger the other to follow suit.

But along with the overwhelming joy, Yang Qing could also see the little lights of gloom they tried to hide from one another.

As happy as the scene was, and as amazing as they both felt, it was usually in times of joy that sorrow would sneak in to remind you that as joyful as you were, it could have been even more joyful if the person you wanted to share that joy with wasn’t there.

Sorrow, given enough understanding and acceptance, had a way of breeding gratitude and a deepened sense of appreciation, because from understanding sorrow does one get to appreciate what one has lost. And in the same vein, when it comes to joy, especially joy that follows a loss, it has a way of bringing sadness with it as it reminds someone of who or what they lost.

Given the glimmer they showed, Ma Ling and Ma Yuan were no doubt thinking of the last missing member of their group. Behind the joy, they both seemed to be feeling guilty.

It wasn’t just them. Yang Qing felt it too, though he knew his couldn’t compare to theirs, but he felt it nonetheless as he briefly wondered how wholesome the scene would have been if Ma Yuan’s wife, Ma Ling’s mother, had been there.

But she wasn’t.

Yang Qing sighed briefly, mourning the absence but at the same time being thankful that Ma Ling and Ma Yuan still had something of worth to hold on to, and that was each other.

If Yang Qing had not been doing his evaluations that day and roaming about, he would have never run into Ma Yuan in that yin-rich lake. And if he had not stumbled upon him, Ma Yuan would no doubt have died in that lake as he intended, and his story would have been left unresolved and buried there like so many others.

As for Ma Ling, given the memory gu that had been inside her, altering her memories, she would have never known she had a father who agonized and gave everything to search for her for years on end. All the memories they had built together before she and her mother were taken would have been lost. And as for the memories related to her mother, perhaps those too would have been gone. She would have grown up believing she never had them and would have turned into a puppet that did the Ice Emerald Sect’s bidding.

You don’t use a memory gu on someone just to alter their memories. Their uses are far more nefarious than that. Yang Qing knew of countless organizations, from kingdoms and empires down to clans, merchant associations, and most notably underworld organizations like assassin groups, that used memory gu for brainwashing and to create loyal subordinates who, under its manipulation, could kill their longtime friend, or even their parent, wife, sibling, or child, without hesitation.

If someone planted memories that your wife or mother wasn’t your wife or mother but a villainous person or rival you had a grudge against, and you were asked to kill them, would you hesitate to do the job?

Memory gu were just that tricky.

As sad as he was, seeing the scene before him, Yang Qing felt more grateful than sorrowful, because he knew how bad things could have been had he not intervened.

I guess I should be thankful to Old Fiend Lei. Yang Qing couldn’t help but smile wryly at the thought, because technically, the only reason he was out that night doing those evaluations was because of Lei Weiyuan’s punishment for his "little" breakthrough transgression.

His spirits stirred when another strange thought followed right after. And if I hadn’t been slacking, then all this wouldn’t have happened. My slacking was the ultimate key to all this.

Yang Qing felt like his life’s ambitions were once more vindicated and transformed into a noble cause. He felt even more determined now than ever to turn it into reality.

"Hey."

He was quickly pulled from his thoughts by a greeting from Tan Jie, his quasi-martial sibling, given that she was personally tutored by Ren Shu, and for him, Ren Shu was the closest thing to a master he had.

"Hey," he answered back through voiceless transmission.

The concealment measure he had employed was only useful against those not in the palace realm. So someone like Tan Jie, who was not only a talented blue-grade healer but also a gifted palace realm cultivator, easily saw through it. And being as sharp as she was, she also easily saw through Yang Qing’s reasons for concealing himself, so she didn’t expose him, nor did she make any overt gestures toward him.

Even as she spoke with him, she continued doing what she had been doing before Yang Qing appeared, which was examining Ma Ling at the side as she talked with her father.

"How is she doing?" Yang Qing asked.

"Physically, she’s in optimum shape. Mentally, well, I can’t exactly speak to its entirety, but all her memories have been restored, and her mind has acclimated to it," replied Tan Jie in a professional tone.

"How long till she’s released?" Yang Qing followed.

Tan Jie paused her actions briefly, and though her eyes were fully on Ma Ling, Yang Qing saw her throw a quick glance toward where he was, by the doorway.

"I would have released her three days ago," she said, her voice taking on a softer tone as she continued, "I’m waiting for you to decide when. She is as much my patient as she is yours, and you seem to be doing something with her father, right? Despite his crippled cultivation base, his body seems stronger than it was when I last saw him, and it’s been improving. I know it’s not solely because of his daughter’s improved condition.

When you’re done with him, I’ll release her."

After a short pause, as though debating whether to say the next part, she softly added, "Don’t take too long. And...

You did the best you could, Yang. Their situation is much better than how it usually goes for stories like theirs. At least they’re alive, and they have each other. Don’t be hard on yourself. What you’ve done is more than enough."

"Thanks, Tan," said Yang Qing, smiling gratefully at her as she nodded back surreptitiously.

Yang Qing took one last, long look at the father and daughter before finally turning to leave. "One week," he softly said as he walked away.

"Mmh," hummed Tan Jie as she glanced briefly at Yang Qing’s departing back. She sighed inwardly before her eyes and attention returned to her work.