Chapter 722 — The Reason There Is No Way

Watching Lin Ce's memory fail him day by day was truly unbearable for Yang Juehuan. Lin Ce was his sworn brother, but if one counted strictly by seniority, Lin Ce was in fact the disciple of his own master, Yang Ce. Now Yang Ce was no different from Lin Ce's own disciple, learning medicine from him every day—so if that did not make Lin Ce Yang Juehuan's master, what did?

Though no formal rite of apprenticeship had ever been performed, in Yang Juehuan's heart Lin Ce had long since become an elder.

And judging purely by the seniority on Liu Yu and Yiyi's side, Lin Ce was beyond any doubt Yang Juehuan's elder.

Yang Ce was a man of deep feeling. Fang Tian had said as much: Yang Ce's nature destined him to be a killer, but never an assassin. A killer has feeling; an assassin has none. Yet even by a killer's measure, Yang Cenbin was far too merciful.

Yang Ce valued old ties. So long as those around him had not crossed his bottom line or committed an irrevocable wrong, Yang Ce would forgive them. From Guo Jianchao at the very beginning, to Wang Xue, and even Tian Long—Yang Ce had let them all go.

So the longer Yang Ce spent with Lin Ce, the more he could not bear to watch him become a mindless amnesiac.

Anyone else might have thought: so long as I learn Lin Ce's medical skill, what does it matter how he fares? An old man I have known only a short while—no need to spend much thought on him.

But Yang Jiyan was not that sort. So long as there was the slightest possibility, Yang Ce would find a way to break the Gu in Lin Ce.

And so, at dinner, Yang Ce once again raised the matter of the Swift Cicada Gu with Lan Ling.

"You know as well as I do, Yang Ce—my mastery of Gu arts is high, but compared with the Left Elder and the Right Elder, I still fall short by a measure or two. If they could find no way, then naturally neither can I." Lan Ling sighed. "Do you think I do not wish to help Brother Lin break his Swift Cicada Gu? But this Gu poison—I have only ever heard of it. I do not even know how it is refined, let alone how to cure it!"

"Ai! If we knew the principle behind it, we might work backward from the way the Gu is refined and find a solution. But we do not even know how it is made—that truly makes it difficult!" Yang Ce sighed.

"The principle—that much I do know. The Right Elder told me once, and even searched with me for a way to break the Gu, but every attempt failed!" At this, Lin Ce spoke up. "Yang Ce, I know you mean well by me, but do not waste your strength. This Swift Cicada Gu of mine—I know there is simply no way."

"Eh? Brother Lin, you remember things from before again?" Yang Xutang asked, delighted to hear Lin Ce speak.

"After listening to the two of you go on for so long, if I still could not recall a thing or two, I would be sick past all cure and beyond saving!" Lin Ce laughed. "I have long since made my peace with it. You need not trouble yourselves on my account!"

"Brother Lin, tell us all about the Swift Cicada Gu and its properties—who knows, we might just find a way to break it?" Yang Ce suggested.

"Very well. Since you wish to hear it, there is no harm in my telling you. Once I have spoken, you can put aside any thought of breaking this Gu for me!" Lin Ce nodded.

"Not necessarily. Lingling and Brother Liu Yan are both experts in Gu poison research. Who knows—if we all put our heads together, we might hit on a way to break it yet?" Yang Yanzhou said.

"Yes, let us all think of something together!" Liu Yan nodded in agreement.

Only Lan Ling said nothing. By her recollection, the Swift Cicada Gu could not be broken—it was a most peculiar Gu poison. So she held little hope. But since Yang Ce was set on finding a solution, Lan Ling could only offer her support.

"Right, let us all think of something!" Lan Ling said after a moment's thought.

"Heh heh. The Swift Cicada Gu, as the name implies, is a Gu insect of extraordinary swiftness. Unlike some Gu poisons, it does not exist in the form of bacteria. This Swift Cicada Gu exists as a Gu insect, and there is only one such insect inside my body!" Lin Ce began his explanation of the Swift Cicada Gu.

"Then if we simply kill that Gu insect, would that not solve everything?" Yang Ce was a killer, and his thinking was simple: kill the culprit, and all other problems resolve themselves.

"Yang Ce, you are not wrong. Indeed, if the Gu insect were killed, my problem would be solved with it. But the crux is that this Gu insect is not so easily killed!" Lin Ce said. "First, the insect lives within the meridians of my body, not in my stomach or intestines. Ordinary Gu-breaking medicines have no effect on it. Second, if one tried to kill the insect with poison, the poison would be absorbed by my meridians—and by the time the Gu insect died of poison, I would be all but finished myself. And we do not even know which poisons would work on this insect. If we simply tried a few at random, then even if I were a miracle doctor, I would be done for!"

"Then could we not avoid the method of swallowing poison and having it absorbed by the meridians, and instead use acupuncture to apply poison to the meridians locally? That way, even if one poison fails, it would not harm the meridians of the whole body—a few more trials should do little harm, no?" Yang Ce offered his view. "And besides, if this Gu poison exists as a single insect, why not simply perform surgery and take the insect out? Why go to all that trouble?"

"Yang Ce, that suggestion of yours—the Right Elder and I both considered it, and neither works!" Lin Ce smiled bitterly. "The so-called Swift Cicada Gu—as I have said, the insect moves with extraordinary speed. Its position within my body is never fixed; it darts wildly through the meridians at high speed. I have no idea where it is, so how could I take it out? The Right Elder took me to several hospitals with advanced equipment and had scans done, but the insect is too small—its position cannot be seen clearly at all. And even if we could see it, by the time you made ready to cut at that spot, the insect would long since have fled!"

"What!" Hearing Lin Ce's words, Yang Xutang rose abruptly to his feet, staring straight at Lin Ce, his face alight with excitement. "Brother Lin, you mean to say—the reason this Gu insect cannot be killed is simply that it moves too fast, and you cannot locate its exact position in your body?"