Chapter 3329 — Lin Dongfang's Recollections

"Xiaoshu, go upstairs and take a look—why hasn't Xinyan gotten up yet?" Wei Zhao had not yet realized that anything was truly wrong; he was merely a little puzzled.

Shen Yushu felt nothing amiss either. She went upstairs and found Wang Xinyan still sound asleep, so she reached out and shook her. But Wang Xinyan did not wake. After several shakes she still lay motionless, and only then did Xiaoshu begin to panic.

This had happened to Wang Xinyan before, but that was a long time ago, and Wei Zhao had since fetched medicine for her from the Snow Valley. After taking it, Wang Xinyan had been no different from anyone else all this while, and Xiaoshu had gradually set her heart at ease. But now, looking at her... it seemed Wang Xinyan had relapsed.

"Arrow Brand Bro!" Xiaoshu rushed out of the room and shouted from the top of the stairs on the villa's second floor. "Come quick—Sister Xinyan has fainted again!"

"What!?" Wei Zhao, who had been washing dishes in the kitchen, froze. Then he hurried toward the second floor. Wang Xinyan had fainted again? What was going on?

Without pausing to speak to Xiaoshu, Wei Zhao strode into their bedroom and pressed his fingers to the pulse point at Wang Xinyan's wrist. The moment he did, his brow furrowed.

Wei Zhao was a doctor, after all. How could he fail to see that Wang Xinyan had fallen into a coma? But why? In that instant he could clearly sense that the life force within her body was steadily ebbing away...

Could the orchid-jade spirit herb have lost its efficacy? Or had the dose she took last time simply not been enough?

But that was impossible. Old Man Wei had clearly said that so long as she had the orchid-jade spirit herb, Wang Xinyan would be fine. How could something have gone wrong again?

Yet the facts lay before his eyes, leaving no room for doubt. After a moment's silent deliberation, Wei Zhao resolutely dialed Old Man Wei's number.

"Xiaoyi, congratulations—your strength has been rising quickly of late, hasn't it?" Old Man Wei had heard from the Bloody Garment Yellow Springs Sect that Wei Zhao could now slay experts at the peak of the late Heaven rank in an instant, and he was deeply gratified. It seemed Wei Zhao had survived another tribulation, growing stronger through adversity.

"Old man, we can talk about that later. I'm calling about something far more important." Wei Zhao had no heart for pleasantries now. At any other time he would have recounted his recent experiences, but with Wang Xinyan's condition before him, he truly did not want to waste a single precious second.

"Oh?" Lin Dongfang paused, then asked gravely, "What has happened?"

"Wang Xinyan has fainted again," Wei Zhao said bluntly. "I examined her just now. The life force in her body is steadily diminishing. What is going on? Didn't you say the orchid-jade spirit herb she took had completely cured her condition? Why would she faint again?"

"Fainted again?" Lin Dongfang's brows knitted at once. No one knew Wang Xinyan's condition better than he did—he had personally treated her back then. He had never expected her to relapse like this...

Born frail and sickly... took the orchid-jade spirit herb... wait!

Lin Dongfang's expression shifted abruptly. He seemed to have grasped something—a flash of insight that slipped from his fingers even as it came. Those two key phrases had unlocked memories sealed away for many years, recalling things from his youth...

Days spent roaming the jianghu with Wei Zhao's master, Yang Zhao—those people, those events...

Yes!

Lin Dongfang sprang to his feet. A thought had struck him—something crucial, something of great importance. Though he dared not confirm it at once, judging by Wang Xinyan's condition, it seemed... he was very likely right!

Lin Dongfang fell silent on the other end, and Wei Zhao could hear his quickened breathing. Wei Zhao knew the old man must be pondering something, so he did not interrupt, but waited quietly.

Sure enough, after a while Lin Dongfang's voice came again: "Xiaoyi, Wang Xinyan's condition has reminded me of something, though I cannot be certain. I need to look up some records. Wait for my call!"

"Then how do we treat Xinyan in the meantime?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Leave her be for now. In her present state she is in no immediate danger—if my guess is right." Lin Dongfang paused, then went on heavily, "And if I am wrong, then I have no idea what is wrong with her, and there is even less I can do. So wait for my word!"

"All right!" Anxious as Wei Zhao was, Old Man Wei had said all there was to say. Wei Zhao knew nothing more could be done; all that remained was to wait.

The minutes and seconds crawled by. Barely ten minutes had passed since the call ended, yet Wei Zhao felt each one an age. Xiaoshu was equally frantic. "Arrow Brand Bro, do you think Sister Xinyan is a Legacy Bearer too?"

"A Legacy Bearer?" Wei Zhao was taken aback. As far as he knew, of the seven attributes of the Five Elements, there were seven Legacy Bearers—among them Xiaoxiao, Xiaoshu, Yaoyao, and Xiaojiu—with three still missing. Could Wang Xinyan be one of them?

Wei Zhao did not think it impossible, but from his acquaintance with Wang Xinyan, he had never sensed any special attribute about her. Then again, such an attribute might be latent, only now awakening.

Still, the odds were likely very small, for Wang Xinyan's fainting spells were nothing new—she had been frail and sickly since childhood. So Wei Zhao shook his head. "Possible, but unlikely. Let us wait for my grandfather's word."

"Mm..." Shen Yushu had only spoken offhandedly. The two of them kept watch at Wang Xinyan's side, waiting quietly for news.

For half an hour Wei Zhao felt each moment drag like a year—until at last Lin Dongfang called.

"Old man, how is it? Any news?" Wei Zhao snatched up the phone the instant it rang.

"Xiaoyi... unless I am mistaken, Wang Xinyan's constitution... is the same as, or similar to, that of someone I once met..." Lin Dongfang said slowly.

"What constitution?" Wei Zhao was startled. Could Wang Xinyan have some special constitution after all? Otherwise, why would the old man say such a thing? RS