Nine Desolate Records

The guesthouse, No. 3, is located on the east side of the valley, backed by a cliff. In front of the courtyard is a medicinal garden planted with calming herbs. The courtyard wall is made of rough bluestone, and the wooden door is ajar, with a wooden plaque that reads "No. 3, Yi" hanging above the door.

Mu Chen pushed open the courtyard gate and stepped aside: "This is it. The two injured people will be placed in the main room in the middle. You can use the side rooms as you like. According to the rules of the valley, you may not walk around the guest area without permission. Disciples will bring you three meals a day." He paused and looked at Lu Li, "Elder Su and Physician Mo will arrive soon. Elder Gu has ordered that we treat the injured first, and discuss other matters later."

After saying that, he led Qinghe and Fuling out of the courtyard without going inside, leaving only the two of them to guard the door.

The courtyard was clean and tidy, paved with bluestone, and several clumps of fragrant herbs grew in the corner. Three houses stood side by side, with the doors and windows of the main room in the middle open, through which beds, tables, and chairs could be vaguely seen.

Lu Li carried Yun Jin and strode into the main room, followed closely by Shi Yong carrying Lin Qingyuan on his back. The main room was more spacious than expected. Two wooden beds with clean bedding were placed side by side against the wall, separated by a screen. There was a square table and wooden chairs in front of the window, and clean cloths and several empty medicine jars were neatly folded on a wooden shelf against the wall. A refreshing medicinal fragrance filled the air, which was calming to the mind.

Yun Jin was carefully placed on the left side of the bed. The clear light of the Cleansing Dew between her brows had completely extinguished. Although the cracks under her skin had stopped spreading, there was no sign of them healing. Lin Qingyuan was placed on the right side of the bed by Shi Yong. The black lines on his neck had spread to his ears. His breathing was weak and rapid, and his body twitched unconsciously from time to time.

"Can they...hold on?" Shi Yong wiped the sweat from his forehead, his voice filled with barely concealed anxiety.

"Wait." Lu Li only said one word before sitting cross-legged on the futon between the two beds, closing his eyes to regulate his breathing. He needed to recover even a little bit of strength as soon as possible to suppress the increasingly restless source within his body caused by continuous tension.

Time passed in silence.

About an incense stick later, footsteps were heard outside the courtyard.

The first to enter was an elderly woman with gray hair and a kind face, dressed in an elegant moon-white long robe, with a string of small jade medicine bottles hanging from her waist. Her steps were steady, and her aura gentle. Behind her followed a lean middle-aged man with a stern face and piercing eyes. He wore a black robe with silver thread embroidery on the cuffs and carried an old but exceptionally clean ebony medicine box.

"I am Su Banxia, ​​an elder of Baicaotang." The old woman's voice was gentle, her gaze already fixed on the two beds. "This is Mo Xuan, the master of Jingxinxuan, who is most skilled in using golden needles to overcome calamities and exorcise evil spirits in the valley."

Mo Xuan nodded slightly and walked straight to Lin Qingyuan's bedside. He extended three fingers of his right hand, hovering three inches above the black markings on the other's neck, a faint silver light emanating from his fingertips. The instant the silver light touched the black markings, the originally slowly writhing patterns suddenly surged violently, like an enraged venomous snake, leaping upwards an inch, directly towards the chin!

Mo Xuan's expression remained unchanged as he took a flat silver box from the medicine chest with his left hand. The lid popped open, revealing thirty-six silver needles of varying lengths and as thin as cow hair, their bodies shimmering with a warm, milky-white luster.

"Help him sit up and take off his shirt." Mo Xuan's voice was as cold as the clash of metal.

Shi Yong rushed forward to help. Lin Qingyuan's body was limp and unconscious.

Mo Xuan took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes slightly. In the next instant, his hands moved like butterflies flitting among flowers, so fast that only a blur could be seen. Thirty-six silver needles shot out from the silver box at the same time, piercing Lin Qingyuan's chest and back acupoints with perfect accuracy—Shanzhong, Jiuwei, Juque, Shencang, Lingxu... The depth and angle of each needle's insertion were flawless, and the needle tips trembled, emitting a subtle yet clear buzzing sound, faintly forming a strange rhythm.

As the silver needle pierced through, the writhing of the black lines on Lin Qingyuan's neck noticeably slowed, its upward spread abruptly halted. Mo Xuan's expression, however, grew even more grave. He withdrew his hand, fine beads of sweat already forming on his forehead.

"The Golden Needle Lock Meridian can only seal the Nightmare Erosion for twelve hours," Mo Xuan said in a deep voice. "This erosion is no ordinary evil poison; it has become entangled and symbiotic with the meridians and bone marrow, and even seems to possess 'spirit.' Ordinary removal methods will only provoke a backlash and accelerate its spread."

Elder Su had already finished examining Yun Jin's pulse. Upon hearing this, she turned around, her brows furrowed. "This child's soul has extremely deep cracks, and the source of her 'Pupil of Illusion' has been damaged. Ordinary methods of nourishing the soul are indeed ineffective. We need to use the 'Nine Revolutions Rejuvenating Needle' to forcibly mend the cracks, and then place her in the 'Soul Nourishing Pool' to gently nurture her consciousness. However..." She looked at Mo Xuan, "Both of these are no easy tasks."

Mo Xuan remained silent for a moment, then turned his gaze to Lu Li, who had been standing quietly by the sidelines: "Elder Gu allowed you to enter the valley because of the cloud-patterned jade pendant and the information you brought. However, the price required to use the Nine-Turn Heaven-Returning Needle and the Soul-Nourishing Pool is extraordinary. The aura within your body is mixed, with hidden ferocity lurking within. According to the valley rules, you must first pass the 'Heart-Questioning Mirror' to verify your righteousness or evil."

The Mirror of Inquiry. Lu Li's heart tightened slightly. Just from the name, he knew it was no ordinary examination.

"This junior is willing to be examined." Lu Li stood up, his tone calm, "As long as it can save them."

Mo Xuan gave him a deep look, said nothing more, and turned to Elder Su, saying, "Senior Sister, I will first use the 'Seven-Continuation Needle' to revive this girl's soul and slow its dissipation. You prepare the medicinal ingredients needed for the Nine-Turn Heaven-Returning Needle. As for the Heart-Asking Mirror..." He looked towards the door, "Mu Chen."

Mu Chen, who was waiting outside the courtyard, entered in response to the call.

"Take him to the 'Hall of Enlightenment'," Mo Xuan instructed. "Please have Elder Gu personally preside over the examination by the Mirror of Inquiry."

"Yes." Mu Chen looked at Lu Li. "Please come with me."

Lu Li glanced at Yun Jin and Lin Qingyuan on the bed, and whispered to Shi Yong, "Keep an eye on them." Then he turned around and followed Mu Chen out of the guest house.

Passing through fields filled with the fragrance of herbs and several courtyards with white walls and gray tiles, the two arrived at the foot of a solitary peak deep in the valley. In front of the mountain wall stood an ancient stone temple. The temple had no plaque, but a huge character "明" (Ming) was carved on the lintel, its strokes vigorous and powerful, as if it contained some kind of awe-inspiring power.

The hall was spacious, with a floor paved with shiny black stone slabs. On a high platform directly opposite the hall's entrance stood a bronze mirror about half a person's height. The mirror was simple and unadorned, with intricate cloud patterns and auspicious beasts carved along its edges. However, the mirror's surface was not the usual bronze color, but rather a bottomless, chaotic vortex that slowly rotated, as if it could suck in one's soul.

Elder Gusong was already standing with his hands behind his back in front of the mirror. Hearing footsteps, he turned around.

"The Mirror of Inquiry illuminates your true heart, revealing your true spirit." Elder Gusong's voice echoed in the empty stone hall. "Stand three feet in front of the mirror, concentrate your mind and calm your breath, do not resist. What is reflected in the mirror is the truest reflection of your heart. Good thoughts, evil thoughts, obsessions, delusions... none can hide. If there is evil in your heart, or ulterior motives, the mirror's light will backfire, and your spirit and soul will be instantly harmed."

Lu Li walked to the designated spot and stood still. The ancient bronze mirror was within reach, and the chaotic vortex within it seemed to have a life of its own, its rotation speed slightly increasing.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and sank his consciousness to its deepest point, recalling every detail of his journey. The despair of Cangwu Mountain, the struggle in Linyuan City, the trials of Shu Mountain, the sacrifices at Guilin Manor, the life-or-death struggle at Chensha River... as well as the promises to Yun Jin, Lin Qingyuan, and Shi Yong, the doubts about Xun Wenruo's scheme, the pursuit of the truth about the prisoners, and that tiny, unextinguished glimmer of light belonging to "Lu Li" deep within his heart.

Human nature is 30% or 40%. The prisoner's power is stirring. But he must hold this line.

When he reopened his eyes, the chaotic vortex in the mirror suddenly stopped.

Then, the mirror lit up.

At first, there was only a hazy light. Within the light, fragmented images emerged: a desolate grave in the torrential rain, blood-stained words on a broken tombstone, the compassionate eyes of a woman in a mountain temple, Jiang Yin's withered face, and Uncle Chen's resolute crushing of the jade talisman in his final moments…

The image shifted and gradually became clear. Two blurry, confronting figures appeared in the mirror.

One of them was Lu Li himself, covered in blood, but his eyes remained clear, and he held three daggers intertwined in light and shadow.

The other... was a churning, ever-changing dark blue shadow, within which countless twisted faces screamed and struggled, radiating an aura of pure brutality and destruction. It was a projection of the Prisoner's essence.

Two figures faced off in the mirror, as if engaged in a silent tug-of-war. Wisps of golden light swirled around the clear figures, while the dark shadows relentlessly tried to erode and devour them.

The mirror trembled slightly, and the reflected image became unstable. The clear figures sometimes solidified, sometimes blurred; the dark shadows sometimes expanded, sometimes contracted.

Elder Gusong and Mu Chen stared intently at the mirror, their expressions solemn. They had never seen such a scene in the Mirror of Inquiry before; it was not a simple distinction between good and evil, but a deeper conflict and symbiosis, seemingly at the level of the soul.

Just as the tug-of-war in the mirror reached its most intense moment, a faint light of interwoven blue, red, and bronze suddenly emanated from the location of the three-dagger sealing array beneath Lu Li's clothes! This faint light was not strong, but it carried a strange and stable balancing force, projecting onto the mirror surface.

The swirling dark blue shadow in the mirror suddenly froze, as if suppressed and bound by the tri-colored light. The clear figure seized the opportunity to stabilize, and the surrounding golden light brightened slightly.

The balance of power was forcibly maintained by the seal of these three daggers.

A moment later, the image in the mirror slowly faded away, returning to the bottomless chaotic vortex.

The stone hall was completely silent.

Elder Gusong stared at Lu Li for a long time before slowly speaking, his voice carrying a subtle complexity: "The reflection in the Mirror of the Heart is neither pure good nor pure evil. You have a protective will and a desire to save people, but there is also an extremely ferocious and ancient power that is entangled with you, like a maggot clinging to your bones, like a shadow that accompanies you. Fortunately... there is a sealing power that forcibly balances it, temporarily preventing your spiritual platform from collapsing."

He paused for a moment, then said, "The Heart-Questioning Mirror examination has passed. You may remain in the valley for now. The matters concerning the Nine-Turn Heaven-Returning Needle and the Soul-Nourishing Pool will be decided after I discuss them with the other pavilion masters."

Lu Li slowly exhaled a breath of stale air; his back was already soaked with cold sweat. The confrontation in the mirror just now had almost drained all his energy. He cupped his hands in thanks: "Thank you, Elder."

Elder Gusong waved his hand, indicating that Mu Chen should take him back.

Stepping out of Mingxin Hall, the afternoon sun was somewhat dazzling. Lu Li squinted, feeling the three daggers in his arms slightly warm, as if the reflection in the mirror earlier had also depleted their power.

When he returned to Courtyard No. 3, he found that there were several more people in the courtyard.

Besides Elder Su and Mo Xuan, there was an elderly man in a deep purple robe with a dignified face, as well as two disciples carrying various medicinal herbs and utensils. The purple-robed elder was talking quietly with Su and Mo, his expression solemn.

Upon seeing Lu Li return, the purple-robed elder turned his head, his gaze sharp as lightning, sweeping over him: "Elder Gu sent word that the Heart-Searching Mirror has been passed. In that case..." He looked at Elder Su and Mo Xuan, "Let's proceed as we just discussed. Junior Brother Mo will lead the Nine-Turn Heaven-Returning Needle treatment, with Junior Sister Su assisting with the medicinal effects. I will be responsible for opening and maintaining the Soul-Nourishing Pool. The necessary medicinal herbs and spiritual items will be retrieved from the storehouse immediately."

He paused, looked at Lu Li, and said in an unquestionable tone, "During the treatment, the three of you must stay in this hospital and are not allowed to leave. Follow all arrangements. If they succeed, it will be their good fortune; if something unexpected happens..." He didn't finish his sentence, but his meaning was clear.

Lu Li bowed: "This junior understands. Everything is at your disposal, senior."

The purple-robed elder said no more and hurriedly left with his disciples, clearly to prepare for related matters.

Elder Su said gently to Lu Li, "There's no need to worry too much. Although the Nine Revolutions Rejuvenating Needle technique is risky, Junior Brother Mo's acupuncture skills have reached a state of perfection, and with the Soul Nourishing Pool as an aid, the success rate should be around 70%. You should rest first, and the acupuncture will begin after nightfall. The process may be lengthy, so you need to keep your mind calm."

Mo Xuan had returned to Lin Qingyuan's bedside and began preparing more complex needles and medicines, his expression focused, as if everything outside was no longer relevant to him.

Lu Li stepped aside, looking at the busy crowd, and then at his companion on the bed, whose life hung in the balance.

A 70% chance... is enough.

He gripped the slightly cool dagger in his pocket.

No matter what, we must pull through.