Chapter 344: Informing Zhou Mei
Chapter 344: Informing Zhou Mei
"Well, a lot has happened to her..." Yi Chen answered with an uncomfortable expression, seeing Zhou Mei’s concerned expression, and continued, "You remember that I told you that I explored the tomb with a group of four, right?"
"Yes..." Zhou Mei nodded when she heard his words as a subtle frown formed on her forehead.
"Well, in that group, apart from Madam Gao, the other two members were your sister, Zhou Lan and Senior Sister Xie Rou." Yi Chen stated the next second.
"This..." Zhou Mei couldn’t help but widen her eyes at those words the next second as she connected some dots in her mind. Her expression froze from fright, "D-Did something happen to her in the tomb?!"
Seeing the panic in her eyes, instead of answering her question, Yi Chen decided to assure her first, "There’s no need for you to worry, as from what I heard from the Great Divinator Guild’s branch, she’s mostly fine now and has been sent back to the sect. Though complete recovery would still take a few months, they said."
Although hearing that her sister was fine brought a great sense of relief to Zhou Mei, she still couldn’t help but furrow her brows when she heard Yi Chen’s words, ’Great Divinator Guild? Still take a few months for complete recovery?’
"...Brother Chen, can you tell me everything from the start? I want to know what happened to her while she was in the tomb with you." Zhou Mei asked a second later. Curiosity and concern were apparent on her face.
"Well, Senior Sister Lan was already not in her peak state when she entered the tomb along with us. Apparently, she had been injured during the Demonic Beast Subjugation and was still to make a complete recovery.
However, despite that, she was managing fairly well inside the tomb’s first stage as she and Sister Xie Rou had already reunited with Madam Gao.
So, for the most part, while they were in the Endless Forest, they didn’t face any problems until they were ambushed by some cultivators. The situation even escalated later when, in the middle of their battle, they were ambushed by a ghostly beast.
It was at that time I discovered Sister Zhou Lan. She was in a completely battered state after facing the direct brunt of the beast’s attack.
Luckily, the injuries were still manageable, as later, using a mix of healing pills and bone setting pills, Sister Zhou Lan was mostly healed."
Yi Chen explained as he saw Zhou Mei’s shifting expressions that oscillated between relief and worry before finally settling in relief.
"However, things changed when we entered the black temple. There..." Yi Chen explained with a grim expression as he told her about how they were made to enter separate gates inside the temple and face a different set of trials.
"...We all had cleared the trial by now and were waiting for Sister Lan to come out, and suddenly her injured body was flung out from the gateway. She was riddled with injuries, with her Qi Pool completely shattered..."
"Her Qi Pool shattered?!" Zhou Mei couldn’t help but exclaim in panic when she heard those words.
"Yes, however, since we possessed a divine pill, we were able to completely heal her injuries in the end..." Yi Chen stated, not wanting to reveal that he was in possession of the Golden Firmament Pills, and continued, "...the problem arose when a black mark materialised on her forehead, which soon started branching out like veins.
It was Death Hex...a complex and fatal curse that has led to several deaths among the cultivators who had decided to explore the ancient ruins in the past.
Knowing the gravity of the situation, we had decided to split up. Sister Xie Rou accompanied Sister Lan back to Jade City while Madam Gao and I explored the tomb.
As a result, for the past month I had no idea about Sister Lan’s state, so the moment I entered Jade City, the first thing I did was to visit the Great Divinator Guild to check up on her.
That’s how I got to know about her health status..." Yi Chen concluded and paused to allow Zhou Mei to digest everything he had just said.
"Sister Lan had been going through so much all this while... and I didn’t even know," Zhou Mei muttered with pursed lips as guilt started welling inside her heart.
To those words, Yi Chen calmly rested his hand over her shoulder and said, "There’s nothing for you to feel guilty about, Little Mei. In fact, if Sister Lan were here, then she too wouldn’t want you to feel this way."
Yi Chen paused for a second and continued, "How about this? Tomorrow or the day after, we’ll go to the Heavenly Azure Dragon Sect and visit Sister Lan together.
I’ve been thinking of visiting them before but have been a little hesitant since I’ve never been to the Heavenly Azure Dragon Sect before."
Hearing those words, Zhou Mei just shook her head.
"That won’t be possible for a while, Brother Chen, so it’s alright," she stated with a bitter smile.
"What do you mean?" Yi Chen asked with confusion evident in his eyes.
Realising that this was something Yi Chen wouldn’t be aware of, Zhou Mei explained, "It’s because of the Entrance test. The Heavenly Azure Dragon Sect closes its doors for all outsiders a month before the entrance test.
During this period, unless and until absolutely necessary, no one can visit the sect, and in the same manner, the sect members, including the elders, also cannot go out of the sect lest they be offered various favours or gifts.
This has been done to ensure fairness and to prevent any bias from taking place during the entrance test to a large extent."
"Ah...So that’s how it is..." Yi Chen widened his eyes in realisation before saying with a bitter smile, "Then, looks like we’ll only be able to meet Sister Lan after entering the Heavenly Azure Dragon Sect."
"Yes, that’s how it is..." Zhou Mei also made a similar expression while letting out a sigh.
"But well...it does make it clear to us in which direction we should be directing our attention," Yi Chen said with a smile, "So tell me, how have you been preparing for the entrance tests these days? Ah...wait, before that, can you brief me about the three stages of the test? It’s been a long while, so I’ve forgotten most of it..."
Yi Chen finished his words with an awkward expression on his face, eliciting a chuckle from Zhou Mei’s side, "I didn’t know that Brother Chen’s memory was so bad...it’s only been a few months since we last talked about it at my sister’s birthday banquet."
"Well...I’ve had a lot on my mind while in the tomb," Yi Chen answered with a bitter smile.
He still hadn’t told anyone about the two-year time dilation he experienced inside the tomb, so it was only normal for Zhou Mei to find his actions amusing.
However, even so, she explained a second later.
A couple of minutes later, she asked curiously, "Is this much clearer?"
"Yes, thanks, Little Mei. Without you, I’ll be in big trouble," Yi Chen smiled while overexaggerating things a little.
"Hmph! You’re welcome."
A hint of pride welled up inside Zhou Mei when she heard those words, as her chin subconsciously tilted up a little, causing Yi Chen to chuckle inwardly.
"Alright then," Yi Chen said while clapping his hands to direct the conversation forward, "Since we both are at the Meridian Refinement Stage, the screening stage naturally won’t pose any problem for us.
What’s left is the Comprehension Test and the Heart Test. How are you preparing for the two of them?"
"Well, for the comprehension test, my swordsmanship teacher told me to just focus on my swordsmanship as much as possible, which would help in raising my comprehension level.
Since at the time of the test, the instructors could hand us any Fighting technique apart from the ones we know to go through, there’s no way for us to guess what that would be..."
Zhou Mei answered with a contemplative expression.
"Hmm," Yi Chen slowly nodded to her words, "So all we can do is to raise the understanding of our own fighting techniques..."
As Yi Chen repeated those words, he couldn’t help but think about how much he had progressed in his swordsmanship.
Objectively, in not even a year’s time, he had raised his swordsmanship all the way from the Basic to the Expert Level.
’Looks like the Comprehension test would also not pose much of a problem to me...’ he thought to himself before asking about the last test.
"What about the Heart Test then? How are you preparing for it apart from trying to know yourself better?"