The Villain Left the Sect at the Beginning, Now They Regret It

Chapter 10: Diagnosing the Illness:

Lan Lin immediately retrieved the jade slip that Elder Xuanle had left behind and sent him a message. However, at the moment, he and his disciple were not in the city and would need at least an hour to return.

Tang Mo left the room number of his stay at Tianxin Inn and prepared to head back. Before leaving, he also asked Lan Lin to discreetly gather information about “Yellow Spring Tears,” particularly if there were any antidotes or treatment methods available.

Since it was a poison linked to the demonic realm, if not for their deep bond, Tang Mo wouldn’t have dared to ask her for help.

Lan Lin, after questioning him for a long time and confirming that he wasn’t the one poisoned, finally sighed in relief and promised to do her best.

Wanbao Pavilion had its own intelligence network, with connections spanning all kinds of people. There was a chance they could find something useful.

Before parting, Lan Lin handed Tang Mo the new pill furnace along with the jade slip left by Xuanle, which contained a wisp of the elder’s divine sense for easy communication.

She originally intended to gift him the Floating Cloud Wood as well, but Tang Mo firmly refused. Instead, he promised to assist in appraising difficult treasures in the future before finally taking his leave.

On the way back, he bought some essential supplies. By the time he returned to the inn, it was already noon.

As soon as Tang Mo stepped through the door, he saw Li Weixi, wrapped in a black cloak, hurriedly running to the entrance. Only after seeing him did she finally relax, the remnants of unspoken worry still lingering in her gaze.

“Tang Mo, y-you’re back,” she said with a bright smile, standing charmingly at the door. “Are you tired? I made some tea.”

For a brief moment, Tang Mo had the illusion of returning home from work, greeted by a loving wife at the door.

“Thank you. How are you feeling? Is the medicine still working?”

“It should still last a while.”

Li Weixi suddenly caught the lingering scent of strong rouge on Tang Mo’s clothes, overpowering his usual light medicinal fragrance.

“You… where did you go?”

She instinctively blurted out the question with an innocent, harmless smile, but immediately felt it was inappropriate.

Although they had decided to stick together for now, wherever Tang Mo went and whom he met was entirely his own business…

She was still indebted to him, unqualified to question such things.

Li Weixi didn’t know why she was acting this way, just as she didn’t understand why she had been so restless all morning, worried that Tang Mo wouldn’t return.

Perhaps it was because, after losing her mother, she had found a similar sense of security again—and she was afraid of losing it once more.

Just as she was about to explain herself, Tang Mo calmly responded,

“I went to Wanbao Pavilion to see an acquaintance and accepted a medical commission. The patient will be arriving soon.”

Hearing this, Li Weixi felt a bit guilty and even more confused about her own behavior.

“Change into these,” Tang Mo said, pulling out two sets of plain white robes embroidered with cloud patterns, tailored for female cultivators. He also handed her a white veil hat infused with enchantments.

“Even if your enemies won’t be able to find you anytime soon, it’s still better to stay covered. Later, I’ll work on improving the disguise pill.”

Li Weixi clutched the corner of her black cloak. Once again, she felt Tang Mo’s meticulous thoughtfulness.

She had nearly forgotten that her clothes beneath the cloak were too tattered to wear anymore. But he remembered and even bought two sets in different sizes just to be sure.

Not only that, he had already considered how to help her conceal her identity—even though there was no one in the cultivation world who recognized her yet, as the demonic realm’s pursuers were still far from reaching her.

“…You’re really kind.”

With a hint of shyness, she took the clothes with both hands and went behind the screen to change.

While she was doing that, Tang Mo entered the inner chamber, setting up his new pill furnace. He placed a spirit stone inside and ignited the fire, excited to prepare medicine for Li Weixi.

The fourth-grade furnace was far superior to the old second-grade one, both in terms of flame control and heat conductivity. The main chamber was also significantly larger.

Some high-grade pills required seven to eight different medicinal ingredients, and the small second-grade furnace simply couldn’t accommodate that much liquid.

Had he used this pill furnace yesterday for refining the “Three Yin Pulse Replenishing Pill,” not only would it have been easier, but he might have even managed to infuse it with an extra refinement pattern.

When he brought out the medicine, Li Weixi had already changed into the white robes. Despite their simplicity, she carried an ethereal purity, looking like an otherworldly jade beauty. Her delicate features peeked out from beneath the white veil, exuding a soft and refined elegance.

“Thank you… does this look okay? Will wearing white seem strange?”

She nervously stammered, glancing at Tang Mo for reassurance. Seeing his smile as he simply said, “It looks great,” she finally relaxed.

After drinking her medicine and eating a piece of candied fruit he had bought, a sudden series of urgent knocks came from the door.

Tang Mo signaled to her with his eyes, and she understood, slipping into the inner chamber before he opened the door.

Outside stood Elder Xuanle, his white beard and hair disheveled, his expression filled with anxiety. He was tightly cradling a young girl around thirteen or fourteen years old, as delicate and beautiful as a porcelain doll.

However, her skin was covered in large patches of gray, and traces of black blood remained at the corners of her lips, uncleaned. She was so weak that she seemed only moments away from death.

Xuanle froze for a second upon seeing Tang Mo, then roared in frustration,

“This is the so-called famous doctor that Mistress Lan found for my disciple? A Foundation Establishment alchemist!?”

“Elder, I understand your urgency,” Tang Mo said sternly, stepping aside. “Come in and let me take a look. The child’s illness cannot wait any longer.”

“As if I don’t know that! Ah!”

Xuanle’s eyes were bloodshot with rage. “Yaoyao is barely breathing, and yet you still dare to toy with me! Enough nonsense! If anything happens to her on the way—”

Before Tang Mo could calm him down, Li Weixi, who had been listening inside, could no longer hold back. She stepped forward and coldly said to Xuanle,

“You’ve been searching for a healer for days. Has it worked?”

“This is none of your business! But even so, I won’t let a mere boy diagnose her!”

“If you leave now, do you really think she can last until you find another doctor? Do you have the luxury of being picky at this point?”

The demeanor she had shown earlier—shy and gentle—was completely gone. Now, she exuded a frosty aura, resembling an ice queen from the demonic realm.

Xuanle was momentarily speechless, but he still couldn’t bring himself to trust Tang Mo. He remained hesitant at the door.

Tang Mo understood. This man had been disappointed too many times. Worse, the treatments others had prescribed had only aggravated the illness.

Li Weixi softened her tone. “I am Tang Mo’s patient. No one knows his skills better than I do. Yesterday at this time, I was half-dead—no better than that child.”

Xuanle suddenly asked, “Tang Mo? The one from Pure Void Sect?”

“Yes, but I’ve already left. That’s not important.”

Sunfire Palace and Pure Void Sect were close to Lingzhu City, and ten years ago, they had decent relations.

Even though Pure Void Sect later shut its gates due to internal strife, Xuanle had still heard about Tang Mo—specifically how he had miraculously healed Ye Li’s crippled dantian.

Xuanle gave Tang Mo a long, deep look before stepping inside. “If it’s you… I won’t blame you if you can’t find the cause. But don’t try to fool me!”

Li Weixi was still dissatisfied with his attitude toward Tang Mo, but now was not the time to argue.

Once the door was shut, Xuanle quickly laid Yaoyao onto the jade bed and gestured for Tang Mo to proceed.

Tang Mo immediately placed his fingers on the girl’s wrist, pretending to check her pulse while secretly using his spiritual vision to examine her meridians and internal organs.

What he saw was utter chaos. Her entire body wasn’t just wounded—it was corrupted. Her organs and meridians were clouded in dark purple mist.

It wasn’t an injury.

It was poison.

Yet this poison permeated nearly every meridian, spreading with her circulation. Tang Mo had to locate the source.

It wasn’t in the meridians.

Tang Mo’s expression grew serious. Xuanle was sweating anxiously and snapped, “Well? Can you do it or not? If not, I need to find someone else!”

Li Weixi glared coldly at the old man, despite his cultivation being far higher than hers. She whispered, “Don’t interrupt him.”

Then, she too turned to the weak, suffering girl, feeling an unexpected pang of sympathy.

Finally, Tang Mo found the source of the corruption.

It was in her bones.

His spiritual vision locked onto the girl’s spine—normally a pale pink, but now gradually darkening as a writhing entity spread its contamination.

She had at most two hours left.

“I’ve found it.”

As soon as he spoke, Xuanle and Li Weixi both asked simultaneously,

“What is it? How do we cure it?”

“Is it poison?”

“No.” Tang Mo withdrew his hand and said grimly,

“It’s a Gu parasite.”