In her heart, Xia Rulin felt excited too. The condition of her eyes was becoming more serious and she was no longer able to see things at a distance. She was only be able to perceive things clearly when she was close to them. If this kept up, she would definitely turn blind eventually. She had already made preparations to live out the remaining years of her life in darkness, but now there was a ray of hope.
Once Ling Chuxi had done all the necessary preparations, she indicated for everyone else to leave the space. Before she started the treatment though, Ling Chuxi asked Xia Rulin a question that had been weighing on her heart all along.
"May I ask you a question, Aunty Xia?" asked Ling Chuxi seriously.
"What is it?" replied Xia Rulin.
"How is it that you know the Xia family's benefactor and I look alike? You said she appeared when your grandmother was young..." said Ling Chuxi hesitantly. At the time, Xia Rulin shouldn't have been born yet.
"It was because my mother had her portrait. She told me the story of this benefactor all the time since I was young. When my mother passed away, she held the drawing of the benefactor in her arms and brought it with her to her grave. My mother idolized her." A warm smile appeared on Xia Rulin's face as she said all this. "I never could have imagined that my mother, who was such a calm and steady woman also had such a side to her where she was so passionately worshipful of someone else."
Ling Chuxi was a little speechless. She too, could not imagine an old lady insisting on embracing a drawing on her deathbed. What Ling Chuxi was even more curious about was what kind of charm did this benefactor possess that she could make people worship her with such great passion.
"I believe with certainty that you and that benefactor are related, Miss Chuxi," said Xia Rulin once again with determination.
"Perhaps. Who knows? All right let's begin. Swallow this," said Ling Chuxi nonchalantly. She didn't take the matter to heart.
After Xia Rulin swallowed the medicinal pill, she experienced a very quick reaction to it. An incredible pain surged over her, especially over her eyes. The blood around her eyes felt as though it was boiling. So painful was the burning pain, it almost made her faint. Even so, she didn't make a sound and instead just clenched her fist tightly and endured it.
Ling Chuxi was a little touched at seeing the warm and sickly Xia Rulin have on such a determined expression. One needed to know that this pain wasn't something everyone could withstand. There was no hesitation in Ling Chuxi's movements as she pulled out the gold needles and perforated the skin around Xia Rulin's eyes with them with godlike skills. Very quickly, the skin around Xia Rulin's eyes and her forehead was covered in a good number of gold needles. The final step in this procedure was the biggest test of technique. Ling Chuxi lifted Xia Rulin's eyelids and located the blood vessels running through them before accurately perforating them with gold needles to release the blood!
With a weak hiss, a small trace of black bloody fluid oozed out of Xia Rulin's eyelid.
At present, Xia Rulin was in such pain that her whole body was drenched in sweat. Yet, she held on and endured. She knew this was a critical moment. If she simply moved right now, everything would be for nought!
Ling Chuxi moved on to treating Xia Rulin's other eye with the same method. She waited until the black bloody fluid finished oozing out of both eyes. Once there was no more fluid oozing out, only then did Ling Chuxi exhale the breath she'd been holding.
Done!
After removing the needles and gently wiping Xia Rulin's eyes clean, Ling Chuxi wrapped a bandage around Xia Rulin's head, covering her eyes. "Aunty Xia, keep the bandage on for three days. When you remove it, take care to not face strong light directly. You'll need to remove the bandage in a relatively dark place. After that, there shouldn't be any more problems."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Now, I truly am curious as to who you really are, my obedient disciple," said a somewhat frivolous and yet extremely charming voice by Ling Chuxi's ear.
"Who's there?!" exclaimed Xia Rulin as she bolted up in surprise. Who actually managed to appear in her house without making a sound and without any of the people outside noticing at all?
Ling Chuxi looked directly at the person who had suddenly appeared by her side out of nowhere in astonishment. "Mu Liufeng! Why is he here? Was he tailing me?'