Chương 407: Soulless body

Xie Ling and the old man walked through several hallways and courtyards before arriving in a large room. She pushed open the door and hopped in with her ponytails dancing behind her as she extended her arms while smiling widely.

"Father! I'm back!" An old man was seated cross legged in the center of the room when she entered, and his eyes fluttered open. Glancing at her, a gentle smile lit up his face.

"Ling'er! You made father so worried! It's good that you're back." He rose to his feet and pulled her into his embrace while ruffling her hair.

"I told you I would be fine. See? Not a single scratch." She struggled out of his embrace and swirled around.

"Uncle Du was there to protect me all the way." The man glanced at uncle Du who was standing by the door with a smile and nodded.

"Thank you, old friend. I owe you another one."

"Hahahaha! What do you mean you owe me? You're making it sound like we're strangers! Are you trying to piss me off?"

"Ah, of course not. My bad, old Du." Xie Ling's father shook his head with a smile.

"You're looking healthier than when we left!" Old Du stated.

"Indeed. I haven't lost my healing abilities after so long, and I've recovered by about thirty percent. If it wasn't for the poison, I would have recovered even more."

"Hm. You should try and recover quickly. We brought all the herbs you need. The clan's situation is becoming worse with each passing day, and without a deity to stabilize it, I fear the Tie clan will make a move soon." Old Du stated worriedly.

"I understand. I just need to get rid of the poison and my cultivation will recover. I'll need a few days at most." Xie Ling let them finish their conversation before she spoke, "Father, I found someone on our way back. He was severely injured and I couldn't leave him to die, so I brought him back." Her father's eye brows rose as he stared at old Du with a questioning expression. Old Du let out a sigh and explained everything about it to him before ordering for the unconscious youth to be brought in.

"Xie Duan, you don't have to worry. There's no threat. From what I could sense, he wouldn't survive at all." Old Du reassured.

"What're you saying uncle? I'll try to save him! You'll see! Father will help me!" Xie Ling interrupted with a pout. Xie Duan glanced at her with a smile and nodded.

"Yes dear. My Ling'er is still the most kind. Let me take a look at his situation." He ruffled her hair before he apprached the body and scanned it with his perception. A few seconds later, a deep frown appeared on his face as he took a deep breath.

"This… he's alive with these injuries?" The disbelieve in his voice was clear.

"Father, can you heal him?" Xie Ling rushed over and asked worriedly. Xie Duan frowned deeply for a few seconds as he shook his head.

"I'll try my best. But his chances of surviving don't surpass ten percent at most, and I'm being generous here."

"Oh!" Xie Ling's face fell as she nodded faintly. Xie Duan didn't say anything. He merely took out several herbs while staring at the body seriously.

"These injuries… they must have been caused by an overwhelming force. The attacker must be at least a great realm higher than him." He deduced softly.

"I'll do my best, but whether he will live or not depends on his luck."

"Do not bother with him! Your recovery takes priority over everything else right now." Old Du stated. Xie Duan nodded.

"Don't worry. I'm just doing this for Ling'er's sake." He laughed because moving away. After a few minutes, Old Du and Xie Ling left the room, leaving Xie Ling and the unconscious youth alone.

Seven days passed in a flash, and Xie Duan's shock grew with each day. He mostly focused on getting rid of the poison in his body during the past seven days while occasionally doing his best to heal the body of the youth. At first, he was merely doing it casually without much expectation. But on the third day, his shock was indescribable as the youth's heartbeat stabilized. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

A powerful vitality began to surge from the depths of his body, from every single cell, drastically improving his healing speed and reconstructing his organs. His recovery speed was nearly inhumane, and the injuries that were enough to kill anyone instantly healed by forty percent in seven days. Of course, healing became exponentially harder the more he recovered, but this was still astonishing to Xie Duan.

"This… astounding!" Xie Duan stared at the body in amazement on the seventh day, nearly unable to believe his eyes. The heart had reformed itself, and every beat was stable, sending a flow of vitality to hasten his healing. His crushed bones were slowly regenerating and the organs were being reformed slowly.

"This amount of vitality… he must have been a body temperer. Either that or he possess some unique ability that hastens his healing several times compared to a regular human." Xie Duan pondered as he walked around the body.

"I can't peer into his Dantian, but I am pretty sure that all of the force that nearly killed him is concentrated there. In other words, he should be crippled. Nevertheless, I suppose being alive is better than nothing." He stroke his beard and shook his head before returning to his own recovery. Another five days passed, making for a total of twelve days, only two days short of two weeks. On this day, Xie Duan finally expelled the poison from his body.

A deep aura began to surge from the depth of his Dantian and the entire manor was soon covered in the aura of an early stage deity. Xie Duan's excited laugher echoed seconds later as Xie Ling and old Du rushed in with excitement.

"Finally!" Xie Duan roared with laughter, wantonly releasing his aura without restraint.

"Father! You did it!" Xie Ling cried out and leapt into his embrace, barely holding back her tears.

"This is great news, old friend. We have one more layer of security now! Hahahaha!" Old Du also strolled in and patted Xie Duan on his shoulders while sighing in relief.

"Indeed. Having my cultivation sealed was not the best feeling!" Xie Duan laughed as well. Once they were done celebrating, Xie Ling's gaze suddenly paused on the still figure laid on a mat in the corner of the room.

"Father, how is he doing?" Xie Duan glanced back at the youth and responded, his voice containing his shock.

"He is actually recovering, beyond all expectations! The most severe injuries are no longer life threatening. His situation is stable and his vitality is thriving."

"Is that so?" Old Du raised his brows in surprise.

"That is unexpected. Looks like Ling'er was right after all." Xie Ling's face lit up with a smile as she rushed over to the youth's side.

"Waaah! He's even more handsome now! And he looks so young as well!" She muttered while pushing the strands of hair covering the face. Xie Duan laughed and approached her.

"Indeed. He's quite the handsome kid. And he is looks to be barely a year older than you are."

"How did he get in this state?" Xie Ling murmured curiously while touching his face. The moment her hand came into contact with the face, a finger of the youth trembled imperceptibly, escaping all of their notice.

"When will he wake up?" Old Du asked.

"That, I do not know. Logically, he should have regained consciousness by now. But…" a look of confusion appeared on his face.

"But what?"

"His soul doesn't seem to be in his body at all."

"What?" Old Du exclaimed loudly before lowering his voice.

"What do you mean?" Xie Duan inhaled a deep breath before explaining.

"I was extremely puzzled as well. His heart is beating, which shows that he is alive. Yet, he isn't breathing. And I can't sense his soul in his body at all. It's almost like… he's dead." Old Du was indescribably confused as he stared at the youth. This simply didn't make any sense at all. He extended his perception and tried to sense the unique soul signature of the youth. Every living soul would have it as long as their soul was still connected to their bodies.

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't sense it from the youth. Just as Xie Duan said, the youth appeared to be dead, yet his heart was beating stably.

"This doesn't make any sense!" He frowned and walked closer.

"A body without a soul is the truest meaning of death. How is his heart beating? And his body keeps healing on its own?" In his near hundred years of life, he had never heard of this phenomena, not even as the craziest rumor.

"I thought he might have fallen into a comatose state, but that doesn't explain his missing soul. I've thought of everything and searched through every inch of his body, but there's nothing." Xie Duan paused then continued slowly.

"Well, everywhere except his Dantian. For some reason, I can't look into his Dantian at all." Old Du tried it and realized that Xie Duan was right. The Dantian of this youth was strange. It was clearly there, yet their perception couldn't reach it at all. It seemed to exist in another reality entirely.

"This kid is extremely strange. Let's get rid of him and avoid any unnecessary issues." Old Du proposed with a frown. Xie Duan didn't respond for a few minutes before he shook his head.

"You're right. But I'm extremely curious to know what happens next in this situation, so I'll give him another week. If there's nothing after that, then we'll dispose off him and forget about it." He decided. Their conversation was completely hidden from Xie Ling who was staring at the youth's face in a daze with a deepening red on her neck.

"Ling'er, let's go. We should announce the good news to the whole village so everyone will finally have some semblance of peace." Old Du face palmed as he saw Xie Ling's dreamy expression. Xie Ling seemed to have been woken from a dream as he blushed and stuttered.

"I-i…"

"No need to explain." Old Du laughed as he grabbed her and left the room with her while Xie Duan watched them with a smile. Afterwards, he glanced at the youth with a furrowed brow.

"Seven days, brat. Let's see what happens."

The days passed slowly. Within the next few days, Xie Duan focused his full attention on the youth, causing his recovery to increase significantly. Unfortunately, no matter how much his body recovered, he didn't wake up as his soul was nowhere to be found. On the sixth day, Xie Duan was called out urgently to discuss with a messenger from the Tie clan. He left Xie Ling to watch over the youth while he went to deal with the situation.

Xie Ling knelt beside the youth and gently organized his hair while staring continuously at his face, as though she was staring at a work of art. She suddenly captured a tiny twitch of his finger out of the corner of her eyes, prompting her to look with a doubtful expression. After confirming that there was no movement, she returned to staring at his face, only to freeze. It wasn't just her. Time itself seemed to freeze as a pair of gray eyes stared back.