Bitter Realm: Have the Four Realms been united today?

Chapter 28 Applying the Medicine: An Extraordinary Stinging Pain

Yue Tianji was right; he had long understood the true intention behind Yue Tianji's punishment.

It's clear that Yue Tianji had no intention of concealing anything.

The three lashes all landed on the right shoulder where the pen was held, and combined with the previous questions, the intention was obvious.

However, in that situation, he could not refuse and could only disappoint the gentleman's kindness.

He thought he had kept it a secret, but he didn't expect that Yue Tianji had already seen through his thoughts and was even trying to find out the reason behind it.

"Perhaps Mr. Yue is just bluffing me!" Xuanming comforted himself in his heart, struggling to try to cover it up again.

"I don't understand your intentions, sir..."

Before Xuanming could finish speaking, Yue Tianji's finger suddenly pressed down, and Xuanming's wishful thinking instantly turned to ashes and vanished.

"Mr. Yue was definitely not testing me!"

Knowing that it was pointless to be stubborn at this point, Xuanming's words immediately turned into a plea for mercy.

"Uh, please, sir, have mercy!"

Yue Tianji raised a finger, his voice laced with threat: "Think carefully before you speak, otherwise..."

"I..." Xuanming was extremely helpless. At this moment, the Heavenly Secrets were more terrifying to him than a lie detector.

He seemed to be able to read minds, able to see through Xuanming's thoughts at a glance.

If that were all, it wouldn't be so bad; he could manage even if he didn't want to.

But the ability to read the heavens is precisely what makes them so sensitive.

The more he didn't want to talk about it, the more Yue Tianji wanted to ask.

He knew that what the astrologer was really asking was "why," and as for "whether he knew," the man had already guessed the answer and was quite certain of it.

However, this Mr. Yue was quite "bad" and insisted on making him admit it himself before he would stop.

But what could he do?

Lying won't work, and refusing is impossible; all that's left is to go along with their wishes and remain silent.

"I know that the master is angry at me for my self-deprecation and submissiveness, and the whipping punishment is just to force me to refuse."

Seeing that Xuanming remained silent about the reason, Yue Tianji did not press him further, as he had already experienced the boy's stubbornness.

When will you figure it out?

"After being reprimanded for the first time!" Xuanming's heart, which had been pounding, finally began to settle, but he was startled by Yue Tianji's words halfway down his spine.

"The bruising has been mostly smoothed out. It's better to endure the pain now than to suffer for a long time!"

Without waiting for Xuanming's response, Yue Tianji quickly pressed down on the button after speaking.

"No, uh... sir, I want to endure the pain, please let me go this once."

Reading the Heavenly Secrets: "..."

"You...you're going back on your word!"

Yue Tianji raised an eyebrow, but his hands didn't stop moving. "What makes you say that?"

"Um! I said... I said it, as long as... as long as I admit my mistake, you'll let me go!"

"When did I make such a promise?" Yue Tianji shook his head and chuckled inwardly.

"He's still just a naive child at heart. No matter how intelligent and composed he is, when pushed to the limit, he still retains a touch of childishness!"

"Mr. Yue, you're clearly implying to me..."

"You're overthinking it." Yue Tianji said sarcastically, but his touch became a little gentler.

"You..." Xuanming felt like he had really lost out.

He admitted his mistakes and almost lost everything, but in the end he still couldn't escape the clutches of the Heavenly Secrets.

Xuanming realized that Yue Tianji was ignoring him and understood that Yue Tianji had made up his mind.

Since begging for mercy was useless, he stopped talking to avoid offending Yue Tianji and focused on enduring the stinging pain from his wound.

Fortunately, there was only one whip mark, and the resulting bruising was not extensive.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the alarming red swelling gradually melted away as Yue Tianji gently kneaded and pressed it down with even force, and the color changed from dark to light.

Yue Tianji got up and returned to his desk, picking out a small white porcelain bottle from a pile of files.

He uncorked the bottle and carefully sprinkled the pale yellow powder onto the wound on Xuanming's right shoulder.

The moment the powder touched his skin, Xuanming felt as if his shoulder had been lashed by a red-hot iron whip.

A sharp, burning pain suddenly exploded, rushing through my veins to the top of my head.

He gasped unexpectedly, a suppressed groan escaping between his teeth.

His entire body suddenly and uncontrollably bounced upwards, and the muscles in his right shoulder spasmed violently.

If Yue Tianji hadn't anticipated this and pressed down firmly on his left shoulder, he would have almost rolled over in pain.

The sight of his subordinate's trembling body made Yue Tianji's brows furrow suddenly.

He knew that the medicine would indeed sting when it was applied, otherwise he wouldn't have pressed down on Xuanming in time, but it should never have been so violent.

Having already misjudged the boy's physical strength once, Yue Tianji became immediately alert upon seeing this strange phenomenon again.

He immediately stopped, quickly placing his fingertips on Xuanming's wrist pulse point, and asked in a deep voice, "How do you feel? Besides the sharp pain, are there any other discomforts?"

Xuanming's right palm was facing up, and he was pinned to the table by Yue Tianji, unable to move.

He gripped the corner of the table tightly with his left hand, the veins on his hand bulging, as if he wanted to crush the object in his hand into powder.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his mind was filled with sharp pain, so he couldn't hear what Yue Tianji was saying at all.

After a long while, Xuanming's unfocused gaze refocused, his voice trembling with relief.

"Sir...what medicine...was applied just now?"

He couldn't help but wonder if Yue Tianji had mistakenly taken some kind of corrosive poison.

While concentrating on taking the pulse, Yue Tianji explained:

"Medicines for stopping bleeding and healing are needed, but the conflict in the region is constant, and everyone is living on the edge of a knife."

"After being injured, the first priority is to allow the wound to heal quickly, so as to avoid being troubled by the injury if enemies provoke you or if something unexpected happens."

"Therefore, most of the medicines used for injuries here aim for rapid effects, and there is bound to be a stinging sensation when applying them."

Xuanming glanced with lingering fear at the seemingly plain white porcelain bottle that Yue Tianji had placed on the table.

He felt that what was inside didn't seem like medicine for injuries, but rather like concentrated sulfuric acid in his mind.

The excruciating pain, as if his bones were being pulled out, still haunted him and sent chills down his spine just thinking about it.

Seeing that Xuanming still hadn't answered his question directly, but his face was deathly pale, Yue Tianji pressed on, "Besides the pain, are there any other unusual sensations?"

His tone carried a hint of seriousness that was barely perceptible. "I have also used this medicine before, but I only felt a slight stinging sensation, certainly not to this extent."

Xuanming shook his head helplessly and said, "All I can feel right now is pain!"

"However, this shouldn't be a side effect."

Xuanming felt that the reason for this situation was probably related to the fact that he was not from this world.

Although he had not found any books recording history and was still unclear about the situation of this world, he could still deduce some clues from cultivation manuals.

The source of power in this world is the spiritual energy that permeates the air, and the people here are tempered by this spiritual energy from birth.

Even an "ordinary person" who doesn't understand cultivation, after years of living in this environment, would have a physical strength that is incomparable to that of a truly ordinary person like him.