Chapter 398: Chapter 398

"What kind of madness were you having just now? Sometimes laughing loudly, sometimes saying 'dog slave,' sometimes mentioning Lingxiao—like you'd gone crazy. Did you have problems with your cultivation practice?" Shang Lingjian's mother asked.

"What? What I just experienced... was all fake?" Shang Lingjian now understood that everything he had just experienced was false—he had been hallucinating. How could this happen? Had he really had problems with his cultivation?

"Yes, you've been here the whole time without going out. The maid serving you was scared half to death and came running to find me. Tell mother, have you been having problems with your cultivation practice lately?" Shang Lingjian's mother continued asking. When such hallucinations appeared, people generally suspected cultivation had gone awry.

"I haven't. I've been practicing the same as always. Could I be doing it wrong?" Shang Lingjian began to doubt himself. He couldn't be certain whether he had problems or not.

"I'll help guard you for the next few days and see if your cultivation has gone off track..." Shang Lingjian's mother frowned, then said.

Another day passed. After Shang Lingjian's mother had guarded him last night, she felt his condition was very normal. She was somewhat puzzled—if it wasn't a cultivation problem, what could have caused it?

However, perhaps it was just a coincidence, and now his cultivation was normal again.

Hopefully that was the case—hopefully there wouldn't be any more problems...

"Something's wrong! Young Master Lingjian has gone mad again!!"

After hearing the servants' shouts, Shang Lingjian's mother immediately rushed to his room. She saw Shang Lingjian seemingly in the same state as yesterday, talking to himself as if no one else was around!

Shang Lingjian's mother slapped him again. This time she discovered he didn't seem to wake up but continued his madness. After another slap, he finally stopped.

"Mother, did I do that again?" After recovering, seeing his mother's expression, Shang Lingjian guessed what had happened.

"Yes!" Under her son's gaze, Shang Lingjian's mother nodded.

"Mother, what's happening to me? My cultivation method has no problems..." Shang Lingjian began to feel nervous and afraid. Once could be considered no problem, but twice meant he might be showing signs of madness.

"This might be because you've been under too much pressure lately. Go have some fun and you should be fine. You don't need to cultivate—rest for a few days." Shang Lingjian's mother said with a frown.

"Oh no, Young Master Lingjian has indeed gone mad again!"

"When will Young Master Lingjian finish? I'm still waiting to serve him..."

Over ten days passed. Shang Lingjian had hallucinations every morning, each time more severe than the last, lasting longer each time, and becoming harder to wake up from each time.

Shang Lingjian now had to admit he might have fallen ill—with some kind of madness. They had already consulted many famous doctors, all to no avail.

He would never think that his condition was actually caused by a servant, a result of his refusal to apologize. He didn't know this yet, otherwise he would—

He would charge at Xiaoyao, demanding he stop his methods, or else kill Xiaoyao. He would still use such threatening methods rather than beg Xiaoyao, because in his eyes, Xiaoyao was just a tiny servant, a worthless dog slave!

But one could believe that finding clues connecting him to Xiaoyao wouldn't be easy—almost impossible. Even if he suspected, he wouldn't find any evidence.

As for suspicion, he wouldn't think of Xiaoyao at all. Even if he suspected everyone else, he wouldn't think of this tiny servant.

Shang Lingjian was very troubled. He now didn't dare leave his room, afraid he might go mad at any unknown moment, which would be utterly humiliating and leave him unable to show his face anymore.

Shang Lingjian's parents were equally worried. They had used all their connections to invite various famous doctors, but none could determine what was wrong with him.

"Alang, what do you think is wrong with Lingjian? Every doctor can't figure it out. Even Imperial Doctor Sun, with the highest medical skills, can't tell. What kind of illness is this?" Shang Lingjian's mother said very worriedly to Shang Lingjian's father in front of her.

Shang Lingjian's father was called Shang Yulang. This "Alang" wasn't an intimate term of address but simply his name, though perhaps it did contain some intimacy.

Although Shang Lingjian's mother was very strong-willed, in major family matters she would listen to Shang Yulang. In the family, Shang Yulang was the head of household. She was very smart about this, never bringing the dominance she had in the Xuanwu Family into her own family.

Shang Yulang frowned slightly and said, "Wenxiu, I think there's something suspicious about this. Neither your family nor mine has any history of such madness, and doctors all say they can't find anything wrong. Could this be the work of some mystical practitioners?"

"You're saying our child is cursed?" Xuanwu Wenxiu said. She had similar suspicions but hadn't really thought about it.

If this was indeed a curse, some mystical practitioner's trick, then it was extraordinary. Ordinary tricks could be detected not only by famous doctors but even by themselves!

Generally speaking, famous doctors might not necessarily be able to handle mystical practitioners' tricks, but they could recognize them. Many people treated such curses as illnesses—doctors encountered them frequently and sometimes could even dispel simple ones. But now even famous doctors couldn't tell, so it must be very advanced.

Although mystical practitioners were considered unorthodox by martial artists, they could still give martial artists major headaches, especially those with advanced skills. Ordinary martial artists didn't dare offend them unless they reached Emperor Level.

When a martial artist's aura far exceeded that of mystical practitioners, their techniques would have difficulty succeeding—at most causing minor effects. Few mystical practitioners could reach Emperor Level because mystical arts were very complex and diverted their attention.

However, mystical practitioners had their own characteristics—killing invisibly. Moreover, those who knew how to use mystical arts could drag entire families into death—they were very terrifying people.

Of course, the prerequisite was not being discovered, otherwise they were easily eliminated.

Another point: if martial artists with powerful auras dispelled mystical arts, those arts would be destroyed. These martial artists didn't even need to understand mystical arts—they just needed to channel their energy into the cursed person.

This was why mystical practitioners weren't very popular—their techniques could be broken without negotiation. Even cultivating to the highest level was useless since others could reach even higher levels and still break your mystical arts.

However, this was just subjective thinking. There weren't that many strong people to break your mystical arts. Such people existed, but they might not necessarily help.

But people generally chose based on subjective feelings. Between mystical practitioners and martial artists, they would definitely choose martial artists. Those who chose mystical arts were generally people trying to make a living. Very few could truly develop the mystical practitioner profession.

However, every profession had amazing prodigies, and mystical practitioners were no exception. With mystical practitioners' characteristics, those prodigies were very terrifying existences that no one dared provoke.

To create something undetectable that even Xuanwu Wenxiu, who had entered Saint Level, couldn't dispel—what level would that be?

Xuanwu Wenxiu didn't dare imagine. Such mystical practitioners would command respect even from the family head. How could such a person form a grudge with her son? She couldn't understand.

Perhaps she was overthinking—it might not be mystical practitioners' work.

"Let's go find Daoist Xuanji and ask him to help us take a look. With his cultivation, he should be able to discern some clues if it's that kind of thing." Shang Yulang said, thinking of that legendary Daoist figure who happened to have some connection with him—perhaps he could be persuaded to help.

"Yes, at this point we must try everything. You go find Daoist Xuanji, and I'll go find big brother to see what he can do." Xuanwu Wenxiu said. The "big brother" she mentioned was the current Xuanwu Family head, Xuanwu Wenyuan.

As family head, Xuanwu Wenyuan naturally had more connections and knew more things. His relationship with Xuanwu Wenxiu as siblings was also very good. If Xuanwu Wenxiu asked him for help, he would definitely assist. Besides, Shang Lingjian was his nephew—he would certainly help if he could.

Previously, Xuanwu Wenxiu felt it wasn't necessary to trouble Xuanwu Wenyuan, but now she felt it was necessary. Originally, when she had troublesome matters, she would ask this big brother for help—otherwise what would it mean to be siblings? This was how it should be. Thıs text ıs hosted at noveⅼfire.net

Xuanwu Wenyuan had also been very fond of this sister since childhood. Although now with sons and grandsons, this affection had diminished considerably, it still existed. Some feelings would last a lifetime—even time, that butcher's knife, couldn't change them.

"Wenxiu, are you here to ask me about Lingjian's situation?" When Xuanwu Wenyuan saw Xuanwu Wenxiu coming to find him, he understood what she wanted to do.

"Big brother, you already know?" Xuanwu Wenxiu asked. Come to think of it, what didn't Xuanwu Wenyuan know in this place? He was the head of the Xuanwu Family.

Moreover, this wasn't a small matter—it had already spread throughout the Xuanwu Family. It would be difficult for Xuanwu Wenyuan not to know even if he wanted to.

Xuanwu Wenyuan nodded and said: "Yes, I found several doctors for you, but they didn't seem to help. It appears this situation isn't as simple as illness."