Qin Yi and Lan Baizhi looked at the stone wall cliff ahead, utterly bewildered.
Weren't they invited to see a patient? Was the patient here?
Qin Yi turned his head, looking around. The surroundings were desolate, not even a house in sight!
Sensing Qin Yi and Lan Baizhi's confusion, Liang Jinghong and Li Changsheng offered no explanation. Liang Jinghong blew a whistle.
Rumble...
The next moment, the cliff in front of them vibrated slightly.
A stone door opened on the rock face, revealing a cave entrance.
Immediately, a figure leaped out from the cave and landed before Qin Yi and the others.
"Vice Hall Master Liang, Vice Hall Master Li, you've arrived!"
The figure greeted Liang Jinghong and Li Changsheng.
At the same time, his gaze swept over Qin Yi and Lan Baizhi: "And these two?"
Li Changsheng said, "This is Qin Yi, and this is Qin Yi's senior sister, Miss Lan Baizhi!"
"Qin Yi, Miss Lan, this is Jiang Chao, a special member of our Order Hall!" Li Changsheng introduced them to Qin Yi and Lan Baizhi.
Qin Yi had been staying at the Order Hall headquarters for the past two days and had gained some understanding of the organization. Special members enjoyed certain privileges but were not required to undertake missions as frequently as most Order Hall members, only occasionally assisting the Order Hall with tasks!
Just like Gong Xuan before, he was also a special member.
Upon hearing it was Qin Yi, Jiang Chao's eyes lit up. "So you're Qin Yi! You look even younger than the rumors say. Truly a hero emerging in his youth!"
Qin Yi, however, regarded Jiang Chao with a scrutinizing gaze, from head to toe. "Are you the patient Vice Hall Master Liang mentioned?"
"But you don't look sick!"
"..."
Jiang Chao was taken aback.
Liang Jinghong quickly interjected, "Qin Yi, please don't misunderstand. It's not Jiang Chao. The patient we've brought you to see is inside the cave!"
Before Qin Yi could respond, Jiang Chao blurted out, "What? Vice Hall Master Liang, you brought him here today to treat Vice Hall Master Wang???"
"Mm!"
"That's right."
Liang Jinghong and Li Changsheng both replied.
Jiang Chao's expression became rather complicated. His gaze towards Qin Yi shifted subtly.
Vice Hall Master Wang!
Could it be that the patient Liang Jinghong and Li Changsheng had asked him to see was also a Vice Hall Master of the Order Hall?
"Let's go, we'll go in and see Old Wang!"
Li Changsheng stepped forward, heading towards the cave.
"Qin Yi, he's inside. Please follow us!"
Liang Jinghong beckoned Qin Yi and also walked into the cave.
Despite his complex expression, Jiang Chao wanted to say something, but in the end, he remained silent.
Thus, Qin Yi and Lan Baizhi followed them into the stone cave.
As soon as they entered, Qin Yi and Lan Baizhi felt an immediate chill. The temperature inside the cave was many degrees lower than outside.
"Why is it so cold in here?" Lan Baizhi asked.
"There's a thousand-year-old block of ice inside this cave, which is why the temperature is so low," Jiang Chao explained.
As they spoke, the group walked deeper into the cave. The further they went, the colder it became.
If Qin Yi and the others were ordinary people, they likely wouldn't be able to withstand it.
Qin Yi became even more perplexed. The patient was inside here?
What was going on?
However, before he could ask, they reached the end of the cave.
At the very end, there was an ice bed emitting a thick chill and wisps of vapor.
It was evident that the cold and low temperature in the cave originated from this ice bed!
On the ice bed lay a middle-aged man, perfectly still. His eyes were closed, and he remained motionless. His hair and eyebrows were covered in frost.
Seeing this, Lan Baizhi exclaimed, "He—he's the Order Hall's First Vice Hall Master, Wang Kaitong!!!"
The Order Hall had four Vice Hall Masters, and although they were all Vice Hall Masters, there were differences in their status.
For instance, Liang Jinghong's status in the Order Hall was slightly higher than Li Changsheng's.
And Wang Kaitong was the foremost among the four Vice Hall Masters. In terms of both status and cultivation, he ranked first among them.
Upon hearing Lan Baizhi, Qin Yi glanced at her. "Senior Sister Lan, you know him?"
Lan Baizhi shook her head. "I don't recognize him."
Qin Yi: "???"
"Just because I don't recognize him doesn't mean I don't know who he is," Lan Baizhi said with a pout.
Then, Liang Jinghong approached the ice bed and said to Qin Yi, "He is the patient we wanted you to see!"
Qin Yi also moved a couple of steps closer to the ice bed, gazing at Wang Kaitong lying still on it. "What illness does he have?"
"He's not ill..."
Liang Jinghong explained, "Old Wang failed during his closed-door cultivation breakthrough a year ago, leading to a qi deviation!"
"The cultivation technique Old Wang practices is fire-attribute. After his qi deviation, he suffered a backlash from the technique and nearly immolated himself, exploding his body!"
"Fortunately, we discovered it in time and jointly suppressed the backlash from his cultivation technique, saving his life!"
"However, the fire-attribute technique he cultivates is too potent. We could only suppress it temporarily, not continuously."
"Fortunately, our Order Hall found this place with its thousand-year-old ice a few years ago, so we brought him here and placed him on the ice!"
"The cold from the thousand-year-old ice can counteract the backlash of his fire-attribute technique, thus preserving his life until now..."
Listening to the explanation, Qin Yi and Lan Baizhi understood what was going on.
So that's how it is!
After Liang Jinghong finished speaking, Li Changsheng immediately added, "Now, to preserve Old Wang's life, he must remain on the ice bed twenty-four hours a day, unable to leave for even a minute!"
"Furthermore, due to the prolonged confrontation between the cold air released by the ice bed and the backlash of his internal cultivation technique, Old Wang has been in a coma and unable to wake up!"
"Fortunately, Old Wang's cultivation is quite high, and his physique is strong, which is why he's been able to endure this long. Otherwise, he would have collapsed long ago!"
The cold air released by the ice bed and the backlash of the fire-attribute technique were in constant conflict within Wang Kaitong's body, making it a battlefield.
If this battlefield were any weaker, it would have shattered long ago!
However, even with Wang Kaitong's considerable cultivation and strong physique, if his condition could not be permanently cured, his body would eventually collapse.
And the moment Wang Kaitong's body collapsed, it would signify his impending death.