Just as Ding Yun finished looking at the golden finger, regrettably giving up on using it to survive and sitting up to scan for any nearby cover that might help her live, fighting sounds erupted from beyond the flames.
Followed by loud curses and shouts to extinguish the fire.
Unfortunately, they had arrived too late. Relying on them to put out the fire and save her was essentially wishful thinking.
But the situation outside had descended into chaos.
At least she wouldn't have to worry about being instantly killed upon exiting.
If only she could escape the sea of fire in time.
Her survival rate would immediately skyrocket.
With this thought, Ding Yun quickly got up, muttering an apology as she pilfered clothes from a nearby corpse. She then used blood as water, wetting the clothes, and wrapped herself in the damp, blood-soaked attire, covering her mouth and nose. Deliberately seeking out a corner that seemed quiet, she charged out.
The situation was urgent. Aside from the will to survive, she couldn't afford to be bothered by any scruples or impropriety.
Although the surrounding flames were considerable, Ding Yun, in her desperation to survive, had forcefully stimulated this body's potential with her mental power. As a result, her speed in running out was several times faster than normal, nearly comparable to a hundred-meter sprint champion.
Thus, even though the clothes she’d taken from the corpse were a bit thin, and the blood water she’d used wasn't very saturated, she still managed to successfully break free from the flames.
Then, without bothering to ascertain whether the people nearby were friend or foe, she simply found a direction with fewer people, continuing to stimulate her potential as she ran, shedding the blood-soaked clothes to reduce resistance.
Ding Yun had no idea if anyone had seen her.
All she knew was that she ran with all her might.
She ran all the way to the depths of the nearby forest, her legs growing weak. Ding Yun still persisted, climbing a relatively large tree. Reaching the crown, she tore off more cloth from her person, binding herself securely between branches. Only then, unable to hold on any longer, did she collapse into unconsciousness.
Forcing the stimulation of her potential would undoubtedly have repercussions.
This was something Ding Yun had anticipated.
If she had simply collapsed anywhere, setting aside the risk of being found and harmed by the assailant, she might even have encountered trouble with wild animals. But by climbing a tree before losing consciousness, as long as her luck wasn't too bad, she figured nothing more should happen.
That was Ding Yun's thought process, and her action.
Meanwhile, the conflict outside Shenyi Valley was largely coming to an end. The black-clothed assailants who had destroyed Shenyi Valley either fled or were permanently eliminated. The fires burning within the valley were also extinguished through the collective efforts of the people.
"What's the situation? Are there any survivors?"
"None!"
"Alas, Shenyi Valley has always stayed out of martial world affairs, only focusing on healing and saving lives. Yet, such a sect has suffered the destruction of its valley by the demonic path. Truly damnable!"
"It's all our fault for coming too late!"
"How can you blame us? Who could have imagined the demonic path would attack a group of doctors? The few disciples of Shenyi Valley still wandering the martial world are now the sole legacy of Shenyi Valley. One wonders how much of the valley master's medical skills they've learned, and if they can carry on the tradition."
"Sect Leader Qin, I believe we may need to prepare ourselves. The demonic path's actions are certainly not arbitrary.
During the last war between the righteous and demonic paths, our righteous sects, with the medical assistance and disciples from Shenyi Valley, suffered far fewer casualties than the demonic disciples, to the point where it could be described as a crushing defeat for the demonic path. It is highly probable that the demonic path's massacre of Shenyi Valley this time is intended to reignite the conflict.
Without Shenyi Valley's aid and their medicinal remedies for healing and detoxification.
I fear we will not have the advantage this time."
"In my opinion, our immediate priority is to quickly dispatch people to protect the few surviving disciples of Shenyi Valley. They can no longer remain outside. They must be protected and brought into our sects to ensure their safety."
"Indeed. It's a pity that most of Shenyi Valley's buildings have been burned to the ground, and all its books and heritage destroyed. Otherwise, we could still try to help Shenyi Valley recruit disciples and rebuild its foundation."
"With the destruction of Shenyi Valley, the best physicians in the world are now the Five Poisons Sect and the Witch God Sect. But the Five Poisons Sect belongs to the demonic path, and the Witch God Sect is neither fully righteous nor fully demonic. It's difficult!"
"Times are hard, and we must all overcome these challenges together!"
The leaders of the various sects and factions who had come to assist Shenyi Valley, after some discussion amongst themselves, ordered their disciples to search the ground thoroughly. After burying all the corpses within Shenyi Valley, they departed with regret, quickly dispatching people to search for the remaining disciples of Shenyi Valley so they could be protected as soon as possible.
By this time, it was already deep into the night.
Four hours had passed since Ding Yun's escape.
Although Ding Yun had depleted a considerable amount of her potential, she wouldn't need to sleep for three to two days. So, not long after the moon had risen past its zenith, she weakly regained consciousness. She still didn't rush to sort through her memories, but first climbed down from the tree to forage for some wild fruits.
She managed to fill her stomach somewhat.
Only then did she climb back up the tree to sort through her memories.
And then, Ding Yun was utterly speechless.
Because the original body was just too unlucky. Ding Yun had initially assumed the original body was a disciple of Shenyi Valley, but who would have thought that the original body wasn't a disciple at all? She was there for treatment, purely as a patient. The only special thing about her was that she had been at Shenyi Valley for a long time.
She had spent about ten years at Shenyi Valley.
The story was as follows: the original body's great-grandfather, Hu Xuelin, was a Prime Minister during Emperor Wen's reign, and also the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince.
And then, Emperor Wen lived for quite some time.
The Crown Prince, in his fifties, could no longer bear it, fearing he would die before his father and remain Crown Prince his entire life. Thus, he rebelled. As was natural, he failed and committed suicide after his defeat.
As the saying goes, respect the dead.
No matter how angry Emperor Wen was, he couldn't possibly exhume his dead son and whip his corpse. Furthermore, with his son's death, all his anger subsided, and he even felt a twinge of regret and sympathy for his son.
Therefore, he naturally took his anger out on others. And as the saying goes, the fault of the son is the fault of the father; the laziness of the teacher is due to the lack of strictness.
He couldn't possibly blame himself for not raising his son well.
He could only blame the teachers and those accomplices.
Thus, the original body's great-grandfather fell into misfortune.
His family was directly confiscated, and he was exiled.
It was said that they originally intended to exterminate the entire clan, but many people petitioned for their intervention, stating that when the original body's great-grandfather served as Grand Tutor, the Crown Prince was only in his early teens. He hadn't taught the Crown Prince for over twenty years, so how could they blame the Grand Tutor from thirty years ago for not educating the Crown Prince properly?
If such capricious blame were to occur, who would dare to teach princes in the future?
Unfortunately, Emperor Wen did not wish to admit his mistake. So, although the clan was not exterminated, the Hu family's property was confiscated, and they were exiled. At that time, the original body was in her mother's womb. Facing the near extermination of their clan and the nomadic exile of her entire family, one could imagine how her mother must have feared.
And how her body, unable to be properly cared for.
Thus, the original body was born on the road of exile. She was congenitally deficient at birth and, due to the lack of proper care during the exile, was a sickly child from childhood.
She had nearly died several times.
It wasn't until a few years later, when Emperor Wen passed away and the new Emperor ascended the throne, granting amnesty to their family, that their lives improved somewhat. The original body was finally able to receive some good medicine. However, her foundation and roots had already been damaged. Ordinary physicians declared her incurable, advising her to live comfortably and await death until she was eighteen.
It wasn't until their family unexpectedly invited a physician from Shenyi Valley that the situation changed. Although that physician claimed he was powerless, he stated that their valley master surely had a way to treat her.
And so, the original body's family, naturally.
Sought medical help at Shenyi Valley.
The valley master of Shenyi Valley accepted the case. However, congenital deficiency, coupled with damage to her foundation during infancy.
It was truly not an easy condition to treat.
It required long-term conditioning and frequent changes of prescriptions.
The valley master of Shenyi Valley certainly couldn't accompany their family to serve as a private physician. Thus, the original body had to remain at Shenyi Valley for treatment. Initially, the original body's parents would visit her frequently. However, as her grandfather was reinstated to his official post and her father was appointed to an official position,
They found it increasingly difficult to meet.
After all, her father was not serving in the local area.
Theoretically, the original body needed about ten years of conditioning. This year was the last year. She only needed to stay for another month or so, taking her medicine, and she could fully recover, return home, and prepare for marriage. But who would have thought that during this final month,
Shenyi Valley would be destroyed, and all the doctors and patients inside would be slaughtered by the black-clothed assailants.
The original body had stayed here for ten years. How could she not have feelings?
She was on the verge of returning to reunite with her parents and getting married, and now she had been killed. How could she not harbor hatred?
Thus, the previous plea arose.
As for her medical skills, the original body did possess some. She hadn't been taught the medical arts of Shenyi Valley, but her parents had specifically sent her many medical books. Coupled with her own experience of becoming a doctor through prolonged illness, her medical skills, while perhaps not comparable to the direct disciples of Shenyi Valley, were definitely on par with ordinary physicians.
It was just a pity that she had no opportunity to display them.