BDSMST -Chapter 137 The Third Trial — The Heart of Protection

The moment Jiang Suisui stepped into the darkness, she felt her body suddenly become light, as if all weight had vanished. Everything before her eyes began to twist and spin, eventually dissolving into nothingness.

When she could see clearly again, she realized she was standing at the entrance of the manor in Woniu Village.

Warm sunlight poured over her body. The air carried the familiar scent of soil and fresh grass. From the workshops inside the manor came the rhythmic clanging of tools. In the fields, villagers hummed cheerful tunes while harvesting golden ears of corn. In the distance, Gu Xuan and Bai Ling’er were chasing and playing with a group of children by the stream, their bright laughter carrying far across the land.

Everything felt so real.

So peaceful and harmonious.

“Mother, you’re back!”

Gu Xuan spotted her first. With his short little legs, he ran toward her as fast as he could and threw himself into her arms.

“Suisui, have you finished your business?”

Gu Yan walked out from a nearby courtyard, still holding a pair of pruning shears for trimming plants. On his face was the gentle smile she knew so well.

Holding her warm, soft son in her arms and looking at her smiling husband, Jiang Suisui felt momentarily dazed.

Everything here felt too real, so real that she almost believed her experience in Medicine King Valley had been nothing more than a long, bizarre dream.

She knew this was an illusion.

The third trial had begun.

She forced herself to stay clear-headed, yet a trace of longing inevitably rose in her heart. Wasn’t this the life she had always dreamed of? No conflict, no danger—only family sitting together, warmth glowing under lamplight.

At that moment, a sudden commotion came from the direction of the village entrance.

A villager stumbled in, crawling and scrambling, his face filled with terror as he shouted hoarsely:

“Something terrible has happened! Bandits! A huge group of mountain bandits is charging toward us!”

Before his words had even finished, chaotic hoofbeats and arrogant shouting echoed in the distance.

Hundreds of fierce bandits wielding knives and spears surged up the mountain road like a tidal wave. They slashed at anyone they saw and looted everything in sight. The once-peaceful village was instantly drowned in cries and screams.

“Quick! Protect the Madam and the young master!”

The guards of the manor reacted immediately, quickly gathering their forces and clashing with the invading bandits.

Gu Yan pulled Jiang Suisui and Gu Xuan behind him, his expression becoming extremely serious. Taking a long blade from one of the guards, he said in a deep voice:

“Suisui, take Xuan’er to the secret passage. Go!”

Jiang Suisui’s heart twisted painfully.

She knew it was only an illusion, yet everything before her was so vivid that she could barely breathe. The villagers collapsing in pools of blood, the terrified children crying in fear—each scene stabbed into her heart like a knife.

She didn’t move.

More and more bandits flooded into the manor. The guards were gradually unable to hold them back, and casualties began to appear.

“Why are you still standing there? Go!” Gu Yan shouted at her as he turned back.

At that moment, another sudden change occurred.

The sky darkened without warning. A wave of foul-smelling black mist began spreading from somewhere outside the village. Anyone who inhaled the black mist—bandit or villager alike—collapsed to the ground, their bodies convulsing as horrifying black spots appeared on their skin.

A plague.

It was the devastating epidemic she had always feared the most, erupting at this very moment in such a terrifying way.

“Mother… I feel so uncomfortable…”

Gu Xuan suddenly groaned weakly in her arms.

Jiang Suisui looked down in panic and saw faint black spots beginning to appear on her son’s face as well.

“Xuan’er!”

At that moment, Jiang Suisui felt as though her entire world had collapsed.

“Quick! The spring water! The spring in your space can save him!”

A voice seemed to speak directly inside her mind.

The voice was seductive and persuasive.

“Forget these people! They’re just illusions! Your son and your husband are the real ones! Take them away quickly! Go somewhere safe and use your spring water to save them! You only have so much spring water—you can’t save everyone!”

Jiang Suisui’s heart fell into violent turmoil.

Her reason told her this was all fake—just a test.

But emotionally, she couldn’t bear to watch her son and husband fall into danger.

Save them. Use her greatest secret to save them.

That thought grew wildly in her mind.

She looked at Gu Yan.

His breathing had become heavy as well; clearly he had also been infected by the plague. Leaning on his sword for support, he struggled to say to her:

“Go… don’t worry about us… you… hurry and leave…”

“No!” Jiang Suisui shouted.

She could leave. She could take Gu Yan and Xuan’er into her space. It was absolutely safe there, with an inexhaustible supply of spirit spring water that could easily cure them.

But what about the people outside? These living, breathing villagers who trusted her so deeply—were they supposed to die here in despair?

The voice sounded again:

“They are fake! Just tools for your trial! Your real responsibility is to protect your family! Have you forgotten the Medicine King’s prophecy? ‘To save the world, one must endure nine deaths and calamities.’ This is your tribulation! Choose! Will you choose your small family, or these insignificant, illusory people?”

Jiang Suisui closed her eyes.

Countless images flashed through her mind: the simple, honest smiles of the villagers of Woniu Village; the devout gazes of the members of the Guardian Clan; Bai Yutang’s unwavering dedication to medicine; Bai Ling’er’s passion for mechanical arts.

She remembered the High Priest’s eyes, filled with despair and hope. She remembered Wuhuan’s vow: “This life is yours.”

The inheritance she had received had never belonged to her alone. From the very beginning, this power had carried the hopes and expectations of far too many people.

A physician’s heart is benevolent—it can save lives, but it can also take them. The use of power lies in the heart.

The Medicine King’s warning still echoed in her ears. If today she abandoned these “lives” in order to protect her own family, then how would she be any different from those ambitious tyrants who would stop at nothing for power?

If her “protection” could only extend to the small circle around her, then she simply did not deserve this inheritance.

Jiang Suisui suddenly opened her eyes.

All hesitation and confusion had vanished from her gaze. What remained was an unprecedented clarity and determination.

She did not choose to escape.
Nor did she choose to save only her own family.

She gently laid the half-conscious Gu Xuan on the ground.

Then she straightened her back and faced the devastated scene before her—a landscape like hell itself. Spreading her arms wide, she released all restraint over the power within her body.

With a single thought, she pushed her connection to the Spring of Life in Medicine King Valley to its limit.

She no longer tried to control that immense life force.

Instead—

She chose to release it completely.

“If all of this is a reflection of my own heart, then I will purify it with my own power!”

A dazzling emerald-green light burst out from her body. The radiance spread outward in visible waves, sweeping in every direction.

Wherever the light reached, the black miasma melted like snow under the sun.

Those who had collapsed—bandits and villagers alike—felt the black spots on their skin fade away, their breathing returning. Before this pure force of life, the raging plague was completely purified.

The entire world was bathed in that green light.

When the light finally faded, everything disappeared.

There were no bandits.
No plague.
No wounded villagers or family members.

She was still standing in the endless darkness.

But now, within that darkness, a small point of light appeared ahead.

She walked toward it.

When she stepped out of the darkness and returned to the circular stone chamber, she saw Gu Yan and the others waiting anxiously at the entrance.

“Suisui, are you alright?” Gu Yan rushed forward and grabbed her arm, looking her up and down.

Jiang Suisui smiled at him and shook her head.

In the center of the stone chamber, above the enormous chessboard, four golden characters slowly appeared:

“Protector of All Living Beings.”

The trial had been passed.

At that moment, the entire cave began to shake violently.

The ground beneath their feet slowly split open, revealing a staircase paved with white jade that led deep underground.

From below the staircase surged a vast, ancient aura of life—so powerful that it was almost indescribable.