Chapter 5
Ying Bing gently sipped her tea, as if savoring the weight of those words.
After a moment of contemplation, she nodded.
“Alright.”
...
...
As evening fell, the city of Ziyang was ablaze with lights. By the riverside, flower boats and lanterns floated gracefully, while the wide streets bustled with nobles clad in silk and brocade, alongside travelers easily identifiable as outsiders.
The Qingyuan Sect was recruiting disciples every three years, making the city more vibrant than ever.
Among the most lively spots was Jinhun Street, where goods such as herbs, weapons, and horses were sold, all catering to martial artists.
At the Sanyang Medical Hall.
“Please pass the message along.”
Li Mo took out a letter penned by his father.
Upon seeing the recipient's name, the young apprentice's expression shifted to one of respect.
“Please wait a moment. Our master has gone out to see a patient and should be back shortly.”
“Thank you.”
Li Mo and Ying Bing settled down in the hall to wait.
A short while later, footsteps echoed in the room.
A middle-aged man entered, looking travel-worn, his coarse robe patched in several places.
His features were sharp and gaunt, with a long beard that hung to his chest, and his eyes sparkled with vitality.
“Master!” The apprentice presented the unopened letter.
The middle-aged man skimmed through it, a smile spreading across his face.
“That boy from the Long family still remembers this old man.”
Ying Bing's brow twitched slightly.
Li Mo sensed something was off.
This man looked to be about the same age as his father, yet he spoke with an air of age and wisdom.
The apprentice proudly declared, “My master is ninety-six this year.”
“Ninety-six?”
Li Mo's mouth fell open.
They say studying medicine ages one quickly, so how could someone seem to grow younger with it?
Had he practiced some secret technique or learned the art of longevity?
This world truly defied common sense.
“Just a minor skill, nothing to boast about.”
“Your father mentioned that this young lady is the one needing treatment. Please, come forward.”
The middle-aged man gestured.
Once Ying Bing sat across from him, he flicked a strand of golden thread that wrapped around her slender, pale fingers.
Li Mo watched with keen interest.
Seeing his concern, the apprentice reassured him, “Don’t worry. In all the world, there are very few ailments my master cannot treat.”
The middle-aged man smirked slightly at this compliment, clearly pleased.
But the next moment, he let out a soft gasp, his brow furrowing.
Buzz—
The golden thread trembled.
A chill spread rapidly from Ying Bing's fingertips along the thread.
Crack—
The middle-aged man instinctively severed the thread, breathing out in shock.
“Such dominance!”
“What do you think?” Li Mo asked, taking a deep breath.
The middle-aged man's brow was nearly knotted in a frown.
After a moment of deep thought, he shook his head.
“Unbelievable, truly unbelievable. By all accounts, you shouldn’t have survived to this day.”
Having practiced medicine for eighty years, he had seen countless rare and difficult cases.
But to encounter such a chilling presence in a person was unheard of!
“This young lady must have been diagnosed as having a severed pulse, right?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Ying Bing nodded.
The middle-aged man pondered for a moment before slowly speaking.
“I can only speculate that this may not be a severed pulse, but rather a unique constitution. As for the specifics, I will need to consult ancient texts.”
“If it’s not an illness, there’s nothing to treat, only some herbs to ease the pain.”
Ying Bing was momentarily surprised, then returned to her calm demeanor.
To discern this much, the other’s medical skills must be quite esteemed in Ziyang.
Even she had only discovered the answer later in Central Shenzhou, in a long-established hidden sect.
Taiyin Yuehuang Body (太阴月凰体) — a rare constitution.
In that ancient text, ten extraordinary constitutions were recorded, referred to as the Ten Absolute Bodies.
Among them, nine, including the Taiyin Yuehuang Body, had faded into legend and speculation.
The only verifiable one was the true dragon body of the Great Yu's Martial Emperor, capable of stabilizing the nation and bearing the weight of its destiny.
“This is a Pure Yang Pill I’ve concocted. It should be effective. Two hundred taels of silver.”
The middle-aged man produced a porcelain vial.
“That’s not too expensive,” Li Mo nodded, preparing to pay.
However, the middle-aged man leisurely raised a finger.
“One pill.”
Li Mo: “...”
Could you not take such a long pause when speaking?
The apprentice wiped his mouth and quickly added, “That’s already a price that’s practically giving it away. If it weren’t for my master feeling embarrassed today, it wouldn’t be...”
“Hmm?”
The middle-aged man shot him a glare, and the apprentice quickly fell silent.
“Not expensive, not expensive!”
“I’ll take a hundred pills, thank you.”
With a flourish, Li Mo slapped a stack of silver notes onto the table, along with a few gold ingots.
The apprentice: “!”
The middle-aged man: “?”
Ying Bing raised an eyebrow.
In an instant, the medical hall was so quiet one could hear a pin drop.
The thick stack of silver notes easily amounted to over ten thousand taels, and the gold ingots were even more valuable. Though gold was scarce in circulation, it still had a market price.
If exchanged for silver, it would far exceed the market value!
Altogether, it was enough for twenty thousand taels.
Even in the precious Ziyang city, that would be enough to buy a grand mansion.
“I have some savings.”
Li Mo smiled shyly. “That should be enough, right?”
“A hundred pills? Are you stocking up to eat them like meals?”
“Just one vial, twelve pills.”
The middle-aged man’s lips twitched, pushing the vial forward.
“Fine, I suppose that’s acceptable.”
Li Mo nodded reluctantly.
After a polite bow, he and Ying Bing left together.
Watching the two disappear into the night, the middle-aged man stroked his chin, puzzled.
“Didn’t they say these two kids had a strained relationship? Why do they seem so eager to spend money?”
He picked up the frost-covered golden thread from the ground, deep in thought.
If it truly was some unique constitution...
This child’s potential might be unimaginable!
“Master, there’s a message from the sect.”
The apprentice returned, cradling a hawk, taking down the bamboo tube it had carried and feeding it some jerky.
The letter read:
【To Elder Liu, from Xue Jing.】
After reading it, he smacked his lips and glanced toward the back courtyard.
“Let’s head back to the sect and bring the alchemy furnace.”
“Understood.”
The apprentice, with his delicate features, nodded and dashed to the back courtyard, exerting himself with a grunt.
He hoisted a large copper furnace, shaped like a dragon and tiger, onto his small shoulders.
...
...
Meanwhile, on the other side.
The bustling night market was winding down, with fewer pedestrians, leaving only the flickering streetlights swaying gently.
The lively atmosphere of the market faded, and the stars above began to twinkle.
“What a pity.”
“I heard the night market in Ziyang has a lot of delicious snacks. We should come earlier next time.”
Holding two skewers of Ziyang’s specialty willow leaf grilled fish, Li Mo took a bite, savoring the fresh and fragrant taste, with no hint of fishiness; even the bones were tender.
“Want to try?” He turned back, offering her a skewer.
Ying Bing kept her gaze steady, looking at the boy with oil stains at the corners of his mouth, a sense of curiosity rising within her.
Having been reborn, she had thought everything would unfold as she had envisioned.
But he seemed to be the exception.
“Why?”
Ying Bing asked her first question.
Li Mo, in a good mood, grinned widely.
“Hard methods don’t work, so I have to try a softer approach.”
“What if you’re like a docile donkey, touched by my kindness and throwing yourself into my arms?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the atmosphere turned awkward.
Not receiving a satisfactory answer, Ying Bing’s gaze remained calm, clearly treating his joke as mere background noise.
It was indeed unrealistic to expect an ice-cold person to have a sense of humor...
“Relax, relax.”
“You’ve suffered enough in the past. Consider this a form of compensation or investment.”
“It’s just over two thousand taels of silver. Once I join the Qingyuan Sect, it’ll be small change.”
Li Mo waved his hand, acting as if he were wealthy.
Whether he was strong or not was another matter; being poor in the future was out of the question.
Ying Bing furrowed her brows slightly.
Where did he get such confidence?
In her previous life, Li Mo had barely made it into the outer sect, and even that had been a struggle.
His innate talent could be described as quite ordinary.
Yet the boy seemed blissfully unaware, as if he were daydreaming about shining brightly in the days to come...
“Whoosh—”
The night breeze blew, causing the shadows of the lanterns to flicker, casting the boy’s spirited face in and out of light.
Ying Bing suddenly froze.
A distant, unfamiliar figure flashed through her long-buried memories.
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