Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Everything will be better in the future,” Mo Wen said while consoling Qin Xiaoyou softly. He wasn’t only trying to comfort Qin Xiaoyou, but also himself.
He took some time to look at the abrasion on Qin Xiaoyou. As she fell from the cliff, the friction from both sides of the cliff walls had caused huge scratches.
Although they were only superficial wounds and already clotted by now, they would still look dreadful in eyes of others.
Qin Xiaoyou was a very strong girl as she had not groaned in pain until now.
Mo Wen flipped up her ripped outer clothing, revealing the fair skin underneath it. There was a huge area of scratches and pools of blood.
He examined them and discovered that there were six parts of Qin Xiaoyou’s body that were hurt during her fall.
Unfortunately, they were in the barren land of the karst cave. If they were in the forest outside, he would be able to find some medicinal herbs to stop the pain and remove the scars for Qin Xiaoyou.
“Let’s go. I will bring you to a place,” said Mo Wen as he suddenly though of something. Mo Wen patted Qin Xiaoyou who was lying on his body like a little kitten.
“Where to?” Qin Xiaoyou lifted her head curiously.
“To visit a senior,” Mo Wen said with a smile.
Qin Xiaoyou stood up doubtfully. Visit a senior? Could the senior Mo Wen mentioned before actually be real!?
Mo Wen carried Qin Xiaoyou and walked into the secret chamber at the deep end of the karst cave. It was about 120 square yard and the area that Mo Wen wandered to just now was only a very small part of it.
The moment they entered the secret chamber, Qin Xiaoyou was completely stupefied. She never expected a simple fall from the cliff would lead them to an ancient cave abode.
After Mo Wen’s brief explanation, Qin Xiaoyou finally understood the ins and outs of the entire matter. Then, she marvelled at how such mystical event could have happened to her.
Qin Xiaoyou widened her eyes and stared at the skeletal remains on the stone bed before asking in disbelief, “Mo Wen, that senior was the legendary Leader of Ming Cult?”
Qin Xiaoyou was a good student who excelled in both studies and conduct with outstanding well-rounded qualities and abilities. She knew two versions of the story of the Ming Cult. One was the factual version originating from the Manichaeism which existed during the Tang Dynasty and spread from the western region into the central plains of China. Another one was the chivalrous martial arts version: The Ming Cult written by Hero Jin [1].
However, why was Mo Wen’s explanation of the Ming Cult tended more towards the martial arts chivalry version? Could it be that Hero Jin knew about the secret happenings of the Ming Cult long ago?
“That’s right. That senior was Chang Qingfeng, Leader of Ming Cult’s 48th generation; in other words, the Last Ming Cult Leader,” Mo Wen nodded slightly. Mo Wen didn’t want to hide the secret chamber from Qin Xiaoyou and intended to teach her “Nine Yin Scripture” to make her the Sacred Maiden of Ming Cult.
However, he wouldn’t impose the practice of joint cultivation and marriage on her, that would be left to fate.
He had the confidence to practice “Nine Yin Scripture” and “Nine Yang Scripture” simultaneously, and even integrate “Celestial Scripture: Sun and Moon” together. Hence, it didn’t matter to him whether his joint practice of combined cultivation was with or without a female partner practising “Nine Yin Manual”.
Qin Xiaoyou and he had fallen into the Ming Cult historic site at the same time. It must be the Will of Heaven and thus fated to be. However, to be able to impart “Nine Yin Scripture” to Qin Xiaoyou, a girl who was physically weak and had no prior experience in martial arts, might not an easy task.
Qin Xiaoyou walked towards the skeletal remains and took a bow respectfully in front of it. In any case, the late ancient predecessors should be respected.
The main reason for Mo Wen to bring Qin Xiaoyou to the secret chamber was because he recalled that Chang Qingfeng was also a Miracle Physician who had inherited the medical expertise of the Ming Cult. So, he should have some medicines left in his relics which might have a herbal plaster that could heal wounds.
Though it had been three to four hundred years, Mo Wen, who was also a Miracle Physician, knew that there were special techniques in preserving the medicine to keep it absolutely free from decomposition for a thousand years.
Among the Ming Cult literature that Mo Wen had read, there was a secret method in preserving the medicine from decomposition.
He went to the stone table and began cleaning up the objects on the table. There were brushes, ink, papers, inkstone, and some clothing which had decomposed into dust after three to four hundred years.
Only the things that were carefully placed into the Indian sandalwood box could be preserved.
Mo Wen opened an Indian sandalwood box but he didn’t find any medicinal plaster or bottles. Instead, he found a round metal box of about three inches in diameter with ancient decorative carvings.
Mo Wen held the metal box to investigate it carefully, and pressed on a concealed opening. Suddenly, a secret chest popped out of the round metal box with a neat row of golden needles in it. Every golden needle was seamlessly placed in a groove with 108 needles in total.
Mo Wen took a glimpse and knew the origin of this item, “These are Ming Yang ancient needles”
According to Chang Qingfeng’s handwritten article, Ming Yang ancient needles were the needles used when the Miracle Physician of Ming Cult performed acupuncture It had been passed down for more than a thousand years and brought forth many generations of Miracle Physicians in Ming Cult.
It was said that Ming Yang ancient needles had an outstanding origin. The Ming Cult possessed this item by coincidence but it later became a precious gem in Ming Cult that only physicians with the title of Miracle Physician were qualified to use them.
Ming Yang ancient needles were made of an extremely hard, unknown material which was unbreakable by some magical weapons. The real value of Ming Yang ancient needles was not in their hardness, but the fact that these needles were able to gather Yang-Qi in the world. When there was too much Yang, it would produce Yin so it was necessary to balance Yin and Yang to generate vital energy that had miraculous efficacy in treating the sick and curing diseases.
When they were combined with profound acupuncture, their effect was greatly multiplied. Every generation of Miracle Physicians in the Ming Cult had a great reputation in Jianghu and this achievement was partly attributed to the Ming Yang ancient needles.
Although these needles could be very useful to Mo Wen, they were basically useless in treating Qin Xiaoyou’s abrasion. He put the metal box aside and continued to rummage through the remaining wooden boxes.
In the end, he found many bottles in one of the wooden boxes. After taking a look at them, he recognized that they were jade bottles containing medicine. They were made of rare Imperial Jade which was effective in preserving medicine. He used a professional technique to open the bottle cap and break the wax seal. A whiff of sweet pleasant fragrance swept across his face which refreshed and relaxed him.
The jade bottle contained about several hundred pills all the size of a soybean. He picked up a pill and sniffed it. He realised that the circulation of the Inner Qi in his body had increased slightly after sniffing the pill. It was actually a bottle of good quality pills that could enhance the Inner Qi.
Delight flickered in the eyes of Mo Wen as pills that could increase the Inner Qi were very precious. In his past lifetime, Mo Wen had concocted some but not this many.
These pills would be very beneficial to his Cultivation, especially in Mo Wen’s situation. With the combination of his martial arts foundation, knowledge on the essence of martial arts, and these pills, he could increase the Inner Qi. His Cultivation would progress tremendously by leaps and bounds.
With such surprising discovery, Mo Wen shifted his gaze uncontrollably to the rest of the jade bottles. There were at least several jade bottles in the wooden box, if they were all such precious medicine...
Footnote:
[1] Hero Jin refers to Jin Yong who is the famous writer of martial arts and chivalry stories that were sold worldwide, and numerous of his works were also adapted into films, television series, comics and video games