Cai Wei had personally witnessed the medical skills of the Old Turtle. When the evil-doer was on the verge of death, the Old Turtle miraculously pulled him back from the brink. Thus, she was certain that entrusting her father’s illness to the Old Turtle was the right decision.
After the Old Turtle entered the Space, Cai Wei took out a small amount of confusing drug from her sleeve and sprinkled it on her father’s face.
She pushed and called out, but Mu Zhongqing remained motionless. Seeing this, Cai Wei was relieved. She held onto her father, entered the Space, and settled him in the previous bedroom of Cihai Zhenren.
In the Space, the climate was humid, warm as spring, with a nourishing aura of immortality. This healing environment was a thousand times better than staying in the smelly Feather Shop!
"Chang Mei, fetch me a basin of water..."
"Brother Ying, find me a clean, fine cotton cloth...."
At this moment, Mu Zhongqing was unconsciously lying on the bed. It was most appropriate to describe him as being in a miserable state. His entire body was covered in feathers, even his hair. Cai Wei carefully picked off the feathers on him. Using the Lingxi River water brought by Chang Mei, she wet a soft cotton cloth to clean his hands and face.
Having suffered greatly outside for more than half a year, his appearance had drastically changed. His eye sockets were sunken, cheeks thin and ashen, beard coarse and unkempt. Where was the gentlemanly scholar, with fair, clean complexion as in her memories?
After tidying up her father, the medicine prepared by the Old Turtle was ready. Cai Wei helped him up and used a small spoon to feed him the medicine, spoonful by spoonful. She then fed him a lot of Lingxi River’s Water to avoid lingering bitterness in his mouth that would arouse his suspicion. Only when she felt the bitterness would be sufficiently diluted did she stop. She laid her father flat on the bed, covered him with a blanket, and watched over him, waiting for his fever to break.
Waiting was a tedious process. In her boredom, Cai Wei aimlessly wandered around the bedroom. Unintentionally, she found a book on cultivating inner strength in an antique bookshelf. She had thought such things were pure fiction, meant to trick readers in martial arts novels. It was not until she was subdued by a person with profound inner strength that she understood its profoundness.
Moreover, the person who had subdued her once told her, "Miss, your moves are sharp and your speed is fast. However, you lack inner strength and rely solely on brute force when fighting. In the martial arts world, this way of fighting will only get you so far..."
Since then, she had the intention to cultivate inner strength. Later, she was busy with the shop and put aside the cultivation temporarily.
Now that she had found this book, Cai Wei remembered her previous thought. Taking advantage of her free time, she sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion and started practicing the breathing exercises according to the instructions in the book.
Inner strength is formed through the practice of Qi. Breathing exercises focus on abdominal breathing, concentrating energy, proceeding in an orderly manner, which can train the internal organs of the body. In martial arts, it can improve endurance, combat power, and strong self-protection, etc.
Cai Wei practiced for two hours following the method in the book. After the practice, she felt her blood flow smoothly, and her body seemed much lighter.
Indeed, inner strength was awesome. She could feel the effects after just a short practice. What would it be like if she were to practice this long term?
After getting up, she went to check on her father first. Seeing that his fever had subsided, Cai Wei was relieved. She then went to the small courtyard, picked some berries, crushed them into juice, and fed it to him. Feeding him this time was much easier than feeding him the medicine. She wasn’t sure if it was because his condition had improved or because the sweet and delicious taste of the juice was appealing!