Chapter 87: Bringing a Dan Master
A large portion of the refugees came from Central Province, and a considerable number of them were children.
Some were brought by their parents fleeing, while others were orphans who had lost their families and banded together to survive.
Children with parents to look after them fared somewhat better, but those without families mostly starved to death on the road, and those who didn't starve almost always fell seriously ill.
At this time, there were twelve children who had fallen ill, all with pale faces, cold sweat on their foreheads, sometimes twitching, sometimes vomiting, and sometimes going mad and biting people.
One of them was named Qingwa, the oldest among these children, about thirteen or fourteen years old, and also the most severely ill.
His forehead was burning hot, and even his eyeballs had turned yellowish.
Several people who came with these children said that this child had not been very healthy since he first started fleeing towards Shengjing.
The doctor, on the other hand, said that he had never seen such a disease, and even the pulse was intermittent.
“Where did they escape from?”
“Baihe Village on the south side of Qiling Mountain.”
“Qiling again…”
Ji You murmured, deep in thought.
He still retained a large part of his modern thinking, and when he found someone sick, his first thought was the spread of viruses and bacteria.
He had heard in reality that ancient viruses were still sleeping in the Arctic ice, and any one of them could wipe out humanity.
So, was this disease also an ancient virus transmitted from the ruins?
But—it was also illogical.
There were no living creatures in the ruins; not even herbaceous plants could be brought out.
Although Evil Seeds could move, they only retained a bloodthirsty evil nature and were not considered living creatures at all.
Ji You looked at the children: “I’ll go back to Tianshu Academy and find someone to see if they can save them.”
Kuang Cheng was staring blankly at the pendant on Qingwa’s collar and only came back to his senses when he heard the sound: “Ah? Oh, okay.”
The doctor standing by spoke up: “This old man is considered a master healer in the city. Ordinary doctors would likely be powerless against this illness. It’s better not to bother.”
Ji You stood up: “The day before yesterday, I happened to meet two Dan Masters. I’ll bring them over to see if they can be of use.”
“Ah, this…”
The Yuan family siblings had already left Dustless Hall and arrived at the open space in front of the Wudao Field, surrounded by many Worldly Family Disciples from outside the Inner Courtyard.
Dan Sect’s Dan Masters generally did not venture out because their combat power was not strong and their risk avoidance ability was not high. They were more mysterious than ordinary Dan Sect Disciples and rarely had the opportunity to make connections.
Especially Dan Masters with the identity of Dan Sect’s direct Disciples and the daughter of the Sect master, they were even rarer, seen only once in a hundred years.
Since such an opportunity presented itself, these people naturally wouldn’t let it go.
This was also the scene that Dan Sect Elders and Tianshu Academy’s high-ranking officials hoped to see, so He Lingxiu, the direct Disciple of Zizai Hall, and You Buyu, the direct Disciple of Jixiang Hall, were among them.
“Junior Brother Yuan Chen, your Elder sister said this is your first time in Shengjing. Later, just listen to Elder sister’s arrangements and I’ll take you to taste some Shengjing specialties.”
The speaker was named He Lingxiu, a direct Disciple of Tianshu Academy’s Zizai Hall, a woman with a wasp waist and perky buttocks.
Yuan Chen shook his head slightly after hearing this: “I cannot accept such kindness; please excuse me.”
Yuan Caiwei frowned slightly: “She kindly invited you, how can Junior Brother be so rude?”
“She bullied Zhengxin Fairy, yet she wants to pretend to be a kind Elder sister here, which makes Junior Brother feel disgusted.”
Yuan Caiwei paused, knowing that the Zhengxin Fairy her Junior Brother mentioned was the nickname for Wen Zhengxin, who had returned with them this time, but she didn’t understand what her relationship with He Lingxiu was.
But Yuan Chen still remembered the conversation between Wen Zhengxin and Pei Ruyi deep in the ruins’ dense forest that day.
【I competed for the direct Disciple of Zizai Hall and lost】
【You didn’t defeat her?】
【Her Worldly Family is much larger than my Wen Family】
【How terrible this world is.】
And Yuan Chen’s attitude naturally made these well-known Worldly Family Disciples of Tianshu Academy a bit awkward.
However, He Lingxiu did not show any displeasure. Instead, she said again: “If you don’t like food, then Elder sister will take you to tour the outskirts of the capital tomorrow. I heard that Junior Brother Yuan Chen particularly likes to watch Immortal Sect Disciples fight, so tomorrow I’ll arrange for two Disciples to fight for you to watch.”
Yuan Chen pondered for a moment, then cupped his hands and bowed: “I’ve returned from the ruins and have been restless for several days without good sleep. I might not be able to get up tomorrow.”
“That’s fine too. You can go after you’ve rested.”
Yuan Caiwei was also very surprised at this time, looking at her Junior Brother with a puzzled expression.
She knew that her Junior Brother had been obsessed with cultivation novels on the mountain and would secretly observe cultivators who came to retrieve pills on weekdays.
Now someone was willing to arrange a Disciple battle for him to watch, but he waved his hand and refused. Even his own Elder sister found it incomprehensible.
Yuan Chen did not speak, only looked at the sky as the sun set, his expression a bit melancholic.
The cultivators he saw in the novels were all like those who wielded swords for thousands of miles, walked the Immortal path, and wore white clothes like snow.
Then he met Ji You, and instantly felt that the flavor was right, so he thought Tianshu Academy was all like this.
But now that he was truly immersed in it, his fantasy was completely shattered.
Because Immortals who Cultivate the Immortal Dao, whether in the Inner Courtyard or Outer Courtyard, were not much different from ordinary people.
Their eyes burned with passion when they saw Dan Masters, and they even couldn't help but lower their posture, without white robes fluttering, without being free and unrestrained, without being ethereal as Immortals.
While thinking, this direct Disciple of Dan Sect suddenly heard a soft call from afar.
“Yuan Chen, I need your help with something. Come with me.”
Ji You was coming from down the mountain at this time, his white robes dancing in the wind, walking ethereally like snow, and then he was captivated for a moment by a slender female cultivator before waving to him.
Seeing this scene, He Lingxiu looked over first, her brows slightly furrowed, thinking to herself how this person could shout at a direct Disciple of Dan Sect like that.
But what she didn’t expect was that Yuan Chen instantly beamed with joy, lifted his robe, and ran down, stumbling along.
“That person—”
“I know him. He’s Junior Brother Ji from the Outer Courtyard.”
“Oh, it’s him, the one who saved the Dan Sect siblings. No wonder…”
As the words fell, everyone standing with Yuan Caiwei was stunned.
Because they saw Ji You in the Wudao Field suddenly reach out and grab Yuan Chen’s collar, while Spiritual Qi roared under his feet, carrying him out of Tianshu Academy as if he were carrying a small chicken.
This—
He Lingxiu frowned slightly, thinking to herself that even for a life-saving grace, this was too rude.
She turned to look at Yuan Caiwei, wanting to say something like, “Please forgive my Tianshu Academy Disciple’s rudeness,” but found that she didn’t have much expression.
She seemed to be used to it.
There was nothing to be done; it wasn’t unreasonable for a brother-in-law to treat his younger brother-in-law this way.
“Miss Yuan, since your Junior Brother isn’t going, why don’t we just walk around casually? After all, it’s arranged by the Sect.”
You Buyu suddenly spoke at this moment, looking at Yuan Caiwei.
There were countless Worldly Families in Azure Cloud Continent, with varying rises and falls.
The You Family was originally a second-tier Worldly Family, but after You Yingqiu became the Hall Master of Jixiang Hall, the You Family began to flourish.
You Buyu was You Yingqiu’s nephew, a direct Disciple of his aunt, and had already become an Integration Dao expert at a young age.
The aura of chaos was constantly spreading, and Dan Sect seemed to have changed its idea of currying favor with small Worldly Families, wanting more to deepen its ties with Tianshu Academy.
The Elder Dan Qiongzi who came this time was her paternal uncle, as if he deliberately arranged for You Buyu to meet her.
Yuan Caiwei looked at the direction where the white robes had disappeared, remained silent for a long time, and then followed the group.
With her Junior Brother with him, there was naturally no need to worry about safety.
“Brother-in-law, what happened?”
“The greatest of Immortals are for life and for the people. This time, you are the protagonist.”
Ji You understood exactly what this kid wanted, and one sentence pierced his heart.
Sure enough, Yuan Chen’s heart suddenly swelled with emotion after hearing this, and he immediately puffed out his chest.
He originally thought that seeing one was seeing a group, was seeing a whole mountain.
But only after truly seeing a group, seeing a whole mountain, did he realize that that one was just that one.
A few breaths later, Yuan Chen had been carried by Ji You to outside the city and learned that he was to treat these children.
So, under everyone’s gaze, he rolled up his sleeves and squatted in front of the children, and a seven-colored milky white pill light shimmered from among the refugees.
“Is that really a Dan Master?”
“It must be a Dan Master, but why was he carried here—?”
Yuan Chen observed Qingwa for a long time, his Dan Qi constantly surging, then he frowned: “Black Qi enters from the outside, directly attacking the five internal organs and six viscera. There is no lesion, but the destructive power is extremely strong. I have never seen such a disease.”
Ji You squatted beside him: “I don’t understand. Can you save them?”
“I need to first stabilize these children’s Qi, use Alchemy to dispel the black Qi, extract a section, and then open a furnace to refine pills according to its characteristics. Brother-in-law, all these people need to be quarantined separately, those who have been in contact and those who haven’t, and settled in batches. I’m afraid it’s contagious—”
Ji You nodded: “I’ll listen to you. Whatever you say, we’ll do.”
Yuan Chen nodded and quickly used Alchemy to continuously dispel the black Qi from the twelve children, but found that the black Qi automatically spread, and after being dispelled, it automatically replenished, constantly filling the organs.
This repetitive process continued for a long time until sweat dripped from his forehead before it ended.
At this time, the faces of these twelve children instantly improved greatly, and some with mild symptoms had even opened their eyes, their gazes full of bewilderment.
Qingwa, the most severely ill, had also stopped sweating and his breathing gradually became even.
The refugees were all common folk, and the most difficult and lowest-class common folk at that. What could they have seen? Seeing this scene, they immediately hailed him as a divine healer.
Yuan Chen was stunned for a moment and said nothing.
Wei Rui had been watching very nervously during this time, and now she finally took a breath, then realized that she seemed to have grasped something, and suddenly let go of her hand.
And Kuang Cheng looked at his fingers, silent for a long time.
“I think I probably won’t wash my hands for a long time—”
Wei Rui pursed her lips, her face completely red.
Ji You was squatting nearby at this time, and hearing Kuang Cheng’s involuntary whisper, he couldn’t help but marvel.
A proper gentleman suddenly being so charming was indeed a bit deadly.
Tonight, when I go to the Wudao Heavenly Book, I’ll get a set for the Master Jian of Lingjian Mountain and see the effect.
At this moment, Yuan Chen had returned to Ji You’s side: “Brother-in-law, it’s under control. I’ll open a furnace tonight to try.”
“What about the extracted black Qi?”
“It’s in my body.”
Ji You frowned, thinking to himself, “Are you a Divine Farmer, kid?”: “Will it be dangerous in your body?”
Yuan Chen was slightly stunned after hearing this, and after thinking for a moment, he said: “It shouldn’t be. I have Dan Qi protecting me. If it’s truly dangerous for me, then everyone in the world would die.”
“That’s too unsafe. It should be stored in Chu River’s body.”
“Chu River?”
“A good person who gave me a sword. I don’t think he’ll mind.”
Yuan Chen knew his brother-in-law was talking nonsense again, and then said: “This matter is quite fulfilling. Look at how they’re looking at me.”
Ji You smiled after hearing this: “Have you ever thought that when Heavenly Dao passed down the Great Furnace to you, it was actually to make you cure diseases and dispel evil for all people, but you went astray and started refining medicine for cultivators?”
“??”