Lu Xiaochan had heard from the old beggar that the more advanced cultivators became in their practice, the more elegant and otherworldly their appearance would be.
Based on what Shu Wuxi had said earlier, his cultivation must have been at least eight hundred years, if not a thousand. Otherwise, how could he dismiss Ling Ningwu, who had thirteen hundred years of cultivation, so easily?
However, throughout their journey, he only heard people praising the cleaned-up Lu Xiaochan’s appearance, while no one seemed to notice Shu Wuxi. This didn’t make sense!
“Well…” The innkeeper suddenly looked troubled. He thought hard and even scratched his head, but then told Lu Xiaochan, “I can’t remember…”
“What? You can’t remember? My brother is just walking ahead, go take a look and come back to tell me!”
Lu Xiaochan gently pushed him.
The innkeeper also found it strange that he couldn’t remember the appearance of someone he had just met. He walked up, pretending to ask Shu Wuxi if he needed any help, then returned to Lu Xiaochan.
“How was it? What does my brother look like?”
The innkeeper hit his head lightly. “Oh! I can’t remember again! I only know your brother looks refined, like a scholar… What his eyes and nose look like, I can’t recall!”
Lu Xiaochan immediately understood.
Shu Wuxi had likely cast some spell or curse that made people forget his appearance, or perhaps they couldn’t even see his features clearly to begin with.
As Lu Xiaochan crouched on the ground, resting his chin in his hands and pondering, Shu Wuxi had already taken away the hundreds of jars of wine from the cellar.
He turned around, his sleeve brushing over Lu Xiaochan’s head, sweeping across the stray hairs on his forehead. That faint scent of clear night made Lu Xiaochan close his eyes, as if intoxicated in the moonlight.
He unconsciously reached out and grabbed Shu Wuxi’s sleeve.
Perhaps because he had been able to touch him through the blanket last night, Shu Wuxi didn’t pull away as he had before, but allowed him to hold onto his sleeve.
“We can go back now.”
“So quick! Alright! Let’s go back!”
Lu Xiaochan stood up and grabbed the bamboo branch Shu Wuxi held out. A small flask slid down the branch into Lu Xiaochan’s hand.
“Eh? What’s this?”
“Your medicine flask,” Shu Wuxi answered.
“Mine?” Lu Xiaochan held the flask with both hands, feeling it all over. The medicine flask was gourd-shaped, but not as round as a gourd. It had smooth lines and a polished surface with carved patterns.
Carefully touching and examining it, Lu Xiaochan smiled. “Oh, there are crickets carved on the outside of this medicine flask! And little birds! Haha, and a turtle too!”
Shu Wuxi calmly asked, “Do you like it?”
“I love it! Ah! These two crickets are moving! They’re fighting each other!”
Lu Xiaochan hung the medicine flask at his waist, holding the bamboo branch with his right hand while constantly touching the flask with his left.
He named the two crickets on the flask: the one with longer legs was called General Long Leg, and the bigger one was called Bandit. General Long-legs and Bandit fought all the way, and Lu Xiaochan touched them both, wondering in his mind which one would win in the end.
“This medicine flask is really amazing, it can actually hold hundreds of jars of wine! You really want to give me such a treasure?”
“Hundreds of jars of wine are nothing. It can draw from three thousand water sources and contain the rivers of six realms.”
Lu Xiaochan was stunned. “No… such… such a powerful… magical item… you’re just giving it to me like this?”
“Its name is not ‘magical item’, but ‘Tailing Zhenyuan’. This object chooses its master. It’s not me giving it to you, it’s the object wanting to follow you.”
Lu Xiaochan tilted her head.
“Tailing… Tailing… Does it have any connection with the Tailing Pavilion of the Medical Orthodox School?”
Shu Wuxi didn’t answer.
Lu Xiaochan became anxious and reached along the bamboo branch to grab Shu Wuxi’s sleeve. Perhaps because Shu Wuxi was lost in thought, Lu Xiaochan actually managed to grasp the hem of his sleeve!
The air instantly froze, as if time slowed to a crawl.
Lu Xiaochan knew that with this tug, Shu Wuxi’s entire body had tensed up.
“Don’t move, Xiaochan.”
His voice seemed to squeeze out from the cracks of his heart, struggling out of his throat. There were thousands of words, but only that one phrase “Don’t move” came out.
Shu Wuxi very carefully pulled his sleeve from between Lu Xiaochan’s fingers.
He didn’t dislike his touch.
In fact… he longed for Lu Xiaochan to be able to touch him, but just now Lu Xiaochan had grasped too tightly, his fingers about to touch Shu Wuxi’s wrist.
“Shu Wuxi, tell me if this medicine flask is from Tailing Pavilion! Someone told me that Tailing Pavilion practices medical arts, and their disciples might be able to heal my eyes!”
Shu Wuxi didn’t answer for a long time. He continued walking forward, pulling the bamboo branch, but Lu Xiaochan suddenly let go.
“If you won’t tell me, I won’t go with you anymore!”
Shu Wuxi turned around and looked at Lu Xiaochan for a long time.
“What if Tailing Pavilion can’t cure your eyes either?”
“How is that possible! Tailing Pavilion can not only heal physical ailments, but they can also use great medical spells to remove mental afflictions! They’re so powerful, I just can’t see with my eyes, why wouldn’t Tailing Pavilion be able to cure me?”
Lu Xiaochan had grown up listening to the old beggar talk about Tailing Pavilion.
Since he could walk, he had followed the old beggar to the Medical Lord Temple every day to pray to Lord Liche for his sight to be restored.
But day after day, year after year, he hadn’t even met a single disciple from Tailing Pavilion.
He had once begged the old beggar to take him away from Lushu Town to find a healer from Tailing Pavilion.
But the old beggar said that if they left Lushu Town, they would be eaten by the evil spirits lingering around Lushu. Lu Xiaochan was so frightened by the old beggar that he had nightmares for a month, finally concluding: life was certainly far more important than eyesight.
Later, as Lu Xiaochan grew up, he realized that praying to the Medical Lord or Tailing Pavilion was less practical than a bowl of filling food, so he stopped kneeling before Lord Liche. He even began to treat stories of Tailing Pavilion and restoring eyesight as fairy tales the old beggar used to comfort children.
But now, Shu Wuxi had arrived, bringing the “Tailing Zhenyuan” with him.
“Then promise me one more thing. If you can do it, I’ll take you to see Kunwu, the Medical Sage of Tailing Pavilion.”
Lu Xiaochan stood there, dumbfounded.
He wondered if there was something wrong with his ears.
Who did Shu Wuxi say he would take him to see?
Kunwu, the Medical Sage of Tailing Pavilion?
Kunwu was said to be Liche’s fellow disciple, rumored to have over 2,800 years of medical cultivation.
“If you can meet Medical Sage Kunwu, whether he can cure your eyes or not, you must come with me.”
“Huh?”
Come with you? What do you want me to do?
“Even if where I take you has no delicacies, no majestic mountains and rivers, no beautiful scenery, you can’t leave again.”
Lu Xiaochan tilted his head. “No way? You want to take me for secluded cultivation?”
He didn’t want to live in seclusion!
He wanted to eat delicacies, and even if he couldn’t see, he wanted to use his ears to listen to flowers blooming and withering, the flourishing and declining of all things. How interesting that would be.
But Shu Wuxi seemed to mean what he said, and if Lu Xiaochan didn’t agree, forget about going to Tailing Pavilion, Shu Wuxi might turn and leave, leaving him alone again. Even if he could see, he would eventually tire of it. Nothing was more precious than having someone who truly cared for him.
“Alright, I promise you!”
“Then let’s go. I’ll take you to Tailing Pavilion.”
Lu Xiaochan’s heart was like a drought-stricken flower, seemingly about to crumble at the slightest breeze, but with Shu Wuxi’s words, it was as if rain had fallen, allowing it to bloom recklessly and extravagantly.
As they walked, Lu Xiaochan sniffed and said, “We’ve reached the Medical Lord Temple! I want to go in and offer incense to Lord Liche! To pray for his blessing that you can successfully take me to Tailing Pavilion!”
“Medical Lord Temple?”
“Yes! The Medical Lord Temple!”
Lu Xiaochan turned to lead Shu Wuxi into the temple, almost tripping over the threshold in his excitement.
At this time, the Medical Lord Temple wasn’t as busy as before.
It was night now, and the temple was almost empty.
“Shu Wuxi, you said you and I are old acquaintances… So you must know my family, right? Are they wealthy? I’ve spent so much money here eating and drinking… Will they repay you?”
“I don’t need you to repay me.”
“Then you must be very rich! How about giving me some more money to offer three incense sticks? I want to pray to the Immortal Lord!”
“What Immortal Lord is this?”
“Liche! Medical Lord Liche! Even if I’m not asking for his blessing to successfully meet Medical Sage Kunwu, I should still thank him for allowing me to eat a few full meals over the years thanks to his incense offerings.”
Shu Wuxi stood still in place, seemingly looking up at the statue of the Medical Lord.
“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Liche doesn’t look like this. You don’t need to worship,” Shu Wuxi said.
“Then…what does Liche look like?”
“Liche reached the ‘entering the power’ realm at fourteen, so he maintained a youthful appearance until his passing. This immortal statue is too old.”
“Oh! Perhaps people think that since Liche has an immortal title, he must have an otherworldly, dignified appearance?”
“Climbing roofs, chasing stars in the sea, playing with cats and dogs – how is that dignified? Daily indulgence in worldly pleasures – where’s the otherworldly air in that?”
Shu Wuxi seemed displeased with Lord Liche, but in the end, he let out a sigh filled with complex emotions.
“Then I’ll still pay my respects to him.”
“There’s no need. This is just a clay statue. Everyone else can worship him, but you alone don’t need to.”
“What?”
“Let’s go.”
Shu Wuxi led Lu Xiaochan away.
Although they didn’t offer incense to Lord Liche in the end, Lu Xiaochan felt that if Shu Wuxi said there was no need to worship, then it probably would have been useless even if they had.
But back at the inn, Lu Xiaochan didn’t feel sleepy at all.
He leaned against the headboard, playing with the medicine flask.
The turtle on the wine flask entered a stream, swam around, came to the shore, and with one bite swallowed the pair of fighting crickets.
Lu Xiaochan was startled. “The turtle ate the crickets! What should we do!”
