Behind every pampered girl, there’s always a mother who is both capable and overbearing – this is an eternal truth.
Elder Zhi had a cold and hard temperament, but he wasn’t impulsive. His visit to Elder Qi today wasn’t solely due to An Jiu’s provocation. Although he was angry at An Jiu’s disrespectful words, he genuinely liked her enthusiasm when handling the crossbow. That’s why he seized the opportunity to come and find Elder Qi to “cure her illness.”
Not having obtained the desired result, Elder Zhi was already in a heavy mood. Now, hearing Mei Jiu’s sobs, he couldn’t help but get angry, “Stop crying! Explain clearly what’s going on!”
Mei Jiu choked back her tears, looking timidly at Elder Zhi with red eyes, like a frightened rabbit.
Mo Sigui suddenly felt a surge of pity and tenderness. He said gently, “Cousin, you can speak freely. The Elder’s medical skills are unparalleled in the world, he’ll surely be able to help you. Besides, we’re all blood relatives, and you’re Elder Zhi’s named disciple…”
Under Mo Sigui’s coaxing, Mei Jiu calmed down but then fell into a deep dilemma. She wanted to reveal the truth to save herself, but she didn’t want to harm An Jiu.
Just as Elder Zhi’s patience was almost exhausted, she hesitantly said, “If I tell you the truth, you can’t harm her.”
The three men had made various speculations, but it was merely imagination; they didn’t believe it. Now, hearing her admit it herself, they couldn’t hide their shock.
Besides being shocked, Mo Sigui also sighed at Mei Jiu’s naivety. Elder Zhi had clearly shown an attitude of keeping the strong and discarding the weak. He wouldn’t easily change his decision due to blood relations. If forced to choose only one, Mo Sigui would bet his head that Elder Zhi would choose the stronger one without even blinking.
“We’re two people,” Mei Jiu, in contrast to An Jiu, trusted others easily. “When I was being chased by men in black, she suddenly appeared in my body…”
Mei Jiu explained everything clearly.
The more the three men listened, the more bizarre it seemed. Finally, Mo Sigui said incredulously, “It’s not a delusion, is it?”
The two elders fell into silence.
After pondering for a long time, Elder Qi said, “The pulse doesn’t lie. There’s no sign of delusion.”
Mo Sigui’s eyes lit up. He glared at Mei Jiu and said, “Call her out, I want revenge!”
“Is there a way to wake her up?” Elder Zhi quickly adjusted his emotions. As long as the ins and outs were clear, a solution could be found.
“We can only wait for her to wake up on her own.” Even with Elder Qi’s superior medical skills, it was difficult to reach a mere soul.
Elder Zhi nodded and glanced at Mei Jiu. “You go back and rest first. This matter must be kept secret from outsiders.”
This wasn’t just said to Mei Jiu alone. Elder Qi and Mo Sigui understood and swore a poisonous oath never to reveal a single word about this to outsiders.
Mo Sigui escorted Mei Jiu out.
The medicine room fell into dead silence.
After an unknown period, Elder Zhi finally broke the silence, “If what she said is true, is there a way to deal with it?”
This was already beyond the scope of medical skills. Elder Qi was confident in his ability to make flesh grow on bare bones, but he had no confidence in dealing with something invisible and intangible. “I have a close friend who is a Taoist master. Why don’t I go personally to ask for his assistance?”
“That’s good!” Elder Zhi still didn’t fully believe what Mei Jiu had said, nor did he believe that Taoists had any real ability to communicate with spirits. But he changed his approach to achieve his goal. “You should stay for a few more days and diagnose carefully. That way, when you see your old friend, you’ll be able to explain the situation better.”
“Hmm, brother, your words make sense,” Elder Qi also had his plans. As a clan elder, he was a pillar of the clan, and it wasn’t easy to travel far. But he had to make this trip to Mount Tai happen no matter what!
Elder Qi had already caused much dissatisfaction among others by keeping Mo Sigui by his side. Many eyes were watching. They wanted him to pass on his medical skills to disciples of their clan. But not just within the clan, even looking at the whole world, how many people could match Mo Sigui’s talent in medicine?
Mo Sigui wasn’t steady enough, but his comprehension was excellent. With such a peerless jade before him, how could Elder Qi’s eyes accommodate any other stones? He didn’t refuse the people pushed forward by the clan, but in his heart, he had already decided that his true skills would only be passed on to Mo Sigui.
The medical way was Elder Qi’s lifelong pursuit. Only an exceptionally gifted successor would not waste his lifetime of achievements. Meeting Mo Sigui was a great blessing from heaven in Elder Qi’s eyes, so he was determined not to have any regrets in this matter, even if it cost him his life.
After Elder Zhi left, Mo Sigui rushed back to the medicine room like a gust of wind. “Elder, how did you detect the anomaly in the extraordinary meridians just now?”
This was prying into someone else’s unique skills! Mo Sigui nominally had no possibility of becoming Elder Qi’s disciple. If it were anyone else, they wouldn’t have the face to ask such a question. Mo Sigui wasn’t a person without dignity, but whenever he encountered an interesting medical question, he always managed to ask shamelessly.
This kind of passion for medicine was also something Elder Qi admired.
“Shouting and yelling! You want more beatings?” Elder Qi struck him with his walking stick, but his other hand grabbed Mo Sigui’s wrist, demonstrating the secret technique of pulse-taking with true qi that he had used earlier.
As the threads of true qi invaded, Mo Sigui even forgot to cry out in pain.
“How is it?” Elder Qi asked in a low voice.
Mo Sigui didn’t answer. Instead, he directly grabbed Elder Qi’s pulse and tried to imitate the method from earlier. He concentrated his true qi at his fingertips, then used his spiritual force to control and divide it into three streams, exploring in different directions. However, because his martial arts were only at the fifth level and it was his first attempt, the gathered true qi quickly dissipated.
Elder Qi was first surprised, then became delighted, exclaiming twice, “Good, good!”
“It’s a pity I can only divide it into three streams and can’t maintain it for long. Sigh, Elder, am I very stupid?” Mo Sigui wore a look of concern for the country and its people.
The smile froze on Elder Qi’s face, and he couldn’t help but strike again, “Do you think my unique skills are some roadside tricks? I think you just need more beatings!”
Mo Sigui howled like a ghost and wolf.
Pulse-taking with true qi was one of Elder Qi’s unique skills. It required extremely high internal force, true qi, and spiritual force from the practitioner, especially at the initial stage of dividing the qi, which was the most difficult. After that, one could divide it into multiple streams and maintain it at will by constantly enhancing internal force. It had taken him over ten years of hard work and contemplation to be able to divide his true qi into three streams!
There was a commotion in the room, and Mei Tingzhao, who was in the corridor opposite, saw Mo Sigui running out covering his face. He seized the opportunity to mock, “Cousin, I think you should give up. Even street performers wouldn’t teach you casually, let alone the Elder’s unique skills?”
“Go play somewhere else!” Mo Sigui rushed into the room next door to apply medicine.
He was already used to it. Elder Qi would beat him every few days to test his medicine-making skills. These small injuries would now be healed in just two-quarters of an hour.
Elder Qi had a particular method when beating Mo Sigui. He found that if he hit his body, this bear child didn’t care at all. Only by hitting his face would he urgently think of ways to concoct medicines that worked quickly and didn’t leave scars.