A person’s demeanor is truly important.
When An Jiu first met Mo Sigui, she thought he was a beautiful young man. However, after a few encounters, she discovered that his character completely failed to match his appearance, to the extent that she wanted to punch him hard every time she saw him.
“Indeed, doctors are no good,” An Jiu thought to herself.
Mei Jiu remained silent, not daring to mention An Jiu’s painful past. From the memories she had obtained, An Jiu’s father was a doctor – a madman who used his wife for drug experiments. Due to a major trauma, An Jiu’s mental state had deteriorated. Her behavior became extremely violent, often resulting in either killing others or self-harm. As a result, those doctors could only forcefully restrain her, which led to An Jiu’s lasting aversion to all medical practitioners.
After a while, Mo Sigui emerged from the herb garden with two elders.
Elder Qi was only four years younger than Elder Zhi, but when the two walked together, they looked as if there was a ten-year age gap between them! Elder Qi, at sixty-three years old, appeared vigorous and energetic, looking only in his fifties. His legs were nimble, yet he held a jade-white walking stick in his hand.
Elder Qi’s gaze softened as he observed An Jiu.
An Jiu felt uncomfortable as she followed Yao Ye in paying respects to the two men.
“Hmph.” Elder Zhi saw her awkward manner, and his anger rose again.
An Jiu spoke sincerely and earnestly, “Elder, it was wrong of me to anger you earlier. How many beatings would it take to appease you? I won’t dodge them.”
Hearing this, Mei Jiu shuddered, “You should at least consult with me! It’s not just you who will feel the pain!”
“Ha, brother, your disciple is interesting,” Elder Qi said. Though he was inherently stubborn, he usually had a very easygoing temperament. Normally, only Mo Sigui could provoke him.
“The feeling is mutual,” Elder Zhi grunted.
Elder Qi was the eldest son of the main branch. Though his martial arts were lacking, he was a medical prodigy. He had been obsessed with medicine throughout his life, paying no attention to other matters. It wasn’t until his only child was sent to the Crane Control Army that he felt regret. After becoming an elder of the Mei family and learning more about the Crane Control Army, that regret became increasingly unbearable. Whenever he recalled his son’s gloomy expression before joining the Crane Control Army, it became a persistent nightmare. He was inherently stubborn; once he made up his mind about something, he wouldn’t change course even if he hit a wall. He felt he had failed his son, and no amount of persuasion could change his mind.
Elder Qi was very fond of Mo Sigui, treating him like his own grandson. He deliberately prevented Mo Sigui from joining the Mei family, but privately passed on all his knowledge without reservation. Elder Zhi, who saw through worldly affairs, how could he not guess Elder Qi’s intentions? He simply chose to turn a blind eye.
“Let’s go. We’ll talk inside,” Elder Qi said.
An Jiu immediately became wary. She had come to apologize to Elder Zhi; Elder Qi had nothing to do with this. Why were they all going inside to talk?
“Girl, since you were registered under my name, I’ve been paying attention to your words and actions,” Elder Zhi’s gaze was as clear as if he could see through secrets. “Elder Qi not only has superb medical skills but is also proficient in various mystical and esoteric arts. But don’t worry, I bear you no ill will.”
The implication in these words seemed to suggest that they already knew about the two souls residing in her body.
Mei Jiu worried, “What should we do? It seems we’ve been discovered?”
If Elder Qi could truly see through their dual-soul situation, An Jiu felt it was worth a gamble. What was the point of being trapped in a body that already had an owner? Was she alive or dead? If there was a way to separate, that would be ideal. If she were to vanish into thin air, she would consider herself as having died completely when she was shot in the head. But if they hadn’t figured it out, she absolutely wouldn’t admit to it voluntarily.
Having made up her mind, An Jiu very carefully asked Mei Jiu a question, “What are mystical and esoteric arts?”
“You don’t know?” Mei Jiu, constantly being called an idiot, had developed a bit of a temper. She immediately wanted to mock An Jiu, “Aren’t you supposed to be a genius?”
Due to her mother’s influence, An Jiu understood some Eastern culture and had lived in the East for a period. However, she was not as knowledgeable as a native-born ancient person.
“What’s there to question? The difference is obvious,” An Jiu said seriously, without blushing or panting, stating a fact. “Since I’m not ashamed to ask, you should answer properly. Being born an idiot is one thing, don’t lose the virtues you’ve managed to cultivate.”
Mei Jiu deeply doubted if this person was an assassin. She privately thought that assassins should all be like Mu Qianshan – cold and taciturn, with a lifeless face that kept people at a distance. An Jiu indeed had a murderous aura and was difficult to approach, but she could hardly be called taciturn. Thinking carefully, An Jiu was cold and taciturn when occupying the body, but she became quite talkative in front of Mei Jiu!
Talkative was one thing, but every sentence was a put-down!
Despite her dissatisfaction, Mei Jiu still obediently answered, “Mystical arts cover a wide range, including some medical techniques and self-cultivation methods. They are essential studies for great doctors. Besides these, mystical arts also include divination and physiognomy. Legend has it that they even involve summoning ghosts and gods, and cultivation to immortality. Esoteric arts lean more towards the ghostly and divine aspects of mystical arts, including geomancy, formations, and fate calculation.”
Mei Jiu had read extensively, but she only had a superficial understanding of these things. She was naturally not gifted in the study of changes, and even after reading the “Book of Changes” over and over, she could only grasp its surface meaning.
Mo Sigui couldn’t help but sidle up to An Jiu again, “I knew you must be sick.”
An Jiu swiftly raised her hand and planted a fist on his face.
“Ow!” Mo Sigui howled, covering his face. “I still need to rely on my face to make a living!”
Whack! Elder Qi struck the back of his head with his walking stick, displeased. “Haven’t I taught you enough medical skills to keep you from starving? You still need to rely on that superficial face of yours to make a living!”
Yao Ye and Mei Jiu, who had been worried, couldn’t help but laugh at this scene.
Elder Qi couldn’t bring himself to hit hard, but An Jiu hadn’t held back. One punch left Mo Sigui with a nosebleed. He rummaged through his pockets and pulled out several bottles and jars, fussed for a while, then tore a piece of cloth to stuff into his nostrils, finally stopping the bleeding.
Fortunately, Mei Jiu’s body wasn’t very strong, otherwise, Mo Sigui’s nose might have been broken, if not his entire face ruined.
Back at Qiming Hall, Elder Qi led them into a medicine room.
Only upon entering did they realize that Elder Qi’s quarters were not only different from Elder Zhi’s on the outside, but the interiors were also vastly different. Elder Zhi’s quarters were spacious, uniformly empty, and spotlessly clean, without a single unnecessary decoration. In contrast, Elder Qi’s medicine room was cluttered with bottles and jars in disarray, various medicinal ingredients piled up haphazardly, almost burying the furniture. Many of the bottles looked identical, making it difficult to distinguish their contents.
“Don’t stand on ceremony, sit anywhere,” Elder Qi said kindly.
But… where to sit?
Elder Zhi spotted a chair, swept off the bottles on it, and sat down.
An Jiu followed suit and cleared another chair for herself.
The sound of shattering porcelain made Elder Qi’s eyes twitch. He sighed, “You two are truly cut from the same cloth. Sigui, find my Soul-Calming Powder.”
Mo Sigui’s nose bridge was bruised, with silk strips hanging from his nostrils. As he spoke, the strips fluttered, his eyes looking innocently at Elder Qi, “I can’t help now.”
With so many bottles and jars, he needed his keen sense of smell to find the medicine. But with the strong-smelling ointment on his nose, he could barely smell anything else.
“Your eyes are still working, aren’t they?” Elder Zhi’s tone remained calm, but his demand was extremely harsh.
None of the bottles here were labeled. Trying to determine the contents of pills or powders by sight alone was unimaginably difficult.
Mo Sigui reluctantly moved, “At least give me a general area!”
“I remember it’s roughly in that corner,” Elder Qi pointed with his walking stick.
Mo Sigui tiptoed to that area and began rummaging through the items on the ground.
Just as An Jiu was wondering if he could find it, she felt her wrist suddenly gripped by three fingers. She quickly pulled away, her counterattack halting midway as she realized who it was.
“I apologize,” An Jiu said, seeing it was Elder Qi sitting beside her. After a moment’s hesitation, she extended her hand again.
This pulse-taking lasted for a long time. The room was very quiet, making Mo Sigui’s handling of the bottles and jars seem particularly loud.
Elder Qi finally released An Jiu’s wrist and moved to check her neck pulse, trying several points before muttering, “The extraordinary meridians are unusual.”
“What kind of unusual?” Mo Sigui eagerly came over, reaching out to grab An Jiu’s wrist.
Mei Jiu wanted to sigh. This person… The wound hadn’t even scarred, and he’d already forgotten the pain.
An Jiu withdrew her hand and looked at Elder Qi.
“You should step out for now,” Elder Qi glanced at Yao Ye.
Yao Ye felt both worried and confused. He wanted to stay but dared not disobey the elder’s words, so he reluctantly complied and left.
Unable to take An Jiu’s pulse, Mo Sigui asked reluctantly, “Elder, how is it unusual?”
The Ren and Du meridians, one yin and one yang, channel the qi and blood through all the body’s organs. Together, they are called the extraordinary meridians. In martial arts, unusual extraordinary meridians either indicate that the Ren and Du meridians are naturally connected from birth, marking a martial arts prodigy; or that the branch meridians are too complex, causing the two main meridians to lack clarity and flow, indicating someone unsuited for martial arts who can never reach the peak no matter how much effort they put in.
If it was the latter, that would be terrible! Elder Zhi sat up slightly, “Is it a heaven-sent pulse or a defective one?”
Elder Qi shook his head, “Neither. Although Fourteenth Miss doesn’t have naturally connected extraordinary meridians, both meridians are clear. Moreover, I observed that her bone structure is exceptional, with excellent innate qualities. It’s a pity she started practicing martial arts so late, otherwise, she should be at least at the fourth level by now.”
Mei Jiu had never practiced martial arts. Killing a martial artist with a bamboo bow wasn’t the main reason Elder Zhi took her as a disciple. At that time, he also saw that Mei Jiu had good innate qualities and a temperament that suited his liking, which is why he decided to accept her as a disciple.
Hearing Elder Qi’s words, Elder Zhi finally felt relieved, “Then what is it…”
“Her two meridians alternate between stagnation and flow, with no regular pattern,” Elder Qi frowned, slowly explaining, “In theory, once a person’s qi and blood are established, the Ren and Du meridians should operate on their own, and it’s highly unlikely for such a condition to occur. From a martial arts perspective, perhaps spiritual force could affect these two meridians…”
As Elder Qi spoke, he suddenly had a realization, “So I speculate that Fourteenth Miss has two layers of spiritual force. When these spiritual forces intersect, it might cause this strange phenomenon.”
“So, you mean she’s crazy, right?” Mo Sigui interjected. “I’ve seen such a pulse before in Bianjing. It was a caravan guard who was usually insane, sometimes claiming to be the number one expert in the jianghu, sometimes saying he was a farmer who had lost his wife. The pulse fluctuated greatly between these two states! When he claimed to be the top expert, his internal force doubled, jumping from level three to level four, then dropping back when he became lucid. Cousin’s condition seems similar, except that the guard was abnormal, while cousin shows no signs of insanity. That’s why I’m particularly interested.”
He rattled off a long explanation, then looked at An Jiu with clear, lofty eyes: See, cousin, is very upright at heart, truly only concerned about the medical condition, without any lustful intentions.