Chapter 220: The Five Viscera Are Complete
Chapter 220: The Five Viscera Are Complete
The day after the matter was settled, the fragrant girl indeed wrote a letter and brought it over.
Hu Ma sent Zhou Liang to the city, where he found a mule and horse trader. He gave some silver, and the trader agreed to take the letter along on his journey to Anzhou. They often traveled south and north, so there was usually someone heading in the right direction. With a bit more silver, the trader would make a detour to deliver the letter.
Upon returning, all that was left was to wait. Regardless of the mysterious aspects of the girl, the fact that she could find a home for the child they had rescued made Hu Ma feel quite content.
However, he wasn't sure if this act had truly accumulated some intangible and unexplainable merit, or if it was simply due to the recent frequent blood food and diligent cultivation.
About two months after the incident with the evil spirits, Hu Ma suddenly felt a thunderous rumble in his ears. He felt something inside his body being abruptly driven out. His body first experienced a sudden stillness, as if all life had vanished in an instant. But in the next moment, a surge of warm energy flowed through his limbs and bones, dispelling the cold.
"Hmm?"
Hu Ma instinctively opened his eyes and found himself in the Life-bound Spirit Temple. He used the temple's deity statue to reflect his own cultivation, and whenever it was a critical moment, he would come to observe it closely. Indeed, when he opened his eyes, he saw the dark red mist swirling in the space before him.
Behind the incense altar, everything was pitch black, and only the outline of the deity statue could be faintly seen. However, several parts of the statue now glowed brightly. These were the limbs and the five viscera.
Since the statue was mostly hidden in the darkness, it was hard to see clearly, but it seemed as if only the limbs and five viscera were floating in mid-air. It was mysterious and grand.
Among them, the heart, which led the five viscera, was beating steadily. With each beat, a faint golden light seemed to emerge, flowing into the limbs and bones, as if trying to illuminate the entire statue. However, because the statue seemed very deep and heavy, each beat of the heart was not enough to fully illuminate it.
But this continuous flow of life energy made Hu Ma feel as if the statue had come to life.
He gazed at the statue for a long time, speechless. He felt a strange sense of relief, gratitude, and even reverence.
It was done.
At this moment, he had successfully refined his heart, completing the five viscera stage of the Age Keeper's cultivation.
In theory, this wasn't a significant achievement. But why did he feel such a strong sense of shock and genuine joy?
This joy made Hu Ma sit in the Life-bound Spirit Temple for a long time before he sighed softly and returned to the real world. He sat up in bed and could feel his heart beating.
This beating was different from before. Previously, it was mechanical and forced, but now it was spontaneous.
Since reincarnating into this world, Hu Ma felt he had never been as "alive" as he was now.
However...
... He glanced at the bottles and jars in the box by his bed and couldn't help but smile bitterly. The cost was truly terrifying...
Perhaps, he should urge Mr. Xu to settle his earlier accounts?
Although the Red Lantern Lady had given him an additional reward, it was a different matter from the expenses he planned to report!
He felt a sense of inexplicable joy. If it weren't for the late hour, he would have gone to the tavern for a drink to celebrate, but just then, he heard the tavern owner's voice from outside:
"Has the young master gone to bed? Hurry and take a look, the fragrant girl has fallen ill..."
"..."
"Hmm?"
Hearing this, Hu Ma frowned, got up, and put on his clothes, heading to the courtyard. Now that the Red Lantern Lady had built the temple, the village still had its major rules, but some minor rules had changed, such as the main gate not being closed at night. So he heard the shout in the courtyard and recognized it as the tavern owner from the town.
If she were ill, they should have called a doctor and gotten medicine. Why come to the village?
Hu Ma thought as he put on his clothes and stepped out of the inner courtyard. Seeing the tavern owner's anxious face, he immediately knew it was no ordinary illness. He asked a few questions, and the apprentices in the side rooms were also startled awake and ran out.
In the village, the name "fragrant girl" had an extraordinary charm. Her appearance would cause a stir, second only to the phrase "Elder Brother Hu Ma has arrived."
"Let's go and take a look first!"
After asking the owner a few questions and seeing his confusion, Hu Ma spoke softly.
It was already midnight, and he wouldn't normally go out. But the rules had changed, and the area outside the village was quiet. Plus, the fragrant girl was familiar to all the apprentices, so they all dressed and followed the tavern owner out of the village.
Originally, Hu Ma planned to go alone, but seeing the apprentices' concerned faces, he let them follow. They even carried the red lanterns from the village. Only Li, still half-asleep, poked his head out and said, "You guys go ahead, I'll stay and watch the house."
The apprentices, upon hearing that the fragrant girl was ill, were all filled with concern. They came over with a fierce determination, scaring off the wandering Yin spirits who were two li away.
When they arrived at the inn's front door, they saw that the door panels had been taken down and not yet reinstalled. In the inner courtyard, the oil lamp in the small room where the fragrant girl usually stayed was lit. When Hu Ma entered, he saw the town's doctor, Doctor Yang, shaking his head with a worried expression.
"Doctor Yang, have you examined her?"
Hu Ma knew this doctor from the town, so he went up to greet him.
Seeing Hu Ma, the doctor hurriedly stood up, bowing respectfully and performing the proper courtesies. He said, "I've examined her. Old Sun called me over as soon as he could."
"But after checking her pulse and applying acupuncture, it seems to have no effect. I think this isn't an issue I can solve. It might require someone with your expertise, Master Hu."
The doctor was from the town and not a renowned physician, but he was an honest man. If he said it wasn't an illness, then it must be something else. Hu Ma did not dare to be careless. He entered the room and saw the fragrant girl lying on the bed, her eyes tightly shut, her face flushed.
He felt her nose with his fingers; the breath coming out was scorching hot.
Under her fair skin, it seemed as if blood had pooled, and faint red spots were visible.
"Could it be an evil spirit?"
Hu Ma frowned, pulling back her eyelids to check. Her pupils appeared normal, a typical sign of someone in a coma.
He then checked her fingertips, but they were not black.
After examining her with his knowledge, he looked at the most reliable place.
Little Red Apricot had already climbed to the roof beam. Seeing Hu Ma look over, she shook her little head.
"Hisss..."
Hu Ma understood Little Red Apricot's meaning; it wasn't an evil spirit either.
His heart sank a bit. If it wasn't an illness and not an evil spirit, there was only one answer...
...she must have been affected by a spell.
Looking at the fragrant girl's pulse of golden light seemed to emanate, but it didn't fully wake her.
He bent down, patted her cheeks, and called out to her a few times.
"It's no use, she won't wake up..."
The innkeeper and his wife, who were standing nearby, said, "We've called her several times already."
Even the doctor nodded in agreement.
Hu Ma frowned and asked the innkeeper, "When did she start feeling unwell?"
"Since dusk."
The innkeeper said, "The fragrant girl is diligent. She washed the dishes, did some laundry, and even after it got dark, she didn't want to sleep. She lit an oil lamp to sew a pair of shoes, saying she wanted to give them to you..."
He glanced at Hu Ma, worried about being disrespectful, and changed his words, "She wanted to sew a pair of shoes for the innkeeper in the village. My wife even laughed at her, saying that such a big innkeeper wouldn't lack a pair of shoes from her."
"..."
Hu Ma felt a bit helpless. He said, "She didn't listen, insisting on finishing the shoes. My wife and I went to sleep early, but we woke up after a short while when we heard her shout. There was a thud, and when we rushed over, she was like this."
Hu Ma asked, "Did anything break in?"
"No, no."
The innkeeper hurriedly said, "The door to the inn is sturdy, and the door to her room was locked from the inside."
"I had to break the window to get in."
"..."
He glanced at the window with a hole kicked in it, looking a bit heartbroken.
But when he saw the person inside had fainted, he didn't have time to worry about the window and had to kick it open to check on her.
Upon hearing this, Hu Ma knew he wouldn't get any more information. He looked at the fragrant girl lying on the bed, her comatose state showing extreme weakness. If he could wake her up, he might be able to ask her some questions, but how?
Should he use the Four-ghost salute technique?
When he was dealing with evil spirits in the surrounding villages, he used the four-ghost salute technique to temporarily calm the crying children.
But that was during the day. It was night now, and the four-ghost salute was a bit too powerful.
Moreover, Hu Ma roughly guessed that the fragrant girl's condition was different from those children. The children were bewitched by evil spirits, meaning something extra was added to them. But the fragrant girl seemed to be missing something.
He took a deep breath. Age-Keepers were good at direct confrontation, but they were a bit wary of such mystical matters.
He could only be patient and ask the innkeeper carefully, "Think hard. Did any strange people come to your place today?"
"Someone who looks unfamiliar, not from a good family."
"Think if anyone spoke to the fragrant girl, asked her name or background. If someone took her hair or asked about her birth date and time, that would be even more helpful."
"..."
Upon hearing this, the innkeeper became even more perplexed: "We do business with travelers, so most people who come are unfamiliar..."
"Ah, there was someone..."
At that moment, the innkeeper's wife suddenly spoke up.
(End of Chapter)
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