Chapter 429: A Healer's Heart (Third Update!)

Chapter 429: A Healer's Heart (Third Update!)

Qin Mu picked up his brush and wrote down the spiritual medicines and poisons he needed. The prefect of the Purple Thorn City came to pay his respects, but Fox Ling'er blocked him, saying, "The young master is not receiving guests for the next few days."

The prefect had no choice but to withdraw.

Si Yunxiang, meanwhile, busied herself contacting the Si family, instructing them to notify the brothers of the sect to inform the emperor as quickly as possible. She also asked the sect's elders to carefully select experts well-versed in the Five Ghosts Moving Technique, ensuring they arrive as soon as possible.

Qin Mu handed her the prescription. Si Yunxiang glanced at it and saw hundreds of different herbs listed, many of which she had never seen or heard of. She said, "These spiritual medicines will be very hard to find. We'll have to search thoroughly through the medicine shops in every city, which will take a lot of time."

Qin Mu exhaled a turbid breath and smiled. "The few days I granted the White Gap deity were precisely for gathering these medicines and waiting for the sect's experts and the emperor to arrive. Otherwise, why would I let him deliberate for so long?"

Si Yunxiang sighed. "Being your enemy means even eating requires caution, lest you choke. I've already notified the Sacred Sect. Aside from a few elders, the best at the Five Ghosts Moving Technique are those from the Clever Hands Hall."

"Clever Hands Hall?" Qin Mu was taken aback, a questioning look on his face.

"Clever hands, empty pockets—naturally, they're thieves."

Si Yunxiang laughed. "The Clever Hands Hall is full of rogues. In the past, they often stole from wealthy households, moving their treasures away, but it was all small-time stuff. Later, the emperor conscripted them into the army to move enemy supplies, and many earned merits, even holding decent official positions."

"I see."

Qin Mu understood and praised, "Every trade has its master. Even thieves can rise in rank and wealth. I must tell Grandpa Cripple about this."

Yet he felt a pang of worry. Cripple and the others were blocking the gods of the Upper Firmament in the Divine Severing Mountain Range—he wondered how the battle was going.

"With Grandpa Pharmacist there, it should be fine."

Even so, he couldn't help but fret. Though Pharmacist could heal the wounded and save the dying, that was a battlefield of gods and demons. If someone was killed outright, even Pharmacist would have no remedy.

Si Yunxiang went to have the sect disciples prepare the herbs, while Qin Mu wrote out a prescription for his own treatment. He handed it to Fox Ling'er to fetch the medicines from the city's pharmacies, intending to recuperate properly. After all, the life force expended by using the Moon Boat was no small matter—if he could recover it, he would spare no effort.

After two or three days, Qin Mu felt much better. He took the Dragon King God and the group of dragons back to the Fragrant Well Estate and asked, "Senior Brother White Gap, do you need my help treating your injuries?"

"No need!"

The White Gap deity said warily, "A good healer is naturally a good poisoner. If I take your medicine, I fear I'd die without knowing how!"

Qin Mu glanced at his wounds. The bleeding had stopped, but there were many broken bones, a pitiful sight. He said, "If your leg isn't treated, it will be ruined, and you'll only walk on one leg. In two more days, that bad leg will need to be amputated. Moreover, the decay will spread, corroding the healthy parts, and your body will slowly rot away."

The White Gap deity sneered, "Are you trying to scare me? I am a deity—my flesh and blood won't rot! You hit me with the moon, not a divine ability. It was pure brute force, without any destructive power. My flesh won't decay!"

Qin Mu sighed. "That moon was a treasure refined by a cultivator from the Kaihuang Era. How could it lack divine abilities? The moon represents the Great Yin, and its energy is most adept at ruining a person's physical body. Avoiding treatment out of fear of the doctor—I never expected even a deity to be so vulgar." With that, he flicked his sleeves and left.

The White Gap deity sneered repeatedly.

Qin Mu walked out of the Fragrant Well Estate. Si Yunxiang had prepared some of the spiritual medicines and said, "Some herbs haven't been found yet, but I've instructed the sect brothers to search quickly. Once located, they'll be sent by fast boat."

Qin Mu inspected the medicines and said, "The current medicine won't kill him—it'll only cost him a leg."

Si Yunxiang was startled and whispered, "How are you going to take his leg?"

Qin Mu smiled faintly and instructed, "Tell everyone nearby who has even the slightest external injury, even a pinprick, not to live nearby. Have them move at least a mile away from the Fragrant Well."

Si Yunxiang probed, "What if someone has a pinprick and doesn't move?"

"Then they're in for a rough time."

Qin Mu selected the herbs without looking up. "The pricked spot will first become a small hole, then slowly expand. Within two or three hours, it will fester all over their body, and even their bones will necrotize."

Si Yunxiang shuddered and hurried off.

The Fragrant Well was a scenic spot in Purple Thorn City with few residents. Si Yunxiang simply ordered the prefect to have everyone move away from the area.

Qin Mu refined and boiled the medicine. Its fragrance was colorless and odorless, extremely hard to detect. Two days later, the White Gap deity sent someone to summon Qin Mu. Qin Mu sealed the prepared medicine and stored it for later use. When he arrived at the Fragrant Well Estate, he saw the White Gap deity sitting on the ground, his injured leg already rotting, the decay spreading into the healthy flesh.

"Did you do this to me?"

The White Gap deity's eyes blazed as he stared fixedly at Qin Mu, his voice hoarse. "My leg is deteriorating this fast—you must have tampered with it secretly!"

Qin Mu stepped forward, examined it carefully, and shook his head. "I told you it was because you avoided treatment, but you didn't believe me. Do you think the moon from that Moon Boat was easy to handle? If you had asked me to treat it sooner, the leg could have been saved. Now it's too late—the flesh has rotted, and the marrow is dead. The only way to stop the decay is to amputate it."

The White Gap deity's eyelids twitched as he stared hard at Qin Mu. Seeing no deception in his expression, he said dejectedly, "If I amputate it, I'll only have one leg left. I'll have even less leverage to bargain with you."

Qin Mu said earnestly, "My medical skills are quite advanced. I can attach someone else's leg for you. I have three legs here—pick one you like. After amputating yours, rest for two days, and I'll attach the new one."

The White Gap deity's face shifted between dark and bright, hesitating. Suddenly, he asked, "Do you know why I'm called White Gap?"

Qin Mu shook his head.

"A white colt flashes past a crack—sudden and fleeting."

The White Gap deity said calmly, "That refers to my speed. My speed is unmatched in the world. You can't even see my figure; in an instant, I can vanish a thousand miles away. With this leg injured, how can I still use my speed?"

Qin Mu nodded. That night in the Great Ruins when he encountered the three deities of the Upper Firmament, he had taken one down by surprise, but this White Gap deity was his toughest opponent—extremely fast, coming and going like light and lightning. Even with Qin Mu's Nine Heavens Eye-Opening Technique pushed to the ninth level, he could barely track him. The battle had stretched over thousands of miles before he finally injured his leg and crippled him.

"One leg can still run very fast."

Qin Mu comforted him. "Grandpa Cripple in my village only has one leg, and his speed is unmatched in the world. Look at this bad leg—shall I saw it off for you?"

The White Gap deity trembled, his voice raspy. "Aren't you a divine physician? Is there really no way to save it?"

Qin Mu said gloomily, "If it had been two days ago… Now, if we amputate, you'll still have one leg. If we delay further, we'll have to cut at the waist. But don't worry—Grandpa Butcher in my village was once cut at the waist, and he's still alive and well. He walks on his arms very fast, and he doesn't even need to pee, which is convenient."

The White Gap deity's face muscles twitched wildly. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Then amputate it!"

Qin Mu took out the Carefree Sword and handed it to him, apologizing, "You're a deity—I don't have the strength to cut off your leg. You'll have to do it yourself."

The White Gap deity gripped the hilt, ready to strike, but tears streamed down his face.

Qin Mu felt a pang of pity and was about to speak when the White Gap deity let out a roar and swung the sword, severing his injured leg cleanly at the root!

Qin Mu was stunned for a moment, then quickly stepped forward to stop the bleeding. He put away the Carefree Sword and took out three legs, saying with utmost sincerity, "Pick a leg. I genuinely want to avert this disaster, so I will do my utmost to attach a leg for you, allowing you to still flash past a crack—sudden and fleeting. Rest assured, these three legs are from Xing Han's collection—top-tier legs, no worse than your original. You know Xing Han, right? A hoarding maniac—he doesn't collect anything below the divine level."

The White Gap deity endured the pain, but sweat rolled down his forehead in torrents. His gaze fell on the three legs, and he said hoarsely, "How do I know you haven't tampered with these legs? A good healer is a good poisoner. If you've poisoned these legs, wouldn't I be falling into your trap?"

Qin Mu looked at him with sincere eyes.

The White Gap deity saw his gaze and expression and felt a twinge of shame, but still couldn't trust him. His eyes flickered as he pointed to the shorter divine leg. "I choose this one."

Qin Mu smiled, handed him the leg, and put the other two away. "Rest assured, keep this leg with you. In two days, when your condition improves, I'll come back to attach it. Since the leg is in your hands, you shouldn't worry about me tampering with it, right?"

The White Gap deity nodded and sighed. "I shouldn't have doubted you. I believe you have a healer's heart. For these few days, don't prescribe me any medicine to recuperate—I'll handle it myself!"

Qin Mu sneered. "You still don't trust me. Fine, if you need any spiritual medicines, just instruct the cultivators outside the estate to fetch them. I won't interfere." With that, he turned and left.

The White Gap deity called over a cultivator, wrote a prescription, and sent someone to get the herbs.

Outside the estate, Si Yunxiang's eyes flickered as she whispered, "Chief, should we tamper with his medicine?"

"No need."

Qin Mu asked, "Have all the spiritual medicines I need arrived?"

"A few are still missing."

Qin Mu went to inspect them, calculated for a long time, and said, "Enough to work with." He then took out the remaining two divine legs, preparing to refine poison into them.

Si Yunxiang exclaimed, "Chief, you're…"

"Even though I let him keep that divine leg, he definitely won't use it. In a few days, he'll inevitably ask me to take out these two legs and choose one to attach."

Qin Mu focused intently on brewing the poison, intending to hide it within the legs. This earnest demeanor was terrifying. "I don't know which leg he'll pick, so I'll poison both. As for the leftover poisoned leg, I plan to…"

He channeled his primal energy, his techniques shifting a thousand times as he rapidly concocted the deadly poison. "…find an opportunity to return it to Xing Han! What do you think of that idea?"

Si Yunxiang shuddered several times, her face ashen, and stammered, "Chief, I will never again covet the position of chief!"

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Qin Mu turned and smiled at her, a big boy's smile—bright, sunny, and full of youthful vitality.

Si Yunxiang felt a chill run down her spine.

—Third update! Happy birthday to classmate Mo Ying! January 8th—one-eight, time to get rich~ Zhai Zhu sends a youthful, sunny, and radiant blessing!