Chapter 87 - The cross-dressing Mr. Cult Leader (4)
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Translated by: Niladri
self-edited
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The sound of clinking bells resounded in his ear. Every day in the last three years, he could only rely on his imagination to carry on. The beautiful crescent spring, the tinkling sound that little Miao girl always made when she walked, and her bright smile that shone like stars, but her eyes that always exuded disdain.
"Han person, what are you doing in Miao area?"
The voice that suddenly sounded was not the crisp voice in Duan Feiqing's memory, but a little low. Obviously the tone was unpleasant, but to Duan Feiqing it was like hearing the sounds of nature. He raised his head with a little difficultly, endured the pain and smiled: "ah Heng, I have to trouble you again."
Lu Heng found that this man was in an even more embarrassing situation than that time five years ago. His figure was gaunt and he appeared haggard. His face was pale. His complexion was white before, but previously it was as white as mutton fat jade. Now, it was like gold paper, like a devil crawling out of hell.
Duan Feiqing wanted to stand up to see if Lu Heng was as breathtaking as he remembered, but he didn't succeed. He could only lie on the ground, and as he did so, noticed that the white calves that had always been exposed outside had been hidden under the slightly broad trouser legs, only displaying the slender ankles and the silver ornaments on them.
Duan Feiqing was then turned over. A beautiful and vivacious face appeared in his field of vision, just like this dangerous Miao jungle, gorgeous but dangerous.
Lu Heng looked at the man on the ground with frowning brows. He reached out his hand and probed his neck. His pulse was weak. He did not seem like a martial artist at all. Could it be? Lu Heng quickly moved his trembling hand to lift Duan Feiqing's robe. Sure enough, the area around the shoulder blade was badly mutilated. This would only happen if a person was shackled with chains that pierced his shoulder blade bone for a long time. After the flesh and bone begun to merge with the iron chain, the constantly worn chain would be hastily drawn out, leading to this.
Lu Heng pinched Duan Feiqing's pulse gate and probed into the internal force. He found that compared with the sorry outside appearance, his insides were even more miserable. It seemed that the meridians were severed by a clever method, which wasted his martial arts, but did not hurt his life. The message in sparing his life seemed to be telling him to stay put and not make any big moves.
Dragging his ragged body, he had trudged thousands of miles to the remote Miao area, which was probably the main reason why he was dying now. This man's willpower was so strong that he didn’t know what kind of obsession motivated him to reach this crescent spring.
Seeing that Duan Feiqing's breathing was as weak as it could be, Lu Heng turned over his hand and took out a “breath of life” Gu. He didn't care that it took him many years to successfully refine it, and instead he directly stuffed it into Duan Feiqing’s mouth.
The “breath of life” Gu was a secret of the Five immortals cult. As soon as the “breath of life” Gu fell in, Duan Feiqing’s breathing gradually became stronger and more stable, and his face recovered a little. He was no longer pale as a dead man.
Duan Feiqing was woken up by a strange aroma. He opened his eyes and saw the Miao girl squatting in front of the stove in a very unrefined posture, focusing on the black pot on which she was cooking some unknown substance.
"Ah Heng."
Lu Heng made a gesture to show that he couldn’t be distracted now. He kept staring at the black liquid in the pot, slowly bubbling out, sniffing repeatedly and smelling the fragrance carefully, and then he sprinkled the powder in his hand.
It’s done.
"Come here." Lu Heng raised his chin and motioned to Duan Feiqing to sit in a cane chair beside him.
Duan Feiqing sat up subconsciously, only to find that he had been able to move as usual. Although the meridians in the body still weren’t be restored, there was no problem in moving about like ordinary people. It seemed that she had saved his life again, and Duan Feiqing smiled bitterly. I just wanted to see her for the last time, but I owe her for another life saving grace.
Lu Heng saw Duan Feiqing sitting on the bed, stupefied, and urged: "come quickly."
When he sat down at the stone table, Lu Heng put the earthen pot on the stone table and ordered: "drink."
Duan Feiqing picked up a spoon and began to drink the medicine without saying a word.
Lu Heng picked up his eyebrow and said, "Are you not afraid that I will poison you? No wonder every time I see you, you look like you are going to die. It’s because you are a fool."
Duan Feiqing swallowed the strange tangy medicine in his mouth and smiled: "Ah Heng won't hurt me at all."
Lu Heng once again had the urge to roll his eyes. Once his body had recovered, his smile was irresistible. He was a little relieved with the knowledge that the essence of the medicine had been extracted successfully, but he said with a mischievous voice, "this medicine is for you to renew your meridians. I have been refining for several hours, and you should eat all the things in it."
Hearing the words, Duan Feiqing subconsciously scooped out the contents at the bottom with the spoon, and saw a scorpion, a centipede and some unknown poisonous insects on the white porcelain spoon. The smile on his face froze.
Seeing Duan Feiqing’s face turning green, Lu Heng was about to laugh. But when he saw that he did not hesitate to put the spoon into his mouth, Lu Heng was surprised and hurriedly stopped: "ah, you really ate it, I was just joking! "
He saw the cute young man did not hesitate to swallow the poisonous insects, but also sporting a gentle smile: "Ah Heng’s creation, how dare I waste it?"
"You, stop laughing! I'll come back tomorrow. " Lu Heng threw out a sentence, turned his head and hurried out.
Under Lu Heng's careful supervision, Duan Feiqing recovered slowly. Although the martial arts that had been destroyed could not be recovered, the broken meridians had been rejoined. Maybe was very lucky, but also because of misfortune, the meridians were thicker and more resilient than before. Stepping on the road of martial arts again, with the previous comprehension as the basis, he entered the boundary faster than before the injury. Duan Feiqing was originally a talented martial artist with excellent roots and bones. After this battle, he had unlimited future in martial arts.
That day, Duan Feiqing looked at the shadow sword on the stone table. This is what Lu Heng handed back to him when he had learnt that his Lustrous sword had been lost.
"I don't want to use the black and ugly old sword."
Duan Feiqing thought of the man's disgusted look, and his heart grew warm again. If he really didn't like this sword, how could this shadow sword remain in such a well-maintained condition? The other person must have seen that he had no weapon and therefore concocted a reason to return this sword to him. Duan Feiqing’s hand slowly caressed the scabbard, as if trying to pick it up, but suddenly drew it back.
He suddenly thought of the scene in the dungeon, where he had changed into a crazed devil. How can I still hold that pure sword heart now? Duan Feiqing’s fingers trembled and blue tendons burst out in front of his forehead. At such a moment, anyone would notice that there was a terrifying feeling in the star-like eyes of this young prince of the family who was as beautiful as the bright moon.
A black bug appeared on the edge of the stone table. The shell of that insect emitted a faint blue luminescence. It appeared to be extremely poisonous. Anyone who had a sense of reason would choose to retreat from the poisonous insect. Duan Feiqing stared at the insect for a long time, and the corner of his mouth hooked up with curiosity. Then he reached out for the insect.
"Put it down, you fool, that's the “three corpse” Gu!"
Lu Heng rushed in.
Just now, when he was inspecting the condition of Gus near Crescent spring, he found that one of the pots was broken. The Gus inside had disappeared, leaving only a single stone lying in the debris. It seemed that a passing bird had dropped the indigestible nuts while flying, and they happened to hit the pot. Lu Heng sprinkled a powder and found that the tracks of the insect trailed off into the cave.
At the thought of Duan Feiqing, who knew nothing about Gu, resting in the cave, he chased in anxiously. As soon as he entered the cave, he saw that Feiqing was holding the “three corpse” Gu and put it into his mouth.
However, it was too late. Lu Heng saw the man's throat move, and the “three corpse” Gu had been swallowed by him.
Fatal! Lu Heng rushed over and grabbed Duan Feiqing’s wrist, only to find that his breath was stable and there was no sign of poisoning.
"How is this possible?" Lu Heng muttered bewildered. As soon as the voice fell, he saw the blood spurting out of the man in front of him.
"You!" Lu Heng couldn’t dodge, but before he could display his anger, Feiqing fell down.
Lu Heng quickly caught his falling body, softly laid it flat on the ground, and probed into his body. Lu Heng’s mind was in disarray. What strange technique did this man practice? He absorbed the entire poisonous Gu and its venom. This poisonous Gu seemed to be a tonic to him.
However, “three corpse” Gu was not so easy to deal with. He estimated that Duan Feiqing would not wake up for a while. In any case, he was also worried about his vitality. The reason why he spit blood was that the power of the “three corpse” Gu was too powerful, just like the person who is physically deficient will face backlash when he suddenly eats very old healing ginseng. The absence cannot not be compensated[1]. Thinking of the scene just now, Lu Heng's face grew stiff, and he could care less about him now. He reached for it, and sure enough, his face was covered with blood. Once again, Lu Heng disgustedly looked at his bloody neck and lapel, turned around and went out to clean himself up.
1. Basically something like, External supplements cannot compensate for lack of proper body foundation
However, unlike Lu Heng thought, the person who should have been able to wake up only after a few hours opened his eyes shortly after Lu Heng left. When he thought of the scene before fainting, Duan Feiqing was in a panic. He was so angry that he wanted to spit out blood[2]. He got up and went out to find the other person.
2. metaphor for regret. Not literal.
Just when he had come out of the cave, and reached to that crescent spring nearby, Duan Feiqing stood frozen in place.
At this time, the sky was still bright, and the cold spring had just met the sunshine for the first time. The steaming water vapor made the surface of the water misty, a giving off an ethereal atmosphere. However, what made Duan Feiqing stupefied was not the beauty of this crescent spring. Rather, within the spring, the fair and clean back, the black hair disorderly on the beautiful back, it seemed like an illusion in the mist.
A crisp sound like a bird’s cry woke Duan Feiqing, who was in a daze. He had stepped on a pile of broken pots on the ground which made a crisp sound.
The person in the spring was immediately startled and turned around.
NILADRI: Ah the naked bathing scene.