Chapter 172 – Removing the Poison
Liu Ming finally found the small girl in a dilapidated wooden house in the city. The girl looked to be suffering a serious illness as she lay there before death’s grasp.
If it weren’t for the occasional care and attention that the kind beggars nearby gave to the small girl, Liu Ming was afraid to say that this young girl, Uncle Qian’s granddaughter, would have had her life quickly slip away.
Alarmed by this sight, Liu Ming rushed to her rescue. He naturally did all he could to save her. However, he soon discovered the illness that clung to this girl was an odd and rare condition. In fact, few in the world had witnessed or heard of its existence. The illness was incessantly feasting on the girl’s strength and life. It was as if as she contracted tuberculosis.
Fortunately, Liu Ming’s experiences with the prisoners on Savage Island taught him how to treat hard cases with home remedies. Additionally, he had brought Spirit Medicine along which could temporarily reverse the illness, and at the same time, barely keep the illness from worsening. Yet, in order to completely bring the illness under control, he needed an extremely rare Spirit Medicine to do so.
He waited for Qian Ruping’s physical state to stabilize a bit as a result. That night, Liu Ming burned to dust the homes of those who had seized the property of Uncle Qian’s son, setting all of their property ablaze. Later in the morning, he rewarded the kind beggars that had taken considerable care of the girl with some silver and gold. Carrying the girl on his back, Liu Ming left her hometown, heading straight to Xuanjing.
Though the Spirit Medicine he seeked was rare, there was a good possibility of finding it due to the sheer size of Xuanjing.
Besides, it wasn’t too long before his allotted time ran out. It wouldn’t be easy to continue to roam about outside of Xuanjing.
During the journey to Xuanjing, Liu Ming had used his Transformation Technique to change his facial appearance. Under the effects of his Bone Transformation Technique, he was now two inches shorter, shrinking his taller than average figure to that of a normal person.
What would happen after curing Qian Ruping of her odd illness was something, Liu Ming would consider later.
At the very least, the girl would have to stay with him for the duration he was in Xuanjing.
Being saved by Liu Ming from death’s grasp, the young girl, Qian Ruping, suddenly became exceedingly attached to her newly appeared “Brother Ming.” In the first few days, the attachment became so strong that she grasped onto Liu Ming’s shirt tightly before falling asleep. Protruding her lips outward, she took on an pitiful look as if she was scared that this “Brother Ming” would abandon her.
Naturally, Liu Ming took pity on this feeble-looking girl as she was related to Uncle Qian. During the journey, he agreed to many of her small requests, even showing off some basic spells from time to time. As a result, the whole journey was filled with incessant laughter.
In order to take care of Qian Ruping, it was natural that Liu Ming would not be able to use his flying technique. Instead, he rented a carriage for the journey and started driving the cart with the young girl inside to Xuanjing.
What Liu Ming did not anticipate in this temple, not far from Xuanjing, was that he would meet the Black Tiger Guards. The guards who had chased him into a tight corner where he was eventually forced to slaughter the guards chasing him.
Yet, it was just like what he had once said: If that midget didn’t put his hands on Qian Ruping, he wouldn’t have felt the urge to lend his hand to rescue them.
After all, this kind of matter was definitely linked to the powers within Xuanjing.
However, before investigating the situation in Xuanjing, Liu Ming did not want to reveal his true identity as a Spirit Apostle.
Of course, now faced with such circumstances, everything naturally changed.
As he had already undertaken such a task, Liu Ming decided to simply ask for help from this Lady Mi by using the identity of a loose practitioner to blend into the city of Xuanjing.
According to his knowledge, many loose practitioners appeared within Xuanjing every year, making his disguise unnoticeable to the unpracticed eye.
The odd poison the young boy had contracted was not simply some dark air accumulated between his brows. Only by using his powerful mental strength to scan the body of the boy, did Liu Ming discover the abnormality that lingered within.
In order to stay within his disguise, he spoke of a fake symptom.
At this time, the maid pulled the silver needle out from the boy’s upper arm. The bottom half of the silver needle was stained black.
Surprised by this, Lady Mi cried out in alarm.
The maid then hastily fastened the rest of the glyphs onto the young boy’s body.
In a cup of tea’s time, the maid decided to pull out another silver needle. Seeing the black stain same as before, she grimaced as if in pain.
Lady Mi, however, looked terrified. After quickly exchanging some words with the maid, she took out a small, delicate-looking bottle. Carefully pouring out a dark-green pellet, she inserted the medicine into the boy’s mouth.
After a short period of time, the maid pulled out yet another stained, silver needle, causing both women to become very anxious.
After talking in hushed tones to each other, they brought young boy to where Liu Ming was standing.
“Mister Qian, my child indeed does have an odd poison inside his body. The maid and I have tried our hardest, but there seems to be no way of getting rid of this poison. If mister could see this poison, I think it is certain that you can remove the poison. Please save my child’s life!” As Lady Mi walked near Liu Ming, she pulled the young boy over in an attempt to pay respects to Liu Ming.
Seeing this, Liu Ming scrunched his eyebrows, and a gust of invisible strength rushed out with only a shake with his wrists.
The kneeling Lady Mi suddenly felt a huge force pull on her body, and became unable to keep on kneeling down.
“No need to be so polite lady. Even though this poison is strong, it will not spread in a short period of time. Although it is in my capabilities to cure the poison, it is not something that can be done in one day. I must use acupuncture and let some of the poisoned blood flow out before I can pull out the rest of the poison. After all, your son has had this poison for some time!” Liu Ming replied in a calm and unhurried tone.
“It doesn’t matter. As long as there are signs of improvement, it does not scare me to wait longer. Mister, can you start drawing out the poison?” Having heard what Liu Ming said, Lady Mi replied in delight without much thought.
“How about this? I’ll give it a try, but I do not wish to let others watch as I carry out my work. So, I will ask Lady and the others to leave for a bit.” Liu Ming calmly spoke as he shot his gaze over the boy.
“Leave?! Mister, how do you want us to leave?” The maid did not feel surprised and instead carefully tried to clarify what Liu Ming said.
“Hmm. You don’t actually need to go anywhere. I can separate you with my spell.” As he muttered to himself, Liu Ming smiled as he replied. Shaking his wrists once again, a black cloud emerged in a flash, cloaking the young boy in its curtain.
The young boy who previously had his eyes wide in wonder suddenly fell into a deep slumber. As his body collapsed, an invisible force wrapped around him and brought him to float in mid-air.
Watching the scene before her unfold, the unprepared Lady Mi revealed a look of astonishment. Anxious and frightened, she was about to say something when the maid abruptly tugged at her sleeve. Changing her tone of voice just in time, she spoke, “This being the case, I thank Mister Qian for your generosity. I’ll just wait here then.”
Liu Ming nodded and turned to the young girl beside him. After giving her some orders, he weaved a sign with one hand and moved the young boy to a corner of the temple.
As his shadow flashed through the air, he appeared like a ghost at that corner of the temple. Weaving another sign with his other hand, clouds of black gas emerged from his body. After congealing for a while, the clouds transformed into layers and layers of black fog that covered up everything within a few feet to Liu Ming.
As a result, they looked at each other in dismay. Lady Mi and the maid could only wait as they were told to.
At this time, Lieutenant Du had finally finished interrogating the captives and walked over in big strides.
“Lady Mi, I have finished the interrogation. These people are only bandits from a nearby village. They were taken under the control of those practitioners a few days ago and were forced to attack us. Yet they do not have knowledge of who we are or any clue of the origin of those practitioners.” Lieutenant Du spoke icily as she informed Lady Mi.
“Lieutenant Du, this is nothing to be baffled about. Our Hundred Spirit House only has a few competitors in the business. Besides them, who else would hire people to go after us? Anyway, I did not consider the fact that they would strike so close to Xuanjing. If I did, I wouldn’t have sent the Ba brother to Xuanjing with a letter two days ago.” Hearing the report, Lady Mi clenched her teeth as she replied as her eyes flashed with anger.
“If this is the case, then I won’t keep the two captives anymore. In order to prevent the unexpected, I will split my people in two shifts to guard us against any unexpected threats!” Having heard what Lady Mi said, Lieutenant Du outlined her preparations.
“Sounds good. I’ll leave everything to you. It’s been an exhausting night for you, sister. Go ahead and get some rest.” With half her mind still lingering on her ill son, Lady Mi still managed to disguise a smile as she spoke.
Lieutenant Du nodded, glanced to the black fog that covered the corner of the temple and walked silently to sit next to the bonfire.
A quarter of an hour later, the previously dense fog finally dispersed after the sound of a long inhale.
In his hands, Liu Ming carried the body of the young boy. His face failed to conceal a hint of weariness that blatantly appeared on it.
On the ground nearby was a pool of black poisoned blood that emitted a foul smell, almost enough to make one vomit.
“Mister Qian, my boy…” Lady Mi rushed over and gently lifted the young boy into her arms. Seeing that he was still in a deep slumber, she couldn’t refrain from voicing her concerns.
“Don’t worry. I have removed part of the poison already. The poison will not spread in at least a few days.” Liu Ming faintly smiled as he gave her the good news.
The maid also walked over. She carefully poked a silver needle into the boy’s elbow and pulled it out. She couldn’t help but feel relieved to see only a faint layer of black where the needle went in.
Lady Mi also saw this and felt relieved as well. At once, she rushed to thank Liu Ming.
“We were fortunate this time that we met mister. Had we not, I’m afraid to say that my son would’ve died even if we had repelled those assassins. After we arrive in Xuanjing, I will definitely prepare other gifts in addition to the Spirit Medicine to fully express my thanks.”
“I don’t care much for other gifts but the Spirit Medicine for my nephew is something I need to get hold of as soon as possible. By the way, your son’s body is weak after releasing a lot of blood. After he wakes up, there’s no harm to add some supplements to his food. Of course, don’t give him too much at once as there is a possibility of his body not being able to take in so much. Also, I will have to draw out the poison once every three days. It should take about a month to completely release all of the poison.” Shaking his head slightly, Liu Ming answered nonchalantly.
“Alright. Mister, trust me. Just wait until we arrive in Xuanjing. I will personally order someone to find that Spirit Medicine as soon as possible. For my son’s poison however, I will still need mister to aid me in releasing the poison.” Without much thought, Lady Mi replied.