Liu Xiaolou left the east side hall, came before the main hall, and leaped onto its eaves. After searching several beams and pillars beneath the eaves, he indeed found the key to the main hall.
Opening the main hall, he was greeted by a deity statue over ten feet tall. It wore a lofty crown and looked down upon Liu Xiaolou from above, sending him once more into a daze of deep contemplation.
He then looked at the couplets on either side. They read: "Retribution echoes like a response; Heaven sends no disaster without cause. Fear cultivates itself; man possesses a lifespan that may be prolonged."
The horizontal plaque read: "Illuminating the hidden, perceiving the subtle."
Liu Xiaolou seemed to understand. Yet after pondering it briefly, he was once again completely baffled, unable to make heads or tails of it.
He circled behind the deity statue. The hall was exceedingly simple; apart from the statue, the offering table, and several prayer cushions, there was nothing else.
Liu Xiaolou searched behind the statue and beneath the offering table but found nothing of value. He shut the doors and left, then opened the west wing using the same method.
There were only two rooms in the west wing. The larger one took up two-thirds of the space and contained a stove, a cupboard, firewood, a rice jar, wooden buckets, and a string of smoked cured meat hanging from the wall. There were also brooms, buckets, and other assorted clutter piled about.
The smaller room was a bedroom, with a small bed and an empty cabinet against the wall. Liu Xiaolou guessed that it had been where servants lived. A thick layer of dust covered the room, clearly showing that no one had lived there for a long time.
From the looks of it, that severely injured Handsome Bearded Gentleman was likely the master of the Daoist temple—Lord Xingde.
Returning to the east side hall, Liu Xiaolou found Handsome Bearded Gentleman still unconscious, though he coughed from time to time.
Liu Xiaolou entered the room on the right. Several tiers of shelves stood against the walls, holding furnaces of all sizes, all manner of blades, strangely shaped blocks of wood, and ores of different colors.
A furnace stand stood in the very center. At its base was a round bronze cover level with the floor. When he pried it up, a fire pit abruptly appeared beneath it, and the oncoming wave of heat nearly singed off Liu Xiaolou's brows and hair.
The bronze cover was an inch thick and capable of warding off fire. Four words were inscribed in seal script on its underside—Nine Star Earth Fire.
Was this the legendary subterranean flame that could be used for Pill Refining and artifact forging?
Curiously, Liu Xiaolou approached the fire pit and tried to investigate the Nine Star Earth Fire. He imagined the magnificent sight of that earth fire rising from the depths of the mountain all the way to its summit, but after pondering for a long while, he still could not grasp it. He replaced the bronze cover, sealing the fire pit once more.
Whether the furnaces, the blades, or the wood, they were all ordinary items without the slightest trace of spiritual power. As for those differently colored ores, Liu Xiaolou did not recognize a single one and sensed nothing mystical about them. He could not help but feel greatly disappointed.
This artifact refiner was a poor bastard too. All his possessions were that pile of odds and ends beside his pillow. He was not even as well off as Liu Xiaolou. It seemed he had not been getting by very well either; clearly, his artifact-refining skills were limited.
Still, Wei Hongqing had introduced him. Refining a simple array disc should presumably be within his capabilities. Liu Xiaolou decided to lend Lord Xingde a hand and spend a few days caring for him. Once he recovered and refined an array disc for Liu Xiaolou, surely he would be too embarrassed to shamelessly demand payment?
With his mind made up, Liu Xiaolou stopped wandering about. He went to Handsome Bearded Gentleman's bedside and called, "Lord Xingde? Senior Lord Xingde?"
Handsome Bearded Gentleman was roused from his groggy sleep. He gave a grunt, closed his eyelids again, and muttered, "Water... water..."
Liu Xiaolou had awakened him only to confirm whether he was Lord Xingde. Having received his response and confirmed his identity, he began treating him.
He brought over a bowl of water and poured it down his throat, then checked the pulse at his wrist. It seemed slightly steadier than when he had been out in Feng Xue, but when Liu Xiaolou tried to probe deeper into his heart and lung meridians, he encountered a powerful counterforce of true essence that jolted his own true essence into turbulence.
At least Qi Refining Layer 8 or above, huh? Liu Xiaolou regarded him with solemn respect.
The fact that his true essence could counterattack meant that although his injuries were serious, they were not fatal. He only needed to recuperate slowly.
Liu Xiaolou went to the west wing, took rice from the jar and washed it, lit the fire, added water, and simmered a thick pot of porridge. He skimmed off some rice broth and filled a bowl, then returned, helped Lord Xingde sit up, and fed it to him.
Returning to the kitchen, he took down half a strip of cured meat from the wall and sliced it. He placed it in a wooden bowl and steamed it in the pot. When he lifted the lid, the meat aroma rushed into his face, setting his mouth watering.
After enjoying the most delicious meal he had eaten since coming up the mountain, Liu Xiaolou resumed his cultivation. But this time, instead of cultivating beneath the eaves, he openly moved into the artifact-refining room.
The snow fell all night and finally stopped at Chen hour the next day. Liu Xiaolou pushed open the door and went to the cliff's edge, gazing out over the mountains.
Countless peaks were blanketed in gleaming white snow, shimmering gold beneath the morning glow. The view was truly too beautiful to behold.
Over the next few days, Liu Xiaolou continued caring for Lord Xingde. He began adding some oil to the rice broth he fed him, then gradually increased the rice porridge, wild vegetables, and finely chopped bits of cured meat.
His only trouble was helping Lord Xingde relieve himself. He had to carry the chamber pot, support him as he got up, and make hushing noises with his mouth, keeping himself busy beyond measure.
On the evening of the third day, he even helped Lord Xingde take a shit. In his haste, he tore two sheets of yellow paper from the shelves in the artifact-refining room and personally cleaned him up from start to finish.
After helping him lie down, Liu Xiaolou could not help muttering, "Lord Xingde, Senior, even when I served my teacher back then, I never went this far. You should be grateful. Hurry up and get better, then repay me handsomely!"
Lord Xingde's snores gradually rose, and he slept very sweetly. It seemed he had not heard a word.
Shaking his head, Liu Xiaolou returned to his room and continued cultivating. Around midnight, he felt a faint loosening in the acupoint barrier at his Quchi acupoint. Suppressing the joy in his heart, he was just about to accumulate more true essence and increase the force of his assault when he suddenly sensed something amiss. Opening his eyes, he saw a figure leaning crookedly against the doorway in the dim lamplight. It was Lord Xingde.
Blinking, Liu Xiaolou could not help but rejoice. "Senior, you're awake?"
Lord Xingde stared at Liu Xiaolou for a moment, then asked, "Kid, who are you?"
Liu Xiaolou said, "Senior, don't you remember? You were injured and collapsed on the mountain path. I helped you back."
Lord Xingde said, "I know... I'm asking, who are you?"
Liu Xiaolou said, "This junior has long admired Senior's reputation in artifact refining and came specifically to seek an audience, only to request an array disc."
Lord Xingde waved a hand. "Leave!"
Liu Xiaolou was speechless. "..."
Lord Xingde urged, "Leave!"
Liu Xiaolou blinked. "No... Senior, you're injured! This junior stayed behind to take care of you!"
Lord Xingde said coldly, "No need!"
Liu Xiaolou grew angry. "Without me, you'd have died long ago! I saved your life, and this is how you thank me? Huh?"
Lord Xingde threw over a small pouch. "Take this gold, jade, and spirit stones, then leave!"
Liu Xiaolou flew into a rage. "Who are you looking down on? Did this young master come here for such trifles? Is your life worth only a few spirit stones and a few taels of gold?"
Lord Xingde was deeply impatient and was about to say something else when a sudden fit of violent coughing seized him. He could not stop coughing and doubled over.
Liu Xiaolou sneered. "Go ahead and cough yourself to death! You rude old thing, even I, a young master of Wulong Mountain, know that one must repay a drop of kindness with a gushing spring, yet you, an old thing like you, know nothing of it. So utterly rude..."
As he cursed, he saw that Lord Xingde could no longer hold himself up. He had coughed himself onto the floor, blood once more seeping from the corner of his mouth. Only then did Liu Xiaolou stop cursing in displeasure, go over, haul Lord Xingde up, and toss him back onto the bed.
Lord Xingde finally stopped coughing. Gasping harshly, he said, "Heart Nurturing Pill... buy Heart Nurturing Pill..."