Wuxia 6

The Zhou family clearly had someone waiting for the doctor's urgent help, so after asking for Song Qinghua's name, Zhou Wang hurried home with his daughter and the doctor.

Song Qinghua was worried, so he actually followed them all the way to their home.

Liu Zhong naturally had to follow along as well.

On the way, Liu Zhong learned from Song Qinghua what had happened to the Zhou family.

Young Zhou Zhiruo's mother was suffering from a difficult labor, and Zhou Wang had come to fetch a doctor.

But he had no money, and the doctor had refused to make the house call.

Zhou Zhiruo knew that without the doctor's help, neither her mother nor the baby brother in her womb would survive. Heartbroken, she had been crying outside the pharmacy when Song Qinghua saw her.

After Song Qinghua understood the reason for her tears, he took out the silver he had hidden away and gave it to Zhou Zhiruo.

Zhou Zhiruo used the money to hire the doctor to go to her home.

Calling it a home was a stretch; it was nothing more than a small fishing boat.

The Zhou family lived and ate on the boat, relying on fishing and ferrying passengers across the river to earn a living.

Although the doctor was greedy for money, his medical skills were quite good.

With a few needles, he opened Mother Zhou's birth canal, and the midwife successfully delivered the child from the mother's womb.

He then inserted a few more needles to stop Mother Zhou's postpartum hemorrhage.

Both mother and child were safe.

Zhou Wang gratefully offered all the silver he had received from Song Qinghua to the doctor.

Having received the silver, the doctor was in a better mood and offered Zhou Wang some advice: "The environment on the boat is too damp, which is bad for both the mother and the child. If you want them to be healthy, you should move to the shore to live."

Zhou Wang agreed, though his heart felt bitter.

Without money, he couldn't even afford to build a house, so how could he settle on the shore?

At this moment, Zhou Zhiruo came over with another ingot of silver and said to Zhou Wang, "Brother Qinghua's older brother gave me another ingot of silver, saying it was a gift to celebrate the baby's birth."

Zhou Wang asked, "Where are they?"

Zhou Zhiruo replied, "They left."

Zhou Wang walked out of the cabin and looked around, but he could not see the figures of the two young beggars.

These two were definitely not ordinary young beggars; perhaps they were members of the Beggar Sect.

As he thought this, Zhou Wang bowed deeply toward a certain direction.

The ingot of silver Liu Zhong had given was heavier than the two ingots Song Qinghua had given combined, weighing at least ten taels.

Zhou Wang used this silver to build a house in a village not far from the riverbank. Although it was made of yellow mud and straw, it was far better than living on a boat.

After his wife and son moved into the new house to recuperate, their health improved at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The entire Zhou family was very grateful to the two youths who had helped them, and Zhou Zhiruo, in particular, firmly remembered the youth who had appeared when she was crying in despair.

This youth was like sunlight, illuminating her entire world.

She firmly remembered the youth's appearance and his name: Song Qinghua.

The Zhou family had a neighbor, a mother and daughter.

The two did not look like ordinary people; their clothing and adornments were completely different from those of common farmers, and the pearl flowers they wore in their hair could have supported an ordinary family for a month or two.

Therefore, the villagers did not associate with this pair.

They were not people of the same world, and getting too close might bring trouble to their own homes.

A month later, the mother and daughter left the village.

Two days later, a middle-aged nun arrived in the village with two young women and found the house where the mother and daughter had lived.

"Master, we are too late; Junior Sister Ji has already left," Ding Minjun reported to Abbess Miejue after searching the house.

Abbess Miejue let out a cold snort and walked out of the courtyard.

At that moment, a little girl walked out of the opposite courtyard and met Abbess Miejue's gaze.

Abbess Miejue gave a soft "Oh," strode up to the little girl, and reached out to grab her.

Abbess Miejue felt her up and down, examining the young girl's frame.

Zhou Zhiruo was shocked and frightened, but she did not lose her composure; she gritted her teeth and glared at Abbess Miejue with endurance.

This reaction made Abbess Miejue appreciate her even more.

She introduced herself: "I am Abbess Miejue, head of the Emei Sect. I see that you have a unique bone structure, making you excellent material for martial arts. Would you be willing to take me as your master and become my disciple?"

Zhou Zhiruo: "Huh?"

Just like that, although there was no incident on the Han River and she had not lost her father or mother, Zhou Zhiruo still joined the Emei Sect.

Zhou Wang and Mother Zhou could not bear to part with their daughter, and thinking that with the protection of the Emei Sect there would be no harassment from Yuan soldiers, they followed Zhou Zhiruo to the foot of Mount Emei and settled down there.

Back to Liu Zhong and Song Qinghua.

The two traveled westward, passing through Jiayuguan and arriving in the Western Regions.

With the cover of being young beggars, they avoided many troubles, and even Mo Shenggu and Yin Liting, who had descended the mountain to search for them, could not track their movements.

Upon entering the territory of the Western Regions, both of them intentionally sought information regarding the Black Jade Ointment.

Song Qinghua did not know that what he was looking for was the Black Jade Ointment; he only had a vague intuition that the Western Regions should hold a miraculous medicine capable of healing Yu Daiyan.

Liu Zhong, however, knew exactly what they were looking for, so he inquired about the Diamond Sect.

The Diamond Sect was a fairly significant sect in the Western Regions with considerable local influence; Liu Zhong asked a random passerby and easily learned about the situation of the Diamond Sect.

In truth, the people of this sect were far too arrogant. Relying on their allegiance to the Yuan Dynasty and the formidable martial arts skills of their disciples, they lorded over the locals, bullying men and oppressing women.

They dressed as monks on the surface, but they frequently engaged in the abduction of innocent women.

Liu Zhong led Song Qinghua through the forests, picking many plants that Song Qinghua did not recognize and capturing a variety of snakes, insects, rats, and ants.

Song Qinghua felt goosebumps rising all over his skin just watching.

"Brother, why are you catching these things?" Song Qinghua kept a distance from Liu Zhong, firmly refusing to go near the snakes, insects, rats, and ants.

Liu Zhong smiled faintly: "To make medicine!"

Song Qinghua: "Huh? Brother, you've never studied medicine!"

Liu Zhong: "I haven't studied medicine. But who said you have to know medicine to make drugs?"

It wasn't as if he were making medicine to cure illnesses and save lives!

What he intended to create was a poison that could kill without leaving a trace.

In his past life, he had studied biochemistry and had even thoroughly researched zombie viruses.

In this life, creating a few poisons capable of taking a life was well within his capabilities.

Song Qinghua: ??

Amidst Song Qinghua's bewilderment, Liu Zhong successfully concocted the medicine he desired.

Then, Liu Zhong led Song Qinghua to blend in with the people delivering vegetables to the Diamond Sect, snuck into the Diamond Sect's kitchen, and dropped the medicine Liu Zhong had created.

Late that night, Liu Zhong led Song Qinghua to push open the gates of the Diamond Sect and enter.

Not a single person came to stop them; the place was deathly silent, and even the insects in the grass had ceased their chirping.

Liu Zhong led Song Qinghua to swagger through the Diamond Sect in search of their goal, and before long, they unearthed a box of already-prepared Black Jade Ointment along with the recipe for its creation.

Everything had gone incredibly smoothly!