Brain Disorder

The autumn mountain forest was quite tranquil, with only the sound of Ruan Su lighting the stove and starting the fire next door reaching his ears.

Qin Yi stared at the two words he had translated for a long while, then set down his brush and lowered his gaze to his own body.

As far as the eye could see,

was a body made thin and weak by malnutrition and lack of exercise.

From the swaddling clothes at the start of his transmigration to the child's body he had now.

This body's strength, reflexes, and rate of growth all fell within the range of an ordinary person. There was nothing special about it.

Yet this ancient book called the "Disrupted Scripture" made Qin Yi reconsider it, because he was certain that he did not know this script.

He had known neither in his previous life nor this one.

Yet his body—or rather, his brain—could directly break this script apart into recognizable things, then summarize and output them in other words.

It seemed inborn, as natural as breathing.

And in that regard,

it was rather similar to some of the "Calamity Seeds" Qin Yi had encountered while traveling south.

With that thought, Qin Yi picked up the "Disrupted Scripture," jumped down from the short stool, and headed for the kitchen.

There was nothing to agonize over. Based on the clues at hand, Qin Yi instantly came to the only two possibilities that could explain this.

One, it was because of his brain disorder.

Two, he was also a Calamity Seed.

And deciphering this script was an innate ability possessed by every Calamity Seed. After all, Meng Peijiu seemed to know this script as well.

He only needed to ask his older sister to confirm it.

Pulling aside the curtain over the little doorway,

Ruan Su stood on a short stool beside the earthen stove, wearing an apron. Standing on tiptoe, she held a spatula in one hand and sprinkled fine salt into the iron pot of stewed meat and vegetables with the other.

Catching sight of Qin Yi running in from the corner of her eye, Ruan Su immediately turned around. Her little face was still smudged with charcoal ash from adding firewood as she asked with a smile,

"Hungry...?"

Qin Yi did not answer. He raised the ancient book with both hands, thrusting its title page before his older sister's eyes.

"Sis, take a look. Can you understand it?"

"..."

Standing on the stool with her spatula raised, Ruan Su stared at the strange writing for several breaths. Then she tilted her head, peered around the book with one eye, and looked at Qin Yi, curious about what Little Yi was doing.

"Don't... understand. What's... wrong?"

"Look more carefully."

"Mm..."

Ruan Su did not know what Qin Yi was trying to do, but if Little Yi told her to do something, he surely had his reasons.

Furrowing her willow-leaf brows, she studied it intently for a long time. Not until the pot began bubbling away did she come back to herself. She shook her head, looked into Qin Yi's eyes, and gave an embarrassed smile, afraid he would be disappointed.

"I still... can't understand it."

Qin Yi did not show much emotion. He merely smiled and said,

"Sis, this should be a cultivation method. Our family finally has a complete cultivation method now."

"Huh?"

The corners of Ruan Su's long, narrow eyes twitched slightly. There was no joy on her little face; instead, it looked somewhat stiff.

Every time Little Yi made her practice, she suffered terribly and coughed up so much blood...

Now, whenever she heard the words "cultivation method," she felt a little afraid.

Qin Yi saw his older sister's timidity and smiled with curved eyes.

"This time, I'll try it first. If nothing happens, I'll translate it for you. Then you can practice it, Sis."

"No!"

Hearing that, Ruan Su visibly panicked and jumped straight down from the short stool.

In her mind, cultivation was dangerous. It meant coughing up blood.

"I'll... practice first!"

"..."

Qin Yi did not refuse. He nodded along with her.

"Fine... then you practice first, Sis."

"You're not allowed... to secretly practice."

"Alright."

"...Mm."

Only then did Ruan Su let out a breath of relief. She nodded, turned around, and continued cooking.

After leaving the kitchen, Qin Yi took off his shoes and climbed onto the bed. He had no intention whatsoever of keeping the promise he had just made, and directly opened to a page of the Disrupted Scripture.

Under heaven, martial arts were divided into two kinds: external arts and internal arts.

External arts involved tempering the body day after day through various methods, then restoring it with medicines and minerals, gradually and continuously raising the body's limits.

They were somewhat like Ruan Su's, except hers increased automatically after a night's sleep, then surged explosively at intervals. Those who practiced external arts, meanwhile, had to train until they were like dead dogs just to raise it a little.

Internal arts, however, were somewhat special.

They were completely different from external arts. One could not simply obtain a cultivation method, strike a pose, and begin practicing. First, one had to undergo a rather complicated "qi-guiding ritual."

According to the cultivation method's records, one first consumed pills or medicinal soup brewed from the corresponding ingredients. Then, from several to over a hundred silver needles were inserted into the acupoints listed in the method to guide the medicinal power. Once a certain barrier within the human body had been broken through, one could proceed with the subsequent "inner-vision cultivation."

According to Uncle Peng Jun, this process was actually very dangerous.

People's constitutions could not be lumped together, and the constitutions required by each internal cultivation method were not all the same. If one got it wrong, the "qi-guiding ritual" would bring backlash. In mild cases, one would cough blood and suffer internal injuries; in severe cases, one would be paralyzed.

Those aristocratic clans did possess closely guarded methods for testing the talents of their younger generations. But for people of lowly origins like them, even if they happened upon a complete internal cultivation method by chance, they would still have to gamble their lives on whether they had the talent for it.

Unless what one obtained was an ancient copy from several hundred years ago.

Cultivation manuals from that era generally recorded methods that allowed readers to determine whether they possessed the talent to practice that particular art.

Qin Yi did not know whether the "Disrupted Scripture" in his hands counted as an ancient manual. He did not even know whether it counted as an internal cultivation method.

The book was indeed ancient, originating from the Great Qin of more than a century ago, but it was not a cultivation method—or at least, most of it was not. It contained several thousand sprawling words, most of them obscure daily notes and miscellaneous records.

Even with Qin Yi's ability to condense information, the useful information he could extract from it was quite limited.

The book contained neither the acupoints recorded in ordinary internal cultivation methods nor instructions to prepare any precious medicinal ingredients. It only had a passage describing a breathing method, along with the four words "Illumination Ascension Seal."

Illumination Ascension Seal...

Qin Yi recalled it briefly.

He did know this one.

One of the cultivation methods that had once made Ruan Su cough blood recorded this hand seal.

After a moment of silence, Qin Yi began adjusting his breathing according to the method recorded in the Disrupted Scripture, then formed the Illumination Ascension Seal with one hand.

One breath.

Ten breaths.

A hundred breaths...

Amid the silence, the direct sunlight slowly slanted, spilling over the wooden hut and casting a broad shadow from the conical wooden stake still hanging from the doorframe.

Until the sounds from the kitchen next door gradually ceased and Ruan Su emerged carrying a large basin of stewed vegetables and meat, nothing happened.

Setting the basin on the table, Ruan Su casually wiped her damp little hands on her apron. Smiling brightly, she called Qin Yi to eat. It had been a long time since she had eaten with Little Yi while he was awake.

"Food's... ready, Little Yi."

Qin Yi rose at that and sat down beside the square table.

Ruan Su went to bring out another large bowl of rice and a bowl of beans. She pushed the rice toward Qin Yi, sat down, picked up a chopstickful of vegetables, and began wolfing them down.

Looking at the girl, Qin Yi deliberately spoke with a trace of heartache.

"Sis, you don't need to be so frugal. How much could you possibly save by cutting back on a little meat and rice?"

Ruan Su raised her eyes from the shadows, cheeks puffed out. Chewing as she smiled indistinctly, she said,

"No matter... how little, it's... still money. We'll talk... after your brain disorder... gets better. Hehe."

Maintaining his breathing, Qin Yi sighed softly and did not try to persuade her further.

If he ate less, his older sister would naturally eat what was left.

He switched the hand forming the seal, picked up his chopsticks with his right hand, and put a piece of meat into his mouth. It did not taste particularly good. After all, his older sister seemed to have put all her talent points into strength and speed.

This was enough. Qin Yi's only requirement for food was survival.

After swallowing the meat, Qin Yi thought of that Granny Meng and was just about to speak when he suddenly noticed faint blue halos appearing in his vision.

They were diffuse, like colored gas dispersing through the air, continuously drawn into his body with every breath.

It worked?

Noticing this clearly unscientific sight, Qin Yi's emotions remained as calm as still water. He carefully sensed the changes in his body, but the gaseous substance he had drawn inside produced no immediate effect.

Slowly withdrawing his gaze, Qin Yi said softly,

"You need to watch Granny Meng in the future. She definitely isn't from the Later Tang Kingdom's capital. I saw her during the refugee tide, more than once. I suspect she was following us..."

"..."

At this, Ruan Su's eating motion paused slightly. She raised her eyes warily, but the sight before her made her pupils abruptly constrict.

In her field of vision,

Little Yi's body, which had been sitting upright in the chair,

suddenly slumped to one side without warning.

What happened?

Her body moved before her thoughts did.

"Little Yi!"

"..."

The cry rang in his ears, yet it seemed to come from the edge of the sky.

Qin Yi did not know what had happened either.

He only knew that an unprecedented agony, as if ten thousand fine needles had pierced his skull, suddenly swept through his head and instantly robbed him of control over his body.

As his body fell, his vision tilted upward,

and then,

he saw a square table being flung into the air...

He instantly realized that Ruan Su was trying to rush over and catch him, but right now he hoped his older sister could control her strength a little.

Don't ram straight into him and kill him.

His eyes closed, and his vision went black.

Before his consciousness completely sank into darkness, Qin Yi silently thought with a mind that was slowly sinking into a mire.

As expected, it was because of his brain disorder.

But there were still things left unfinished...