Yunqi knew little about healing souls, though Bright Governance Mountain's attainments in matters of the soul were actually profound. He only regretted not having spent time studying them before.
Still, he had experienced his soul leaving his body. Although he did not know how many herbs in this world could restore a soul, or what they were, he knew that the Fleeceflower Root with green leaves and purple vines he had seen during his trial on Bright Governance Mountain would certainly work.
The old stockade chief looked at Yunqi in astonishment.
Yunqi asked the chief whether there was an herb in the nearby mountains with heart-shaped green leaves, white veins, deep-purple vines, and thick roots.
The chief looked somewhat bewildered after hearing the description. He was getting old and ventured out of the stockade less and less, so nothing came to mind. But he immediately repeated the description to the warriors beside the bed. One of them nodded excitedly and pointed in a certain direction.
When they heard that this herb might cure the child, the warriors and the child's father immediately moved to leave.
The chief held the child's father back. It was nighttime now, and the father lacked sufficient yang energy and had no chicken-feather crown. Going out would be walking straight to his death.
Yunqi stopped the warriors as well and said to the chief,
"Munaigong, all I need is to know where it is. That will save me time searching. Wait here for me. I'll be right back."
The old chief seized Yunqi firmly again, saying that he was an outsider and did not know how strange the forest became at night.
Yunqi smiled at the old chief. "Munaigong, I didn't enter the forest during the day. Before I came to your stockade, I had already spent several nights in there."
The old chief hesitated at that, and his grip on Yunqi loosened a little, but he soon tightened it again. He worried that Yunqi had simply been lucky enough not to encounter any evil creatures before.
Seeing the child's breathing fading, Yunqi had no heart to explain further or conceal anything. He summoned the Dragon Chariot directly.
A cloud of fire appeared inside the room, its heat rapidly warming the house.
Yunqi stepped onto the cloud and asked the old chief to describe the mountain carefully.
Everyone in the house was startled by the sudden appearance of the fiery cloud. The old chief released Yunqi too and, stammering, asked the warrior from earlier to describe the mountain's location and appearance, then relayed it all to Yunqi.
Yunqi nodded, went outside, and flew away on his cloud.
The people beside the bonfire were startled to see a streak of fire fly out of Donghuo's house, not knowing what had happened.
Yunqi rode his cloud straight west, passing over the mountain with the terraced fields and crossing two more peaks. Sure enough, he spotted a pond to his left, with a hill behind it, and hurriedly descended.
He dismissed his cloud in midair and landed on the little hill. Just then, a cloud of cold mist suddenly rose from the nearby pond. Looking closely, he could make out the indistinct features of a human face within it. At the same time, a yellow wildcat and a white snake emerged from a hole beneath an old willow beside the pond.
A bitterly cold night wind swept past, carrying the mist toward Yunqi.
The yellow wildcat and white snake stirred, eager to move.
When he first entered the forest, Yunqi had seen some minor demons and ghostly spirits. Back then, he had felt that it was no easy thing for a little demon to gain sentience, that they too were creations of heaven and earth, so he had avoided them and left them alone. He had never imagined these beasts actually delighted in eating people!
As the cold mist drew close to his back, Yunqi kept walking forward. He twisted at the waist, turning his upper body slightly back, swept his left hand through a semicircle, pointed his index finger, and intoned:
"Burn!"
The cold mist let out a piercing shriek and burned into nothingness in midair.
The yellow wildcat and white snake turned to flee, but before they had gone more than a few steps, flames suddenly sprang up on their bodies. Within a few breaths, they were reduced to ashes.
"Zhao!"
Light burst from his hand, illuminating the little hill as Yunqi lowered his head to search.
Here!
Sure enough, Yunqi found the purple-vined Fleeceflower Root growing in a sprawling patch, some seventeen or eighteen plants in all.
He dug up five in succession, cut off their roots, and departed on his cloud.
Meanwhile, in Chestnut Creek Stockade, the people beside the bonfire were still discussing what that ball of fire had been when they saw the fiery cloud return.
A sharp-eyed child immediately recognized the Daoist within the firelight as their new guest and shouted out, stirring even louder discussion among the crowd.
Yunqi brought his cloud straight down onto the house and entered through the door. Only after stepping inside did he remember that the child was near death and could not eat. Although Yunqi was not skilled in alchemy, he did know a few rudimentary methods. He summoned fire and refined a piece of root directly into a spiritual liquid, then forced the child's mouth open and poured it in.
He had no idea whether it would work. This truly was treating a dead horse as though it were still alive.
Everyone stared intently at the child, scarcely daring to breathe, let alone spare Yunqi a glance.
About half a tea's time passed.
The mother, who had been holding the child's hand all along, suddenly cried out. She seemed to have felt the child's pulse again.
The old chief hurried forward, listening to the child's heart and examining his eyes. He too confirmed that the child was slowly "coming back to life."
The child's father dropped to his knees at Yunqi's feet with a thud and knocked his forehead against the ground over and over.
Yunqi hurriedly pulled him up.
The chicken-crowned warriors standing beside the bed ran outside as well, laughing, eager to be the first to tell everyone else in the stockade.
Donghuo's child had been saved! Their new guest was an immortal!
After examining the child, the old chief also tried to kneel before Yunqi. The youth was even less willing to accept that. He supported the old chief with his hands, keeping him from kneeling no matter how hard he tried.
"If you want to thank me, Munaigong, just pour me some more 'White Knife.'"
Yunqi spoke with a smile. In that brief time earlier, he had already fallen in love with the fiery liquor.
Hot tears streamed down the old chief's dark face as he nodded again and again.
This mountain herb could heal souls. For now, it had saved only Donghuo's child, but who knew how many lives it would save in the future!
Just then, the news reached the bonfire. Cheers surged like flames, driving away the silence and sorrow that had settled over the stockade.
The next day, Yunqi woke in bed with his head still a little groggy.
He went outside. The sun hung high, light already filled heaven and earth, and people were working in the terraced fields opposite.
To his surprise, he also found that Fleeceflower Root had already been planted on the gentle slope north of the stockade. The soil had been freshly covered over. It seemed someone had gone to the hill to dig up the vines as soon as dawn broke.
Yunqi performed his exercises and consumed qi as usual.
Before long, the old chief came up with three people. Yunqi recognized them as Donghuo Nai and his family, whom he had visited the previous night. The child's steps were light, and he climbed the stairs without even getting winded. He seemed to have recovered completely.
The old chief brought the three before Yunqi, and they all knelt together.
Yunqi moved to help them up again, but the old chief stopped him. "This is only right."
So Yunqi accepted their bow.
Donghuo Nai took a little white puppy from inside his clothes. Curled into a ball, it looked like a glutinous rice dumpling, with a tender pink muzzle and nose, utterly adorable. Donghuo held it in both hands and offered it to Yunqi.
"What is this?"
Yunqi looked at the old chief.
The old chief smiled. "Donghuo's White Dragon gave birth a few days ago. This is the eldest. Short fur, a red nose, firm ears, and a clean mouth-an outstanding specimen. In our Hongjiang Miao stockades, roosters cannot be given away, so giving a White Dragon is our highest courtesy, an expression of our deepest gratitude."
Hearing this, Yunqi scratched his head. Was he going to raise a dog?
Two chapters released together. This is the second.
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