Wu Jie smiled and greeted him.
But the middle-aged man surnamed Wen ignored her completely.
"Chen Ying, since you are not one of us, meeting me is already a breach of the rules. Still, we do share ties through our faith. For our elders' sake, we will let today's matter rest."
As he spoke, he raised his hands in a clasped-fist salute. "Please leave, both of you."
"But Granny last night..."
"Mr. Wen, we were presumptuous."
Chen Ying cut Wu Jie off.
"But I would still like to ask a few more questions."
Mr. Wen did not reply. He simply stood at the pharmacy entrance and looked at Chen Ying.
"You said just now that you couldn't bear to part with it. May I ask what you meant?"
"Are you asking about that Plague Hag just now?"
"Yes."
"You really don't know?"
"Someone used the Soul-Summoning Method to seize my soul. There are many things I can't remember now."
"That's a good reason, I suppose. Since you've come, you're guests. Please follow me."
Mr. Wen gestured as he spoke, and Chen Ying and Wu Jie followed him into the pharmacy.
The traditional medicine shop was actually divided into an inner and an outer section. Medicine was dispensed in the inner pharmacy, while the outer section was where physicians saw patients. Several elderly physicians sat there, examining patients in turn by observation, listening and smelling, questioning, and taking their pulses, before the patients went to the back to collect their medicine.
Farther back in the shop were the assistants' resting quarters, but Mr. Wen lived upstairs, in a rather large room furnished with several dummies and hung with acupuncture charts. It looked rather like a martial arts school.
Beyond this training room were several more rooms. Mr. Wen led Chen Ying and Wu Jie into a study.
Two small chairs stood in front of the desk, with a tea table between them. Mr. Wen first took his seat behind the desk, then gestured.
"Young man, sit."
Only then did Chen Ying and Wu Jie sit down in the chairs.
"The sect's rules are as strict as military law. As a member, I cannot be as free as our senior elder. Some of my words were harsh. I hope you and your wife won't take offense, nephew."
"You're too kind. We..."
Wu Jie was delighted to see Mr. Wen soften his attitude.
Granny had once said that Chen Ying's current condition was extremely unusual. Although he had been pulled back from death's door, he remained in an awkward state, neither alive nor dead.
One step forward, and he would return to life as a human. If some other unforeseen change occurred, he would fall and become a ghost or monster.
In his present state, outside help had already done all it could. Chen Ying could only rely on his own strength, finding a method of internal strengthening to break this balance between life and death.
This man surnamed Wen was one of the foremost experts in all of Lingnan, and the two sides also shared ties through their faith. If they could enlist his strength, Chen Ying's problem would be largely resolved.
Mr. Wen ignored her.
"Did Granny ever mention her background?"
Chen Ying slowly shook his head.
"Perhaps she did, but I can't remember."
"All right, then I'll tell you plainly. Granny, your parents, and I were all members of the White Lotus Sect."
"White Lotus?"
"In Zhongzhou, there was once what was called the White Lotus Society. Its members practiced rites of repentance and gathered to chant the Buddha's name. That was the origin of our sect. Later, at the end of the Song dynasty, barbarian invaders came, leaving corpses strewn across the countryside and turning ten thousand miles of land to ashes. The last Song emperor joined our sect, bringing the many secret arts held by the Song court. From then on, the sect changed. That was how our sect took its present form."
"After so many generations, the old dream of restoring the Song could be called half fulfilled, but the sect also changed by the day. These days, we merely run a few businesses to aid the world and deliver people from suffering. The pharmacy downstairs is one of our properties. We charge the rich seventy percent of the consultation and medicine fees, and the poor only thirty percent."
Chen Ying nodded at this.
"When Granny washed her hands of it all back then, many of the sect's elders were displeased. But that's all in the past. After so many years, there's little point telling you about it."
"But the fact remains that, after what happened back then, we severed all ties. Since you've come to me and asked me to resolve your problem, personal sentiment says I should naturally help, given my deep ties with your family. But by the rules, our sides are already clearly divided. If we come together again, it will cause me no end of trouble."
At this point, he sighed.
"What you say is perfectly reasonable."
Wu Jie wanted to interject again, but Mr. Wen raised a hand and said,
"Chen Ying, you asked me just now why I couldn't bear to part with it. Then let me explain. Where do you think ghosts and monsters come from?"
Chen Ying thought of the old man he had seen the night before, then shook his head and said,
"I don't know."
"You're right. We don't know."
Mr. Wen said evenly, "Of the many ghosts, monsters, and demons in this world, the origins of a great many are unknown. Some say they are formed from resentment after people die. Others say certain things receive the transformative blessings of heaven and earth."
"Opinions differ, but there is one point everyone is certain of."
"Cultivators will inevitably become ghosts or monsters after death."
"Cultivators?"
Chen Ying looked in surprise at Wu Jie beside him. By now, her face was deathly pale.
"Funny, isn't it?"
Mr. Wen looked at Chen Ying.
"You spend your whole life thinking of slaying demons and bringing peace to the world. The more people you save in life, the greater the catastrophe you cause after death. Becoming a Buddha or a patriarch? You won't find even one or two in ten thousand. But turning into a demon-that happens right before our eyes."
"The Plague Hag you saw was a senior of ours two hundred years ago. Throughout her life, she devoted herself above all to helping the sick and suffering. Not only was she one of the nation's finest physicians, but she also possessed secret arts that could overcome all manner of illnesses. In those days, she was known as the White-Robed Bodhisattva."
"She traveled the world for a hundred years, saving countless living beings. Before her death, she had people build a thirty-six-story pagoda, with secret arts laid on every floor, and had herself nailed inside while she was still alive."
"She imprisoned herself for the world's sake and died there. That, too, was a tale worthy of praise."
Mr. Wen looked at Chen Ying. "Unfortunately, an earthquake struck twenty years ago. After the pagoda collapsed, a monster flew out. When it emerged, a great epidemic swept the provincial capital, killing thousands."
"That monster was the Plague Hag you saw. It wasn't that the experts of Lingnan never considered moving against it. But the old ones mourned for their own kind and refused to act, while the young ones were no match for it."
"After a few clashes, everyone's enthusiasm waned. Besides, the monster took only a few sick people's lives each month. In the end, everyone decided one less trouble was better than one more, and left him be."
"Chen Ying, let me ask you this. If your granny reached the end of her allotted life and turned into something formidable, would you have the resolve to strike?"
There seemed to be something behind Mr. Wen's words.
Thinking of Granny Chen's present condition, Chen Ying's mind filled with a thousand thoughts.
Could Granny Chen also have little time left?
"How could you say such a thing, sir?"
Wu Jie's face flushed, and she was clearly angry.
"Unpleasant as it sounds, it's the truth. Chen Ying, if you were a cultivator and your granny turned into a ghost or monster right now, could you bring yourself to strike?"
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