Merit
The legacy left by an alchemist who had ascended through spirit pills was naturally extraordinary. Sang Ying had only handed it to Nan Gurong that night, and the very next day, she heard that the Plain Robe Pavilion had found a way to save the girls.
Sang Ying put on a delighted look, as though she had only just learned the news, and went to Listening Willow Village with the people from the Plain Robe Pavilion.
This time, Sang Ying immediately noticed that Listening Willow Village was different. The night she had seen it, every door had been shut tight. Although red lanterns had hung outside the home of the family that had been chosen, a heavy, oppressive atmosphere had filled the place.
But now people were finally moving about in the streets. Most of them were still the white-robed medical cultivators of the Plain Robe Pavilion, but at least the villagers dared to open their doors and go about their lives.
The girls who had been abducted were all staying together in a courtyard arranged by the Plain Robe Pavilion so their injuries could be treated. From a distance, Sang Ying could hear the noisy clamor coming from there.
Nan Gurong led her along, handing out copies of the Pill Formulas she had developed overnight for the other disciples to examine as she explained to Sang Ying, "We obtained a medical canon last night. It contained several Pill Formulas we had never seen before. I showed them all to Elder Chanyi, though. She said that although she had never refined pills like these, they should all be effective."
She handed the pills refined by Elder Chanyi to her junior brother. They would probably need to find someone to test them.
"The girls' conditions are quite complicated. Ordinary pills simply can't solve these problems. Fortunately, there are many Pill Formulas in that medical canon. We plan to give them detoxification pills first, to clear the remaining poison from their bodies, and then use Complexion Renewal Pills to heal the scars on their faces." Nan Gurong explained each part of her plan to Sang Ying.
Sang Ying knew nothing about such matters. After listening, she simply nodded and asked, "Is there anything you need my help with?"
Nan Gurong smiled. "Not for now. Once we've taken care of things here, we'll return to the Plain Robe Pavilion together."
She hadn't forgotten that Sang Ying was still injured, and naturally, the sooner her injuries were healed, the better.
Once they had found the pills, everything that followed was much easier.
When the people from the Plain Robe Pavilion said they needed someone to test the pills, the girl whose face was most severely scarred stepped forward and volunteered for the task.
The girl probably hoped to repay the Plain Robe Pavilion group for saving her life by testing the pills. When she swallowed one, her face clearly bore the grim resolve of someone using herself to test poison. But the Plain Robe Pavilion's pills did not disappoint. Within a few days, the wounds on her face began to heal.
A few days later, the palm-sized scar that had covered her face vanished without a trace.
When the girl's bandages were finally removed and everyone saw her smooth, delicate face, a loud cheer erupted in the little courtyard.
The girl who had tested the pill saw her clean, lovely face in the mirror and immediately burst into tears.
Only at that moment did Sang Ying see hope for the future in her eyes.
The cultivators of the Plain Robe Pavilion might not have been good at fighting, but they were first-rate at refining pills. In less than two days, they had refined enough pills to detoxify the girls and heal their faces.
When the group left Listening Willow Village, everyone in the village came especially to see them off. The cultivators' arms were full of vegetables and fruit given to them by the villagers, and even Sang Ying had a string of smoked fish hanging around her neck.
Seeing this, Gu Shu hid in the sword and mocked her. "Well, are you planning to try using a fish as a sword?"
Sang Ying fell silent. She suddenly wanted to know whether a strange being like a sword spirit could live in a smoked fish.
When Elder Chanyi had received word and rushed over, she had already helped the villagers break the formation around Listening Willow Village. From now on, the people of the village should be able to return to their former peaceful lives.
The moment everyone bid the villagers farewell and stepped out of Listening Willow Village, Sang Ying felt something fall upon them. What fell upon her seemed especially abundant.
But when she looked up at Nan Gurong beside her, Nan Gurong looked back with a puzzled expression. "What is it, Fellow Daoist Sang Ying?"
Sang Ying swallowed her doubts and did not ask.
Instead, Gu Shu, who could now sense her thoughts, said cheerfully, "You've got good luck. You even earned some Merit while out gaining experience."
Sang Ying asked, "What Merit?"
"Of course you can't see it yourself, but spirit beings like us who have gained intelligence can see it at a glance: the Light of Merit that just fell on you. It's golden and dazzling, bright enough to hurt the eyes!" Gu Shu's tone was awkward, but Sang Ying could still hear that he was happy for her.
So what had just fallen on her was Merit?
Curious, Sang Ying asked, "Where does this Merit come from? What use is it?"
Gu Shu replied, "Merit is naturally a reward earned by doing good deeds. If I'm not mistaken, you received it for saving these medical cultivators from the Plain Robe Pavilion. Those medical cultivators naturally received Merit too, though much less than you did. The people they saved were those mortals, of course."
But there was something else Gu Shu did not tell her: if any of the people saved went on to accomplish great things in the future, or even save more lives, the Heavenly Dao would naturally bestow more Merit.
So could that little girl surnamed Nan really go on to accomplish something great?
But thinking of the legacy Sang Ying had given her, it would have been strange if that female cultivator failed to accomplish anything!
Gu Shu soon put these thoughts behind him, unaware of how much his few words had affected Sang Ying.
Sang Ying looked at the group of young cultivators before her, chatting and laughing, and could not stop herself from wondering. Had they all originally been fated to die at the Cold Crow Devil Lord's hands?
The original book had only described how Su Fuyun's male confidant had struggled to kill the Cold Crow Devil Lord and won himself a fine reputation in the cultivation world. It had said nothing at all about Nan Gurong and the others.
It suddenly occurred to Sang Ying that her "awakening" the day before she took a master might not have been a coincidence. Perhaps the Heavenly Dao had given her and the other innocent people a chance.
Fortunately, they had all seized that chance!
Sang Ying glanced at the smoked fish hanging around her neck, and the corners of her lips lifted in a smile.
Unfortunately, her good mood did not last long. By the time she reached the gates of White Foothill City and heard certain rumors from other rogue cultivators, it had vanished entirely.
"Hey, have you heard? That young disciple from the Sound Killing Sect—the one who reached Core Formation at twenty-five-killed the famous Cold Crow Devil Lord all by himself!" someone exclaimed within Sang Ying's hearing.
A disciple of the Sound Killing Sect?
The image of a handsome male cultivator holding a jade flute slowly appeared in Sang Ying's mind, his mocking words still ringing in her ears: "What right does someone as ruthless, ugly, and vicious as you have to be Fuyun's junior sister?! If anything happens to Fuyun today, I'll tear you limb from limb before the hatred in my heart is appeased!"