Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Kid, you answer

After returning to his residence, Xu Qing finally heaved a long sigh of relief.

He felt that doing this sort of thing wasn’t good, but there was no other way to fulfill his desire for knowledge.

And he also knew that Grandmaster Bai might have already seen through his little trick.

“I’ll repay you in the future.”

The boy muttered and resolved to remember this favor. Although he didn’t know how he could repay it right now, he believed an opportunity would eventually arise.

Worried that he would forget, Xu Qing took out a bamboo slip from his leather bag. He used the iron skewer to engrave the words “Grandmaster Bai” on it.

If you looked carefully, Grandmaster Bai wasn’t the only one whose name was on this bamboo slip. There was also Captain Thunder, as well as three other names.

Those three names were all people who had helped Xu Qing when he was in the slums. Even if they had only helped him a little bit, he kept their favors close to his heart.

Just like that, after engraving Grandmaster Bai’s name, Xu Qing took out another bamboo slip. Recalling what he had overheard from the lecture, he recorded everything down bit by bit.

He even pulled out the bamboo slip that recorded last time’s lecture and recited it silently. After making sure that he had memorized everything, his face revealed satisfaction.

“I’ve already memorized twenty-seven different types of herbs.”

Xu Qing was very happy. His joyful mood lasted all day, and even when he cultivated, he was still smiling.

The next day, he got up early again and went to sell some seven-leaf grass. While he was at the market, he bought an herb that looked similar to the Destiny Flower, then went to stand outside Grandmaster Bai’s tent.

He stood in the same spot as yesterday, and just like yesterday, he waited silently while listening to the lecture going on inside. Also just like yesterday, when Grandmaster Bai walked out of the tent, Xu Qing took out the herb and nervously asked if it was the Destiny Flower.

After taking a look at the herb, Grandmaster Bai coughed lightly and shook his head. At the same time, he told Xu Qing about the herb that he’d bought.

Thanks to this, Xu Qing learned about an extra new medicinal herb. Xu Qing became even more satisfied and grateful, and he bowed deeply before leaving. When he had gone a distance from the tent, Xu Qing looked back just like yesterday, and he saw Grandmaster Bai, still standing outside the tent, give him a nod.

This nod engraved itself deeply in Xu Qing’s heart.

Just like that, half a month passed.

Almost every day, Xu Qing would find a random medicinal herb and bring it to Grandmaster Bai’s tent to ask about after eavesdropping on the doctor’s lectures.

He learned more and more about plants and vegetation, and he even heard about methods of mixing and combining herbs together.

Dozens of bamboo slips had been filled up already.

And Grandmaster Bai never mentioned the matter of Xu Qing’s eavesdropping, always patiently talking about the herbs Xu Qing brought each day.

In the end, not only did the guards grow used to the kid in a fur coat appearing every morning, even the boy and girl inside the tent had a deep impression of him.

One time, it was raining heavily outside, and both Grandmaster Bai and his pair of disciples thought that Xu Qing wouldn’t show up. But in the end, Xu Qing wore a raincoat and stood in the rain as he listened in on the lecture.

He would come no matter the weather.

This event left a deep impression on Grandmaster Bai and his two disciples.

So one day, when Xu Qing didn’t appear by the time the lecture started, the boy and girl kept glancing outside.

They seemed to be surprised that the dirty little scavenger hadn’t appeared today.

The pair of disciples didn’t stop sneaking glances until Xu Qing’s exhausted figure finally appeared outside the tent.

The reason that Xu Qing was late today was because listening in on Grandmaster Bai’s lectures wasn’t the only thing he did in the camp. He also regularly entered the forbidden area to look for the Destiny Flower and scar-removing stone, as well as tempering himself by hunting mutated beasts.

Unfortunately, his search wasn’t going very smoothly.

Xu Qing had never found either of the two items, and he once again experienced the dangers of the forbidden area.

At this point, he was not only at the fourth level of the Sea and Mountain Art, he also had the keen judgment and observational skills of a veteran scavenger. If he was careful and only moved around in the outer area, he could preserve his life and even proactively hunt, but even with all of this, Xu Qing still occasionally ran into trouble.

This time, he was late because he had encountered a mutated beast that had come from the depths of the forbidden area. He had only barely managed to escape after putting his life on the line. After fleeing all night, it was already morning by the time he returned to camp.

After returning, Xu Qing went straight to Grandmaster Bai’s tent to listen in rather than go home and rest.

Aside from all that, Xu Qing was also making some money recently from the insurance suggested by Bone Blade.

Bone Blade was alive and well.

Ever since he bought insurance from Xu Qing that first time, he would come to buy it every time he entered the forbidden area. The bewilderment fog had never appeared, and Xu Qing never had to make a move.

However, Bone Blade still persisted in buying the insurance. Xu Qing didn’t know how the matter spread, but gradually more and more people also came to him to buy insurance.

Out of caution, Xu Qing directly refused most of them. He only agreed to the requests of those few people he had saved before.

Thus, Xu Qing’s income increased, and along with his regular hunting in the forbidden area, his quality of life gradually improved.

Although Captain Thunder had retired and didn’t go on missions anymore, Xu Qing paid him quite a bit as rent. Initially, Captain Thunder didn’t want to accept it, but since Xu Qing insisted, he had no choice but to reluctantly take it in the end.

Captain Thunder spent most of this money on food, so whenever Xu Qing returned from the forbidden area, he had a warm meal waiting.

He even bought some new clothes for Xu Qing.

These clothes were all brand new and Xu Qing was reluctant to wear them. He folded each of them neatly and placed in a cabinet. From time to time, he would take the clothes out and just look at them, feeling happy.

Xu Qing felt warm whenever mealtimes came every day.

Not only was the food good, Captain Thunder also talked about some random things happening in camp, just like how older relatives liked to talk about whatever was going on in the neighborhood.

During this period of time, Cross and Luan Ya also came back once. They accompanied Captain Thunder for a while before leaving again.

It could be said that during the past few weeks, Xu Qing was the happiest he had been in the past six years.

He had hot meals, new clothes, and the company of Captain Thunder. His cultivation base was slowly improving, and he continued to learn more about plants and vegetation.

Thus, he was extremely satisfied and cherished his current lifestyle very much. Every day, he was extremely serious as he listened in on Grandmaster Bai’s classes from outside the tent.

One day, early in the morning, Xu Qing heard the voice of Grandmaster Bai questioning the boy inside the tent.

"Chen Feiyuan, tell me about the Night Corpse Morning Glory."

Chen Feiyuan was the boy’s name. Xu Qing had learned this over the past month, and he also knew that the girl was called Tingyu.

Unfortunately, Chen Feiyuan couldn’t answer Grandmaster Bai’s question. He stuttered for a while before giving up and falling silent.

Xu Qing couldn’t see inside the tent right now, but he could already imagine the boy’s mournful face after seeing it through the tent flap so many times.

“You don’t know anything. Tingyu, you answer.” Grandmaster Bai’s voice was very stern as he called on the girl to answer.

But this time, the girl was obviously not prepared enough.

"Night Corpse Morning Glory, also known as Poison Mountain-foot... Teacher, I, I forgot." After the girl said this, she stopped talking.

A silence immediately fell over the tent, and it was obvious that the Grandmaster Bai’s fury was growing. Finally, his voice rang out with unconcealable anger.

"Kid, you answer."

Standing outside the tent, Xu Qing was taken aback for a moment, subconsciously opening his mouth to answer.

“Night Corpse Morning Glory, also known as Poison Mountain-foot Turtledove Chrysanthemum, is a vine that grows from the roots of the Turtledove Chrysanthemum, and it is primarily affiliated with the wood element. It’s born in valleys that contain corpses and are full of yin energy, but it can also be found in cold streams or jungles. Its taste is astringent, and it slightly warms the mouth when ingested. When you touch it, it feels rotten. It is effective when used to reduce wind in the body, but becomes poisonous when taken in excessive amounts. Typically, it's mixed with other plants according to the yin-yang dual extremes method.” Xu Qing paused at this point.

“What are the symptoms of taking an excessive amount?” Grandmaster Bai asked again. His pair of disciples in the tent were slightly unconvinced.

“The symptoms of such poisoning include abdominal pain, dizziness, and hallucinations. If the patient isn’t detoxified within a quarter of an hour, they will die.” Xu Qing was nervous as he stood outside the tent, but he answered without delay.

"How to detoxify?"

“Induce vomiting and wash the stomach. Supplement with egg whites and the stamen and pistil of a red-thorn flower. Treating symptoms should be done at noon, when the sun is strongest. The treatment time should not exceed an hour, and it must be done for three consecutive days.”

When Xu Qing answered, although Grandmaster Bai had no expression on his face, the boy and girl beside him in the tent stared with their eyes wide open in surprise.

“What is the meaning of yin-yang dual extremes?” Grandmaster Bai continued to ask.

“Yin and yang form two extremes, righteousness and evil combine in one body. Yang is ‘righteous’ and medicine, yin is ‘evil’ and poison.” Xu Qing replied instantly. These were things he had already heard during the lectures, and he had constantly memorized them to the point of it being second nature.

“How does it affect plants?" Grandmaster Bai asked again, even faster.

“Take Night Corpse Morning Glory as an example. When combined with the Heart Leaf, its yang aspect will double. It can heal soul injuries, and also slightly soothe heterogeneity. But if you combine it with the Velvet Flower, its yin aspect will increase greatly, and it becomes extremely toxic. If an ordinary person eats it by mistake, they will die within thirty breaths.”

“How do you deal with Velvet Flowers?

“What’s the use of the Heart Leaf root?” Grandmaster Bai asked questions faster and faster, and Xu Qing’s answers also grew faster and faster as his tensed mind gradually relaxed.

Just like that, the old man asked from inside the tent and the boy answered from outside. During this question-and-answer session, an incense stick's worth of time slowly passed.

Grandmaster Bai asked a lot of questions, and the answers to many of them could only be gleaned from lectures with many days between them, but Xu Qing answered them all fluently.

As for the pair of disciples inside the tent, their expressions had changed from surprise to shock. They stared blankly at the silhouette of the boy reflected from outside the tent.

Finally, under the dumbfounded gazes of the two disciples, Grandmaster Bai asked his last question.

“Take three stalks of one-year-old Night Corpse Morning Glory, combine them with six stalks of three-year-old passing-cloud grass, and add nine ten-year-old stalks of any member of the sedge family. What effects will the resulting medicinal liquid have?”

As soon as this question was posed, the faces of Grandmaster Bai’s pair of disciples changed rapidly, and their breathing quickened. This question no longer involved just a single herb, but an amalgamation.

This question was also the one that made Xu Qing remain silent for the longest time. He thought about it for more than thirty breaths before he took a deep breath and spoke in a low voice.

“Evil cannot suppress righteousness, yang flourishes while yin declines. By adding in the yang-aligned passing-cloud grass, the detoxification effect of the sedge is amplified to an astonishing degree.” After Xu Qing finished speaking, his eyes widened and he faintly realized something.

“This is seven-tenths of the basic pill recipe of the Great Change Pill, classified as a kind of detoxification pill. The refinement can be completed by adding in three other kinds of herbs and heating for fourteen hours.” The voice of Grandmaster Bai came faintly from the tent.

“I’ve tested you so much, so now, is there anything you want to ask?”

Xu Qing’s mind jolted and his breathing sped up.

Over the past month or so, he had indeed been puzzled over many things, but after all, he was only an eavesdropper. Although Grandmaster Bai was kind and didn’t chase him off, there was no way he could be so shameless and interrupt the doctor’s lectures with his questions.

Now that Grandmaster Bai gave him the okay, Xu Qing quickly gathered his thoughts and asked rapidly.

“Grandmaster Bai, the flamecord hemp and yangsprout thorn are similar in both habitat and effect. What’s the difference between the two?

“Why can’t the Spirit Stopping Flower be picked during the day?

“The juice of the Heart Leaf is used to ward off evil spirits. Why is it that it can’t be used with the Life Eye Branch that also wards off evil spirits?”

...

Xu Qing asked questions one by one, and Grandmaster Bai answered each of them in detail.

And Xu Qing seemed to be a bottomless well full of questions. Time continued to pass, until it was long past the time when the class usually ended. The boy and girl in the tent appeared to be looking at a monster as they stared at Xu Qing, who saw the sky darken and stopped his questions with a slightly unwilling look in his eyes.

Nevertheless, he felt that today had been indescribably rewarding. Most of the questions in his heart had been answered, and he felt like he had gained a thorough understanding.

This made him desire knowledge even more, and he was ready to go back and write everything down.

Just as he was about to leave, Grandmaster Bai's somewhat tired voice rang out from inside the tent.

“From now on, you don’t need to stand outside, and you don’t need to bring me those random herbs. Starting tomorrow, you can enter the tent to attend my classes.”

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