Chapter 30: Reunion, Determined to Help with Treatnt
Soon, a woman ca upstairs and respectfully said, "Dr. Xu, it's been a long ti."
The woman was ng Lingzhu, older now but still possessing the sa determined eyes.
Xu Ning gestured for her to sit down across from him. ng Lingzhu quickly and carefully sat down opposite him, her posture tense with hope.
Xu Ning took a sip of tea, his expression calm. "I wonder how Old Master ng is doing these days?"
Actually, Xu Ning didn't really need to ask. He assud the other party was definitely dead—after all, more than ten years had passed since he had last seen them. The poison should have claid him long ago.
Unexpectedly, ng Lingzhu suddenly stood up and knelt down before Xu Ning, her eyes glistening with tears. "Dr. Xu, my grandfather's condition is very serious now. He's still alive, but barely. I beg you to treat him. If you can make his remaining days easier, I am willing to serve you like a slave for the rest of my life!"
Xu Ning was genuinely shocked. More than ten years had passed, and he was still alive? That old man's constitution and inner energy must have been truly extraordinary to have held on for so long.
But imdiately, Xu Ning raised his hand to stop ng Lingzhu from kneeling further. "No, I can't treat him. I'm sorry."
After saying that, Xu Ning's other hand tapped lightly on the table, then made a few subtle, careful strokes, barely visible to anyone watching closely.
ng Lingzhu had been sowhat devastated after hearing his refusal. But after seeing Xu Ning's secret gesture, a different light imdiately appeared in her eyes—a spark of understanding and hope.
Imdiately, the light in her eyes was quickly hidden by ng Lingzhu, and her face returned to its sorrowful, pleading expression. She understood he was telling her to et him elsewhere.
"I wonder what brings you here, Divine Physician Xu?" ng Lingzhu changed the subject smoothly, as if nothing had happened.
Xu Ning looked out the window at the bustling street below and said softly, "To participate in the imperial examinations."
Ah! ng Lingzhu was imdiately surprised, her mouth involuntarily falling open in shock. "Participate in the imperial examinations? You?"
Xu Ning looked up at her with a slight smile. "What? Is that not allowed? Do I not look like scholar material?"
This question stumped ng Lingzhu. Not allowed? Of course, he was allowed! Anyone could theoretically participate.
But in ng Lingzhu's eyes, he was already a renowned divine physician, a healer with a legendary reputation. Why would he need to lower himself to participating in the imperial examinations like a common scholar seeking official position?
Seeing ng Lingzhu's bewildered expression, Xu Ning couldn't help but laugh softly. "Everyone has their own pursuits and dreams, ng Lingzhu. And so do I. Ambition knows no age, as they say."
ng Lingzhu nodded slowly, but her heart was still filled with incomprehension. What dream could be greater than being a legendary healer?
After chatting for a few more minutes about trivial matters, ng Lingzhu took her leave, while Xu Ning continued to sit by the window drinking tea, seemingly lost in thought.
Unbeknownst to anyone watching, Xu Ning sat by the window for a whole day, just watching the passersby.
Then, as dusk fell, he calmly returned to his inn.
Glancing at the darkening night outside his window, Xu Ning quickly changed into simple black clothes. Then, silent as a shadow, he leaped out of the window and disappeared into the darkness.
Currently, Xu Ning was considered top-tier among internal martial arts masters. His mastery of the Snow Shadow Step made using simple light-foot techniques relatively easy for him. He could move with supernatural grace and speed.
After so searching, he arrived in the outskirts of the town and found a place to hide and observe.
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He waited quietly for a long ti, watching the area carefully. Only after confirming that no one was following him or watching the area did he slowly walk deeper into the darkness.
Soon, guided by the subtle clues he had left, Xu Ning found ng Lingzhu and her grandfather, ng Yangming, waiting anxiously in a nearby grove of trees.
Seeing Xu Ning approach, ng Lingzhu hurriedly greeted him, her voice a whisper of relief. "Dr. Xu, you've finally arrived!"
Indeed, Xu Ning had co to et them. This was the location he had gestured on the table during the day—a secluded spot away from prying eyes.
Xu Ning waved his hand, silencing her thanks, and went directly to where ng Yangming lay.
At this mont, the old man's face was ashen and yellow, a terrible sign. He was groaning softly from constant, unrelenting pain.
Seeing Xu Ning, he managed a forced, ugly smile through his suffering.
Seeing the other's symptoms up close, Xu Ning knew that if he waited any longer, it would be too late. The man was at death's door.
His sallow, jaundiced complexion was a clear symptom of the final stage of Hundred Flowers Wither poisoning.
Xu Ning didn't rush to treat him imdiately. Instead, he spoke calmly, "I can treat you, but I need you to agree to one condition first."
At this point, ng Lingzhu would agree to anything. She quickly said, "Please speak freely, Divine Physician Xu. Anything you ask, we will do."
Xu Ning stated his terms. "I need your family's cultivation techniques. All of them. Also, after I cure him, I need you to help collect different cultivation techniques from wherever you can. The more varied, the better. This is the price for my help."
The reason he needed the techniques was, of course, to upgrade his own.
Although the Vajra Indestructible Divine Art and Snow Shadow Step were almost at their peak, the Iron Shirt technique was still far from reaching its ultimate level.
If even the vast collection of books in the Hanlin Academy couldn't help him reach the top level of Iron Shirt, then he would need the direct assistance of studying other cultivation techniques to push his understanding further.
ng Lingzhu and ng Yangming didn't hesitate for a mont when considering Xu Ning's condition. They imdiately nodded in agreent, relief flooding their faces.
As long as ng Yangming recovered, the cultivation techniques were a minor matter! Xu Ning was already being rciful by not asking for sothing far more difficult.
Seeing that the two had agreed, Xu Ning imdiately took out so things he had brought in a small bag and placed them carefully on the ground.
Then, he took out a single, unremarkable-looking leaf and fed it to ng Yangming. "Eat this."
After ng Yangming ate the unknown leaf without hesitation—trusting him completely—Xu Ning took out a silver needle pouch and opened it.
However, what was inside were not traditional silver needles, but various sharp, carefully prepared plant thorns.
Xu Ning took one out, then took out a small porcelain bottle, opened it, dipped the thorn in the strange liquid inside, and then precisely inserted it into a specific point on ng Yangming's body.
Then, Xu Ning continued to repeat the operation, thodically and with intense concentration.
As Xu Ning continued, the thorns inserted into ng Yangming began to slowly turn black, absorbing the poison. Eventually, a drop of pitch-black, foul-slling unknown liquid would drip out. Only then would Xu Ning pull that thorn out and insert another in a different point.
In what seed like no ti at all, ng Yangming's body was covered with thorns. The unknown black liquid that flowed out soaked the ground beneath him. So nearby plants that ca into contact with it imdiately withered and died.
And as ng Yangming continued to receive treatnt, the constant pain on his face began to visibly lessen. His groaning stopped.
This process lasted for a full three hours. The mont it ended, Xu Ning sat down on the ground with a heavy thud, panting slightly from exhaustion.
Three hours of focused concentration, of precise, delicate work, had left Xu Ning completely drained. If he weren't a highly trained martial artist with exceptional control, he truly wouldn't have been able to endure it.
ng Yangming, however, was completely transford from before.
He still had thorns embedded in his body, but the black liquid no longer oozed from them. This indicated that the poison in those areas had been completely neutralized.
After resting for a while and catching his breath, Xu Ning stood up on slightly shaky legs. He said to ng Lingzhu, "You stay here and watch over him. He should wake up around dawn, once the last of the poison is expelled naturally. As for the cultivation techniques you promised , you can give them to later. We'll et again. I need to head back to the inn now before anyone notices I'm gone."
ng Lingzhu quickly cupped her hands in a deep, grateful bow. "Take care, Divine Physician Xu. Thank you. Thank you so much."
Xu Ning didn't waste any more words. He simply nodded and turned to leave, quickly disappearing into the night.
ng Lingzhu watched Xu Ning's departing figure, her gaze filled with complex, swirling emotions.
She always felt that Xu Ning possessed a mysterious aura, as if she could never fully understand him no matter how she tried. He was an enigma.
And yet, he was about her age, but far more outstanding, more capable, more composed than her.
What kind of experiences could have given him such wisdom, such skill, such shrewdness at such a young age? She couldn't fathom it.
During the long wait, the image of his calm, focused face kept flashing through ng Lingzhu's mind, lingering there for a long, long ti.
Before she knew it, dawn was beginning to break, the sky lightening in the east. ng Yangming beside her suddenly stirred and made a soft noise. ng Lingzhu quickly got up to check on him.
Bang!
Suddenly, a terrifying wave of force emanated from ng Yangming's body. It instantly blasted away all the spikes and thorns embedded in his flesh, sending them flying in all directions.
Imdiately afterward, a mysterious and profound internal energy fluctuation emanated from ng Yangming, filling the grove with power.
ng Lingzhu, sensing this incredible fluctuation, widened her eyes in shock. Her face filled with ecstatic joy!
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