Free Web NovelChapter 128: Chapter 128: Coming to Find
Several stiff, ghastly pale corpses were brought back from outside.
Laid out in an open space under the bright light of day, their grim aura was not the least bit diminished.
Two of them were still covered in dirt, suggesting they had been hastily buried.
The expressions on the corpses were unnatural, as if they had struggled before death.
"The families were very cooperative,"
Bu Huan said.
"Some of the deceased’s relatives and friends are already showing symptoms like rotting flesh and red rashes on their skin. They’re terrified."
Bai Mo took a dried leaf from his sleeve and placed it in his mouth, the raw, astringent taste spreading across his tongue.
He walked over to the corpses and crouched down to examine them.
"It’s not surprising for those who touched the bodies to show such signs. After all, the corpse qi within them hasn’t dissipated..."
After a long moment of inspection, Bai Mo pointed to one of the bodies, the one with dirt still on it.
"Look at the wound on this man’s chest. It’s deep enough to hit bone and is over three inches long."
"Under normal circumstances, a wound like this is almost incurable. Seeking a Pill would have been a final, desperate gamble!"
Bu Huan clearly remembered Bai Mo’s words—that the Pill could be life-saving in a critical moment.
"Could it really have saved him?"
Bai Mo had him come closer and pointed at the cross-section of the wound.
"Look here. The surface has necrotized. It’s already hardened, dead flesh that no longer bleeds."
"Even if the Pill robbed him of some part of his humanity, had he managed to survive its harmful effects, he might have actually lived!"
Bu Huan nodded thoughtfully.
"No wonder Cultivators are still flocking to this Pill, even after our public warnings."
"In that case, Junior Brother Bai, what should we do with these bodies?"
Bai Mo stood up.
"Burn them. Since they didn’t survive, their bodies have become sources of corpse qi."
"The Cultivators who came into contact with them must be quarantined and monitored for any changes..."
"The senior brothers should have experience with this."
Bu Huan’s expression turned grim. He nodded and hurried away.
Several disciples followed close behind, carrying the corpses.
They had never really dealt with a plague-like situation like this before.
But the scale wasn’t large, so it seemed manageable for now.
Bu Huan had just left when Guo Lingjun came over.
"Ha! Junior Brother Bai, I found the survey map for you!"
He was grumbling under his breath.
"Those disciples from the Miaofa Sect have no good intentions. They stuffed such a huge map into a pile of old papers. It took me forever to find..."
Bai Mo quickly helped him spread the map flat on the ground.
The survey map was over ten feet long.
As Bai Mo examined it closely, Guo Lingjun casually asked from the side:
"Junior Brother Bai, how’s your research on that Pill going?"
Bai Mo said, "Although it’s a failed Pill, it contains two extremely potent medicinal ingredients that still have lingering effects."
Bai Mo didn’t recognize the two ingredients.
However, the other ingredients didn’t seem particularly valuable.
"If a Cultivator consumes this failed Pill, they are affected by the two potent ingredients and can easily become a source of corpse poison."
"Brother Guo, you need to be careful."
Guo Lingjun didn’t look too worried.
"They’re just a few minions who don’t even dare to show their faces. Are we really going to let them succeed?"
"Worse comes to worst, we’ll just use drastic measures!"
A hint of doubt appeared on his face.
"But why are they doing this?"
"They can’t just be doing it because they’re bored..."
Bai Mo remained silent.
’I’m just a Pill Master. The grander strategic games are for people like Guo Lingjun to consider.’
’They receive the most information; their scope of consideration is naturally different.’
A moment later, Bai Mo pointed to a location on the map.
"Here. There’s a well in a residential alley. The water that bubbles up is from underground and is extremely heavy in cold, yin properties."
Guo Lingjun glanced at it.
"But would a place so skewed toward yin be the most favored?"
"Not quite," Bai Mo said.
"They aren’t trying to raise corpses. The person is, after all, still alive and needs a sufficient supplement of yang energy."
"A suitable place is one where the yin energy simply has a slight edge over the yang energy."
After speaking, he pointed to the well again, tapping his finger on it firmly.
"This place, at dusk, is the most suitable."
Bai Mo’s gaze swept downward, skipping over several places where medicinal or fire qi would interfere with the effects, and pointed out a few more locations.
Watching him, Guo Lingjun finally began to see the pattern.
"Brother Guo, you probably understand now. You can handle it from here."
’How many fools make it into the inner sect?’
Full of confidence, Guo Lingjun immediately rolled up the map and left on his own.
"Junior Brother Bai, just rest here for now. I’ll find you if anything comes up."
Bai Mo acknowledged him and turned away.
The day’s events had been quite draining, and he was indeed tired.
Returning to the room prepared for him, Bai Mo took a nap that lasted until dusk.
The first person to come looking for him wasn’t Guo Lingjun, as he’d expected, but Xu Ruyuan.
"Fellow Daoist Xu!?"
Surprised, Bai Mo strode out quickly.
"What are you doing here?"
Xu Ruyuan wore an anxious expression. Though he had never seen this place before, he was in no mood to admire the scenery.
"Brother Bai, you have to help me!"
Bai Mo rarely saw him with such a serious, pleading look and knew he must be truly desperate.
"Don’t panic. Tell me what’s wrong."
As he spoke, he led Xu Ruyuan to a nearby spot for admiring flowers and had him sit down.
Presumably, there were disciples in the Xuandao Sect who were also skilled in horticulture; even after the Miaofa Sect’s withdrawal, the flowers were still excellently maintained.
Xu Ruyuan’s nose tickled. Just as he was about to speak, he let out a loud sneeze.
He quickly composed himself.
"It’s like this. I recently got in touch with a family whose forefathers were experts at planting medicinal herbs in the mountains."
"It’s a difficult line of work, and they’ve fallen on hard times. It took a lot of convincing, but I finally persuaded them to take up their old trade again."
The so-called "herb planting" involves burying cultivated or gathered saplings in a chosen location and letting them grow naturally.
After enough years have passed, they can be harvested at leisure.
However, because the process is so long and filled with uncertainties, a good harvest is never guaranteed, so many people have given up the practice.
Only families who have done it for generations, relying on the blessings of the heavens, have managed to build up their stock over time and achieve a stable output of medicinal herbs.
"His father, now deceased, was a good friend of mine from long ago."
Xu Ruyuan sighed.
"Now my old friend’s son is in trouble, which is why I’ve come looking for you, Brother Bai."
This place wasn’t easy to find.
Fortunately, Xu Ruyuan knew of Bai Mo’s connection to the Xuandao Sect. He’d boldly made some inquiries and managed to learn of Bai Mo’s whereabouts.
Bai Mo didn’t rush to agree, only asking:
"What kind of trouble is he in?"
Xu Ruyuan explained, "Some time ago, for some unknown reason, my friend’s son developed a red, moss-like growth over his heart."
"Multiple visits to doctors yielded no results, and the red moss even showed signs of spreading."
His expression darkened.
"Then, the couple actually believed the words of some good-for-nothing loafers and bought a so-called panacea Pill!"
Xu Ruyuan shook his head.
"The poor son of my old friend is now bedridden, so I came to find you."
Hearing this, Bai Mo turned, went back into the room, and brought out a Pill.
"Was it this kind of Pill?"
Xu Ruyuan took one look and nodded repeatedly.
"That’s the one. The couple saw how dirty the Pill was, so they even washed its surface clean before he took it."
He then said, utterly astonished.
"How do you have this Pill too, Brother Bai?"
Bai Mo shook his head, not answering directly.
"Has this Pill spread widely among Loose Cultivators?"
"Many people have heard of it," Xu Ruyuan said.
He spent his time outside the city and was unaware of the public announcements within. He just said:
"The gimmick of it being a life-saving, curative Pill is quite effective. Many Cultivators hold it in high regard, some even claim to have personally witnessed its effects..."
