Immortality Path: From the Blind Man at the Pharmacy-Chapter 57 - Ghost Tide dispersed
Chapter 57: Ghost Tide dispersed.
Chapter 57: Ghost Tide dispersed.
The night was deep, and the charcoal stove glowed red, warming the chill of the spring night.
Madam Tong leaned over the window to glance outside, then turned her head to the young man by the stove and said, “It’s not raining. We don’t have to go out tonight; it seems the ghost tide is almost over.”
Song Cheng pulled out the handwritten “Flying Wheel Force” from his bosom and said, “Madam, read it to me.”
Madam Tong nodded, sat beside him, her legs closely together, holding the booklet. After glancing at it, she was taken aback and said, “Another force method, you…”
Song Cheng said indifferently, “The more, the better.”
Madam Tong spat playfully, “Dream on! After sleeping with Sister An, are you talking like her now?”
Song Cheng laughed, “Read.”
Madam Tong huffed, crossed her arms, tapped her feet, then cautiously looked at the boy beside her, wondering if he could notice her little movements.
Song Cheng said, “The more the better, don’t be mad.”
Although he didn’t understand why Madam was angry, wasn’t it normal for women to get angry?
Madam Tong thought for a while, then bluntly said, “You can’t be partial and only care for Sister An, understand?”
Song Cheng said, “Understood. Tonight I’ll make sure Madam is well cared for.”
Madam Tong chuckled, “You wish. Taking advantage and still acting innocent.”
Having said that, Tong Jia started reading the book word by word by the light of the lamp.
These days, she was quite busy; during the day, besides practicing with the blade and treating ailments, she also studied and learned to read.
Like last night, when Song Cheng was not sleeping here, she would hold the book, reading word by word, writing, learning, so as not to encounter words she couldn’t recognize when reading to her man.
However, there were still some rare characters in the “Flying Wheel Force” that Madam Tong couldn’t recognize.
Fortunately, some words didn’t matter much, and others could be inferred from context, so after some effort, the three characters of “Flying Wheel Force” still appeared on Song Cheng’s panel.
Sure enough, as Song Cheng expected,
The phrase “conflicts with existing cultivation techniques” did not appear after “Flying Wheel Force.”
This indicated that this force could be integrated by him.
For this reason, he had intentionally pondered and observed.
If the force could be merged, it must not have overlapping functions or entirely different styles, like the three forces: “White Snake,” “Willow Brushing,” and “Absolute,” which had a sequential order of exertion, allowing them to intertwine.
The Flying Wheel Force happened to be a spiral force generated by twisting the body, mostly originating from the torso, which should be able to connect with the Mysterious Turtle Force.
Now it seemed to fit perfectly.
Song Cheng glanced at the panel:
[Points: 34 points]
[Cultivation Techniques]
True Form of Xuanwu (4 Forms) (Yellow Level Grade B) (Perfection) (+)
Flying Wheel Force (Yellow Level Grade C) (Uninitiated (0/4))
“Time to sleep.”
“Huh, so soon?”
“Yeah.”
The rustling sounds of loosening belts and clothes were heard, accompanied by Madam Tong’s faint murmurs. When the bed sank again, there was another burst of noise…
“Wait a minute.” A voice came from the darkness.
The commotion ceased.
A gentle arm pulled down the white curtain. After a while, a forehead tinged with the light of dawn peeked out, and she blew out the lamp grass.
“Hurry.” Madam Tong urged again.
…
…
Five days later.
At night, spring rain fell.
The four city gates of the county town grew tense again, doubling the number of guards on the walls.
On a usual day when Miss An was needed to hold the fort at the East Gate, she did not appear today, only because Blind Song alone, holding an umbrella and leaning on his knife cane, walked from the end of the street, stepping on the rain-drenched road to just outside the East Gate.
A large, pitch-black umbrella, commonly used by street vendors, was planted straight outside the city gate.
Under the umbrella was a table and a chair.
As the young man sat down, even the hasty rain between heaven and earth seemed to pause.
The previously nervous and worried county sentries and guards suddenly sighed in relief, feeling at ease.
The young man rested his knife cane on the table, said “thank you for your hard work” to the guard serving tea, and then took the tea to moisten his throat, leaning back slightly, and sat comfortably behind the city gate, facing the main gate.
Rain fell, the black lights dim, only some illumination from fire bowls and lanterns.
But the silhouette of the young man was very clear.
Miss An did not come because Song Cheng cared for her, and also because it was unnecessary for her to be there.
However, Miss An was not idle.
She had discussed some matters with Song Cheng, which were now being implemented.
At this moment, the Ruyi Commerce Chamber’s residence was still bustling. Batches of steamed buns coated with salt and filled with rich meat stuffing were neatly arranged, placed in baskets, and then covered with waterproof oil cloth.
The house servants of the commerce chamber carried the baskets. Some delivered late-night snacks to the East of the city, while others headed south of the city.
Although the martial arts halls in the city’s south had higher overall martial prowess, they could not compare in wealth to the Ruyi Commerce Chamber.
These steamed buns would provide a hearty meal for those on guard duty during the rainy night.
…
The steamed buns for the city’s East were delivered quickly.
Those for the South were also delivered in a while.
When the martial arts hall disciples on duty saw someone approaching from within the city, they called out warily from a distance, “What do you want?”
The house servants and guards, as instructed by Miss An, replied, “From the Ruyi Commerce Chamber.”
“Ruyi Commerce Chamber?”
The martial arts hall disciples were momentarily stunned but quickly thought of Blind Song.
Their first reaction unexpectedly wasn’t An Chenyu, nor anyone else, but Song Cheng.
The guard shouted, “Tonight, it’s pouring. My young master is personally guarding the eastern part of the city. Before leaving, my lady said to prepare some steamed buns to send over. The young master said he’s quite familiar with Old Master Zhao and Master Chen in the south, so he decided to bring a share for the brothers in the south as well. So here we are!”
The martial arts hall disciples were momentarily dumbfounded, then a few of them ran forward enthusiastically, saying, “Mr. Song, what are you doing?”
The disciples spoke as they guided the Ruyi Commerce Chamber’s disciples and guards to the Marquis Wu Shop, then invited people to distribute all the steamed buns.
In no time, Master Chen, one of the powerful figures overseeing that day, arrived.
Master Chen was from the Flying Wheel Martial Arts Hall. He took a steamed bun, eating it while praising, “Tasty, tasty! It’s rare that Brother Song still thought of us. Very good, very good!”
The house servants stood by, smiling.
The guard, Ding Kui, smiled, “The young master said he felt a kinship at first sight with all of you.”
Master Chen laughed heartily, “Brother Song is a young genius. Even though the heavens bore envy and dimmed his eyesight, he didn’t retreat but rather advanced further, with great talent and broad vision. We, old fellows, truly admire him.”
Next to him, a tall crew-cut middle-aged martial artist said, “Young man, go back and tell your young master that when he has the time, he also should come visit us at the Giant Axe Martial Arts Hall. Don’t be partial.”
On the other side, another martial artist said in a muffled voice, “The Great Bear Martial Arts Hall also welcomes him.”
The hall masters of these martial arts halls, seeing Water Bird and Flying Wheel had received such benefits, naturally hoped Song Cheng would also visit them for some “martial arts exchange,” and at this point, even expressed a desire not to be partial.
Although Ding Kui knew the young master was formidable, witnessing the enthusiasm of these “big shots” firsthand still left him somewhat shocked. He nodded repeatedly, saying, “Sure, sure.”
…
…
The night passed, and the ghost tide seemed to have vanished, without appearing outside the city.
In the middle of the night, the rain stopped.
Song Cheng felt his pupils turn colder as if two pieces of incessantly icy mysterious ice were wedged into his eye sockets, only warmed by the surrounding blood.
He sat under the large black umbrella until the gray sky above cracked, allowing in the light, before getting up and turning away.
He heard voices carried by the wind from the city wall behind him, suggesting the guards spoke of seeing further today and the gray mist seemingly dissipating.
Pausing slightly, he continued forward, leaning on his knife cane, returning to the Ruyi Commerce Chamber, where he washed his face with hot water, changed his clothes, and lay down to rest.
After waking up in the evening, he went out for a meal but found Ding Kui arriving, as excitedly as a woman, narrating the treatment he received in the south of the city the previous night.
“Young master, young master, it was great.
I, Old Ding, was never treated like that by those hall masters before.
Each fought to speak with me as if they were the ladies of Biliu Courtyard vying for my favor.”
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After saying that, he realized it was inappropriate, spat twice, and said, “Not quite right. One shouldn’t put it that way. But young master, all those hall masters south of the city have invited you over for tea.
Master Xu of the Giant Axe Martial Arts Hall, tall and muscular, with a brutal aura of menace, usually looked unapproachable. Yet last night, he talked about not playing favorites and wants you to visit them.”
Song Cheng chuckled and said, “Old Ding, you’ve worked hard.”
“No hard work, no hard work, working with the young master and the lady is fulfilling.” Ding Kui clenched his fist and hurried off. It suddenly occurred to him that back in February, the young master seemed to have been on par with him, only to quickly become the renowned young master, famous in Shanghe County, and seemingly on good terms with everyone.
Ding Kui admired him greatly.
Song Cheng bowed his head, quietly eating his dinner.
A gust of evening wind flitted past, lifting the black cloth tied over his eyes.
But those eyes were hidden deep within.
When he woke up today, he had taken down the black cloth and looked in the copper mirror.
His vision had deteriorated significantly, verging on returning to blindness, with pupils shrinking rapidly to the size of a bean, terrifyingly small.
These ghost eyes were connected to Yune.
If they were to disappear completely, would it mean Yune would also be fully integrated?
‘Hopefully, Yune can make it through.’
As Song Cheng thought about this, suddenly, a guard and a house servant came running quickly from outside.
The guard excitedly shouted, “The ghost tide is gone! The ghost tide is gone!!”
He ran and shouted, almost causing the entire commerce chamber to boil with excitement.
The house servant arrived a step later but came before Song Cheng reverently, saying, “Young master, Old Master Zhao of the Water Bird Martial Arts Hall in the south gate suddenly paid a visit. He didn’t say what it was about, just insisted on meeting you.”
Song Cheng wiped his mouth, stood, and said, “Lead me to him.”
