Bab 5: Horse Beast
Editor: Atlas Studios
Mingyuan City was the third largest city within the Feng Nation.
The city was located in the plains, covering an area of 50 kilometers. There was a large winding river in the south of the city and transportation on both water and land was very convenient. All of this contributed to the prosperity of the city.
At this moment, the crowd at the city gates formed a long line.
Liu Le'er pulled the tall youth into the crowd, feeling a little uneasy as she kept glancing at the top of the gate which was several feet high.
There was an octagonal bronze mirror hanging there, facing the area before the city gate.
It was now late in the morning and the carving of an Eight Trigram on the bronze mirror was shining in the sun, giving out a magnificent air.
One only had to pay some money to the guards to enter the city. The inspection did not look strict and it was soon Liu Le'er and the youth's turn.
When they came to the gate, a strange force enveloped them as they faced the Eight Trigram bronze mirror on the city gate.
Liu Le'er's body appeared to be a little stiff and she lowered her head.
The tall youth looked at that Eight Trigram bronze mirror, his gaze blank. But no one noticed the ray of blue light flashing past his eyes and there was nothing unusual on the surface of the bronze mirror.
"Where are you from? Why do you want to enter the city?" a middle-aged city gate guard looked at them and asked lazily.
"Sirs, we siblings are from the Liu family in the town 150 kilometers northwest of the city. My name is Liu Le'er and this is my brother, Liu Shi. We came to the city to seek refuge with our relatives and treat my brother's illness along the way," Liu Le'er said, smiling.
Although in recent years, she and the tall youth were dependent on each other, they still had to be in contact with people. For convenience sake, she gave this 'Brother Stone' the name of Liu Shi—"Shi" meaning "stone."
While she spoke, Liu Le'er quickly took out some copper coins and handed it to the guard, which was a little more than the fee for entering the city.
When the middle-aged guard saw this, his face showed a trace of satisfaction and he stuffed the copper coins into his own pocket. He glanced at the dull but tall youth and waved his hand.
"It's impossible that you and your brother are villians, go in."
Liu Le'er complied and pulled Liu Shi into the city quickly. Only when they had walked a distance away from the city gate did they slow down in a corner where no one was around and breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Fortunately, I have the talisman my father gave me. It hides my demon qi so I wasn't detected by the demon-revealing mirror."
Liu Le'er looked around to make sure no one was looking and she muttered in a low voice, then took out a jade talisman.
The jade talisman was two inches long and two fingers wide. It was engraved with blue patterns, forming a complex formation. Rays of soft blue light flowed on the surface of it like water.
She looked at the object in her hand and after a trace of sadness flashed past her eyes, she carefully hid the jade talisman again.
After making two bends along the alleys, they came to the main street of Mingyuan City.
The street was wide enough for three carriages to drive side by side. On both sides of the street were big and spacious shops and buildings that were lined up one after another, as far as the eye could see.
However, there were not many buildings here that were built from bricks and tiles. Most of them were built with wood and although the buildings were not very high with very few beyond a hundred feet. Most of them were intricate and rather novel.
It was Liu Le'er's first time coming to such a big city like Mingyuan City. The bustling crowd made her quite afraid, so she stuck close to Liu Shi.
However, although there were many people around them, no one came to disturb them. This made her gradually relax, allowing her to be attracted by all kinds of interesting things in the city. She walked along the streets happily with Liu Shi in hand.
"Brother Stone, look over here! I've heard about it before. It really looks delicious." Liu Le'er's eyes were fixed on a peddler selling candied haws.
Liu Shi's dark eyes reflected the lively scenes around him, with no expression on his face and a completely indifferent look.
Liu Le'er was about to pull Liu Shi over when she saw how the youth looked and felt a sense of disappointment in her heart. She immediately thought of the purpose of coming to the city. She quickly grabbed the youth's hand and said seriously, "Brother Stone, don't worry. There must be a doctor who can cure you here in this big city."
When Liu Shi heard this, his eyes flashed slightly.
Liu Le'er pulled Liu Shi over to the food stall to eat something and asked the vendor where she could find doctors and soon found the location of two medical centers nearby.
In Li's Medical Center, west of the city.
Li's Medical Center had been practicing medicine in this area for a hundred years and was considered an old and established medical center.
A middle-aged man in a long, blue gown was sitting on a wooden chair, pressing three of his fingers on Liu Shi's wrist as he checked his pulse carefully. Liu Le'er stood by the side nervously.
This middle-aged man was called Li Changqing and was the present boss of Li's Medical Center. He was a well-known and skilled man in this generation of doctors and had practiced medicine for over 20 years.
After feeling his pulse for a while, Li Changqing drew back his hand.
"Your brother's six meridians are mild and strong, his qi and blood are plentiful. His body is obviously excellent, so how can he show the same symptoms as the loss of his soul? When did this illness appear? Is there any external cause?" Li Changqing asked as he looked at Liu Le'er with a raised eyebrow.
"My brother and I haven't seen each other for many years and I know nothing about the cause of his illness," Liu Le'er said with a shake of her head.
"Then this will be difficult. If I don't know the cause, I can't treat it. I beg your pardon for my superficial medical knowledge and powerlessness," Li Changqing stroked his long beard and said apologetically.
"Is there really nothing you can do?" Liu Le'er asked anxiously.
"There's nothing I can do." Li Changqing shook his head.
Disappointed, Liu Le'er left the medical center with Liu Shi after bowing to Li Changqing.
"There are many medical centers in Mingyuan City. We'll go to each of them and I'm sure you will be cured."
The girl was dejected for a while, but she quickly cheered up.
Liu Shi smiled, and she did not know if he had understood her.
They walked in a certain direction and went across two blocks before coming to the door of another medical center.
The exterior walls of the medical center were gray, the roof was covered with black tiles and the gate and courtyard was very extensive, giving off a luxurious air. Compared with Li's Medical Center, it was more dignified and there were more people who came to seek medical treatment.
"This medical center is so big. The skills of the doctors inside should be more skillful." Liu Le'er was full of expectations as she took Liu Shi inside.
An hour later, they came out and the girl's expression was still full of disappointment.
"No worries, there are still other medical centers." Liu Le'er soon regained her cheerfulness.
For the rest of the day, the two of them walked through the streets and went to almost all of the medical centers in Mingyuan City, but those doctors were just as helpless with Liu Shi's illness.
In the Chrysanthemum House north of the city.
Two figures slowly came out from inside. It was Liu Le'er and Liu Shi.
Liu Le'er looked down and had her head lowered as she played with the corner of her clothes in slight frustration.
Although this Chrysanthemum House was not the largest medical center in Mingyuan City, it was said that the doctors there had some understanding of some difficult and complicated illnesses, but it was a pity they could not find the cause of Liu Shi's illness.
"Hold on, little girl." At this moment, a voice sounded from behind them. An elderly man with gray hair and wearing a blue robe chased after them.
"Doctor Liu." Liu Le'er was slightly surprised and stopped walking.
This elderly man in a blue robe was the one who had taken Liu Shi's pulse just now—the doctor of Chrysanthemum House.
"Have you thought of something about my brother's illness?" There was some hope in Liu Le'er's heart.
"Yes. After making a diagnosis and treating your brother, I went to look through some medical books and came across a case that was quite similar to your brother." The elderly, blue-robed man nodded.
"Doctor, please continue." Liu Le'er was delighted.
"According to the record in the book, your brother's symptoms are quite different from that of losing one's soul. It's more like he was cursed or he was inhibited by someone and had his soul damaged. This kind of injury cannot be treated by ordinary doctors. Only by finding the Immortal Masters who are good at this can it be cured. As for being unable to speak, it is a small matter. Your brother's tongue is unimpeded. As long as his soul returns to normal, he will naturally be able to speak," the elderly man in the blue robe continued.
Liu Le'er became silent after listening to him and only managed to squeeze out a cute smile after a while.
"Thank you for your guidance, Doctor Liu."
"You're welcome. It's our duty to treat people." The elderly man shook his head and then went back into the house.
Liu Le'er soon left Chrysanthemum House a little unhappily.
"From Brother Stone's situation, his soul was really hurt by someone," the girl muttered to herself.
She was a fox demon and although she was young, she had some knowledge about cultivation. From the unusual condition of Liu Shi for the past few years, she had guessed that his soul might have been hurt by someone.
If they wanted to cure it, they had to turn to a cultivator who was proficient in the way of the soul.
It was just that such a cultivator would be extremely powerful and she was unsure if she could hide her identity from the other party with just a talisman.
She came to Mingyuan City this time in the hope of finding someone who could treat Liu Shi. She had hoped that she was wrong, but things didn't turn out as she intended.
Liu Le'er could not help but fall into a dilemma.
Just when she was frowning, there was a sudden commotion in the street ahead, and the pedestrians ran about chaotically.
"The horse has been frightened!"
"Get out of the way!"
A cry of surprise came from the front and the crowd scattered, running desperately to both sides.
Not far away, a silver carriage, that was being pulled by a strange, scaly blue horse was moving very fast as it rushed towards Liu Le'er and Liu Shi.
That strange blue horse neighed loudly and was behaving crazily. The carriage behind it bumped around and the driver's face was as white as a sheet of paper. He tried to pull the reins, but it did not work at all.
Liu Le'er was shocked and pulled at the youth, wanting to dodge, but it was too late.
In a gust of fishy wind, the strange horse pulled the carriage and seemed to have flown to a few feet in front of the two of them. The girl could see the strange, blue horse's sharp teeth and the white foam that was spewing out from its mouth.
-- Hadiah diterima