Carrying a grown man was truly inconvenient. Yuan Wu and Bai Yuehan each took one side and searched for the Medical Hall in Azure Dragon Town that had a Third-Rank Alchemy Cultivator in residence.
The main issue was that Gu Qingxuan’s injuries looked serious. Yuan Wu was afraid that a First-Rank or Second-Rank Alchemy Cultivator might not be able to treat him.
“Big Brother, may I ask where the best Medical Hall in Azure Dragon Town is? I have an injured person who urgently needs treatment.” Yuan Wu randomly stopped a passerby. When she looked up, she was delighted to find that the passerby she had casually stopped was incredibly handsome. Her smile grew even wider, and she asked even more politely.
The handsome passerby smiled and pointed east. “The best Medical Hall in Azure Dragon Town is definitely Thousand Grass Hall. Follow this road to the next intersection; the third shop is the one.”
“Thank you, Big Brother.” Yuan Wu thanked him and gestured to Bai Yuehan.
At that moment, the handsome passerby stopped them again. “I can lead you there, Fellow Daoist. I’m very familiar with that area.”
“That would be wonderful. Thank you, Big Brother.” Yuan Wu’s impression of him improved greatly. She had not expected him to be such a kind and helpful big brother.
The group hurried toward the so-called best Medical Hall in Azure Dragon Town.
However, when Yuan Wu actually saw the Medical Hall, her pupils widened in disbelief. “Big Brother Pu, this is the best Medical Hall?”
Looking at the Medical Hall, whose signboard had fallen halfway down, whose entrance was shrouded in flying dust, and where no one could be seen, Yuan Wu fell into deep thought.
Pu Buyi smiled. “Yes. If my medical skills in Azure Dragon Town rank second, no one would dare claim to rank first.”
“You?” Yuan Wu expressed her confusion.
“I am unworthy of praise, but I happen to be one of the only two Third-Rank Alchemy Cultivators in Azure Dragon Town.” After saying this, Pu Buyi confidently opened his folding fan and fanned himself, looking as though he was waiting for everyone to applaud this great master.
His refined and honest air instantly transformed into that of a strutting peacock.
Yuan Wu cursed inwardly. No wonder this man had spent the entire journey boasting about how wonderful Thousand Grass Hall was and how impressive the alchemy cultivators inside were.
It turned out he had been praising himself all along?!
Yuan Wu’s face went blank. With a smile that did not reach her eyes, she said, “Big Brother Pu, look at your shop, then look at my eyes, and tell me again that this is the best Medical Hall?”
Pu Buyi patted his chest, confidently and proudly lifting his head. “Thousand Grass Hall is the best Medical Hall in all of Azure Dragon Town, and Pu Buyi is the best alchemy cultivator!”
Yuan Wu was speechless. “Nice.”
She was about to say something else, but the unconscious Gu Qingxuan protested with a sound. He must have been afraid that if he did not prove his existence again, he would probably kick the bucket.
“Cough, cough.” Gu Qingxuan coughed, a trace of blood remaining at the corner of his mouth.
“Xiao Wu, he doesn’t look very well. How about we let a dead horse be treated like a live one? If we go elsewhere now, we won’t have enough time.” Bai Yuehan made the suggestion. Although she also felt that Pu Buyi was extremely unreliable, this was the only option they had.
Pu Buyi was not very pleased by the phrase “let a dead horse be treated like a live one,” but he still agreed. “That’s right, that’s right. Your friend doesn’t look very well. He was injured by a Heaven-Swallowing Python and poisoned as well. After enduring all that jostling on the road, he has already reached his limit. But don’t worry. As long as I, Pu Buyi, take action, I can certainly cure him.”
The culprit behind all that jostling on the road, Yuan Wu, coughed. “Cough, cough. Then... I’ll have to trouble you, Big Brother Pu.”
“Come in quickly. Oh dear, this dust... Hahaha... I’ve been busy lately and haven’t had time to clean. Please forgive me, please forgive me.” Pu Buyi pushed open the half-open door. Dust filled the air, and he hurriedly spat twice before turning back with an apologetic smile.
Yuan Wu and Bai Yuehan carried Gu Qingxuan inside. The closer they got, the more they felt that there were countless suspicious things about this fellow.
What respectable alchemy cultivator had a room full of skulls? And what about those spiders and scorpions hanging in strings?
Why did this feel like a torture chamber...
The two of them moved Gu Qingxuan onto the bed. Yuan Wu’s sharp eyes caught something flashing across the bed. Without revealing anything, she glanced toward the place where it had disappeared.
Was that... a tail?
Suppressing her suspicions, Yuan Wu stepped aside and once again carefully surveyed the Medical Hall.
“Big Brother Pu, do you mind if I look around?” Yuan Wu asked.
Pu Buyi was concentrating on Gu Qingxuan and waved dismissively. “Just don’t damage the herbs.”
Yuan Wu nodded at Bai Yuehan. “I’m going to look around. Watch him.”
“All right.” Bai Yuehan gave a slight nod.
As Yuan Wu wandered around, looking this way and that, an incense burner caught her attention. She ran a finger through the ash on it and sniffed it, frowning. “Why is there such a strange smell?”
Screech~
A tiny cry came from the corner, and a black shadow lunged at Yuan Wu. She dodged to the side, flicked her finger, and sent out a grass vine that caught it. The grass vine swiftly seized the black shadow and lifted it in front of her.
“A little fox?”
Yuan Wu raised an eyebrow, curious about the little fox that had appeared here. It was a pure-black Black Fox—an exceedingly rare sight.
Its large eyes flashed as it clawed and snapped at Yuan Wu, baring its not-so-sharp teeth in an attempt to frighten her away.
Yuan Wu reached out and rubbed its head. The Black Fox froze in surprise, then struggled even more fiercely, but in the end it surrendered beneath Yuan Wu’s magical hand.
As if! Yuan Wu’s technique was first-rate. She had developed it through years of petting dogs. How could a tiny little fox refuse to submit?
Just as Yuan Wu was about to pet its tail as well, another red shadow burst out.
Yuan Wu raised her hand, and the red shadow was caught by the grass vine just like the Black Fox.
“Oh? A Red Fox, throwing yourself right into the net?” Yuan Wu chuckled.
The Red Fox was clearly more hot-tempered than the Black Fox. It cursed and scolded Yuan Wu, then scolded the Black Fox as well, presumably berating it for submitting beneath Yuan Wu’s evil clutches.
The Black Fox let out an aggrieved purr and lowered its head, allowing the Red Fox to scold it.
The corners of Yuan Wu’s lips rose even higher as she placed her hand on the Red Fox’s head.
Before long, the Red Fox began purring contentedly.
Screech, screech, screech!
Seeing the Red Fox like this, the Black Fox excitedly cried out at it.
Screech, screech, screech!
Screech, screech, screech!
The two foxes began arguing and cursing at each other.
Yuan Wu sat to one side watching them, finding it extremely entertaining.
No wonder she had sensed a trace of demonic aura upon entering the Medical Hall. The medicinal smell was simply too strong and had concealed it.
But there was none on Pu Buyi. As an alchemy cultivator, he did not even carry the smell of medicine on him. No wonder she had not recognized him as an alchemy cultivator at first and had been tricked into coming here.
“Fellow Daoist Yuan!”
Pu Buyi suddenly appeared and froze when he saw the two little foxes lying in Yuan Wu’s arms and purring.
“What is it, Big Brother Pu?” Yuan Wu raised her head and smiled at him, pretending not to understand. “How strange. I don’t know where these two little foxes sprang from. They insist on clinging to me and refuse to leave.”
Little foxes: ???
“Ahem, Fellow Daoist Yuan, these are foxes I raised. Could you return them to me?” Pu Buyi pressed his lips together. “Your friend is already awake. Aren’t you going to check on him?”
Yuan Wu shrugged, returned the foxes to Pu Buyi, and turned to look at Gu Qingxuan.
Before leaving, she heard Pu Buyi scolding the little foxes. “Didn’t I tell you two not to run around and not to let yourselves be seen? Fortunately, they weren’t members of the Moon-Seeking Gang. If they had discovered you, you would have been in serious trouble.”
“You can’t let the Moon-Seeking Gang discover them?” Yuan Wu knitted her brows tightly. She wanted to go out and ask for an explanation, but after thinking it over, decided to wait a little longer.
When she reached the doorway, she saw Bai Yuehan feeding medicine to Gu Qingxuan.
The corners of Yuan Wu’s lips lifted into an auntie-like smile as she hid outside the door and secretly watched.
Oh my, the male and female protagonists were making good progress. They were already feeding each other medicine! Hahahaha, shipping a couple from this close was indeed a completely different experience.
She was so engrossed in shipping them that when she saw Bai Yuehan and Gu Qingxuan gaze at each other, Yuan Wu accidentally laughed aloud.
This immediately caused the two of them to turn toward her.
“Xiao Wu, you’re here. What were you laughing about just now?” When Bai Yuehan saw Yuan Wu, she immediately put down the medicine and walked toward her.
Realizing she had been discovered, Yuan Wu awkwardly walked inside. “I just like laughing. Laughing makes you look ten years younger, after all. Oh, it seems Big Brother Pu really wasn’t boasting. This fellow looks much better now.”
As she said this, Yuan Wu noticed that Bai Yuehan’s expression was somewhat strange.
She asked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”
After hesitating again and again, Bai Yuehan pulled Yuan Wu aside and said, “Do you know how Pu Buyi treated him?”
“Tell me about it.” Yuan Wu became curious.
“First, he used a knife to forcibly cut out the poisoned flesh from the wound. Then he found a poisonous spider as large as a face and placed it on Gu Qingxuan, making the poisonous spider draw out the poison... and then he—”
“A poisonous spider drawing out poison? What kind of procedure is that?” Yuan Wu frowned as well and interrupted her.
“I’m not finished.” Bai Yuehan pressed her lips together.
“My apologies. Please continue.” Yuan Wu smiled sheepishly.
“After the poisonous spider finished drawing out the poison, Gu Qingxuan’s face turned green. I suspect that the spider wasn’t drawing out poison at all, but poisoning Gu Qingxuan again. Later, Pu Buyi produced a white powder, mixed it with something I couldn’t identify, and made Gu Qingxuan drink it. Gu Qingxuan’s face turned red.” Bai Yuehan had not finished speaking, but Yuan Wu was already itching to complain.
“No way. Did he treat Gu Qingxuan like a lab rat?” Yuan Wu’s mouth twitched.
“After that, Pu Buyi made a brown, feces-shaped Pill about the size of a fist and stuffed it into Gu Qingxuan’s mouth. He ground a Red Scorpion together with some unidentified white bones into powder and rubbed it all over him. After about fifteen minutes, Gu Qingxuan’s face turned white.”
“Did he die?” Yuan Wu asked.
“...” Bai Yuehan was left speechless. “Does he look dead to you?”
“Hahaha, I was only joking~”
“Once his face turned white, he was fine. Pu Buyi then brought over a bowl of foul-smelling medicine and had me feed it to him, saying he would recover after resting for some time.” Bai Yuehan finished in one breath.
Yuan Wu tilted her head. “He’s fine just like that? Could it be a final flash of vitality? His face turned green, then red, then white. He has quite a resilient life. Such serious injuries were cured just like that... If Pu Buyi isn’t an exceptionally skilled physician, then he’s merely a half-trained amateur.”
“Who knows? In any case, Gu Qingxuan looks fine now.” Bai Yuehan nodded.
“I wonder if he’ll charge a treatment fee. Gu Qingxuan has to pay it himself—we don’t have any money.” Yuan Wu pouted. She only had three hundred spirit stones on her, and she still wanted to buy delicious food.
“Right. Let him pay for it himself.” Bai Yuehan wholeheartedly agreed. She was completely broke now and had no money to pay the treatment fee.
After hearing all of this, Gu Qingxuan was close to tears, his eyes devoid of light: ...I’m still alive, but my soul is dead.
He had no money either... He had to think of a way.