Chapter 360 — The Smoke of the Mortal World
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
. " Xu Shenghua opened his eyes and said weakly, "Ask the divine physician to come in.
" The door curtain was lifted, and Shen Mu walked in, smiling: "Brother Xu.
" Seeing him, Xu Shenghua was stunned, and his head suddenly ached violently.
Shen Mu hurried forward, took out several Spirit Buddha Pills and gave them to him to swallow, and said with a smile, "You had best not let your mind surge so violently. I have met with your condition myself; at the time, a cultivation method I practiced had left my flesh withered, and I nearly died. Yours is because your mind and mental power were consumed to excess, beyond what your body could bear. In truth your injury is not grave; with gradual care you would recover in a month or two. But if I treat you, half a day will do. " Xu Shenghua swallowed the Spirit Buddha Pills and felt much better. His head still ached, but not so violently as before, and by degrees he could command his hands and feet; his body was his body again.
"You are also a divine physician? " he said, his voice hoarse. "Divine physician I am not; in the art of medicine I rank second.
Search all of Jingping and you will find no one better than I.
" Shen Mu diagnosed him for a moment, wrote out a prescription, and told Yu Liu to go buy the medicine, saying with a smile, "With my spirit medicine to nourish you, the depletion in your body will be healed in two or three days. Victory and defeat are common to soldiers, and common to us cultivators as well; do not take it to heart.
" Xu Shenghua looked straight at him, then suddenly sighed: "In some things I am indeed not your equal. You beat me by stratagem, yet I can summon no resentment toward you. I came down to the lower world on my master's orders to kill you, thinking only of returning to the Heaven Above once you were dead; never did I think I would come to regard you as a friend. " Shen Mu sighed: "A Tyrant Body is hard to find.
But you and I are enemies after all; we cannot become friends. " The two fell silent. Not long after, Yu Liu returned with the medicine, and Shen Mu refined it straight into a spirit pill and gave it to Xu Shenghua to swallow. Xu Shenghua got down from the bed, swaying, his body still trembling a little, and said with a frown, "I clearly feel the injuries of my flesh healing, so why can I still not stand steady?
My hands still tremble.
.
.
" Shen Mu pondered a moment, then his eyes lit up and he laughed: "I know this illness of yours. Come with me. " With that he rose and walked out.
Xu Shenghua wanted to follow him, but his body swayed and his legs shook; Yu Liu and Jing Yan hurried to support him out of the room. As a disciple of the Heaven Above, Xu Shenghua could hardly lodge in mean quarters; the inns were too noisy, so they had bought out a residence, quite quiet and elegant.
Shen Mu led him into the street, glanced around, and his eyes brightened; he laughed: "Here is the good medicine for your illness. " Xu Shenghua was startled, and the two women beside him as well.
Shen Mu had already sat down at a table before a noodle stall and said to the stallkeeper, "Ten bowls of noodles, big sea bowls. The first bowl no chili, no oil, just a little salt.
And knead an egg into the dough. What are you standing there gaping for?
Sit! " Yu Liu and Jing Yan frowned and looked at the shabby noodle stall. It was set up right on the street, where people came and went and dust could not be kept out. Those who sat eating noodles here were all burly fellows, plainly laborers from the countryside working in the capital.
How could they ever have eaten at such a stall? On ordinary days they would have thought it filthy even to look at. After all, the Heaven Above is high and exalted, a holy land of immortals; what they ate and drank were rare delicacies such as the mortal world never sees, and clean and spotless beyond imagining, truly untouched by a speck of dust.