Chapter 432 — A Healer's Heart
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
" The Baixi Deity sneered. "Trying to frighten me? I am a deity; how could my flesh and blood rot? You struck me with a moon - that was no divine ability, only brute force. Without a divine ability to damage me, my flesh and blood will not rot! " Shen Mu sighed.
"That moon was a treasure forged by a god of the Kaihuang era. How could there be no divine ability within it? The moon is Taiyin, the Great Yin, and the qi of Taiyin is the most adept of all at ruining a man's flesh. Concealing the disease and shunning the physician - I never thought that even a lofty deity would be so vulgar.
" With that, he flicked his sleeve and departed. The Baixi Deity sneered on and on. Shen Mu walked out of the Fragrant Well courtyard. Si Yunxiang had prepared part of the spirit medicines.
"There are still some we have not found," she said, "but I have already had the cult's brethren search with all haste.
The moment they are found, they will be sent by fast boat. " Shen Mu inspected the medicines. "The medicines I have now cannot take his life," he said.
"They can only take one of his legs. " Si Yunxiang was startled, and hastily whispered, "You mean to take his leg?
" Shen Mu smiled slightly and gave his orders: "Tell everyone nearby who has so much as the tiniest external wound - even a pinprick that broke the skin - that they must not live in the vicinity.
Have them move a li away from the Fragrant Well. " Si Yunxiang probed, "And if someone was pricked by a needle and has not yet moved away? " "Then he is in for it. " Shen Mu selected his medicines without raising his head.
"The place where he was pricked will first become a small hole, then gradually widen, and within two or three hours at most it will rot through his whole body, and his bones will die as well. " Si Yunxiang shuddered with dread and hurried off.
The Fragrant Well was a famous scenic spot of Zijing City, and few people lived there, so Si Yunxiang simply instructed the prefect to have all these people move away.
Shen Mu refined and decocted his medicines; the fragrance of the medicine was colorless and odorless, extremely hard to detect. Two days later, the Baixi Deity sent someone to invite Shen Mu. Shen Mu put away the finished medicine, sealed it for later use, and came again to the Fragrant Well courtyard. He saw the Baixi Deity sitting on the ground, his injured leg already rotted, and the rot still spreading toward the healthy flesh.
"You have been working on me?
" The Baixi Deity's eyes blazed as he stared fixedly at him, his voice hoarse. "My leg has gone bad so fast - it must be your secret handiwork!
" Shen Mu stepped forward and examined it carefully, then shook his head. "I told you it was because you concealed your illness and shunned the physician, and still you do not believe me. That moon of the Soul Boat is no trifling thing. You were wounded by the moon. Had you asked me to treat you earlier, this leg could still have been saved.
Now it cannot.
The flesh and blood have rotted, the marrow is dead. The leg must be amputated, and only then can the rot be halted. " The corner of the Baixi Deity's eye twitched.
He stared fixedly at Shen Mu, and seeing that his expression showed no pretense, he said dejectedly, "If you cut it off, I shall have only one leg left, and even less power to bargain with you. " Shen Mu said earnestly, "My medical skill is rather high. I can even attach another man's leg to you. I have three legs here. Choose whichever you like. After I cut off this leg of yours, you rest for two days, and I can fit you with a new one.
" The Baixi Deity's face shifted between light and dark, and he hesitated, then suddenly said, "Do you know why I am called Baixi? " Shen Mu shook his head. "A white colt passes a crack - in an instant, and no more.