Chapter 14

Qin Jiang was somewhat surprised; he didn't expect the old physician to be able to tell directly.

"Indeed, I have already practiced it to the third layer."

Upon hearing this, the old physician smiled, "Stay here tonight. The Five Animal Frolics still has one secret method that requires soaking in a medicinal bath at the first light of dawn to be thoroughly perfected."

Qin Jiang thought for a moment and agreed.

In the evening, in a guest room in the backyard, candlelight flickered, casting people's shadows on the wall.

At the table, Qin Jiang wrote rapidly, compiling the "Longevity Five Qi Technique," intending to hand it to the old physician tomorrow.

Until late at night, he put down his pen, twisted his neck, and stretched his body slightly.

He got up and walked to the window; the lonely moon hung high, and the bright white moonlight spilled down.

Tonight's night scene was extremely beautiful, seemingly even quieter than usual.

He walked to the table and blew out the candle; he still had to go learn the Iron Arm Fist tomorrow, so he needed to rest soon.

The next day, Qin Jiang sat up from the bed, his eyes half-closed, still carrying some fatigue.

After the fierce battle with the two fox demons yesterday, even after sleeping all night, he still felt some drowsiness.

He put on his cloth clothes and walked toward the door, following his memory, intending to go out and wash his face.

"Creak~"

The door opened, but it was not daytime; it was still night.

Inhale——! Qin Jiang took a deep breath and instantly woke up.

He looked up; the moonlight was still there.

Immediately, he determined that there was definitely no problem with himself, because the position of the moon had not changed at all since before he went to sleep.

Since he had practiced the Longevity Five Qi Technique, his physical body had developed some inexplicable connection with heaven and earth, and his control over the subtle parts of his body could almost be said to have reached a peak.

If not deliberately controlled, there would never be a situation where he woke up before dawn.

He quickly put on his clothes, returned to the room to pick up the Black Water blade, and leaped directly onto the roof.

Looking around, the large Black Mountain City had no light at all; usually, torches would be lit at every city gate.

Not only that, he listened carefully; let alone human speech, he couldn't even hear the sound of insects or wind. This Black Mountain City seemed to have become an empty city overnight! His heart tightened slightly, and he walked toward another roof with light steps.

After walking over several roofs, his line of sight was attracted by a glimmer of light; it was a room on the second floor with candlelight lit, and a blurred human figure was reflected on the window.

He walked over gently, and before he could even make a small hole in the window, a voice came from inside the room.

"Who is outside?"

The old physician's voice came out.

Hearing that it was the old physician, Qin Jiang's mood relaxed slightly; he pushed the window open gently and walked into the room. The old physician was sitting at the table flipping through medical books.

"It's so late, why haven't you slept yet?"

Qin Jiang raised his eyebrows slightly, "You say, is it night now?"

Upon hearing this, the old physician nodded and glanced out the window, "The Taiyin is hanging high; if it's not night, could it be daytime?"

Qin Jiang glanced out the window and nodded in realization, "Oh~ yes, it's me, I was muddled from sleep."

As he spoke, he walked to the old physician's side and sat down, his palm resting on the hilt of the Black Water blade.

"By the way, old physician, do you remember the day you gave me the Five Animals Pill and said you wanted to sell it to me for two taels of silver?"

The old physician looked puzzled, "Two taels of silver? Is my old mind truly that muddled? This old man clearly remembers that what I said that day should have been one hundred wen."

"Then why not deduct it today?" Qin Jiang asked.

The old physician laughed immediately, "Why? Must you give it to me?"

Hearing this, Qin Jiang felt relieved, smiled with satisfaction, and drew the Black Water, "Speak, who exactly are you?"

The old physician was stunned, then tilted his head slightly, revealing an eerie smile, his eyes becoming hollow. "I am very curious, how did you discover it?"

The 'old physician' did not open his mouth, yet a voice still came out, like the voices of dozens of men and women mixed and overlapped together.

Qin Jiang did not answer and slashed over directly with his blade.

The 'old physician' flashed and appeared outside the window instantly. Qin Jiang chased after him quickly, but just as he leaped out of the window, the 'old physician' had already disappeared.

A commotion came from below; he looked down and saw that, at some point, the downstairs was crowded with people, all looking up with hollow eyes, staring straight at him.

Before he could react, the next moment, everyone rushed toward him like madmen.

People squeezed against people, forming an effect like stairs, and they squeezed up in just half a breath! Qin Jiang's eyes sharpened, and he slashed with his blade, causing a large amount of blood to splatter immediately.

The crowd came in wave after wave, like ocean waves.

Besides inside the courtyard, the streets outside were also full of people, almost filling every gap, and he couldn't see the end at all.

Swish, swish, swish! The blade light flickered in the night, appearing and disappearing like an isolated island in the waves.

He didn't know how long he had been slashing; Qin Jiang's physical strength was almost exhausted, but looking around, the crowd still had no end in sight.

At the moment of exhaustion, an inexplicable anger rose from his heart, making him swing his blade with all his might; the immense force carried by the blade directly cut the crowd one meter in front of him in half.

Could it be, is he going to die again?! As he drew a circle with his blade, a glimmer of light shone into his eyes from the side; he looked sideways and saw it was a candle stand that had burned more than halfway.

'Young Master, the long night is endless, and the firelight is hard to see.'

Suddenly, Xian'er's words from when she dissipated rang in his mind.

He forced himself to take a breath, exerted force under his feet, crashed through the rushing crowd, and rushed into the room where the old physician had just been.

He grabbed the candle stand and threw it onto the bed; immediately, the firelight flared up.

The fierce firelight burned the room, but he couldn't feel any temperature; even more eerie was that this firelight didn't burn everything like ordinary flames, but spread to all places with a liquid-like texture.

There were no traces of burning where it passed; instead, it was more like being melted and corroded.

An ominous premonition emerged in his heart; he sensed something was wrong and leaped directly out of the window.

A layer of pink light fell, and the crowd from just now had disappeared.

He looked up at the sky; that bright moon had actually turned pink, and a charming female figure floated in the moon, her ribbons dancing lightly, like a fairy.

Watching the dancing figure, Qin Jiang's eyes became blurred.

Swish! The blade light slashed his arm, and he instantly woke up; he no longer looked directly, but paid attention to the pink moon in the sky with the corner of his eye.

Mmm~ mmm~ A sound of revelry came from below; he looked over and saw the crowd from before had appeared again, all doing unspeakable things.

Looking back, the firelight in the room was fierce, but it couldn't burn out of the room no matter what.

Xian'er's voice echoed in his mind, "The long night is endless, and the firelight is hard to see." He was certain this was falling into an illusion.

Looking around and sensing carefully, except for the lack of that feeling of being connected to heaven and earth, there was nothing unusual.

What a powerful illusion!

Tap, tap, tap.

Crisp footsteps sounded, unhurried, even somewhat nonchalant.

An invisible pressure weighed on his shoulders, making him unable to move.

The 'old physician' walked through the air; with his steps, his body gradually grew taller, transforming into a young woman.

Her bare feet were like jade, her nails dyed pink, slightly glowing with fluorescence.

She was dressed in a pink silk dress, her face peerlessly beautiful, like a combination of Xian'er and Yu'er, with the contradictory temperaments of charm and reserve appearing simultaneously.

"Young Master, the world is full of suffering; why not stay here and enjoy the blissful illusion forever?"

(End of chapter)