Chapter 21: The Thirst for Knowledge

That night, Xu Qing had a dream.

This was the first time in over six years that he had lived in such a luxurious house, the first time he had not felt the cold from outside, and also a rare night where he had a dream.

In the dream, the world was not cruel, the sky had no remnant face of a god, his parents were by his side, and there was even an older brother.

He went to school carefree with a group of playmates, returned to a warm home after school, ate a hot dinner with his loved ones, and slept a beautiful sleep.

It was just that the faces of his loved ones in the dream were somewhat blurry.

He desperately wanted to see them clearly, but a thick fog always shrouded them, until morning arrived and Xu Qing, lying on the bed, opened his eyes.

He gazed at the ceiling, relaxing for a moment, as if having completely awakened from the dream, and watched his surroundings in silence...

Inside the gray-black brick room, there was not only a table, chairs, and a bed, but also a washroom; the floor still held a lingering warmth, the residue of the stove's heat from the previous night.

On the floor, there was a straw-woven cushion, and to the side, an empty bookshelf.

It seemed simple, but in Xu Qing’s heart, this was already very luxurious.

Xu Qing took a deep breath and walked toward the washroom, carefully reaching out to place his hand in the water; watching the stains on his hand slowly dissolve, he pulled it back quickly.

He lowered his head to stare for a moment, wiped it on his clothes, and after making it dirty again, he looked up at himself in the mirror.

A large fur coat, a head of black but messy hair, a small face full of grime, and those clear eyes.

Yet as he watched, as Xu Qing turned to look at the window, the clarity in his eyes was replaced by indifference.

Outside the window, the wind and snow had stopped, the early sun was rising, and as the sunlight spilled down, the last snow of this winter slowly vanished from the ground.

On the distant trees, as the snow melted, a touch of green bud bloomed, as if telling everyone that spring... had truly arrived.

Xu Qing walked out of the room and habitually glanced at the room of the Lei Team; the dozen or so wild dogs in the courtyard didn't even lift their heads, merely sweeping their tails against the ground as a greeting.

"I should go do something," Xu Qing murmured to himself, a touch of determination appearing in his eyes.

So he pushed open the courtyard gate and walked out, his goal clear: the tent where the caravan Physician resided.

In the early morning, there were not many scavengers in the camp.

As Xu Qing approached the caravan, the guards there swept their gazes over him, and Xu Qing gradually heard the faint sound of reading coming from the Physician's tent.

Hesitating for a moment, Xu Qing stood silently outside the tent, waiting quietly.

The surrounding caravan guards looked at him with scrutiny; after observing for a while, most withdrew their gazes, but there were still a few who kept an eye on him.

Xu Qing didn't mind this, because as the reading from the tent drifted out, he slowly became engrossed, and he also discovered that it wasn't just simple reading inside, but also included an examination.

"Golden Button Grass, also known as Three-Leaf Pearl or Cold-Dispelling Grass, is the whole plant of the Cyperaceae species *Kyllinga nemoralis*, a perennial herb that grows under forests on hillsides and in damp wilderness areas. It is distributed in Lingyou and Guangling, two prefectures in the southern Nanhuangzhou. Its function is to ventilate the lungs and stop coughing, clear heat and detoxify, and disperse blood stasis and reduce swelling. It has miraculous effects on venomous snake bites and traumatic injuries. When combined with..."

The young girl's voice, originally full of confidence, became somewhat hesitant as she spoke.

"Combined with what?" Inside the tent, Master Bai’s majestic voice seemed to carry a sternness.

"Combined with Rhinoceros Fire Flower to refine into medicine, borrowing Yang to transform Yin, it can form a drop of Poison-Avoiding Liquid, which is one of the basic materials for the Great Transformation Elixir." The girl seemed somewhat afraid, her speaking speed increased significantly, and she let out a long breath after finishing.

Outside the tent, Xu Qing listened to all this, becoming increasingly earnest.

"White-Backed Root, also known as... uh, it is the root of the Euphorbiaceae plant *Mallotus apelta*, slightly astringent and slightly bitter, origin... its function is to treat the five viscera's..." Then it was the young boy, who became hesitant as he spoke, and by the end, he stopped completely, clearly having forgotten.

Inside the tent, the boy sitting with the girl was now full of tension and very anxious, but he simply couldn't remember and looked at the girl for help.

The girl beside him clearly knew the answer, but she didn't prompt him, leaving the boy to eventually pull a long face.

And Master Bai, who was in front of them, turned his head to look outside the tent at this moment, and the guard to the side immediately looked over for instructions.

Master Bai thought for a moment, shook his head slightly, and then snorted coldly at the stammering boy.

"Copy the Scripture of Herbs and Trees ten times tonight!"

The boy was truly about to cry this time, but he dared not argue, so he could only hang his head and wail silently.

After examining the two disciples, Master Bai calmly spoke, beginning the day's lesson; his voice was a little louder and much clearer than before.

The boy didn't notice, but the girl was observant and somewhat puzzled; she blinked her eyes and glanced outside the tent, and following her gaze, one could see the thin, small figure appearing on the tent under the sunlight.

Xu Qing, outside the tent, listened even more intently; he firmly memorized every word and every sentence Master Bai spoke, fearing he might forget even a little, because for him, knowledge was extremely precious and something he craved.

Time passed slowly like this, and Master Bai's lecture that day exceeded the usual, lasting nearly twice as long. It wasn't until the sun was high and scavengers began waiting outside the tent for medical treatment that Master Bai ended the lecture, his hoarse voice drifting out.

"The youth outside, come in."

Xu Qing gave a start, waking from his lingering interest. He took a deep breath, feeling very guilty as he carefully opened the tent door, walked in, and stood silently to the side, feeling somewhat awkward.

He wouldn't usually be like this, but he had come today to consult, and he had been eavesdropping outside for a long time; the latter behavior was very offensive in the slums.

Seeming to notice the boy's nervousness, Master Bai’s voice softened as he spoke calmly.

"What is it?"

As his words drifted out, the girl to the side looked at Xu Qing with curiosity.

She had some impression of the child before her, remembering that a few days ago, the other party had carried an old man to see a doctor.

"Greetings, Master Bai." Xu Qing lowered his head and, imitating the way the Lei Team had done before, bowed deeply to Master Bai.

Then, hesitating, he stated that he wanted to consult about the Destiny Flower.

After speaking, Xu Qing took five White Pills from his leather pouch and placed them in front of Master Bai.

The consultation fee was normally one White Pill, but Xu Qing felt that since he had heard the other party's lecture, one White Pill was not enough, and even five was a bit little.

So he took out ten spirit coins and placed them together with the White Pills.

After doing this, his heart finally settled.

Master Bai looked at Xu Qing deeply and spoke slowly to the girl beside him.

"Tingyu, you answer."

The girl straightened her body, her expression serious, and she spoke in a crisp voice.

"Destiny Flower, also known as Life-Extending Flame or God-Spirit Grass, is a variant of the divine-natured plant *Fumu*. There are seventy-three recorded variations of this mutation, but only the first type can be used as medicine. It can grow in any area within the forbidden zone, without pattern, and is rare in quantity."

"Its function is to regenerate severed limbs and reignite a hanging life; it can treat all conditions except for injuries to the divine soul." As she spoke, the girl quickly picked up the book to the side, flipped through a few pages, and revealed the page with the illustration on it.

"It looks like this."

The illustration depicted a flower that didn't look particularly unusual, except for the somewhat obvious serrations on the edges of its leaves, and a strange symbol formed by a silk-like thread in the center.

Xu Qing looked carefully, and after engraving it in his heart, he bowed deeply to Master Bai and the girl, then turned to leave.

Before he left, Master Bai’s calm voice came from behind him.

"This herb is hard to find; it is often accompanied by powerful exotic beasts. Take care of yourself."

Xu Qing bowed again upon hearing this, and after leaving the tent, he sped through the camp.

After returning to his dwelling at the fastest speed, he immediately took a bamboo slip from his leather pouch and used an iron needle to carve the Destiny Flower and the totem the girl had described onto it.

Then, after thinking for a moment, he also carved down the content he had heard today.

Finally, he looked at the bamboo slip filled with countless tiny characters, feeling very satisfied, and carefully put it away as if it were a treasure.

"If only I could go listen again," Xu Qing murmured, beginning to ponder how he could continue to listen. After a long while, he collected his thoughts and began to cultivate.

That night, Xu Qing waited for the Lei Team to return from outside and told him that he was going to the forbidden zone; the Lei Team wanted to say something but hesitated upon hearing this.

But in the end, he nodded and shared his own experience with Xu Qing.

It was just like an elder in a family watching their offspring head out; the Lei Team spoke in great detail.

Until it was almost finished and Xu Qing had memorized everything, the Lei Team gave him a leather pouch containing various medicinal powders left behind by Luan Ya.

After understanding their specific uses, Xu Qing bid farewell and left the camp at the moment morning arrived. While speeding across the wilderness, it wasn't long before he reached the edge of the forbidden zone.

The moment he stepped across the boundary, the warmth of the outside sun was cut off, and a cold chill burrowed into his entire body. Xu Qing narrowed his eyes, alert, his body turning into a trail of afterimages as he headed straight for the jungle.

In a few leaps, he vanished without a trace.

Stepping into the forbidden jungle for the second time, Xu Qing’s familiarity with this place was different from before.

Yet the more this was the case, the more cautious he became. While jumping forward, he also paid attention to the surrounding flowers and plants. Soon, he reached the place where the mud had been, followed Luan Ya's previous actions, scooped up the mud to smear on his body, and continued forward.

Time passed, and soon a whole day went by.

This time, Xu Qing did not encounter fog, and as for the powerful exotic beasts, although they existed, he avoided them as much as possible through his caution.

On the way, he also kept an eye on the flowers and plants, looking for the Destiny Flower.

At this moment, he arrived at the place where he had encountered the Black-Scaled Wolves. Looking around, he could barely make out the layout from back then, but the wolf corpses covering the ground had now mostly turned into rotting white bones.

After carefully observing the decay on these remains and discovering that there were no bite marks, but rather natural decomposition, Xu Qing felt a sense of relief in his heart.

This indicated that it was highly probable no exotic beasts had come to this place.

So he found an area nearby, intending to spend the night and continue forward after dawn.

Soon, as night descended and the jungle became pitch black, Xu Qing hid in a tree crevice, looking toward the direction of the Seven-Leaf Grass Canyon; further away in that direction were the temple ruins.

This time he entered the forbidden zone, besides wanting to find the Destiny Flower, he had another thought: to find a stone to remove scars for the little girl.

"Let's go take a look," Xu Qing murmured.