Chapter 68: Uncut Jade

Chen Ci practiced his arts, and the demand for the flesh and blood of living creatures was no small number; every day, a large quantity of livestock was sent from the village below into Sanyin Temple.

Yet, he was actually able to smell a trace of human blood among the livestock, which was somewhat strange.

As the words fell, two bloody shadows suddenly rolled out from the pile of livestock in the side courtyard, draped in sheepskins.

They were actually two half-grown children; one of them was severely wounded and looked as if they had stopped breathing, while the other struggled to kneel and kowtow, not daring to make a sound.

Hm?

Chen Ci pressed against his Five Yin Evil Qi Bag but did not make any larger movements.

He did recognize these two; the one lying on the ground was the cheap servant boy that Ge Laodao had taken in some days ago, formerly the Liu Mansion servant Liu Heming.

The other was dark, thin, and slight of build, but it was a girl; Chen Ci vaguely remembered her as one of the spirit children sent to be adopted together last year.

"You have quite some nerve. How did you get in?"

Chen Ci's face showed neither joy nor anger as he asked indifferently.

The young girl kowtowed on the ground several times, struggling to suppress the panic in her tone, and replied: "I hope the benefactor True Person will forgive us. I observed that livestock were being transported into the temple every day, so I secretly stole a sheepskin to wear, mixed in with the livestock, and sent my brother into the temple to seek refuge."

"Mixed in to seek refuge? Heh, I think you are just courting death."

Chen Ci's expression remained unchanged as he asked coldly: "Do you truly think that because I spared you once, I treat this Sanyin Temple as a charity house? Or do you feel that the two of you are any different from these livestock?"

After all, having been influenced by a certain upbringing, although he was in the He Mountain Sect, Chen Ci considered himself a good person.

But not a kind person.

When he first bought this pair of spirit children back, he had shown some kindness; he neither used them to practice his arts nor sent them to the main altar to serve as offerings, and he even spent a Corpse Ganoderma on them, which was already doing his utmost in benevolence.

And now this; today they dared to sneak into the temple to seek refuge, and he dared not imagine what they would want to do in the future.

Anger began to show on Chen Ci's face; under the heavy pressure, even the livestock nearby, which had not yet opened their spiritual wisdom, seemed to encounter a natural predator, trembling as they lay on the ground waiting for death.

"Reporting to the benefactor True Person, I know it is a capital offense, but my brother said that staying in the county meant certain death, and only by coming to you, True Person, would there be a glimmer of survival. I had no choice but to take this desperate risk."

The young girl kowtowed repeatedly on the ground: "To be a slave or a maid, to be beaten or killed, I dare not have a single complaint; I only beg the True Person to save my brother's life!"

"A dead person, what is there to save? Get out!"

Chen Ci flicked his sleeve, knocking her over, but the young girl flipped over fiercely and continued to plead: "I beg the benefactor True Person to have mercy, I beg the benefactor True Person to have mercy!"

After a long while, Chen Ci looked at the small pit knocked into the ground, remained silent for a moment, and then coldly tossed down an Advanced Bigu Pill: "Feed it to him; whether he lives or dies depends on his own fortune."

"Thank you, benefactor True Person!"

The young girl took the Bigu Pill and went to feed it into Liu Heming's mouth, but it would not go down for a long time; it was only when Chen Ci used his True Qi to stimulate him that it successfully entered his belly, barely hanging onto his life.

"Remember what you just said."

Chen Ci looked at the two on the ground for a few moments. Seeing that her brother finally had some breath, the young girl could no longer hold back her tears, bowed her body, and said: "I will never forget the True Person's kindness."

"Hm."

Chen Ci nodded leisurely, his face calm, but his heart was like a raging sea, as if ten thousand horses were galloping.

This damn... he had picked up a treasure.

This young girl had actually succeeded in her breathing exercises, nearly entering the Dao; she only needed a Qi-refining technique, and she would immediately be able to generate True Qi!

True Qi manifesting in the body gave one strength; knocking the ground into a pit without injury.

If not for this investigation, he would not have been able to tell that this girl's aptitude was like an uncut jade!

The problem was, where did this girl learn the breathing technique?

If it was the same as this Liu Heming, learned from that Ge Laodao, then at most, it had only been ten days or so of effort.

How long did it take him to enter the Dao back then? Half a year? A year?

In a great Profound Gate sect, this aptitude would be designated for the Inner Gate.

In the He Mountain Sect, that was the aptitude of a spirit ghost; if refined into a Yin Yang Soul-Bewitching Banner, it would be more than enough to serve as the soul of the main banner.

Thinking too far, thinking too far; however, if he sent this girl to the Fuhu Altar, earning one or two hundred merit points should not be difficult.

But now was not the time to think about these things; this boy was only hanging by a thread, and the bleeding on his body had not even stopped.

Knife wounds, broken bones, especially his left hand which was nearly severed; if this were an ordinary person, they would have died long ago. It was only because the breathing method could make one's body light and healthy that he could barely withstand a few more slashes.

"What is going on? How did you two end up in such a state, and what is this about staying in the county meaning certain death?"

Chen Ci was curious, moved his somewhat heated gaze away from the girl, and asked: "Isn't this fellow kept by that Ge Laodao? With that status, no one should be making things difficult for you, right?"

"I do not know either."

The young girl's face turned a bit pale, and she lowered her head to answer: "I found my brother in the woodshed of the Liu Mansion's backyard. Before he fell unconscious, he said that True Person Ge had met with an accident, and word outside was that he had obtained True Person Ge's legacy; he could not stay in the county. I relied on several dog holes I knew from when I was a beggar to escape, but I heard the mistress and young ladies of the mansion talking about how, a few days ago, my brother was acting like brothers with the Wang Family's young master and smashed up the county's agency, which was very imposing."

Hearing this, Chen Ci could roughly guess what had happened.

Although this boy had been taken in by that Ge Laodao, he had not yet become an official Apprentice, and then Ge Laodao... died gloriously.

If it were just that, it would be fine, and no one would make things difficult for such a small child.

But it was likely that his status had suddenly risen, and his words and actions had offended some people; those wealthy families who had been fleeced of silver by Ge Laodao could make this boy's life miserable just by spreading a few rumors.

Chen Ci rubbed his chin and said: "Drag him to the side courtyard; if you don't treat him, he will never escape death."

Chen Ci did not lend a hand, watching as the young girl struggled to drag Liu Heming to the side courtyard. Only then did he take out a needle and thread, used a crude method to stitch the wounds, and took out a small drop of 'Blood-Ying Red' to dissolve in water for him to drink.

"If he can open his eyes, he will live."

Chen Ci said indifferently, but then heard a soft 'bang' sound; an object slid out from Liu Heming's embrace.

It was that book, the "Qi Cultivation Scripture".

It seemed this child valued this breathing method highly; even in such a predicament, he had not let it go.

Chen Ci picked it up, feeling a sense of things being different from the past. He gave a light 'tsk', but suddenly remembered something and asked curiously: "I still do not know your name?"

"Reporting to the True Person, I am called Liu Yanyi."

Seeing that a trace of blood finally returned to Liu Heming's face, the young girl finally let out a sigh of relief, bowed, and said: "Thank you for the True Person's great kindness. May the True Person allow me to return to the Liu Mansion to ask for leave from my masters, and then return to take care of my brother? Also, I have savings of three taels and seven qian; I know it is not enough, but I am willing to offer all my future monthly wages to the True Person to repay your kindness."

"Wait, you..."

Chen Ci suddenly felt something was wrong and wanted to ask, but for a moment he did not know where to start. He paused, his expression changing slightly: "I remember, you are not actually his sister, are you?"

"Reporting to the True Person, my brother took great care of me back when we were at the slave agency, and after entering the Liu family, he continued to look after me. Furthermore, we were both granted the family surname by our master; we are not siblings by blood, but we are closer than siblings."

Liu Yanyi replied earnestly.

Chen Ci had originally been biased, assuming these two had been taken in together by the old Daoist Ge Zhou and implicated together by him, but upon closer thought, that was not right.

This Liu Heming was a young male servant who traveled outside with the Head of the Family, so he had opportunities to stumble upon some immortal fate.

But this Liu Yanyi must have been serving the female members in the inner courtyard, so it was naturally impossible for her to show her face in public.

She had simply brought people to flee the county city and risked death to sneak into Sanyin Temple just to save the life of this convenient brother.

A raw jade of talent, with a firm and resolute character, and she is clever and intelligent.

Chen Ci looked at this girl who was just over ten years old, was silent for a moment, then picked up the "Qi Nourishing Scripture" and shook it, saying: "Do you recognize this item?"

"I recognize it. My brother said this is a secret manual of the immortal gate. He does not know many characters, and True Person Ge did not teach him much, so my brother once brought it for me to read aloud to him."

Seeing the small booklet, Liu Yanyi nodded blankly: "I learned some characters while following the young lady, so I can barely recognize what is written on it."

Damn it.

Chen Ci was truly speechless.

Chen Ci rubbed his fingertips lightly, and after a moment, his tone fluctuated slightly: "Liu Yanyi, is it?"

"I am here."

The young girl replied cautiously.

"I can ensure he does not die, and I can even let his injuries recover seven or eight tenths, at least to the point where he will not become a cripple."

Chen Ci's expression remained unchanged, but his tone became a few degrees more solemn: "However, Liu Yanyi, what is the price?"

(End of this chapter)