Chapter 34: Xingde Jun

Liu Xiaolou exited the east side hall and arrived before the main hall. He leaped onto the hall eaves and searched the beams and pillars underneath, successfully finding the key to the main hall.

He opened the main hall, and facing him was the statue about a zhang tall. The statue wore a high crown and looked down at Liu Xiaolou from above, causing him to fall into a deep, dazed contemplation once again.

Looking at the couplets on the left and right, they read: "Retribution is like an echo; Heaven sends no unprovoked disasters. Fear leads to self-cultivation; humans have the longevity they can extend."

The horizontal plaque read: "Illuminating the Hidden, Piercing the Subtle."

Liu Xiaolou seemed to understand, but after pondering it, he was left confused, unable to explain it.

He circled the statue. The main hall was very simple; apart from the statue, the offering table, and a few prayer mats, there was nothing else.

Liu Xiaolou searched behind the statue and under the offering table, but saw nothing of value, so he closed the door and left, opening the west wing in the same way.

The west wing had only two rooms. One large room occupied two-thirds of the space, containing a stove, a dining cabinet, firewood, a rice vat, and wooden buckets. A string of smoked bacon hung on the wall, and there were also some brooms, wooden buckets, and other sundries piled up.

The other small room was a bedroom with a small bed. The cabinet against the wall was empty. Liu Xiaolou guessed it must have been where the servants lived. This room was covered in a thick layer of dust, showing it hadn't been lived in for a long time.

Looking at it this way, the heavily injured bearded man must be the master of the temple—Xingde Jun.

He returned to the east side hall. The bearded man was still in a coma, only coughing occasionally.

Liu Xiaolou entered the room on the right. Several layers of shelves were set up against the wall, displaying stoves of all sizes, various knives, oddly shaped wooden blocks, and ores of different colors.

In the center stood a furnace rack with a round copper cover at the bottom, flush with the ground. He pried up the copper cover, and a fire hole suddenly appeared underneath. The heat wave that rushed out nearly singed Liu Xiaolou's eyebrows and hair.

The copper cover was an inch thick and had the ability to block fire. Four characters were engraved on the bottom—"Nine-Star Earth Fire."

Was this the legendary earth-cave fire that could refine elixirs and artifacts?

Liu Xiaolou approached the earth cave curiously, trying to investigate the Nine-Star Earth Fire, imagining the grand sight of how this earth fire rose from the bottom of the mountain to the peak. After thinking for a long time without success, he replaced the copper cover and covered the fire hole.

Whether it was the stoves, the knives, or the wood, they were all ordinary items with no spiritual power. As for those ores of different colors, Liu Xiaolou didn't recognize a single one and didn't perceive anything supernatural, which left him feeling very disappointed.

This artifact refiner was also a pauper. All his wealth was that pile of odds and ends by his pillow. He wasn't even as well-off as himself. It seemed he wasn't doing very well, which showed his artifact refining skills were limited.

Since Wei Hongqing had introduced him, he figured forging a simple array plate should be within his capabilities. Liu Xiaolou decided to help this Xingde Jun, spending a few days taking care of him. When he recovered and forged the array plate for him, he surely wouldn't have the face to charge him money, right?

Having made up his mind, Liu Xiaolou stopped wandering around. He went to the bearded man's bedside and called out, "Xingde Jun? Master Xingde Jun?"

The bearded man was awakened from his stupor, let out a "hmm," closed his eyes again, and muttered, "Water... water..."

Liu Xiaolou had awakened him to confirm if he was Xingde Jun. Having received his reply and confirmed his identity, he began to provide aid.

He brought a bowl of water and poured it down his throat first, then checked the pulse on his wrist. It seemed slightly calmer than when he was in the wind and snow, but when he tried to probe deeper into his heart, lungs, and meridians, he felt a powerful counter-attack of true qi, which shook his own true qi.

He was at least at the eighth stage of Qi Refinement, right? Liu Xiaolou felt a sense of respect.

The fact that the true qi had a counter-attack meant that although the injury was heavy, it was not fatal. It just needed to be treated slowly.

He went to the west wing, took rice from the vat, washed it, started a fire, and boiled porridge, making a thick potful. He scooped a bowl of rice soup from the top, came over, lifted Xingde Jun, and poured it down his throat.

He returned to the kitchen, took half a strip of bacon from the wall, sliced it, put it in a wooden bowl, and steamed it in the pot. When he opened the lid, the aroma of meat hit his nose, and his appetite was whetted.

After eating the most delicious meal since coming up the mountain, Liu Xiaolou continued to cultivate. However, the place of cultivation was no longer under the eaves, but he had moved into the artifact refining room in a grand manner.

The heavy snow fell all night and finally stopped at the hour of the dragon the next day. Liu Xiaolou pushed the door open and went out to gaze at the mountains from the edge of the cliff.

Countless mountain peaks were covered in white snow, glowing with golden light in the morning sun. It was truly beautiful.

Over the next few days, Liu Xiaolou continued to take care of Xingde Jun. The rice soup he poured down his throat began to have some oil added, and then he gradually increased the rice porridge and wild vegetables, as well as finely chopped bacon bits.

The only annoyance was helping Xingde Jun with his bowel movements—carrying the chamber pot, helping him sit up, and making "shh" sounds—he was busy and happy.

On the evening of the third day, he even helped Xingde Jun with a large bowel movement. He hurriedly tore two pages of yellow paper from the shelves in the artifact refining room and personally cleaned him up.

After Liu Xiaolou helped him lie down, he couldn't help but nag, "Xingde Jun, Master, I didn't even serve my teacher to this extent back in the day. You must be grateful. Get well soon and reward me handsomely!"

Xingde Jun's snoring began to rise, and he slept very sweetly. It seemed he hadn't heard.

Shaking his head, Liu Xiaolou returned to his room to continue cultivating. Around midnight, he felt a slight loosening in the barrier of his Quchi acupoint. He suppressed the joy in his heart and was just preparing to accumulate more true qi to increase the impact force when he suddenly felt something amiss. When he opened his eyes, he saw a figure leaning against the doorway in the dim lamplight—it was Lord Xingde.

Blinking his eyes, Liu Xiaolou couldn't help but say happily, "Master, you've woken up?"

Xingde Jun stared at Liu Xiaolou for a moment and asked, "Kid, who are you?"

Liu Xiaolou said, "Master doesn't remember? You were injured and fell on the mountain path, and I carried you back."

Xingde Jun said, "I know... I'm asking, who are you?"

Liu Xiaolou said, "I admire your reputation for artifact refining, Master, and came specifically to seek an audience, just to ask for an array plate."

Xingde Jun waved his hand: "Go away!"

Liu Xiaolou was speechless: "..."

Xingde Jun urged: "Go!"

Liu Xiaolou blinked: "No... Master, you're injured! I stayed behind to take care of you!"

Xingde Jun said coldly: "No need!"

Liu Xiaolou got angry: "You would have died without me! I saved your life, and this is how you thank me? Huh?"

Xingde Jun threw a small pouch over: "Take these gold, jade, and spirit stones, and go!"

Liu Xiaolou was furious: "Who are you looking down on? Did I come for these things? Is your life only worth a few spirit stones and a few taels of gold?"

Xingde Jun was very impatient and wanted to say something else, but suddenly had a fit of coughing, unable to stop, and bent over.

Liu Xiaolou sneered: "Cough yourself to death then! You old thing who doesn't know etiquette. I, from Wulong Mountain, know what it means to repay a drop of water with a gushing spring, but you old thing don't. So rude..."

As he scolded, seeing that Xingde Jun couldn't support himself and had collapsed on the ground, with blood seeping from the corner of his mouth again, he stopped scolding, went over, lifted Xingde Jun, and threw him back onto the bed.

Xingde Jun finally stopped coughing and panted, "Yang Xin Dan... buy Yang Xin Dan..." ===== CHAPTER 35 =====