Chapter 58: Avoiding Disaster

The carriage rumbled out of the county town, passed the roughest stretch of road, and once on the official highway, the driver cracked his whip repeatedly, urging the horses to speed up.

Master Qian couldn't help leaning his head out the window to look front and back—the sunlight today was fine, the ground held only a few puddles left by the heavy rain two days prior, everything seemed normal, not a single sign of impending disaster.

Master Qian exhaled in relief, pulled his head back in, and called to the driver ahead: "Faster."

The driver replied with a nod, slapped the horse's rump, and the carriage quickened its pace.

Crack—a sudden impact struck Master Qian's face; he immediately clapped his hand over it and looked down to see a stone, the size of a thumb, fallen into his lap…

He instinctively glanced out the window—the stone had just seemed to fly in from outside.

The thought had barely crossed his mind when Master Qian's eyes flew wide open; he lunged for the carriage door and shouted, "Stop—!"

At the same moment, a thunderous roar erupted—a massive boulder rolled down the mountain with unstoppable force, crashed with a bang, the world spun violently, and Master Qian was flung through the air with a whoosh; he caught only a flash of white light before crashing down with a thud.

He scrambled to his feet, lips trembling, and turned to look at his carriage—only to see a giant boulder had smashed the carriage body over the cliff's edge, the driver and horse barely halted at the precipice.

The carriage frame had shattered; the horse let out a startled neigh, kicked its leg, tore free from the driver's grip, and bolted away in a blur, vanishing instantly.

Master Qian wanted to flee the falling-rock zone too, so he pushed against the ground to rise—but his limbs went weak, useless; he reached out to the driver, "Quick, help me up…"

Before he finished speaking, another rumbling echoed from the mountain; both men looked up to see several large boulders rolling down directly above Master Qian.

Master Qian's heart turned to ice; unable to stand, he crawled toward the mountain's base, trying to press himself against the slope to dodge the next wave of falling rocks.

He thought he'd moved—but he hadn't moved at all; to the driver's eyes, his master was frozen in terror, sitting utterly still.

Tears streamed down the driver's face as he scrambled and rolled toward Master Qian, "Master! Master!"

He stumbled, rose, took two steps—and fell, landing right in front of Master Qian.

The boulders arrived in an instant.

The master and servant exchanged a glance, then burst into loud sobs, embracing each other as they waited to die.

The falling rocks rolled past behind their right, rolled past ahead of their left; shards of shattered stone pelted their bodies—boom, boom, boom—the thunderous cascade lasted long before finally ceasing.

The two men, eyes tightly shut, felt no pain; trembling, they opened their eyes—and realized boulders had rolled everywhere around them, yet not one stone had struck their exact spot, only tiny fragments had fallen, all landing squarely on the driver.

Master Qian's lips quivered, speechless for a long moment—then he remembered something and frantically reached for the pouch at his waist.

He pulled open the pouch and saw two talismans inside—one shimmered with radiant light, burning hot to the touch; the other was dull, its lines blurred beyond recognition.

Master Qian immediately tied the pouch shut, clutching it to his chest as he bowed repeatedly, "Blessings of gods and Buddhas, blessings of gods and Buddhas."

"Master, let's hurry away—what if more rocks fall…?"

Master Qian was terrified too; he scrambled to his feet. Knowing the talisman had saved him, he felt renewed strength and rose instantly.

Master and servant supported each other as they walked back.

Once they'd cleared the stretch of mountain road where rocks had fallen, they collapsed onto the ground.

Having survived the disaster, they finally let themselves weep freely.

Master Qian had no energy left to think of his friend and brother-in-law; his mind was filled entirely with Pan Yun. He returned home with the driver, ignoring his disheveled state, and immediately summoned the steward: "Quick, prepare a red envelope with a hundred taels—send it at once to Pan Xiao Daozhang on Mount Sanqing."

"Master, the city gate will close soon—leaving now…"

Master Qian: "Close it? It's not closed yet! Go now, don't delay!"

As the steward turned to leave, Master Qian called him back: "No—I must go myself. She saved my life—I must burn incense before the Three Pure Ones. Send someone with the money first, say nothing else. Tomorrow, I'll go to Mount Sanqing myself—I'll explain."

The steward sighed and agreed, but just as he turned to leave, another servant ran in: "Master, the Sun family's young master has arrived."

The Sun family came to deliver the news—the old Sun had not waited for his younger brother-in-law; he passed away today at the third watch of the afternoon.

That was precisely the time Master Qian had just left for the Sun family estate.

Master Qian burst into tears—so close! His household would have had to hold two funerals in succession.

Master Qian could no longer go to Mount Sanqing—he had to go to the Sun estate for the funeral. He changed his order: "Steward, go to Mount Sanqing yourself tomorrow morning with the money. Tell Pan Xiao Daozhang I'll visit after I've finished these duties—tell her to wait for me, absolutely wait for me."

The steward broke into a cold sweat and nodded repeatedly.

The city gate was closed—no one could leave now; the funeral must wait until tomorrow.

The Qian household summoned a Physician to examine Master Qian's injuries—but after a full checkup, the only wounds were a few scratches on his hands and a bruised knee.

Even the spot on his face struck by the stone had only turned slightly discolored—no swelling at all.

The driver, however, fared badly: his body was covered in abrasions, his pelvis was cracked, and two ribs were broken—luckily, no internal organs were damaged; with proper rest, he'd recover.

Master Qian deeply appreciated that the driver hadn't fled but rushed to help him—he covered all medical costs, gave generous rewards, and named him his personal driver.

Pan Yun knew nothing of this. Night fell, yet they were still climbing. They returned to Mount Sanqing in darkness, with no time for any entertainment—they washed, brushed their teeth, and went straight to sleep.

Early the next morning, Wang Feiyin sorted through the herbs they'd brought back, mixed them with the mountain's own herbs, and prepared three doses.

He handed the herbs to Master Xuanmiao: "Boil them and have them soak."

Master Xuanmiao agreed and summoned all three to the Alchemy Chamber.

Half the herbs in the Alchemy Chamber had already been sold; the room now felt noticeably emptier.

Tao Ji brought out three herbal tubs, arranged side by side, with four alchemy furnaces beside them.

Master Xuanmiao placed the herb packets into the three furnaces and told them to fetch water, gather firewood, and light the fires.

"Today I'll teach you how to boil the body-strengthening herbs, the precautions for herbal baths, and the cultivation methods you can practice while soaking."

Due to differing physiques, each person's herbal bath differs, and the meridians to open and expand vary.

"Fifth sister has achieved inner vision—she can easily locate and target the meridians needing opening and expansion, guiding the herbal essence to strike them. For you, the hardest part is enduring the pain; if you can withstand the pain in your body and meridians, the bath's benefits will reach their maximum."

Master Xuanmiao turned to Seeing Miao Zhen: "For you two, the hardest part is guiding the herbal essence into your bodies—follow my instructions to activate your meridians and strengthen your muscles and tendons."

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All three swallowed hard and asked: "Will it hurt?"

Master Xuanmiao nodded gravely: "It will hurt—but the results are doubled."

Otherwise, why would we spend so much money on these herbs?

Pan Yun boiled her own herbs, opened the packet, and, following Master Xuanmiao's instructions, first rinsed them in water, then soaked them.

After soaking for fifteen minutes, she fished them out to drain, then placed the soaked herbs into the large furnace.

Mount Sanqing lacked everything, but it never lacked medicinal cauldrons of all sizes.

They had a dedicated room for storing cauldrons of all sizes, and that room was called the Cauldron Chamber.

It was said that each pot inside had been custom-made by her unseen senior nephew and carried up step by step on his back.

So despite Pan Yun being new, and despite her firm decision to specialize in talisman arts, not a single cauldron meant for her was missing.

Three sizes—large, medium, and small—allowed her to brew any kind of pill she desired.

Wang Feiyin had even thoughtfully engraved names onto her cauldrons.

In Wang Feiyin's words, "I hope one day, our Mount Sanqing disciples' medicinal cauldrons will hang above the statues of the Supreme Morality Lord in every Daoist temple."

Pan Yun nodded seriously, "Senior brother, rest assured—I will work hard."

Wang Feiyin did not count on her; he counted on Tao Ji and Miaohé.

Now, Pan Yun used her largest pot to boil herbs.

According to Master Xuanmiao, two buckets of water should be boiled down to one and a half, then poured into the bathtub and cooled to a specific temperature before entering.

The three stood before their bathtubs, watching the steaming vapor, each nervously swallowing saliva.

Master Xuanmiao stood behind them and asked, "Have you memorized the cultivation method I just taught you?"

All three nodded together.

"Then get in."

Pan Yun exhaled, closed and opened her eyes, gritted her teeth, stripped off her clothes, and stepped in—huh, besides being hot, there was no other problem.

Pan Yun sat on the small bamboo stool inside, crossed her legs, and unconsciously slapped the water. "Fourth sister, it's not uncomfortable."

Master Xuanmiao glanced at her, smiled faintly once all three had entered, "Good that it's not uncomfortable—now begin cultivating according to the method I just taught you."

Pan Yun adjusted her breath and activated the method, and only then did she sense the abundant medicinal power surrounding her body.

The medicinal power, drawn in by the method, entered her body; her skin prickled. As she directed the power to strike her meridians, the vigorous force surged in with a whoosh, pushing out all the debris blocking its path, widening her narrow meridians…

Pan Yun couldn't help but hiss, sweat beading on her forehead, yet she endured the pain and pressed on.

Master Xuanmiao watched, satisfied; she turned to the other two—they could not see internally, but they were already activating the method and had begun feeling the pain.

But unlike Pan Yun, who could see her meridians changing, they could not perceive their internal transformations, so after the pain, they slowed their cultivation to ease the discomfort.

Pan Yun, however, because she could see, found the sense of accomplishment from cleansing her meridians drastically increasing her pain tolerance, so her cultivation speed not only didn't slow—it accelerated.

Not just her meridians, but the medicinal power's pounding on her muscles after striking the meridians—Pan Yun saw it too. She felt her weak, frail muscles gradually soften and strengthen under the medicinal force's assault and soothing…

The lucky number for this chapter is any number ending in 9—screenshot as proof.

(End of chapter)