After Xue Qilin was welcomed into the study by Gong Jing, she went straight to the point, “If things go on like this, Little Yang will die!”
Stunned, the three members of the Gong Clan looked blankly at one another.
Finally, Gong Jing, who has the greatest seniority among the three, asked, “What does Lady Xue mean?”
“In short, he made a misdiagnosis.”
Xue Qilin pointed at Tailor and stated so, not taking into account the other side’s face.
As the doctor in charge of the patient, the black-robed Tailor pulled down his hood and kept silent.
Upon hearing her statement, Gong Jing was stunned at first, and then frowned.
“Lady Xue, you mean to say… unlike Doctor Tailor claimed, Yang’er’s ‘martial root’ isn’t weak?”
“No, Little Yang’s martial root is indeed weak. But, that’s just one of the symptoms, not the cause of the disease.”
“Not the cause of the disease? Lady Xue, please instruct us.”
Tailor, apparently unable to keep his calm, clasped his hands towards Xue Qilin and butted into the conversation, sounding sincere. He doesn’t look like someone who can’t bear the humiliation. Instead, he looks like he’s asking the lass for advice.
“Er, it’s not really an instruction…”
Xue Qilin replied modestly in a rare fashion, and then explained seriously, “The true qi inside Little Yang is almost completely stagnant, blocking the meridians just like mud. Besides, the true qi spilling out of his body is far thicker than what it should be… have I got it right?”
“That’s indeed the case.”
Gong Jing gave a short response.
Xue Qilin said, “that’s right!”, feeling pleased with herself.
“As we all know, the body has a limited capacity! Even for Old Master Gong, there is a limit of true qi that the body can accommodate. When the amount of true qi accumulated in the body reaches this ‘limit, the excess true qi will naturally spill out of the body. To put it bluntly, it’s like breathing. We can’t just breathe in without breathing out — Old Master Gong, am I right?”
Everyone nodded back in confirmation.
As she gesticulated the action of pouring water into a vessel, Xue Qilin lowered her head and said.
“However, Little Yang’s body is a little special. His constitution is the kind that permits entry but not departure. After ‘spiritual qi‘ is channeled into the body, whether it transforms into true qi, or purely exists as spiritual qi, it will only to accumulate in the body. Let’s think about it in terms of a vessel where you keep pouring water. No matter how hard the vessel is, it will ultimately collapse one day.”
Mimicking an explosion, Xue Qilin clapped her hands heavily, and then pulled them apart vigorously.
“Because of this, Little Yang’s true qi is far thicker than that of ordinary people, since the vessel has limited capacity. That is to say, if Little Yang is allowed to go on like this, not only will his internal organs and meridians be damaged and collapse due to the increasing pressure, but his the body will eventually fall apart. As a matter of fact, Little Yang’s vessel has already cracked and spills out true qi, which is much thicker than that of ordinary people.”
Xue Qilin took a break and looked at Gong Tianyang.
Following her action, as if their gazes were attracted by it, everyone looked at Gong Tianyang.
“If I guessed correctly, Little Yang has just recently started to have true qi spill out, yes?”
Xue Qilin threw a question at Gong Tianyang.
Gong Tianyang nodded repeatedly and replied in a startled voice, “Yes, Older Sister Xue is right!”
“So I guessed correctly! On the other hand, the reason why Little Yang’s ‘spiritual center’ is getting weaker and weaker is because it can’t bear the pressure in his body… Therefore –!”
Xue Qilin looked around at the people in the study, then suddenly pointed at Gong Tianyang and gave a sonorous verdict, “The cause behind Little Yang’s disease is not the ‘spiritual center’, but the vessel — that is, the body is the problem.”
After hearing Xue Qilin’s guess, feeling both confused and amazed, everyone exchanged a look.
Only Tailor lowered his head and, with a pensive look on his face, mumbled something.
After the three members of the Gong Clan came back to their senses, Gong Yue took the lead and issued a question, a look of suspicion in his eyes,
“As far as I know, Senior Xue doesn’t know medicine, right?”
“Yes, that’s true!”
Xue Qilin answered without hesitation. The straightforward reply left Gong Yue speechless for a while.
“In that case, what makes Senior Xue so certain –?”
“Certain?” Xue Qilin smiled, “There is a rumor stating that I am the first follower of the unorthodox path, you must know of it, right?”
Not the martial path, but the unorthodox path.
Although Xue Qilin is practicing martial arts, but she really ” take’s root” in magic. Therefore, the Wulin secretly calls her the first follower of the unorthodox path.
On the other hand, because Xue Qilin’s magic is quite similar to ancient Daoist “magic” of legend, some people in the Wulin link her with ancient Daoism and believe her to be a successor of ancient Daoism. It is even rumored that she once joined the One Dao Cult, where she obtained the secrets of ancient Daoism by chance. Consequently, “magic” finally reappeared in the Hua Dynasty.
What’s more, there is a rumor that Xue Qilin and the ancestor of the One Dao Cult were once in a romantic relationship that soured.
Even though Xue Qilin is not a successor of the ancient Daoism and even more so has no relation to the One Dao Cult. But, since she didn’t deny it and let the Wulin speculate, as time went on, the Wulin accepted this conjecture that appeared from who knows where as the truth.
Despite what Xue Qilin may think of this rumor. At this moment, however, it gives her words weight. She is even a little glad that she didn’t jump out to deny it when she heard of it.
“I do.”
Gong Yue clearly heard the rumor and believes it to be true.
“Then that’s it.” Xue Qilin spread out her arms, “I heard from Little Yang that the black-robed man over there judged his disease to be a ‘spiritual disease’. The term ‘spiritual disease’ should stem from a remnant scripture of ancient Daoism.”
Xue Qilin doesn’t know anything about ancient Daoism. Therefore, she said that the term ‘spiritual disease’ originated from ancient Daoism purely out of speculation.
But —
“As Lady Xue said, this humble one learned about ‘spiritual disease’ from a book related to ancient Daoism by chance. However, just this chance encounter gave this humble one a glimpse into another world and piqued this humble one’s interest greatly.”
At this point, Tailor sighed softly and shook his head ruefully
“But, most of the ancient books and records from the Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought period have turned into ashes in the burning of books and burying of scholars perpetrated by the First Emperor.
First Emperor? First Emperor of Qin? I didn’t expect to hear this term at this time. Xue Qilin was shocked
But, she soon thought that since the Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought exists, it is not surprising that the First Emperor would exist as well. Then, she felt relieved and no longer dwelt on it.
