The Gathering of the Medicine Immortals

Chapter 93 The Gathering of the Medicine Immortals

Wei Shufen's body stiffened slightly.

She raised her head and met Li Yuan's gaze. In those bright black eyes, there was the embarrassment of having her thoughts read, the eagerness to explain, and also something almost pleading that she herself was unaware of.

"I"

She opened her mouth, wanting to say "no," wanting to say "it was just an explanation," wanting to say "I didn't mean that."

But the words just wouldn't come out.

Because she knew she couldn't hide it from this person.

From the moment she uttered her first words, from the moment he asked, "Do you know what's going on?", she knew she couldn't hide it from him.

This person's eyes can see through everything.

Wei Shufen remained silent for a long time.

Then, she lowered her head and said in a very soft voice, almost drowned out by the sound of the wheels: "Yes."

There is only one word.

But there is so much in that one word.

There was longing for the Miao village, concern for his master, pity for the innocent victims of the Medicine Fairy Society, and helplessness regarding his own inadequacy.

She is the most outstanding Gu Master of her generation in Qinghe Miao Village, but she knows she is still far from being able to compete with the Medicine Immortal Gathering.

The master sent her out to gather information because he trusted her, but also because there were few people left in the Miao village who could be sent.

She raised her head and looked at Li Yuan, her eyes already glistening with tears, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall.

"I know this request is abrupt and shameless."

"You are not related to us, but you just saved the people in this carriage. We already owe you our lives."

But I still...

She bit her lip, her voice choked with emotion, "But I still want to ask you."

"It's not about helping me, it's about helping those innocent people."

"The people from the Medicine Immortal Society have gone mad; they're capable of anything."

"If their plot succeeds, more people will die, and more villages will end up like that one."

She couldn't continue.

The carriage fell silent again.

Li Yuan looked at her, at this Miao girl who had just been so spirited and spoke fluent Sichuan dialect, but now looked like a child who had done something wrong, with her head down, clutching the hem of her clothes, biting her lip, and her eyes red.

He immediately looked away and gazed out the window.

The train continued its journey forward, and the fields, mountains, and rivers outside the window blurred into a deep, inky black in the night.

In the distance, lights could be faintly seen flickering.

That's the direction of the Miao village.

That's also the direction the Medicine Immortal Society is heading.

He was silent for a long time.

So long that Wei Shufen thought he wouldn't answer anymore.

It took her so long that she was about to say, "I'm sorry, I was presumptuous."

Then, she heard that voice.

It remained as gentle and peaceful as ever, neither too high nor too low, yet it seemed to carry a certain indescribable weight.

"How long until the next stop?"

Wei Shufen suddenly raised her head.

Those bright black eyes were wide open.

She stared blankly at Li Yuan, at his handsome and composed face, and at the faint smile in his gentle, watery eyes.

Her lips trembled slightly; she wanted to say something, but couldn't utter a single word.

"I...I..." She opened her mouth, her voice so hoarse it was almost inaudible.

"Next stop... the next stop is Huaihua, about two more hours..."

Li Yuan nodded slightly.

He didn't say anything more, but simply turned around and walked back to his seat.

The moon-white Taoist robe gleamed with a soft, warm sheen in the dimly lit carriage.

He sat down and closed his eyes.

It was as if the conversation he had just had was nothing more than an ordinary exchange during his long journey.

Wei Shufen stood there, watching the figure in the moon-white Taoist robe.

Her eyes finally reddened, and tears silently streamed down her face.

She didn't wipe it.

She just stared at him, at the person she had only known for less than half an hour, the person whose name she had only just learned.

Then, she bowed deeply to that figure.

"Thanks."

Those two words were as light as a night breeze.

But Li Yuan heard it.

He didn't open his eyes, but the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, revealing a very faint smile.

That smile was as faint as a distant mountain, yet it seemed to melt away the distance of thousands of miles.

The train continued forward.

The night outside the window grew deeper and deeper.

The scenery outside the window had completely blended into the darkness.

Occasionally, as we pass through a small town or village, a few lights drift from afar, like fireflies briefly pausing on an inky canvas, before being left behind by the train.

The clattering sound of the wheels rolling over the rails was exceptionally clear in the quiet carriage, like an endless, monotonous, and heavy song.

The lights in the carriage had been turned back on by the train attendant at some point.

The dim, yellowish light swayed and flickered, casting the shadows of the passengers into varying lengths.

Most people had quieted down, but no one could actually fall asleep.

Some people were holding their children and leaning back in their chairs, lost in thought; others were curled up in a corner with their eyes closed, their lips trembling slightly.

Someone was whispering something, their voice very low, as if afraid of disturbing something they shouldn't.

The body had been wrapped in a tarpaulin by the train police and a few brave passengers and carried to the connecting area between the carriages.

The tarpaulin wasn't big enough, and a pair of feet were still sticking out, their bluish-gray toes pointing upwards, stiff as wooden carvings.

Someone lit two candles nearby. The candlelight flickered in the draft and almost went out several times, but it stubbornly stayed lit.

As the passengers passed by, they would unconsciously quicken their pace and avoid eye contact, as if looking at them for too long would taint them with something unclean.

Wei Shufen sat down opposite Li Yuan.

She didn't go back to her seat, nor did she ask if she could sit there.

He simply sat down naturally, as if he had accepted the position.

Her Miao silver ornaments gleamed softly under the lamplight, and the delicate silver chains gently collided with the swaying of the train, making a crisp sound like wind chimes or the sound of flowing water in a mountain stream.

She held a cup of tea that had gone cold; it was the last cup of tea the flight attendant had brought before she lost consciousness.

She didn't drink it, but just held it, as if she needed something to put her hands, which had nowhere else to go.

Li Yuan closed his eyes, his breathing steady, as if he had entered a meditative state.

But Wei Shufen knew he wasn't asleep.

After that conversation, she learned that this person did not need to sleep, did not need to rest, and did not need anything that mortals need.

He sat there, like a mountain, needing no reason or explanation.

The silence lasted for a long time.

Wei Shufen finally spoke, her voice very soft, as if she were talking to herself: "Our Miao village is deep in the mountains. After getting off the bus in Huaihua, it takes two days to walk along the mountain path."

"You have to cross three mountains, ford two rivers, and then walk through an old forest before you can see the village gate."

"The village gate is made of wood, with a bull's head carved on it, and red cloth hanging on both sides."

"When I was a child, I thought that door was huge, big enough to hold the whole world."

"Later, I went out for a walk and came back to take a look. I found that it was actually very small, so small that it could only hold about a hundred people from our village."

"But," she paused, "every time I see that door, I know I'm home."

Li Yuan didn't open his eyes, but he spoke: "How long have you been out?"

Wei Shufen thought for a moment: "Half a month. My master said this matter is not simple, and he wants me to bring more people with me."

"But when I counted them, there were only a few people that the village could send out."

"We dare not send the young, for fear they won't come back; we can't bear to send the old, for fear they'll perish on the way."

"In the end, I came out with my two junior brothers. They are waiting for me in Huaihua City now."

She gave a wry smile: "My master said I have great talent, that I am the best Gu master in the village in nearly a hundred years, and that I can take over her job. But I know I am still far from it."

"I couldn't even cure the Yin Leech Gu used by the people on the outskirts of the Medicine Immortal Society. I could only watch that person explode, watch those insects crawl out, and watch her not say anything more."

She looked down at the teacup in her hand, watching the dark circles left on the cup by the cooled tea.

"You know what," she suddenly said, "there's a saying in our Miao region that the highest level of Gu magic isn't about how many people you can harm, but how many people you can save."

"When I was a child, I didn't understand and thought this was a lie."

"A gu is a gu, and poison is poison. What's the point of talking about saving lives or not?"

"Later, I saw my master use his Gu magic to save a mountain villager who had been bitten by a poisonous snake. The man's entire arm had turned black, and the hospital doctor said that amputation was the only option. But my master cleaned the poison completely in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn."

"The arm was saved, and the man later even brought a basket of mountain produce to thank my master."

I asked him, "Aren't you afraid of being poisoned?" He said, "Yes."

"But your master's Gu can save lives, so there's nothing to be afraid of."

She raised her head and looked at Li Yuan.

Those bright black eyes, reflecting the dim yellow light in the carriage, looked like two ignited stars.

"So later I realized that whether it's Gu magic or Taoist magic, they are just means."

Good and evil are not determined by tactics, but by people, by the single thought in a person's heart.

Li Yuan opened his eyes and looked at her.

Wei Shufen felt a little embarrassed by his gaze and looked away, gazing at the darkness outside the window: "The people of the Medicine Immortal Society have lost that one thought."

"They only remember that Gu can kill, but they've forgotten that Gu can also save lives."

"They use people to raise and refine Gu, treating people as food for insects, raw materials for Gu techniques, and things that can be consumed at will."

"They forgot that a person is a person, not a thing."

Her voice trembled slightly: "I've seen a village that was ravaged by the Medicine Fairy Society."

"The entire village, young and old, is wiped out."

"Their bodies have been hollowed out by worms, leaving only skin that collapses with the slightest breeze."

"When I arrived, there was an old man sitting on the doorstep, in the same position he was in when he died, with a bowl of rice in his hand."

"The food was moldy and covered in green mildew, but he still held it steadily."

"I don't know what he was thinking when he died. Maybe he didn't have time to think about anything. Maybe he was thinking about his son, his grandson, and his crops that he hadn't had time to harvest."

"His face showed no sign of pain, just a calm expression, as calm as if he were asleep."

She stopped. Her fingers gripped the teacup, her knuckles white. The cool tea swayed slightly in her hand, spilling a few drops that soaked into her blue pleated skirt, leaving dark stains.

"I stood in the middle of that village for a long time."

"I don't know what to do, or what I can do."

"I just stood there, looking at those empty houses, those fragile bodies that would collapse with a gust of wind, and that bowl of moldy rice."

"Then I told myself that I would make those who did this pay the price."

She raised her head and looked at Li Yuan, the light in her eyes brighter and harder than before: "I am not a saint, nor do I understand any grand principles."

"I'm just a girl from a Miao village. I know a little bit of Gu magic, I can read a few words, and I know what's right and what's wrong."

"If someone does something wrong, someone should make them correct it."

"If they can't change it, then someone should make sure they can never do it again."

After she finished speaking, she fell silent.

The only sound in the carriage was the sound of wheels rolling over the rails.

The pair of feet peeking out from under the tarpaulin flickered in the candlelight, their bluish-gray skin already covered with a fine layer of...

Water droplets.

Li Yuan stared at her for a long time.

His gaze moved from her fingers gripping the teacup tightly to her skirt, which was soaked with tea, and then to her strikingly bright eyes.

He saw in those eyes not hatred, not anger, but something deeper and more profound.

That's the look in someone's eyes who has seen too many things they shouldn't have seen.

That's the look in someone's eyes who knows what they should do, but isn't sure if they can do it.

He suddenly recalled those fragmented records about Wei Shufen from his previous life.

According to those records, she died a terrible death.

Before she died, she only said four words: I have no regrets.

Li Yuan withdrew his gaze and looked out the window.

The night was still deep, with no stars or moon in sight, only boundless darkness and the occasional flicker of a few lights.

The lights were weak, so weak they seemed like they might go out at any moment, but they were still shining, stubbornly shining in that bottomless darkness.

He suddenly spoke, his voice still gentle and calm, yet seemingly carrying a weight that transcends time: "You just said that the Medicine Immortal Society is secretly plotting something big. What exactly is it, and how much have you found out?"

Wei Shufen paused slightly, then straightened up, leaned forward slightly, and lowered her voice even further: "Not much. Our people only sent back a few words: 'Gu Child,' 'Hundred Days,' and 'Grand Sacrifice.'"

"The specifics were not clarified before the contact was lost."

"My master said that person is probably in grave danger." She paused, "but I've heard some news in the Huaihua area these past few days."

"The Medicine Fairy Society has been searching everywhere for children, not local children, but children from outside who are unattended and would not be looked for if they get lost."

"Some were bought from human traffickers, and some were stolen directly from the street."

"They took those children into the mountains, and then they never came out again."