Meng Qi thought for a moment, then summoned the Five Spirits Cauldron. “Snow ginseng, pale wood bark, blood essence herb…” she listed seven or eight kinds of ingredients in one breath. With a rustling sound, they fell into her Five Spirits Cauldron.
The little white tiger came out too, looking at Meng Qi with sleepy, big eyes. It glanced at Meng Qi, then sniffed the Five Spirits Cauldron it was accustomed to. The scent of the herbs wafted over, and it couldn’t help but lift a paw to rub its little nose.
Meng Qi flicked out a ninth-grade spirit stone, and flames suddenly rose beneath the Five Spirits Cauldron. The herbs inside quickly melted into a light brown liquid. She transferred the liquid into a small bowl, helped the middle-aged man sit up, and brought the bowl to his lips.
The man, still retaining a bit of consciousness, gulped down the medicine. Everything here was just a test of the Ten Absolutes Mountain, so the provided herbs were naturally very effective. Not long after drinking the medicine, the man’s spirit seemed revived, and he let out a slow breath. “Thank you, Fellow Daoist,” the middle-aged cultivator said softly. “If not for you, I might have died here.”
“What happened?” asked Meng Qi. Silver needles and examination spells were not omnipotent. Often, knowing what the patient had experienced helped in finding the cause of their injury or illness. Meng Qi took the bowl and set it aside. “How long have you been like this?” she asked, standing by the bed.
“Almost three months,” the man answered with a bitter smile. His voice was still weak but much more spirited than before, allowing him to speak completely: “Three months ago, I went hunting in the mountains, hoping to find some rare beasts to exchange for spirit stones. I wish to obtain a new guidance book that will allow me to reach the Foundation Establishment stage in my lifetime, extending my life by ten years, not wasting half a lifetime of cultivation.”
“There’s a forest about a hundred miles from my city. Mutant beasts often appear there, but thankfully, I can handle them. That day, however, after walking in the forest for half an hour, I didn’t see a single living creature. I knew something ominous had happened and hurried back to inform the sect protecting the city.”
Meng Qi nodded.
“But before I had gone far, I felt a sharp pain in the back of my neck. Then, seven or eight sword cultivators in black robes suddenly appeared and attacked me without a word. They were seven or eight against one, and I was just a minor Qi Condensation cultivator. In the blink of an eye, I was stabbed by several swords. Everything went dark, and I felt pain all over, then passed out.”
Meng Qi gave another nod. Her examination confirmed that the man had no injuries on his neck or any other part of his body. As he claimed, he was merely a Qi Condensation cultivator. Had he been genuinely wounded, despite receiving the best possible treatment later, Meng Qi’s present level of medical cultivation would not miss detecting old injuries, including those sustained a year prior.
But she didn’t say anything and just listened as the man continued: “When I woke up, I was already home. The sect protecting our city had dispatched a medical cultivator who treated my injuries. He was highly skilled; I had been unconscious for five days and five nights, and by the time I regained consciousness, any traces of injuries had already disappeared.”
He took a breath, his cheeks slightly red, glanced at Meng Qi, and continued: “That medical cultivator was about forty years old and already in the peak of fourth rank. He couldn’t see any problems other than my external injuries, yet I became weaker day by day. Not only could I no longer cultivate, but I also became this ghostly figure, barely clinging to life and just lying like a dying person.”
Meng Qi nodded, pacing back and forth in the room. Judging from the man’s narrative, his mind seemed clear and his speech coherent. Plus, he did not seem to be lying, especially since he had no reason to unless he no longer wanted to live.
But he indeed hadn’t suffered any injuries. Meng Qi was certain of that. If he had been gravely wounded by sword cultivators as he described, she would have noticed.
So…
Meng Qi slightly tilted her head, pacing back and forth in the room again. In this case, there were only two possibilities: either the man was lying, or he had experienced an illusion. Furthermore, the illusion must be so realistic that he believed it to be true and had no doubts about it.
Such a vivid illusion, or hallucination, especially one that could convince a Qi Condensation cultivator even after three months, couldn’t be the effect of ordinary hallucinogenic drugs. While there are many hallucinogenic drugs, it’s rare for one to leave such clear and firm memories after the effects wear off.
What else could it be…
Meng Qi crossed her arms in front of her chest, tapping her right arm gently with her left hand. This was her habit when pondering over perplexing matters, along with walking back and forth. Yun Qingyan’s primordial spirit sat on the ground, blinking and watching Meng Qi, its head turning as she moved.
Apart from hallucinogenic drugs, what else could it be… Meng Qi recalled the countless records she had read. Something that not only caused hallucinations but also weakened the person this much while keeping their mind clear…
Ah! Meng Qi suddenly remembered. In her previous life, first encountered Li Che in the Southern Realm’s infamous great poison swamp. The Southern Realm has the largest poison swamp in the Three Thousand Worlds, so its variety of poisonous insects was also unparalleled. The Canglang Academy where Li Che belonged was the strongest medical cultivation sect in the Southern Realm and had unmatched research regarding poisonous insects, along with experience in handling them. Meng Qi had once read about a certain kind of poisonous insect in a medical book lent to her by Li Che.
——The heart-eating bug!
The records about the heart-eating bug vividly appeared in her mind. Despite its name, the heart-eating bug wouldn’t actually consume a cultivator’s heart. Or rather, it didn’t only eat the heart. It would live inside a human body, feeding on it, reproducing offspring continuously until it completely devoured the body, finally consuming the heart and brain.
Before that, they used the brain of their host as a nest, residing there. Heart-eating bugs could not only cause hallucinations, but some powerful ones could even control their human hosts. When their current host was about to be completely consumed, they would control the barely alive host to find the next one. This process usually took no more than half a year.
The heart-eating bug would also target ordinary people, but they preferred cultivators. First, cultivators’ bodies were generally stronger and not so easy to die. Second, besides flesh and blood, consuming the cultivator’s spiritual aura also allowed the heart-eating bug to grow stronger.
No wonder she hadn’t found any problems just now. Heart-eating bugs residing in a cultivator’s body indeed didn’t appear as an injury. Moreover, this middle-aged man was a cultivator, and the heart-eating bug inside him probably didn’t want to consume him so quickly in order to absorb more aura.
Tsk! Meng Qi hummed softly. The man’s internal organs were still intact, but his muscles were almost completely gone. If another two months passed, it might be beyond help.
Now that she had identified the cause, it was much easier to handle. Although heart-eating bugs sounded terrifying, they weren’t particularly powerful among poisonous insects. They couldn’t cultivate on their own, nor did they possess spiritual consciousness. With low intelligence akin to normal animals, they were not even qualifying as mutant beasts.
Meng Qi called out again, “Dancing crane lily, Yaksha bamboo leaves, profound frost herb…” She listed five kinds of anti-parasitic spiritual herbs without hesitation.
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