It was Ming Yue's first time on the third peak and it didn't look like anything she had imagined. She had thought it would look like something similar to a vineyard where the spiritual plants grew in neat rows, but instead it was the exact opposite and the place was basically a wild overgrown jungle that only grew thicker the closer to the top they got.
What Ming Yue didn't know yet was that spiritual plants were very sensitive to their environment and was almost impossible to plant artifically. So planting them in neat rows would be the fastest way to kill them.
A thick, blue mist lingered around them and made it impossible to see further than 20 meters. It was because a formation had been setup around the peak that gathered spiritual energy with water attribute. This not only helped the spiritual plants to grow but also was good for cultivators with a spiritual root with water attribute. This explained why most disciples who lived on the third peak had such a spiritual root and why most medicinal practicioners and herbalists and pill masters had a water attributed spiritual root. The water element had a very gentle nature and fit very well with all occupations that dealt with spiritual plants or medicine in general.
Ming Yue, Yao Yao, Chen Mei and the young boy and his father who was carried on a stretcher arrived at what could best be described as a small village with several houses made of bamboo and thatched roofs.
Chen Mei ran into one of the houses and the others followed. Inside were several empty beds, only one was currently occupied by a disciple who had injured himself while he was out doing a mission.
"P-Put him in this bed." Chen Mei quietly said with a voice so weak it seemed it could be carried away by a butterfly's wings.
Ming Yue and Yao Yao carefully moved the merchant from the stretcher to the bed. Then Ming Yue sat down on a stool and wiped her forehead with her sleeve. It was truly exhausting to carry the merchant all the way to the third peak, it had taken them half an hour. If it weren't for her daily martial arts training the past few weeks she would've probably have died halfway there. Luckily, Yao Yao pulled most of the weight.
An old man entered the house, he looked like he had a back problem as he was basically leaning forward at 90 degrees as he walked with his arms behind his back. He also seemed exceptionally narrow sighted as he was squinting his eyes.
"M-master!" Chen Mei quietly said and ran over and grabbed one of his arms to help him walk.
Ming Yue looked at the old man and felt rather confused. How could this man who seemed to both have a back problem and be terribly narrow-sighted be a master doctor. Shouldn't he be able to fix all those problems with medicine?
Chen Mei led her master to the side of the bed were the merchant was lying uncounscious.
The old master felt around the side of the bed as if he was searching for something when he finally found the merchant's arm and then took his pulse.
The young boy suddenly kneeled down before the old master and shouted, "Master, please save my papa!"
Chen Mei awkwardly coughed. "M-my master is deaf and blind so he can't hear you." She tried to explain but her voice was so weak and quiet it was uncertain if anyone heard her.
However, Ming Yue heard her and almost fell off her stool. She wanted to ask if the old man couldn't heal himself, but she didn't want to be rude.
Yao Yao seemed to have read her mind though and explained, "A few years ago the old fool was trying out some experimental medicine on himself and ended up damaging a few of his meridians and he's been this way ever since."
"Can't you heal damaged meridians?" Ming Yue asked.
"It's possible, but the ingredients are extremely rare. There's a mission for it in the missions building and the reward is currently at 1,000,000 points. But it's been up there for years and despite several disciples having searched high and low for years nobody has managed to find the necessary ingredients. " Yao Yao said.
"1,000,000 points!?" Ming Yue gasped. Now she finally understood how it could be possible to buy those extremely expensive weapons.
The old master suddenly spoke, "He'll be fine after a week's rest." Then he turned to walk away but bumped into the young boy who was currently kowtowing toward him and thanking him. He reached over and patted the head of the young boy a few times then with the help of Chen Mei they walked around the boy and then exited the building.
A few moments later Chen Mei came back. She briefly looked at Yao Yao with a wary look then quickly turned toward Ming Yue and gave her a slight bow. "Thank you for your assistance." She said in her usual quiet way.
Ming Yue waved her hand as if to say no need for thanks with body language, then she felt her stomach rumble. "How about we have dinner at the restaurant?" She had seen the sect's only restaurant before and had wanted to bring Yao Yao there after shopping at the marketplace, but instead she had ended up here and forgotten about it until this moment.
"Alright, I'm up for it." Yao Yao said.
Chen Mei didn't react at all, so Ming Yue faced her and asked, "How about you?"
"M-me?" Chen Mei shyly looked down at her feet, no one had ever asked her out for dinner before. "I-I..."
Yao Yao frowned. "I'll go ahead. Come once miss slow poke has decided." Then she walked out of the building.
Ming Yue jumped off the stool and walked over to Chen Mei and grabbed her hand, "You're coming, right?"
Chen Mei's ears flushed red as she slowly nodded.
"Great! Let's go!" Ming Yue wrapped an arm around Chen Mei's arm and then pulled her along.