"Snap!" A crisp sound rang out, and a blood mark appeared on Cheng's face. The hot pain extended from his nose to behind his ears. Cheng was momentarily stunned, holding his face in pain and tears in his eyes. Yue's almond-shaped eyes widened in anger. She held a whip in her hand, her shoulders shaking with rage. "You damn merchant! As a citizen of the Six Dynasties, you should be fighting for your country instead of taking advantage of the chaos to loot!" Cheng tried to reason with her, but her anger only escalated, and she struck him with the whip again. Cheng got up, his palm covered in blood, and shouted, "Why did you hit me?" Yue stood her ground. "You're a despicable person!" "What did I do to deserve that?" "The rise and fall of a country concerns every one of its citizens. I heard from General Shi that he invited you to join the army, but you refused. As a man, you should fight for your country instead of being greedy for life and afraid of death, forgetting your duty to the nation, and treating national affairs as business deals. That's why you deserved to be punished!" Listening to Yue's words, Cheng couldn't help but feel amused and frustrated. It was true that the rise and fall of a country concerned everyone, but he was just an unexpected visitor who had crossed over. This country was not his country. He was not born here, nor did he grow up here. Why should he bear the responsibility of national prosperity and decline? It was ridiculous. The problem was that Yue was so angry that she would not be able to understand these words. Cheng didn't believe that anyone, except for Wang Zhe, would believe his strange experience. Helpless, he had to explain in a different way. "The duty of a soldier is to fight, and the job of a merchant is to make money. If you think it's your responsibility to protect your country, then I'm just doing what I'm supposed to do by making money. Did I force you to buy anything? If you think it's too expensive, you don't have to buy it." "You!" Yue was even more angry after hearing Cheng's words. She raised her whip again, but this time Cheng was smarter and quickly dodged to the side. Wen Ze hurriedly stopped Yue. "Mr Cheng is a guest of the army. Although our goals are different, we can't use violence against each other. If General Shi finds out, he will surely reprimand us." "You scum!" Yue put away her whip, stamped her foot, and left. Wen Ze helped Cheng up. "Are you okay, Mr Cheng?"
Cheng received a heavy whip on his face, causing him great pain. If it wasn't for Yue's injury, he would have suffered more than just a skin wound; a large chunk of flesh might have been ripped off as well. He felt wronged for receiving a whip out of the blue and ignored the apologetic words of Wen Ze, who repeatedly tried to apologize to him. Instead, he returned to his own tent.
Feeling his swollen face, which was burning with pain, he realized how uncivilized it was to hit someone's face. He also realized that if the whip had been a little higher and hit his eyes, he would have been blinded. The disdainful look that Yue gave him only fueled his anger. Even if he was a native of this world and had done something wrong, was it necessary to be whipped like this? He found Yue to be violent, despite her beauty, and knew he couldn't stay in this place. He feared that one day the righteous goddess would force him to go into battle with a knife, and maybe even stab him in the back, giving him a chance to die for the country.
Where could he go? With his hands behind his head, he frowned and pondered. He knew that the only thing he knew about this world was that it was a grassland, and the southeast direction led to the Great Snow Mountain. Beyond the mountain was the inland area of the Six Dynasties. Wen Ze said they had been out of the pass for three months, and excluding the time spent in battle and encampment, it would take at least a month to reach the inland of the Six Dynasties.
He couldn't help but think of Duan Qiang, who had at least received wilderness survival training. In contrast, he might starve to death after three days on the grassland. He had to wait for the Legion to retreat and return to the inland before he could figure out what to do next.
Thinking of Duan Qiang, he thought of Zi Mei, who he lost contact with after he mysteriously disappeared on the plane and arrived here. The interview he had with her was now a thing of the past, and he wondered if she would try to find him. Would he ever see her again in this lifetime?
Feeling a sharp pain in his heart, his emotions became unstable, and he didn't even touch the lunch that the soldiers had brought him. He lay down on the bed, put his head under the covers, and fell into a deep sleep. Wen Ze came in, thinking he was sound asleep, and didn't disturb him.
As the day was drawing to a close, a gentle voice outside the tent said, "Is Mr Cheng inside?"
Cheng immediately sat up. It was Lin Caiquan, one of the four Taoist masters of the Taiyi Sect. Of the four, Shang Lexuan was snobbish, Su Weiyang was reticent, and Zhuo Yunjun ignored him completely. Compared to the others, Lin Caiquan seemed more approachable with his pleasant smile.
Cheng rubbed his face, and the whip marks had disappeared as if they had never been there. He was moved by Wang Zhe's words, realizing that there might be some unexpected changes in his body. He opened the door of the tent and said, "Ling Jiaoyu, please come in." Ling Caiquan smiled and said, "Sorry to disturb you." Then he bowed and entered the tent. The tent was small, and Ling Caiquan casually sat on the bedding. He looked around and smiled, "Wen Ze did things hastily, and the grass here hasn't been removed. Can you sleep on it?" Cheng laughed, "With this grass as a cushion, it's much more comfortable than sleeping on sand." Ling Caiquan smiled and looked at him. After a while, he said, "The true yang energy on your body is the strongest I have ever seen in my life. I wonder which kind of skill you have practiced?" Although Cheng didn't know his intention, Wang Zhe had instructed him not to reveal the secret of the life and death roots easily. So he could only pretend to be naive and said, "Yang energy? I don't know what that is. Maybe... it's because I am still a virgin." Cheng did not lie about this. At least after crossing over, he was still a virgin. Ling Caiquan laughed and shook his head, "The so-called strong yang energy of a virgin is just a foolish rumor. The true meaning of the Tao is that without the combination of yin and yang, neither can exist. Only when yin and yang are in harmony can the true essence of the Tao be achieved." It turned out that there was such a saying. It seemed that the virgin body skill was just a scam. Cheng said embarrassedly, "But I really haven't practiced any skills." Ling Caiquan slowly said, "Do you know why I look at you differently from others?" Cheng shook his head, knowing that it wasn't because of his good looks. Ling Caiquan said, "Because you were supposed to be dead."
Cheng's hair stood up all over his body. Could it be that he had already died when he traveled through and was now just a soul? Cheng breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his shadow move. "I'm alive and well, aren't I?" he said.
"Do you know what happens when True Yang overflows?" interrupted Lin Caiquan before Cheng could answer. "There are two possibilities. One, dissipation of True Yang. Once all the True Yang in the body is dissipated, one may become a disabled person or even die. Two, ascension. When one's life is about to end, True Yang flows out and takes shape outside the body."
Through Lin Caiquan's explanation, Cheng learned that True Yang is formed by gathering and refining the breath in the meridians and dantian, and merging it with the body's true essence. People who don't understand the way of cultivation may have strong innate qi and abundant yang energy, but they cannot refine True Yang. The method of refining qi is to first accumulate True Yang in the dantian, so it is impossible for someone like Cheng to unconsciously let his True Yang flow out of his body. That's why Lin Caiquan was so surprised when he saw him. Apart from dissipation and ascension, the only explanation is that someone transmitted True Yang to him without his knowledge, causing the True Yang to fail to merge with his true essence and flow away.
"It's like having a fortune of gold and silver, but not knowing how to use it, much less how to store it, causing the gold and silver to be lost for nothing."
"Is it really that good?" Cheng asked uncertainly. Lin Caiquan's words aroused his interest.
Lin Caiquan lightly flicked his sleeve and said, "Would you like to join our Taiyi True Sect and study our secret methods?"
"What secret methods?" Cheng asked.
Lin Caiquan waved his hand, and a rotating Tai Chi diagram appeared in his palm, followed by various manifestations of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, constantly changing.
"This is the Five Elements Secret," Lin Caiquan said. "Our Taiyi True Sect is the largest sect in the Daoist sect, and our secret methods encompass everything, including guiding, qi cultivation, cloud seal, fixed observation, six births, ascension, one preservation, spiritual cultivation, five escapes, nine preservations, six qi, seven spirits, forgetting, fasting, breathing, embryonic breathing, body refining, qi refining, pill refining, holy embryo, and enlightenment... we have everything."
He spoke more than twenty kinds of Daoist secret techniques in one breath. Cheng listened in a daze. He had heard of fasting, breathing, and alchemy, but he didn't know what Yunzhuan, Dingguan, Lianxing, and Shengtai were.
Ling Caiquan flicked his fingers, and a spark shot out from the Taiji diagram, suspended in mid-air like a flickering candle. He then pointed his finger, and the spark turned into a thin line of fire, slithering like a spiritual snake through a blade of grass and leaving behind a tiny hole.
Cheng praised and admired Ling Caiquan's skills, but secretly thought that the old man must have some ulterior motives for being so generous.
Ling Caiquan asked Cheng if he wanted to join the Taiyi Sect and learn their secret techniques. Cheng eagerly agreed, but said that he needed to stay in the army for some time, which might delay his enrollment. Ling Caiquan suggested that Cheng could join them whenever he returned to the mainland.
Cheng then asked how he could contact the Taiyi Sect. Ling Caiquan told him that they had branch organizations in various states of the Six Dynasties, and gave him a jade pendant to use as a means of communication.
Cheng examined the jade pendant and found it exquisite and peculiar, with a natural Taiji diagram half black and half white. He put the pendant in his wallet and thanked Ling Caiquan.
Cheng was puzzled as to where his true yang energy came from. He wondered if he could become a top-notch master in this world without any practice as long as his life and death roots could emit true yang energy continuously. However, he knew that this was impossible, as he had learned the law of the conservation of matter. Nothing could come out of nothing, including the five elements technique that Ling Caiquan had just displayed. He just didn't understand how these transformations were achieved through Daoist secret techniques.
"At present, besides joining the army, he had another choice: Taiyi True Sect. Regarding this, Cheng was still indecisive. He had some interest in Taoist secret techniques. Maybe if he practiced enough, he could find a way to travel through time and space on his own. But from the perspective of the present reality, being a Taoist did not seem to be much better than being a monk.
At nightfall, a soldier brought dinner. While eating, Cheng missed the night market steak in Taipei. This tasteless boiled horse meat, without oil, vinegar, salt, or seasoning, made him lose his appetite.
He struggled to take a few bites, threw down the meat, and went outside the tent to breathe fresh air. His tent was not only far from the military camp, but also far from the residence of Taiyi True Sect and others. After all, he was still a stranger. The accommodation chosen by Wenze for him was set up alone under a slope, with a mountain behind him.
The starry sky above was still brilliant. Although he had seen it before, Cheng was still shocked by the vast starry sky. He raised his head, staring at the seemingly reachable cluster of stars, and for a moment forgot where he was.
No wonder the ancients said that the Milky Way was heavenly, with great respect. Under such a starry sky, anyone would feel their own insignificance and the brevity of life. Cheng could not tell whether there was a star belonging to the world he had lived in among the boundless stars.
Just as Cheng was lost in thought, he heard a cold snort behind him.
He turned around and saw Yue, dressed in armor, standing not far behind him. She wore black leather armor, did not wear a helmet, and her shiny hair was tied into a bun like a man's, tied with a leather strip, which was the same as the Qin soldiers in the legion. However, her white jade-like cheeks were cold as ice, and Cheng instinctively sensed a hint of danger.
There was no other tent around. This little beauty was definitely not passing by. Coming to him at midnight, was she really here to say thank you? Cheng quietly glanced at the general's tent on the top of the mountain, estimating whether Wang Zhe would hear him if he shouted loudly.
It seemed very shameful to say, but having seen Yue's situation of fighting a half-beast with a single sword, Cheng did not think he had the ability to protect his dignity as a man. According to the most optimistic estimate, Yue could fight two of him with one hand.
"Miss Yue," Cheng steadied his mind and said as calmly as possible, "Are you looking for me?"
Yue looked at him with a contemptuous expression in her eyes that she didn't bother to conceal.
Cheng's anger rose suddenly. This damn girl was too much!
Yue said coldly, "Where did the true yang on an untrained person like you come from?"
At this moment, Cheng had a clear understanding in his heart. The loved one with the incurable disease that Wang Zhe mentioned was this young girl in front of him. According to Wen Ze's words, she was injured by someone using a palm technique similar to Xuan Ming Shen Zhang when she was young, and yin and cold qi accumulated in her body, making it impossible for her to recover. When the illness flares up, her blood will solidify like ice, and she could die at any time.
Since she came looking for his help, yet acted all insolent and provoked him, he was immediately angry and decided to leave with Lao Lin. Let her suffer from the disease for the rest of her life!
Cheng snapped, "Picked it up!" with a bad tone. Yue had recovered a lot, except for her slightly pale complexion, there was no sign of her having a terminal illness. She sneered, "That's good." She then raised her slender fingers lightly, and even though Cheng saw her finger movements, he had no time to react. Suddenly, his chest felt a sharp pain, then his waist, abdomen, shoulders, knees... Yue's fingers danced around his body, tapping him over ten times. By the time she stopped, Cheng had over ten different types of strength on his body, some light, some heavy, but all aimed at the critical points of blood circulation. His body was like being tied up by an invisible rope, standing unsteadily and falling backward.
Yue grabbed Cheng's belt, lifted him like a baby who had not yet grown teeth, and threw him into the tent. She said coldly, "Since it's something picked up, it's ill-gotten gains."
Cheng's tongue could still move, but he could hardly speak well, his voice was as small as a mosquito's, "You damn girl, let go of me!"
Yue sat cross-legged and took out a roll of white cloth from her bosom. There was a thin knife the size of a finger, a packet of medicine, and a muddy yellow pill rolled inside. Yue picked up the knife, staring at Cheng, "Since it's not your thing, you should hand it over to someone who is qualified to dispose of it!"
Seeing the sharp blade of the knife, similar to a surgical knife, Cheng suddenly felt goosebumps. "What... What are you going to do?"
Yue clearly looked down on his cowardly appearance. She didn't avoid pulling open Cheng's shirt and said disdainfully, "Are you still a man? I'm just going to take a drop of blood from your heart. I'm not going to kill you."
Although Yue spoke lightly, Cheng's hair was standing on end. Take a drop of blood from the heart? Cut a knife on his heart? This girl must be crazy! Cheng didn't believe that Yue had the qualifications of a cardiac surgeon. If she cut his heart, she might be happy, but he would lose his life.
"Stop!" Cheng shouted palely, "Can't we talk about it? What are you going to do?"
"The Root of Life and Death possesses divine powers, capable of reversing fate, saving people from the brink of life and death. How can it be wasted on someone like you?" Yue explained.
"What's wrong with someone like me?" Cheng's temper flared, "Isn't someone who fights in the army still human? Does it mean that only businessmen are not human? What kind of twisted logic is that?"
Suddenly thought of something, sneered: "You talk so nicely, but what you really want is to heal your own wounds, isn't it? How noble is this motivation?"
He said these words with the courage of "I don't care anymore". He thought he had hit her sore spot and that she would become a fierce mother tiger in anger. Unexpectedly, Yue just smiled coldly and said contemptuously, "After taking out the True Yang, it will be handed over to Shishuai to decide. If he wants to use it to heal me, it must be because it is a profound and wonderful way to save the most people without betraying the root of life and death."
"You crazy person!"
Yue suddenly raised her head, her beautiful hair scattered like a flag in the wind, her snow-white and pretty melon-seed face full of heroic spirit, without any trace of guilt. She rebuked, "Crazy person? You small-minded person, you don't know anything, so shut up! How could you understand my feelings? Clearly, I have the ability to fight on the front lines, but I can only be protected in the rear, watching my comrades fall one by one around me, time and time again. I could have protected them..."
Yue almost shouted out these words in one breath. Cheng was stunned by what he heard. Yue saw his expression and also realized that she had lost control. Her expression turned cold and she said indifferently, "True Yang is useless to you. I can heal my wounds and go to the front lines to kill more enemies and save more comrades' lives. This can also be considered as indirectly contributing to the country through you."
Although his tone was cold, he couldn't hide the reddish eyes. Cheng looked at Yue's eyes and his tone softened, "If you really want True Yang, why do you have to use my heart's blood?" Yue pointed a sharp knife at Cheng's chest and said coldly, "The heart is where True Yang gathers. Don't worry, I only need to draw a few drops of blood." As she spoke, she stabbed downward. "Stop!" Cheng shouted with all his strength, but his voice was no louder than a buzzing bee. Yue really stopped. She sneered, "If I could, I wouldn't want you to take this pill. Someone like you, giving you a grain of rice is a waste of food and does not benefit the world!" Cheng thought angrily, "Damn it, if the world is so good to you, go ask the world for True Yang!" Seeing him stunned, his face covered in sweat, Yue disdainfully pursed her lips and picked up the earth-yellow pill. "This is a pill that Su Jiao has spent five years making. It can stimulate True Yuan, refine True Yang, and have the power of rebirth. Giving it to you is really cheap of me." As she spoke, Yue cut the pill in half, held Cheng's chin with one hand, and with a little force, she opened his mouth and put half of the pill in. The pungent smell of the pill rushed into his nostrils. It was a fierce medicine with extremely strong effects. Cheng stretched out his tongue and tried to spit it out desperately, but Yue's slightly cool fingertips brushed against his throat, and Cheng involuntarily swallowed the pill. Yue was injured by someone's cold palm power when she was young, and for more than ten years, Wang Zhe and others had worked hard to get rid of the cold poison in her body. This time, Su Weiyao brought her own secret medicine that she had been making for many years, hoping to stimulate the True Yang in Yue's body after she took it and remove the cold poison at once. However, the medicine was too fierce, and Su Weiyao had repeatedly taught her that she could not easily take it to avoid the more serious consequences caused by the True Yang stimulated by the medicine fighting with the cold poison in her body because of her insufficient cultivation.
In the morning, Yue, angry, whipped Cheng. After Wang Zhe found out, he scolded her severely and told her that this young man possessed a unique ability, as he had already condensed true yang without any cultivation. If he found a way to guide it, it could possibly heal her injuries. Yue remembered the incident when she had repelled the assassins and thought it was indeed impressive. However, having grown up in the military and with a personality more like a man, she had no affection for Cheng and would rather be killed by an orc than let him touch her to treat her wounds.
Wang Zhe could not find a way to guide the true yang, but Yue had a simple idea - just take a little of Cheng's blood and get the true yang. The half pill had stimulated the true element in his body, and the true yang in his heart was even more abundant, which could be seen as compensation. As for the other half of the pill, Yue hesitated for no moment and took it herself, then closed her eyes to dissolve the medicinal properties. Suddenly her expression changed, revealing a painful look.