Ming Mei was sleepless with excitement, eagerly awaiting the morning to arrive so that she could meet with Lu Sheng and hand over the materials from Physician Hong. She wanted to ask him many questions about the Eternal Life Core Elixir, deeply hoping this would help with her affliction. She was pacing in her room when she felt the presence of someone at the entrance of her courtyard.
Curiosity piqued, as she lived alone and wasn't expecting any visitors this early, she went to check it out. But when she got there, the person was nowhere to be seen. All that remained was a small scroll sitting on the steps.
Feeling a bit uneasy, Ming Mei looked around carefully before picking up the scroll. She hesitated before opening it, making sure no one was watching her, and then headed back inside her room.
She opened the scroll and started reading the message.
"The left is on the move, beware."
The message was just a line, nothing else.
"The left? Li Qingwei?" Ming Mei muttered. "Is he coming here?" She wanted to check the authenticity of this scroll and found no signs, no symbol, nothing special about the paper or ink, just a simple thread to tie it. The thread was multicolored.
"Mu Hanqi?" An image of a woman draped in multiple layers of fabric, long fluttering clothes around her as she looked like a fairy. Lu Jing's mother. She was not sure why Mu Hanqi would make the effort to inform her of this information. Is this a gratitude payment for sparing her son's life? She was not going to kill Lu Jing anyway.
She was not sure if she should trust this message or not. But if this message is right, then there is a high chance an Imperial Decree is en route too, and a big change is coming towards her, towards the Lu Clan.
Whether this message is authentic or not, one thing is clear - the time is running out. She must be prepared. With determination in her eyes, Ming Mei quickly left her room and courtyard, heading towards Lu Sheng's courtyard.
Meanwhile, Lu Sheng was already ready, dressed in a fresh robe with the Staff of Obedience and the metallic slip of the 999 Method tucked into his yellow sash, and the spirit bead he had created safely secured in his chest pocket. The tantalizing aroma of breakfast wafted towards him, instantly lifting his mood as he rushed towards the kitchen.
Tu Peng had everything ready by the time Lu Sheng arrived, and without waiting for any formalities, Lu Sheng dove into the food shamelessly. Observing his enjoyment, Tu Peng felt a sense of relief, starting to believe his sister's opinion that perhaps this senior brother was different from the others, perhaps more compassionate and understanding.
Tu Rong also returned, but with a basket full of herbs. Lu Sheng, with a mouth full of food, questioned Tu Rong with a gesture of his chin.
She raised a book that had a name associated with skin diseases. Lu Sheng coughed as the food choked him, and he quickly drank the warm soup to clear his throat.
"Oi!? This is not a disease, it…" He thought for a moment how to answer this when both Tu Peng and Tu Rong bowed with deep respect.
"Huh?" Lu Sheng was not sure why they were suddenly bowing, this was so jarring to see people bowing for no and every reason, when he noticed someone was at the kitchen door.
Ming Mei was looking at Lu Sheng with wide eyes in shock, but on the other hand, her hand was on her mouth trying to stifle her laugh. This broke all the confidence of Lu Sheng, and he collected himself and buried himself in stuffing his mouth.
"I'm sorry, Junior Brother Lu Sheng," Ming Mei said apologetically as she took a seat beside him. "But what happened to you? Did you have an unfortunate encounter with some particularly aggressive mosquitoes last night?" Lu Sheng tried his best, but even after bathing, the redness is not gone, although the oily and charred texture is gone. Now, he resembles a baked red bun.
Lu Sheng did not answer and kept stuffing his mouth. Ming Mei found this very cute, the fat, stuffed, angry red face resembled a cute stuffed toy to her.
[This is the chance, you can bargain with her to talk to Physician Hong for you.]
Lu Sheng stopped eating and, after chewing it out, he cleared his mouth. "Promise me, you would not laugh," he muttered.
"I solemnly vow I would not laugh at your words."
"Also, promise me, you would seek help for me from Physician Hong."
She nodded.
"I...I tried to cultivate."
"You tried to cultivate?" Ming Mei tried to understand, that although she did not know every type of cultivation method, she still had sufficient knowledge, and she tried to remember if any specific cultivation method could make the skin red like this. "Your skin is red because of a cultivation method? Did you buy this cultivation method from the local market? Show me the method."
Lu Sheng shook his head. "It was nothing from the market, I never got a chance to visit the market yet."
"Then? Did somebody give it to you? Who? Who is the prankster?" Ming Mei's big sister's protective mode activated.
Lu Sheng looked at Ming Mei with vacant eyes and wondered how to answer this question.
"Who is it? Tell me! Do not be afraid, I will take care of the prankster for you. Even that prankster would not know what hit him," Ming Mei boasted more to raise her points in her juniors.
Lu Sheng was not sure how to utter the words, so he pulled out the 999 method, the metallic slip, and showed it to her.
"Huh?" Ming Mei was not sure what Lu Sheng meant. Then it hit her. "YOU! You tried to cultivate this?" Many questions hit her - first, how is that possible? This is not a method at all, and even if someone tries, it will fail, even a genius of the highest caliber would only find himself in a deviation, which is debatable because no one has tried it at all.
This is madness. "You really tried to cultivate this?" Then another comprehension hit her as she laughed out loud, because what kind of an idiot are you to try to cultivate this, and what kind of genius are you that you were able to invoke a reaction out of this method.