Chapter 233: Meeting an old friend in a foreign land

Chapter 233: Meeting an old friend in a foreign land

Upon entering the city, Yuan Ming discovered that the situation was even more dire than he had imagined. The streets were littered with corpses, some already rotting and emitting a foul stench. Along the way, he encountered two medical halls and a government office, all filled with piles of bodies, a sight too ghastly to describe. In the city, the dead outnumbered the living.

Yuan Ming had brought medicine to eradicate the plague, originally planning to add it to the well water for the townspeople to drink and cure their ailments. However, given the current state of affairs, that was no longer possible.

With his limited ability, it was impossible to administer the medicine to each individual. Therefore, Yuan Ming found a residence, cleared out the corpses, and began busily preparing the incense materials he had purchased earlier.

***

By evening, Yuan Ming had produced several sticks of pale yellow incense. The base materials were the same as those used for making fog incense, but with the addition of some plague-eradicating medicinal powder and special refining techniques from the Spirit Incense Secret Manual.

After completing the plague-eradicating incense, Yuan Ming took the incense to an open space in the center of the town and tapped his forehead. Four soul crows flew out, three of which landed on the bodies of the recently deceased, while the remaining one soared above to keep watch. The three bodies, with the soul crows inside, lit up with a faint green glow in their eyes and shakily rose to their feet, approaching Yuan Ming.

He handed each of them a stick of the plague-eradicating incense and instructed them to carry it in three different directions of the town.

Yuan Ming, holding the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron with the incense inserted, sat in the center. Once the bodies reached their designated positions, he controlled them and himself to light the incense. Moments after the incense was lit, billows of yellow smoke rose from various parts of the town, soon engulfing the entire place. Amidst the dense smoke, the townspeople, who were on the brink of death, believed they had reached the netherworld.

With their current physical state, they were too weak to avoid the smoke and resigned themselves to their fate. However, after inhaling the smoke, they felt rejuvenated, their spirits lifted, and their previous despair vanished. They were unsure whether this was a final flicker of life before death or a genuine recovery.

After a long while, as the smoke gradually cleared, the survivors in the city were free of the plague. When they could see their surroundings clearly again and realized they were still in the town, they wept with joy, and their cries echoed throughout the place.

Yuan Ming had already put away the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron, and the four soul crows had returned to his body. After advancing to Foundation Establishment, his soul power had greatly increased, and now even releasing all six soul crows did not overly strain him. After a brief rest, Yuan Ming was back to normal. When he opened his eyes, he saw that some of the recovered townspeople were gathering around him.

They were still weak, some needing support to stand, but upon hearing a child who had witnessed Yuan Ming’s entire process of casting spells call him a lifesaver, they all gathered around.

"We kneel to thank the immortal master for saving our lives," someone called out, and others quickly echoed. Soon, the crowd began to kneel and kowtow to Yuan Ming in gratitude.

Upon entering the city, Yuan Ming did not immediately seek out Wu Lu. Instead, he found a pleasure house to relax, drink tea, and listen to music. Back in the capital of Great Jin, he often visited such places and occasionally composed his own lyrics and music, though not as frequently as he created paintings and stories. To this day, his compositions were still circulated in Great Jin.

***

After a refreshing bath in the afternoon and changing into new clothes, Yuan Ming left the inn and headed toward the famous Wang Hai Cliff in the east of the city. He had already learned of Wu Lu’s whereabouts through the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron before arriving in Hai Yan City.

Wu Lu was staying in a cliffside inn near Wang Hai Cliff, overlooking the East Sea, with the best view in Hai Yan City to watch the tides and the spectacular sight of waves crashing against the cliffs. When Yuan Ming found Wu Lu, the latter was sitting on the second floor of the Guan Hai Lou Inn, at a window facing the sea, with a few dishes and a pot of wine, clearly enjoying himself.

Wu Lu was visibly stunned when he saw Yuan Ming sit down opposite him, seemingly in disbelief. "Brother Wu Lu, it’s been a while," Yuan Ming greeted with a smile. "Brother Yuan, is it really you? What a coincidence!" Wu Lu held his wine cup, momentarily stunned, then a sudden joy welled up in his heart.

The joy of "reunion after a long separation" combined with the surprise of "meeting an old friend in a foreign land" made him feel almost unreal upon seeing Yuan Ming. The reason for his strong emotional reaction was not solely due to these feelings.

In fact, Yuan Ming had already used the Heaven-Stealing Cauldron to attach himself to Wu Lu three times in a row before deciding to come to him. Each time, Yuan Ming used the power of the black incense to subtly suggest to Wu Lu that he was a lifelong friend. As a result, Wu Lu sometimes thought there was something wrong with his mind, as he would inexplicably think of Yuan Ming.

However, the black incense made from the ashes of the Xuanhua Viewing Incense seemed to have a weaker effect on psychological suggestion than the incense ashes obtained from Liu Xin Sect, which were unfortunately too scarce and had been used up long ago.

"Why are you here?" Wu Lu asked, somewhat surprised. "I was returning north to Great Jin when I encountered some trouble on the way, so I changed my route and passed through Yue Country. Knowing that Brother Wu Lu was here, how could I not come to meet you?" Yuan Ming replied with a smile. "But how did you know I was dining here?" Wu Lu asked.

"It was just a coincidence. I saw that this place had a nice view, and I didn’t expect to actually find you here," Yuan Ming said. "What trouble did you encounter on the road?" Wu Lu asked, frowning.

"Near Tie Hu Town, I ran into some old debtors and managed to collect some interest from them," Yuan Ming nodded and replied.

Wu Lu took a closer look at Yuan Ming, his pupils constricting in surprise."Brother Yuan, you’ve actually reached Foundation Establishment."