CH 72

Chapter 72: The Room Was Narrow, With Only One Small Bed.

Bian Zhonghua asked the villager: “Excuse me, is this Granny Yao, the village’s physician?”

A villager replied: “Yes! Granny Yao is the only one in our village who knows medicine. She’s very powerful and can cure all kinds of injuries. It’s a pity that she doesn’t have a child who can assist her.”

While talking, the three people walked all the way to the edge of the lake. When Bian Zhonghua and Qi Ci looked at the lake from the valley ridge, they felt that the lake was quiet and deep, but now that they stood at the edge of it, they couldn’t see where it ended.

There was a wooden house near the edge of the lake, close to a forest. The roof of the wooden house was covered with thatch, and a fence was surrounding a small courtyard. In the courtyard, there were several old hens pecking rice, as well as a stove boiling medicine. The lid of the pot fluttered with the gurgling sound of the medicine boiling.

The villager pushed open the fence door and shouted: “Granny Yao! Someone is injured, come take a look.”

After hearing all the noise, a white-haired old woman with a slightly bent back walked out of the wooden house. Although her face was covered with wrinkles, she looked very sturdy. As she walked out of the house, she asked loudly: “Who’s injured? Is it the second child of the Wang family? Did he fall again? I told him not to climb high trees to pick fruits!”

The villager laughed: “Hahaha! Granny Yao, the kid from the Wang family fell yesterday, he didn’t fall again! This time it isn’t the second child of the Wang family who’s injured, it’s someone from the Capital. Please look at him.”

“From the Capital?” Granny Yao murmured as she glanced at Qi Ci and Bian Zhonghua.

Bian Zhonghua hesitated. He originally wanted to find some medicinal herbs and didn’t intend to see a physician, but the matter had come to this. Since Bian Zhonghua didn’t want to be ungrateful with the goodwill of the villagers, he had to accept consulting this physician. 

The villager shouted: “Granny Yao, do you have a place to look at this lad? Is the roof that was repaired last time still leaking?”

Granny Yao waved her hand: “No, it doesn’t leak anymore.”

The villager spoke again: “Then, Gongzis, I’ll go back first. After the injury is treated, you can stay with Granny Yao for the night.”

Qi Ci and Bian Zhonghua thanked the villager and waved their goodbye.

“Come, come, let me see where you’re hurt.” Granny Yao waved at the two young men, who followed her into the wooden house.

As soon as they entered the wooden house, they saw an outer hall. This outer hall looked a bit disorganized, with medicinal herbs, tools spilled everywhere, and all kinds of bottles and jars filled with unknown concoctions. The outer hall had a slight strong aroma of herbs, but the smell wasn’t that unpleasant. Further inside the outer hall, there were two inner bedrooms, one was Granny Yao’s bedroom, while the other was for the patients who had to settle down for a bit in her house.

The most striking thing, however, was the walls.

The walls of this wooden house had ink paintings. In the painting, there was a strange creature, with the tail of a fish and the head of a dragon, that seemed to be fighting another monster. The painting could be described as a majestic piece, with an atmosphere so impressive that it was impossible to look away from it.

Bian Zhonghua and Qi Ci couldn’t help but cast their eyes on the ink painting on the walls, unable to move away for a long time.

“Do you know what kind of painting this is?” Qi Ci asked Bian Zhonghua with curiosity.

Bian Zhonghua stared at the painting and then shook his head gently.

“This painting tells the legend about the Dragon buried in the lake.” After seeing both young men staring at the paintings, Granny Yao explained.

The name ‘the Dragon Buried in the Lake’ surprised Qi Ci, so much that he couldn’t help but ponder it some more.

“Here,” Granny Yao pointed at the middle of the lake that could easily be seen outside the window of the wooden house. “This is the lake where a Dragon was buried.”

“Why is it named like that?” Bian Zhonghua asked.

“The reason is shown on these paintings.” Granny Yao then pointed at the mural of the creature with a Dragon head and a fish tail. “Legend has it that there’s a mountain at the East Sea1 called Mount Dushuo2, also known as the Ghost Gate, which is inhabited by all kinds of evil spirits and monsters who want to harm the human world and mess with people. Therefore, every 900 years, one of the nine sons of the Dragon King3 living in the human world will enter the Ghost Domain to stop all the demons. This painting shows the ninth son of the Dragon King, also known as Chi Wen4. When it was his turn, he entered the Ghost Domain to awake Shentu and Yulei5, the Gate Gods of the Ghost Domain. Once the Gate Gods are awakened, we won’t need to worry about the evil demons and monsters sneaking out of the Ghost Domain anymore.”

Granny Yao moved a stool to sit down before continuing: “Rumor has it that after 900 years, the sons of the Dragon King guarding the Ghost Domain will transform into full dragons of the immortal rank. However, after becoming a dragon, the ninth son of the Dragon King, Chi Wen, chose to remain on earth to protect the peace of the world. At the same time, it was rumored that his dragon bones were coveted by monsters, but in fact, it was the Demon Emperor who had his eye on them.”

“Is that the same Demon Emperor who sealed the Four Fierce Beasts6?” Bian Zhonghua, who heard something about it, asked.

Granny Yao nodded: “Yes, rumor has it that the Demon Emperor and Chi Wen fought for three days and three nights. In the end, Chi Wen’s dragon bones were taken away by the Demon Emperor. That fight took place in this valley, and when Chi Wen’s corpse fell on the ground, it turned into a lake. Because of that, this lake is known as ‘the lake where a Dragon was buried’.”

For some unknown reason, a wave of disgust surged up Bian Zhonghua’s throat, while his chest seemed to be blocked by a mass of irritability. Utterly puzzled, Bian Zhonghua tried to suppress these feelings deep inside his heart, but they began to get more and more out of control as if they were trying to burn a mural inside him until it faded into ashes.

“Are you alright?”

Suddenly, a question rang in his ears, making Bian Zhonghua raise his head to meet Qi Ci’s concerned gaze.

At that instant, the distress inside Bian Zhonghua’s heart dissipated.

Qi Ci asked worriedly: “You don’t look well.”

Bian Zhonghua shook his head and chuckled: “It’s nothing to be worried about. It’s just that I know a lot of strange stories in this world, but this is the first time I’ve heard a legend as impressive as this. I was a little surprised, that’s all.”

“Alright, alright. The story is over, let’s treat the wound.” Granny Yao stood up and boldly skimmed through the herbs placed on a wooden table in the outer hall, then pointed to a wooden bench and said: “Come, hurt kid, sit and tell me where you’re injured.”

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Qi Ci retracted his gaze, who had fallen on the mural again, and sat down obediently. As he pointed at his forehead, he explained: “Granny, I accidentally hit my head.”

His head was smashed fiercely against a wall by the man in feathered clothes until his forehead began to bleed, and even though some time had passed, it was still wrapped in white cloth.

When Granny Yao saw the white cloth on Qi Ci’s forehead, she said with disapproval: “Untie it.”

Qi Ci slowly untied the white cloth wrapped around his forehead. The injury bled so much that it even stained the white cloth, but since the blood had dried up and stuck to the wound, it hurt a little to remove it.

Bian Zhonghua noticed that he had a painful expression on his face, so he went forward and said: “Let me help you.”

With that said, Bian Zhonghua took the white cloth in Qi Ci’s hand and untied it for him with extreme care.

Qi Ci lowered his head and whispered a ‘thank you’.

Granny Yao went forward, squinted her eyes, and carefully observed Qi Ci’s injury. Then, she walked to a corner of the room and rummaged through the cabinets for a while until she found a white porcelain bottle. Then, she walked back with the porcelain bottle in hand, as well as a white clean cloth, and threw it at Bian Zhonghua: “Here, apply the medicine on him. Make sure to change it once a day and it will scar after three days. Once the scar is gone, it will not leave any mark.”

Bian Zhonghua thanked her with a smile on his face while he secretly cut his own forearm with the blade hidden on his sleeve. Then, he applied the medicine given by Granny Yao to make sure that the medicine could actually stop the bleeding and there wasn’t anything wrong with it. After confirming that the medicine was good, he applied it to Qi Ci.

“Alright, it’s late. You two can rest in this room.” Granny Yao pointed to an inner room at the back of the house.

Both Qi Ci and Bian Zhonghua thanked her. After Granny Yao handed them clean bedding, she excused herself, saying that she had to make her own bed. As she pounded her back, she walked to her room.

When both young men went into the inner room, they saw that the room was narrow, with only one small bed.

Things are getting so interesting!!!!!