Previous Chapter Table of Contents Next Chapter
In the next few days, Liu Guang came to see Cheng Nuo every day but he stopped sleeping over. Cheng Nuo felt this was a little strange but understandable. After all, once a child starts growing up he will become more and more independent.
One day at noon the busy Cheng Nuo and the other disciples were summoned by Cheng Linzi. Cheng Linzi had always been a taciturn person who loved peace and quiet. The basics of healing had been taught by his elite disciples to Cheng Nuo and the others. He rarely summoned people in such a formal manner. Cheng Nuo immediately made haste to join the others and found out that Cheng Linzi was going to inspect the results of the young disciples’ training.
It was basically a surprise test. Cheng Nuo suddenly felt very nervous.
Cheng Linzi sat in front of the disciples and, one by one quizzed them about a variety of medical topics. When it was Cheng Nuo’s turn, Cheng Linzi asked him seven or eight questions in succession. Although Cheng Nuo was nervous, he answered them well.
The next step was to investigate the results of their training in healing. Dozens of wounded magical beasts were taken to the hospital. The disciples’ task was to determine the nature of a beast’s injury within a quarter of an hour and then to adopt the appropriate healing technique.
Cheng Nuo carefully examined the magical beast that was assigned to him. Although there were burns around the palm-length wound on his back, the magical beast was breathing very fast and its eyes were dull. These symptoms weren’t caused by a fire attack but rather, it had been poisoned.
He quickly selected appropriate detoxification materials from the medicines distributed, fed them to the magical beast, then used his wood elemental abilities to heal the external and internal injuries. The magical beast soon became energetic and Cheng Linzi moved to him with a slight nod, apparently very satisfied with his judgment.
The third round of the test was to see the results of the disciples’ martial arts. Their daily training includes this and Cheng Nuo has been diligently training. Although he wasn’t as good as the older disciples, he was considered outstanding among the younger disciples. Swiftly using his wood technique to harden his arm to block an attack, he then lifted a foot to kick a disciple a few meters away before politely bowing to his defeated opponent.
After several rounds of examination, Cheng Linzi named five or six people, including Cheng Nuo.
When Cheng Linzi explained his intentions, Cheng Nuo was stunned. He was going to join Qinghua Sect’s official medical team. In other words, he was being promoted from a third level disciple to a second level one. For a disciple to advance from his initial fourth level to second in two years’ time was considered fast.
But he was also a little worried. After all, his training time wasn’t very long and in terms of experience and seniority, he couldn’t be compared with some of the older disciples. Many of those older disciples looked angry when they left.
Cheng Linzi said casually: “I’ve chosen a few of you mainly based on your comprehensive abilities. Cultivate diligently and cautiously and you will be able to make greater progress in time. In the future, be modest, prudent, and honest.”
Several disciples hurriedly said in unison, “Thank you, Master!”
When Cheng Nuo thought of moving, his heart was filled with both joy and nostalgia. At Du Yue Lin he had mostly learned everything he knew from Qi Lei and the other Shixiong. Although they didn’t really have an intimate, personal relationship, Cheng Nuo felt very grateful to them. Right now he had nothing to give them as gifts but the date of this meeting with Bai Rui was near. He would be able to choose some gifts when he goes out at that time.
Cheng Nuo got up early that day and prepared to go out for the meeting. He asked Liu Guang about the messenger birds but Liu Guang only said casually, with a relaxed expression on his face: “They flew away. If you like them so much I can buy a couple for you.”
Of course, Liu Guang didn’t say anything about scaring the birds away with fire.
Cheng Nuo knew Liu Guang wouldn’t lie to him so he was quite puzzled about this since the birds had been very obedient when he was taking care of them. Perhaps Liu Guang is not good at taking care of small animals?
He smiled and said: “No, I don’t think I’ll have much time to look after them after I join the medical team. I can just communicate with Bai Rui directly. After all, he doesn’t live so far away that it’s hard for us to meet each other.”
Liu Guang was so angry that he almost exploded.
Cheng Nuo still borrowed an ox-headed magical beast whenever he went out. When he joined the medical team, he would be given his own magical beast. He told Liu Guang that he was going to see Bai Rui and asked Liu Guang to accompany him. After all, they were all from the slums and it would be good for Bai Rui and Liu Guang to become friends. At this, Liu Guang’s large eyes narrowed and fire shot out of his two hands, scaring Chen Nuo.
However, Cheng Nuo still thought that even though those two were like fire and ice, they could become close friends since their temperaments complemented each other.
Soon after arriving at the restaurant, Cheng Nuo handed the magical bean’s reins to an attendant. After inquiring about it, he was told that Bai Rui had already arrived. He hurried up the stairs and pushed open an elegant door, only to be stunned by what he saw when he entered.
Bai Rui was standing with his back to the door, facing a window. His straight silver hair flowed down his back. Today he was wearing a black robe that emphasized his wide shoulders and slim waist. A gust of wind blew through the window, making Bai Rui’s hair and wide sleeves flutter slightly. Cheng Nuo suddenly felt that Bai Rui looked lonely.
Actually, it’s just a teenager of about 14 years old, with an antisocial and icily arrogant personality…
Controlling his expression, Cheng Nuo smiled and said: “Bai Rui, when did you arrive?”
Bai Rui slowly turned around and walked towards Cheng Nuo, coming to a stop two or three steps away from him. The expression on his face was as indifferent as ever as he said: “I’ve just arrived – you didn’t reply to my letter.”
Cheng Nuo was surprised. Bai Rui’s tone of voice clearly didn’t change but why did he hear a trace of sadness in what he said? Cheng Nuo quickly explained, smiling, that he couldn’t send a reply because the birds had flown away.
Bai Rui looked at his face unblinkingly as he listened. Cheng Nuo felt a little embarrassed. Normally, people wouldn’t stare at others for such a long time but, despite his age, Bai Rui seemed ignorant of the ways of the world.
He quickly brought out the precious dustweed he had bred, a rare seed that was hard to grow even for someone who had wood elemental energy. Cheng Nuo had successfully cultivated two plants and had given the other one to Liu Guang. Liu Guang wasn’t really interested in this type of plant but still cheerfully accepted it.
Smiling, Cheng Nuo explained: “This is a dustweed that drives away all the dust inside a room. The grass’ fragrance clears the mind and heart. It also glows at night…”
When speaking of his specialty, Cheng Nuo became more verbose and animated. As he spoke, Bai Rui just listened quietly, his head tilted to one side and his bright, golden eyes watching Cheng Nuo intently.
Cheng Nuo tried not to look at Bai Rui’s face too much since doing so made his heart beat faster. It was normal for people to have a tendency to be a little obsessed with beauty but Bai Rui was just too good-looking. In the sunlight, his face was too breathtakingly beautiful…
The expression on Bai Rui’s face suddenly became solemn as his back straightened and his eyes narrowed slightly.
Cheng Nuo was surprised. Soon a knock sounded on the door. A familiar voice said: “Cheng Nuo, I said I was coming with you today. How come you went off on your own?”
The youthful voice sounded quite provocative. Cheng Nuo’s mouth twitched and his head started to ache. If a volcano and an iceberg clashed together, what will happen?
***
Reika’s Notes:
- “Thinking of you when I read these letters.” 见字如面 – literally more like “To read the letters here is just like being face-to-face” but as far as I can tell this is just a stock phrase that people use when writing letters.
- “Liu Guang sitting beside the headboard, looking tense.” The original said Liu Guang 脸上冒着黑气 which I don’t quite understand but I think it’s just basically saying he looked strained as if he had been battling demons all night long.
- “Liu Guang was so angry that he almost exploded.” – It’s actually more like “his hair almost stood on end” like Super Saiyan style!
- “The grass’ fragrance clears the mind and heart.” 清心明目 (Qingxin Mingmu) – literally “clear mind, bright eyes.” Some tea and pills are said to be Qingxin Mingmu which, as far as I can tell, help with headaches, fever, or improve eyesight.
- “…a tendency to be a little obsessed with beauty…” I didn’t use the exact translation of 颜控 – this is meant to be read as “facecon,” a coined Chinese word that’s similar to the Japanese “brocon,” “siscon,” “shotacon,” etc. In this case, “facecon” means someone who loves beauty, especially beautiful faces.