Becoming Immortal - Chapter 3 Part 3

Her gaze paused at the bead of blood resting on his fingertip. As he moved the brush, the blood spread onto the handle. The more she looked, the thirstier she felt. 

Her face was so close to his hand. If she only moved forward another inch, her lips would touch the brush in his hand. How badly she wanted to lick away that drop of blood. 

“What do you mean Ah Heng or Ah Shu*? Old Zhao, your Lin-niang has really been possessed!” Old Zhao felt chills up and down his spine as one of the villagers shouted in surprise. 

At once, the villagers moved even further away. Their faces showed varying degrees of horror. Even the old village head, seated a distance away, widened his eyes and looked at Lin-niang up and down. 

“…I told you not to say anything weird.” Lin-niang said weakly, seeing her parents’ fearful looks. 

The young cultivator was unperturbed. His tranquil eyes carried a natural coldness. He casually flicked his long fingers, wiping away the ruby red blood droplet. He put down his brush and dipped his finger into the blue liquid within the glazed mortar, writing a few characters onto the talisman. “I wouldn’t say that it’s possession.” 

His tone was even. 

He pressed the talisman into Old Zhao’s hand and said, “Go home and burn it, then mix the ashes into water and drink it. This will reinforce the spirit.” 

Old Zhao received it with both hands, thanking him fervently. He was about to pull his daughter away, but Lin-shi stopped him. “Quick, let the deity take a look at your leg!”

At this, Old Shao turned to look at the cultivator and heard him say, “Sit down.” 

Old Zhao didn’t understand, but obediently sat down beside the row of men with leg diseases. Supported by Lin-shi, Ah Heng raised her head and realised that there were dozens of people who had some problem with their legs. 

“Raise your pant leg.” 

The cultivator held the glazed mortar in his hand and brought the pestle down. Thump. 

The dozens of men immediately bent down to roll up their pant legs. For some, it was on the left leg. For others, the right. Some of them had it just below the knee, while some had it on the entire leg. 

Big patches of green-black skin. 

It wasn’t just the color that was strange, either. The discolored leg was visibly thinner than the other. It was not as bad if the affected part was only below the knee, but for the older men whose entire leg had turned black, it looked as if there was only bone beneath the skin. There were even strange ivory growths emerging from the surface of the skin, knotted and gnarled like intertwining tree roots. They also looked like the stark-white bones of human hands, stripped bare of skin. 

It was a terrifying and bizarre sight. 

Ah Heng was intrigued. Her gaze swept over the deformed legs one by one before resting once again on Old Zhao. Old Zhao was among the younger group. No bone growths had developed yet, and there was still some flesh beneath his skin. The green-black discoloration had not yet reached his knee. 

“If the bone growths are not removed, there can be no cure.” 

There was no trace of disgust or fear on the cultivator’s face. His tranquil gaze swept across them one by one. “Will you do it yourselves, or shall I?” 

The expressions of the crowd changed upon hearing his words. 

The crowd fell silent, leaving only the hushed sounds of falling rain. The old village head rose to his feet precariously, both hands on his cane. In a solemn voice, he said, “Outsider, do you know what illness this is, to so boldly demand that they remove the bone growths?” 

“You don’t know this, Deity, but this is the curse of the mountain god.” A wizened old man at the back said in a hushed tone. His leg was horrifyingly thin, the bone growths entangled at the back of his shin. He continued, “We call it the Green Bone Disease. Whoever leaves Black Water Village will die. Not only will they die, the family members they left behind must also bear the burden of their mistake.”

“It’s not that nobody has ever tried removing the bone growths themselves,” The old man sat on a chair, one of his pant legs terribly empty. He raised his head. “But once the bone growths were removed, they would grow back, and twice as fast! They keep growing upwards until eventually they pierce through the vital organs…and the person dies.”

The cultivator stepped out from behind the simple table, the glazed mortar in his hand. For some reason, he seemed as if he was holding a spiritual weapon. He lowered his head, an unburdened expression on his face. “I have my methods. Will you try them, or not?” 

They called him a deity, but at this moment, nobody had the courage to gamble with their life. Exchanging glances, they remained silent. 

“I will try first!” 

Old Zhao broke through the silence. 

“Old Zhao…” Lin-shi’s heart tightened, and she unintentionally gave Ah Heng’s arm a squeeze. 

Ah Heng glanced at her. 

“What are you worried about? I don’t even have those bone growths yet.” Old Zhao consoled her, then turned to look at the villagers beside him. Even amongst those slightly older than him, sharp spikes had started to emerge from their skin. “In the past, we didn’t even have a chance to try.” 

His words touched the hearts of a few people. 

But still they remained unspeaking.

The cultivator lowered his eyes to look at Old Zhao’s blackened shin. Since he had no bone growths, there was no need to remove them. The tip of his finger grazed the blue liquid in his glazed mortar, then he flicked it away.

A mere drop of the liquid fell on Old Zhao’s leg. Before he could react, he felt an unexplained coolness in his leg. 

As the droplet slid down, a fine cut appeared on his shin. Blood gushed out. The cultivator stood in front of him and drew a dagger from his sleeve. Then, he stabbed the dagger into Old Zhao’s flesh, cutting all the way to the bone. 

The crowd watched with bated breath. Many young ladies averted their eyes, not daring to look. Lin-shi’s eyes were filled with tears as she reached up to cover her daughter’s eyes. 

Ah Heng was enjoying the show, but her vision was suddenly blocked by Lin-shi’s hand. She tilted her head and saw that Lin-shi was crying, then casually took a step to the side and continued watching. 

As the cultivator’s dagger grazed Old Zhao’s bone, more blood gushed out, yet Old Zhao didn’t seem to feel anything. He just looked at his leg with a pale face, large droplets of sweat gathering on his forehead.

It was only when the blue liquid entered the wound that Old Zhao felt a burning sensation, as if his entire leg was being roasted on a spit. The veins in his neck bulged as he endured the pain. 

The cultivator withdrew his blade. From within the red flesh, a green-black liquid oozed out, sizzling like water on a hot pan as it hit the ground. 

“The color on his leg is becoming fainter!” Someone shouted in dismay. 

Everyone could clearly see that the green-black discoloration on Old Zhao’s thin was becoming lighter. Once the cultivator was done bandaging his leg, there was not even a hint of black on his shin. 

“Thank you, deity! Thank you!” Lin-shi cried with joy as she kowtowed to the cultivator. 

The cultivator turned to look at her. His gaze flitted to Ah Heng standing beside her, but only for a moment. “Once he returns, keep him in bed for three days. He must not move.” 

Lin-shi agreed eagerly. Supporting her husband with one arm and dragging Ah Heng with the other, she left to return home. 

“Grandfather deity, save us too! I beg you! Please…” 

Under the roof tiles, urgent pleas burst out. Many were crying, having been hopelessly tormented by the Green Bone Disease for too long. Now that they had seen Old Zhao’s leg being treated before their own eyes, they were so agitated that they could not maintain their composure. 

Ah Heng turned her head back. She saw the villagers of Black Water Village who had been ravaged by the Green Bone Disease frantically getting up from their chairs, their pant legs still rolled up high, revealing their discolored, withered, grotesque legs and their contorted bone growths. 

They swarmed around the young cultivator. 

Kneeling and begging in tears. 

The rain fell in a continuous drizzle, yet he remained spotless. His pristine white robes, crystalline beads, and the silver accessories at his waist glistened. His entire being shone with a divine aura. “Those who haven’t developed bone growths can be treated with this method. As for those who have already developed bone growths, I can guarantee that no further growths develop. As for what happens next, we’ll have to wait and see.” 

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* T/N In Mandarin, ‘Heng’ has the same sound as the word for horizontal. Shu = vertical.