Chapter 193: Treating the Foot Injury

The child’s injury was troublesome, and in the current situation, they couldn’t leave him alone in Lijiao Village. Otherwise, once those villagers came to their senses, the child probably wouldn’t survive. Changyang had no choice but to take the child back to the Medical Valley and left a few disciples behind to continue investigating the child’s background.

Yun Jiao examined the boy’s entire body. Previously, due to the urgent circumstances, she had only treated his external wounds briefly. Now that she could take a closer look at his meridians and sea of consciousness, she immediately noticed the problem—this child was indeed different from ordinary people.

Inside his body, unlike a normal human, there was something extra. A black aura flowed through all his meridians. Strangely enough, this demonic energy—which should have been extremely harmful to humans—had no effect on him at all. In fact, it originated from within his own sea of consciousness. Just like how a cultivator absorbs spiritual energy and circulates it through the body, his body gathered demonic energy instead. But because he had never cultivated, that energy simply lingered between his sea of consciousness and his meridians, unable to gather in his dantian. Under normal circumstances, he couldn’t control this demonic energy at all; only when he was extremely agitated would it unconsciously leak out.

“This child… what exactly is he?” Changyang was stunned. Having practiced medicine for so many years, he had seen all kinds of strange physiques, but this was the first time he’d encountered something so bizarre.

To call him a demon—he clearly had a human body. But to call him human—he carried demonic energy within him, and it didn’t harm him at all.

It was as if… this body had been specially made for becoming a demon!

Changyang instinctively looked toward Yun Jiao beside him. “Fellow Daoist Yun, what should we do?”

He looked troubled. Glancing at the boy who had already fallen asleep, he sighed. The boy’s leg bone had been fractured and not properly set, leaving him unable to walk. Now, after so long, it could only be broken again and reset. To spare him the pain, they had used a talisman to put him to sleep. But with that demonic energy earlier, they were hesitant to begin. “We can’t delay fixing his leg any longer, but this demonic energy…” If it suddenly surged while they were setting the bone, they might not escape unscathed.

“The demonic energy in his sea of consciousness is sealed,” Yun Jiao said with a slight frown. Changyang couldn’t see it, but she could sense that their Grandmaster had just placed a sealing mark in the boy’s sea of consciousness, locking away most of it. Unless the Grandmaster himself removed the seal, that energy wouldn’t leak out. “I’ve used a talisman to block his five senses. What troubles me is the residual demonic energy in his meridians…”

She was just about to suggest using acupuncture and a formation to expel the remaining demonic energy before setting his leg, when something suddenly flickered. The faint black aura surrounding the boy vanished entirely.

“Huh?” Yun Jiao froze for a moment and stepped forward.

“What’s wrong, Daoist Yun?” Changyang asked.

“The demonic energy in his meridians… it’s gone!”

“What!” Changyang was shocked. Without the heavenly eye, he couldn’t sense demonic energy as she could, but he instinctively probed the boy’s meridians—and his eyes widened. “How… how could this be?”

Yun Jiao’s expression darkened. Thinking carefully, she realized that the black aura had just now…

She looked down at the boy’s chest and pulled open his tattered robe. Sure enough, a piece of pure white jade was revealed. It was peculiar—within the jade, faint specks of light glimmered, moving rhythmically, almost as if it were alive.

“This is… a magical artifact!” Changyang exclaimed, stunned. A child from a remote village possessing a magical artifact—something only cultivators from great sects would have—and one that could purify demonic energy no less? Moreover, even with his cultivation, he couldn’t discern its rank!

“No, not a magical artifact,” Yun Jiao said grimly, her tone firm. “It’s an immortal artifact.” The white light flowing within it was exactly the same as the immortal artifacts the old man had once swindled from two of their senior uncles.

“An… immortal…” Changyang looked utterly incredulous. If anyone else had said it, he’d have thought it was a joke. Immortal artifacts existed only in the Immortal Realm—how could one appear on this child!

“This…” Changyang’s head was spinning from the sheer amount of information. What had started as a simple treatment had turned into something involving demonic energy and the demon race—and now even the Immortal Realm was somehow involved. What kind of chaos was this?

Yun Jiao had some suspicions in her heart, but wasn’t sure. “The immortal artifact has already dispelled the demonic energy in his meridians. Let’s focus on treating his injuries first.”

“Oh… oh!” Changyang snapped out of it, suppressing his urge to shriek like a startled rodent, and began setting the boy’s bone.

He carefully examined the fracture. After feeling along the bone to confirm its condition, his surprise grew. Judging from the bone age, the child was around seven or eight years old, yet his body looked no older than four or five. Thinking of how the villagers had wanted him dead, Changyang couldn’t imagine how much suffering this boy had endured to be reduced to such a frail state.

Feeling a pang of pity, he focused intently on the treatment.

Changyang and Yun Jiao worked through most of the night before finally setting the boy’s leg. But his injuries were not only external; it was unclear how long it would take for him to fully recover.

Just as they were catching their breath, Changping and the others who had been sent to investigate returned. They reported everything they had found about the boy in the village—and what they said shocked the two of them.

“What! You mean this child isn’t from Lijiao Village?” Changyang asked in surprise.

“Yes, Master,” Changping replied solemnly. “Seven years ago, a villager named Li Feng brought him back from outside the village to raise as his own. The Li family had no descendants, so they named him Li Laidi. But the very next day, Li Feng died. Soon after, the elderly couple of the Li family passed away as well. The villagers thought the boy was cursed, so no one cared for him anymore.” The fact that he’d survived to this day was already a miracle.

“So, no one in the village knows this child’s true origins?” Changyang frowned deeply.

“That’s right.” Changping nodded, then hesitated as if recalling something. “Also… when some of the junior brothers were visiting the village, they noticed several deep holes along the southern riverbank. Apparently, someone had once found gold there while playing by the river, so the villagers often went to dig sand.”

“Digging sand?” Changyang blinked, not understanding why his disciple brought that up.

Changping continued, “Master, there’s been heavy rain over the past few days…”

Changyang was momentarily puzzled. “Heavy rain? What does that have to—” He suddenly stopped mid-sentence, realization striking him. Slapping the table, he stood up abruptly. “Absurd!”

(End of Chapter)