Chapter 31: Monthly Assessment

Bai Yu had never imagined that he would have another chance to relearn the arcane arts. At his age, when a man should already accept the mandate of heaven, he had long since stopped caring about cultivation or making progress. He never forced it, never demanded anything of himself. As the little girl Yun said, he had already given up on treatment. After all, no matter how hard he tried, it was useless—why bother studying anymore?

So he had never thought there would come a day when he would study the arcane arts again, and with his life on the line no less. He had no choice; the Patriarch was watching him! Ever since he realized that half of the books Yun stacked up in the study were actually prepared for him, his life had been a torment.

He had no idea what Yun had said to the Patriarch, but the elder who never left the tower except to eat actually agreed to test his cultivation.

The Patriarch did nothing else, only came once every month. He didn’t lecture, didn’t scold—he simply beat him. And it was always a beating to the death. Bai Yu faintly felt that in just a few months, his old bones had been dismantled and reassembled countless times. Every time he walked or drank water, he swore he could hear creaking sounds.

The old man wanted to cry but had no tears, and could only weakly complain to Yun Jiao, “Girl, can you tell the Patriarch not to use his fists during the next assessment? Besides, I’m studying the arcane arts, not martial arts. Who starts off by punching people?” And he always aimed for the face.

Without turning her head, Yun Jiao replied casually, “So you mean you’d rather the Patriarch use arcane arts on you?”

The old man froze, suddenly remembering the ghost horde that nearly turned to ash with a mere wave of his hand. He shivered violently. “No no no, I didn’t mean that, I never said that… don’t say nonsense!”

What a joke—if the Patriarch used arcane arts on him, he might as well reincarnate directly. “I mean, when the Patriarch instructs me next time, could he… be gentler?” At least don’t hit the face!

Yun Jiao suddenly turned her head and stared straight at him. “What? Are you injured? What kind of injury? Where does it hurt? Did it damage your meridians, consciousness, or dantian? Do you want me to take a look?” She swept her eyes up and down over him.

“…” Was it just his imagination? Why did it feel like she was excited that he was hurt?

He glanced at her still-serious expression and thought maybe he was overthinking it. She was worried about him after all. “It didn’t hurt my consciousness or dantian, just a few bones. Surface wounds.”

“Oh.” Yun Jiao’s eyes dimmed, and she turned back to her work. A pity—she had thought she could practice a bit.

Bai Yu: “…”

That was it? What about treatment? Surface wounds are still wounds! His chest felt stifled. He glanced at Yun Jiao’s hands and saw her holding a strange little knife, cutting something apart, red fur and blood flashing every now and then. Looking closely, he realized it was actually a fox.

“What are you doing?” It didn’t look like she was preparing food.

“Surgery!” Yun Jiao replied as she slit open the fox’s belly.

“What surgery?” Bai Yu was stunned. Was this some new arcane art? Looking carefully at the bloody ball of fur, he asked, “Where did this fox come from?”

“Picked it up at the door,” Yun Jiao said casually. “It has something inside its body, probably ate something bad and is about to die. I’m practicing the medical techniques from the book.”

“This fox is still alive?” Bai Yu was shocked. Leaning closer, he saw its belly still rising and falling. So she really wasn’t skinning it for soup! But then he noticed the knife in her hand—it was special, with carved runes glowing faintly as she cut. Clearly, it was a specially made artifact.

Yun didn’t have spiritual veins, so she couldn’t have crafted it. It must have come from the Patriarch. Bai Yu touched his own bruised face, then looked at her artifact, and suddenly felt like a foster child—so wronged…

(_)

Yun Jiao ignored him, continuing to cut into the fox’s belly. Following the textbook’s instructions, she located the corresponding acupuncture points, inserted needles one by one, and laid out a dispelling formation. Before long, black liquid began to ooze from the incision, gathering together like tangled thread until it condensed into a black pearl reeking of foul odor.

“Damn! Girl, you already know how to use needles and set up arrays?” Bai Yu stared in disbelief at the silver needles forming a glowing white array. He wasn’t well-versed in spiritual medicine, but he knew how difficult arrays were. They required precise calculations, and even the smallest mistake could ruin everything. And she had just performed one inside the body of a small fox.

Yun Jiao casually plucked the bead out, removed the needles, and asked, “Is it that hard? I only saw this formation yesterday.” She had merely copied it once from the book, without even fine-tuning it yet.

Bai Yu: “…” Damn it, so talent really makes you this amazing!

凸(艹皿艹)

Thinking of the other half of the books on the shelf, his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys all hurt. Sourly, he said, “Girl, maybe I should study spiritual medicine too! At least then I won’t be beaten by the Patriarch.”

“You?” Yun Jiao looked at him seriously. “You can, but spiritual doctors first need to know medicine. Medical schools start at five years minimum, with programs of six, seven, even eight years. The textbooks would be about four times the size of your current shelf. And that’s just the basics, not counting the spiritual medical texts passed down by the Patriarch.”

Bai Yu’s face turned pale. He didn’t understand most of it, but he understood “four times the bookshelf.” He immediately said briskly, “Let’s talk about the fox instead! After this… are you planning to make soup?”

“…” Pathetic!

Just as he tried to change the subject, the sound of bells suddenly rang through the temple.

“The message bell?” Bai Yu froze. “Someone must be looking for me, I’ll check.”

He dashed into the backyard and soon returned holding a paper crane, his gloomy expression replaced by joy. “Girl, get ready, we’re going down the mountain.” Hopefully before the day after tomorrow.

“Why are we going down?”

“To do business… cough!” He quickly changed his words. “An old friend invited me to exorcise evil.”

“You?” Was the scammer making a comeback?

“What kind of look is that?” His face reddened, and he pounded his chest. “I’m not bragging—among these parts I’m one of the best exorcists. Last time with that fierce ghost was just an accident. This time there’ll be no problem!” Fierce ghosts were rare—he had only encountered one in all his years.

“I’m not going.” Yun Jiao refused instantly.

“Don’t! Girl.” Without her, he really felt nervous. That female ghost had traumatized him. He pressed on, “My friend said it’s just a simple exorcism this time. Nothing will go wrong. You’ve just learned spiritual medicine—don’t you want to test your skills in the world?”

“No.” Yun Jiao stitched the fox’s wound and put her needles away. Medicine required practice, true, but healing people and animals was not the same. Without certainty, she wouldn’t act rashly.

“Girl, girl…” Bai Yu was about to cry. The day after tomorrow was the monthly assessment. He couldn’t stand another beating from the Patriarch!

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Bai Yu hadn’t expected Yun Jiao to eventually agree to accompany him down the mountain. But… they were nearly broke. The forty taels they had earned last time were a lot, enough for an ordinary family for a year or two. But arcane tools were expensive. Even a simple formation flag or peachwood sword cost several taels, not to mention cultivation pills—they didn’t dare buy any.

And Bai Yu had been desperately making up for lost cultivation, pouring all the money into it. By the time he realized, the rice jar was already empty.

In other words, if they didn’t go down and make money soon, they would starve.

So Bai Yu finally escaped his monthly beatings and dragged Yun Jiao out the door. Except…

He rubbed his eyes hard, then looked beside him. “Pa… Patriarch?”

Someone explain this! Why was the Patriarch here too? Wasn’t he supposed to never leave the tower? And why did he even pack chicken soup to go?!

(Д)

“Girl, this…”

“Shut up!” Yun Jiao shot him a cold look. “A money-squandering beast of the arcane sect has no right to speak!” Didn’t he know who had spent all the silver?

“…”

(End of Chapter)