Holy body, start with the Five Animal Exercises

2: Black Mountain CityQin Jiang shook his head. From the current situation, it was highly probable that he wouldn’t have a tomb after he died.

Looking at it this way, those two tomb raiders were quite good; they killed and then buried.

He gently pressed his palm onto the tombstone, and wisps of cool Qi flowed into his body.

His potential points slowly increased: 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.1, 0.1.

Gradually, the cool Qi became faint, then completely disappeared, and his total potential points reached 1.6.

After absorbing the potential points, he looked up at the sky, which was growing darker.

Without further delay, he quickly left, following the path he had taken to get there.

Dahei Mountain was mysterious and unpredictable, definitely not a place for him to linger. Next time he came, he couldn’t go so deep.

As he walked out of Dahei Mountain, the sky gradually brightened.

It was already nearing dusk, and under the slightly yellow sunlight, he could vaguely see a city in the distance.

He looked back and saw dark clouds covering the black Dahei Mountain, blocking out the sunlight completely. Just looking at it gave him a heavy, oppressive feeling, as if the entire sky was pressing down.

He didn’t linger. He needed to get back quickly.

After walking for about an hour, Qin Jiang arrived at the city gate.

There was no one guarding the city.

Or rather, the important people in the Inner City didn’t consider the Outer City to be part of Black Mountain City at all.

Looking around, two or three refugees sat by the city gate, their eyes vacant, their expressions numb.

Those in better condition were eating dark, unidentifiable ’food’.

As for those who weren’t, there were many dead refugees in the corners, left unattended.

This was the end of a Dynasty. Productivity was not strong to begin with, and the production System had been destroyed by war, causing countless refugees to wander aimlessly.

He looked at the stone plaque above the city gate, faintly making out three characters: Black Mountain City.

It was named after its proximity to Dahei Mountain. Originally built by a river, it was a small fishing village that gradually developed due to the unique black locust wood from Dahei Mountain.

Though called a city, it was actually just a larger town, and the highest official of the government was still the county magistrate.

Black Mountain City was divided into the Inner City and the Outer City. The Outer City was further divided into four areas based on location: City East, City West, City South, and City North.

His residence was on the outskirts of the City North area.

Lowering his head, he walked through the crowd of refugees into the city. Torches were lit on both sides of the street, and the illuminated main street was also filled with refugees, whose situation was not much better than those at the city gate.

Most of the shops along the road had closed their doors.

After all, since death was inevitable, someone would always try to steal food.

Qin Jiang walked through the street. Occasionally, refugees would look up at him, but upon seeing his worn hemp clothes and the bamboo basket on his back, they would avert their gaze.

The herb gatherer for Baiyun Clinic could not be touched.

Physician Baiyun was a very kind man. Every few days, he would come out to provide free consultations and didn’t even charge for the medicinal herbs.

After a short walk, a checkpoint appeared in the middle of the street. Guarding it were not government soldiers, but a dozen strong men dressed in black cloth.

They were members of the Red Tiger Gang.

In these chaotic times, with territories fragmented, no one cared about the lives of ordinary people, so there would naturally be no government soldiers to maintain order in the Outer City.

Every single one of them was living a life of debauchery in the Inner City.

Therefore, maintaining order in the Outer City fell to these Gangs, and the largest Gang in Black Mountain City was the Red Tiger Gang.

Not only did it completely control City South and City North, but it also held a very high status even in the Inner City. The Red Tiger Gang Leader himself was almost on par with Black Mountain City’s county magistrate.

His elder sister, Qin Hong, was also a member of this Gang, but she worked in the Inner City and rarely had the chance to come out.

”Little Qin, going to gather herbs again?”

The leading Red Tiger Gang member spoke with a smile. He had dark skin and thick eyebrows, making him look like an honest man.

”Yes, just got back.”

Qin Jiang looked at the man. He was Wang Dali, known as Brother Dali, responsible for the checkpoint in the City North area.

”Alright, go on in.”

Saying that, Wang Dali patted Qin Jiang’s shoulder.

He knew Qin Jiang’s sister, a fierce woman who was not to be trifled with. He heard she had recently gotten involved with an important person in the Inner City.

Moreover, he also knew that Qin Jiang went out to gather herbs for the Old Doctor at Baiyun Clinic.

Although most of their Gang members followed whoever fed them, they still held some respect for such a person.

Or rather, if they dared to cause trouble, they would be looked down upon by their fellow Gang members.

After passing through the checkpoint, the city district gradually became more lively. Although most people were still sallow and emaciated, they were much better off than the refugees outside the city and those who had just entered.

Before long, Qin Jiang arrived in front of a clinic.

The left doorpost read ’Baiyun Clinic,’ and the right read ’Treat All Equally.’ The plaque on the wooden door bore four large characters: ’Healing the World.’

Walking inside, two clinic apprentices were wiping the counter, their rags so black that their original color was unrecognizable.

In the main hall, an Old Doctor with white hair and beard was taking the pulse of a middle-aged woman.

Qin Jiang didn’t disturb them. He brushed the dirt off his clothes, found a chair, and sat down to wait quietly.

A moment later, the Old Doctor finished writing the prescription and waved his hand. An apprentice came over, took the prescription, and went to get the medicine.

The Old Doctor looked at the woman, ”It’s nothing serious. After taking the decoction tonight, you’ll feel relief. Half a dose should be enough, but you should still finish the entire dose.”

”Yes, yes, I understand. Thank you, Physician.” The woman’s eyes were filled with gratitude as she wiped the sweat from her forehead with her greasy sleeve.

The Old Doctor nodded slightly. He saw Qin Jiang, and his gaze showed a hint of surprise. Then he nodded, signaling him to wait a moment.

Soon, the apprentice prepared the medicine, wrapped it in yellow paper, tied it, and brought it over.

The Old Doctor took the medicine packet and handed it to the woman, ”That’ll be twenty...”

He looked at the woman’s somewhat tattered hemp clothes, which were even less tidy than Qin Jiang’s, and a hint of sympathy appeared on his wrinkled face.

”Just give me ten copper coins.”

The woman quickly put her hands together, bowing repeatedly in thanks, ”Thank you, thank you, you are truly a great person! A great person! Thank you...”

She pulled out ten blackened copper coins and continued to thank the Old Doctor as she left.

Qin Jiang watched the woman’s departing back, feeling an inexplicable sense of oppression.

Ten copper coins, in terms of purchasing power, was about thirty yuan.

He didn’t want to one day become humble because of ten copper coins.

”Little Jiang, why are you back so late today? Did something happen?”

The Old Doctor, with a stooped posture, walked over and sat beside him.

Qin Jiang thought for a moment and didn’t mention encountering tomb raiders, but he still couldn’t help but say, ”I ran into a thick fog, and I probably encountered the rumored Essence Spirit.”

The Old Doctor frowned, ”Let me see your hand.”

Qin Jiang extended his hand, and the Old Doctor placed three fingers on his wrist.

After a while, the Old Doctor looked at him with some confusion, ”You’ve mastered the Five Animals Play?”

Qin Jiang raised an eyebrow, asking with a hint of surprise and a smile, ”How did you know?”

Is it that amazing? Can he even tell that?

He wasn’t worried about being exposed. In the Outer City, everyone was too busy looking out for themselves; no one cared about such things.

”You really mastered it? I was just asking. Your Qi and blood are stable, without any signs of fright. Logically, an ordinary person encountering a Essence Spirit would have unstable Qi and blood.”

The Old Doctor withdrew his hand and pointed at Qin Jiang’s herb basket, ”Give it to me. It’s late today. I’ll give you the money, and you should go back and rest early.”

Qin Jiang handed over the herb basket, unable to resist asking, ”Physician, how do you know that encountering a Essence Spirit leads to unstable Qi and blood? Is there a saying about it?”

He would still have to go to Dahei Mountain to gather herbs in the future, so knowing more strange tales wasn’t a bad thing. Who knows, he might need it someday.

The Old Doctor was counting the herbs, ”There’s no particular saying. I encountered it a few times when I went to Dahei Mountain to gather herbs in my early years.

It’s just that for so many years, I haven’t heard of Essence Spirits appearing in Dahei Mountain, so I forgot to tell you.”

After counting the herbs, he took out four strings of copper coins, ”Four hundred coins. These few ganoderma have not yet released their spores, so they are worth more.”

In this world, people couldn’t even get enough to eat, and even a small injury or illness could be fatal, so medicinal herbs were naturally more valuable.

Qin Jiang put away the copper coins and looked at the Old Doctor, ”You still haven’t told me, what did you forget to tell me?”

The Old Doctor, with some confusion, shifted his gaze from the herbs and looked up at him.

”Oh, right, I’m really old, I can’t remember things anymore.”

Saying that, he looked at the two apprentices, ”I wonder if I’ll still be able to see them graduate.”

He lowered his head, muttering to himself, ”Soon, soon, just a few more years will be enough.”

Qin Jiang looked at the Old Doctor, who seemed melancholic and lost in thought, and hesitated to speak, ”Physician, so what was it you wanted to tell me?”