Six years had passed, but having previously experienced the betrayal of Liu Minglang and the early demise of relatives, Yun Sheng harbored a high level of caution towards people.
Apart from the drunken man who gave birth to and raised her, Yun Sheng always deliberately kept her distance from others.
"The money from the last sale of the Blood Stopping Flower has already been distributed. After your family's Blood Stopping Flowers were delivered to the town's pharmacy, they were rated as Second-class medicinal herbs, which are ten percent more expensive than those of other medicinal farmers in the village. Here are eleven copper coins, please take them. Initially, this money should have been given to your father, but I was worried he would spend it on drinking again, so I'm handing it over to you," said the village chief, accustomed to Yun Sheng's reactions, nonchalantly producing eleven copper coins and handing them to Yun Sheng.
Great Zhou, where Banana Leaf Village is located, is a country where it is spring all year round, and various crops thrive here.
The soil and water quality of Banana Leaf Village are especially suitable for growing herbal medicines. Each household in the village has its own medicine fields, including Yun Sheng's family, which grows a type of herb used to produce the basic Magic Medicine Hemostatic Agent, namely the Blood Stopping Flower.
Whenever the medicinal herbs ripen, the village organizes a collective purchase and transportation to sell them to the pharmacies in town.
Given the same soil and water, Yun Sheng's medicine field always produces medicinal herbs that are superior in quality to others.
Some villagers have secretly peeped at Yun Sheng's medicine field, trying to discover some secret tips, but after several days of stakeout, they saw no special fertilizers being used by the Yun family.
"Village chief, how does one become a Mage?" Yun Sheng pondered and asked.
"To become a Mage, one must first become a Magic Apprentice, and a Magic Apprentice must be able to sense any one of the Four Elements – earth, water, wind, fire – in a meditation state. Earth is yellow, water is blue, wind is green, fire is red," the village chief explained and paused, reminiscing about the time when Yun Sheng was initiated into Magic and couldn't help but sigh.
"Is there a way for someone who can't sense Magic Elements to feel them?" Yun Sheng asked persistently.
"That... is very difficult, but if you can find Moonlight Grass, perhaps you could feel a bit of Magic Elements. Moonlight Grass is a treasured medicinal herb, only cultivated in city pharmacies. Legend has it that decades ago, wild Moonlight Grass once appeared in the mountains behind our village, but that remains just a legend, no one has actually encountered it," the village chief recalled.
Moonlight Grass, capable of altering one's Magic Physique, Yun Sheng quietly noted the name in her heart.
Unintentionally, she glanced at the village chief's face and saw his sallow complexion, "Village chief, have you been feeling bloated and uncomfortable these days?"
Upon hearing this, the village chief coughed a few times, thinking to himself that indeed he had been feeling stomach discomfort, but it wasn't a serious issue. It was also because the Mage responsible for medical care in the Magic Temple had retired to his hometown, so he had been putting off treatment, yet this fact was unexpectedly noticed by Yun Sheng.
Yun Sheng gestured for the village chief to bend down, took one of his hands in her small one, and pressed hard on a spot next to his index fingernail.
The village chief immediately felt his intestines stir, and a sudden urge to defecate came upon him.
"Village chief, this spot is called the Shangyang acupoint. If you feel gastro-intestinal discomfort usually, just press here twice a day, and it will be effective," Yun Sheng, with her straightforward nature, recalled the village chief's kindness to her family, and though she didn't express much on the surface, she remembered his goodwill.
Seeing Yun Sheng's earnest demeanor, the village chief couldn't help but be amused, "Yun Sheng, where did you learn these little tricks? I see that even your father doesn't know as much as you do."
"I read them from the Medical Book at home," said Yun Sheng, a glint of cunning flashing in her eyes.
The human body has numerous acupoints, and in her previous life, she had already been thoroughly familiar with them, not needing to study anew. Although the Wuji Continent is somewhat different from the modern world, the human anatomy remains the same.
Yun Sheng's father came to Banana Leaf Village six years ago, carrying an infant girl and several thick books, including a Medical Book.
Yun Sheng, intelligent from a young age, had self-taught herself much about the medicinal herbs and medical knowledge from the Medical Book. The village chief, used to seeing unusual things, didn't ask further.
With his stomach unsettled, the village chief couldn't linger longer; before leaving, he mentioned, "A new Mage has arrived at Banana Leaf Temple, and he wants to recruit a Medicine Gathering Boy to help, someone who doesn't need to know Magic but just basic knowledge of harvesting and classifying medicinal herbs. It pays twenty copper coins a month. I think you're quite suitable. Ask at home, and if your father agrees, I'll recommend you."
Having said that, the village chief felt his stomach rumble again, summoned his wind energy, and with steps as light as the wind, disappeared onto the hillside.
Not long after the village chief left, Yun Sheng turned around and said to the ancient banyan tree, "Have you seen enough? Come out."
From the ancient banyan tree, a figure gracefully descended.
Yun Sheng's senses were sharp and extraordinary; she had already heard the faint breathing sounds beneath the banyan tree.
Upon seeing the newcomer, Yun Sheng slightly startled.
Dressed in black like the night, with a nose high and sharp as if carved by a knife, and profound eyebrows—just standing there made the sunlight seem dim in comparison.
Though young in age, his demeanor already showed early signs of grandeur.
Who is he?
Yun Sheng was certain he was not from Banana Leaf Village.
Dangerous, this person is very dangerous.
Alert, the bone needle she had hidden in her sleeve emerged once more.
The movement of Yun Sheng was very slight, but the motion inevitably made a sound of air friction from her sleeve, causing the ears of the unfamiliar youth to twitch slightly.
Yun Sheng keenly observed his unusual response.
The appearance and figure of the youth were nearly perfect; his delicate features did not evoke a sense of femininity, and his tall stature maintained a masculine air.
Among his features, those soul-capturing eyes were particularly striking, like those of a fiery phoenix. However, for some reason, his eyes were veiled by a mist, making it impossible to discern their true color.
In her previous life as a doctor, Yun Sheng immediately ascertained that he was blind.
Seeing that he was blind, Yun Sheng relaxed and was about to retract her bone needle.
Just then, her vision blurred, and her wrist was firmly caught.
The disparity in physical strength between the youth, a child, and herself, a woman, caught Yun Sheng off guard and she found herself fully embraced.
A pleasant fragrance of banyan leaves, accompanied by an overwhelming body heat, seized Yun Sheng, her limbs deftly immobilized.
"Put away your claws, Little Wildcat, weapons are of no use against me. My eyes are blind, but my heart sees clearly," the youth's voice was pleasant to the ear, soft as feather.
He grasped Yun Sheng's hand in his own, his chin resting against her head.
Feeling the fluffy touch from his chin and simultaneously wondering at the unusually petite body in his arms, a flicker of displeasure crossed the youth's brow—why was she so skinny and small, and even bony to embrace?
Just as the youth frowned, he suddenly felt a pain in his throat, as if bitten by a mosquito, causing his body to stiffen.
Though he could not see, he knew that the hidden weapon—a weapon of uncertain shape in the girl's hand—was pressed against his throat.
~Fu Zi has completed her previous book "Genius Demon Consort." If you haven't read it, you should check it out~