Parents' Shrine (9)

Seeing Tan Yangzi's anger, Yan Fei worried that his agitation might injure his arm. He quickly stood up, knelt before the bed, and submissively said with lowered eyes, "Master, please do not be angry, it is your disciple's fault. Once your arm heals, whether you wish to beat or punish me, your disciple is willing to accept it all!"

Seeing Yan Fei admit his mistake so quickly, Tan Yangzi felt even more infuriated. "Since you know you are wrong, why must you still anger me! You are gambling with your life! Do you not know how rare it is to have a human body, that you cherish it so little?! Do you treat everything I teach you on normal days as wind past your ears?!"

At this moment, Yan Fei's face was filled with complete submission and obedience, kneeling quietly without talking back. Tan Yangzi felt that his scolding was of no use at all; this boy was simply relying on the fact that he had been managing him loosely lately, becoming increasingly lawless. He angrily ordered, "Hand over your Calamity-Crossing Umbrella."

Hearing this, Yan Fei finally became anxious. "Master!"

Tan Yangzi stretched out his uninjured left hand. "The Calamity-Crossing Umbrella, the Soul-Guiding Bell, bring them all to me. In the future, without my permission, you are not to touch them."

"Master! Your disciple knows he was wrong, I will never dare to do it again!" Yan Fei opened his pitiful black eyes wide, begging bitterly. "Master, you promised to let me use them!"

"I have indulged you more and more over the years, and now you don't even know who the Master is!" Tan Yangzi remained unmoved. "Bring them here!"

"Master!"

"I do not want to say the same thing a third time."

Seeing Tan Yangzi's resolute appearance, Yan Fei feared that his agitation would touch his wound, so he had no choice but to offer the Calamity-Crossing Umbrella with both hands. Tan Yangzi grabbed it with his left hand and placed it in front of him. His fingers gently brushed over the heavy umbrella canopy and the fine, bone-white umbrella ribs. He seemed to still faintly feel the fiery elegance from the Life Soul of the person in red who had passed away long ago.

Now, the youth in front of him was just like that person, reckless and determined to do whatever he decided, no matter what Tan Yangzi said. Tan Yangzi sighed. He looked up to see Yan Fei kneeling with his head bowed and a grievance-filled face, and ultimately felt somewhat powerless. Was it because he was getting older? He increasingly felt that he couldn't control him anymore.

"Get up. What would it look like if an outsider saw this later?"

Yan Fei stood up and stood by the bed with his head lowered. After a moment of silence, Tan Yangzi still asked reluctantly, "What did you see in that Chen Xujiang's dream?"

Upon hearing Tan Yangzi ask this, Yan Fei's eyes lit up again. "His dreams were very fragmented, but judging from some dream fragments, it seems that Chen Xujiang's mother left when he was young. She shouldn't be dead, because Chen Xujiang harbors a lot of resentment towards her in his heart, believing that his mother left because he wasn't good enough. There are several dreams about him chasing a figure that seems to be his mother, but he never catches up to her.

And as soon as his father appears, Chen Xujiang's Emotion Strings become extremely tense. I can't completely identify the shapes of those Emotion Strings yet, but combining it with his various reactions, he probably both hates and fears his father. There is one dream that probably comes from his early memories, where his father took him, when he was probably only four or five years old, on a fishing boat to the center of the Xiang River. Then, at some distance from the shore, his father suddenly jumped off the boat and swam towards the shore. He was left alone on the boat, blankly watching his father swim further and further away. The small boat just drifted down the center of the river. He didn't know how to scull, nor did he know how to swim yet. He just didn't understand why his father left and abandoned him. He seemed to understand in his heart that his father actually wanted to use that opportunity to abandon him and let him fend for himself. That way, people would only say that the child was ignorant and accidentally untied the rope mooring the boat and got lost, so his father wouldn't have to bear the crime of murdering his own son, and could also get rid of a burden and marry another wife. This dream is very likely from a real memory. Although I don't know how he was brought back later, I think Chen Xujiang's father probably didn't want this child, so he wouldn't treat him well normally either.

Many of his other dreams are of his father scolding him, scolding him for everything. Calling him stupid, clumsy, ugly, and incapable of anything. Anyway, there wasn't a single good word. I feel that Chen Xujiang also strongly dislikes himself. It's probably because he was scolded from a young age, making him feel that he is good for nothing, which is why he is so unloved by his parents."

After hearing this, Tan Yangzi said, "Sure enough, it is another one with resentment in his heart."

Yan Fei said, "Master, do you think it could be that the ghost... or the Impermanence used some method to dig up and magnify these usually suppressed resentments? It's like the sound of the wind, which is normally just in the background, suddenly becoming dozens of times louder, turning into a noise that would drive a person mad."

Tan Yangzi murmured, "Could it be... that they actually altered his Emotion Strings?"

"Altered his Emotion Strings? Master, didn't you say that's very difficult to do? Then who among your current Red Impermanences can do it? Wouldn't it be fine to just find them and ask?"

"Among the current Red Impermanences... there is indeed one..." Tan Yangzi looked at Yan Fei and asked, "Did you see a woman in red clothes in his dream?"

"A woman in red?" Yan Fei carefully recalled, "It seems not."

The reason Tan Yangzi knew it was a woman was because he remembered Su Liangdi mentioning the "woman" in her dream before she triggered the Padma Flower mark.

A Red Impermanence using the Dream-Entering Spell can only see all the dreams of that night, but cannot see a person's memories. And since that Red Impermanence acted with extreme caution and care, it was probably impossible for her to appear in these prisoners' dreams again. However, what Yan Fei said also made sense. Even with the blessing of the Padma Flower, there were not many Red Impermanences who could accomplish this. As long as they found out who had the Padma Flower, that person was definitely the culprit. But the most important thing right now was to control the current situation first, to stop her from driving more people mad.

As far as Tan Yangzi knew, the incantations capable of expelling a Red Impermanence required entering those people's consciousnesses, which necessitated the assistance of more Red Impermanences. But because they didn't know whose Life Souls had already been imprinted with the Padma Flower mark, if the Red Impermanences rushed in recklessly, they would likely be severely injured just like Kumamara. Moreover, they still didn't know which Red Impermanence had gone rogue, making it truly difficult to arrange anything.

Thinking about it this way, Yan Fei was actually the most suitable candidate right now.

Yan Fei was also already staring at Tan Yangzi with wide, dark eyes, practically bursting with an eager "Let me do it, let me do it." But Tan Yangzi was angry inside, hating that this child didn't know how to protect himself, and was truly unwilling to grant his wish. He was also worried that if Yan Fei traversed through so many people's dreams alone, he would lose his way back and eventually get lost in the conscious world of sentient beings, which would be dangerous. As he hesitated, a fierce internal struggle raged in his mind.

But right at that moment, Liu Yusheng returned, followed by a young medicine boy carrying a medical box. As soon as Yan Fei saw the medicine boy named Tian Dong, he teased, "Finished copying Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica?"

Tian Dong rolled his eyes exaggeratedly, doing his utmost to express his contempt for Yan Fei.

Liu Yusheng took out an ordinary porcelain bottle, poured out some ointment, and carefully applied it to Tan Yangzi's wound. He then ordered the young medicine boy to go brew a bowl of medicine according to the prescription, while he adeptly re-bandaged the wound. Tan Yangzi felt that the moment the ointment touched his wound, a refreshing coolness, like bathing in a clear spring, seeped in, and the burning pain instantly subsided significantly.

"This Penglai Muscle-Regenerating Ointment should be applied once a day until the wound heals. Also, my prescription should be taken daily; after taking it continuously for ten days, there will be no issue." Liu Yusheng instructed Yan Fei, "Just don't let the wound touch water for these few days, and the bandages must be changed frequently."

Yan Fei listened seriously, nodding repeatedly. Liu Yusheng then turned to bow to Tan Yangzi and said, "Daoist, I have another question, I wonder if you could enlighten me?"

Seeing that this young man had an ethereal and transcendent aura, unlike an ordinary doctor, Tan Yangzi also had questions in his heart, so he said, "Please speak."

"Does the Daoist know of Jing Xu Zhenren of Zishang Mountain?"

Tan Yangzi looked at him in surprise. Over seventy years had passed, and the people who knew of Jing Xu Zhenren of Zishang Mountain should be exceedingly few now. This young man's age couldn't exceed twenty-six; how could he know? "He is exactly my Master."

Liu Yusheng's expression instantly changed, looking as if his whole person had become agitated. "The Daoist is actually a descendant of the Zishang Sect? In that case... could you be the inheritor of the Art of Longevity? No wonder!"

Tan Yangzi, however, became vigilant. Back then, there were many who coveted the Art of Longevity, and ultimately, the heavenly tribulation that Zishang Mountain attracted was fundamentally due to this secret art. Now that Doctor Liu suddenly brought up the events from over seventy years ago, it couldn't help but arouse suspicion.

Liu Yusheng seemed to sense Tan Yangzi's suspicion and hurriedly explained, "Daoist, please do not overthink. I am merely a disciple of the Medical Immortal Sect of Penglai. My grandmaster was good friends with Jing Xu Zhenren, and I have heard many wondrous tales about the Art of Longevity. Now seeing that the Daoist has white hair but a youthful face, and a pulse different from ordinary people, showing signs of having practiced the Art of Longevity, I therefore asked this question."

Tan Yangzi had indeed heard his Master speak of the mysterious Medical Immortal Sect. It was said that this sect resided far away on the Penglai Immortal Island, hiding numerous lost medical books, pharmacopoeias, and elixir refining techniques from ancient to modern times. Every practitioner of medicine in the world yearned for it, but this sect's selection for entry was extremely harsh; only a few renowned and talented doctors would be invited to the island. For Liu Yusheng to be a disciple of the Medical Immortal Sect at such a young age, it was evident that his skills were truly extraordinary.

Moreover, a more bizarre rumor about this sect was that the divine doctors on the island understood the physiological and psychological mysteries of all living beings in the universe. Not only could they treat humans, but they could also treat any living being within the Six Realms, including deities and ghosts.

Tan Yangzi did not believe such rumors. The sentient beings within the Six Realms had almost no interaction. Since these medical immortals were human, how could they possibly know the structure of a ghost's meridians and organs?

Just as he was thinking this, he heard Liu Yusheng say, "Daoist, aside from practicing the Art of Longevity, have you recently come into contact with beings like ghosts or dark spirits?"

Only then did Yan Fei truly look at the plain-clothed youth, asking in surprise, "Why do you ask?"

Liu Yusheng smiled seemingly carelessly, but there was a sharpness between his lowered eyes and slightly downcast gaze. "The reason I could join the Medical Immortal Sect at such a young age is that my eyes can see more than ordinary people. I can see a person's complexion, especially the color of their vitality and spirit. All sentient beings in this world have their own different complexions, and the difference in complexion between different races is even clearer. But what is on the Daoist's body... is a complexion that only ghosts have."

Tan Yangzi remained impassive, though a cold and stern look had faintly appeared in his eyes. The Karma-Severing Sword placed on the table on the other side of the room trembled faintly, emitting the sounds of a dragon's roar and a tiger's growl.

Seeing this, Yan Fei also became alert, secretly worrying whether he had brought the wrong doctor.

Liu Yusheng, however, seemed to notice nothing, his features clear to the point of being somewhat naive as he smiled at Yan Fei. "But this is not strange either. Xiangyang has been very chaotic these days. I even saw a patient today who had both a divine aura and a ghostly aura on his body. Presumably, the aura of the entire Xiangyang is in chaos these days."

Hearing this, Tan Yangzi immediately sat up straight. "Where is the patient you mentioned?"

Liu Yusheng said, "It's a young man named Shen Yishu. Although I haven't been in Xiangyang long, I've heard that their Shen family has some status in Xiangyang because their family has been officials for three generations. Although they have declined somewhat now, the head of the family still works under the prefect."

Yan Fei and Tan Yangzi exchanged a glance, already understanding what the other was thinking. If they believed Liu Yusheng's words, this Shen Yishu was very likely the next one to "go mad." Moreover, time was pressing. If it was already noticed yesterday that he possessed both a "divine aura" and a "ghostly aura," then the outbreak could happen today or tomorrow.

Although they were still wary of Liu Yusheng, having this information right now was worth investigating.

Tan Yangzi stood up and gave Liu Yusheng a slight nod. His tone already carried a hint of seeing the guest out. "Sorry to trouble you today, sir. May I ask how much the consultation fee is?"

Liu Yusheng hurriedly waved his hands. "No, no, no. Your esteemed disciple saved my life, how could I dare to charge a consultation fee? In three days, I will probably come for a follow-up visit to ensure the wound heals smoothly. If there are any problems, you can come find me at the Anlin Clinic. Although I am just a wandering doctor, I will still be staying here for a while." The last sentence was spoken to Yan Fei.

Yan Fei gave a sweet smile. "Thank you, then I'll trouble you!"

After Liu Yusheng left, Yan Fei immediately ran over to Tan Yangzi, knelt down, and said, "Master, right now, I am the only one who can enter Young Master Shen's dream unscathed. Let me try! I promise I will be careful!"

Tan Yangzi cast down his eyes to look at Yan Fei's earnest and eager eyes. Still keeping a taut face, he said after a while, "You must listen to my commands. If you act on your own again this time, I will definitely not forgive you."