Watching the Mountain

Chapter 213: Chapter 147: Angry

’Heeheehee, Teacher praised me again.’

Jiang Ling’Er reached up with a delicate hand to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes. A brilliant smile, like a flower in full bloom, spread across her face. She was overjoyed.

Back at the Sect, even though the elders and her fellow disciples always called her stupid, they would praise her whenever she secretly made progress under her teacher’s guidance.

This was a huge source of motivation for her, so every time her teacher taught her something, she would study with extreme diligence.

But after coming to the Dog Race’s territory, no one praised her anymore. No matter how hard she worked or how diligent she was, there wasn’t even anyone who would speak to her.

A while ago, she had accidentally overheard a conversation between two members of the Dog Race. One of them had said:

”That human girl with the Ninth Elder’s disciple—are we just going to let her stay here indefinitely?”

The other member of the Dog Race replied, ”What else can we do? Once someone from the Dog Race commits to a person, they stay with them forever, no matter what. They will never change their minds.”

”Loyalty and companionship are the instincts of every member of our clan. Since the Ninth Elder’s disciple has accepted that human girl as his companion, there’s no way to separate them. You should know that, right?”

”Besides, the human girl’s talent is mediocre. Her Cultivation won’t amount to much. We’ll just support her for now. When her lifespan runs out and she dies of old age, the Ninth Elder’s disciple won’t be able to blame us.”

”In fact, he’ll probably even be grateful that we took care of her for so long.”

”The Ninth Elder’s disciple didn’t grow up among the Demon Race, after all. It will take some time to make him commit to serving our Dog Race.”

After hearing the explanation, the first person chimed in, ”I see. That makes sense. The human girl looks pretty dumb. You don’t even need to test her to know her talent is nothing special. Her lifespan will probably be over before we know it.”

Overhearing their conversation made her furious. ’I’m not stupid! My talent is amazing! A hundred people have praised me before!’

At that moment, she wanted to leave. Xiaohui had told her that if the people of the Dog Race didn’t treat her well, he would take her and leave with her.

But then she thought about it. If she left just like that, everyone would laugh at her. Besides, it would be a total waste. Xiaohui hadn’t even learned anything yet.

’Those Dog Race people said I’m stupid. Fine. I’ll wait until Xiaohui learns some real skills, and *then* we’ll leave. That’ll make them regret it!’

’That’ll teach you to call me stupid.’

Jiang Ling’Er thought smugly. Then, when Jiang Xiaohui returned that day, he told her his master was taking him to receive the Dog Race’s inheritance.

She was overjoyed. ’This is it! We’ll leave after Xiaohui receives the inheritance. That will make them regret everything.’

She lifted her head, the corners of her mouth curling into a very smug smile.

”I wonder when Xiaohui will finish receiving the inheritance,” Jiang Ling’Er murmured, lowering her head to look at the Communication Jade Talisman in her hand.

She reached out and gently stroked the Communication Jade Talisman before carefully putting it away.

When she was leaving the Sect, she had really wanted to exchange contact information with her fellow disciples, but she didn’t dare ask directly. Instead, she gave them roasted sweet potatoes. However, they didn’t seem to like them very much; some wouldn’t even accept them.

’Roasted sweet potatoes are so delicious. They’re fragrant and sweet, fluffy and soft. How could anyone not like them?’

Because of that, by the time she left the Sect, she hadn’t managed to get contact information from a single one of her peers.

The only person she could contact was her teacher.

She pinched her soft cheek, muttering in annoyance,

”Oh no. I just told him about so many things at once. Now I won’t have any reason to contact Teacher next time.”

She was filled with regret and stomped her foot in frustration. ”I could have waited to tell him about learning the Magic Technique, but I wanted his praise so badly that I couldn’t help blurting it out.”

”What reason can I use to contact him next time? If I do it too often, Teacher will definitely get annoyed, won’t he?”

”Oh, right! There’s still the Swordsmanship! Once I master the Swordsmanship he taught me, I can contact him again.”

”And when I do, Teacher will definitely praise me, right? Heeheehee.”

She tilted her head, a grin spreading across her small mouth as she laughed in anticipation.

*

*

*

There were still a few days before his scheduled sparring session with Zhang Zhentian and Shen Wuchen. In the meantime, Xu Ran went to the Scripture Pavilion and picked up the medical book left behind by Hao Miaomiao.

He had read it carefully after it was added to the Scripture Pavilion’s collection.

The book recorded many case studies, as well as things she had seen and heard and insights she had gained while traveling the world as a physician.

One of Hao Miaomiao’s greatest regrets was an incident where she passed through a village suffering from a plague. She worked tirelessly, but in the end, she failed to save many lives. After the plague passed, the village had lost more than half its population.

She recorded her feelings about it in detail, writing:

”The villagers knew I was a Cultivator and treated me like an Immortal. They kowtowed to me, believing I could save them with a simple wave of my hand.”

”However, only I knew the truth. Cultivators are still human, a far cry from the Immortals people imagine. At the very least, I couldn’t save them with a mere wave of my hand.”

”I could only treat them using the medical skills I possessed.”

”But I knew too little. I failed to save them. In the end, the plague receded on its own; I wasn’t the one who drove it away.”

”I want to learn more medical arts so that if I ever encounter a plague again, I won’t let a single person perish.”

After that, she encountered plagues multiple times in her career as a physician. She mastered many more medical skills and accumulated a great deal of experience.

But even up to the time she returned to the Sect, her best outcome still saw dozens of people perish from disease. She never achieved the outcome she so desperately longed for: a victory where not a single life was lost.

She considered this the greatest regret of her medical career. She truly wanted to defeat a plague, just once.

Xu Ran felt a pang of guilt. When Hao Miaomiao had said her goodbyes, it hadn’t occurred to him to pass on some of the disease prevention measures from his past life.

After reading Hao Miaomiao’s records, he used the Divine Soul Reshaping Technique to sift through the memories of his past life. He recorded all the images he had ever seen related to medicine, especially those concerning traditional Chinese medicine and modern disease prevention, and added them to her book.

He had been spending the last few days doing just that.

Then, just after he finished his additions, he saw someone check out the medical book.

It was a petite, delicate young woman with waist-long hair and skin as smooth as jade. She had a gentle and serene demeanor.

This was none other than Teacher Qing Xuan’s daughter, Qing Li.

Xu Ran was slightly taken aback. He checked the records and saw that this was apparently the tenth time Qing Li had borrowed this medical book.

The Scripture Pavilion had a rule that non-Cultivation-Technique books could only be borrowed for one month at a time and had to be returned when due.

’Judging by the borrowing records, she seems to really like this medical book.’

’Does she want to study medicine?’

’Does Teacher Qing Xuan know?’

These thoughts flashed through Xu Ran’s mind. He remembered Teacher Qing Xuan saying that Qing Li’s aptitude was average and that she had never found her own Path. Left with no other choice, she had switched to cultivating the Flying Immortal Stream, which was how she finally managed to break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Since Qing Li was Teacher Qing Xuan’s daughter, Xu Ran felt he should show some concern, so he walked over and asked her about it.

In response to Xu Ran’s question, Qing Li shook her head. ”I’m just browsing.”

Xu Ran looked at her with disbelief. ’Just browsing? Who borrows a book ten times in a row just for a browse?’

Qing Li noticed his reaction. She hesitated for a moment before replying in a low voice,

”When this medical book was first added to the Scripture Pavilion, my father was heartbroken. He was upset for days. With bloodshot eyes, he said that if only he had discovered this person, Miaomiao, sooner... He had missed out on a good disciple.”

Xu Ran was stunned for a moment. It suddenly came back to him: Teacher Qing Xuan had always been searching for a disciple with a righteous heart.

’Hao Miaomiao’s heart was dedicated to all living beings, which is a form of righteousness. Wasn’t she the perfect candidate to become Teacher Qing Xuan’s disciple?’

He felt a twinge of annoyance with himself for not having made the connection sooner.

Teacher Qing Xuan’s Cultivation Technique was one that prioritized conviction; its requirements for talent, aptitude, and age were less strict.

If Hao Miaomiao had become Teacher Qing Xuan’s disciple, perhaps she could have gone much further in her cultivation.

Xu Ran stood there in a daze for a long time before taking a deep breath to compose himself. He looked at Qing Li and asked, ”So that’s why you wanted to study this medical book?”

Qing Li nodded lightly. ”I want to see the work—and understand the feelings—of the person who moved my father so deeply.”

”My father always says I can’t practice his Cultivation Technique. He even says I don’t know the first thing about righteousness.”

Xu Ran nodded slightly. ”After reading this medical book, what do you feel?”

Qing Li shook her head, biting her lip. ”I don’t know. I don’t feel any deep connection to it, which is why I’m so frustrated and have borrowed it so many times.”

Xu Ran watched her in silence. ’Some things can only be understood through personal experience. It’s normal to be unable to empathize just by reading someone else’s descriptions.’

’Qing Li has always been sheltered by Teacher Qing Xuan and his wife. She probably can’t even begin to imagine the things Hao Miaomiao went through, let alone feel them.’

After they parted ways, Qing Li found Xu Ran the next day. She was glaring at him, looking quite angry.

”You know medicine?”

Xu Ran didn’t understand why she was suddenly so angry. He shook his head. ”I don’t.”

”Then why did you alter someone else’s work? Even if you did know medicine, you shouldn’t just change someone’s work without permission! And you don’t even know anything about it! Don’t try to deny it, I saw what you did.”

Qing Li stood with her hands on her hips, her eyes wide with anger.

”Well...” He could understand why she was upset. ’It’s only natural to be angry when a work you admire so much, one you’ve borrowed a dozen times, is suddenly marked up by someone else.’

”I just wanted to add a few things, hoping that it might be useful to those who read it after me.”

Qing Li watched him in silence. ”Are you saying that everything you wrote is correct?”

”Not necessarily all of it, but I believe most of it will be useful.”

Qing Li stared at him for a long moment, then nodded thoughtfully. She shot him another glare and said, ”I’ll be the one to verify that.”

She had always been a gentle and quiet person; even she couldn’t quite explain why she had gotten so angry this time.

It was just that seeing someone else’s marks on that medical book had made her feel deeply upset.

With that, she turned and left without another glance at Xu Ran.