Transmigrating Into a Fantasy World: Signing in During Pregnancy, Reaching the Summit with My Childhood Sweetheart

14: Chapter 14: The Black Wind Gathering Herbs (Continued)Old Sun’s withered fingers rested on Lin Mo’s tiny wrist. That strand of probing power was like a cold, thin needle, instantly piercing into Lin Mo’s chaotic Qi and blood and his depleted Meridians.

”Hiss—!” Old Sun’s clouded eyes suddenly narrowed, and his fingers twirling his beard abruptly froze!

The scene reflected back by this probing power was far beyond his expectations!

First, what he felt was not the weak pulse an infant should have, but a mess left after a violent storm! The Qi and blood were like ruined walls ravaged by a gale, chaotic and weak to the extreme, like a flickering candle in the wind that could be extinguished at any moment. This was definitely not a common case of infant fright or a cold!

What shocked him even more was the indescribable ”emptiness” deep within Lin Mo’s body! It wasn’t simple weakness, but a depletion as if some kind of Origin had been forcibly extracted and squeezed dry! He was like a Cultivator who had just experienced a tragic battle and whose oil was exhausted! This feeling was extremely subtle, yet it carried an indescribable heaviness that touched the very Origin of life. Old Sun had spent his life practicing medicine and had seen countless people on the verge of death, but he had never felt such a terrifying sign of ”Origin Depletion” in an infant! This was definitely not an Innate deficiency, but a violent overexertion caused by... some external force!

The core of this ”emptiness” seemed to point vaguely toward an indescribable ”point” deep in Lin Mo’s chest. It was deathly still there, its light dimmed to the extreme, like the core of a star about to cool down. Old Sun tried to touch that ”point” with his probing power, but he felt a faint repulsion originating from a level of life itself, as well as an indescribable sense of antiquity and... desolation?

At the same time, amidst this mess of depletion, Old Sun also captured a trace of extremely faint yet exceptionally stubborn residual coldness! This coldness... he was all too familiar with it! It shared the same source as the Profound Yin Qi that had erupted within Su Muxue last night! It was like tiny ice crystals, clinging to Lin Mo’s chaotic Qi and blood vessels, being slowly and painfully worn down and devoured by that depleted Origin.

”Origin Depletion... Profound Yin Invasion... How... how is this possible?!” Waves of shock surged in Old Sun’s heart. He tried his best to maintain a calm expression, but his fingers twirling his beard began to tremble slightly. What on earth had happened inside this child? Last night, he had only been a bystander to the Profound Yin eruption; how could he have been tainted by such deep cold Qi, even leading to such Origin DepletionAt this point? Could it be that the Profound Yin Cold Qi had unconsciously eroded him? But why did this cold Qi also seem to be actively absorbed and digested by his body? And what caused this sense of depletion? In Old Sun’s eyes, the traces left by the forced eruption of Chaos Pressure were this unexplainable ”emptiness” that touched the very Origin of life.

”Wah... ugh, wah...” Lin Mo’s painful whimpers were intermittent. His small face was pale, his breathing hurried and weak, and his tiny body twitched slightly under Old Sun’s fingertips. The price of forcibly erupting the Chaos Pressure was far beyond his imagination. The Dao Seed being on the verge of extinguishing brought not only a backlash of power but also a violent consumption of life force and a sense of tearing at the Soul level.

”Moer! Moer, what’s wrong? Don’t scare Big Sister!” Su Muxue was so anxious that tears welled up in her pale green eyes. Ignoring the sharp pain in her left shoulder, she desperately used her small hand to pat Lin Mo’s chest, trying to offer some comfort. When her cold fingers touched Lin Mo’s burning small body, the Profound Yin Seal within her, which had been temporarily suppressed by the fire cloud fruit and the root consolidating and essence nurturing powder, actually gave an uncontrollable, slight throb! A trace of even purer, Origin-sourced faint coldness drifted uncontrollably from her fingertips and quietly entered Lin Mo’s depleted body!

Buzz—!

The moment this trace of pure Profound Yin Qi entered, the deathly still and dim chaos dao seed in Lin Mo’s chest actually throbbed very weakly, like a cold spark being thrown into dying embers! A suction force, so faint it was almost undetectable, was generated spontaneously, greedily seizing this external, pure energy of the same Origin level!

”Hmm?!” Old Sun’s finger on the pulse shook violently! He clearly ”saw” this bizarre scene! The Profound Yin Qi transferred from Su Muxue’s fingertips not only failed to worsen Lin Mo’s ”cold Qi invasion,” but instead acted like firewood thrown into a furnace, instantly being devoured and transformed by that depleted ”point” in Lin Mo’s body! Although the transformation efficiency was pitifully low, and the light of that ”point” only changed from ”dying” to ”extremely weak,” this phenomenon that defied common sense threw Old Sun into a state of massive shock and confusion!

This child... not only can he withstand Su Muxue’s Profound Yin Qi... but he can also... absorb and transform it?! To replenish his own bizarre depletion?!

This completely overturned Old Sun’s understanding! How overbearing and fierce was the Profound Yin Qi? Ordinary Cultivators would be injured upon contact. This infant not only wasn’t frozen to death but could actually use it as ”nourishment”? Even though this transformation was so faint it could almost be ignored, this fundamental ability was enough to make any person who knew the terror of Profound Yin Power turn pale with shock!

”Grandpa... Grandpa Sun... Moer, he...” With teary eyes and a sobbing voice, Su Muxue looked at Old Sun, whose face was shifting between expressions of massive shock. She didn’t understand what was happening; she only knew her little brother was in pain, and that bit of ”cool air” she passed over seemed to make him feel a tiny bit better?

Old Sun suddenly snapped back to his senses, forcibly suppressing the storm in his heart. Now was not the time for deep investigation! Lin Mo’s state was extremely dangerous; that sign of Origin Depletion was like a sword hanging over his head, ready to take this tiny life at any moment!

”He... he is severely exhausted! Overcome by internal heat and caught a chill!” Old Sun quickly withdrew his hand from the pulse and gave a seemingly reasonable explanation, masking the terrifying mystery of Origin Depletion and Profound Yin absorption. He immediately turned toward the medicine cabinet, his movements a few degrees faster than usual, his withered fingers quickly rummaging through several drawers.

”Greenwood Vine Rootlets... three qian... to nourish the Meridians... Century-old Ginseng Rootlets... half a qian... to sustain life and supplement Qi... Crimson Sun Flower Stamen... one qian... to dispel cold and consolidate the Origin... No, the medicinal power is too fierce, he won’t be able to take it...” Old Sun whispered to himself while quickly grabbing herbs, fine beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead. The medicine he was preparing now was far beyond what a normal infant could withstand, but if he didn’t do this, he wouldn’t be able to stop that terrifying ”depletion” trend at all!

He quickly crushed several medicinal ingredients in the medicine grinder, dissolved them with warm water, and then carefully added a drop of a thick, honey-like amber liquid. The medicinal soup took on a warm, pale yellow color.

”Girl, hold him!” Old Sun returned with the medicine bowl and signaled to Su Muxue.

Su Muxue hurriedly used her left hand to carefully support Lin Mo’s small head. Using the smallest wooden spoon, Old Sun scooped up a tiny bit of the warm medicinal soup, extremely carefully pried open Lin Mo’s clenched teeth, and fed it in bit by bit.

As the medicinal soup entered his mouth, a gentle yet powerful warm current of life force instantly spread through Lin Mo’s depleted body. This medicinal power was far beyond what the root consolidating and essence nurturing powder could compare to; it precisely targeted the damaged Meridians and Qi and blood, attempting to nourish that parched Origin core. The chaos dao seed on the verge of extinguishing was like a long-awaited rain after a drought, greedily absorbing this medicinal power. Its faint light finally stabilized and stopped dimming, and the tearing sensation from the depletion eased slightly.

”Ugh...” Lin Mo’s painful whimpers weakened, and his hurried breathing also calmed slightly. Although he was still too weak to open his eyes, the heart-wrenching deathly gray color on his small face faded a bit, restoring a touch of the fragile Life Qi belonging to an infant.

Both Old Sun and the tensely watching Su Muxue breathed a sigh of relief. However, Old Sun’s heart felt even heavier: this potent medicine could only stabilize him temporarily. That bizarre ”Origin Depletion” was like a bottomless pit, far beyond what this bit of mortal medicine could fill. What terrifying secret was hidden in this child’s body? And what kind of inconceivable connection existed between him and that little girl who bore the Profound Yin taboo?

Just then—

Clang!

The dilapidated wooden door of the Woodshed was slammed open!

A figure covered in mud and grass, with a face as pale as a ghost and disheveled hair, stumbled in. The rattan basket on her back crashed heavily to the ground, spilling dark green and deep red bloodline grass all over!

It was Liu Qingxuan, who had escaped death and was still shaken!

At a glance, she saw Lin Mo lying weakly on the straw mat with a still-pale face and closed eyes, as well as the medicine bowl still in Old Sun’s hand and Su Muxue’s tear-stained little face.

”Moer—!” Liu Qingxuan let out a heart-wrenching scream. All her fear, exhaustion, and lingering dread transformed into massive panic at this moment. She scrambled to Lin Mo’s side, her trembling hand wanting to touch her son’s small face but afraid of hurting him. ”What happened to Moer?! What’s wrong with him?! Shopkeeper Sun! Mu Xue! Moer, he... he...” She was incoherent, her massive fear making it almost impossible to breathe.

”Mother...” Seeing Liu Qingxuan, Su Muxue’s grievances and fear welled up as well, and she cried out.

Old Sun looked at the disheveled Liu Qingxuan, who had clearly experienced a terrifying ordeal, then at the weak and unconscious Lin Mo, and finally at the bloodline grass scattered on the ground, stained with some soil and... a few drops of dark red snake blood. A look of deep exhaustion and understanding flashed in his clouded eyes.

Misfortunes never come alone.

He slowly set down the medicine bowl, his voice carrying a heaviness that had seen through the world: ”He is fine for now. But you... what did you encounter? There is a scent of blood on you, and it’s not human blood.”

Hearing this, Liu Qingxuan’s body shook violently. The fear of surviving a disaster combined with the shock of her son’s sudden change made her unable to hold on any longer. She slumped by the straw mat, tears gushing out. Pointing at the scattered herbs, her voice was hoarse and trembling: ”A snake... a huge poisonous snake... almost... almost... it was Moer... it was Moer who...” Her words were a mess, and the massive emotional impact made her unable to organize her speech. However, her gaze toward Lin Mo was filled with an indescribable fear and a nearly instinctive, absurd suspicion—at her most dangerous moment, that terrifying aura that had made her skin crawl and deterred the poisonous snake... seemed... vaguely... to have originated from this child she had carried for ten months?

In the Woodshed, for a time, only Liu Qingxuan’s suppressed sobbing and Su Muxue’s low whimpering remained. Old Sun’s gaze swept back and forth between Lin Mo’s pale small face and the stalks of bloodline grass stained with snake blood on the ground, finally landing on Liu Qingxuan with an incredibly complex expression.

The center of the storm seemed to be quietly forming around this infant still in swaddling clothes. And an even larger cloud—the shadow of the Black Wind Stockade—was silently pressing closer to this small medicine shop Woodshed, along with those few drops of cold snake blood Liu Qingxuan had brought back.