Chapter 38: A Touching Farewell
Lu Yang struggled to find the words to describe his feelings about the method that challenged moral ethics and thought patterns.
“It’s good that the matter is resolved.”
That was all he could finally muster.
Old Ba also felt that resolving the issue was good, especially since it was his idea.
Old Ba patted Lu Yang’s shoulder: “The little Medicine Kings are quite mischievous. You’ve had a hard time recently. Take out your jade pendant.”
Lu Yang complied, and Old Ba touched the pendant: “The 300 contribution points from the mission reward are now in your pendant.”
Effort brings rewards. The 300 contribution points were a considerable sum for Lu Yang.
Then he realized that although 300 points seemed a lot, it probably wasn’t even enough to buy the Medicine Kings’ foot-washing water.
The exchange list was clear: Medicine King Spiritual Liquid came in ordinary and luxury versions.
To Lu Yang’s understanding, the ordinary version was the foot-washing water of the Medicine Kings, and the luxury version was their bath water.“Say goodbye to the little Medicine Kings. Opportunities to enter the Medicinal Garden are rare, and you may not have the chance to come back…”
Old Ba stopped mid-sentence, remembering that as long as Yun Zhi allowed Lu Yang to come, he had to obediently let him pass, without the courage to intercept.
“Cough, anyway, go say your farewells.”
Lu Yang nodded, sensing that Old Ba had more to say.
Learning of Lu Yang’s departure, the little Medicine Kings felt somewhat reluctant.
“We’ve been friends for a while. Take this old ginseng whisker with you. Oh, this is too valuable; I can’t part with it.”
“My old ginseng skin… too painful, forget it. I don’t have anything valuable, so I’ll just say goodbye verbally.” The Ginseng Child said farewell to Lu Yang.
It hadn’t given anything when saying goodbye either.
“We’re all cultivators; a month isn’t long. Do we need to say goodbye?” The tone of the Tri-Leaf Star Grass revealed its reluctance.
“My vines and leaves are too vigorous. If you take them, your body might undergo strange changes. It’s safer not to give them to you.” During their time together, Lu Yang learned that the true form of the Qilin Undying Medicine was a green vine.
The Qilin Undying Medicine was truthful. During the month they spent together, the little Medicine Kings suppressed their life force, afraid of accidentally transferring it to Lu Yang.
If they were to give a part of their bodies to Lu Yang, they would need to add dozens of seals. Lu Yang wouldn’t dare to use them.
“You’re leaving without giving us any gifts?” The End of Time Flower cheekily asked Lu Yang for gifts.
Moved by the atmosphere, Lu Yang’s eyes brimmed with tears: “In a while, I’ll definitely ask the senior sister to visit you all.”
The little Medicine Kings quickly sent Lu Yang away.
The farewell scene was quite rushed.
…
Compared to the Medicine King Spiritual Liquid, the 300 contribution points were a fortune for Lu Yang, who was only at the Foundation Establishment stage.
Eager, he went to the mission hall to buy some good items.
He couldn’t always rely on the senior sister to provide him with things; he needed to earn money through his own efforts.
“Eh, I was just about to go to Heaven’s Gate Peak to find you. Didn’t expect to meet here.” Meng Jingzhou was surprised to see Lu Yang leaving the Medicinal Garden, but then remembered Yun Zhi was his direct senior sister, so it wasn’t strange.
Beside Meng Jingzhou was a man in a scholar’s robe, both refined and powerful.
The man in the scholar’s robe bowed: “Brother Lu, it’s been a while. This is actually our first formal meeting.”
“Barbarian Bone, it was surprising when you joined the Fourth Elder.”
Lu Yang returned the gesture with a smile: “You here for something?”
“Can’t I find you if there’s nothing?” Meng Jingzhou feigned anger.
“Come, let’s have tea and talk.” Meng Jingzhou led Barbarian Bone and Lu Yang to a teahouse.
The Meng family’s rule was to discuss matters over a meal. If the talk was enjoyable, the Meng family would treat; if not, everyone would split the bill.
“What will you have? My teahouse has all kinds of tea,” the Tea Doctor asked efficiently.
Lu Yang couldn’t see through the Tea Doctor’s cultivation level.
He whispered to Barbarian Bone: “Can you tell the cultivation level of the Tea Doctor?”
Barbarian Bone whispered back: “As far as I know, us new disciples that are just recruited are the weakest in the sect, even the chickens on the mountain have higher cultivation than us.”
Meng Jingzhou ordered a famous tea.
“Then, a pot of breastmilk tea.” (TL Note: I don’t fully understand if this is the joke or not, I might have translated it wrongly.)
The Tea Doctor initially suspected Meng Jingzhou was causing trouble.
“Oh, I misspoke. I meant a basin of milk tea, a specialty from near the far north,” Meng Jingzhou quickly gestured, showing no ill intent.
The Tea Doctor then realized Meng Jingzhou wanted freshly made salty milk tea.
Soon, the Tea Doctor brought a hot iron charcoal basin with roasted rice, butter, dried beef, and milk skin. He then brought a pot of milk tea.
Lu Yang and Barbarian Bone looked at each other, unsure of what to do, leaving it to Meng Jingzhou.
Meng Jingzhou first slowly fried the ingredients in the basin until the roasted rice turned yellow, creating a crunching sound. He then poured the milk tea into the hot iron pot, causing a sizzling sound and the aroma of the tea to spread.
Lu Yang took a sip, smacked his lips, and found it salty but oddly tasty.
Barbarian Bone took a sip, then gulped down the bowl.
“Do you have any missions now?” Meng Jingzhou asked.
Lu Yang shook his head. He had just completed Old Ba’s Medicinal Garden mission and hadn’t chosen a new one yet.
“There aren’t many missions suitable for us. The missions in the mission hall aren’t enough for us to do. I wondered if they weren’t enough for us, how could the previous generation of disciples do them?”
“So, I asked the senior brothers and sisters and learned the inside story.”
“What did you find out?”
“Not only missions from the mission hall count as completed. Finding and completing your own missions also earns contribution points. Report your achievements to the sect, and after verification to ensure the results are genuine, you’ll receive the corresponding rewards.”
“Do you know where the missions in the mission hall come from?”
“How?”
“There are three situations. The first is based on the ‘Righteous Path Mutual Aid Agreement’ between the Five Great Immortal Gates and the Great Xia Dynasty. When the dynasty needs cultivators but lacks manpower, they request our help. But this is rare.”
“Although we’re all part of the human race’s righteous path, the ten-thousand-year-old dynasty asking for help from a sect is somewhat embarrassing.”
“The second type is when someone asks the Five Great Immortal Gates for justice, assuming the Great Xia Dynasty doesn’t intervene, like your parrot-catching mission.”
“The third type is when our sect discovers clues while traveling outside. These become missions in
the mission hall, with corresponding rewards prepared by the sect.”
“This third type is our hope.”