Enlightenment: Beginning as a Disposable Warrior-Chapter 244 - 168: Cyan Bamboo Burial, Sumeru Mustard Seed!

Pharmacist silently noted to himself, deeply gazed at Su Mu who was pondering, and changed the topic, taking out a quaint sandalwood box from his collar.

"Young friend, my days are numbered. This is a Sumeru Ring. It is said that a mustard seed can contain a Sumeru, and by infusing with Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, the space within can be opened for storage, and the Attribute Power you possess can also open it."

"The contents of the ring can be considered as my apology gift. Xiaoyue will be entrusted to you... But no need for coercion, everything depends on your decision. After all, Xiaoyue is of Huo family, even if their gates are like the deep sea, her life should be worry-free in the future."

Lin Jingqiu held the ring with both hands and bowed deeply to Su Mu.

Su Mu has always been one who bends but does not break; he vaguely sensed that the pharmacist didn’t fully disclose everything, but facing a dying man, who over the years had been both a mentor and a friend, Su Mu took a deep breath, exhaling it completely.

Sigh!

All the resentment and grievances in his heart dissipated into the world with this breath. Su Mu’s anger was for Xiaoyue, and so was the pharmacist’s.

"Pharmacist, please get up, don’t embarrass this lad."

Su Mu struggled to get out of bed. The pharmacist, who was bowed, heard this and a hint of a smile appeared on his wrinkled face.

"Young friend, you need to recuperate for a while before you can get out of bed, lie down quickly." The pharmacist went forward to help Su Mu lie down, "I have prepared the ointment, Zhang Yang, the kind-hearted waiter from Jiuchen Lane East Street Tavern will come tomorrow to take care of your daily needs..."

"Is the pharmacist leaving?"

The pharmacist remained silent.

"After the pharmacist leaves, what will happen to the clinic?"

"Everything needs to be taken care of by the young friend."

"I shall escort the pharmacist."

"No need, there is no feast that doesn’t end."

"Pharmacist, could you tell me the story of you and Xiaoyue."

The pharmacist was silent for a long time, his wrinkled face quivering as he sighed, his old eyes, blurred by age, revealed intense nostalgia and a deep fear.

"In the winter of the sixty-sixth year of Xingtai, in the Great Yan Imperial City, it snowed for months without stopping, military affairs arose... the lady instructed me to take the young miss away from the Huo family. Her last wish was simply for Xiaoyue to live a quiet life, not wanting her to return to the Huo family. I am really ashamed towards the lady..."

The pharmacist’s voice trembled a bit, spoke slowly, and after saying ’military affairs arose’, he was silent for a long time before he spoke again. Su Mu knew this glossed over matter must be complicated.

Su Mu silently remembered the year sixty-six of Xingtai.

Then the pharmacist continued to narrate, speaking of their departure from the Great Yan Imperial Capital, experiencing hardships; they traveled, stopping and going, heading north towards the bitter cold lands far from the capital, this journey lasted several years.

"When we arrived in Qingzhou, Xiaoyue was more than two years old; that year, Xiaoyue fell gravely ill. It’s ridiculous that at that time I was not a pharmacist at all, nor understood any medical skills, just a long illness made a good doctor. After the serious illness, Xiaoyue lost her memory; everything in the world has its fate, and this fits the lady’s wish, so I lied to little Xiaoyue, saying she was picked up from the snow outside the city, afterwards addressing each other as master and apprentice..."

"In the following years, periodically I would go out for travels, in reality to collect various medical books in the Three Canglan Counties... I do not have the young friend’s talent, after concentrating on research for over ten years, just then did I barely glimpse the door to the medical skills, at the Land of Cyan Clouds gained some fame."

"After that illness, Xiaoyue’s body was frail; I often used decoctions for conditioning, due to concerns, did not allow Xiaoyue to go out for too long, now upon reflection it was my mistake. Perhaps it was during those days being cooped up indoors that Xiaoyue started to intoxicate herself with art and calligraphy..."

"The days passed like this, spring came, summer went, autumn disappeared as winter arrived... Xiaoyue’s innocent heart led her, for over a decade she trained in excellent calligraphy and painting. Approximately several years ago, during a winter when I had not yet met the young friend, Xiaoyue proposed wanting to attend the Shuangbai Poetry Gathering, I remember clearly she won the double prize for calligraphy and painting that year, ..."

There was a hint of pampering and pride on the pharmacist’s face.

"There’s also one thing the young friend might not know: Xiaoyue used to be a quiet, reserved type, not willing to be close to strangers, all of which changed after meeting the young friend. You are special..."

The lattice suddenly rustled, a gust of deep autumn cold wind swept in and extinguished the candles lighting the room. The pharmacist’s story could not reach its conclusion, he leaned by the bedside and slowly closed his eyes, with a final hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth.

The pharmacist was hanging onto life by sheer will; now that breath dissipated within the reminiscing.

In the darkness, Su Mu sighed, his deep eyes flashed with sorrow.

"The person in charge of the Death Warriors is not the pharmacist... Pharmacist, farewell on your journey..."

Su Mu struggled to sit up from the bed, reached out, and closed the pharmacist’s eyes. Su Mu felt the intense Yin Sha Qi within the pharmacist’s body, undeniably the Qi of Gu Poison below his own chest.

"Pharmacist, Su Mu will escort you!"

Su Mu clenched his jaw tight; the cyan light streamed along each bone lined with cracks in his body, then Su Mu’s face contorted, staggered, and stood up, reaching out to hold the pharmacist lying by the bedside.

He took a step outside.

His entire body’s wounds instantly burst open, blood flowed profusely, the gauze all over his body was soaked, blossoming into blood flowers.

The pharmacist loved bamboo; there were more Cyan Bamboo in the clinic than the medicine field. In the deep autumn, the Cyan Bamboo turned yellow, Su Mu arrived at the depths of the bamboo forest and dug a pit with his hands, burying a pot of wine from the study along with the pharmacist dearly.

"Pharmacist, rest assured, I will go to the Huo family to bring Xiaoyue back."

With the last scoop of soil buried, Su Mu, who had long become a person of blood, lost consciousness and fell in front of the mound.