Chapter 16, Able Healer

Translator: Raznick

 

A cultivator was a being; and beings fell ill.

 

Similarly, demon beasts could also fall ill.

 

Cultivators and demon beasts generally didn’t, however. If they did, it was not the common cold or flu that affected ordinary people.

 

These diseases were typically caused by improper cultivation and poison.

 

All eight of the Mu Clan’s Black Scaled Steeds suddenly collapsed, frothing at the mouth, which clearly indicated poisoning or illness.

 

Zhou Chun entered the beast enclosure, examined the Black Scaled Steeds’ eyes, tongues, and even their dung. Reflecting on various bestiary texts he had studied, several corresponding symptoms instantly came to mind.

 

But he didn’t rush to make hasty conclusions. Instead, turning to the Mu Clan members who were anxiously looking at him. “I have some theories, but I need to verify them with more information before mentioning them.

 

“In the meantime, you can feed them this pill. It can temporarily alleviate their symptoms and prevent any casualties.”

 

After speaking, he casually slapped his storage bag and took out a vial which he handed to Mu Ziying.

 

But Mu Ziying held the vial and didn’t act immediately; instead, she looked at Mu Yunshan.

 

“Act per Fellow Daoist Zhou’s instructions.”

 

Mu Yunshan pondered for a moment and then nodded, indicating Mu Ziying to feed medicine to steeds.

 

After swallowing the pill given by Zhou Chun, the Black Scaled Steed’s body movements became much less intense, and the blood froth at its mouth decreased significantly.

 

Seeing this, several Mu Clan cultivators all showed expressions of joy and surprise, their gazes towards Mu Ziying’s hand holding that vial becoming different.

 

But they were well aware that this secret pill was undoubtedly Zhou Clan’s unique prescription, so they didn’t expect Zhou Chun to provide the recipe and thus did not mention it.

 

Mu Yunshan stretched out his hand, bringing Zhou Chun a bit further away, then looked at him with a serious expression and said, “Fellow Daoist Zhou, if you have any questions, just ask.”

 

“I wish to know, what have been fed to these Black Scaled Steeds in the past two days? And which places have they visited in the past three days?”

 

Zhou Chun was not polite either; he immediately raised two questions.

 

Mu Yunshan replied immediately, “Fellow Daoist, please wait. I shall go inquire right away.”

 

Then he proceeded to communicate with several Mu Clan cultivators responsible for tending to the Black Scaled Steeds.

 

Not long after, he brought over Mu Ziying and an elderly cultivator from the Mu Clan.

 

“I dare not deceive Fellow Daoist Zhou. A few days ago, some cultivators from our sect discovered a hidden snake den in the mountains by the south bank of Green Cloud Lake. They slew several first-grade venomous snakes and ordinary ones. The Black Scaled Steed have been fed with snake meat these two days, along with some sweet grass they like to eat.”

 

“In recent three days, the steeds have not left the base, only running around inside a few times.”

 

Mu Ziying and that middle-aged cultivator from the Mu Clan answered Zhou Chun’s questions, each taking their turn.

 

Upon hearing this, Zhou Chun immediately asked Mu Ziying, “Have you ever fed snake meat to the Black Scaled Steed before?”

 

“Yes, since the Black Scaled Steed isn’t particular about its diet and doesn’t have many restrictions, we’ve tried feeding it meat from all sorts of birds, beasts, fish, and insects. There’s never been any issue before!”

 

It was the middle-aged man from the Mu Clan who responded this time. As he spoke, his tone filled with astonishment as he looked at Zhou Chun and countered, “Is Fellow Daoist Zhou suspecting that there’s something amiss with the snake meat?”

 

After speaking, he couldn’t help but shake his head and said, “But that snake meat was extremely delicious. Many cultivators and ordinary people from our Mu Clan ate it, and we didn’t hear of anyone getting poisoned or sick.”

 

“Indeed, Fellow Daoist Zhou has taken it as well!”

 

Mao Ziying also added.

 

After hearing their words, Zhou Chun nodded and said, “It’s very likely that it’s the snake meat!”

 

After speaking, without waiting for them to refute, he explained: “The snake meat we eat has all been cleaned and cooked properly; there’s basically no risk of poisoning from eating it.

 

“But the Black Scaled Steed prefers fresh meat with blood, and when you feed it, you probably just throw the snake corpses directly to it.

 

“Even though they have robust bodies, being bitten by an ordinary venomous snake wouldn’t cause any harm. However, if it encounters a highly toxic demon snake, they would still suffer from severe poisoning!

 

“So, these Ink Scale Horses fell ill from poisoning because they’ve ingested the bodies of demon snakes. The snake venom enters through their mouths, causing such severe toxic reactions.”

 

His words were well-reasoned and logically structured, leaving all the Mu Clan cultivators speechless and unable to refute.

 

Finally, it was Mu Yunsan who broke the silence and asked, “If they truly have been poisoned by a snake meat, does Fellow Daoist Zhou have any means to treat them?”

 

“Of course there are ways, but the Black Scaled Steed is only a first-grade demon. Those extremely resource-intensive methods might not be something you’d want to use.”

 

Zhou Chun glanced at Mu Yunsan and continued, “So please arrange for someone to accompany me to the vicinity of that snake den. Generally speaking, near a venomous snake’s lair, one can find some herbs that counteract snake poison.”

 

“Thank you, Fellow Daoist Zhou for your help. I will now inform the Clan Leader about the situation.”

 

After Mu Yunshan spoke, he bowed slightly to Zhou Chun and left the beast enclosure in a hurry.

 

Minutes after, Zhou Chun, accompanied by five Mu Clan cultivators, left the Green Cloud Mountain and headed for the serpent’s den located on the southern shore of the Green Cloud Lake.

 

The south bank of Green Cloud Lake boasteds a vast bamboo forest stretching over ten miles, within which a snake den was discovered deep in its heart.

 

When Zhou Chun arrived near the entrance of the snake den under the guidance of Mu Clan’s cultivator, he could still see several venomous snakes lurking around.

 

“Fellow Daoist Zhou, please look. The snake den is right inside this cave. There was even a superior first-grade Snake King in there. It took us quite some effort to slay it!”

 

Among the bamboo grove, on a cleared patch of land, a Mu Clan cultivator pointed at the entrance of a pitch-black cave and explained the situation in a low voice.

 

He was one of those who had personally participated in the battle to clear out the snake den just a few days ago.

 

Zhou Chun knew that the Mu Clan was not telling the truth.

 

Normally, once a demon snake became a demon, it wouldn’t gather other ordinary snakes and insects to form a snake den.

 

If such a situation arose, it indicated that within the snake den lay some treasure of immense value to serpent growth, attracting numerous snakes to congregate. Even a demon snake couldn’t monopolize it alone and had to share it with the snakes.

 

But there was no need to elaborate on such matters, as whatever treasures the Mu Clan cultivators obtained from the snake den was their own fortunes.

 

So he looked at the entrance of the pitch-black cave for a few moments, then shook his head and said, “There’s no need to go inside the cave. It’s likely devoid of any vegetation; I won’t find any herbs there. I will search nearby instead.”

 

Then he began strolling around in the bamboo forest nearby.

 

Where Zhou Chun passed, snakes scattered in all directions, as if they had met their natural enemy.

 

This was because he smeared his pants with Zhou Clan’s exclusive snake-repellent ointment. The scent of the ointment was highly irritating to most snakes, making them uncomfortable and prompting them to retreat from the source of the odor.

 

Several Mu Clan cultivators followed behind him, also visibly surprised by this.

 

Potions and powders for repelling beasts and snakes were common in the cultivation world. Basically, every sundries shop in the market had them for sale, and they were cheap.

 

However, they hadn’t experienced any effect quite as good as Zhou Chun’s oinment before.

 

For a moment, they were all thinking about whether to call on Zhou Chun after the fact to ask or buy some for emergencies.

 

After Zhou Chun led the group into the bamboo forest for a while, they did find some herbs that could treat ordinary snake venom. However, he was uncertain whether these would be effective against the demon snake’s venom and decided to continue searching.

 

After searching through the bamboo forest filled with grass and vines for half an hour, Zhou Chun suddenly lit up with a bright-eyed expression, revealing a significant discovery.

 

“Do you see the purple flowers on that vine?”

 

“That’s the Purple Leaf Snake Flower, a herb with extremely strong detoxification effects against snake venom. However, for this medicine to take effect, it needs to be first treated with snake saliva.”

 

With a flick of his hand, Zhou Chun pointed out purple flower clinging to a bamboo leaf, spontaneously conducting a training session for Mu Ziying and the others behind her.

 

Then, when Mu Ziying and others wanted to pick flowers, he stopped them again.

 

“First, don’t move around randomly. This Purple Leaf Snake Flower is very delicate; if you just pick the flowers directly, they’ll be useless by the time you bring them back. You need to dig out the entire plant with its roots and return it covered in mud.”

 

After hearing those words, several members of the Mu Clan quickly retrieved their tools and carefully dug out the vine along its root, then hurried back to Green Cloud Mountain.

 

After returning to the beast enclosure, following Zhou Chun’s guidance, they used snake saliva to stimulate the blooming purple flowers, causing them to close up one by one. Then, they carefully picked each flower and fed them to the Black Scaled Stedds.

 

The result was as Zhou Chun had predicted, a complete cure. Just after an hour, the previously lifeless horses could already rise to their feet again.

 

The news quickly spread throughout the Mu Clan, and even several Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators of the Mu Clan, upon hearing the backstory, couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of gratitude.

 

According to Zhou Chun’s account, if the cause of the illness wasn’t promptly identified and treated successfully within a day, most of those horses would’ve died.

 

If Zhou Chun hadn’t happened to be at the Mu Clan, the Mu Clan would have been unable to accomplish this in just one day.

 

Therefore, the Clan Leader specially sent Mu Yunshan with a treasure as a reward for Zhou Chun.