Chapter 274 - Reasonable
“Have you guys heard of an herb called the Scarlet Apex Herb? When that herb is mixed with Serpent Fruit, it produces a colorless and tasteless poison. After consuming it, the veins will gradually clog up, halting the progress of cultivation. However, the poison itself is undetectable.” Said Nie Li.
At Nie Li’s words, Gu Lan’s heart trembled and she exchanged glances with Gu Bei. The symptoms that Nie Li had just described were exactly as she’d felt them.
Gu Bei instantly grabbed Nie Li’s shoulders and asked, “then is this kind of poison curable?”
“You don’t have to be so anxious. Your sister has been poisoned for much longer than just one or two days. You don’t have to be so anxious right this moment. Before I came here, I thought she suffered from an ordinary illness that I could easily handle. But now that I’ve seen her situation, I’m certain that she’s been badly poisoned,” Nie Li muttered.
“Nie Li,” Gu Bei’s heart was ignited with hope as he looked at Nie Li and said, “As long as you can heal my sister, no matter what you ask of me, I’ll agree to it all!”
Gu Lan and Gu Bei’s parents had died early. Although the children themselves were direct descendents with extraordinary talent, Gu Lan had lost the qualifications to become the Patriarch’s successor because of her paralysis. Unless Gu Bei’s cultivation suddenly soared, he also won’t qualify as the successor. But in the eyes of others, Gu Bei had always been a good for nothing loafer. However, in reality, Gu Bei had always worked very hard towards his cultivation and his talent wasn’t inferior to his sister’s.
“I’m only here because of the mission and the reward should still be a thousand spiritual stones.” Nie Li lightly smiled as he glanced at Gu Bei and continued, “What I’m trying to say is that, is this place safe? If someone is aware of the fact that I can heal your sister, wouldn’t they find another method to plot against her?”
“Sir, you don’t have to be worried.” Gu Lan naturally understood Nie Li as she continued, “After this experience, I’m already well aware that even within our family, there are people who are after our lives. If sir can cure me of my poison, we will conceal everything concerning the matter. As far as the outside world is concerned, I’ll still be a handicapped person.”
Although Nie Li was just a young man, even younger than Gu Bei, as a physician, it wasn’t inappropriate for her to address him as ‘sir’.
Upon hearing Gu Lan’s words, Nie Li nodded his head. Gu Lan really was a naturally smart person.
“The poison within your body has been there for at least three years. If I were to give you heavy medications, I’m afraid your veins won’t be able to handle them. I’ll write another prescription first. Once the poison inside your body has been lessened, then we’ll conduct the thorough treatment,” said Nie Li. He retrieved a piece of paper and a pen from his interspatial ring, wrote down a prescription, and handed it to Gu Bei.
Gu Bei took one look at the prescription and instantly held it as if it was a priceless treasure. “I’ll go get these herbs!”
Since Gu Lan had been ill for so long, of course there would be a pharmacy in their homes having all kinds of herbs. Gu Bei immediately fetched them.
Lu Piao asked Nie Li in a soft voice, “Nie Li, how confident are you about this?”
“Since I already know the cause of her illness, of course I am one hundred percent confident,” said Nie Li as he raised his head and smiled at Gu Lan. Gu Lan looked roughly eighteen or nineteen years old. If she hadn’t been sick for so many years and her face wasn’t ashen white, she would’ve definitely been a beauty. However, Nie Li only saw her with eyes of admiration, devoid of any other intentions.
“Thank you, sir, for saving me.” When Gu Lan spoke, her speech was neither fast or slow, making listeners feel as though a cool breeze had blown by. She was a quiet girl.
“You’re being too polite, miss Gu. It’s only natural for one to be honest when entrusted by someone,” Nie Li said as he lightly smiled.
Gu Lan nodded as she sat in a quiet mood.
Gu Lan pondered for a brief moment before she found a topic to talk about. “I wonder where sir came from?”
“The Tiny World,” said Nie Li.
“Oh? So you’re from the Tiny World.” Gu Lan’s voice paused as she continued on, “When I was young, I had a teacher who was also from the Tiny World.”
Nie Li’s heart slightly trembled as he asked, “I wonder, what’s the name of that teacher of yours?”
“My teacher never revealed his real name and appeared and disappeared as he wished. I also have no idea where he is now. He could reappear anytime.” Gu Lan bitterly smiled as she shook her head, “That teacher of mine hasn’t shown himself for five years now. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have landed myself in this situation. I only know that my teacher had a very high cultivation, such that even a 5-stage Martial Ancestor Realm expert couldn’t match him as an opponent.”
Nie Li wondered who Gu Lan’s teacher could’ve been. He was someone who’d originated from the Tiny World and possessed astonishing strength; thus Nie Li was filled with curiosity towards him. However, since even Gu Lan didn’t know his name, then there was nothing Nie Li could do about it.
As Nie Li and Gu Lan were chatting, Gu Bei quickly ran over with a bowl of brewed herbs.
“This is the medicine that I boiled. Sister, give it a try.” Gu Bei passed the bowl of brew to Gu Lan.
Gu Lan nodded as she received the bowl from Gu Bei, lowered her head, and started drinking. She had such a calm countenance that her expression remained as placid as ever, even as she drank the medicine.
After consuming the medicine, Gu Lan slightly frowned her brows for a brief moment and shut her eyes as she searched for changes in her soul realm.
Gu Bei looked at Gu Lan anxiously. Even Lu Piao had his eyes fixed on her. Only Nie Li appeared to be extremely confident.
After a brief moment, Gu Lan opened her eyes, looked at Nie Li and said, “This medicine can indeed relieve the poison in my body. I can already sense traces of changes in my veins! Thank you so much for helping!”
She couldn’t help the emotionally moved expression on her face. She never imagined that this medicine would take effect so quickly.
“It’s good that it can help miss Gu Lan with your illness.” Nie Li lightly smiled as he nodded, “miss Gu Lan should follow this prescription for a month. After that, I’ll change it to another prescription. I can guarantee that miss Gu Lan will be rid of her illness!”
Gu Bei was extremely excited. He never imagined that Nie Li’s medicine would actually work. But as long as it could cure his sister’s illness, he’d be willing to sacrifice anything.
“Nie Li, this is the reward for curing my sister. If you need any help in the future, don’t hesitate to say the word. As long as I’m capable of accomplishing it, I will!” Gu Bei patted himself on the chest as he spoke and passed an interspatial ring filled with spiritual stones over to Nie Li.
Nie Li gave the ring’s contents a quick check. There were roughly one thousand five hundred spiritual stones inside. Gu Bei was indeed rich.
Gu Bei and his sister were direct descendents of the Gu Clan. Even if they’re weren’t in the line of succession, the number of spiritual stones that they obtained from the family was also unimaginable for ordinary people.
However, this thousand and five hundred spiritual stones should’ve been everything Gu Bei had. After all, spiritual stones were still extremely rare, not to mention the fact that Gu Bei also required a large amount for his own cultivation.
Nie Li took out five hundred spiritual stones from the interspatial ring and returned the ring and its remaining contents to Gu Bei. “On your job posting, you said that the reward was only one thousand spiritual stones. I still haven’t completely cured your sister’s illness either, so I’ll just start by taking five hundred. Let’s wait until I’ve cured your sister’s illness, then you guys can give me the rest!”
Gu Bei received the interspatial ring and looked at Nie Li with grateful eyes. There was no way he could ever repay Nie Li’s favor!
“Nie Li, Lu Piao, from now on, you’re my brothers!” Gu Bei looked at Nie Li and Lu Piao as he said in a serious tone.
“Damn, so that means that up until now, you never saw us as brothers!” Lu Piao couldn’t help sounding out in indignation as he stood to the side.
“I didn’t mean it that way!” Gu Bei immediately waved his hand as he explained.
As she watched the three straightforward youths, Gu Lan couldn’t help showing a trace of a smile on her face. It’d been a long time since she’d been this happy. She’d always thought that her illness was incurable, so she’d gradually sealed away her heart. That is, until today. At last, she could see a trace of light in her life.
“Gu Bei, take care of your sister. We’ll go ahead and take our leave. In the future, be aware of your meals.” Nie Li said with an undertone to his words.
A chill suddenly ran through Gu Bei’s heart as he nodded, “I understand!”
Someone had been able to poison Gu Lan’s food without being caught; there was a high chance that the culprit was someone close to them.
Nie Li and Lu Piao bid their farewells to Gu Bei and Gu Lan before walking out.
Gu Lan watched Nie Li and Lu Piao leave, then looked at Gu Bei and asked, “Little brother, how did you meet the two of them?”
“They’re my classmates, both geniuses with Heaven Spiritual Roots. Especially that Nie Li, he has an 8-grade Heaven Spiritual Root.” Gu Bei continued, “We’ve also just recently gotten to know each other, but I never imagined that Nie Li would be so capable and accomplished in medicine. Those physicians before couldn’t even diagnose Sister’s illness, but he only took a look and knew the cause. He’s indeed formidable.”
“An 8-grade Heaven Spiritual Root?” Gu Lan’s eyes flashed with a peculiar light. She never thought that Nie Li’s talent would be at such a frightening height. To have such comprehension in medical knowledge and such astonishing talent, just how high would he reach in the future?
As they walked, Lu Piao asked out of curiosity, “Nie Li, they offered you so many spiritual stones, so why didn’t you accept them?”
“A gentleman loves wealth, but he must be reasonable. Gu Bei has such a deep relationship with his sister that those spiritual stones are probably his entire fortune. Five hundred spiritual stones are already sufficient for us for now, so there’s no need to take all of his spiritual stones.” Nie Li lightly smiled. Earlier, he had taken five spiritual stones from Xiao Yu, because he didn’t want Xiao Yu to spend all his time feeling indebted. This time, Nie Li didn’t take all of Gu Bei’s spiritual stones because he wanted to build a good relationship with him. Gu Bei and his sister would definitely be powerful experts in the future; therefore, building a good relationship now was definitely worth more than the spiritual stones.
“Oh.” Lu Piao vaguely understood. He could sense that Gu Bei and Gu Lan were honest and sincere people. If they’d actually taken all of their spiritual stones, it would’ve been a little too much.
Things like spiritual stones are extremely rare to the point that a Heaven Spiritual Root student could only collect five spiritual stones a month. However, all Nie Li did was take a look at someone’s illness and he ended up earning five hundred spiritual stones. Those five hundred spiritual stones would be sufficient to last them a long time during their cultivation.