Chapter 44: Village

Two days had passed since he accepted the old horse.

After Li Qi bestowed a wisp of Azure Dragon Divine Qi upon it, the old horse became quite fatigued.

For these two days, it mostly ambled beside Li Qi and the others, looking drowsy.

Li Qi was somewhat worried if it couldn't bear the Azure Dragon Divine Qi, and being too old, its Physical Body couldn't keep up.

It wouldn't just die like this, would it?

Shen Shuibi, however, studied it for a bit and told Li Qi, "Don't worry, he's just wearing down the Evil Qi."

Then, she began reciting from a book.

She said things like: "The Qi emanating from the upper jiao warms the muscles and skin, nourishes the bones and joints, and permeates the interstices."

And "When Yin and Yang are established, Qi circulates with respiration, following principles and cycles, in harmony with heaven, without cease."

Then a few more lines: "The Qi from the middle jiao emerges like dew, flowing into the large interstices of the muscles and permeating the minute vessels, harmonizing with fluids, transforming into blood through qi transformation, and circulating within the body's Meridians."

In any case, Li Qi didn't understand a single word, but he forced himself to remember it, intending to ponder each word later, and asked Shen Shuibi for the specific meaning, finally understanding it in the end.

The various Qi generated within the human body circulate throughout the entire body along different pathways.

Among them, the Qi originating from the upper jiao can warm the muscles and skin of the entire body, nourish the tendons, bones, and joints, and reach the interstices.

The Qi originating from the middle jiao, like the natural rain and dew sprinkling the earth, flows into the large and small gaps within the human muscles, and at the same time permeates the vessels, and with the harmonious adjustment of fluids, through the Qi transformation of the heart and lungs, it transforms into blood, circulating within the body's Meridians.

When blood circulates smoothly and orderly, it first fills the minute vessels, then flows into the collateral vessels, and when the collateral vessels are full, it flows into the Meridians, thus the blood and Qi of the Yin and Yang Meridians become abundant and circulate throughout the body with respiration.

Within the body, the circulation of Qi follows such a pattern and cycle, just like the movement of celestial bodies, cyclical and ceaseless.

Therefore, the human body, as a microcosm, shares remarkable similarities with the external macrocosm.

Now, the old horse is using its own power to control the Azure Dragon Divine Qi, gradually cycling it according to the pattern, wearing down the Evil Qi within its body.

Because when Evil Qi invades the blood vessels, it causes blood circulation to become stagnant, and when blood circulation is stagnant and blocked, the defensive Qi in that part of the body also accumulates and cannot disperse.

When Qi and blood cannot circulate back and forth but are forced to accumulate in a certain localized area, it forms an abscess.

These swollen pains, if prolonged, generate heat; the accumulated heat and toxins fumigate, causing the muscles to rot, which then turn into pus.

If the pus cannot be discharged, it will cause the fascia to rot, further spreading into the vital regions of the body.

Once it reaches the vital regions, it will damage the bones, and the Evil Qi will not be able to be expelled, scorching the bones, causing the bone marrow to stagnate, which will then lead to blood depletion.

When blood stagnates, the tendons, bones, muscles, and internal organs will not receive nourishing Qi and defensive Qi, ultimately leading to the Physical Body's decay and collapse, resulting in death.

Although the wound had been cleaned before, the old horse's body was still filled with Evil Qi, which is why it needed to ask Li Qi for a wisp of Great Forest Wood Qi from the Azure Dragon Divine Qi.

At that time, Shen Shuibi also said, "The book states that if this condition occurs in the thighs and shins, it is called a thigh and shin carbuncle; its appearance does not change much, but the pus adheres to the bone, and if not treated urgently, one will die in thirty days.

That's why the old horse was so anxious."

Li Qi listened to her explanation again and realized she was talking about the thigh and shin carbuncle in the thighs and shins, which, although having no obvious external changes, had pus adhering tightly to the bone.

If not treated quickly, there was a high possibility of death within thirty days.

So the old horse was very anxious.

"Great Forest Wood Qi is formed when the Wood Qi ascends in spring, drawing from the eastern Wood constellations, the Divine Qi of the Azure Dragon of the Four Symbols.

At this time, things are timely, branches and leaves are lush, forming a dense forest, taking its abundance of Wood, to promote one's own vitality.

Wood is born at Hai, its branches sway in the wind, its boughs support the moon; this way, Evil Qi can be dispelled."

Shen Shuibi's words were so profound they left Li Qi stunned.

She truly was a cultured rabbit.

Then, Li Qi went back and pondered for a long time.

Damn it, if you translate this, isn't it just stimulating one's own immunity and letting the abscess recede on its own! Relying on the body's immunity to tough out the infection!

Once he understood this, Li Qi no longer worried.

Relying on immunity to fight infection would definitely cause fever, weakness, dizziness, and so on, but it should get better in a couple of days.

So, he simply climbed a hill to look out, painstakingly found traces of a village, and then spent half a day heading towards it.

First, he'd go to the village, exchange his pot, shovel, and farm tools for supplies, and then let the old horse properly recover from its injuries.

After all, the old horse could barely walk now, and carrying a person was out of the question; it was almost unable to move itself.

Moreover, Li Qi didn't have much good food to give it; he himself could only pick wild fruits, drink spring water, and eat rice cakes, so the old horse could only nibble on grass and some green leaves.

Shen Shuibi said this wouldn't do; at this rate, the recovery would be slow.

Li Qi also felt that if things continued like this, the old horse might not withstand the infection and die, so he still needed to get some bird eggs, soybeans, or something to supplement its nutrition.

There weren't that many chicken eggs in this world because the chickens here could fly… and they were very fierce.

Can that even be called a chicken?

Forget it, don't think about those things.

The old horse seemed to know its own situation; Shen Shuibi translated many times along the way, and it kept thanking the two of them.

Li Qi didn't know what to say; after all, it was an eight-foot Dragon Steed.

If it hadn't fallen on hard times due to old age, his identity as a Lifter, without any Opportunity, he probably wouldn't even be qualified to ride it in this lifetime.

So, Li Qi merely told it that they were helping each other, and then transferred a wisp of Great Forest Wood Qi that he had just Cultivated the next day.

As a result, by the next day, they finally reached the village.

The village was very conservative, even having crude wooden walls made of thick logs driven into the ground.

To establish a village in the wilderness, Li Qi knew with his toes that these villagers were not to be trifled with; ordinary bandits probably wouldn't dare provoke them.

A world with cultivation methods is truly messed up.

"Folks!" Li Qi stood outside the village, leading the old horse: "We're just passing through, Merchants! Do you want to see some goods!?"

"We have salt, hoes, rake heads! And cloth!" Li Qi put down his backpack, displaying the farm tools and cloth inside.

A middle-aged farmer holding a pitchfork asked with a strong voice, "Other Merchants travel in groups, how dare you travel alone?!"

"They don't have a horse! I do! They run for four days, I only run for one! No fear on the road!" Li Qi shouted again, "My horse is injured! I want to stay here for a day to rest and buy some food!"

He spoke logically and reasonably, and his backpack indeed contained salt and iron farm tools that the countryside needed.

Plus, he brought a woman.

A man traveling with a woman certainly posed no threat, not to mention he had a horse.

That was a horse; a Merchant with a horse probably wouldn't look down on the goods in their village.

The simple wisdom of the villagers led them to make a judgment, so they opened the stockade gate: "Then come in!"