Soaked in the water, the unconscious Nie Tian’s exposed skin turned red and kept growing darker.
BLUB BLUB.
One by one, bubbles floated to the water surface before they burst and let out a light green mist.
The whole room gradually filled with a medicinal aroma. The surface of the boiling water also shone with a strange green l.u.s.ter under the flickering candlelight.
“Ugh...” Nie Tian unconsciously groaned in the boiling water. It seemed that pores all over his body were being forcibly opened up and greedily sucking in the medicine in the water.
Unexpectedly, his body, stronger than a normal child’s, bulked up gradually as if it were being inflated with air.
CRACK! CRACK!
Strange sounds came from his bones and internal organs. It almost seemed like his whole body was cheering and shouting.
Next, Hua Mu created a faint, flickering s.h.i.+eld, in the shape of a sphere that enveloped Nie Tian and the barrel, with himself at the center.
“Ow!”
Nie Tian couldn’t help but start screaming out loud. However, his sharp cries seemed unable to penetrate that layer of light.
Ripples could be seen on the s.h.i.+eld, as if it was a liquid surface. The s.h.i.+eld had blocked all forms of sounds, and as a result, Nie Donghai and Nie Qian didn’t notice a thing, despite being just outside of the room.
Hua Mu stared at Nie Tian attentively, with an expression of both excitement and respect. His focused eyes seemed like two b.a.l.l.s of green, ghostly fire.
ZZZZZLA!
Traces of colorful lights kept entering and exiting Nie Tian’s pores. Nie Tian continued to cry out as the murky water slowly turned clear.
It was as if all the precious medicine Hua Mu poured into the water had been absorbed by Nie Tian, through his pores and into his blood and flesh.
As the water cleared up, Nie Tian’s temperature also gradually cooled down.
After a while, Nie Tian’s body gradually stopped aching and he no longer screamed out in pain. Meanwhile, the faint s.h.i.+eld created by Hua Mu turned into streams of light that flew back into Hua Mu’s body and disappeared.
The boiling water also became calm. Nie Tian, after being in a coma for three days, finally opened his eyes. The fever was gone.
At that moment, the strange light in Hua Mu’s eyes vanished.
He knelt down next to Nie Tian and calmly said, “I am Hua Mu. I’m here to cure your fever at your grandfather’s request."
Nie Tian had yet to recover his thoughts. He only blankly asked, “How long did my fever last?”
“Three days,” Hua Mu replied calmly.
“Three days!” Nie Tian turned pale with fear. He grabbed onto the sides of the barrel in order to leap out of it.
KAH CHA!
The st.u.r.dy wooden barrel couldn’t withstand his power and shattered into pieces.
WHOOOOs.h.!.+
Water splashed all over, startling Nie Tian, who then watched all the fragments of the wooden barrel scatter everywhere.
Hua Mu remained calm, as if he knew this would happen. Voice cool, he said, “Your special disease is not completely cured yet. You will have to continue to bathe in my medicine for six more days.”
Nie Tian lifted his hands and randomly stretched his arms. Instantly, he felt he could draw much more power from his body than before.
“I feel great,” Nie Tian said nonchalantly. “I don’t think I’m going to have another fever.”
“I’m the doctor here,” Hua Mu said in tone that offered no argument. “I cured your special disease after everyone else failed. So believe me when I say that you have to continue the treatment!”
“Oh, okay.” Nie Tian scratched his head.
Nie Donghai, who had been waiting outside the room in desperate anxiety, couldn’t restrain himself any longer after hearing the wooden barrel cracking and the sound of Hua Mu and Nie Tian talking. “Mr. Hua, I... Can I come in now?”
“Enter!” Hua Mu said calmly.
SLAM!
Nie Donghai shoved the door open and barged into the room with Nie Qian, who looked just as worried.
Upon entering, he went to Nie Tian’s side and reached out his hand to feel Nie Tian’s wrist. Discovering that Nie Tian’s fever was gone and that his body temperature was back to normal, his face immediately filled with joy.
Before Hua Mu could say anything, Nie Donghai called out loudly, “Han Yue, present the rewards to Mr. Hua!”
The maidservant Han Yue soon came in with a bag filled with gold, silver, and other valuables, together with some spirit stones and medicinal ingredients, and respectfully handed it over to Hua Mu.
Hua Mu grabbed it arrogantly, not even sparing it a glance as he stuffed it into his medicine chest. It almost seemed as if he couldn’t care less about the rewards.
“No words can express my grat.i.tude for your great kindness,” Nie Donghai said. “Mr. Hua, you simply must spend a few more days in the Nie clan as my honored guest.”
Hua Mu shook his head. “He is not fully cured yet. I’ll come at this time of the day for the next six days. You just need to prepare a wooden barrel filled with hot water, and I’ll apply the same approach to permanently cure your grandson of this odd disease."
Nie Donghai’s face tightened. “He isn’t completely cured?"
“No need to worry. He will be fine.” Hua Mu raised his chin slightly and confidently added, “I told you I could save him and I did. Now that I’ve proved myself, you should have a little faith.”
“Of course! Of course!” Nie Donghai replied immediately before he bowed with his hands clasped in front as a sign of respect. “Sorry to burden Mr. Hua with this for the next few days. Mr. Hua, since it is your first time in Black Cloud City, I bet you haven’t found a place to stay, right? Why don’t you stay in the Nie clan? Please rest a.s.sured. I’ll see to it that you get the most comfortable guest room we have and no one will dare to neglect your demand."
“There’s no need of that. I personally like things quiet. I’ll just attend to some of my own personal affairs in the city.” Hua Mu seemed to have lost interest in talking to Nie Donghai. After speaking those words, he strode outside.
After Hua Mu had left, Nie Tian couldn’t help but ask, “Grandfather, who is this man? And how did I end up with a high fever for three days?"
“You foolish child!” Nie Qian said, heart aching. “After your battle with Nie Hong, you contracted a fever that very night. By the time I found out, you were already unconscious. We called all the renowned doctors in and around Black Cloud City for you, but none of them could cure you. Just as we were getting ready to take you to the Cloudsoaring sect, Mr. Hua unexpectedly showed up...”
She explained the whole course of the incident in detail, before she asked, “Well? How do you feel? Do you feel weak?"
“No, not weak.” Nie Tian shook his head as an odd expression appeared on his face. “On the contrary, I feel... good. No, I mean perfect!”
“What do you mean?” Nie Donghai was astonished.
“After my fever subsided, I felt that I had endless power and strength, as if I was stronger than ever.” Nie Tian was careful with his selection of words. “The spiritual power in my dantian hasn’t changed much. However, I can feel that my physical strength must have improved significantly."
“That’s odd.” Nie Donghai looked at him deeply, his face clouded by suspicion.
“It’s good that you’re fine.” Nie Qian didn’t bother to overthink the matter. “Try to avoid fighting Nie Hong as long as possible. His cultivation base is three levels higher than yours and his spiritual power can flow outside of his body, and yet you chose to fight him anyway. I bet the reason behind your fever was that fight between the two of you. If you can’t beat him, just give up. You’re of a much lower cultivation level. Losing isn’t too bad. Don’t be so stubborn.”
“I believe if I were to fight Nie Hong again, I would easily defeat him this time!” Nie Tian said, grinning with radiant confidence.
“You still want to act tough! I don’t want to see you pa.s.s out from a high fever ever again! We were lucky that Mr. Hua was in Black Cloud City, otherwise...” With these words, Nie Qian started to sob again. “If anything bad really happened to you, I couldn’t bear to keep living... I would be too ashamed to face your mother in the underworld after I died!"
“Okay, okay, I get it,” Nie Tian said, sounding a bit annoyed. “I promise I won’t mess around.”
“Stay at home for the next couple of days,” Nie Donghai lectured sternly. “Don’t go anywhere!”
Nie Tian had no other option than to nod his head. “Alright.”
Meanwhile, inside Nie Beichuan’s cultivation room.
Nie Kan walked into the room with a gloomy face and said in a pitiful tone, “Father, that foreign doctor managed to cure Nie Tian’s high fever.”
After channeling a strand of frost Qi into his dantian from the black jade pillar against his back, Nie Beichuan opened his eyes. “Now that Nie Tian is fine, I’ll go talk to my eldest brother,” he said grimly. “He should have come clear with the clan’s elders and handed over his position as clanmaster yesterday as he promised.”
“He should have done that long ago,” Nie Kan said vigorously. “With him as head of the clan, it is very inconvenient for us to make any moves. But from now on... things will be better.”
“Although it’s a little late, I don’t think he has slept yet.” Nie Beichuan rose to his feet and left the secret room to talk to Nie Donghai.