Sword drawn from the constellations, poison as its edge.

Chapter 60 A gentleman is magnanimous

As soon as Jiang Mingzhe spoke, everyone turned to look at him.

The group of thirteen people wearing green cloaks turned around; they were all young women, looking at Jiang and Duan with curiosity.

These women weren't stunning beauties, but at eighteen or nineteen, no woman is ugly. They were all martial artists, full of energy, and with well-proportioned figures. As they all stared at him with open eyes, Duan Yu's heart immediately raced, and he quickly put on a kind smile.

Normally, with his good looks, a smile like that would probably make many women's hearts flutter.

But at this moment, his face was covered with red, swollen patches and many blisters of various sizes. He was smiling too brightly, and as his muscles twitched, one of the blisters burst open, oozing out a stream of yellow fluid. His appearance was truly pitiful.

The women all pursed their lips and leaned back strategically, thinking: This ugly guy's smile is so lewd!

A few with shallow appetites shuddered, quickly covered their mouths, and hurriedly looked at Jiang Mingzhe, wanting to use his handsome face to cleanse their eyes.

Jiang Mingzhe was already extremely handsome, but now, compared to the "lewd and ugly ghost," he appeared even more dashing and elegant, like a celestial being. The women all secretly swallowed their saliva and exchanged winks. A few of the more shy ones blushed instantly.

One of them, presumably the leader, was in his early twenties, tall and handsome, with a hint of menace in his eyes. His gaze swept over Jiang and Duan before he looked at Sikong Xuan and asked, "You know him?"

Sikong Xuan nodded hurriedly: "Reporting to Envoy Fu, this person is Long Aotian, a retainer of the Duan family of Tiannan, nicknamed Divine Sword Invincible. As for the person on his back, I don't recognize him. I wonder if Sect Leader Zuo or Sect Leader Xin know him?"

Beside Sikong Xuan were two other people: an elderly man in his fifties with a long beard, who was Zuo Zimu, the head of the Eastern Branch of the Wuliang Sword Sect, and a Daoist nun in her forties, who was Xin Shuangqing, the head of the Western Branch.

Upon hearing this, the two looked at Duan Yu intently and shook their heads, saying, "We don't know him."

Duan Yu hurriedly said, "Hey, Sect Leader Zuo, how can you not recognize me? Didn't you tell your disciple to slap me? Alas, it's a pity he was poisoned to death by the Shennong Gang. By the way, weren't you enemies? So many people have died, how come you've become friends?"

Zuo Zimu quickly said, "Don't talk nonsense. We are friends. There was just a misunderstanding before. Now Wuliang Sword has been submitted to Tianshan Lingjiu Palace and renamed Wuliang Cave. It is now one of our own, along with Shennong Gang."

Having said that, he turned around, bowed, and said, "Reporting to Envoy Fu, I remember who this boy is. The other day, during the martial arts competition between the Eastern and Western sects, he came with the Pu'er martial arts master Ma Wude. This boy doesn't know martial arts, but he loves to cause trouble. I had my disciple give him a couple of slaps as a slight reprimand. However, he's now completely disfigured, so I didn't recognize him."

The talisman envoy nodded and said to Sikong Xuan, "Since he is an acquaintance of yours who has come seeking medical treatment, you may take a look at him."

Sikong Xuan clasped his hands and said, "Yes, Envoy Fu is truly benevolent and righteous."

He walked over, carefully observed Duan Yu, sniffed him, took his wrist to check his pulse, and nodded, saying, "Master Long, this friend of mine was first poisoned by centipede poison, so Master Long gave him some of our sect's 'Half-Day Water' spirit pills. However, the dosage was too large, causing diarrhea, but the centipede poison was cured. However, he was later poisoned by lacquer poison, and his whole body developed red, swollen blisters that were unbearably itchy."

Jiang Mingzhe and Duan Yu exclaimed in unison, "Lacquer poison?"

Sikong Xuan nodded and asked Duan Yu, "Young friend, where on your body is itchiest?"

"This..." Duan Yu hesitated, unwilling to speak, but he was of noble birth and knew that concealing one's illness was a major taboo. After hesitating for a while, he beckoned Sikong Xuan to come closer and whispered something in his ear.

Sikong Xuan nodded repeatedly: "Oh, so it's the anus that's itchiest." The male disciples of Wuliang Cave and Shennong Gang burst into laughter, while the female disciples blushed and tried their best to hold back their laughter. The envoys from Lingjiu Palace turned their heads away and pretended not to hear, but their cloaks were shaking violently, clearly indicating that they were struggling to suppress their laughter.

Duan Yu was dumbfounded, his face burning red, wishing he could die immediately, and desperately buried his head in Jiang Mingzhe's shoulder.

Jiang Mingzhe glanced at Sikong Xuan indifferently and comforted Duan Yu, saying, "Brother, don't be shy. Everyone has an anus. If you have an anus, you can get sick. A real man is open and honest. It's just an itchy anus. What's there to be ashamed of? Those who laugh at you, do any of them not have an anus?"

As soon as he spoke those words aloud, those who had been laughing felt embarrassed, as if they were the ones who were making a fuss over nothing and were being vulgar.

The women's eyes lit up, thinking that this was what it meant to be a gentleman, so open and honest. Look at him, discussing anus with such focus and composure.

Jiang Mingzhe's words of comfort eased Duan Yu's shame somewhat, but he still refused to raise his head like a quail.

Sikong Xuan felt a pang of panic when Jiang Mingzhe's gaze swept over him, but he forced a smile and said, "That's right, that's right. Doctors don't distinguish between men and women, so there's nothing to be ashamed of. Hmm, this young master had diarrhea after drinking 'half a day's worth of water,' did you use tree leaves to wipe it?"

Duan Yu buried his face in Jiang Mingzhe's back and mumbled, "In this desolate wilderness, if we don't use leaves, we'll use clods of dirt."

"This is it." Sikong Xuan clapped his hands and said, "There are many large-leaved lacquer trees growing in this mountain. Young master must have mistakenly used the leaves of the large-leaved lacquer tree, which caused you to be poisoned by lacquer. Your buttocks are still very sore, but it's alright, it's easy to cure."

He turned to his followers and ordered, "Go and gather some fresh lacquer grass, pound it into a purgative, mix it with a pinch of Glauber's salt, and use it to wash this young master's body. Also, take some licorice and mung bean pills, dissolve them in gypsum water, and have the young master take them orally. Also, add three pills of Poria and Atractylodes macrocephala to stop the diarrhea."

The Shennong Gang members were all experienced in preparing medicine. After Sikong Xuan gave the order, everything was ready in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. Jiang Mingzhe put Duan Yu down and let him drink the internal medicine first. Two members of the Shennong Gang then helped him to the back of a big tree, where he took off his clothes and washed himself with the medicinal juice.

A moment later, Duan Yu could be heard cheering from afar: "Brother, the doctors of the Shennong Gang are amazing! My itching is gone!"

Jiang Mingzhe smiled, clasped his hands in a fist salute to Sikong Xuan, and said, "Chief Sikong, thank you for your trouble."

Sikong Xuan chuckled, about to speak, when he saw Jiang Mingzhe's smile vanish. He glanced at the women of Lingjiu Palace and said coldly, "Thank you, thank you. It's time to settle accounts. Your Shennong Gang must be under the command of Lingjiu Palace, right? My brother sincerely sought medical help and secretly revealed his ailment, but Gang Leader Sikong insisted on making a scene, humiliating my brother in front of everyone. Is this an attempt to use my brother's shame to amuse those women and curry favor with your master?"

Looking at his expressionless face, Sikong Xuan's eyelids twitched involuntarily, and he quickly waved his hand: "It's a misunderstanding, Master Long, you've misunderstood. I had no such intention."

Jiang Mingzhe said, "A doctor should have a benevolent heart. Whether it's a misunderstanding or not, we are not fools to be laughed at. It's your business who you want to please, but if you want to make fun of us, I, Long, will make sure you never have any more fun. This time, I'm grateful that you cured my brother's poison, so I won't hold it against you. But if there's a next time..."

Sikong Xuan wanted to defend himself, but when he met Jiang Mingzhe's eyes, he didn't dare to say the words that were on the tip of his tongue. He smiled bitterly and said, "I will remember this and will never dare to do it again."

Jiang Mingzhe nodded, then suddenly felt someone staring intently at him. He turned his head and saw it was the talisman envoy. She smiled casually at him and said lightly, "Sister, do you perhaps have something to teach me?"

Envoy Fu smiled slightly and was about to speak when a cry of surprise rang out. One of the two disciples who was applying medicine to Duan Yu ran out from behind the tree and shouted, pointing behind the tree, "Chief, the swelling on this person's face has subsided, but I recognized him. He is the one I chased and who fell into Sword Lake Canyon from here. He actually didn't die!"

The talisman envoy's previously friendly gaze suddenly sharpened upon hearing this, and he shouted sternly, "Long Aotian, did you two come from this canyon?"

(End of this chapter)