Chapter 5: Horse Beast

Farbright City was the third largest city in the Prosperous Nation.

The city was situated on a plain and took up an area in excess of 100 kilometers. To the south of the city was a large river, and transport via both land and water was very convenient, thereby giving rise to the flourishing city.

At this moment, there was a long line of people outside the city gate, and it was a very noisy and bustling scene.

Liu Le'er led the young man through the crowd, feeling rather anxious as she occasionally looked up above the city gate, which was several dozen feet tall.

An octagonal copper mirror was hanging there, and it was directly facing the city gate.

The sun was hanging high up in the sky, and the eight trigram diagram engraved onto the surface of the copper mirror was glowing under the light of the sun, giving off a sense of righteous energy.

All that was required for entry to be granted into the city was for a fee to be issued. The examination process wasn't very strict, and soon, it was Liu Le'er and the young man's turn.

The two of them arrived at the foot of the city gate, directly facing the octagonal copper mirror up above, and both of them were enshrouded in a burst of indescribable power.

Liu Le'er seemed to be quite stiff and anxious as she lowered her head, while the young man was staring directly at the copper mirror with a dazed expression.

Everyone failed to notice the faint glimmer of blue light that flashed through his eyes for an instant, and it didn't seem to have any effect on the mirror anyway.

A middle-aged city guard took a glance at the two of them, then asked in a lazy voice, "Where are you from, and why are you visiting our city?"

Liu Le'er immediately put on a bright smile as she replied, "We are from the Liu Clan Village located around 150 kilometers northwest of here. My name is Liu Le'er, and this is my brother, Liu Shi. We have come to Farbright City to visit some relatives and to treat my brother's condition."

Even though she and the young man had been living on their own for the majority of the past five years, occasional interaction with other people was unavoidable, so she had assigned the young man with the name of "Liu Shi" for the sake of convenience.

Liu Le'er pulled out some copper coins before handing them to the guard as she spoke, issuing a sum that was slightly more than the fee required to enter the city.

A pleased look appeared on the middle-aged guard's face upon seeing this, and he discreetly put the excess copper coins into his own pocket. He then took an extra glance at the dazed Liu Shi before waving them through.

"You two don't look like bad people. Go in now."

Liu Le'er gave a grateful response, then quickly led Liu Shi into the city. They walked for quite a distance, and only after reaching a secluded corner far away from the city gate did Liu Le'er slow down and heave a sigh of relief.

After making sure that no one was around, Liu Le'er pulled out an azure jade talisman as she murmured to herself, "It's a good thing that Dada gave me this Aura Concealment Talisman that can conceal my demonic aura so I wasn't exposed by the Demon Spotting Mirror."

The jade talisman was two inches in length and around two centimeters wide, with azure designs engraved all over its surface to form a complex array. Bursts of gentle azure light were surging over its surface like flowing water.

A hint of sorrow flashed through her eyes at the sight of the jade talisman, and she carefully stowed it away again.

After turning past two alleyways, the two of them arrived on the main street of Farbright City.

The street was wide enough to fit three horse-drawn carriages side by side with one another, and it was lined with countless large shops that stretched as far as the eyes could see.

However, there were very few brick and tile buildings in the city. Most of the buildings were constructed from wood instead, and even though the buildings weren't very tall or large, with very few of them exceeding even 100 feet in height, they were extremely intricate, and it was clear that there was great attention to detail in the craftsmanship.

This was the first time that Liu Le'er had ever visited such a large city, and she was pressed up tightly against Liu Shi as the dense crowds of people around her made her feel rather uneasy.

However, even though there were many people around them, they were all focused on their own business, and none of them bothered to interact with her and Liu Shi. As a result, she gradually became more at ease and began to have her attention drawn to all of the new things that she was seeing in the city. Soon, she was strolling along the street in tow with an intrigued expression.

"Look over there, Brother Rock! I've heard of that thing before, and it really does look as delicious as the stories I've heard!" Liu Le'er exclaimed while staring at a nearby stall that was selling sugar-coated haws.

The bustling scene in the city was reflected in Liu Shi's inky-black eyes, but he remained completely expressionless, seemingly unmoved by what he was seeing.

Liu Le'er was just about to drag Liu Shi over to the stall, but a hint of dejection suddenly welled up in her heart at the sight of his vacant eyes. She was immediately reminded of their objective for visiting the city in the first place, and she hurriedly tightened her ground on Liu Shi's hand as she said in an earnest voice, "Don't worry, Brother Rock. This is a massive city, there's definitely going to be a doctor here who can cure your condition."

Liu Shi's eyes flashed ever so slightly upon hearing this.

Liu Le'er led Liu Shi to a streetside food stall for a quick meal, then asked around and quickly secured the addresses for the two nearest medical clinics.

To the west of the city was the Li Family's medical clinic.

This medical clinic had already been around for over 100 years, making it a truly time-honored establishment in the city.

A middle-aged man in a long azure robe was seated atop a wooden chair with three of his fingers resting on Liu Shi's wrist to examine his pulse, while Liu Le'er was looking on from the side with an anxious expression.

The man's name was Li Changqing, and he was the current heir to the Li Family's medical clinic. He had already been practicing medicine for over 20 years and had earned quite a reputation for himself in the area.

After feeling Liu Shi's pulse for some time, Li Changqing withdrew his hand.

"Your brother's pulse is very strong and stable, and his energy is very abundant and well-balanced. It's clear that he's in exceptional physical condition. How did he sustain this condition? When did the symptoms first appear, and were there any external factors at play?" Li Changqing asked as he turned to Liu Le'er with furrowed brows.

"My brother and I have been apart for many years, so I don't know when he suffered this condition or the root cause," Liu Le'er replied with a shake of her head.

"That's rather problematic then. If I don't know the cause, then there's no way for me to administer treatment. My apologies, but with my limited skills, I am unable to help you," Li Changqing said as he stroked his long beard with an apologetic expression.

"Is there really no way at all?" Liu Le'er asked in an urgent voice.

"I'm afraid not," Li Changqing reaffirmed with a shake of his head.

Liu Le'er was very disappointed to hear this, and she extended a curtsey toward Li Changqing before departing from the clinic with Liu Shi.

She hung her head in dejection for a while, but then quickly turned to Liu Shi as she encouraged, "There are many more medical clinics in Farbright City. We'll visit them one by one, I'm sure one of the doctors will be able to cure you."

Liu Shi smiled in response, but it was unclear whether he understood Liu Le'er or not.

The two of them made their way in the same direction, passing through two streets before arriving in front of another medical clinic.

This clinic had gray outer walls with black roof tiles and a wide entrance, presenting a lavish sight to behold. The clinic was far more spectacular than the Li Family's medical clinic, and there were many people here for its services as well.

"Given how good this clinic looks, I'm sure the doctors here will be more skilled as well."

Liu Le'er led Liu Shi into the clinic with a hopeful expression, but Liu Le'er was left disappointed once again as the two of them re-emerged around an hour later.

"It's alright, there are still other clinics in the city." Liu Le'er quickly pulled herself together again.

Throughout the rest of the day, the two of them made their way through the entire city, visiting virtually all of the medical clinics, but none of the doctors were able to treat Liu Shi's condition.

……

To the north of the city was a clinic by the name of Wild Chrysanthemum Clinic, and Liu Le'er and Liu Shi emerged slowly from inside.

Liu Le'er wore a dejected expression as she hung her head while fiddling with the corner of her dress.

The Wild Chrysanthemum Clinic wasn't the largest medical clinic in Farbright City, but it was said that the doctors there were quite adept at treating some rare and complex conditions. Unfortunately, even they were unable to diagnose Liu Shi's condition.

"Please wait a moment, little girl." Right at this moment, a voice suddenly rang out from behind them, and an azure-robed elderly man with a head of gray hair quickly rushed out of the clinic.

Liu Le'er was rather taken aback by this, and she stopped in her tracks before asking, "What is it, Doctor Liu?"

The azure-robed elderly man was none other than the doctor of the Wild Chrysanthemum Clinic who had just examined Liu Shi's pulse.

A hint of hope welled up in Liu Le'er's heart, and she hurriedly asked, "Could it be that you've thought of something related to my brother's condition?"

"Indeed, I have. After examining your brother's condition just now, I went to the back to do some reading, and I just so happened to stumble across a case that is rather similar to your brother's symptoms," the elderly man replied with a nod.

Liu Le'er was ecstatic to hear this. "That's fantastic! Could I ask you to elaborate, Doctor Liu?"

"According to the records in the book, your brother's symptoms are different from what is normally seen in patients suffering from a debilitating mental condition. Instead, it seems more like he's been cursed or had a restriction planted on him that's harmed his soul. This is not something that the average doctor will be able to treat.

“Only immortal doctors who are adept in this field will perhaps be able to administer the correct treatment. As for your brother's inability to speak, that's not a concern. I can see that there's nothing physically wrong with him, so he'll naturally recover his ability to speak once his soul is restored to normal," the elderly man replied.

Liu Le'er fell silent upon hearing this, and after a while, she forced a smile onto her own face as she said, "Thank you for your advice, Doctor Liu."

"You're welcome, little girl. Doctors like us have an obligation to do everything we can for our patients," the elderly man replied before returning to the clinic.

Liu Le'er and Liu Shi continued on their way, and the former was feeling rather dejected.

"So Brother Rock really has had his soul harmed by someone," she murmured to herself.

As a demonic fox, even though she was still very young, she had a certain level of understanding of matters related to cultivation, and judging from Liu Shi's symptoms, she had already deduced that there was a chance that his soul had been harmed.

In order to treat him, she had to seek out the assistance of a cultivator adept in the way of the soul.

However, cultivators who fit that description were all extremely powerful, and she wasn't confident that her Aura Concealment Talisman would be able to keep her identity a secret in the presence of such a cultivator.

She had come to Farbright City to seek out medical treatment on the slim hope that she was incorrect in her assessment, but her worst fears had been confirmed.

Liu Le'er was rather hesitant about how to proceed.

Right as she was walking along the street in an absentminded manner with her brows furrowed, a commotion suddenly rang out up ahead, and everyone immediately erupted into a panic.

"Look out! There's a horse beast on a rampage!"

A cry of alarm rang out up ahead, and everyone frantically dove to the sides of the street to avoid the oncoming danger.

Not far away, there was a silver carriage being drawn by an azure horse-like beast with scales all over its entire body. It was galloping along the street as if it had gone insane, and it just so happened to be charging directly toward Liu Le'er and Liu Shi.

The horse-like beast neighed in a deranged manner, while the carriage behind it was swaying violently from side to side. The coach driver's face was as pale as a sheet, and he was pulling on the reins with all his might, but to no avail.

Liu Le'er was greatly alarmed by this, and she immediately tried to drag Liu Shi away to avoid the rampaging beast, but it was already too late.

A putrid stench wafted through the air as the horse-like beast reached within 10 feet of Liu Le'er and Liu Shi in the blink of an eye. It was so close that Liu Le'er could even see the globules of white froth that were flying in all directions from the sharp fangs in the beast's mouth.