Chapter 34: Diagnosis on the Cliff

Seeing the crowd of people, Yao Kui felt as if he had stumbled into an ambush of the legendary outlaws of Mount Liang. He quickly cupped his hands toward the sedan bearers and said, "Everyone, everyone, it is a misunderstanding! A complete misunderstanding!"

He glared at Duan Jinhu, muttering, "All you know how to do is fight, fight, fight..."

Suppressing the fury in his heart, he turned back to the bearers. "We will pay you, but you must tell us: is there any secluded place in this vicinity?"

"Anything is negotiable once the money is paid," the bearers clamored.

Yao Kui turned to the sedan behind him and called out, "Yanxiang, come over and settle the bill with these gentlemen."

Du Yanxiang stepped out of the sedan, speaking with a coy, coquettish tone. "Oh, dear brothers, it is not that our Chairman refuses to pay; he is simply unfamiliar with the local customs." As she spoke, she pulled out a thick wad of banknotes and handed them to the thin man. "Thank you for your hard work; this is your compensation."

The thin man took a look and saw that the amount was triple what had been agreed upon. He quickly waved his hands. "Miss, this is too much—far too much. You don't need to give us so much."

Du Yanxiang tilted her head and smiled. "Don't be so modest, brother. Please don't hold a grudge against my brother here. It is not much money, and we will still need you to carry us down later, won't we? Besides, we still need your guidance on many things."

With that, she firmly pressed the money into the thin man's hand. Seeing her attitude and her generosity, the men felt embarrassed.

The thin man said, "You don't understand. Ever since the great flood, epidemics have been spreading again, and more and more people are coming up the mountain to seek medicine. To prevent contagion, the Taoist priests of Wudang Mountain have reverted to the ancient practice of treating patients without seeing them." He pointed to a faint, winding path on the side of the cliff. "Follow that path; you might find the people you are looking for."

Yao Kui looked at the trail. The snow had already buried his ankles, and the drifts on either side were taller than a man. The journey would certainly be arduous. But to cure his illness, he gritted his teeth and decided to lead his party along the path.

The cold wind sliced across their faces like a blade. They trudged through the snow, each step heavy and uncertain, filled with hidden challenges.

Duan Jinhu suddenly recalled something. Having spent time at a martial arts school at the foot of Wudang Mountain, he had heard stories of such things. He whispered to Yao Kui, "Chairman, we have to 'call the mountain'."

"How do we call it?" Yao Kui asked, puzzled.

"Watch me," Duan Jinhu said, brimming with confidence. He quickly strode to the edge of the cliff and shouted toward the heights, "Hey! Master on the cliff, which Taoist is on duty? Please, show us a sign..."

No sooner had he spoken than a crisp sound of bells echoed from above. Moments later, a rope with a basket attached was lowered down.

Duan Jinhu hurriedly placed the pre-prepared scroll—containing Yao Kui’s birth date, his symptoms, and the words spoken by Shen Xingyun—into the basket.

Watching the basket slowly rise, Yao Kui’s heart climbed into his throat.

Not long after, the basket was lowered again. The group rushed forward to check it, fully expecting a diagnosis, medicinal herbs, or a treatment plan. Instead, Yao Kui found only a single note.

Yao Kui snatched the paper, his eyes fixed on the message: "Respected fellow seeker, desires cannot weary the eyes, nor can evil confuse the heart. Fear not the material world, and be not a servant to things. When form and spirit are united, one may live out their full natural lifespan. The illness you suffer is an ancient affliction; though it stems from external causes, its roots lie in the heart. While this mountain dweller possesses miraculous elixirs, they cannot excise the root of your ailment."

It continued: "The ancient physician Sun Simiao wrote in his 'Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold': 'If one's morality is not complete, even if one consumes the golden elixir, one cannot attain longevity. If one's morality is complete day by day, longevity comes without prayer, and blessings arrive without seeking. This is the great path of self-cultivation.' Therefore, health depends on refining the heart and cultivating virtue. When the spirit is pure and simple, the body naturally clears. You should follow the ancient teachings. Do not act with bias or recklessness, do not seek shortcuts, and do not be impatient for success; otherwise, you will only bring about your own destruction. I hope you will take care of yourself."

Duan Jinhu turned red with rage. "Chairman, this is clearly a refusal to treat us!" He rolled up his sleeves, ready to storm up the mountain to demand an explanation.

Yao Kui waved his hand dismissively. "Forget it. I don't think they have any real talent anyway! Otherwise, they wouldn't use such platitudes to fob us off."

Duan Jinhu patted his chest. "Chairman, don't worry. I will make sure to get an explanation from them!"

Yao Kui narrowed his eyes, staring at the mountain for a long time before saying slowly, "Let’s wait until I am cured." With that, the group turned and began the long trek down.

On the way down, Yao Kui suddenly asked, "Did you have a run-in with the people of Wudang Mountain in the past?" Duan Jinhu looked embarrassed, stammering, "I did have some conflict with the people from the Golden Summit of Wudang Mountain back in the day."

"What exactly happened?" Yao Kui pressed.

Duan Jinhu recalled, "Back then, we were studying Taekwondo at a martial arts school below the mountain. Our master said that martial artists should frequently spar with others to improve their combat skills in real practice."

Yao Kui gave him a look of disdain. "So you went up the mountain to pick a fight?"

Duan Jinhu hesitated before nodding. "I suppose you could say that."

Yao Kui asked, "And the result?"

Duan Jinhu looked a bit guilty, but quickly puffed out his broad chest. "I didn't lose! If it were today, I'd beat them all until they were on the ground, calling me 'Grandpa'."

Yao Kui sensed there was more to the story. "Was there nothing else?"

Duan Jinhu grew even more sheepish. "Well, there was something else. My boss took a fancy to a young lady on the mountain..."

"I knew it wasn't that simple. Tell me."

Seeing that the Chairman didn't seem to mind, Duan Jinhu rambled on. "Chairman, isn't it strange? Girls all look the same, but once they put on those Taoist robes, they have this unique air about them. You should have seen her—the way she looked, tsk tsk, it was enough to make anyone crave her..."

Yao Kui impatiently interrupted, "To the secular world, those who renounce the world always carry a sense of mystery. And you restless fools, spending all your energy trying to woo them—is it any wonder you got into trouble?"

Duan Jinhu sighed with regret. "Chairman, let me tell you, there was a girl on the mountain named Bao Xiaotong. Her face, her figure—it was perfect. Beautiful, yet with a wild streak. If you had been there, with your abilities, you would have won her over in a heartbeat."

Duan Jinhu's words stirred memories in Yao Kui. He thought back to his own glorious past, when he could have anything he desired. But now, looking at his own monstrous reflection, a wave of resentment surged within him.

No, he had to find a cure. He had to unlock the code of his own life.

Duan Jinhu continued, "When I was on Wudang, I heard that alchemy could lead to immortality. There is internal alchemy, which uses the body as a furnace, refining essence, energy, and spirit—like the guidance techniques of Qiu Chuji’s Quanzhen Dragon Gate Sect. I reckon it's similar to Qigong."

Yao Kui said helplessly, "I can't master internal alchemy in such a short time."

Duan Jinhu quickly added, "Exactly. But external alchemy is different. It originates from the Tao of Huang-Lao, also known as the Art of Yellow and White or the Golden Elixir technique. It involves using furnaces to refine minerals, spiritual herbs, rare creatures, and even heavy metals like mercury. They say these pills are miraculous—they can cure any disease and even help one achieve immortality."

Yao Kui frowned. "That is what Qin Shi Huang pursued. I don't care about immortality; I just want to be cured."

"Why not give it a try?" Duan Jinhu urged.

"Fine. We'll try it when we get back." A flicker of hope crossed Yao Kui’s eyes.

Yao Kui was a man who would never stop until he reached his goal. As soon as he returned to Kunming, he set up a site and eagerly erected a bronze alchemy furnace, beginning to refine pills according to ancient recipes.

He sent his men to scour the land for minerals, rare plants, and exotic animals, even collecting heavy metals like mercury to feed into the furnace. Yet, despite countless attempts and rituals, he could never produce the so-called Golden Elixir.

As days passed, not only did Yao Kui's condition fail to improve, but he developed a new, strange malady. Whenever he felt anger or fear, his skin would turn green, and hard, goose-like bumps would ripple across his flesh, as if he had been poisoned by a curse.

His condition flared up sporadically, and each time, the pain was unbearable, forcing him to rely on heavy doses of sedatives. This only made his temperament grow colder and more sinister.

To avoid further poisoning himself, Yao Kui turned to using animals for his experiments. But watching them die one after another shattered his spirit completely.

Seeing this, Duan Jinhu advised, "This won't work. To refine the Golden Elixir, we need the guidance of a master." Yao Kui immediately ordered his men to search everywhere for such a master, promising a reward of one million for anyone who could find one.

Meanwhile, the loss of neutrinos at the ice-covered research station had caught the attention of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. They decided to dispatch a team of experts to Yunnan for an on-site investigation.

The Southwest Academy of Sciences, located near Dianchi Lake in Kunming, was a national-level comprehensive research entity. Its primary mission involved information gathering, scientific research, and species storage for Southwest China and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau—the "Third Pole" of the world. It was also tasked with the exploration and development of new energy, and it had made significant strides in the research of space technology and trans-dimensional conversion.