Chapter 124: Finding an Alternative

Poison Physician Consort

After everyone squeezed their blood into the bowl, Bai Luochu didn’t hesitate and released her blood using the silver needle. She turned to speak with Ying Lan and Cai Ling, “It’s your turn.”

Ying Lan didn’t hesitate but Cai Ling was rather apprehensive. Bai Luochu urged her on, “Why not try to circulate your spirit qi and force the blood out?”

“Spirit qi? Master, how could I possess spirit qi?!” When Cai Ling heard this suggestion, she assumed that Bai Luochu was intentionally making fun of her.

Bai Luochu smiled and said, “Listen and do what I say. Let your qi sink to your dantian and throw your spirit sense into the spirit sea. Circulate your spirit sense along the direction of your meridians. Shift the spirit sense to your left ring finger and exert some strength in your dantian. Force your qi into your finger.”

Along with Bai Luochu’s instructions and Cai Ling’s series of actions, everyone saw a lump of half materialized qi on the fingertip of the servant girl. In a flash, that lump of qi seemed to turn red. At this moment, Bai Luochu suddenly spoke, “Put your hand above the porcelain bowl and turn your finger.”

After the words left Bai Luochu’s mouth, a drop of fresh and bright red colored blood fell into the bowl.

Not only was everyone amazed, even Cai Ling felt that it was unbelievable. Only Ying Lan and Bai Luochu had an abnormally calm expression on their face. It felt as though this scenario was within the duo’s expectations.

“Mis… Master, what is going on? Why does this servant have spirit qi?” The impact might have been too huge for Cai Ling, causing her to stutter as she spoke.

Bai Luochu glanced at Ying Lan and saw that his expression didn’t even change. She explained, “You will probably have to ask Commander Ying personally. He nearly tricked me as well. Had it not been for the change in your walking posture these few days, I wouldn’t even know that he had actually imparted this technique to you.”

Cai Ling was confused and just as she was about to ask, Ying Lan spoke up, “If there is anything you wish to ask, you can do so later. Let’s not waste everyone’s time right now..”

Before Cai Ling could say anything, she shoved all her words back into her stomach. Cai Ling didn’t argue nor did she show any unpleasant expression on her face.

After this brief interlude, a serious expression appeared on Bai Luochu’s face once again and she said, “Ying Lan, is the map ready?”

“Yes. This map is too big and in order to draw out the paths we need to take, I’ll get someone to bring a table over.” Ying Lan was about to wave his hand to signal for someone to bring the map and table over.

“That is not necessary.” When Bai Luochu saw that Ying Lan was about to summon someone to bring an entire table over, she stopped him. “There is no need to make it so troublesome. Everyone will have to gather around in order to look at the map on the table. It won’t be clear for some people who are standing at odd angles. Why not suspend it behind me, just like in the military camps? Everyone will be able to see the map clearly.”

Ying Lan heard the suggestion and felt that Bai Luochu’s method was much better. He immediately asked for some men to bring two rods to hold the map up.

Bai Luochu turned around and looked at the map. She realized that the distance from the capital city to the Falling Cloud Mountain Range was around a thousand miles, but there were plenty of paths to choose from. The shortest path would only require three days of traveling.

“Are there any suggestions?” Bai Luochu didn’t speak of her decision and instead, she threw out a question to the members present.

Everyone looked at each other and didn’t know what they were supposed to say. When Ying Lan saw that no one was going to speak, he took the initiative to break the silence.

“Master, from what this subordinate sees, we can use this path and avoid the people using the main path. We will be able to avoid clashing with the other factions along the way and we will be able to arrive at the Fallen Cloud Mountain Range in the shortest amount of time.”

“However, this path seems rather risky. If bandits were to attack us during the journey, things might get troublesome.” The one who spoke up was the scholar-looking man.

“My grandfather was once the transport envoy of the Cloud Water Nation. He had no choice but to take different paths due to unforeseen complications. I am untalented and can only remember the locations where bandits are located. Why not let me circle out those locations on the map before planning out a new route?” Guan Yue who had been silent the whole time spoke up. Guan Yue was a descendant of a declining clan and it wasn’t a surprise for his grandfather to be a transport envoy. When everyone saw that Ying Lan and Guan Yue were trying to pick out the safest path, none of them objected.

“Cai Ling, go prepare a red-inked brush for Young Master Guan.” Bai Luochu instructed.

Cai Ling acknowledged the order and immediately headed into the inner room. After a short while, she brought out a tray with a brush and an ink plate filled with red ink.

When Guan Yue saw the items, he stood up and walked towards Bai Luochu. He picked up the brush and started to circle out the locations.

In a few moments, he marked out all the locations in his memory. Just as Guan Yue placed the brush down and was about to head back to his seat, Bai Luochu threw out a question. “Which path does Yong Master Guan think we should take?”

Bai Luochu understood that Guan Yue had been raised in the Guan Clan as the next successor and was even entrusted with the task of restoring the clan’s glory. Since that was the case, he should be able to think of the safest path.

After hearing the question directed at him, Guan Yue stared blankly into space for a moment before realizing that Divine Physician Bai was clear about his background. As soon as Guan Yue said he was going to circle out the locations, Divine Physician Bai already had plans for Guan Yue to reveal everything he knew.

Guan Yue couldn’t help but shake his head as a smile appeared on his face. Divine Physician Bai is truly a shrewd person. In terms of schemes, not even Ying Lan could compare to Bai Luochu, let alone a young and inexperienced person like Guan Yue. It was no wonder Divine Physician Bai could make a person like Ying Lan serve beside him so willingly.

Guan Yue understood that even if he didn’t say it now, he would be questioned in private. He immediately picked up the brush again and traced out two of the safest routes from the capital city to the Falling Cloud Mountain Range.

Bai Luochu looked at the route and became rather doubtful. She then asked, “Why did you pick these two routes?”

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