Author: 哔哔 (Bi Bi) / Jin Gang Quan
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 36
The inner courtyard of the Celestial Master Temple was far quieter than Huo Fenghua had expected. Gu Guangji grabbed him and leapt over several roof ridges without running into a single person.
Later, Gu Guangji brought him to an alchemy room in the inner courtyard. The two of them lay on the roof. Gu Guangji shifted aside a gray roof tile and peeked in. Huo Fenghua saw a young Taoist inside, keeping watch by the alchemy furnace.
He was about to speak when Gu Guangji, quick as a cat, lifted a hand and covered his mouth, then shook his head at him. After that, he whispered into Huo Fenghua’s ear, “Did you practice the manual I gave you?”
If Gu Guangji hadn’t mentioned it, Huo Fenghua would’ve almost forgotten. When he’d been traveling with Wen Heyi, he’d trained along the way. Later, with Feng Tianzong, his attention got pulled elsewhere and he’d stopped practicing. Now that Gu Guangji asked, he still thick-shamelessly nodded, pretending he’d practiced.
Gu Guangji narrowed his eyes at him, doubt written all over his face. “You really practiced, yet you don’t even know the breathing and qi-circulation method? You’re panting like that. The moment that that old demon Zixi shows up, he’ll sense you!”
Huo Fenghua froze, then tried to recall what the manual said and the breathing method Wen Heyi had taught him. He gradually softened his breathing, stretching it long and light until it was nearly imperceptible.
Gu Guangji looked like he’d just met the dumbest student alive, glaring at him in disgust. “If you can’t persist in martial training, it’s meaningless. From today onward, no matter whether you’re eating or sleeping, don’t forget to regulate your breath and cultivate qi.”
Huo Fenghua nodded quickly.
Gu Guangji heard his breathing grow distant and faint, then patted his chest to signal him to pay attention below.
The young Taoist inside stood up with a tray in his hands, opened the door, and walked out. The two of them crouched on the roof and waited until he’d gone far away. Then Gu Guangji grabbed Huo Fenghua and flipped down from the roof, quietly pushing the door open and slipping inside.
In the center of the alchemy room stood a large alchemy furnace. The fire was blazing, making the air inside scorching hot. Several meditation cushions lay on the floor beside the furnace. Along the left wall was a cabinet full of small drawers containing ingredients and medicinal materials. Along the right wall stood a grand armchair. And straight ahead was a statue of the Celestial Master.
Gu Guangji shoved Huo Fenghua behind the statue and made him hide.
“Where are you going?” Huo Fenghua asked in a hurry when he saw Gu Guangji about to leave.
Gu Guangji whispered, “I’ll help you find that Feng kid. Stay here quietly. Don’t do anything. Just don’t get discovered. Once I find that Feng kid, I’ll come back for you.”
Huo Fenghua wanted to say, Then don’t bring me in here in the first place! But before he could get the words out, Gu Guangji had already vanished out the door, leaving him alone in the alchemy room.
Not long after Gu Guangji left, the young Taoist from earlier returned, sat down beside the furnace, and kept fanning the flames with a palm fan.
Huo Fenghua didn’t dare move at all. He could only do as Gu Guangji said, keeping his breathing light and slow so he wouldn’t be discovered.
After a while, he didn’t know how long, only that it felt like a very long time, two more young Taoists entered. This time it was a boy and a girl, both delicate-featured and pretty. They told the one fanning the fire to move aside, sat down on the cushions, and then started taking off their clothes.
Huo Fenghua forced down his shock and carefully peeked out through a gap beside the statue.
The pair quickly stripped naked, while the young Taoist by the fire acted as if nothing was happening, eyes fixed on the furnace. The two of them, naked, only huddled around the furnace for warmth. They did nothing else, until someone outside pushed the door open and came in.
This time it was a Taoist in purple robes. His beard and hair were completely white, yet his face glowed with health. The three young Taoists in the room all dropped to their knees and bowed to him, calling, “Master.”
The purple-robed Taoist nodded, walked over, and sat down in the armchair. He said to the boy and girl, “Come here.”
They went to his side. The boy knelt to massage his legs, while the girl stood beside him to knead his shoulders, conveniently blocking the line of sight between the purple-robed Taoist and the statue.
Huo Fenghua didn’t dare relax. He was certain this Taoist was True Master Zixi.
Zixi sat in the armchair and asked the young Taoist fanning the fire, “How much longer?”
The young Taoist replied, “Reporting to Master, another half an hour.”
Zixi said, “I’ve told you many times what makes this pill precious. Be careful. If you botch it, I’ll stuff you into the furnace and burn you too.”
The young Taoist trembled all over, kowtowing repeatedly. “Disciple understands. Disciple wouldn’t dare…”
Zixi glanced down at the boy by his feet and said coldly, “Stupid and dull. You can’t do anything but knead legs?”
The boy’s hands paused. Then he reached between Zixi’s legs, undid his belt, pulled out the dark-colored penis there, opened his mouth, and took it in.
Zixi pulled the girl onto one of his legs and sat her there, his hand rubbing and kneading her tender body.
Seeing they were no older than fourteen, Huo Fenghua felt sick. He shut his eyes. Those townspeople were scrambling to send their children to the temple to become Zixi’s disciples, never imagining they were delivering them into a den of lust to be humiliated.
For a time, the only sounds in the alchemy room were the girl’s soft moans.
Huo Fenghua kept his eyes shut, but he could feel the subtlety of breath cultivation. He was lazy by nature. When Wen Heyi taught him, he learned it, but mostly practiced martial techniques. He’d never put in the effort to train internal power.
Wen Heyi had once said that the manual Gu Guangji passed to him was actually extremely refined. It could even pass as the sect’s core cultivation method. If he trained diligently, given his age, in another twenty years he’d achieve something. Becoming moderately well-known in the martial world would be no problem. But Huo Fenghua didn’t want “moderately well-known.” Besides, in twenty years he’d be nearing forty. What would martial fame do for him then? He’d rather open a gambling house, make money, become a rich local boss, keep a wife and concubines, and live carefree. So after learning it, he’d forgotten.
Now, practicing again, he felt a faint thread of internal energy gathering in his dantian, and as he breathed in and out, it slowly grew.
After Zixi finished defiling the boy and girl and his beastly desires were satisfied, he waved them out. He restored himself to a perfectly proper appearance, then paced before the furnace.
The young Taoist fanning the fire was drenched through with sweat. He didn’t dare stop for even a moment, working the palm fan hard.
At this final stage, the pill required fierce fire. At the peak of the flames, cold water was used to extinguish the furnace. Then the doors and windows were opened and the furnace left to cool gradually. Only then would the pill be complete.
Zixi had taught him all this. This “Qi-Gathering Golden Pill” was already Zixi’s fifth attempt and still hadn’t succeeded. Each time, he’d adjusted materials and fire control. Each time, he insisted it would succeed. And if it failed, he blamed the furnace attendant.
All the young Taoists used for alchemy were orphans the temple Taoists had picked up from outside, with no parents. When the alchemy failed, Zixi would shove them into the furnace and burn them to death. No one would look for them. They would die, and that was that.
This furnace attendant had once witnessed Zixi kill another pill boy who’d grown up with him. Back then, he’d been so frightened he’d lost control of himself, pressing his face to the floor and not daring to lift his eyes.
If today’s alchemy failed, he knew he wouldn’t live either.
The fire grew hotter and hotter. Even Huo Fenghua, hidden behind the statue, was soaked through with sweat. Zixi’s mind was wholly fixed on his golden pill, and he still hadn’t noticed there was someone hidden in the room.
When the flames nearly surged out of the furnace, Zixi shouted, “Time’s up! Why aren’t you moving?”
The young Taoist threw aside the fan, grabbed a bucket of water, and splashed it onto the flames. Such a sudden temperature drop could easily crack the pill. By the proper method, the furnace should’ve been cooled gradually. But this Qi-Gathering Golden Pill was Zixi’s life’s work. By his own claim, once refined, it could increase a person’s power by sixty years. Many of the ingredients were extremely difficult to obtain. After so many failures, his remaining precious materials were only enough for this last pill. This time, success was mandatory.
The sudden cooling was something he’d stubbornly insisted on after repeated failures. He was arrogant to the core. If anything went wrong, it would never be his fault.
After the flames were extinguished, the young Taoist ran to the window and opened it. Outside in the courtyard, a figure flashed past.
Zixi rushed to the window and barked, “Who’s there?” He braced one hand on the sill, about to chase out, but then thought of the pill and pulled back, shouting, “Guards! Someone’s trespassed into the inner court! Go check!”
He returned to the furnace anxiously, and said to the young Taoist, “Open it!”
Though the fire had been put out, the furnace was still searing hot. The young Taoist used a wooden clamp to grip the lid. His hands shook as he lifted it.
Zixi’s palm was slick with sweat too. He stared into the furnace and saw only a pale layer of ash. There was no golden pill at all.
The lid slipped from the young Taoist’s grip and clattered to the floor. He backed away in terror.
Zixi’s ruddy face seemed to swell and turn purple. He lifted his hand and struck toward the young Taoist’s head. If that palm landed on the crown, the boy would die instantly. But just as he struck, another shadow flashed outside the window. Zixi chopped down, then hastily pulled back and leapt out the window, ready to vent all his rage on the intruder.
The young Taoist shrank his neck and squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for death, but the blow never came. Zixi had been distracted. His strike went wide and slammed into the furnace instead, smashing it apart with a bang.
Ash exploded through the room. The young Taoist opened his eyes and saw Zixi was gone. He breathed a brief sigh of relief, then collapsed on the floor, unable to get up. He knew that once Zixi returned, he’d still die. Blank-eyed, he looked around, trying to find something to end his own life first, rather than be burned alive.
Huo Fenghua, hiding behind the statue, also got a faceful of ash. He silently wiped the dust off his face. Then he heard a light tapping sound, like marbles falling onto wooden boards. He opened his eyes and searched and saw a tiny golden pill pellet had dropped not far in front of him.
The “golden pill” was incredibly small. It wasn’t anything like the big ones he’d seen on TV. It was no larger than a tear drop. Seeing Zixi wasn’t in the room, he went over and picked it up. He raised it close to examine it, only to see the young Taoist grab a pair of scissors and stab toward his own throat.
Huo Fenghua jumped in fright. He burst out from behind the statue, lunged forward, and snatched the scissors away. “Isn’t it better to live? Why are you trying to kill yourself?”
The young Taoist’s face was smeared with ash, two clear tracks of tears running down. He cried in panic, “Who are you?”
Huo Fenghua lied, “I’m the reincarnation of the Celestial Master. I’m here to save your life.”
The young Taoist really had seen him come out from behind the statue. And though Huo Fenghua’s face was dusty, his features were striking, especially his bright, captivating eyes. The boy froze, then said, “Really?”
Huo Fenghua had heard Zixi and the young Taoist’s conversation earlier. He said, “A golden pill, right? Take a look. Is it this one?”
He pinched the tiny pill between his fingers and held it up. The young Taoist leaned in to examine it, even sniffed it. His face filled with shock. “Yes. This is Master’s Qi-Gathering Golden Pill!”
The pill had been so tiny, buried in the ash, that neither of them had seen it at first.
Then the young Taoist whispered, “How can it be so small? Did it actually succeed?” He’d never seen a pill this small.
“A Qi-Gathering Golden Pill?” At that instant, a head dropped down into the window from outside, hanging upside down as it spoke.
Huo Fenghua turned and saw Gu Guangji dangling outside the window, peering in.
Gu Guangji stared at the pill in Huo Fenghua’s hand and barked at the young Taoist, “Is this the Qi-Gathering Golden Pill? I’m asking you!”
The young Taoist nodded. “It is. I’m sure.”
Gu Guangji reached a hand toward Huo Fenghua. “Give it.”
The young Taoist panicked. “No! That belongs to Master!” He reached to snatch it from Huo Fenghua.
Huo Fenghua dodged, took two steps to the window, and handed the pill to Gu Guangji. Then he muttered, baffled, “What do you want it for? You’re practically senile already.”
Before he could finish, Gu Guangji flicked his hand and tossed the pill into Huo Fenghua’s mouth. The pill was tiny and slick. As Huo Fenghua spoke, it rolled straight down his throat, and he swallowed it.
Huo Fenghua clapped a hand over his throat and stared at Gu Guangji in horror. “What are you doing?!”
Gu Guangji chuckled. “The life work of that old demon Zixi, I might as well let my disciple benefit.”
Huo Fenghua’s face was still full of panic. He grabbed the wall and started gagging, trying to vomit it back up.
Gu Guangji sensed something wrong. He grabbed the window ledge, flipped into the room, and patted Huo Fenghua’s back. “What’s wrong? It shouldn’t be poisonous!” Then he looked toward the young Taoist inside.
The young Taoist was staring at them too, equally panicked and lost.
Huo Fenghua gagged and said, “There’s mercury in it! What if I die from heavy metal poisoning? I’m totally fucked!”
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