2 Chapter 2

When she came to, JinYe found herself in a large room with the walls of a cave.

Sitting herself up on the large slab of precious jade that was polished and formed into a bed, she looked around as she tried to remember what had happened.

Though it seemed as she was in a large natural cave, the furnishing inside was extravagant.

The jade bed alone had been valuable enough to provide for her entire village for a year JinYe thought as her eyes took in the many well crafted furniture, paintings and everyday objects made from materials much to valuable for such mundane things.

In the far end of the chamber was a large cauldron on top of a furnace, and behind them were shelves and drawers with medicinal ingredients.

She rubbed her temples as she tried to remember how she had ended up here.

Memories of a bony hand covering her face with a fragrant cloth, and being pulled backwards rushed back.

Her heart pounded as fear rose in her, she calmed herself a bit as she noticed that she had not been robbed, her silver and acupuncture needles still tucked within her shirt, she found no injuries either and her clothes were just as before she had become unconscious, she seemed all together untouched.

-"Ah, you are awake", a Voice coming from the far end of the chamber startled JinYe.

The speaker was a strange person, she was uncertain if it was a man or a woman that approached her in flowing pale blue robes, trimmed with elegant embroideries, the person was however undeniably very beautiful.

It's facial features was somehow both delicate and feminine, and handsomely masculine at the same time.

Long, dark hair framed the slender, pale face, and the deep, dark eyes seemed to hold her in place with their gaze, rendering her both speechless and unable to move.

-"There is no need to be alarmed", the stranger continued, and there was something soothing about the strangers voice and his presence was calming to her when she would usually have felt fear at a stranger appearing when she was this vulnerable.

-"This uncle here is called Peng YongNian, my servants and I saw you being abducted by some ruffians and we decided to intervene, but we were however late and you had been poisoned".

The stranger, which JinYe now understood was a man, leaned his forehead against his long, slender fingers with a troubled expression.

-"I would have returned you to whichever city you came from, but I am afraid that would have meant your death".

JinYe did feel that something was wrong within her body, it felt sluggish, heavy, weak and cold, what had been on that fragrant cloth who would want to poison her and why?

The many thought whirled through the girls mind and she felt both confusion, fear and a bit of desperation.

"This WenJinYe thanks her benefactor, but is there nothing that can be done is there no antidote?" JinYe finally asked.

She did not want to die and though she did not know this , he was at this time her only hope to either be helped, or to find a way to reach someone who could help.

-"My grandmother is a physician, perhaps she can…" , JinYe began in a hopeful voice before the man interrupted her in a voice full of compassion.

-"This poison is not something a normal physician can cure, there is however a way".

He stoked his right eyebrow absentmindedly with a finger, seemingly deep in thought.

After waiting patiently for the man to continue for quite some time, until she could not contain herself anymore.

-"Benefactor Peng?", JinYe asked.

-"Ah, forgive me", Peng YongNian Said, hesitating a moment before continuing.

-"There is a way to cure you, but it will not be easy, and it will not be without pain, some would consider death to be more merciful", He said, now with an expression of worry.

A spark of hope lit in JinYes eyes.

-"This one can endure it, please advice me what to do", she cupped her hands and bowed to the stranger helping her. She needed to return to Granny, no matter the cost.

A small smile appeared on the mans face and he nodded slowly.

-"It is good to be decisive. Show me your neigong technique".

JinYe looked at him questioningly a moment before she did as she was told.

She started to circulate her qi according to the cultivation method she had been taught in her village.

A frown appeared on Peng YongNians face.

-"What is this trash? Where did you learn this?"

JinYe shrugged away from his exclamation, wondering what she had done wrong.

-"That method will not do, not at all. Trash, utter trash. I advice you to forget that peasant technique as soon as possible.", Peng YongNian said before gesturing to some shelves with books and scrolls.

-"Pick another one. I don't mind whatever you take of them, you can keep any or all of them, but I never want to see such a trash technique again."

He waved his hand dismissively and she gave a quick confused bow before scurrying off to do as told.

Who was this expert to call the cultivation technique her village elder treasured so much and taught to everyone in the village trash? How could he simply hand out something so valuable as manuals as if it were grains of rice?

JinYe rummaged through the manuals, carelessly stacked and stuffed into shelves.

There were martial manuals, for both barehanded fighting styles and with weapons, qinggong skills which were "lightness techniques" that would allow one to develop amazing agility and perform astounding acrobatic feats, Inner alchemy skills called neigong that would allow someone to restructure ones body and qi-flow, and few medical and alchemical books as well.

She looked through the many books which seemed to have just been tossed into the shelves in no particular order.

Some were in good condition, some were well read and worn... and some bore dark red stains of blood.

Xinguan fist, Toad style, nine yin manual, devils rake, radiant finger of yang, yin bone claw... so many techniques and styles she had never heard of, but could only assume were priceless.

Even though Peng YongNian has said she could take whatever she wished, and she believed he wouldn't care seeing how they were discarded into the piles, she could not bring herself to rob him of them completely.

She finally settled on a few manuals after a long time of flipping through them.

She was beginning to feel worn and drowsy, assuming it was her poisoned condition worsening, she decided not to waste too much time.

She had found a pair of manuals that seemed to share a name, which was why she had decided to take the spring bamboo fist, a barehanded fighting style, and the spring bamboo sword style, hoping that they had been intended as a set.

She also picked a "Cloud piercing spear" manual, a qinggong manual called "Petal step" and finally the "Radiant lotus neigong" manual.

She smirked at herself as she realised a plant-based theme among her chosen skills and silently hoped that meant they would go well together.

She also took a book of alchemy and herbology, thinking to gift it to Granny Wen upon her reunion in hope that it would keep her from getting to angry with her.

She felt she could in good conscience accept these manuals since Peng YongNian had offered, but she could not bring herself to take more, these few manuals would already bring a great boost in power and status for her small village if brought back.

She tucked the manuals within her shirt, giving her a visible bulge at the front or her torso.

The Radiant lotus neigong however, she started reading as soon as she got back to the jade bed.

She then spent many hours reading the Radiant lotus manual, barely noticing the scantly clad servant girls that continuously fed her medicinal pills and decoctions.

Peng YongNian had warned her that the treatment would be quite severe, and it would be best not to have eaten before it.

She was unsure what medicine she was fed, if it was part of the treatment, but she could feel an unusual clarity.

Understanding the manual came easier than she could ever have hoped for, and the jade bed and surges qi from the medicine she was fed helped her to perform her internal circulation much better than she ever had.

Her qi flooded her meridians, clearing stagnations and nurturing her body.

A continuous stream poured into her lower dantien, a space in the lower abdomen, slightly below the navel, swirling into a small vortex as it compressed within.

In hours, she had reached the same understanding in her new cultivation method, that had taken her years with her old one, which had never been more than a rather rudimentary understanding, but she was amazed by this speed non the less.

Soon after she had grasped the basics of the Radiant lotus neigong, one of the barely clad servant girls, she did not know which one, as they all had veils covering their entire face and a strange talisman on their forehead, had apparently fetched Peng YongNian.

He sighed a-bit in disappointment when he saw her progress, but muttered something about it had to do.

He held out his hand and from a jade ring on his finger, several pills somehow warped into existence.

Ignoring JinYes amazed stare, he handed them to her.

The treatment was about to begin.