Dark Moon Era

Inside a warm mobile home, steam swirled and Ro Li grumbled as he poured bucket after bucket of boiled herbal medicine into a large wooden tub.

Wearing nothing but a pair of shorts, Tang Ling was kneeling on the floor. Ro Xin’s forehead was covered in sweat as she poked silver needles that had been soaked in the yellow medicine into Tang Ling’s body.

Every needle that pricked his skin stung him and he felt like it was burning, but Tang Ling did not even grunt. He was in a visualization state and Ro Xin wanted him to gather as much energy at his dantian as he could. The healing process was not just about Ro Xin’s skills and treatment. She also needed Tang Ling to work with her in order for it to be carried out smoothly.

The theory was simple: suppress the blue energy so that Tang Ling’s own energy could consume it little by little.

It was impossible for the healing process to be completed in one stroke as it needed time. Regardless, the first healing session must be successful in order to prove Ro Xin’s theory.

The medicine that she soaked the silver needles in was a type of concoction that could slow down the flow of energy. Acupuncture was actually part of the Ro family’s teachings but only Ro Xin had mastered it.

The set of needling technique that she used on Tang Ling was a special one. The locking needle could lock energy in certain parts of the meridian passage.

Energy, meridian passages, and acupoints were invisible in the medical science field in the old civilization, and their existence could not be proven either. Strangely, in ancient Huaxia culture, there were records about acupuncture and how it specifically targeted all the invisible parts.

The last needle went in.

Ro Xin wiped the sweat off her forehead and looked at Ro Li whose face was still swollen. “Brother, is the medicine ready?”

“Almost.” Ro Li also wiped the sweat off his forehead and grumbled again, “Why do I have to serve him?”

“Aren’t I your sister? You aren’t serving Tang Ling. You are helping me.” Ro Xin went over and grasped Ro Li’s arm, swinging it a few times playfully. Ro Li could not argue at all. His sister always had a way around him and he could never resist her spoilt charms.

“Fine, ask him to come over. I don’t think this kid can hold it either.” Ro Li stepped aside and looked at the tub of steaming hot medicine. The smell was spicy and pungent while the color was as red as the spicy steamboat soup in the old civilization. He could not help but shudder.

Ro Li also had basic herbal knowledge, so he knew that this tub did not merely contain some generic multi-purpose medicine. It was actually herbs that had a heating nature. On top of that, topical medicine that could integrate and amplify the heating nature was added into the medical bath. It could be known as a tub of heat poison.

He could not even picture how uncomfortable it was to be soaking inside the medical bath. He was worried that Tang Ling might suffer from hemorrhoids and a heaty backside on the second day, even more so after Ro Xin applied her needles to him.

Although the needles locked a certain part of the meridian passage, they also opened up other parts. The heat poison would not just enter his body through the bath but would seep into the deepest parts of his body through the opened meridian passages.

The healing method was nothing less than cruel. Would Tang Ling become a boiled shrimp in the end?

Ro Li somehow started to sympathize with Tang Ling. However, Tang Ling did not know how potent the medical bath was and Ro Xin did not explain the ingredients to him either. Whenever a doctor operated on a patient, he would not tell the patient how he cut the body and removed the sickly body parts because the patient would die of shock instead.

Nonetheless, of course, even if Tang Ling knew what would he be facing soon, he would not have minded either because he was thinking about something else. He was engrossed in the Horror Lullaby List. When he took his clothes off and put the piece of blank paper away, he realized that there were words on it.

The words were bronze in color and they spelled the name “Ro Li”.

What does this mean? Is Ro Li one of the names on the Horror Lullaby List?

After he recognized the name, Tang Ling carefully checked the paper and noticed a drop of blood on it. He then recalled that when he beat Ro Li up earlier in the day, the poor man’s face was bleeding all over. The blood must have spilled on the paper at that time. Could this be the reason that the Horror Lullaby List reacted?

It should not be though. If it was, blood must be spilled on the paper in order to confirm the names on the list, and this piece of paper would be a lot more insignificant. After all, it was unrealistic to spill the blood of everyone in the world just to find out whether their names were on the list. If it was the only way, would the Stardust Council not be exhausted?

Tang Ling believed that there was more than one Horror Lullaby List. The Star Searcher in the possession of the council must be related to the Horror Lullaby List as well. Apart from that, spilling blood on the list should not be the correct way to use the list since it was so primitive and ineffective.

Baffled, Tang Ling sat in the center of the tub filled with the heat poison, dressed only in shorts. The moment he sat down, the boiling temperature drowned Tang Ling whole instantly. Even with his tenacity and endurance, he could not help but gasp.

Torture! It was very painful! It felt like countless sharp knives slicing open every part of his body slowly and chili powder was being sprinkled on the open wounds. Immediately, his face turned red.

“Don’t move. Start with the way that I taught you.” Ro Xin was extra calm when she stood beside Tang Ling. This extreme way of repelling the poison was a risky double-edged sword. If Tang Ling could not endure it, the whole process would end in failure.

“I’m fine.” Tang Ling soon reverted to being calm before he then started to absorb the heat poison little by little using the way Ro Xin taught him.

He had to ferry the heat poison using his own energy to the body parts occupied by the blue active energy. The heat poison should be able to exhaust the cold poison of the blue energy, hence rendering the blue energy harmless and making it weaker. From there, Tang Ling’s own energy could move in and consume it.

Theoretically speaking, it sounded simple but was otherwise in reality.

Every step was difficult. If the blue energy was not locked down, it would fight back fiercely and this little tub of medicine bath that Ro Xin had prepared would not be able to hold it back. Due to the fierce resistance, the blue energy would then spread even further. The most important step would be locking the blue energy down and softening it to the point that Tang Ling’s own energy could consume it.

Besides that, the process of ferrying the heat poison was also dangerous. If Tang Ling was slightly distracted during the process and failed to contain the heat poison, he would be poisoned again. The process was nothing short of agony. It was like moving a sharp blade through his body, posing a huge challenge to Tang Ling’s willpower.

Lastly, since Tang Ling was soaking himself in the tub of heat poison, he had to perfectly distribute his own limited energy and mitigate the heat poison effectively at a later stage. Otherwise, he would still be poisoned.

Judging from all the harsh conditions, having come up with this healing method, Ro Xin was considered a wicked genius. If she was able to grow, she would surely whip up a storm in the medical field. She was an extreme healer. Her methods were precise and decisive, and whenever she used the extreme methods, her patient would either survive or die in the process.

“Can he endure it?” Ro Li moved a stool over and sat beside Tang Ling. He would spray some water on Tang Ling’s face from time to time to cool him down. However, with his eyes closed, Tang Ling did not respond. Droplets of sweat as large as peas rolled down his cheeks and dropped into the medicine bath.

“This is my way of healing. If he cannot take it, it’s his own fault for being weak.” Whenever her profession was involved, Ro Xin was cold and rational. If sympathy, heartache or sadness was mixed into the healing process, it would surely become a disturbance to Tang Ling. Desperate times called for desperate measures. What she sought after was the result and how effective it could be, thus no human nature or personality should be involved. Ro Xin’s patient must work together with her using sheer willpower in order to make this a success.

Ro Li shuddered at his sister’s merciless attitude. He was imagining that if he were hurt, should he die right away or hold on? He would never want Ro Xin to heal him!

Tang Ling was unaware about anything that happened around him. He was concentrating on fighting the cold poison within him. Ro Xin’s method was effective. The heat poison was neutralizing the cold poison in his body bit by bit although the process was very slow. Three to four doses of heat poison was needed to neutralize a bit of cold poison.

Of course, Tang Ling had a better way around it such as releasing the little seed. Should he release the little seed, his energy would definitely overpower the blue energy in his body, but the little seed could only last for five minutes which was not much help in a long healing session.

On top of that, there were multiple healing sessions waiting for him, and during this period, he could not replenish his energy because it would strengthen the active energy instead of him. Hence, if he released the little seed’s energy and was unable to replenish energy during the healing period, would the little seed starve?

Despite Tang Ling not admitting it verbally, he deemed himself as the little seed’s father and was worried about starving it. Therefore, he could only fight the active energy by himself, little by little.

Seconds turned into minutes.

Ro Li fell asleep due to boredom although he insisted on staying. His reason for staying was that he could not allow his sister to be in the same room with another guy who only had his pants on. Ro Xin rolled her eyes at her brother and let him be.

The result of the first healing session was comforting. The siblings witnessed the color of the boiling red medicine bath start to fade. Tang Ling’s first goal was to exhaust the active energy near his heart which occupied an area the size of his palm. They also saw the blue of the active energy around his heart slowly fade.

“Is this kid even human?” Ro Li grumbled.

It had been two hours since Tang Ling soaked himself in the medicine bath. In order to maintain the potency of the heat poison, Ro Xin had gotten Ro Li to set braziers up beside the tub to maintain the temperature of the medicine bath.

“He’s done great.” Ro Xin’s eyes were gleaming in admiration. From her point of view, although the first healing session was considered a success after achieving such a result, Tang Ling seemed to have the intention to continue.

The healing session started at two in the afternoon and it was already six in the evening. The sky changed from a drizzling gray to the heavy dark blue while the Purple Moon was rising.

The tub of red medicine bath had turned into normal hot water and the blue active energy in Tang Ling’s chest had completely faded.

“Great!” Ro Xin heaved a breath of relief as Ro Li’s admiration for Tang Ling grew.

At that moment, Tang Ling slowly opened his eyes. The painful part of the healing process had passed and he was left in excitement. He managed to consume a small area of the active energy and his strength had grown by a third of a bull’s strength!

If he managed to consume all the active energy, would he be able to reach the perfect strength of nine bulls? It would be faster than eating vicious beast meat! His growth would skyrocket from there!

At the same time, Tang Ling was also a little disappointed. The energy he consumed was the energy left behind by the cold poison after it was exhausted. However, there was actually no such thing as cold poison since it was actually energy with cold nature. In other words, the energy that he consumed had been halved. If he did not exhaust the energy first and consume it right away, would he be able to grow even further?

A man should not be greedy.

Tang Ling finally felt afraid of the encounter that day. If he had not used the demon ape to intercept the Purple Moon Warrior who ambushed him, what was the possibility of him escaping alive?

He calculated with his Precise Instinct and factored in all the elements, including his strength and the terrains. Alas, the answer he got was zero! He had zero chances to escape the Purple Moon Warrior alive.

“Hey, Dumbo, have you gone stupid?” Ro Li was still having a grudge against Tang Ling for punching him, so his way of taking revenge on him was to call him Dumbo for the rest of his life.

Tang Ling would never care about this bearded loli. Instead, he nodded at Ro Xin to express his gratitude.

“It’s great that the bath is effective. I have to record all the reactions and processes and see whether can I adjust the recipe as well as the way I applied the needles to increase the effectiveness. It will help the healing process even more.” Ro Xin ignored Tang Ling’s gratitude and was drowned in her own excitement, the excitement of a healer when she cured some strange disease or condition.

“My goodness.” Ro Li rubbed his nose and was rendered speechless when his sister sprinted away in excitement. He then turned around to Tang Ling, bellowing fiercely, “Stand up! The girl is gone! There is no need for you to feel shy. As a man, I won’t laugh at your size.”

What the hell?! Tang Ling bolted up. His short pants were wet and it was inevitable that his crotch was showing, but the size? He, Tang Ling, was never afraid.

Ro Li looked askance at Tang Ling’s crotch, then at his own. Another quick glance at Tang Ling’s crotch later, his heart was shattered. How could this be? He was bigger and buffer, so he was more like a man and his beard was as thick as a bush!

Damn it! This isn’t real! Tang Ling must have stuffed some socks or something inside his pants!

“I’m going off!” Ro Li decided not to expose Tang Ling’s little secret and leave with whatever tiny pride he could still retain.

“Hold on.” Tang Ling hesitated before he called Ro Li back. Whether or not Ro Li’s blood caused the Horror Lullaby List to react, his name was on the list and Tang Ling was thinking about telling him about it.

However, would Ro Li know about the Horror Lullaby List?

“Go away! I’m not interested in men! You pretentious prick!” Ro Li spat in disdain.

Tang Ling was stunned. Since when am I a pretentious prick?

It was at that moment that a dignified voice came from the door. “Let him go. An idiot like him will only make things worse.” Without a question, the voice was Ro Yan’s. As his voice echoed, he walked into the mobile home. Given how perfect his timing was, he should have been waiting outside for a long time.

Tang Ling responded normally since he knew that what was due would arrive, and Ro Yan would look for him for a chat.

As for Ro Li, his heart was shattered to dust. Why would his father call him an idiot? He covered his face and sobbed as he ran away like a little girl.