Daily life of a cultivation judge



"Aaargh, why does my head feel like someone took a club to it.."

"Qing'er, Qing'er get up slowly...."

"Grandpa?" 

Yang Qing's vision was hazy as he woke up to the blurry face of his grandfather.

"Looks like I'm having the same nightmare with Grandpa again. That darn pit. Grandpa stop haunting me, I've already broken through to the peerless jade physique. Go throw dad in the pit this time..." 

Yang Qing felt groggy and his sense of touch along with all his other senses felt sluggish. His body didn't feel like his own. He felt like he was trapped in a string of cobwebs that had a paralyzing effect on him with every touch and movement.

"The dream this time seems different. The sensation seems real, was it the brook's doing? Dammit, Grandpa if you weren't my grandpa I'd throw you into the pit myself.." Yang Qing angrily muttered when he felt his sense of taste dull.

"That's some way to talk to your grandfather you squirt.." 

"Even the agitation behind his voice seems real.." Yang Qing muttered in confusion as he stretched his hand toward the hazy image of his grandfather.

He expected his hand to pass through, however, when it made contact, he was visibly flabbergasted.

"What is this?"

"You're not dreaming, Yang Qing.."

"Deputy hall master Ren Shu?" Yang Qing muttered in confusion as he looked towards the source of the voice.

The image was still blurry, and for some reason he felt he couldn't use his palace sense very well, which was why he thought he was dreaming.

His grandfather has appeared quite a lot in his dreams over the years, along with Lei Weiyuan, but Ren Shu has never appeared, not even once.

His voice seemed to have been imbued with a charm that cleared the fogginess he felt.

His vision started clearing up by the second along with his use of his other senses.

"What am I doing here?" He asked in confusion when he noticed he was in a room made of wood from a soul-stirring brown oak. 

Based on the design of the room and the materials present, he instantly knew he was in Ren Shu's courtyard since he had been a regular frequenter of the place.

"Wasn't I at the Harmony Pavilion just a few minutes ago? What am I doing here?" he muttered in confusion before his pupils constricted with wariness.

"Grandpa did you do something to me?" he hurriedly asked.

In his younger years, such instances had happened way too often. His grandfather would bribe him with some sweet-tasting herb and before he knew it, he woke up with a foggy mind along with all kinds of side effects.

Seeing his grandfather here, and him waking up confused, it didn't take long for Yang Qing to attribute the whole thing to Yang Fen.

"Qing'er, what type of person do you take me for?!!"

"Yes, I may have done a few things in the past like sneak a potion or two in your meals, knock you out with a few smoke pills, use dissonance echo stones.."

The voice of Yang Qing's grandfather, Yang Fen got lower with an awkward look of embarrassment as he went down the never-ending list, but his voice rose up a few decibels with an air of righteousness when he reached the end.

"Qing'er this time it wasn't me!! Master Ren Shu can attest to that. This is what I get for caring for you and even standing watch without rest these past three days. Mmph, what an ungrateful grandchild.."

"What do you mean three days? Deputy Hall Master Ren Shu please check on my grandfather, he is getting along with age, and with his crazy experiments and work habits, he damages his body a lot.." Yang Qing worryingly said as he hurriedly got up from the healing mat he had been lying on, to check on his grandfather's internal conditions.

"Be careful.." His grandfather hurriedly said as he helped support Yang Qing who almost tripped over.

"The kid still cares about his grandfather.." he thought with a smug smile as he helped Yang Qing find his balance.

"Something happened to me.."

Yang Qing turned a solemn gaze toward Ren Shu as he made the statement. The few-second interactions with his grandfather, and his body, made him aware there was something wrong.

And now even with his senses back to normal, he still felt a deep weakness within his body, and the weakness wasn't just in relation to his body, he felt fundamentally down to his soul like he had overdrawn it, and it didn't just stop there, his palace realm felt weaker, less vibrant, and some part of him, felt dormant.

"Yes, there was. Let's go out, Fan Ru should be arriving shortly. Let's wait for her so we can explain things in detail. We too have questions of our own.." said Ren Shu as he led Yang Qing and his grandfather outside the room to a garden of tree peonies, that released a colorful white-red mist that had calming and restorative properties, in addition, they also provided a gentle cool air to the area.

Yang Qing was able to regain a bit of his strength which enabled him to walk alone and even take a seat without help. However, his face was deeply consternated as he stared at his hands clenching and unclenching them.

"Something is seriously wrong.." he gravely said.

"Drink this.." Ren Shu calmly said as he poured him and his grandfather mild green tea.

"Thank you.." said Yang Qing as he took the cup.

A few minutes passed by with none talking to the other. Yang Qing was lost in his thoughts trying to understand what exactly happened to him and the other two left him to it. 

However, the silence was broken by the teasing melodic tone of a young woman.

"Little whelp, who knew even you could make such a serious expression?"

"Valley master?!" Yang Qing immediately pulled himself away from his speculative thoughts as he rose up to greet the newcomer.

The young, beautiful lady in a blue flower-patterned dress, bare feet, and cherry blossom eyes which had two different flames burning within them along with swirling white petals.

"You never seemed this excited all the other times I tried to get you to join us?" she added with a cunning glint flashing in her eyes.

Yang Qing froze with an embarrassed smile slowly growing on his face.

"About that?..."

He didn't know what to say after that.

He couldn't exactly tell them he was sorry to deny them all those times because to him the Medicine Valley was the true belly of the beast called the Order. He could forget ever having a break from the moment he agreed to join them.

Then there was also the fact, that despite refusing them, he still shamelessly accepted their gifts, he regularly visited the valley to sponge off their resources, and he would occasionally come to their abode and proposition a few things here and there. The purple lightning bamboo was something he had plucked from the garden in their abode, then there were the countless fruits and rare ingredients he ate every now and then.