From a refugee to a martial artist

Chapter 361 Pharmacist
It was already night.

Meng Yuan's voice echoed through the canyon, and the slaves knelt and listened, showing no sign of resistance. Their only gesture of loyalty was to kneel and shout "Good!"

“Old Stone, you lead everyone back to the Kingdom of Xiangji.”

Meng Yuan gave the order directly: "Capture all the nobles in the city and imprison them in the library tower. I will deal with them when I return."

The old stone knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly, saying yes, as if he wanted to say something but dared not.

Jie Kaiping, being a worldly-wise person, immediately stepped forward and said gently, "Do not mistreat those old nobles; just provide them with food and drink on time."

Sure enough, upon hearing this, the slave Old Stone kowtowed to Meng Yuan repeatedly, but did not understand the meaning of "opening the pheasant." Instead, he knelt before Mingyue several times, opening his mouth to say auspicious words, but not knowing how to address her.

Although the Kingdom of Xiangji has a clear hierarchy, it is only governed by the two upper clans and eleven lower clans. The highest-ranking person is the High Priest, and there are no kings or queens.

Dugu Kang, being very understanding, said, "True Lord Feiyuan is the King of Xiangji Kingdom, and she is the Queen! You may all call her Queen!"

Old Stone, the slave, was very obedient. He led the other slaves in chanting for the Queen, which made Mingyue frown repeatedly.

Seeing that these two bald men were quite knowledgeable and were even close friends of the Great King Feiyuan Zhenjun, the old stone also paid his respects.

It was already dark when the slaves bowed repeatedly for a long time before finally getting up to return home.

The poisonous rain had just passed, and torches couldn't be lit. Fortunately, the afterglow of the sunset lingered, and the Milky Way was at its most brilliant, which could at least guide the way through the canyon.

These slaves had been in Xiangji Kingdom for a long time and didn't need much prompting. As long as an order was given, they would obediently carry it out and had no idea what resistance was.

The ground was muddy, the journey was difficult, and most of the slaves were injured, but no one complained or cried out. Instead, they all followed the rules very well.

"These people, none of them come to curry favor with us bald guys, nor do they go to curry favor with that old stone. If you call them simple and honest, they really are simple and honest," Dugu Kang sighed.

"They've lost their fighting spirit, and the country of Xiangji has a small population, with a very clear hierarchy. Those who are scheming find it hard to achieve anything, let alone stir up any trouble. Over the years, that's how it's all become like this." Jie Kaiping has traveled to many places and has seen a lot.

After he finished speaking, he looked at Meng Yuan and said, "Now that True Lord Feiyuan has become king and the beauty has become queen, shouldn't we brothers be appointed as national advisors?"

"Only my junior sister can do it!" Su Xin immediately stepped forward, hands on her hips, bald head raised, and said seriously, "Xiangji Kingdom is famous for its spices and its medical heritage. My junior sister is the only one left here who is a medical successor! Before we left, our sect leader said that it would be best for my junior sister to stay here and not go back to Yunshan Temple!"

Upon hearing this, everyone felt that it made a lot of sense.

Moreover, because of these words, people couldn't help but think about how to deal with the Kingdom of Xiangji.

Now, Meng Yuan has seized the opportunity to declare himself the ruler of Xiangji Kingdom and stripped the nobles of their power. But this is only the beginning. To govern Xiangji Kingdom well and change the atmosphere of the previous dynasty is not something that can be done overnight.

Everyone looked at Meng Yuan, wanting to know what this disciple of the Ying family intended to do.

"It's just a small mountain kingdom with tens of thousands of people, so there's no need to rush into thinking about these things. Let's go find Shui Xiangsheng and Gan Wulin." Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Meng Yuan waved his hand, stepped to the edge of the pool, and looked at the cave at the end of the canyon on the opposite bank.

At that time, when I was fighting Dugu Sheng, the high priest Shui Xiangsheng and Gan Wulin were also fighting fiercely here. However, after I had decided the winner and obtained the Fire of Transformation, Shui Xiangsheng and Gan Wulin disappeared without a trace.

The poisonous fog had dissipated outside the cave entrance at the end, indicating that the two men had entered the cave, but their fate was unknown.

“The cave is filled with the interplay of life and death. The High Priest and Senior Gan should still be alive, but they are probably seriously injured.” Su Wen, who was most skilled at observing qi, immediately spoke up. “Brother Jie and Liao Kong, follow me. Mingyue, protect the two junior sisters.” Even though Meng Yuan felt that everything was in the bag, he still acted cautiously.

Standing on the surface of the deep pool, two bald men followed on either side.

Lingbo crossed the water and arrived at the cave entrance.

Although the cave was located by the water, it was surprisingly dry, without any moss or weeds, and it was exceptionally deep and secluded.

All of them were accomplished cultivators, and although the light of the stars and moon could not reach them, the dark cave could not block their eyes.

"Amitabha, may all defilement be removed." Jie Kaiping stepped forward, a faint Buddhist light illuminating the path ahead.

The cave ascends slowly, and there are no living creatures along the way, only the footprints of two people, indicating that Shui Xiangsheng and Gan Wulin went forward.

Meng Yuan led the way with two bald monks, while Mingyue followed with two bald nuns.

After walking for several dozen feet, the view suddenly opened up, and at the end of the cave was a huge stone cave.

The grotto appears to have been formed naturally and then repaired and maintained by later generations; it is approximately 100 zhang in diameter.

On the four walls of this grotto, an oil lamp is embedded every ten steps or so, and there are even oil lamps shining on the ceiling of the grotto.

Looking over, everyone saw a path carved from bluestone in the center of the grotto, with many Buddha statues lined up on both sides for people to climb.

At the end of the road is a wide, high platform with a tall Buddha statue on it. One hand is in the gesture of holding a flower, and the other hand is placed on the knee. The Buddha has a smile on his face, and his eyes seem to reflect all kinds of people and things in heaven and earth, as if he clearly understands the causes and effects of the future and the past.

Jie Kaiping and Dugu Kang were dumbfounded, staring blankly at each other, completely at a loss for what to do.

"What kind of Buddha is that?" Meng Yuan was quite knowledgeable, but when it came to Buddhist matters, he was still not as knowledgeable as these two bald monks.

“Our Buddhist sect has many branches, but generally speaking, the most worshipped are the Buddhas of the Three Times.” Jie Kaiping started quoting from his books, “They are the Buddha of the past, the Buddha of the present, and the Buddha of the future. But there are also different ones. For example, here we worship the Medicine Buddha, who is what we usually call the Medicine Buddha.”

Jie Kaiping pointed behind her and said, "The one who built the Xiangji Kingdom is the Medicine King Bodhisattva. The path to enlightenment that he sought should be the path of the Medicine Buddha."

"It seems that the Medicine King Bodhisattva, though willing, is powerless to help. He can only dream in this desolate place where heaven and earth are hidden," Dugu Kang sighed.

Seeing that the two bald monks were sighing again, Meng Yuan didn't bother with them and walked directly onto the bluestone road.

Beneath the Medicine Buddha statue in front, two people were kneeling: High Priest Shui Xiang Sheng and Gan Wu Lin.

There were also several bald nuns lying on the ground, and a female Taoist priest with long hair.

These people were clearly the same group that came with Suwen and Suxin, including Abbess Liaocun, but they never expected to be imprisoned here.

At this moment, Mingyue and her sister Suxin also followed. When the three women saw the scene, they were speechless, showing that none of them expected there to be such a wonderful cave here.

(End of this chapter)