Open a Clinic to Cultivate Myself

A greenish fire suddenly surged up from underground. It was a ghost fire ignited by demon power. Although not of the same degree as the ghost fire sprayed by the Soul-devouring Urn, every mortal who came into contact with it would be incinerated!

This ghost fire had come too suddenly. Ning Tao was just standing in the center of this ghost fire. No matter where he dodge, he would be scorched by its flames.

In fact, he had indeed been burned. That ghost fire flickered out from underground and spread to the entire dungeon except for that cell. Ning Tao could not dodge. In an instant, he had been engulfed by the fire.

There was a hidden formation in this underground chamber!

“Hahaha…” Hai Dongfang gave a series of bizarre laughs. His laughter sounded like a pervert’s. “I spent a century perfecting this ghost fire formation. Three highly-skilled practitioners tried to kill me and perished in this fire. You are the fourth and weakest one!”

Suddenly, a cold gleam streaked out from the ghost fire. It darted into Hai Dongfang’s chest, quivered, and then stopped moving.

Hai Dongfang’s laughter immediately stopped. He lowered his head and observed his chest. It was a surgical knife, as black as ink.

A human figure walked out from that ghost fire. It was that “weakest” Ning Tao.

Hai Dongfang widened his eyes, unable to believe what he saw. But no matter whether he believed his eyes or not, Ning Tao was standing unhurt before him. He not only had not been incinerated, not even a hair of his was charred.

The only thing which had been incinerated was Ning Tao’s shoes. But he was wearing a pair of socks woven from the Heavenly Gem Cloth. As the owner of Sky Clinic, he was the enemy to all villains in this world. He knew the importance of escape, so how could he not prepare a pair of fireproof, anti-slip and stab-resistant socks?

After this occasion, a pair of Heavenly Gem gloves would seem necessary. He would need to weave a pair.

Ning Tao halted his steps before Hai Dongfang. His tone was mild, yet there was a bone-penetrating chill in it. “Don’t underestimate cultivating doctors, especially one like me.”

With that, he reached out and grabbed the handle of the Blade of the Solar Eclipse, pulling it out. The blade, which was half a body length longer than ordinary surgical knives, dislodged from Hai Dongfang’s chest.

Retch!

Hai Dongfang opened his mouth and threw up a mouthful of blood. He tottered and collapsed to the ground.

Ning Tao stared down on Hai Dongfang from above. “I said I would kill you and I mean it. If you beg me, I will heal you.”

He did not attack Hai Dongfang’s heart but only badly injured his heart meridian. Hai Dongfang had assassinated him. Ning Tao must earn some treatment fees from him to balance his malicious intent.

Hai Dongfang stretched his hand to pull out the sharp blade in his side.

“You must be yearning for death.” Ning Tao stepped a foot on Hai Dongfang’s wrist.

Hai Dongfang did not cry out in pain. He did not even frown.

Ning Tao kicked away the sharp blade. “Don’t you want the Picture of the Six Samsara Realms, to locate your wife’s place of rebirth? I believe you must have heard a saying, ‘Where there is life, there is hope.’ As long as you are alive, you will have hope to fulfill your wish.”

“I… tried to kill you… yet you are saving me now… You think I will believe you?” Hai Dongfang’s voice was quivering. What gave him pain and made him collapse was not only that surgical knife in his heart meridian, but also the Sacred Needle to Nasty Diseases lodged in his neck. Ning Tao had acted in extreme rage. The power of the Sacred Needle to Nasty Diseases had increased greatly thanks to his malicious face. Hai Dongfang had also experienced its effects sooner.

Actually, if it weren’t for that Sacred Needle to Nasty Diseases, Hai Dongfang would be able to dodge that Blade of the Solar Eclipse Ning Tao hurled. But when he tried to dodge, he found his neck stiff. He could not move and could only watch that surgical blade stab into his chest!

Ning Tao answered, “Of course I have conditions. You know what I want. As long as you tell me who hired Zeng Xunlong, I will heal you.”

Hai Dongfang kept silent for a while before saying, “Heal me… first.”

Ning Tao said, “I have my set of rules in treating a patient. You must sign on the sin of evil intention prescription pact I write you.”

Hai Dongfang nodded.

Ning Tao opened his small medicine chest and took out the ledger of bamboo slips, placing it on Hai Dongfang’s hand. A few seconds later, he removed it and read the diagnosis.

Contents appeared on that ledger of bamboo slips, “Hai Dongfang, born 1300, on the ninth day of the ninth month. A demon. His first sin: killing his wife, worth 7 sin of evil intention demerit points. His second sin: killing the innocent on 237 occasions, worth 1,659 sin of evil intention demerit points. His third sin, robbery on 120 occasions, worth 360 sin of evil intention demerit points… A total of 2,007 sin of evil intention demerit points. Write him a sin of evil intention prescription pact. To atone for his sins by death.”

Hai Dongfang was a demon born at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. Ning Tao was somewhat surprised by this fact. But the proposed treatment of death to atone for his sins did not surprise him at all.

According to the rules of Sky Clinic, demons who killed people deserving of death would not chalk up sins of evil intention demerit points. Such was the destiny of demons, a way for Heaven to balance good and evil. But very few demons could refrain from killing the innocent. The killing of any innocent person, even one, would have to be atoned by death. Hai Dongfang had killed more than 200 innocent people. Death would be regarded as a release to him.

“What… is this?” Hai Dongfang asked in a trembling voice.

Ning Tao said, “It’s your diagnosis.”

“Let me see it,” Hai Dongfang said.

Ning Tao turned the ledger of bamboo slips over and the words on it vanished. Hai Dongfang could only see a bamboo slip ledger without any words.

Ning Tao did not offer any explanations. He took a prescription and a pen to write the prescription pact. He wanted to fold it up and give Hai Dongfang only the part he should sign. Quite unexpectedly, Hai Dongfang spoke.

“Don’t hide anything. Even if I am to die, I must understand why,” Hai Dongfang said.

Ning Tao did not immediately show Hai Dongfang the sin of evil intention prescription pact. Instead, he took out an ordinary prescription with a blood lock from his small medicine chest. He opened the convenient door and dragged Hai Dongfang to Sky Clinic.

Green fumes spiraled out of the good-evil tripod. The human face on the tripod was scowling.

As soon as he entered Sky Clinic, Hai Dongfang seemed to have understood something. His reaction was very strange too. At first he was nervous, but later calmed down.

“This is my clinic,” Ning Tao said.

Hai Dongfang watched the scowling face on the good-evil tripod and went into a daze. He seemed to have sensed something and understood.

Ning Tao placed that written sin of evil intention prescription pact in Hai Dongfang’s left hand. Then he put a pen in his right. “Read it if you want. It’s up to you whether you sign or not.”

Each patient would have a different treatment fee and would be handled differently. Hai Dongfang was a demon born at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. His understanding of the ways of Heaven would far exceed most ordinary people’s. But he was born crafty, so it would be hard to deceive him. Ning Tao decided to let him see the pact instead to make up his own mind.

Hai Dongfang picked up that prescription pact and read its contents. When he saw his first sin, “killing his wife”, the expression on his face changed. When he saw the final suggested treatment, “to atone for his sins by death”, he went into a daze. Then he suddenly started to laugh strangely.

Ning Tao also smiled. “Will you sign or not?”

Hai Dongfang said, “I will. If you kill me, it’s the right retribution from Heaven. If I can atone for my sins through death, why not?”

Ning Tao answered, “It’s good that you understand. Not everyone will have the chance to make atonement. I will heal you and Heaven will then deal with you. I will bury you beside your woman. She needs to be buried and by then, you would already have atoned for your sins through death. I believe she will forgive you.”

While Ning Tao was speaking, Hai Dongfang had already signed on that sin of evil intention prescription pact. He had sorted out his thoughts. Given his current condition, Ning Tao could easily have struck and killed him. But if Hai Dongfang were to die like that, he would have been punished by Heaven, not atoning for his sins. Over these centuries, wasn’t he trying relentlessly to atone for his sins?

Ning Tao took away the sin of evil intention prescription pact Hai Dongfang had signed. Then he took out a Fine Primary Elixir and put it in Hai Dongfang’s hand.

Hai Dongfang looked at the Fine Primary Elixir in his hand but did not swallow it immediately. Instead, he said, “That person you want to know is a woman, Zetian Fairy.”

“Zetian Fairy?” Ning Tao had never heard of such a person.

Hai Dongfang said, “I don’t know her real name too. I only heard Liu Shiba mention her once.”

This name reminded Ning Tao of a historical figure, Wu Zetian. But although this only Chinese empress dynast surfaced in his mind, he could not believe that this “Zetian Fairy” was that same Wu Zetian in history.

Hai Dongfang put that Fine Primary Elixir into his mouth. A plume of greenish fumes gushed out, engulfing him instantly.

Ning Tao’s mind was still mulling over this “Zetian Fairy”. He wondered to himself, “Zetian Fairy… since she is a fairy, could her cultivation level be nearing an immortal’s? If she were so powerful, why didn’t she visit the Immortal’s Tomb alone and steal away the Picture of the Six Samsara Realms? Why did she hire Zeng Xunlong instead? Was she afraid of Hu Ji?”

He had finally learned the name, but the bewilderment in his mind was not answered but had multiplied instead.

The green fumes dispersed and Hai Dongfang was lying on the ground, unconscious.

Ning Tao opened the convenient door and brought Hai Dongfang back to the underground dungeon in Cold Palace. If he struck in Sky Clinic, Hai Dongfang’s dead body would vanish from the clinic. It would have been easier, but since he had promised to bury Hai Dongfang alongside Nagu, he must keep his promise.

“Be on your way,” Ning Tao said. Then he stabbed the Blade of the Solar Eclipse into Hai Dongfang’s head.

Hai Dongfang’s body twitched a little as in a spasm, and then became motionless.

Ning Tao carried Hai Dongfang’s body into the cell and dug a pit. He put the skeleton of Nagu beside Hai Dongfang’s corpse and buried them together.

Good and evil acts would always be repaid. Every life would eventually return to dust.

Once more, Ning Tao opened the convenient door and returned to Sky Clinic. He sat on a chair pondering over that mysterious woman, Zetian Fairy.

Hai Dongfang had already atoned for his sins through death. But the perplexities this demon gave him had only just begun.