The days without Qiao Xiaoxian around were truly comfortable.
During this time, Jiang Ke’er busied herself every day imparting physicochemical knowledge to the Underworld Province Remnants, hoping they could become the first batch of intellectuals.
“Are you leaving?” Ming Ling asked worriedly during a rare moment of leisure.
“Mm.” Jiang Ke’er nodded.
Her cultivation was advancing so rapidly that she didn’t even need to practice—she had already reached the peak of the Three Talents Stage… she hadn’t even finished drawing from the prize pool opened at the start of the Three Talents Stage.
If she kept going, she would be breaking through soon.
But because many matters were still unresolved, Jiang Ke’er wasn’t willing to leave just yet, so she kept trying to suppress her cultivation to slow down her advancement.
“Before I leave, I’ll leave you self-study materials. Also, I’ll assign you tasks then.” Jiang Ke’er smiled and then buried her head back into the books.
She wanted to organize as much scientific knowledge from Earth as possible.
Although these sciences might seem somewhat trivial in the Xiuzhen World, they still had their uses in certain areas.
In fields like refining artifacts and concocting medicines, physics and chemistry could provide excellent support, granting the Underworld Province Remnants unique production capabilities.
As long as they held an advantage in productivity, able to surpass most peers, that would be a good start.
At the very least, it would let the Underworld Province Remnants who followed her live somewhat more prosperous lives, without having to worry about survival every day.
Ming Ling didn’t know how to thank Jiang Ke’er, so she simply bowed respectfully and left.
However, just as she stepped out of Jiang Ke’er’s room, she bumped into a man as thin as a dry stalk.
Ming Ling quickly dodged and supported him, preventing the frail man from collapsing—he looked like a walking skeleton, his eye sockets sunken, skin clinging to bones, sparse, withered yellow hair barely clinging to his scalp, falling off at the slightest touch, as if he hadn’t eaten for months.
What struck Ming Ling even more was the man’s clothing—it seemed familiar, like she had seen it somewhere before.
“Ming Ling, long time no see,” the man opened his mouth, producing an old, hoarse voice.
The voice was so distorted that Ming Ling had to think for a long time before she recognized where that familiar feeling came from.
She cautiously asked, “Are you… Jie Shui’s grandfather?”
The man gave a bitter smile: “You really don’t recognize me… I’m Jie Shui!”
“???”
Ming Ling was stunned.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me…” Jie Shui wiped at the corner of his eye, his emotions nearly breaking, but being so emaciated, even his tear glands had atrophied, and no tears would fall.
Ming Ling hurriedly supported him. “It’s only been a few days. What kind of evil curse did you get hit with?”
“I don’t know,” Jie Shui lowered his head, “It probably started about five days ago. I remember that day I didn’t get to eat the meal Qing Yi made, so I just mixed some vegetables for dinner… But that night, my stomach started to hurt as if something was churning inside.”
“Did you see a medical cultivator?” Ming Ling asked with concern.
“Yes, I did,” Jie Shui sighed.
“At first, the medical cultivator said I just had a stomach upset. But I kept getting thinner, didn’t go to the bathroom, and was hungry all the time… The medical cultivator then said I was cursed and told me to go to the temple to have a monk perform an exorcism ritual.”
“And then?”
“I went to the temple and gave all my savings as incense money. The abbot personally performed the exorcism ritual for me… but it was useless, my stomach got worse.” Jie Shui grew angrier as he spoke, cursing loudly, “That idiot monk even said I was pregnant, carrying an Immortal Fetus! Wasting all my incense money, and he couldn’t even tell male from female. So unprofessional!”
“…”
“???” Jiang Ke’er came out of her room and was shocked at Jie Shui’s appearance.
“What happened? You just went on a mission with Qing Yi Jie and the others. How did you get this thin? Was the mission really that hard?” Jiang Ke’er asked in horror.
“No!” Jie Shui wailed. “Forget it, I don’t even know how to explain. Qingyi Miss, please make something to eat, anything will do… I’m starving to death!”
“All right, all right, just wait.”
Jiang Ke’er didn’t hesitate and hurried to the kitchen, quickly making a nourishing seafood congee.
Seeing the porridge, Jie Shui didn’t care that it was hot; he opened his mouth and poured it down his throat.
His urgency even made Jiang Ke’er feel a strange sense of familiarity… it was eerily similar to Yuan Zheng’s desperate gluttony a few days ago!
“Is there more? Is there more?” After finishing a bowl, Jie Shui anxiously asked again.
“You can’t drink more. At your current realm, you can’t forcibly refine food yet. If you drink more, you’ll burst your stomach,” Jiang Ke’er shook her head.
“Tell me exactly what happened. What symptoms do you have?”
“Hungry! I’m so hungry! Hungry every moment!” Jie Shui wailed miserably.
“But even after eating, it doesn’t fill me up. And the food… I don’t even know where it goes… I haven’t been to the bathroom for days, but I don’t feel full at all!”
Hungry? Yet malnourished?
This symptom made Jiang Ke’er recall a certain disease.
Ascaris disease.
As the name implies, it’s caused by accidentally ingesting Ascaris eggs, which hatch worms inside the stomach.
If Jie Shui had Ascaris disease, the worms would secretly eat all the food, naturally causing malnutrition.
But Ascaris disease wouldn’t be this severe, and the worms have to excrete waste. The only one Jiang Ke’er had seen who only took in and never excreted was Yuan Zheng.
Could Yuan Zheng reincarnate as an Ascaris worm and burrow into Jie Shui’s stomach? Jiang Ke’er laughed—no way…
Still, Ascaris disease was possible.
“Jie Shui, you know Inner Vision, right?” Jiang Ke’er asked.
“Of course,” Jie Shui nodded.
“Use Inner Vision on your intestines. See if there’s anything inside.”
“Ah?” Jie Shui’s face turned pale. “Are you… sure?”
The sensation of Inner Vision was like your whole self diving inside, fully immersive.
Inner vision of the intestines… emmm…
Anyway, every cultivator would try to avoid that—no one liked the feeling of being in filth.
“If this keeps up, you’ll be dead soon,” Jiang Ke’er said helplessly. “Better disgusting than starving to death.”
“All right…” Jie Shui, devastated but resolute, clenched his teeth, closed his eyes, and sent his spiritual consciousness into his intestines.
Hmm? Surprisingly, it was very clean…
The pink and spotless intestinal walls, and then…
“Holy crap, a monster!”
Jie Shui screamed and quickly pulled his consciousness back.
Judging by his reaction, they’d probably found the cause of the illness.
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