Great Merchant - Dao Ming (Chapter 6 - Disciple of Parvati, Disciple of Bhaisajyaguru 1)

Previously on Dao Ming…

King Yanlou, Judge of Hell, his secretary Lin Bai and Zhu Wuneng, aka Pigsy/Pig Demon aka brother disciple of Son Goku got put to trial for releasing Li Fang Sing into a new Domain without authorization. The Rulers of the various Domain threw the charges out after finding out the truth, learning that there is a flaw in their Fate prediction system. Incidentally, they also find out that someone succeeded in the Dao of Creation, creating the Domain that Li Fang Sing’s soul currently resides in.

The sun is now dropping from its zenith as the willow tree’s curtain of foliage softly sweeps above the river, rustling softly in the gentle breeze. The resting youth slowly opens his eyes as the the warmth of the sun perfuses throughout his body as the willow’s shade shifts away from him.

With natural movements, he gets up and pats his robe, shaking out the leaves and soil, before stretching with large, deliberate motions. Satisfied, he walks to the gourd embedded into the ground nearby, with a slender branch stabbing into its opening. He removes the branch carefully, the tip of which is broken, with a milky liquid over its breakage. He then peers into the gourd before giving a little swirl, nodding as he feels the satisfying weight shifting within. He swiftly corks the gourd and retrieves the small bundle of willow bark he had gathered in the morning and heads back to the village.

[T/N: This almost whooshed over my head, good thing I did some reading prior + help made everything clicked. Guanyin, aka the Goddess of Mercy, has willow as part of her symbolism, in fact, she holds it in one hand while she hands a jar of water in the other. Considering that the fucker is definitely referring to buddhist/hindu references here, I think this scene is intentional. This seems to be continuing from the very beginning of Chapter 1 btw]

The youth follows the river until it was Wei hour (1pm) with his harvest in tow, where he sees a tributary feeding into the main river. He walks closer to the water’s edge, approaching a bunch of stakes submerged near the mouth of the tributary before walking back to the animal trail. Silently, he walks once more, up the path fenced in by the verdant growths. The sound of the river changes from murmuring splashes gradually to a persistent roar, the rippling turquoise crystal surface changing into churning white waves. The trail twists and inclines sharply as he finally spots the raging waterfall that marks the last leg of his journey. The drizzling mists cool his slightly sweaty body as he walks under the rainbow in the air, not too far ahead, a small pillar of smoke drifts up into the clear sky.

“Hey, Ming!” A sun-tanned, muscular man with scars all over his bare chest greets the youth while submerged waist deep in a nearby pool of water. “You ate yet?!”

“Greetings, Senior Fu, how was your hunting trip?”

[T/N: He said big brother Tiger… but it sounds really stupid in english, so yeah, going with senior instead. And eh… “You ate yet?” is used a greeting of sorts as well, just FYI.]

The man smiles with his teeth showing points at a shack that’s emitting clouds of white smoke. “Very good, a little too good maybe, actually… Wait right there!” He quickly climbs out of the water, puts on his pants and grabs a stick with a blackened end before heading toward a pile of ash. With practiced movement, he stabs the stick in with a cack before lifting something dark green out of the ash. He lowers the bundle on the stick carefully down to the ground before walking behind the makeshift shack, making a small ruckus before reappearing again with something slightly charred in each hand.

“These are about done, bring these to your parents and that boss of yours.”

“Um…” Ming becomes a little hesitant at the offer.
Hoist always implies verticality so if it’s not mentioned it’s supes confusing to a normal english reader

“Eh?” The man stills for a moment before clapping his hands. “Ah! Don’t worry, don’t worry, I didn’t intentionally make it for that damn monk. Whoever passed by would’ve gotten it, there’s just simply too much meat since that damned boar appeared from nowhere and attacked me. Actually, when you get back, can you send someone to help me haul these back tomorrow?”

[T/N: Apparently, some sects of buddhism allows their practitioners to eat meat as long as it wasn’t intentionally killed for them to consume, so the monk literally lucked out.]

“Oh, of course. Then I won’t be polite.”

“That’s more like it! Oh, right, here, eat this while it’s fresh. I would eat it myself if I hadn’t had so much already.” The man hands one of the charred, fan-like object to Ming before heading off to grab some leaves. “Boar liver, fresh from the fire! Nibble on that while I wrap the legs up.”

Ming lowers his baggage to the side of the path before sitting himself down on one of the boulders beside the waterfall, stabbing the meat-fan into the ground before washing his hands in the water. After swinging his hands dry, he picks up the fan and starts sliding out the slabs of meat that are weaved between the various strips of the fan-like contraption. After licking his lips to moisten them, he proceeds to make short work of the unexpected treat.

…

The youth licks his fingers clean before washing them in the water again.

“How was it?” The man asks eagerly while bringing the leaf-wrapped bundle and Ming’s baggage over.

“Very delicious.”

“Hahahaha! Good! Alright, careful on the way back, and tell Master I said hi!”

“I’ll let dad know.” Ming picks up his baggage, shouldering it on his back, then slings the leaf bundle over his neck and carries it in the front. The youth gives a quick smile before heading into the mountain to where the village is once more.

The man sighs happily as he watches the youth disappear beyond the curve of the path. “Damn rascal, barely six years and he has grown so much already.” A smile creeps onto his face before heading back to the shack, to make sure the meat gets preserved properly.



Southstop City, Province of Extreme Harmony (太和 - Tai Wo, I can switch to transliteration if Extreme Harmony sounds too stupid >.>) - A Commoner’s rowhouse


“Physician Li(理), please, save my daughter!” A pair of husband and wife are kneeling on the floor, repeatedly banging their foreheads onto the rough, wooden floor.

“Then pay up!” The plainly dressed man with a scholarly appearance shakes his right hand that’s holding onto a measly 5 bronze coins.

“We don’t have that much money right now, I will be your ox and horse, please, I beg you, save her!” The malnourished husband bangs his head more vigorously as he replies, his fresh blood flicking from the broken skin on his forehead. The wife can only sob uncontrollably with her forehead flat to the floor.

The physician narrows his eyes. “You get what you paid for.” The man closes his hand that’s holding onto the coins and flicks his sleeve. “Tong!” The man throws 4 bronze coins to a youth standing to the side.

“Yes, master!” The youth steps forward after pocketing the coins, rummaging through his sorry-looking medicine bag before taking out a small medicine bottle.

“Wait, he’s the one that’s going to treat her?! That’s just asking for her to die, please, great Doctor, you can’t just watch her die.”

“Either you leave it up to Heavens, or you let him do it! Just to let you know, he can’t use anything over the worth of 4 bronze coins, if you want to leave it to ‘Heavens’, then I will give you back your money and you may leave!” The scholarly man says firmly. “Otherwise, even if his treatment fails, don’t come looking for us for revenge.”

[T/N: Tempted to change “Leave it to Heavens” to “leave it up to chance” since that’s the meaning, but keeping it cause of the flavour of the text~]

The wife starts wailing louder at the ultimatum while the husband grits his teeth before bowing to the youth. “Junior Tong, I leave it up to you!”

“Then scram!”

“Yes, Physician Li.” The man drags his wife bodily with bloodshot eyes, exiting the single room of the rowhouse.

With practiced hands, the scholar puts up white curtains on the windows and doors, sealing the exits by writing on the edge of the cloths with cinnabar. The youth vigorously shakes the medicine bottle before releasing the red-feathered cork, pouring the clear viscous liquid onto his palm. He rubs his fingers from his dominant hand into the palmful of medicine after putting the bottle away, coating them evenly before they air dry. Hesitantly, he reaches over and grabs the young girl’s wrist, checking her palpitation. After a while, he does the same to the side of her neck. Then finally, her face that’s slightly blue.

“Bitter plum skin, red dandelion, willow bark… no, make that poplar bark, corpse weed, pigwort, milk thistle, thorn nettle…”

[T/N: I believe these things are made up, so don’t go thinking they are real medicine :P]

“Wait!”

“Yes, master!”

“Why milk thistle and thorn nettle?”

“Aside from her fever, chronic malnutrition and weak lungs, heart and liver, I think she also ingested some sort of poison.”

“Poison?!” The man turns toward his apprentice with a quick 180. “Stand aside.”

“Yes, master!”

The man flicks his sleeve to reveal a knife-hand, vibrating slightly. The air inside starts to feel slightly warm, after a while, he places his index and middle fingers on her wrist, neck, behind the ear as well as the girl’s lower back before peeling the girl’s eyelids open one by one and inspecting her eyes.

“Replace corpse weed with silver hawthorne, ratio is 5,2,1,1,2,1,3.”

Tong stares blankly before asking “But isn’t silv-”

“Did you hear me or not?!”

“Yes! Master!”

“Then go! Send her parents in while you prep the medicine.”

“Yes!”

Tong immediately retrieves the necessary ingredients from his medicine bag, before going through his master’s to retrieve the more expensive and potent detoxifying herb. He quickly leaves the room and retrieves the couple, before leaving again with the ingredients in tow.

The scholarly man stands ramrod straight, with his back towards the parents. After calming himself, he turns towards them with fire in his eyes. “Which one of you fed her opium-laced poisons?”

The husband and wife can only stare blankly at each other with their mouths dangling before looking back at the physician.

“Damn it all, it’s them again!” The scholarly man’s face distorts viciously as he hisses loudly, his fist clenched with white knuckles.