Genius Doctor: Black Belly Miss Volume 1

by North Night (夜北)

  Jun Xian glared at Wu Wang.

  Wu Wang smiled and said, “It’s the Crown Prince’s birthday next month and His Majesty has left the birthday celebrations for me to handle. Since your Wu Xie has not been out for so long, let her join this celebration to lift her spirits. His Majesty also said that he felt bad with regards to what happened with the engagement and has specially extended the invitation to your Wu Xie.

  “Fine.” Jun Xian did not want to waste anymore of his precious time with these geezers as he flicked his sleeves and walked away.

  Wu Wang laughed gleefully as he watched Jun Xian’s retreating back and ‘defeated’ demeanor.

  “Still putting on such an arrogant front? Does he still think that he is the Lin Wang of the past?” Wu Wang scorned as he put on his trademark greasy smile as the other ministers laughed along.

  “Lin Wang is unable to accept hard reality and his head is still living in the clouds. That Jun Qing is not able to live much longer and with him gone, Lin Palace is only left with that waste. Let’s see how long the Rui Lin Army can last.” Another minister sneered with a smile.

  “Hmph, he still thinks himself as a Great General commanding an entire army but all he has accomplished is losing his two sons.” Wu Wang and the other ministers continued on their banter.

  None of them had noticed that once Jun Xian had turned his back on them, there was a glint in his eyes and as he walked away, his ‘retreating back’ lost its former vicissitudes and he strode on with vigor, no different from when he was commanding the entire army, reverting back to the very same hero which made the Kingdom of Qi today.

  As he entered Jun Wu Xie’s courtyard, he could smell the familiar scent of herbs.

  Jun Wu Xie was holding two pots of herbal concoctions as she slowly stepped out of her pharmacy when she saw Jun Xian.

  “Grandfather.” She called out gently as he acknowledged her with a warm smile and nod.

  “You are still fiddling around with these? Don’t you feel bored staying at home all the time? Next month the CrownPrince will be having his birthday celebration, I’ll bring you along.” He gave her a loving smile.

  “Alright.” She didn’t give it much thought in her reply.

  Jun Xian smiled and patted her on the shoulder, without saying another word, he went back to his room.

  Jun Wu Xie stood rooted to the spot as she watched his disappearing back. Only after his back view was no longer visible, she then continued on her way to Jun Qing’s room.

  “Meow” the little black cat was playfully rubbing itself against Jun Wu Xie’s calf while walking.

  [Grandfather’s expression was a little off.]

  “Mmm.” Jun Wu Xie had noticed that as well.

  “Meow”

  [Is it related to the Crown Prince’s birthday?]

  Volume 1

  Chapter 40: “Ghost City (1)”

  “It’s a high chance it is, the former Wu Xie brought along trouble wherever she went, Grandfather wouldn’t take the initiative to invite me over to such an important function. Since he just came back from the Royal Court, most probably the idea came from the man on the throne.” Jun Wu Xie softly answered the black cat as she continued walking.

  “Meow?”

  [Why does he want you to go to the Crown Prince’s birthday celebration for?]

  “In other people’s eyes, my uncle is already a dead man. Lin Palace is left with me as the younger generation. So to them, Lin Palace is left with a kid once Jun Qing dies and as Grandfather is already advanced in his age, there is nothing for them to worry about anymore. No matter what they have to put on a show. They weren’t able to dig out any information from my Grandfather’s mouth on Jun Qing’s situation, but if it was a fourteen year old kid like me to prattle on … Moreover what do you think if a girl who was dumped by a guy and she attends his older brother’s birthday celebration and sees him cajoling with another woman affectionately in the presence of others. Isn’t this a motive by itself?” Jun Wu Xie was usually a lady of few words, even with her family she had seldom engaged in long conversations.

  However with the little black cat, words just flow out naturally.

  “Meow!” The little black cat hair stood on it ends.

  [Shameless! This is too outrageous! No wonder he and the second prince are related! On the surface they act all good but in actual fact they want to take this opportunity to embarrass you and make you lose face! How can there be such shameless people in the world?!]

  “It’s alright, this is not a big deal, I’ll let them wallow in their happiness for a little while longer. I’ll show them…” She said indifferently as a cold glint flashed across her eyes.

  Bother her? She does not mind.

  However those people even dared to put her grandfather and uncle in their calculations? Then they can’t blame her for being ruthless.

  “Foolish ones who do not deserve to live in this world will perish.” She stared icily at the pot of medicine she was holding.

  “Meow!”

  [Master, show them your might! Kill that group of idiots!]

  Jun Wu Xie no longer spoke as she calmly walked on with her mind full of thoughts.

  Jun Qing was recovering very well, however to get back to his peak, he needs more time. During this period, she will not be idle, she has her contractual spirit as well and she will train too, one step at a time to be stronger and pull out all those weeds. Clear them all out.

  To be more powerful, she must start her cultivation. Having a contractual spirit was her key secret.

  Ever since Jun Xian had given her more authority and lifted most of her restrictions, she could be seen frequently in the Resource Hall where she could be seen flipping through various cultivation techniques.

  Volume 1

  Chapter 41: “Ghost City (2)”

  Unfortunately, none of the books in the Resource Hall were suitable for her.

  In the world of cultivation, the techniques and practices were all based on the type of contractual spirit one has.

  Those with weapons and those beast type forms each have a totally different technique.

  However, Jun Wu Xie’s contractual spirit did not even fall into these two conventional categories! So no matter how much she read, how much she scoured through each book, she could not find a single cultivation technique suitable for her.

  If she wasn’t able to find any technique, she wouldn’t be able to cultivate her spirit energy.

  Where was she to find a plant cultivation technique? This problem became a headache for her.

  She bore no more hope of finding it within Lin Palace. An idea flashed through her mind.

  In the memories of this body, there was a secret place hidden deep within this Imperial City.

  It was an underground market which entrance was tucked in a secluded corner of the city. Many rare items which could not be found in the city could be found here, it also had many unconventional things for sale.

  The only difference was that the items on sale cannot be bought with money. They could only be exchanged with something equivalent in value.

  It was pure simple barter trade.

  The former Wu Xie had once been there when she was on a ‘date’ with Mo Xuan Fei. She did not even know of it’s existence even though she grew up within the city walls until he had brought her there. She did not like that place as it was dark and gloomy.

  However, that place was the only place she could think of now and she needed to make a trip there in hope of finding a suitable cultivation technique.

  Her face was well known in the Imperial City and she needed to go there incognito. She took out various herbs, grinded some into powder, extracted some of the juices and combined them into a paste as she applied it to her face and carefully moulded and changed her face shape.

  Looking in the mirror was now a young scholarly looking man. She had slightly tweaked and changed her facial features to a more masculine look and changed into a white robe.

&nbs
p; Before going to the underground market, she needed to prepare the ‘currency’ there where ordinary silver was deemed worthless. These days she had been in the pharmacy making various elixirs and potions to nourish and aid Jun Xian and Jun Qing’s recovery. She picked a few bottles, stuffed it into her robe and snuck out of the back door in the still of the night.

  The Imperial City was extremely quiet at night and although it was her first time stepping out of Lin Palace, she followed her body’s memories to the entrance of the underground market.

  She stopped in front of inconspicuous restaurant. It was a humble looking place, no different from any other buildings lining the streets, sitting at the counter was a waiter who was lazily resting his head on the counter top, when he saw her, he did not say hello and continued lazing.

  Volume 1

  Chapter 42: “Ghost City (3)”

  The entrance to this underground market was in the backyard of this inconspicuous place.

  At the backyard, an entrance with a flight of stairs could be seen leading deep down into the ground. A few men who had just climbed up the stairs looked at Jun Wu Xie, stunned for a moment.

  “This kid is actually going to Ghost City alone, how rare.” They whispered amongst themselves as they left.

  Ghost City was the name of the underground market.

  Jun Wu Xie stepped into the dark entrance as she slowly descended the steps. When she finally reached the bottom, she was greeted by a lively sight.

  Even though it was a quiet night in the Imperial City, over here it was just like another world.

  The streets were bustling alive with various people selling their wares. There were no shops here, only makeshift wooden stands littered the street. These wooden stands were around half the height of a person and items are placed there for sale.

  Two men were stationed at the entrance of Ghost City. They each wore a mask and only a pair of sharp and quiet eyes could be seen through the slit of the mask.

  Jun Wu Xie walked over to them and they did not even blink.

  “Meow?” The little black cat followed her closely as it looked at the sight before them.

  [Mistress, how are we going to find a suitable cultivation technique for you?]

  “If it is suitable for me, when we are near it Little Lotus would be able to sense it.” Jun Wu Xie whispered. Each cultivation technique had a small spiritual imprint and if it was suitable for the contractual spirit to cultivate it, there would be a spiritual resonance between them. This would help her in identifying it amongst this myriad of items placed in this vast marketplace.

  “Meow.”

  [Are you sure that little crying idiot will be able to sense anything?]

  The little black cat held the Little Lotus in contempt, whenever they met, it only knew how to cry.

  “We’ll have a look around first.” Jun Wu Xie still held onto a small strand of hope.

  Despite going through the huge book collection in Lin Palace, Little Lotus did not have a single reaction to any of the cultivation techniques. This was her last resort.

  Ghost City was big but Jun Wu Xie was purely focused on books and had no interest in any other things as she sieved through the crowds as she carefully inspected the items on display at each stall she passed.

  The only thing was…

  When a group of people crowd together, the surrounding is mixed with a variety of odors, sweat, perfume and as the number of people in this marketplace was not small, this led to an increase in temperature which made it hot, humid, stuffy and smelly.

  To others, they were simply too excited about the items on sale here and paid no heed to such minor discomfort.

  To Wu Xie, however, this combination was driving her crazy. She wrinkled her brows as she tried her best not to get into contact with anyone as she weaved her petite body through the crowd.

  This place – she will definitely not come again!

  The little black cat who was nimbly following by her side could clearly feel her frazzled nerves.

  For its Mistress who had an acute sense of smell, this place was simply hell.

  Volume 1

  Chapter 43: “Dilapidated Books (1)”

  “Meow~” the little black cat was trying hard to calm her nerves.

  Unfortunately, from her rigid expression and grimly locked lips, it had no effect whatsoever.

  Ghost City was simply too big. Under these harsh conditions, she had a hard time concentrating and looking for cultivation books as the items sold there were not specialized shops but individual sellers who sold anything and everything!

  After great difficulty, she finally reached a less busy place as she calmed down a bit. The stalls here were remotely scattered about, as she was about to move on, she felt a trace of warmth emitted out from the ring. She stopped in her tracks. She could feel her ring warming up.

  Is it here? The cultivation technique? This was the first time Little Lotus had responded to anything as she scanned her surroundings intently.

  Where she was currently frozen in place, there was a total of ten stalls nearby. Her eyes darted around as her gaze finally landed on a stall which had a few old books on sale.

  Displayed on the stand were a bunch of dilapidated books, some of which even the cover was barely intact, some titles could not even be read.

  Manning the stall was a pale faced unkempt teenager who was shabbily dressed. He was sitting on a wooden stool, chewing on a blade of bamboo leaf and smiling happily as he was deeply engrossed in a book he was holding.

  Even when Jun Wu Xie stood in front of his booth he did not respond.

  Both parties did not bother with each other as they both each did their own thing.

  Jun Wu Xie was now focused on the row of books displayed in front of her as she felt the intensity of Little Lotus’s reaction much stronger as she came closer to the books. She was sure that the book she needed must be within these books.

  All the dilapidated books may have lost the former glory of their cover but their contents were still intact.

  However…

  After flipping through the contents a few times, a frown appeared between her brows – These books were not books on cultivation.

  These books were clearly meant for a gardener!

  The contents taught people how to grow plants and flowers and had absolutely no relation to cultivation.

  On her scholarly masculine face, her lips were twitching as she tried to compose her inner self. Little Lotus intense reaction was definitely related to these gardening books. She knew that if it wasn’t for the fact that they were outside, Little Lotus would have turned into his human form and snatched them all up!

  Little Lotus was on the edge as he couldn’t transform and take the books himself, he kept on urging her.

  “Dear lovely Master, please bring these all home! Dear Almighty Master, please bring these books home! Dear lovely Master, please bring…”

  Jun Wu Xie clenched her fists.

  She had accepted that her contractual spirit was a rare plant type lotus and had resigned herself to her fate, however now that she wants to embark on her cultivation, this little guy wants her to pick up some gardening books?

  Jun Wu Xie wanted to leave but Little Lotus kept pleading and urging her to bring the books back.

  “Meow?” The little black cat looked at Jun Wu Xie with a puzzled expression.

  “Hmm?” The unkempt youth finally pulled himself away from his book and noticed that there was someone browsing as he raised his head and lazily looked at the scholarly youth in front of his stall ,as if appraising an item, he looked at Jun Wu Xie from head to toe.

  Volume 1

  Chapter 44: “Dilapidated Books (2)”

  “Welcome!” Once the unkempt youth saw that there was someone browsing through his stuff, he immediately put his book away and gave a very bright smile. Although his pale face had dirt smeared all over, he gave his best business smile.

  “Please have a look, if you see anything t
hat interests you, just let me know!” He said enthusiastically.

  Jun Wu Xie forced out a smile as her lips tightened into a straight line. She still felt conflicted on these books as she fiddled her fingers against the warm ring.

  “What do you want in return for these books?” Jun Wu Xie asked coldly. She came to this marketplace full of hope and expectations; never had she thought that she would end up trading for some dilapidated gardening books instead.

  “All of these? You want all of these books?” The unkempt youth flashed a bright smile as an excited glint flashed across his eyes, as if looking at a fat sheep.

  “Yes.” She nodded curtly, all she wanted was to quickly get this over with and continue looking for her cultivation technique book!

  The unkempt youth grinned as he stuck out one dirty hand emphasizing all five fingers.

  “Five Eastern Pearls!”

  “………………………….” Jun Wu Xie stared at him blankly, looked at the books and swiftly turned around to walk away.

  One Eastern Pearl’s value was equivalent to a ton of gold! That would be millions of gold coins worth! This youth’s opening price was ridiculously exorbitant!

  “Hey! Hey! Don’t go! Don’t leave!” The youth immediately got flustered as he saw her turn away.

  Jun Wu Xie did not even bother with him and continued to walk away as the ring started to glow and suddenly there was a bright burst of light.

  “Do not go! Do not go! Do not go!” From her side came an anxious yet tender voice. Jun Wu Xie was startled as she glanced at her right sleeve.

  THIS LITTLE LOTUS DARED TO DEFY HER?

  For the sake of these dilapidated books he actually defied her and transformed so openly?

  Not to mention how eye-catching his appearance was, when he appeared the bright burst of light in such a dark environment was enough to cause an uproar. A strong lotus scent was floating in the air along with his sudden appearance. This had attracted a lot of attention of many people close by and they all had stopped in their tracks and started looking around.