Immortality Path: From the Blind Man at the Pharmacy
Chapter 166 - 111, 112. The Birth of Ting, The Second Ghost Tide (Mega Chapter - Seeking Subscriptions)_2

Chapter 166: 111, 112. The Birth of Ting, The Second Ghost Tide (Mega Chapter - Seeking Subscriptions)_2

Outside was a cacophony of cluttered affairs, but Song Cheng had stopped paying attention.

Because his mind was in complete disarray.

He even began to wildly doubt himself.

Could it be that his unique physique was the cause of Sister An’s difficult labor?

He had actually considered this question before.

The reason he was eager to sire offspring was due to the fear that becoming stronger would create a "reproductive isolation" with normal women.

But had he considered the strength of his own life seed and the frailty of Sister An’s body?

He should have.

But he didn’t.

He was utterly selfish!

...

December arrived in the blink of an eye.

This year, the snow was rampant, falling like a pale ocean from the sky, instantly submerging the human world beneath its depths...

In the courtyard of the inner house of the An Residence, thick snow soon piled up above the knees.

Song Cheng sat at the threshold, while behind him, Madam Tong was accompanied by the physician and the midwife, who were routinely treating the extremely weakened An Chenyu, chatting away.

He, on the other hand, took out the Ancient Mirror left by Lady Zhushan and activated it with a flick of his hand.

The mirror rippled, displaying the entire scenery of Hanping Prefecture.

It also included the Tiger and Leopard Camp.

Zhao Hua’s martial arts talent was indeed good, but his talent for leading troops was even better.

Day by day, he followed closely by Song Cheng’s side, studying his every move. Now, with Song Cheng absent, Zhao Hua led the Tiger Leopard Cavalry with a certain flair of his own. However, he was ultimately not Song Cheng, and there were still many flaws.

Yet those flaws were patched up by Yuan Shouyu, Song Cheng’s seemingly ordinary disciple.

Yuan Shouyu turned out to be a military genius as well.

Song Cheng, through the Ancient Mirror, observed the Tiger and Leopard Camp just as Lady Zhushan had spied on him once before.

Watching this way, he could still see the fluctuations of data.

Suddenly, Song Cheng was taken aback, as he noticed that in the snowy weather... the overall combat power of the Tiger and Leopard Camp had weakened.

It was as if it had dropped by nearly twenty percent compared to its usual level.

In an instant, a thought crashed into his mind.

Even though this world was filled with mysterious forces, military momentum could still be influenced by "heavenly timing, geographical advantages, and human relations."

Purely leading troops—that was "human relations," the morale of the soldiers themselves, the commanding force of the general.

But in fact, the heavens and earth could also affect the numerical value of military momentum.

Data fluctuation, transaction, fickleness... Regardless of the changes, in this frigid snowy environment unsuitable for the Tiger Leopard Cavalry, all data had decreased across the board.

’So the heavens and earth can also affect the momentum?’

Song Cheng understood this principle, but seeing it with his own eyes still felt magical.

’Then, could the Martial Path borrow the power of heaven and earth?’

’If speaking of individual integration into the army, just by seizing that instantaneous and ever-changing military momentum, one could burst forth with power far surpassing one’s own strength in an instant. This is called unity of the soldier and the general.

Then, if one could grasp the changing momentum of heaven and earth, could that also let one’s strength increase by several times? This is called Unity of Heaven and Man.’

Thoughts inexplicably burst forth.

Immediately after, he began to ponder.

But after much thought, they all seemed like profound and incomprehensible truths, utterly useless. He even recited the phrase "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao" a few times, but saw no shock or anomaly in the heavens and earth.

’It’s probably exclusive to military momentum.’

Song Cheng shook his head and temporarily stored away the idea of "individual Martial Path borrowing the power of heaven and earth" at the back of his mind.

After scanning over the Prefectural City again through the Ancient Mirror and seeing nothing unusual, he wearily lifted his head.

Outside matters, even if the heavens were to fall and the earth to split, didn’t seem as exhausting to him.

But this involved Sister An’s belly, his child’s matter; pain already tormented him.

Excruciating pain!

He wanted to drink.

But Sister An couldn’t be subjected to the slightest whiff of alcohol.

So he chose not to drink.

After who knows how long, the physician and the midwife walked out from the back room.

Madam Tong was the last to come out. She softly closed the door, then sat with a plop beside Song Cheng on the threshold, both of them gazing at the torrential sea of snow.

She didn’t speak either, just watched the snowflakes in a trance before softly sighing and saying, "Sister An’s fetus is too strange. Her belly is icy cold. Logically speaking... the fetus should be dead, even affecting her now. But the tests show that the child still has signs of life."

Song Cheng asked, "Can the fetus still be stimulated?"

Madam Tong shook her head.

Grinding his teeth, Song Cheng asked again, "Is it possible to save one if not both?"

Madam Tong said, "Either both survive or... both perish."

At that moment, Song Cheng felt as if he were about to collapse.

No, he had already prepared himself to become a father.

For the first time in his past and present life, he was about to be a father.

His joy, along with the passing time, plummeted from the peak to the valley.

"Do your best to save... the mistress," he said in dejection.

Song Cheng bowed his head in resignation.

Madam Tong said, "This is also my child."

Immediately after, Song Cheng went back into the room, continuing to act as a human furnace.

And for some reason, at that moment, An Chenyu became like Hell itself made of ice... No matter how much heat Song Cheng provided, it was all absorbed completely, to the point where he, too, started to feel cold.

It was simply unimaginable.

...

This situation persisted until the end of December.

End of the year...

Song Cheng cradled Sister An.

Sister An slept in his arms, now rarely awake.

To bring about festive cheer, Hanping Prefecture specially set off fireworks this year-end.

At midday, as the sky filled with fireworks shot against the falling snow, even from inside the inner house of the An Residence, one could see through the windows outside the intermittent flashes, a profusion of colors.

If midday was the time of day when Yin Qi was at its most abundant, then the last day of the year was the moment when Yin Qi was at its peak for the entire year.

According to the Star-Viewing Tower of the Imperial Family, at this moment, the human world was closest to Taiyin and furthest from the sun.

The rustling sound went unheard, yet it rose from the northern wilderness, like locusts turning into clouds with a buzzing "weng weng" as they passed, like the gates of Hell opening and a myriad of ghosts climbing upwards with a rustling "sususu"...