After Becoming the Pope’s Disciple - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The White Fox

Old Tao’s shop was located in the liveliest part of the black market; it could be found with just a bit of inquiring.

Ye Shaoqing found the place without much effort. An iconic, exquisite birdcage hung from the beam in front of the door. He glanced inside, his gaze meeting a pair of round, black eyes belonging to a multicolored bird. The bird poked its head through the gaps in the cage to stare back at him.

It looked much like a parrot but was larger, with a long, sharp beak that looked capable of pecking a bloody hole into someone with a single strike. The three crest feathers on its head quivered, and it suddenly strained its throat to howl toward the interior: “Chirp—a guest has arrived—!”

An aged voice drifted out from inside: “Please enter.” As soon as the voice fell, the main doors naturally swung open to both sides.

The furnishings inside were quite cluttered. The tables were covered with all sorts of bizarre plants, and two rows of iron cages were stacked neatly against the wall. Each cage held at least one exotic beast. They varied in size—the largest were as big as adult wolves, while the smallest were only the size of a fist, and their forms were strange and varied. The only commonality was that they were all huddled listlessly in their cages, dispirited and appearing extremely weak.

Ye Shaoqing’s gaze swept the room before landing on a short old man hunched over a desk, buried in work. He had a head of hoary silver hair and several metal chains hanging “clink-clank” around his neck. A pair of round reading glasses sat on his nose, and he held a half-dead green ivy vine that was still twitching occasionally.

Ye Shaoqing curled his fingers and tapped lightly on the door twice, asking: “Excuse me, are you Old Tao?”

“Correct.” Old Tao adjusted his reading glasses to peer at the visitor. Certain he didn’t recognize him, he asked: “What do you need repaired?”

Ye Shaoqing shook his head and handed over the letter of introduction: “No, I was introduced by Wen Qingze to learn mental strength healing from you.”

“Introduced by Ah-Ze?” Old Tao looked at him with surprise for a few moments before taking the letter to read.

The old man seemed to have an eye ailment, as he read quite slowly. Ye Shaoqing showed no impatience, waiting quietly to the side until Old Tao set down the paper and beckoned him: “You are called Ye Shaoqing? Since Ah-Ze introduced you, I’ll allow you to be an apprentice here. How much you learn depends on your own comprehension. As for wages, that will be decided later based on your working ability.”

Ye Shaoqing nodded in agreement, feeling no dissatisfaction with being an apprentice.

“Ah-Ze says you healed a Bodhi Lotus that was about to wither? Hmm, then you should possess decent mental strength.” Old Tao stroked his beard as he sized up the young man.

The letter hadn’t specified the quality of the Bodhi Lotus after its recovery, so Old Tao assumed it was just a matter of keeping the bud from withering to let it live a few days longer. In fact, most ordinary Priests were at that level.

Ye Shaoqing didn’t offer further explanation, simply saying: “That was just a coincidence. I haven’t the slightest idea how to utilize it.”

Old Tao smiled, the wrinkles on his face deepening, and said with a touch of pride: “Then you’ve certainly come to the right person.”

He stepped out from behind the desk, cleared his throat, and gave a brief overview of the basic concepts and uses of mental strength: “Mental strength is a wealth everyone is born with, though the amount varies. Most people’s mental strength is very meager, almost undetectable.”

“A small number of people sense it and can communicate with it, discovering many magical abilities; they are called Technomancers. The best among Technomancers, after passing the Holy See’s assessment, are qualified to enter the Hall of Teaching and become Priests.”

“One major ability of a Priest is Healing Magic. High-level Healing Magic is all-encompassing, whether it is physical or mental. Only by passing the Moon-level assessment and mastering High-level Healing Magic can one become a Cardinal Priest and govern a regional Hall of Teaching.”

“Utilizing mental strength isn’t actually difficult. The key lies in concentrating your attention; the rest is diligent practice. First, you must have a medium to communicate with your mental strength.”

Old Tao fished a piece of white paper covered in indentations out of a cabinet and handed it to him: “The material of this paper is very compatible with mental strength. Hold it, close your eyes, imagine the appearance of the paper in your mind, and use your fingers to trace the indentations on the surface to communicate with it through touch.”

Seeing Ye Shaoqing take the paper and immediately sit down to start practicing, Old Tao couldn’t help but nod in satisfaction. He wondered how many hours it would take this young man to leave a mark on the paper.

Since Ah-Ze said his talent is extraordinary, it shouldn’t take more than three hours, right? Old Tao muttered to himself, picking up the green ivy again to continue his unfinished work.

However, a short while later, Old Tao’s work was interrupted by Ye Shaoqing again. He pinched his brows in displeasure and, without looking up, said: “What is it? Can’t do the exercise? What I gave you is already the simplest method. Young man, don’t be impetuous; all beginners start like this. It’s normal to be unable to draw anything for several hours. Take your time…”

“But I’ve already—”

“I said you…” Old Tao looked up impatiently. When his gaze caught the object in front of him, the lecture at the tip of his tongue suddenly stalled.

He stared at the white paper Ye Shaoqing held out. No—to be precise, the paper had been dyed a fiery crimson. The original indentations were filled with mental strength, manifesting a simple hexagram pattern that emitted a faint glow. Though weak, it was undeniably the aura of mental strength.

“You… this…” Old Tao took the paper in shock, feeling the vigorous fluctuations of mental strength coming from it. He instinctively adjusted his glasses, glanced at the wall clock, and nearly bit his tongue!

Three hours? It’s only been three minutes! What kind of monster did Ah-Ze send over?

“Is this truly your first time doing basic practice?” Old Tao squinted his small eyes, sizing Ye Shaoqing up over and over again. Ye Shaoqing nodded and didn’t speak, standing there candidly meeting his gaze.

In the end, it was Old Tao who yielded first. He cleared his throat: “This rare talent of yours… to be honest, in all my years, this is the first time this old man has seen it in the flesh. Hmm, it’s more like the children of those long-blooded noble families in the Imperial Capital. I wonder what your family is?”

Ye Shaoqing smiled and shook his head: “Family? I don’t know. I am alone, staying at Wen Qingze’s place.”

“You don’t know?” Old Tao’s gaze became complex. In an instant, his mind concocted a ten-thousand-word melodramatic soap opera about wealthy family disputes. Finally, he let out a sympathetic sigh and said affectionately, “It doesn’t matter. I will do my best to guide you.”

He thought for a moment and added sheepishly: “With my level, I can at most give you an initiation. In the future, it would be best if you could go to the Holy See to seek a famous teacher of Archbishop rank, so as not to waste your talent.”

However, as a commoner, wanting to meet an Archbishop of the Holy See is likely difficult in the extreme, let alone being taken as a disciple by such a great figure. Old Tao shook his head regretfully in his heart. This poor child.

Ye Shaoqing looked confused under Old Tao’s sympathetic gaze; he had no such lofty ambitions. He just wanted to make money quickly—and make a lot of it.

Old Tao set the paper aside and pulled a bronze basin from the bottom of a cabinet. It was filled with fine black sand that flowed slowly back and forth with Old Tao’s movements.

“There’s no need to continue the paper practice. Try this next.”

“Sand?”

“Yes.” Old Tao nodded and grabbed a handful of black sand. Surprisingly, not a single grain leaked from his hand, as if he weren’t holding dust-like sand but a ball of black dough that could be molded into any shape at will.

Having realized his apprentice’s talent, Old Tao had clearly become much more enthusiastic. He held the ball of black sand before Ye Shaoqing’s eyes and explained in detail: “The paper practice just now was the simplest because the marks were already left on the paper—those are specific paths designed to guide mental strength. But black sand is different; they are a basin of loose sand with no guidance and no paths. It relies entirely on you using your mental strength to knead and mold them.”

“First, you must use your mental strength to congregate the loose sand. Then, make the congregated sand take various forms. This is the primary application of mental strength. Higher up, more complex methods belong to the realm of Divine Arts. For a beginner, it generally takes over a week of practice.”

When Ye Shaoqing heard the last sentence, his heart sank: “It takes a week just to practice this?” By then, he wouldn’t even know where Wen Qingze’s flower had been sold.

Recalling that this kid finished the paper in three minutes, Old Tao didn’t dare speak too definitively. He hesitated: “In your case, you should be able to master it in two or three days.”

Ye Shaoqing shook his head: “That’s too long. I want to learn Healing Magic as soon as possible.”

Old Tao’s eyes bulged, and his beard quivered with anger: “You brat, you’re too arrogant! You want to fly before you can even walk?! Healing Magic is a basic Divine Art, and you haven’t even entered the threshold yet. Don’t think that having powerful mental strength is enough; if you don’t know how to use it, it’s no different from a child swinging a massive sledgehammer!”

Ye Shaoqing said: “You misunderstand. In fact, I urgently need a sum of money, and I heard this is the fastest way to get it.”

Old Tao froze: “Urgently need money? How much?”

Ye Shaoqing gave a brief account of the situation. After hearing it, Old Tao frowned and said with a bitter smile, “I didn’t expect Ah-Ze to encounter such trouble. If it were a few hundred Star Coins, I could scrape it together, but as for two thousand, I can’t lend you that much at once.”

Ye Shaoqing was somewhat surprised. He hadn’t expected this Old Tao to be such a kind-hearted man beneath a cold exterior. Feeling a bit more warmth toward him, he said sincerely: “Thank you for the kind offer. I will find a way myself.”

Old Tao said crossly: “What way could you have? How about this: once you master the primary application of this black sand, I will teach you Healing Magic. As for whether you can learn it or not, that depends on your own luck.”

Ye Shaoqing’s eyes grew deep as he whispered a single word: “Deal.”

Time was pressing. Ye Shaoqing didn’t want to waste a single minute. Old Tao still had work to do, so Ye Shaoqing took the sand basin, preparing to go back and practice. Just as he stepped out of the shop, a uniquely shaped black beast carriage slowly stopped at the door. It was called a “carriage” because its form roughly resembled a car body and it traveled on four giant rollers. It was a “beast carriage” because the antennae protruding from both sides of the front had two large eyes—one of which was staring straight at Ye Shaoqing, blinking curiously.

The body of this beast carriage was circular, with a central door on each side for entry and exit, yet there was no driver’s seat. It moved forward entirely on its own. It was Ye Shaoqing’s first time seeing such a transportation tool of this different world, and the image was quite visually striking.

At that moment, the door opened. The first to step out was a servant, who stood respectfully by the door to help his master down. The newcomer was dressed in black plain clothes of excellent material and style, but he was nearly sixty years old, with a stooped posture that made him look very short.

In his arms, he held a snow-white ball of fluff, and his expression was quite anxious. Ye Shaoqing brushed past him while carrying the sand basin. In that instant, he caught a glimpse of the white fluff ball opening its eyes slightly and realized it seemed to be a fox cub.

Ye Shaoqing stopped and looked back. He happened to see the little fox poke its fluffy head halfway out of the old man’s arms to let out a weak cry toward him.

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