One day later.

In Pointe-Noire, Gangde.

An African buffalo was charging in panic in the jungle. There were many arrows buried in its back, the blood from its wounds dyeing his spine and belly red.

A tribe of indigenous people were yelling after it, pursuing that wounded African buffalo. They were bare-bodied from waist upwards, their faces streaked with colorful dyes. All of them looked very ferocious.

Whizz!

A tribesman unleashed an arrow from his bow. It darted towards the buffalo's hindleg.

This tribesman was different from the others. His skin color was that of a Mongoloid. His face was not smeared messily with paint, but with a red flag bearing a quintet of five-pointed golden stars.

He was Fan Huaying.

“Bullseye!” Fan Huaying bellowed. He looked excitedly at his first unleashed arrow.

That arrow soon flew to the buffalo's back and was about lodge itself into his target.

Suddenly, a human figure streaked in from the side. The arrow lodged itself into his chest. That person grabbed the arrow but did not collapse.

The buffalo seized the opportunity and fled.

Fan Huaying stared agape at that figure, only gasping after a momentary daze. He charged up and at that brief moment, his face was overwhelmed with panic, worry, guilt and even fear.

The person he had hit was Ning Tao.

He had Ning Tao here to help treat the chieftain of this Pointe-Noire tribe. He had not expected him to emerge out of the blue and be hit. Right now, he was not worried about the chieftain's infertility problem, but whether Ning Tao would die from the arrow wound!

“Brother Huaying.” Ning Tao suddenly opened his mouth and greeted him, a faint smile appearing on his lips. “What a special way to welcome me.”

“You're… alright?” Fan Huaying sprinted nearer and stared at Ning Tao nervously.

Ning Tao put down the arrow in his chest and smiled. “I managed to catch your arrow. Anywhere closer and I will be hit.”

In fact, the arrow had lodged in his chest but was blocked by the Heavenly Gem Magic Garment. He reached out to grab the falling arrow, pretending to be hit. He did this to allow that injured buffalo time to escape.

There were fewer and fewer wildlife animals nowadays. One hunted and slain would mean one less. That particular species would run the risk of being endangered. Saving a buffalo would count as a meritorious act too.

The sins of evil intention in the good-evil tripod were getting more and more abundant. Each time Ning Tao practiced, he would be affected. His Tao heart would incline to evil. But if he were to perform good deeds, the good energy from his body would be able to counter it a little. This was something he could not help, nor was it a long-term solution, since the evil energy he absorbed from the good-evil tripod was released by a few thousand sin of evil intention demerit points. His trivial acts of merit could not counter it for long.

Besides, it not only affected his Tao heart but also his inner core. The latter could not be corrected by performing good deeds, but only by acc.u.mulating large quant.i.ties of merits of good intention in the good-evil tripod. So there was only one solution to eradicate this problem completely: to treat patients with merits of good intention. This whole matter was difficult to understand, a way for Sky Clinic to balance itself. As a doctor of Sky Clinic, he must punish evil as well as reward good. He could not do only one. As a born go-between of good and evil, he was innately tasked to maintain this balance.

Ning Tao put down that arrow and only then did Fan Huaying heave a long sigh of relief. He smiled wryly. “Brother Ning, you gave me a big fright. Why have you suddenly appeared here?”

Ning Tao replied, “I came by plane to Sudan and then walked here. I did not transit to the Golden Sands Airport. Gangde has nice scenery and I would like to enjoy them, so I did not contact you. My girlfriends and I sightsaw all the way to Pointe-Noire.”

He could not tell Fan Huaying that they had ridden his electric motorbike all the way here. If he had done so, Fan Huaying would think it a joke.

“Where's sister-in-law?” Fan Huaying glanced about behind him.

Qing Zhui and Jiang Hao both walked out from behind two trees. One was like a fallen fairy from heaven, the other a beauty resembling an ice sculpture. This scene with these two beauties instantly made Fan Huaying and the unsuspecting aboriginals behind him gawk.

Ning Tao coughed once.

Only then did Fan Huaying recover. He drew close to Ning Tao and whispered, “They are both your girlfriends?”

Ning Tao gave a slight nod.

Fan Huaying gave Ning Tao a thumbs-up without disguising the envy he felt in his heart. A man like him would not lack women. But Qing Zhui and Jiang Hao were great beauties he could never win through courts.h.i.+p.

Jiang Hao used not to be as pretty as she was now. But after getting cured in Sky Clinic and becoming an ice demon, her image and demeanor had undergone evident changes. She used to have a few strands of white hair on her head, but now they were gone. All the scars she had from past battles were also gone. These were some of the changes she had undergone after turning into a new demon.

A large crowd of aboriginals cl.u.s.tered around them, chattering away noisily.

Fan Huaying said a few words to the aboriginals and they retreated.

Ning Tao asked curiously, “Brother Huaying, are you speaking French to them?”

Fan Huaying answered, “Yes. French is the official language of Gangde. Their indigenous language is Gangdian, but that language is declining. Even these aboriginals will use French phrases now and then when they spoke Gangdian. Some can even speak whole sentences in French.”

Ning Tao said, “Take me to see that tribal chieftain. Please help us translate when we converse.”

Fan Huaying said, “I don't need to. The chieftain of this Pointe-Noire tribe is Male Eagle. He knows English and is very knowledgeable. He goes on sightseeing tours every year to see the outside world. I met him in Dubai and we became friends. He speaks many languages and his English is quite good. He even knows some Mandarin.”

Ning Tao smiled. “Then it will be easy. Let's go. Take me to see that Male Eagle friend of yours.”

The group of aboriginals and Fan Huaying led Ning Tao and his girlfriends through a jungle into a valley.

The settlement of this Pointe-Noire tribe was in this valley. There were hundreds of crude shacks. Some were log cabins, and the others were erected out of shrub rattan and leaves. In their center was a mushroom-shaped building which resembled a tent, but larger, with walls built from granite. Its rooftops were strewn with a certain type of gra.s.s and very neatly arranged. This building was the grandest in the entire settlement. One could easily guess it was the dwelling place of their chieftain, Male Eagle, as well as the center of the settlement's politics and authority, no different from a palace.

Behind the settlement beyond the valley was a mountain. It was not very high but very precipitous. Midway up the mountain, there was a natural cave where a river from the lower grounds flowed out, resulting in a hundred-meter waterfall. Sunlight shone, drying up all the cold water from the river. The entire mountain was engulfed in faint whitish vapor. A rainbow had appeared above the waterfall, making this settlement seemed somewhat like a fairyland.

Ning Tao's heart quivered. He summoned the states of looking and smelling in his eyes and nose. He was astounded by what he saw. There were faint, straggling spiritual energies in the air here, their source being that cave within the steep wall in that mountain.

“Brother Huaying, where is the source of that waterfall?” Ning Tao probed.

Fan Huaying continued walking as they talked. “There's a river from the lower grounds in the cave. That cave is called the 'Gate of h.e.l.l.' Even that river is called the River from h.e.l.l. But that waterfall had been christened by the Sun G.o.d and had turned into a rainbow waterfall, nouris.h.i.+ng the Pointe-Noire natives. So they dare to bathe in that waterfall but not go into that cave. These were what Chieftain Male Eagle told me.”

“Has anyone entered it?” Ning Tao felt an intense curiosity about that cave.

Fan Huaying said, “The aboriginals in this Pointe-Noire tribe will never go in, because they think they will suffer curses from h.e.l.l if they even approach it, bringing back plagues and calamities to their settlement. They also forbid men from outside the tribe to enter it. Whoever approaches the cave will be attacked by them. Once, an exploratory team from the West landed on that mountain by parachutes. They dropped down a rope from the mountaintop into the cave and explored it. But no one came out of the cave alive.”

Ning Tao raised his head and observed that cave midway up the mountain. He was certain that if he were to take out the Soil-seeking Inkstone, it would definitely point in that direction.

Fan Huaying said, “Brother Ning, don't ever think of going there. Although I don't believe in curses, it is a forbidden place for the Pointe-Noire natives. If you enter, they will attack you.”

Ning Tao smiled. “I'm not so bored. I only asked this out of curiosity, because I like the scenery here.”

After entering the settlement, they walked to the center on the traversing mud road. Before they arrived at the mushroom-shaped building, a large crowd had already gathered at the end of the road. Leading the company was a black man in his early 40s. He was slightly stout and wearing a tiger-hide coat, with bone jewelry hanging on his neck. By his sides were aboriginal warriors, some carrying primitive bows and spears, others AK a.s.sault rifles and old-fas.h.i.+oned, World War II rifles. There was a strange but strong amalgam of primitivism and modernity.

Fan Huaying said, “He is the tribal chieftain of this Pointe-Noire settlement, Male Eagle.”

Indeed, Fan Huaying did not need to introduce the man. Ning Tao could guess that the black man leading them was their tribal chieftain, Male Eagle. He advanced with Fan Huaying to greet him.

Fan Huaying said to him in French, “Chieftain Male Eagle, this is my friend, a miracle doctor from Hua Country, Ning Tao.”

Male Eagle sized Ning Tao up and then spoke in Mandarin. “h.e.l.lo!”

Ning Tao offered him his hand. “h.e.l.lo, Chieftain Male Eagle.”

Chieftain Male Eagle grabbed Ning Tao's hand and gave him a hug. “Could you cure me?”

Ning Tao said, “Take me to your house and I will give you an examination. Your ailment is a small problem.”

He did not know if Chieftain Male Eagle had heard him. But the moment Ning Tao said this, he released Ning Tao and started gibbering noisily. He pulled Ning Tao's hand and they walked to that mushroom-shaped building.

Fan Huaying gave the two girls awaiting an introduction to the chieftain an awkward shrug. He said to them, “Chieftain Male Eagle is quite anxious. Don't blame him, my sisters-in-law.”

Qing Zhui and Jiang Hao merely nodded slightly and walked past Fan Huaying,

Fan Huaying smiled wryly and sighed. “How aloof!”