821 To Die

He was very surprised by the soldiers' performance. They were quickly learning.

They were focused, serious, and had good backgrounds. These were indeed the specially selected elite soldiers with excellent combat and learning ability. After the morning had passed, there were already two soldiers who had almost mastered it.

"Well, they're learning faster than I thought they would," Wang Yao said.

"These are all the elites that were chosen from thousands of people," Su Zhixing said. "They have very strong learning abilities."

"You have to hurry up and don't be overtaken by them," Wang Yao joked. "That would be so disgraceful!"

"Yes, you have to give me a personal lesson," Su Zhixing said.

Wang Yao stayed three more days to teach the soldiers. Once the kung fu had been practiced to the depth of essence and mastered, the place the person gripped would become useless once the enemy used his strength. For example, if the person were to grip his enemy's wrist, the wrist would be dislocated in an instant and would lose its ability to move. It was a very destructive kung fu.

"Are you not going to stay for a few more days?" Su Zhixing asked.

"No, it will be Oct. 1 in a few days," Wang Yao said. "I have to attend my elder sister's wedding no matter what."

"Ah, wait a minute!" Su Zhixing slapped his forehead and took out a red packet from his pocket. "This is just a little of my gratitude."

"Mine too." Mu Chengzhou also took out a red packet.

"About this..." If Su Zhixing were to be related to him in the future, there was no problem with him accepting the red packet. He could just take it. But Mu Chengzhou's red packet was...

"OK, I'll thank you for my sister," Wang Yao said. "If you're free, attend the wedding party. If you're not free, I'll come back to southern Yunnan some time and treat you to a meal."

"You're welcome here any time," Mu Chengzhou said.

Wang Yao went to the provincial capital to catch the noon flight. He would arrive in Dao that afternoon and stay one night. He would return to the mountain village the next morning.

On the plane, he looked down at the valley deep in the southern Yunnan mountains.

There was an ancient village with a history of hundreds of years within the mountains. No outsiders visited the village because the customs there did not welcome outsiders. Now, there was an outsider.

"It's you!" A village man was stunned. "How dare you come back!"

"Why would I not come back?" a middle-aged man in a hat asked. "Take me to meet the Chief."

"Wait here," the village man said.

Within a short time, the man came back. He took the man in the hat to the biggest wooden house in the village.

A tall middle-aged man with a calm and serene expression quietly looked at the man below. It was a long time before he said, "I can't believe that you are still alive!"

"You can't believe it?" the man in the hat asked. "I can't believe it either."

"Have you come back to ask me to save your life?" the tall man asked.

"Ha-ha, my biggest wish is to kill you," the man in the hat said. "It will be my biggest wish for my entire life. I will not ask you to save me even if I were to die. But I'm afraid it can't be realized. I have come back to have a look. I am one of the people here after all. I can still see it before I die."

"Have a good look," the tall man said.

"Alright." The man in the hat turned around and left the bamboo building.

A middle-aged man appeared and asked, "Master, do you want me to follow him?"

"Yes, just follow him from far away," the tall man said.

The man in the hat circled the small village and came to the mountain. He walked up the mountain road. After walking for a while, a tomb appeared. It was on relatively flat terrain. It was the place where the people who died in the village were buried.

"Well, I am back." He came to a grave that was overgrown with green grass. "Master, I have come to see you."

He squatted down and gently cleared the weeds from the grave. He sighed and said, "I am sorry, Master. I was not able to avenge you. Ah, I have no face to see you."

"Senior, it is indeed you!" A voice suddenly rang out behind him. "Don't look back. Someone is watching you from behind. I am in the soil."

"You should not have come," the man in the hat said.

"My life was saved by you, Senior," the other man said. "When I saw that you had returned, I had to come."

"I do not have long to live," the man in the hat said. "I've come back to have a look before I die."

"Hasn't your poison been detoxified?" the other man asked.

"No, the poison has entered my internal organs and marrow," the man in the hat said. "Even an immortal will not be able to save me."

At this point, he had already reached a Zen state. He did not place much importance on life or death anymore. Otherwise, he would not have returned.

"Senior, you might still have a thread of hope to live," the other man said.

"What?" The middle-aged man was slightly shocked. His body slightly trembled.

"Recently, people in the village went out and found a magical valley," the man lurking in the soil said. "They found a kind of magical herb that can break through the limit of biological life."

"What herb is that?" the man in the hat asked.

"Blood Orchid," the other man said.

"Blood Orchid? The legendary magical herb?" The man in the hat was shocked.

"It's not a legend," the other man said. "It exists in real life. Moreover, the people in the valley have made great efforts to collect some of it and brought it back. They are making medicine with it. Master and Master's uncle have gone to the valley in person. The valley is very dangerous."

The man kneeling in front of the grave was silent. He finally asked, "Where is it?"

Plop! Something rolled down and landed in front of him.

"Senior, the man who is following you is the eldest disciple of Master's uncle," the other man said. "He has great skills and is powerful. If he wants to stop you, it will require your time and effort."

"I've got it," the man in the hat said. "Thank you."

"Without you, I would already be dead," the other man said.

The voice was gone. There was only the man kneeling in front of the grave. He thought, How can I get out of here?

Although the village looked relaxed and slow, he knew that if he wanted to leave this place, it would be very troublesome, especially in his current situation. He was being monitored by highly skilled people in the village. If he had any abnormal action, or if the person monitoring him had received an order from the village, his life would be in danger.

He thought, Shall I go that way again?

When he had fled this place before, he had thought of a very dangerous way, but he had not tried it that day.

"Master, I'll try it today. If you have spirit in heaven, bless me and give me another chance," the man in the hat said.

He got up and went up the mountain. A person followed him behind. He was neither close nor far.

The man in the hat stopped near the top of the mountain. There was a rock protruding from the cliff and a big river running around the outside of the village. From the cliff to the river, it had to be nearly 300 feet. There was no big difference between jumping into the water and a wall if the distance was more than 90 feet. A person would die on the spot because of the impact.

He took a deep breath and jumped down.

"Huh?" When he jumped, the person who had been following him immediately appeared on the cliff. Looking down, he saw the moment when the man in the hat fell into the water. He could even hear the loud noise of the impact.

He stared at the turbulent water for a while and wondered, Is he dead?

He went down the mountain and back to the bamboo building. He reported what he saw to his master.

"Jumped into the river?" the Master asked.

"Yes," the man said.

"The poison has seeped into his internal organs," the Master said. "He will not be able to live for long. The river current is fast. It's the will of heaven if he were to survive. Don't worry about it anymore."

"Yes, Master," the man said.

The river was very turbulent. A man suddenly appeared 10 miles from the village. He struggled a few times and was hit by a current again before he went down. Perhaps his life was not supposed to end at that moment. A downed tree was laying across the water, catching him.

The man was panting hard and breathing in more than he was breathing out now. He had no strength to go ashore. He just stayed in the water.

Cough! Cough! Cough! As he coughed, blood kept seeping out from the corners of his mouth. It dyed the river red before getting diluted.

Ugh! The man endured the pain and tried to grab the trunk to hoist himself to the bank, but he didn't have any strength in his body. He could only work hard on not being washed away by the river. It was just a matter of time before he would be swept away.

It was getting dark, and his strength was gradually dissipating.

"Master, I am coming to meet you. You can scold me and hit me all you want then." He closed his eyes and let go.

Light? Where is the light coming from?

When he opened his eyes, he realized that he was in a house covered with quilts. He wanted to move, but his body hurt badly. It felt as if all his bones had been broken. He thought, Am I still alive?

"Are you awake?" a stranger asked. He was an old man in his 50s.

"Are you the one who had saved me?" the man asked.

"It wasn't me," the old man said. "Someone brought you over. You're seriously injured!"

"How long will it be before I can get out of bed?" the man asked.

"At least three months," the old man said.

Three months? Living passed 30 days is still a problem for me!

"By the way, he left a bottle of medicine and said you know what it is." The old man took a white porcelain bottle and gave it to the man.

The man opened it and smelled it. "Five Poisons Pill!"

It was an extremely toxic poison, but it had a special effect. It could stimulate the potential of the human body. After taking the medicine, if a person was seriously injured, the person would be able to recover to the state before the injury in a very short time. They would be able to maintain it for a few days before suffering the intense pain of all five internal organs burning and dying.

"Thank you," the man said.

"No problem," the old man said. "If you need anything, just let me know. He has been kind to me."

The man lying on the bed closed his eyes. A map appeared in his mind. It was a map of the deep forest in southern Yunnan.

That position?

He opened his eyes and asked for something to eat. An hour after eating, he put the Five Poisons Pill into his mouth.

Three days later, he got out of bed and left. He entered the forest as fast as he could.

The old man thought, He could get out of bed with such a serious injury? Is that a magical immortal pill?

In the mountain village thousands of miles away, Wang Yao was in his clinic meeting with a special patient.

"Magical immortal pill? How could there be such a thing in the world?" Wang Yao asked with a smile.

The patient's condition was very special. He had been forcibly dragged to the clinic by his family, but he didn't think that he was ill. He began to talk with Wang Yao about practice after he had arrived.