In the room, Chu Qingze sat on the ground, his chest stained red with blood. His face was pale, clearly suffering from internal injuries.
“Chu Qingze!” Rong Zhi went over to help him up. As soon as she touched him, Chu Qingze suddenly turned his head and spat out another mouthful of blood.
Rong Zhi: "..."
She forgot about the fact that he couldn’t touch women.
Xia Yunting glanced at the bed. Zhang Yajing’s face was dark, her brows furrowed tightly, appearing to be in great pain. Even though he didn’t understand medicine, he could tell that the situation was extremely critical.
“Xiao Mo,” he reminded Rong Zhi.
Rong Zhi turned to look, her expression also becoming serious.
“What’s going on? Did you treat her?”
Chu Qingze nodded, covering his chest. “According to what you said, I intended to clear her meridians, but…”
But his internal energy couldn’t support such a drain. Directly transmitting internal energy was no problem. The issue was that the recipient was in a coma, her meridians inactive. To clear her meridians, he had to forcefully push the internal energy.
He had seen Rong Zhi do it and thought he could too, but after only a short while, he had sustained serious internal injuries.
This seemingly simple method required such great effort, it made him admire Rong Zhi’s profound internal energy.
As he thought this, his chest felt tight, and he couldn’t help but cough up more blood.
Rong Zhi’s eyes darkened. She directly grabbed Zhang Yajing’s pulse, transmitting her internal energy to her. She then said to the two behind her, “Chu Qingze, go prepare the medicinal herbs. Husband, stay by my side.”
Given the current situation, Chu Qingze was out of the question. She could only rely on her own strength. However, based on past experience, she could be injured at any moment, so she could only try her best.
As she acted, streams of internal energy entered Zhang Yajing’s body, circulating through her meridians. Zhang Yajing’s complexion slowly began to improve, gaining some color.
Xia Yunting stood diagonally behind Rong Zhi, constantly observing Rong Zhi’s changes. He felt a wave of heat emanating from Rong Zhi’s body, faint but palpable – the materialization of internal energy.
Chu Qingze was outside, sorting through medicinal herbs.
Gu Xinlan heard the commotion and ran out, asking, “Divine Doctor Chu, do you need any help?”
Chu Qingze tried to force a smile but failed. He could only say weakly, “Go boil a pot of water.”
“Okay.”
Gu Xinlan went to the kitchen to boil water. Chu Qingze finished sorting the herbs in the courtyard and returned to the room. The room was already as hot as a steamer. Rong Zhi was fully focused, and Zhang Yajing on the bed had regained color in her face.
He breathed a sigh of relief, put down the herbs, and went back to the kitchen to get water…
They worked in this well-coordinated manner until dark before finally finishing. As Rong Zhi withdrew her internal energy, her face was ashen. Fortunately, Xia Yunting was there to support her and prevent her from falling.
Seeing her like this, Chu Qingze was very self-reproachful. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help you.”
“It’s alright…”
“You should go back to your room and rest quickly.” Xia Yunting was about to help her back when Rong Zhi suddenly remembered something and instructed, “Pay attention to any movement outside tonight. Since the villagers could vent their dissatisfaction with Zhang Yajing onto Gu Xinlan, they might come looking for trouble.”
“Okay.”
Only then did Rong Zhi feel at ease and return to her room to rest.
In the middle of the night, Chu Qingze wasn’t fast asleep. He was guarding the side room, partly worried about Zhang Yajing’s condition and partly on guard against anyone coming.
When it was completely dark, he indeed heard a strange noise. He suddenly opened his eyes, pushed the door open, and found several children, about five or six years old, loitering outside, peeking inside. One of them picked up a stone from the ground and threw it inside.
Suddenly seeing someone come out, the children were startled and stopped their peeking. However, they didn’t leave. Instead, they stood in place, meeting Chu Qingze’s gaze.
Chu Qingze remained in a stalemate with them. After a while, one of the children hesitantly threw a stone at him, which Chu Qingze caught. His hand tightened, and the stone instantly turned to powder.
He opened his palm, letting the powder trickle down. Seeing this, the children’s eyes widened in surprise, and they turned and fled in all directions.
Only then did Chu Qingze return to the room.
He was so worried that he was flustered, unable to even hear the sound of children walking.
He didn’t sleep soundly that night, always feeling some movement outside. If he fell asleep, he would have nightmares, dreaming that Zhang Yajing died and turned into a still, silent tomb, with her name inscribed on the tombstone. When he approached to touch it, even the grave disappeared, leaving only emptiness.
He woke up startled several times like this, and in the blink of an eye, it was morning.
On the other side, Rong Zhi also didn’t sleep well. Although Xia Yunting had transmitted internal energy to her yesterday, her own expenditure was even greater, and she had to continue today.
She could only force herself to be spirited, asking Chu Qingze to prepare medicinal herbs, Gu Xinlan to boil water, and Xia Yunting to assist her closely, delegating as much as possible.
Even so, she had to work hard for several consecutive days.
Fortunately, Zhang Yajing’s condition gradually improved. Her heartbeat and pulse became stronger, and her face showed some rosy color.
This was a good sign.
Meanwhile, on Swallow Mountain, a group of young, strong men faced a mountain of severed limbs and broken arms, coagulated blood, and the stench of blood filling the entire hillside, along with the roars of wild beasts in the distance, causing them to tremble in fear.
Even more terrifying was that they had to touch these corpses themselves.
“Pick all of these up and put them in that open area over there! Line them up! Each of you find a suitable tool and whip them one by one. Put in the same energy you use when bullying your neighbors. If I see anyone not putting in enough effort, they’ll be sleeping with these corpses tonight!”
Chen Xing stood brazenly in the middle of the crowd, hands on his hips, directing them. His practiced manner made it clear he had done this countless times before.
The youths looked at the corpses with bitter expressions. After such a long time, the corpses had rotted into bare bones, but some had dried out, their skin and flesh hanging with dark red bloodstains, looking extremely terrifying.
Not a single one of them moved. Chen Xing frowned and looked at them, then stepped forward to demonstrate. He picked up a bone fragment from the ground and held it in front of one of the men.
“Take it.”
“Ah?”
The man was greatly alarmed. Chen Xing let go, and the bone fragment fell into his arms. The man was so scared that his face turned pale, and he desperately wanted to throw the object away.
“Don’t throw it! If you throw it, I’ll add two more.”
The man’s body trembled, and he could only brace himself and hold the bone fragment tightly.
Next, Chen Xing distributed one to each person, some were hand bones, some were foot bones, and some were skulls. What remained unchanged was that everyone who received a bone would instantly turn into a quail, not daring to move.
Chen Xing pointed to the open space not far away, where a row of bones had already been laid out. “Put them over there.”
The group exchanged glances, not daring to disobey, fearing what other tricks this person might play if they refused. So, they gritted their teeth and stomped their feet, quickly flying over to place the bones.
“That’s right. Pick up all the bones on this hillside and put them there. Those are your enemies! They are the ones who captured your loved ones! Your actions are not meaningless; you are avenging them, and you will be their heroes!”
Chen Xing became more and more excited as he spoke, increasingly believing this was the case.
Seeing the group looking so terrified yet not daring to resist, he felt very smug. Little brats, I’ll wear you down!
Two days later, the pile of bones in the open area had become a mountain. The group, from initial fear and trepidation, had become numb, mechanically picking up the bones like puppets and then collapsing onto the ground.
They were exhausted. For these two days in the mountains, they had only been able to eat wild fruits, and they were so hungry their backs were touching their stomachs.
Yet, it wasn’t over. Chen Xing distributed rattan, stones, and branches to each person.
“Smash them! Beat them to pieces.”
“Ah?”
The group wailed in misery, but they couldn’t fight against superior power. They had no choice but to comply. On the first day they arrived, someone had tried to escape but was caught within a few steps and was punished by running around the mountain three times, nearly exhausting them to death.
So, they picked up stones, rattan, and branches and began smashing the bones. The sounds of cracking and popping echoed far away.
On the third day, everyone was so tired they collapsed on the ground.
Chen Xing felt that the time was about right.
Well, it was time to go to Lingshui County.
Chen Xing led the group down the mountain. To be precise, only he walked down. The rest were practically crawling and rolling. By the time they reached the bottom of the mountain, they were covered in injuries. Their pathetic state was even more terrifying than when the corpses had just died.
Chen Xing acted as if he was used to it. He glanced at the sides of the dirt road at the foot of the mountain and suddenly saw a horse-drawn carriage appearing at the end of the road. His eyes lit up, and he raised his hand to signal, “Uncle! Stop for a moment!”
The coachman, passing through this remote area, hadn’t expected anyone to be here, and besides the large man standing at the front, the rest looked like half-ghosts. He was first surprised, and as the carriage approached, he realized that this group of people, despite their appearance, were all alive.
He stopped the carriage with lingering fear. “Young man, do you need a ride?”
“Yes.” Chen Xing nodded.
“I’ll ride alone, and they’ll follow behind. Uncle, are you going to Lingshui County?”
The uncle nodded. “Yes.”
Most people on this road were going out of town, and he was going to Lingshui County.
“That’s great, Uncle. Please give me a ride.” Chen Xing took out a few pieces of broken silver from his embrace.
Seeing the broken silver, the uncle’s eyes lit up with joy, but he also hesitated. “Young man, there are so many people. You’re going to make them run behind. The road to Lingshui County is quite far.”
He could tell at a glance that these people looked sickly, as if they hadn’t eaten for days, and looked quite pathetic. To not let so many sick people ride in the carriage, wasn’t that a bit too… cruel?
Chen Xing waved his hand. “It’s alright, Uncle. They’re all wild people I found in the mountains. They’re not used to riding in carriages. They prefer to run.”
The group behind him: “…” You’re the wild person, and your whole family are wild people!