Xia Yunzhao was furious. There wasn’t a single good person in this camp!
Then he remembered that Granny had used that same word on his very first day at camp, while they were eating breakfast. She couldn’t possibly have been saying he ate like a little pig back then too, could she?
Still fuming, he bit into the wolf leg. His hand abruptly stopped. He stared in shock. It’s this good?! Judging from what Sharp-Claw Wolves looked like, he had assumed their meat would be gamey and tough. Instead, it was fragrant and tender, with a perfect balance of lean meat and fat. He had no idea how long the wolf leg in his hand had been stewed, but with the slightest pull, the meat slipped straight off the bone. Meat around a big bone really was the best!
Xia Yunzhao gnawed on one leg with one hand and grabbed another for Shang Shuangze with the other. “Hurry, hurry! Eat before it’s all gone!”
Fourth Uncle beside them took him seriously. “There’s more! Plenty more!” He carried over an enormous basin of meat and set it down in front of Shang Shuangze with a heavy thud. “Your Fourth Aunt and I stewed it all night. Smells great.”
Xia Yunzhao looked at the basin and secretly laughed. The thing was nearly half as big as Shang Shuangze.
Shang Shuangze gave him a helpless look, pushed the basin toward him, and used his chopsticks to pick up one small piece of meat with both lean and fat, slowly savoring it.
After surviving the terrifying night before, everyone in camp was in high spirits. They had even brought out wine they had been saving for quite some time, and anyone who wanted some could pour themselves a bowl.
Xia Yunzhao had wine in his storage pouch too—monkey wine, no less. Unfortunately, the spiritual energy in it was far too concentrated for ordinary people to drink. Otherwise, he would have brought it out to share.
The others were one thing, but Chang Haiping was sitting in a corner, pouring bowl after bowl of wine down her throat while Sister Manman kept her company.
Seeing this, Xia Yunzhao quietly asked Xiao Qi, “What’s wrong with Sister Chang?”
Xiao Qi smiled. “Yesterday’s wolf pack was probably four or five packs gathered together, and we wiped them all out. While going through the bodies, we found a lame wolf. Second Brother Chang was the one who broke that leg back then, and several brothers who used to hunt with him recognized it immediately. This morning, Deputy Leader took that wolf to make an offering at Second Brother Chang’s grave. She’s happy now!”
Xia Yunzhao nodded. “I see.” When he looked at Chang Haiping again, she had just drained another huge bowl with a series of gulps. She slammed it down on the table and breathed out a mouthful of wine-scented air. “That felt good!”
She looked up, spotted Xiao Xia, and smiled broadly. Carrying her wine bowl, she walked over. “Xiao Xia, thank you!”
Xia Yunzhao smiled too, lifted his soup bowl, and clinked it against hers. “Congratulations, Sister Chang.”
Chang Haiping downed another huge bowl and finally felt the tightness in her chest ease. Then she brought up something serious. “Right. You two travel much deeper into the mountains than we do. Do you know why slaughter beasts have been appearing in groups so often lately?”
Xia Yunzhao was just about to shake his head when Shang Shuangze said, “I may know something.”
Both of them turned toward him. Shang Shuangze said, “The thick fog deep in the mountains has not dispersed for three days.”
Both of them were shocked. “What?”
Shang Shuangze nodded. “It’s true. The fog is in the deepest part of Liancui Mountain, so nobody in the outer reaches has noticed.”
“I see…” Xia Yunzhao frowned. “Could the fog deeper inside be affecting the slaughter beasts’ hunting? High-level slaughter beasts are coming to the outer reaches to hunt, so the lower-level ones are fleeing outward in groups to survive?”
Chang Haiping frowned too. “Perhaps it isn’t suitable to keep camping on Liancui Mountain for the time being…”
After the meal, Chang Haiping and Geng Jingwu called the two of them over to divide the spoils.
They followed them behind the camp and saw two piles of wolf carcasses there, one large and one small.
Chang Haiping said, “We counted them. There are ninety-six wolves altogether. The two of you killed most of them, so according to the camp’s rules, eighty percent of the prey belongs to you. There are seventy-seven wolf carcasses here. Please count them.”
Xia Yunzhao was shocked. “That many?” By the end of last night he had grown numb from killing and thought there had been seventy or eighty wolves at most. There had actually been almost a hundred?
He turned toward Shang Shuangze. “The two of us slaughtered almost a hundred wolves in one night?”
Shang Shuangze said softly, “Mm. Fellow Daoist is very impressive.”
“That’s not what I meant… Ah.” Sometimes Xia Yunzhao felt that Shang Shuangze viewed him through some kind of filter, as though everything he did was impressive.
Geng Jingwu and Chang Haiping had plenty to do today. Once the division was settled, they dragged away the remaining wolf carcasses to distribute among the camp.
Xia Yunzhao opened his storage pouch and started stuffing wolf carcasses inside. By the end, he genuinely could not fit any more, so he began putting them into Shang Shuangze’s storage magical artifact instead. As he worked, he said, “You hold them for now. Once we finish talking to Fellow Daoist Xu today, we’ll go to Qingxi City and sell all these wolf carcasses. We split the money fifty-fifty!”
Shang Shuangze immediately said, “They can all go to Fellow Daoist.”
Xia Yunzhao looked at him mournfully. How did someone cultivate immortality and somehow end up radiating the air of a man with absolutely nothing to his name? “I know you can’t use magical treasures, but you still need to stock up on pills and talismans. What if you run into danger?”
Shang Shuangze said calmly, “I cannot use pills or talismans either.”
Xia Yunzhao froze. He remembered Shang Shuangze’s most common phrase: I don’t need it. So this was what he meant by not needing things… If Shang Shuangze fought someone in the future and the other person swallowed pills and pulled out magical treasures one after another, wouldn’t Shang Shuangze be unable to use anything?
An intense sense of unfairness immediately rose in him. “Then I’ll help you whenever you fight! I can use pills and magical treasures. I’ll smash them with magical treasures!”
Amusement flashed through Shang Shuangze’s eyes. He said quietly, “All right.”
After stuffing away the wolf carcasses, Xia Yunzhao dragged Shang Shuangze back to his grass shelter, took down the four storage pouches hanging there, and began rummaging through them one by one.
“Fellow Daoist Xu is a Level-Two pill cultivator. I really don’t have many Level-Two materials… If these aren’t enough, we can gather more once he starts refining.”
The Level-Two spirit items Xia Yunzhao had on hand were Ironwood Heartwood, Phantom Firefly eggs, Bloodmoon Sand, and Jadeite Mushrooms.
The Jadeite Mushrooms were the ones he had gathered in the valley that day, while Xing Wenyu had given him the Bloodmoon Sand, half of which he had already shared with Shang Shuangze. As for the Ironwood Heartwood and Phantom Firefly eggs, those had naturally been generously donated by that wonderful triangular-eyed fellow.
Xia Yunzhao looked at the materials and still felt they seemed a little sparse…
Shang Shuangze saw the faint furrow between his brows and said, “I have already prepared the payment.”
With a sweep of his hand, dense spiritual energy rolled outward, and a large pile of spirit items appeared on the ground.
Ten sections of Ironwood Heartwood, twenty bundles of Wind-Walking Spider Silk, thirty drops of Moonlight Dew, five bunches of Scarlet Berries, three handfuls of Earth-Vein Sand…
Several of them were things Xia Yunzhao had never seen in person and had only read about in the Compendium of Liancui Mountain Spirit Items!
He asked in surprise, “How did you collect this many spirit items?”
Shang Shuangze glanced at him. “Whenever I travel through the mountains and see a suitable spirit item, I gather it. I originally intended to give them to Fellow Daoist.”
“Uh…” Xia Yunzhao felt a little embarrassed. Had his habits rubbed off on Shang Shuangze?
He waved a hand. “It’s fine, it’s fine. I’m only in the Qi Refining stage anyway, so I can’t use these materials yet. Refining the detoxification pill is more important.”
“No matter.” Shang Shuangze waved his hand again. “There are Level-One materials as well.”
Another spread appeared across the ground: Red-Fire Stone, Bloodstanching Leaves, Windbell Flowers, Qingling Grass, Rock Honey…
Once again, many of the materials were things Xia Yunzhao had never personally seen before, though this batch was all Level One.
He sucked in a quiet breath. “I can’t withstand this kind of sugar-coated offensive…”
Shang Shuangze smiled lightly. “Then don’t resist.”
Xia Yunzhao: “But my storage pouches are already full! Fellow Daoist, keep them for now. When I need something, I’ll come ask you for it.”
Since Shang Shuangze had prepared everything in advance, Xia Yunzhao led him toward the cave where Xu Ziyu had settled.
It was a clear, sunny day without any mist, and even the valley was completely dry.
Xia Yunzhao and Shang Shuangze exchanged a look. It seemed the fog deep in the mountains truly had not affected this area at all.
After crossing the valley, Xiao Xia reached the cave entrance and touched the barrier.
An impatient shout immediately came from inside. “Didn’t we agree that if nothing was wrong, you weren’t supposed to bother me?!”
Xia Yunzhao cleared his throat. “Fellow Daoist Xu, something is wrong!”
There was a moment of silence inside. Xu Ziyu apparently still had a little patience for Xia Yunzhao. The barrier withdrew, and he walked out. “What?”
Xia Yunzhao stepped aside to reveal Shang Shuangze behind him. “Senior, this is my friend. Some time ago, he discovered an entire village whose people had all been poisoned. We’d like to ask you to refine one batch of Level-Two detoxification pills. We’ve prepared both the ingredients and your payment.”
Shang Shuangze cupped his hands in greeting.
Xu Ziyu looked at Shang Shuangze. “Level-Two detoxification pills?”
“Exactly,” Xia Yunzhao said. “Senior, we—”
Xu Ziyu impatiently interrupted him. “What do you mean, ‘Senior’? You call me Senior, but then I have to call him Senior. What does that make you call me—Little Brother Xu?”
“Uh…” Xia Yunzhao looked back at Shang Shuangze. He had forgotten that seniority among cultivators was determined by cultivation rather than age. Spending so much time with Shang Shuangze had made him forget that Shang Shuangze’s cultivation was far higher than his own.
Xiao Xia immediately changed his form of address. “Fellow Daoist Xu, please help refine the pills and save that village of ordinary people.”
“Come inside.” Xu Ziyu turned first and led both of them into the cave.
Only one day had passed, yet the cave looked completely different. Pill cultivators truly were not short of money. In the span of a single day, Xu Ziyu had already paved the floor with jade tiles, divided the cave into two chambers, and furnished it with carved tables and chairs. There were even hollowed-out, gold-inlaid candle stands, though what burned inside them was not wax but some special material that released waves of fragrance.
The front chamber was basically a sitting room—and right in the middle of the sitting room stood Du Qianshan’s grave (…).
The three of them sat around the grave. Xu Ziyu took the pill recipe without even glancing at the payment spread across the floor and asked only, “Your talent for alchemy is extremely high. Why aren’t you refining it yourself?”
Xia Yunzhao scratched his head. “I’m only in the Qi Refining stage. How could I refine a Level-Two pill?”
Xu Ziyu shook his head. “Pill grades are not divided strictly according to cultivation. If the talent is there, refining pills above one’s level is entirely possible. These pills are meant for mortals, so you refining them would actually be more suitable than me doing it.”
Xia Yunzhao said, “Um, Fellow Daoist Xu, we only prepared three sets of ingredients. If I fail…”
Xu Ziyu had no idea how to coax people. He tossed the pill recipe straight into Xia Yunzhao’s hands. “With me guiding you, if you still can’t succeed with three sets of ingredients, you might as well wait for death!”
Xia Yunzhao: …
Since Xu Ziyu had already said that much, Xia Yunzhao could only reply, “Fine. I’ll try.”
Only then did Xu Ziyu look somewhat satisfied. “One batch will probably take around ten days. If you need Fasting Pills, prepare them yourself. I don’t have any.”
Xia Yunzhao was shocked. “That long?! My pills never take that long!”
Xu Ziyu looked at him. “Level-One pills naturally take less time, but even those require several days. How long does one batch normally take you?”
Xia Yunzhao said, “About one hour. If I’m in good form, fifteen minutes works too.”
Xu Ziyu’s face visibly produced a question mark: ?
He looked Xia Yunzhao up and down. “Refine a batch. Let me see.”
Xia Yunzhao obediently pulled Xiao Qing out, then took out a handful of Dew-Condensing Grass. He planned to refine a batch of Dew-Condensing Pills.
The Li-Fire Banner appeared. A cluster of earthfire entered the alchemy furnace. Xia Yunzhao formed a hand seal, every movement extraordinarily smooth.
Whenever he was doing something he liked, he became completely focused and did not mind other people watching.
Shang Shuangze realized that his gaze would not disturb him, so in the next moment, he simply let his eyes rest fully on Xia Yunzhao.
Only Xu Ziyu showed some shock. He looked at the Li-Fire Banner, then at Xiao Qing, and after a long while fell into thought.
Fifteen minutes later, Xia Yunzhao opened the furnace and placed the five freshly refined Dew-Condensing Pills into a porcelain bottle. He had performed quite well this time: three high-grade pills and two mid-grade.
Xu Ziyu no longer mentioned anything about how long alchemy should take. Instead, he said, “With your ability, you are fully capable of refining this Poison-Cleansing Spirit-Nourishing Pill.”
Xia Yunzhao nodded. If Xu Ziyu dared let him try, then he dared try.
Shang Shuangze could not remain. Xu Ziyu said his cave residence did not accommodate outsiders.
If Xu Ziyu would not accommodate him, Xia Yunzhao would. Xiao Xia invited Shang Shuangze to continue staying in his own little grass shelter. That way, Shang Shuangze could bring him food every day. Xia Yunzhao had absolutely no desire to eat Fasting Pills and even shamelessly ordered what he wanted for tomorrow’s meal.
Shang Shuangze memorized everything carefully, then suddenly said, “Once the pills are successfully refined, the payment I prepared will belong to Fellow Daoist.”
Xia Yunzhao had not even thought of that. The moment he remembered that pile of payment, the corners of his mouth practically refused to stay down. “Great! My thirst for knowledge can barely be contained anymore!”
After Shang Shuangze left, the cave’s barrier rose again.
Holding the pill recipe, Xu Ziyu used only a few sentences to point out the crucial parts and guided Xia Yunzhao through the relevant hand seals several times.
Watching Xia Yunzhao master them in almost no time, Xu Ziyu rolled his eyes. What heaven-defying talent!
Xia Yunzhao took out the first set of ingredients, adjusted his state of mind, and began refining.
The difficulty of Level-Two pills compared with Level-One pills lay not only in the greater number of ingredients, but also in the greater number of medicinal properties involved.
For example, this detoxification pill was called the Poison-Cleansing Spirit-Nourishing Pill. Besides cleansing poison, it could nourish the spirit. Combining these two medicinal properties within a single pill meant that balancing them against one another was extremely important.
Xia Yunzhao sent earthfire into the alchemy furnace and slowly tempered the medicinal properties.
Before long, the two medicinal properties began colliding. Fortunately, he had been prepared, and he slowly guided them toward integration with spiritual energy…
It was a long process and consumed enormous amounts of spiritual energy. Even though Xia Yunzhao possessed far more spiritual energy than an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator, he still felt as though he was nearing exhaustion.
He immediately slowed down, took out a Qi-Replenishing Pill with one hand, and stuffed it into his mouth. Abundant spiritual energy surged into his Qi Sea acupoint, instantly replenishing the spiritual energy throughout his body.
The two medicinal properties continued merging slowly. Suddenly, his spiritual energy fluctuated— Bang! The alchemy furnace exploded.
His first attempt had failed.
Xia Yunzhao had completely forgotten that he was inside someone else’s cave residence. As usual, he formed a hand seal to blow away the ash while preparing the next set of materials, muttering the lessons he had just learned. “The spiritual energy can’t fluctuate too much. I shouldn’t wait until it’s almost exhausted before replenishing it; once I’ve used half, I can start recovering. The medicinal properties can’t merge too quickly either. I need to slow them down…”
By the time he finished muttering, the next set of ingredients was ready. He steadied himself and began forming the hand seal… Then he suddenly remembered something and took out ten thousand spirit pearls, piling them on the ground.
Next, he silently activated the Spirit-Transmutation Art. Spirit pearls began turning into powder one after another as spiritual energy surged like a torrent, rushing into his meridians all at once.
A smile appeared at the corner of Xia Yunzhao’s mouth. Who hasn’t done that math problem where water flows into a tank while water drains out at the same time? As long as I replenish spiritual energy faster than I consume it, I’ll never run out!
Nearby, Xu Ziyu, who had been drinking tea, suddenly choked. Out of sight, out of mind, he turned his head away. Why does this brat have so many random things on him?! Great talent and great luck—who exactly is he trying to anger to death?!
The sun and moon turned, and five days passed in the blink of an eye.
During those five days, Shang Shuangze came every day to deliver food, though Xia Yunzhao was not always free to eat it. Fortunately, his physique was strong now, so going several days without food did not matter much.
His second attempt still failed during the later stages, but he was not discouraged. This time, he had learned even more from the failure.
Watching from the side, Xu Ziyu nodded slightly. Mental state was also an extremely important discipline for a pill cultivator. Plenty of pill cultivators became obsessed with a single pill recipe, and if they could not refine it successfully, they became so frustrated they wanted to smash their heads into a wall. Yet the more anxious they became, the easier it was to make mistakes.
Xia Yunzhao’s third attempt was now nearing the end. This was exactly where he had failed last time.
This time, however, he felt no tension. The previous failure had left no shadow over him.
The two medicinal properties merged smoothly, rolling within the alchemy furnace as rich waves of medicinal fragrance escaped through the openings.
A moment later, Xia Yunzhao changed his hand seal. “Open!”
Bang!
Spiritual energy exploded violently with a series of crisp crackle-pop sounds. Three pills struck the inner wall of the furnace and bounced back. Success!
Xiao Xia smiled in relief and picked up the three pills to inspect them. “One mid-grade and two low-grade.”
From the side, Xu Ziyu muttered, “He really succeeded.”
Xiao Xia turned. “What did you say?”
Xu Ziyu: “Nothing. Congratulations.”
“No.” Xiao Xia ran over. “Don’t pretend nothing happened. I heard you! You said, ‘He really succeeded.’ So you never actually expected me to succeed?! Then why did you insist on making me refine them? What if I’d wasted every set of ingredients?!”
Xu Ziyu had finally begun feeling the slightest bit guilty, only for Xia Yunzhao to shout it right out of him. “It’s just a few sets of ingredients. I have plenty! I originally thought that if you failed three times, I’d scold you once and then give you another ten sets to try. Who knew you’d succeed on the third attempt?” The more he talked, the more righteous he sounded. “With talent like yours, of course you should push yourself and try! What future do you have if all you do every day is refine Level-One pills?!”
“…I’m only at the fifth layer of Qi Refining!” Xia Yunzhao was stunned. “What’s wrong with me refining Level-One pills? And did you just say you were planning to ‘scold me once’?”
Xu Ziyu turned his head away and pretended he had not heard.
Xia Yunzhao: “…Could you at least make the pretending slightly less obvious…?”
He went back to put away the alchemy furnace, only to notice that a huge patch of the jade floor had turned gray.
The jade Xu Ziyu used for his floor was naturally not cheap and contained spiritual energy as well. Now, however, every trace of that energy had been drained away. The tiles crumbled at the slightest touch.
Xia Yunzhao thought back. It seemed he had only taken out ten thousand spirit pearls the first time. Later, he had forgotten because spiritual energy kept pouring toward him whenever he activated the Spirit-Transmutation Art. So he had drained someone else’s floor instead.
“Xu Ziyu.”
Xu Ziyu looked back. “What now?”
Xia Yunzhao asked, “Do you want a Spirit-Binding Rope? I’ll refine one for you.”
“You can refine artifacts too?” Xu Ziyu looked up, then immediately lost interest again. “What would I do with that thing? I don’t fight people.”
Xia Yunzhao’s gaze drifted across Du Qianshan’s gravestone. “You’ll need it someday.”
He stopped talking and simply took out the materials, refining a Spirit-Binding Rope on the spot. Then he thought for a moment and asked, “Hey, do you have any Thousand-Jointed Bamboo? I’ll make you something fun.”
Clack.
A stalk of Thousand-Jointed Bamboo was tossed over.
Xia Yunzhao smiled and refined another Water-Purifying Gourd. “Here.” Clearly, his artifact-refining speed was not slow either.
Xu Ziyu curiously turned the Water-Purifying Gourd over in his hands and used it to draw water from his teacup. “This thing is interesting. How much water can it hold?”
“Ten shi.” Xia Yunzhao placed the Spirit-Binding Rope on Xu Ziyu’s table, turned around, and began gathering his things. He was preparing to leave.
At the cave entrance, he remembered something and turned back. “Xu Ziyu, from now on you’re my friend too. If you ever feel lonely living here, you can come find me and hang out.” With that, he turned and left.
Xu Ziyu muttered, “As if I’d get lonely.” Once the sound of footsteps outside faded, he suddenly jumped to his feet and began rummaging through boxes and cabinets. He remembered having collected some artifact-refining materials before. Where had he put them? That guy needed Thousand-Jointed Bamboo, right?
＊
The moment Xia Yunzhao left the valley, he started running. Halfway back, he happened to meet Shang Shuangze carrying a food box to bring him a meal. Geng Jingwu’s people had specially brought the food box back from the city after selling their prey.
“Shang Shuangze!” Xia Yunzhao looked as delighted as if he had seen family. “Quick, let me eat something!”
By the later stages of alchemy, he genuinely had no time to eat, so he had swallowed a Fasting Pill instead. That thing was truly evil. It smelled wonderful but tasted like nothing at all, and afterward his stomach still felt empty. His brain and mouth had spent several days trying to reconcile the accounts.
Shang Shuangze had not expected to meet him here. He caught Xia Yunzhao by the arm when Xia Yunzhao came rushing over too quickly to stop properly. “Slow down. It is all yours.”
Xia Yunzhao impatiently opened the food box. A rich fragrance of rice immediately rose out. Xiao Xia was so moved he nearly cried. “This is what rice is supposed to be! Huh? Is this spirit rice?”
Shang Shuangze answered, “Yesterday, I happened across a patch of spirit rice in the mountains, so I borrowed an auntie’s pot and steamed some. Xiao Qi brought back the sauce-braised pork knuckle from the city and said you liked it. There is also White Spirit Fish roasted by Leader Geng, wild vegetables Granny stir-fried for you, and wild fruit gathered by the children in camp.”
The enormous food box was packed full. Xiao Xia was touched. “There’s so much. How am I supposed to finish it all? Thank everyone for me!”
Then he ate every last bite.
Shang Shuangze, holding the empty food box: …
After enjoying a full meal halfway home, Xia Yunzhao ran even faster. He quickly returned to camp, greeted everyone one by one, then rested for the night. The following day, he set out with Shang Shuangze to save the villagers. This time Shang Shuangze led the way. Xiao Xia had initially worried he might get lost, but surprisingly, he did not. The two reached the entrance of an unfamiliar village without incident.
Xia Yunzhao was just about to praise him when he spotted a familiar sword sheath planted beside the village entrance… Fine. Mingyun had been the one leading the way.
During Xia Yunzhao’s frequent trips to Qingxi City, he often passed villages. Although he had never entered them, from far away he could always hear chickens crowing, dogs barking, and adults scolding children. At mealtimes, cooking smoke would rise from every roof.
This village was completely different. It was so quiet it felt as though not a single living thing remained, and the silence made one uneasy.
Shang Shuangze led him inside. “Every living thing in the village was poisoned. This way.”
They turned a corner, and Xia Yunzhao saw an open area. Every person, along with the livestock and animals, lay on the ground, each wrapped inside a sphere of spiritual energy.
Shang Shuangze had used this method to freeze their bodies in place, which was the only reason none of them had died from the poison.
Looking at those swollen, blue-purple faces, Xia Yunzhao said gravely, “Let’s detoxify them first.”
The two found four large water vats and divided one Poison-Cleansing Spirit-Nourishing Pill into four portions, placing one portion into each vat. Then Xia Yunzhao took out the Water-Purifying Gourd and began pouring water with a series of glug-glug sounds before distributing it among the villagers.
Half a vat remained at the end, so they used it to save the cats, dogs, chickens, ducks, sheep, cattle, and other animals as well.
After drinking the detoxifying water, the villagers’ complexions gradually improved, though they did not wake immediately.
Xia Yunzhao asked, “Do you know where the poison was placed?”
Shang Shuangze pointed toward the village’s only well. “There.”
Of course! Villains always loved poisoning wells. They were never afraid of harming innocent people indiscriminately! Xia Yunzhao followed Shang Shuangze over and, sure enough, detected a faint fishy stench rising from below.
The smell was obvious to cultivators, but ordinary people might not have noticed it.
He summoned the Water-Purifying Gourd, drained the well dry, then released the water again. He repeated the process several times until the final trace of poison in the well had been completely purified.
Just then, movement came from the villagers. One of them had awakened.
The villager was a strong, sturdy man. His health was probably better than the others’, so he had been poisoned less severely and woke first.
The moment he opened his eyes, he thought he had already died. Then he saw two people standing before him, each more beautiful than the other, like immortals descended from heaven.
After hearing their explanation, he hurriedly tried to get up and thank them, only for both men to stop him.
Xia Yunzhao asked, “Do you know who poisoned you?”
The villager frowned. “Poison… The two lords said the poison was put in the well?”
Xia Yunzhao nodded.
The villager thought for a moment. “Something strange did happen in the village before everyone was poisoned. The night before, a family living near the well heard something fall inside. They were afraid someone’s pig had fallen in, so they raised the alarm and called people over to fish it out. But when we brought torches and looked inside, it wasn’t a pig. A person had fallen in!”
“Everyone in the village was terrified. Someone who was a strong swimmer quickly climbed down to retrieve him. Once we hauled him up, we realized he wasn’t from our village but an outsider. Maybe he was traveling in the dark, couldn’t see clearly, and fell into the well. He wasn’t breathing when we pulled him out. The village chief told several of us to carry him outside the village and bury him. Poor fellow.”
“We carried him outside, and before we’d even started digging the grave… that man suddenly opened his eyes and came back to life!”