Whoosh!
SWISH!
Xiao Yi moved nimbly. He leapt and swung his thin bamboo branch like a sword, swiftly cutting down six Mid Four Stage beasts, Yellow Stinger Insects, in a single deadly strike.
As he landed, six wasp-like insects dropped to the ground, lifeless.
Xiao Yi quickly cut their horns and carefully collected the blue liquid oozing from them into a wooden bottle.
The sun was high in the sky. Xiao Yi wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and sighed.
"I think this is enough to make ointment for Old Master Yan."
The leaves rustled as a breeze swept through. Xiao Yi closed his eyes and savored it.
"Ah, that's comfortable."
He closed the wooden bottle. "I need to get back quickly. Doctor Lei is waiting."
He turned toward the beasts' corpses, tied them up and hoisted them on his shoulder. It was not supposed to be an easy feat. An adult Yellow Stinger Insect was almost two meters long, weighing nearly twenty kilograms. Xiao Yi was carrying six of them. But he did it with such ease, as if they weighed nothing at all.
He turned toward the village and walked leisurely.
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When Xiao Yi entered the village, he was quickly surrounded by the children. They clamored around him, admiring his feat of bringing back six Yellow Stinger Insects.
"Xiao Yi Gege, how did you do it?"
"Ge! Wow!"
"Xiao Yi Ge! You are amazing!"
Some adults came over and spoke to him as well.
"Xiao Yi, are you going to use the bodies? I can buy them."
"Xiao Yi, I want to buy the wings."
"I want the horns."
Xiao Yi only smiled and shook his head to all of them, staying silent as he kept walking.
"Ah, Xiao Yi, don't be stingy." Some adults added jokingly.
Xiao Yi only laughed, but kept walking away.
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"Doctor Lei, I'm home!"
Xiao Yi entered the small courtyard and brought the beasts' corpses to the back. He dropped the insects and entered the house from the back door. It was the kitchen. It had holes as windows and was very simple, but there were signs of it often being used.
Xiao Yi continued through the house and walked into the room at the front. Doctor Lei was sitting behind a table, with a man opposite him, wrist extended toward Doctor Lei. He was seeing a patient.
His residence also doubled as a small clinic, and villagers would come to see him when they had ailments.
"Xiao Yi, you're back," Doctor Lei said, smiling toward his direction while his fingers rested on a villager's wrist.
"Yes, Doctor. I am. Do you need help?"
"No. How many did you get?"
Xiao Yi smiled. "Six, Doctor." He placed the wooden bottle on the table. "I filled the whole bottle."
"Excellent!"
Then he turned to the villager in front of him. "There's nothing wrong with you. You're very healthy."
"But Doctor, I really felt awful this morning. Nauseous, cold sweat." He stopped, trying to recall. "And… and… let me think. Ah! And dizzy, Doctor! I almost fainted!"
Doctor Lei grinned and teased, "Are you sure you weren't just hungry?"
"Doctor Lei! Of course not!" The villager laughed with Doctor Lei.
Doctor Lei seemed to think for a second, then spoke. "How about your wife? Is she okay?"
The villager seemed confused. "My wife? She should be okay… I think."
"You think? You don't know?"
The villager scratched his head in embarrassment. "She… kicked me out of our bedroom last night. She said she couldn't sleep because I snore too loud."
Xiao Yi quickly looked away to hide his smile.
Doctor Lei's grin returned. "Go back home and tell your wife that you've come to see me, and I said you have to sleep on a proper mattress, proper pillow, and bedding. Otherwise, you'll get sick and won't be able to hunt."
The villager was stunned, then the next second he smiled widely. "Yes, Doctor!" He immediately got up and exited the house hastily.
Xiao Yi chuckled.
Doctor Lei turned to Xiao Yi. "I will make antidote for Old Master Yan. But before that, I want to check our in-house patient."
With that, Doctor Lei got up and walked to the other side of the house, opening a door. Inside, on the bed, lay a young woman with her eyes closed. If Lin Qian was here, she would've recognized this young woman immediately.
Xu Yun.
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Doctor Lei walked slowly, approaching the bed. He didn't use his walking stick, nor did he allow Xiao Yi to assist him. He took extra care with his steps. He didn't want to bump into anything and disturb the patient.
His hands stretched outward, moving right and left. His legs moved forward inch by inch, as if he was afraid to arrive too soon.
Xiao Yi watched him with a solemn expression, silent from outside the room. He could see that Doctor Lei was extremely careful with the patient.
They'd found her on the river bank not far from the village a few weeks ago. She was in very bad condition. Judging by the wounds, it was clear she had been badly tortured. They took her to this room, and she had been staying there ever since, without once gaining consciousness.
But Doctor Lei didn't give up. He'd go to her room to check her pulse, wiped her body with a wet cloth ("Thank goodness I'm blind!" was his comment when he first did it.), and fed her the medicine he made.
He would even sit her down in a lounge chair he had asked Xiao Yi to make. He'd put the chair in the backyard with her on it to bask in the morning sunlight. Doctor Lei had never missed a day.
Xiao Yi knew he couldn't let Doctor Lei keep doing this, but he was also aware that there wasn't much he could do to stop him.
I can only do one thing. But… Xiao Yi was in a dilemma. He had been thinking and rethinking about this. He really wanted to help Doctor Lei and the patient. It was part of his duty. But he was also afraid of Doctor Lei's fragile mind stage .
Their well-being was as important as his duty, he knew that. And he couldn't leave them alone in this village. Because every single one of the villagers was a cultivator, except those under five years old. And they were all freakishly strong.