"Zhou Shu, you're awake!"
Yang Hei entered, approaching the bed with a look of surprise.
Zhou Shu's eyes were already open, a faint smile on his lips. "I've been awake the entire time, just unable to move or speak. Yang Hei, thank you for all the hard work you've put in for so long."
"Not hard, not hard, haha!"
Yang Hei jumped up excitedly, placing his hands on Zhou Shu's shoulders and shaking them a few times. "It's all good now. I don't have to worry about all these troubles alone. I've been thinking about them so much these past few days that my head is about to explode."
After a month of recuperation and daily elixirs, Zhou Shu gradually recovered.
Zhou Shu looked at him calmly. "Liu Laocai, is that you?"
Ten days ago, the two had fled to Qinghe Village, over seven hundred miles from the Wuwang Sect.
As the old hunter had said, the villagers of Qinghe had great respect for the Wuwang Sect. Upon their arrival, they were taken in by a wealthy family and provided with good food and drink.
However, within two days, Liu Laocai, through some unknown source, learned that the Wuwang Sect had been destroyed by the Zhenglei Sect, and his demeanor suddenly changed. They drove them to the woodshed and demanded that Yang Hei hand over the Wuwang Sect's magic, or he would reveal their whereabouts to the Zhenglei Sect.
Yang Hei, a simple-minded man, would never attack a mortal, and he was inflexible. He reluctantly teased them for a few days, but the deadline Liu Laocai had mentioned was only three days away, and he was getting anxious. Now that Zhou Shu had woken up, he felt like he had found a new life and was filled with excitement.
"Yes, Zhou Shu, what should we do?"
Yang Hei scratched his head helplessly. "Of course, the secret can't be shared with those with ill intentions, but I can't leave either, with so many people blocking the entrance."
Zhou Shu said calmly, "Don't you know how to use the incantation?"
Yang Hei looked surprised. "Use the incantation? They're mortals, they can't withstand it. I'm afraid they'll die if they're touched. We cultivators can't break the rules of the sect and attack mortals. Besides, I promised the villagers before joining the Immortal Sect that I wouldn't attack mortals. So no, absolutely not."
Zhou Shu felt helpless. He knew Yang Hei's character. He would never back down against even the most powerful cultivators, but facing a defenseless mortal, Yang Hei was stubborn and had no way to deal with him. He had no choice
but to do it himself.
He said slowly, "Give me ten Spring Spirit Pills."
"Ten? Are you crazy? The Peak Master said you can only take one of these pills a day. Taking too many will make your body unable to handle it and it will only make your injuries worse."
The Spring Spirit Pill is a first-level healing pill, and Yang Hei fed Zhou Shu one every day. Now Zhou Shu wanted ten at once, and Yang Hei was stunned.
"It's okay, just give them to me," Zhou Shu said calmly. "We don't have much time."
Yang Hei stared at Zhou Shu, hesitating for a long moment.
Zhou Shu smiled. "Yang Hei, did I make any mistakes?"
"Not really, it seems you've always been right," Yang Hei thought carefully, then placed the pills one by one into Zhou Shu's mouth. "You must be very careful."
As the pills entered his stomach, the immense medicinal power began to spread. Zhou Shu felt as if ten scorching embers had been stuffed into his stomach, and his body instantly became intensely hot.
But he remained calm. Instead, he carefully guided the medicinal power, gradually dispersing it into the damaged areas of his body.
He had calculated that with proper control, ten Spring Spirit Pills, while somewhat damaging, would be manageable.
An hour passed, and as Zhou Shu's face turned from pale to red, then from red to purple, and then back to black as charcoal, Yang Hei's heart repeatedly caught in his throat, unable to calm down.
Only when Zhou Shu's complexion returned to its normal pale red did he breathe a sigh of relief.
"Are you okay?"
"Don't worry, I'm fine." Zhou Shu shook his head.
Yang Hei's face lit up with a smile. "You can even shake your head! You've recovered so quickly! You took ten Spring Spirit Pills at once. Shouldn't you be able to get up soon?"
Zhou Shu smiled. "You can try thirteen tomorrow. If that works, you can stand up."
Yang Hei shook his head, speculating. "If I had known you were such a big eater, I'd have fed you more. Wouldn't you have woken up earlier? I'm such a fool."
Zhou Shu shook his head quickly. "That's definitely not going to work. I can only control the potency of the medicine today. If I had fed you one more pill earlier, I would have been finished."
"Oh, so that's how it is."
Yang Hei nodded thoughtfully, though he still felt a little confused.
"Bang, bang!"
There was a sound of hard knocks on the door outside the woodshed.
Before Yang Hei could approach and open it, the door panel fell down, sending up a cloud of dust.
Several well-dressed servants rushed in. Standing at the doorway was a paunchy old man, his figure like a ball. He frowned at the narrow woodshed door, likely disdaining to enter.
This man was, of course, Liu Laocai.
"Boy," he said, his belly bulging, "tomorrow's the deadline! The swift horses are ready. If you don't give me the magic by tomorrow, I'll send men straight to the Zhenglei Sect! You two will be killed without a burial place!"
His voice was loud, but the power was weak, making it sound rather comical.
Yang Hei asked suspiciously, "Tomorrow? Isn't it still three days away?"
"Master said tomorrow, so why waste your words!" Several servants rushed forward, ready to fight. "Any more talkativeness, and I'll cripple you!"
Yang Hei stood erect, his hands raised slightly, glaring at them coldly.
The servants were clearly just pretending, not daring to actually attack the Immortal Master. After a few shouts, they retreated.
Zhou Shu, lying down, closed his eyes slightly. "Come back at this time tomorrow, and I'll give you an explanation."
Liu Laocai was surprised that Zhou Shu, who had been lying there all this time, could actually speak.
He then snorted heavily, "Finally, there's someone who knows what's good for you. If you don't give it to me tomorrow, you're dead! Go!"
A group of people left, cursing.
As the footsteps gradually faded, Zhou Shu looked at Yang Hei, "Yang Hei, aren't you going to use the magic formula yet?"
Yang Hei's expression was complicated. He thought seriously for a moment, "If they attack you and me, I will use it."
Zhou Shu chuckled softly. "What if they didn't attack, and only used a few dozen people to surround you and me? You and I are only at the first level of the Qi Refining Realm, unable to fly or jump high. Aren't we just waiting for the Zhenglei Sect to capture us?"
Yang Hei paused. "Ah? In that case, I'll..."
The woodshed fell silent for a long moment.
Zhou Shu sighed softly, "Rest. Remember to give me fifteen Spring Spirit Pills tomorrow."
The next day, Liu Laocai reappeared in front of the woodshed with his servants.
"Come out quickly! Get your pen and ink ready! Write out the immortal spell for me!"
Dozens of servants carried out a table and shouted at the door.
Liu Laocai, a shameless grin on his face, rubbed his hands, dreaming of becoming an immortal master. "You little brat, what about the instructions? Hurry up, hurry up!"
Bang!
An invisible gust of wind roared out from the woodshed!
Liu Laocai was the first to be blown down, rolling on the ground like a ball for more than a dozen times before slamming hard into the earthen wall.
Not only was his head bruised and bleeding, but a foul-smelling liquid also flowed down his trouser legs and onto the ground.
"You...you, you dared hit me?"
A frightened Liu Laocai, his face pale, trembling as he looked towards the woodshed.
Zhou Shu, dressed in green, stood at the doorway and said calmly, "If not you, who should I hit? You've always been protected by the Wuwang Sect, and now that the Wuwang Sect is destroyed, you're turning against them. How shameful and ridiculous."
His eyes swept around, as cold as a knife. The servants around him were terrified and fell to the ground, begging for mercy.
A few of the braver ones pointed at Zhou Shu and yelled, "Immortal masters can't attack mortals. You violated the rules of the Immortal Sect. Aren't you afraid of being hunted down?"
"I did, but so what!"
Zhou Shu sneered. "Who are you going to complain to? The Wuwang Sect, but is there still a Wuwang Sect? The Zhenglei Sect will hunt me down even if I don't tell them. What's the difference? Besides, you can't get out of here today."
"You, what do you want to do?" Liu Laocai sensed something was wrong and struggled to get up.
However, Zhou Shu's eyes glared, and he waved his sleeves, sending Liu Laocai flying. He then fell heavily to the ground.
It was clear he was dead.
The servants around him were horrified. They hadn't expected Zhou Shu to resort to such outright murder. The bravest of them quickly knelt and kowtowed. "Master, spare my lives, Master, spare my lives."
Yang Hei emerged from the woodshed, a look of reluctance on his face. "Zhou Shu, how about we let them go?"
Zhou Shu said calmly. "They're not the ringleaders, and I don't intend to kill them, but I'm keeping my word. They'll have to crawl out."
A fierce wind blew, carrying the servants thirty or four feet into the air before plummeting to the ground.
His control of his spiritual power was so precise that each servant's feet broke as they touched the ground, forcing them to crawl out.
"Let's go! The people from the Zhenglei Sect are coming soon."
Zhou Shu produced a magical talisman and handed it to Yang Hei. "Carry me! I'm completely drained of my spiritual power."
His spiritual power was now less than a tenth of what it used to be. Even with the best control, it wouldn't last even a few days.
Yang Hei was still a little confused. "Ah, are the Zhenglei Sect coming soon?"
Zhou Shu nodded. "Last night, Liu Laocai sent a fast horse to inform the Zhenglei Sect."
"Ah! How can he not keep his word!"
Yang Hei's eyes flashed with anger, and then he was speechless.
Zhou Shu smiled. "You are trustworthy, but others may not be. You don't want to harm others, but they want to harm you. Go away."