Recovery

Wu Qi stood at the doorway for a while, watching Wu Qu leave before returning to the house.

By the time he reached the bedside, Wu Ming had somehow already opened his eyes. Beside him, Liu Shi and Wu Yu burst into tears of joy at seeing Wu Ming awake, fussing over him with endless concerned questions.

"Dad, has the clan head left?"

After answering Liu Shi and Wu Yu a few times, Wu Ming looked weakly at Wu Qi and spoke first.

Wu Qi froze slightly, then walked over and said,

"He left... You were awake already? You heard everything just now?"

"Mm."

Wu Ming answered calmly, far calmer than Wu Qi had expected.

Looking at Wu Ming, Wu Qi seemed to want to speak but held back. In the end, he took a deep breath and said, "Rest well. The clan head didn't shut the door completely. As long as you still want to practice martial arts, your dad can make one more desperate bid. There's still a chance, after all... Oh, right. On this trip out, I also found a good marriage for your elder sister. Her future in-laws are a large household, and they have proper martial artists in the family. To marry your sister, they can provide ten jin of dried meat and thirty jin of fine grain—enough to nurse you back to health."

Hearing Wu Qi's words, Wu Ming glanced at Wu Yu. He saw her lowering her head without much reaction; clearly, she already knew about it. Liu Shi, likewise, did not seem to object.

"I... can do it. There's no need to... make Eldest Sister..."

Though Wu Ming's mind was perfectly clear, his voice remained weak, each word difficult to force out.

At Wu Yu's age, it truly was time to arrange her marriage. It was only that they had never found a suitable family. Wu Ming had previously thought that once he condensed Blood Qi and became a martial artist, his status would rise, and he would naturally be able to find Wu Yu a good match.

But plans could not keep up with change. The situation had shifted abruptly. If Wu Qi and Liu Shi were arranging Wu Yu's marriage in order to help him recover, then it was not what he wanted. He did not want Wu Yu to marry into a bad family and suffer hardship.

Although, given his current condition, he was certain he could recover within half a month and condense Blood Qi to become a martial artist in a little over a month, and with his abilities then, no one would dare bully Wu Yu, marriage was never something to be decided lightly.

"Enough. You're weak, so stop talking."

Wu Qi cut him off, his face hardening as he said in a deep voice, "Don't worry. Your dad would never shove your sister into a pit of fire. I'd been considering her marriage for a long time already. This trip was specifically to settle that matter, which was why I came back late. It has nothing to do with you being afflicted by that evil presence. Just focus on recovering. I know you're unwilling to accept this too."

"In this family of ours, your great-grandfather was a martial artist, and so was your grandfather. It's a pity your grandfather died young. When it came to your dad, I didn't have that talent and couldn't master martial arts. But you have some aptitude, and you have that drive. As long as you haven't lost that fighting spirit, no matter how slim the hope, your dad won't let you give up."

Wu Ming's grandfather had once been a martial artist, so Wu Qi had experienced the life of a martial artist's family in his youth. But he had not enjoyed those good days for long before Wu Ming's grandfather was killed in an attack by monsters. Wu Qi himself had failed to make it, so naturally he hoped Wu Ming could. Though disaster had struck and he knew there was most likely no chance left, before his own son, he still could not bear to crush his will.

After all,

there was still one last desperate bid to make.

Even if it ultimately came to nothing, at least Wu Qi had the carpentry and construction skills he had spent most of his life learning to fall back on. Wu Ming could learn from him and master the trade; in the future, he would at least have a chance to earn a living.

Hearing this, Wu Ming realized things were not as he had thought. On top of that, his body was indeed weak and powerless—just keeping his eyelids open seemed to drain all his strength. So he said nothing more, closed his eyes, and slowly recovered his strength.

Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, five days had gone by.

In the courtyard,

Wu Yu was washing rice and preparing a meal.

Though her marriage was more or less settled, she had not had much time these days to dwell on it. Wu Ming had suffered misfortune and was recuperating, Liu Shi had trouble walking, and Wu Qi had gone into the city two days earlier to look for work. For the time being, caring for the family had all fallen on her shoulders. Even when Wu Ming had practiced martial arts in the past, she had usually been the one taking care of him.

As she washed the rice, Wu Yu suddenly sensed something. Looking up, she saw a figure emerge from the house at some unknown moment. It was Wu Ming. His complexion was clearly much better than before, though his face still held a trace of pallor. He was supporting himself against the wall as he slowly made his way outside.

"Why are you out here? Hurry back to bed and lie down. The clan head said you had to recuperate for at least a month."

Wu Yu was immediately startled. She hurriedly set down the rice and moved to support Wu Ming.

But when she approached him, Wu Ming waved his hand. "It's fine. I've been eating well and sleeping well these past few days. I feel like I've mostly recovered. I need to come down and walk around, loosen up my muscles and bones."

With that said,

he declined Wu Yu's support and slowly paced around the courtyard.

Wu Yu stood nearby in concern. Though Wu Ming's steps were somewhat unsteady, he walked slowly and steadily, without much stumbling. After watching for a while, she finally felt relieved and returned to washing rice and making the meal, though she still kept glancing over at Wu Ming from time to time.

Whenever Wu Ming's gaze met Wu Yu's, he merely smiled at her gently before continuing to walk. What Wu Yu did not know was that, from Wu Ming's perspective at that very moment, the structure of his entire body was clearly reflected in his mind.

The bones in his limbs, every muscle, even the beating of his heart and the flow of his blood—all were as clear as if he could see through them.

"Sure enough, it's vastly different now."

After pacing around the courtyard several times, Wu Ming could not help sighing inwardly.

Ever since that evil demon had entered his body and Black Emperor's Demon Subduing had strengthened his soul, his senses had greatly sharpened. Setting aside this incomparably clear Inner Vision of himself, even his perception of the outside world had become far more acute.

In his perception, every grain of rice Wu Yu washed was clearly visible. Even from two or three meters away, he could see the tiny flaws and chips on each individual grain.

"Does this count as Perceptive Insight?"

Wu Ming had once asked clan head Wu Qu many questions about the martial path, but Wu Qu had mostly explained only the process from ordinary person to martial artist. As for what came after condensing Blood Qi and becoming a martial artist, he rarely spoke of it.

When Wu Ming asked curious questions, Wu Qu would often merely say that there was no need to think so much before one had condensed Blood Qi.

Even so, Wu Ming roughly understood that after martial artists condensed Blood Qi, they had only strengthened themselves. Once they possessed a physical foundation, they then needed to temper their fists, feet, and combat techniques. He did not know whether Wu Qu's senses could be as sharp as his were now, but without question, with such keen perception, given the same physique, he would surely surpass others by far.

However,

before considering such things, condensing Blood Qi and stepping across the first threshold of the martial path remained the most important matter.

"My senses have improved greatly, and that has indeed changed my body considerably. I thought it would take at least seven or eight days before I could get out of bed and walk. I never expected that merely five short days would be enough."

Sensing the condition of his body, Wu Ming let out a soft breath.