Healing Wounds

"Anyway, cultivate diligently. That day will come."

After hearing Nangong Yiyi's words, my gaze grew even more resolute.

Then I said to Qianqian, "Qianqian, one day, I'll make it so you can always stay by my side."

"It's alright, Brother A Tong. Things are already good as they are."

Nangong Yiyi then said, "Stop being so mushy. I'm still here."

"Watch the occasion. Besides, this isn't a place for flirting."

My face reddened, and I said, "Then let's leave first. We can talk after we get back.

"I'll have to trouble you with the corpse, Sister. In my condition, I'm afraid even getting back will be difficult."

Nangong Yiyi nodded. With a sweep of her sleeve, Qianqian's corpse floated over.

She then picked it up and headed for the cave entrance, while Qianqian supported me as we walked outside.

After leaving the cave, I called the police and explained what had happened here.

The police asked over the phone who I was and how I knew something had happened here.

I said I had been passing through as a tourist and happened to see it. Since I was scared, I had already left.

Then they mentioned taking a statement, so I made up some nonsense excuse over the phone.

After that, our group hurried back toward Uncle Master's little wooden cabin.

Since it was still night, there was no one around, and the journey went fairly smoothly.

It was just that, along the way, I passed out several times from excessive blood loss.

Nangong Yiyi checked my wound and said no vital areas had been injured, so it was no major problem.

Qianqian said we should take me to the hospital for a blood transfusion, but Nangong Yiyi said it was unnecessary.

Uncle Master had plenty of medicinal herbs. Taking medicine for a while would be enough.

Nangong Yiyi carried Qianqian's corpse as we made our way back to Uncle Master's little wooden cabin.

I didn't know how long we had walked, but I felt as though I could no longer summon even a shred of strength.

Even moving a finger was difficult. Then my head tilted to one side, and I lost consciousness.

When I woke up again, I found myself lying in bed. The surroundings were utterly silent, without the slightest sound.

After looking around, I realized we had already returned to the little wooden cabin.

Before long, the door opened with a creak. Uncle Master walked in and sat beside my bed.

Uncle Master was silent for a while before saying to me, "You did well this time. Decisive in killing, daring to fight and daring to struggle.

"From now on, in the Underworld Practices, I won't say you'll live long, but you definitely won't die too early."

I grinned through my teeth, then asked, "By the way, Uncle Master, that kid said his master never came back.

"My father also never came back. Could there be some connection between the two?

"By rights, one of them should have sent word back.

"But there's been no news at all. And in that situation, that kid definitely wouldn't have dared lie."

Uncle Master nodded. "Yes, that's one of the reasons I went out this time.

"Too many matters have no leads. I had no choice but to make the trip myself."

Hearing Uncle Master's cryptic words, I grew a little anxious and asked him,

"What exactly is going on? Can you tell me?

"Ever since I left the village, I've been kept in the dark. I don't know anything.

"I finally managed to pry out a few clues from that kid, only for them to be cut off again."

Uncle Master hesitated for a long time, then heaved a heavy sigh. "Sigh! Kid, telling you would only add to your worries.

"It's not that this old man looks down on you, but you simply don't have the ability to handle these matters right now. You'd only be inviting fire to burn yourself."

After Uncle Master finished speaking, I stared at him without blinking.

Then Uncle Master shook his head. "Forget it, forget it. You have to grow up eventually, and sooner or later you'll have to face it.

"If you want to hear it, I'll tell you. But let me make this clear beforehand.

"I don't have definite answers to many things. I've only inferred them from the bits and pieces I know.

"Precisely because I don't know whether these matters are true or false, I personally made this trip to get to the bottom of them.

"And what I'm telling you today goes out of my mouth and into your ears.

"You cannot let a third person know. Can you do that?"

I quickly nodded and said I could. Uncle Master stood up, went to the door and looked outside, then shut it.

He sat back down beside the bed and continued, "Some things from the past are private grudges of mine, so I won't mention them.

"Now let's talk about your grandfather, along with some of my own deductions. I think your grandfather may not be dead."

I was startled and abruptly sat up. In doing so, I pulled at the wound on my lower abdomen, and the pain made me bare my teeth in agony.

I cried out, "How is that possible? My grandfather died many years ago."

Uncle Master said with a grave expression, "That was an empty grave. There was no corpse in the coffin at all. I discovered that over ten years ago."

He continued, "At the time, I thought your grandfather hadn't put the corpse in the coffin because he feared villains might use it to do evil. After all, your grandfather was one of the great powerhouses of that era.

"So I didn't think much of it. But now, looking at it alongside some earlier events,

"I've vaguely discovered your grandfather's shadow at several important turning points.

"Though it was well concealed, some of the methods and his usual style of doing things were exactly the same as your grandfather's back then."

I spoke skeptically. "Could it have been someone else, someone whose way of doing things happened to resemble my grandfather's?

"After all, the world's population is in the hundreds of millions, if not more. Our country alone has more than that, doesn't it? Of course, it would be best if my grandfather were alive."

Uncle Master looked at me with a firm gaze. "Yes, that is possible. But it's precisely because of that possibility that I came down from the mountains to investigate personally."

"If your grandfather is dead, then where is he buried?

"If he's still alive, then where is he? I have to get to the bottom of this."

The sheer amount of information hit me all at once, catching me completely off guard.

My brain seemed unable to keep up. I simply looked at Uncle Master, somewhat at a loss.

After a while, I came back to my senses and asked, "Then where do you plan to look?

"The sea of people is vast as the ocean—it's like fishing a needle from the sea. You can't possibly ask them one by one, can you?"

Uncle Master shook his head and said in a low voice, "I don't have a specific direction either. I'll first seek out some old companions and sound them out.

"Then I'll revisit the places I traveled through in my youth and see whether there are any clues."

Just then, I felt some pain from my wound. I pulled back the blanket and looked at the injury on my lower abdomen.

Specks of blood had already stained the gauze red. "Hiss..." I sucked in a breath of cold air.

Seeing this, Uncle Master hurried over to take a look, then said,

"Your grandfather's matter is still something without even the first stroke of the character eight. What are you getting so worked up about?

"You've wasted another batch of medicinal herbs for nothing. I searched the deep mountains and old forests with great difficulty to find these, you little wastrel."

After saying that, he told me to lie still while he went to prepare another batch of herbs to apply to my wound.

He rolled his eyes at me, then turned and walked toward the door.