After finishing all this, Yan Chihuo gathered some more firewood and went into the cave. Tong Huaibing's face was still ashen, but he no longer looked like he was on the verge of death. Clearly, his life had been dragged back from the gates of hell.
Yan Chihuo asked, "How are you?"
Tong Huaibing said with a mournful face, "The snake venom's been neutralized, but it was too late. The poison has already seeped into my muscles and organs. I'm a cripple now."
Yan Chihuo said mildly, "You got your life back. You should count yourself lucky."
Just then, Qu Wuxing opened his eyes and said, "Boss, my internal injuries are severe, but I can still walk slowly. Manor Lord Yun, though, can't even stand."
Yan Chihuo said, "Let's rest here for a day. We'll go down the mountain tomorrow, hire a cart, and make our way back slowly." With that, he started a fire, roasted the snake meat, and handed portions to Qu Wuxing and Tong Huaibing. Yun Zaitian couldn't feed himself, so Tong Huaibing had to feed him.
He ate a large piece of snake meat and found it delicious. When he had finished, a wave of warmth rose through his belly, making him feel rather comfortable. He watched the other three finish their portions, then grow drowsy.
He took out the Wooden Sword and examined its patterns carefully in the firelight. He tried channeling a stream of true qi into it, but found it had no effect at all. He shook his head. A wondrous treasure of the immortals like this probably had its own way of being used, beyond his control.
He took out the Snake Scale and studied it closely, noticing that its patterns seemed to be divided into three sections. He channeled a stream of true qi into it and found that, unlike the Wooden Sword, the Snake Scale didn't resist his qi. It could enter the scale. Delighted, he began by channeling qi along the simplest pattern.
A moment later, a black light slowly rose from the scale in his hand and spread over his body. It took nearly half an hour for the black light to cover him completely, forming a layer of scales much like those on the giant snake.
He was delighted. He hadn't expected the Snake Scale to have such a use. But before long, he realized something was wrong. In such a short time, it had consumed nearly half of his true qi.
He hurriedly withdrew his qi and meditated for a long while until it was restored. Then he tried channeling it into another section of the pattern. At first, nothing happened. But after the time it took an incense stick to burn, a boulder as large as a millstone suddenly dropped from the sky and came crashing toward him. Horrified, he leaped aside.
With a crash, the boulder hit the ground. He jumped in fright and looked toward Qu Wuxing and the others, only to find them sleeping soundly, completely unaware.
He was startled. Qu Wuxing and the others were all highly skilled and alert. Even injured, they shouldn't have been so oblivious to such a huge commotion.
He walked over and found that all three were breathing heavily, fast asleep. He checked their pulses and found nothing unusual; their injuries even seemed to have improved. Suddenly, he remembered that all three of them had eaten the snake meat. Could it have healing properties, making them sleep so deeply? But why hadn't it affected him the same way?
Unable to make sense of it, he realized he had just used up more than seventy percent of his true qi and had no choice but to meditate again. Once his qi was full, he channeled it into the third section of the pattern.
This time, he was extremely cautious, afraid something else might go wrong. If he hadn't reacted quickly just now, that boulder would have smashed his brains out.
But this time, the black light shone from the scale, and nothing happened. Feeling puzzled, he stood up and took a casual step. In a flash, he had covered more than ten feet.
Only then did Yan Chihuo understand: the third section of the pattern greatly increased his speed. After calculating, he realized his true qi would only sustain the effect for half an incense stick's time. Even so, if he encountered an enemy, that burst of speed would be enough to kill them.
Knowing the Snake Scale was an extraordinary treasure, he tucked it safely against his body. After all that exertion, his injuries were troubling him, and he felt drowsy. He lay down and fell asleep.
When he woke, Qu Wuxing and the other two had just woken as well. Qu Wuxing said, "Boss, the snake meat tasted good, and it seems to have helped my injuries too. I feel a bit better."
Yan Chihuo had also noticed that his injuries had improved somewhat. He said, "Let's get going. We'll find a doctor down the mountain, get checked out, and hire a cart so we can recover on the way."
Qu Wuxing could ride a horse on his own, but Tong Huaibing needed help. Yun Zaitian was a problem, though: more than ten of his ribs were broken, and even if someone helped him onto a horse, he wouldn't withstand the jolting. With no other choice, Yan Chihuo lifted him onto a horse, and they slowly made their way over the mountain.
After descending, they traveled dozens of li before reaching a small town. Yan Chihuo found an inn, handed over ten taels of silver, and said they were merchants who had encountered wild beasts on the road, leaving them all injured.
Seeing how generously he paid, the innkeeper found a doctor for them and had him prescribe some medicine. They also bought several sets of clothes to change into. After resting for a night, they hired a cart in town and set off for Tiger Roar Manor.
In Yunyang City, at the Golden Sword Gang headquarters, a crowd of burly men stood respectfully around two men in yellow. The younger of the two asked, "Where is your young chief's body?"
One of the men replied, "He hasn't been buried yet. Please, Immortal Masters, examine him." With that, he waved his hand, and two burly men carried Gao Kun's body over.
The younger man in yellow stepped forward and pressed down on Gao Kun's body a few times, frowning. The older man in yellow asked, "Junior Brother Yan, what's wrong?"
The man in yellow surnamed Yan said, "It doesn't look like he was injured by magic. It looks more like the Great Vajra Palm or another such martial arts technique, which shattered all the bones in his body."
The older man in yellow was also taken aback. He stepped forward, lifted the golden belt at Gao Kun's waist, and examined it. Then a golden light flared from it. "The Golden Silk Belt Master gave Junior Brother Gao isn't damaged. How is this possible?"
The man surnamed Yan said, "That's what puzzles me, too. If the Golden Silk Belt wasn't damaged, then even if the other side's palm had a thousand-jin force behind it, it shouldn't have left Gao Kun in this state. Unless the other side was a cultivator, too."
The older man in yellow said, "A cultivator? Did the Cloud Soaring Sect send someone? But if the other side was a cultivator, they should have used magic. If they used martial arts instead, there's only one possibility: Junior Brother Gao fell into their trap and didn't have time to activate the belt's protective spell."
The man surnamed Yan said, "Junior Brother Gao was a cautious man. He wouldn't have ventured into the enemy's lair without taking precautions. It seems the enemy was extremely cunning. Or perhaps the other side was a master at the Body Tempering Middle Stage with earth-aspected powers, strong enough to achieve this with martial arts."
The older man in yellow said, "How is that possible? What master at the Body Tempering Middle Stage would use martial arts instead of magic? Unless he didn't know any magic at all—but what cultivator at the Body Tempering Middle Stage wouldn't know magic?"
Before you continue