Pretending to Be Blind

Lowering his head again, he saw that all his wounds had actually healed.

Wen Xu quickly examined his body. Apart from his fractured left arm, the rest of his wounds were already seventy or eighty percent healed. More than that, even his five senses seemed considerably sharper. For instance, right now, he could smell a rich fragrance of grass and wood.

The scent even grew stronger and stronger, so strong that he could not help sneezing.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Could he be dreaming? But that could not be right. If it were a dream, it should not hurt.

Wen Xu instinctively reached for his fractured left arm. The intense, bone-piercing pain reminded him that none of this was a dream, but a miracle that had truly happened to him. Thanks to having been a beggar as a child, Wen Xu knew how to set bones. Beggars had no rights; they were often beaten and driven away, and with no money to see a doctor, they could only muddle through on their own.

Wen Xu had been clever since childhood. An old beggar knew how to set bones, so he had fawned over him and quickly learned some rudimentary medical skills. Of course, once he had found a better path, he had turned to studying instead.

With difficulty, he set his own bone. But with the conditions so limited, he had no way to secure the injury properly, so he merely tied it up with strips torn from his ragged hem. His most urgent task now was to find something to fill his stomach.

After losing so much blood and being hunted for so long, Wen Xu felt that the fact he could still stand was almost excessively tenacious.

Yet as he walked, he realized that his left arm no longer hurt. He raised it and moved it, finding not the slightest stiffness. Wen Xu suspected it was the effect of those two Blood-Recovery Pills. If that was truly the case, then he owed an enormous debt of gratitude.

Perhaps the other person had merely acted on a whim, but to him, it had been a second life. If he ever had the chance, he would certainly repay this kindness.

Wen Xu could see people yet never remember their faces, but he had no trouble remembering other things. The waters and grasses here were lush, and even the air smelled wonderfully fresh. The farther he walked, the more this place seemed unlike the mortal world. After all, ever since leaving Jade Isle Commandery, he had traveled through many famous scenic sites, mountains, and rivers, yet never had he encountered a place as strange and uncanny as this one.

He called it uncanny because after walking all this way, he had not seen a single animal. In the mortal world, how could a place with such abundant water and grass possibly have no snakes?

And the fruits on the trees all looked so... bizarrely shaped. They were so strange that he did not even dare eat them.

Before long, he could not walk any farther. To conserve his strength, Wen Xu closed his eyes and leaned against a tree. It was the only withered tree nearby. Its trunk stood straight and tall, without a single branch, and merely looking at it gave him a sense of safety.

Wen Xu smelled that rich grassy, woody fragrance in the air again. In truth, ever since waking up, he had been plagued by an odd sensation. It was as if he could smell the scent of the wind drifting through the air. The wind carried fragrance, and all sorts of strange information, but unfortunately, he knew nothing of this place and had no way to make sense of it.

After waiting quietly for a moment, Wen Xu immediately decided to head in the direction from which the grassy fragrance drifted.

Spirit plants, the scent of grass and wood—it was hardly Wen Xu's fault for letting his thoughts run wild. In this place, he had seen only one person: his lifesaver. He did not know whether it was an illusion, but he always had a premonition that once he saw his lifesaver again, he would be able to leave this place.

Bian Chunchou only felt that his luck was utterly rotten. The moment he entered the secret realm, someone had fallen on top of him. Not only had he failed to get compensation, he had even lost two Blood-Recovery Pills. After finally shaking off that strange big brother, he had wandered around for nearly half the place. Aside from Pill-Fragrance Herb growing everywhere, he had not dug up even a single second-grade spirit plant.

He had written the words "utterly ridiculous" a full eight hundred times in his heart already. At this rate, forget passing the exam—if he did not come in dead last, it would be because smoke was rising from his ancestors' graves.

What was going on? He had already done a good deed today. Couldn't that raise his karma a little? Why not?!

Bian Chunchou squatted on the ground, fuming as he searched for spirit plants. He was practically one step away from using a magnifying glass. Unfortunately, no matter how he looked, all he saw were low-grade Pill-Fragrance Herbs. Pill-Fragrance Herb was the sort of thing sold by the bundle as firewood; no matter how much he picked, it was useless.

He stuck his rear in the air and rummaged through the ground for quite a while longer, then... he was tired. Let it all be destroyed. Yonglu Mountain was nothing special anyway, right? If this place would not keep him, he could boldly go take the exam for the number one sect under heaven, the Hehe Sect.

Bian Chunchou thought sourly to himself. Just as he was about to get up and continue searching, he heard someone behind him speak with delight. "Benefactor, is that you? I finally found you."

Bian Chunchou said, "Wah—scaring people in broad daylight! Who are you trying to scare to death?!"

Wen Xu: ...

Pretending to Be Blind

Wen Xu touched his face and spoke somewhat weakly. "Do I really look like a ghost?"

Bian Chunchou patted his little heart, which had nearly flown out of his chest. Was my vigilance really this bad? Someone got this close and I didn't even notice? Though they were still more than ten meters apart, that distance already counted as "close quarters" for cultivators. Those Nascent Soul patriarchs could kill someone from ten thousand miles away.

"Stop right there! Don't come any closer. Your face is as white as a ghost's—I'm afraid you'll pin another scam on me!" Once Bian Chunchou finished speaking, he felt that his words might have been a little harsh, so he added, "What do you want from me? I'm very busy." Busy battling wits and courage with Pill-Fragrance Herb.

Hearing that, Wen Xu smiled apologetically. "Sorry, Benefactor. I frightened you. It was my fault."

Looking closely, this big brother with the deathly pale face was rather handsome—enough to rival the campus heartthrob from the art college next door in his previous life. Oh heavens, for the sake of me saving such a handsome guy today, please grant me a lucky opportunity. Bian Chunchou silently dabbled in mysticism in his heart, while keeping a straight face. "You don't need to call me Benefactor. It sounds weird, and I'm not used to it."

"But I do not know how to address you, Benefactor. I..."

"Hey, hey, hey, hey—don't collapse! After taking two Blood-Recovery Pills, your injuries still aren't healed? What kind of big shot struck you with such viciousness? Huh? You only fainted from hunger? How many days has it been since you ate?"

Was this for real? Were Qi Refining Stage cultivators in the cultivation world so busy preparing for the immortal sect examinations that they did not even have time to take a Grain-Repelling Pill? Did they really have to compete this hard?

"Maybe... two or three days." Or perhaps longer. Wen Xu did not remember clearly.

Good grief. Who would not give that a thumbs-up? Bian Chunchou glanced at the fact that there was not a single brocade pouch hanging from the man's waist, then bluntly asked, "Where are your Grain-Repelling Pills?"