Meanwhile, in the village at the foot of the mountain.
Blue roof tiles, earthen houses, and a corner of the roof that still leaked a little.
"Drip, drip..."
One drop after another struck the ground, splashing into what had already become a sizable puddle.
Yet no one paid it any attention.
"Sir, take your time. There's no need to rush."
Sitting on a wooden chair, Yan Gaoyuan looked at the old man nearby, whose hair had largely turned white, and kept his back very straight.
"Ah..."
With another sigh, the village chief wiped his damp eyes and said bitterly, "My two poor granddaughters were attacked by a Mutant Green Snake on their way home in the middle of the night. One died of the venom. We only just buried her before you arrived, and the other still hasn't woken up."
As he spoke, the village chief could not help choking up.
"That's..."
Yan Gaoyuan opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Ask him to fight a mutant beast to the death, and he would not even frown.
But asking him to comfort an old man who had lost a loved one was rather difficult.
The regimental commander in his thirties, who had accompanied Yan Gaoyuan into the village chief's home, had some experience with such matters.
He stood up, walked over to the old man, patted his shoulder, and offered his condolences. "I'm sorry for your loss, sir."
Then, as though remembering something, the commander asked, "Did you kill that beast? If not, we'll go kill it tonight and offer its blood to your granddaughter."
"We killed it, we killed it..."
Nodding firmly, the old man finally managed a smile on his deeply wrinkled face. "The villagers beat that snake to death with clubs."
Then, as though remembering something else, he hurriedly added, "But it was after swallowing that green snake's gallbladder that my other granddaughter fell unconscious and hasn't woken up."
"Its gallbladder?"
Yan Gaoyuan frowned, puzzled.
"Deep in the mountains, there's a saying: 'If a venomous snake bites you, take out its gallbladder. It can cure the poison.'"
Seeming to know something about it, the stubble-faced commander tilted his head and explained.
But the twitch at the corner of his mouth still betrayed some of his thoughts.
A snake's gallbladder curing poison? What brainless bastard came up with that?
Even a snake could be killed by its own venom.
How could its gallbladder possibly cure the poison?
If that were true, people bitten by venomous snakes could fight desperately, kill the snakes, and eat their gallbladders. Venomous snakes would probably have gone extinct long ago.
At that moment, seemingly seeing what the commander was thinking, the old man choked out, "We knew it was a folk remedy too, but my granddaughter was barely breathing then, and her whole body had turned bluish..."
Before he could finish, as though recalling something, the old man broke down sobbing.
"Ah..."
Exchanging a glance, the commander and Yan Gaoyuan sighed too.
At a time like that, anyone would probably cling to that last straw.
It was only human, and understandable.
"Sir, why don't you take me to see her?"
Looking at the sobbing old man, Yan Gaoyuan made the tentative suggestion.
"Well..."
Looking at Yan Gaoyuan's very young face, the village chief hesitated.
"Don't worry, sir. This fellow is quite capable."
The stubble-faced commander continued bluntly, "Don't let his age fool you. He's my superior officer. If I weren't a few years older and he didn't call me his older brother, I'd have to salute him when we met."
"Uh..."
The corners of the old man's eyes twitched, and the wrinkles between his brows bunched together.
But a moment later, after taking a long look at Yan Gaoyuan, who exuded an air of integrity, the old man turned and picked up his tobacco pipe. He sighed. "You've finally found a place to spend the night here, and now we're troubling you like this... ah..."
With that, the old man started toward the inner room.
The inner room was small, probably a little over twenty square meters.
Besides a table and a chair, there was a large bed.
A young girl lay on it.
She was not very old, about seventeen or eighteen.
She looked like quite a clean, neat girl, the sort whose looks grew on you, becoming prettier the longer you looked.
But pain showed on her faintly pale face, as though she were enduring something.
"This is my poor granddaughter. She's been unconscious for three days."
The old man looked back at the commander and Yan Gaoyuan as they followed him in and pleaded, "Officers, if there's anything you can do, please help me. Even if it costs me these old bones, I'll accept it."
"No, please, don't..."
The commander caught the old man to steady him, then tactfully drew him aside.
If anyone could do something now, it could only be the Transcendent before him.
Besides, when they entered the inner room, the commander had already noticed something unusual about Yan Gaoyuan, as though something had startled him.
At that moment, just as the commander had guessed, Yan Gaoyuan could not suppress the shock in his heart.
"An awakening. It really is an awakening."
Looking at the pale girl lying on the bed nearby, Yan Gaoyuan lost his composure a little for the first time.
As a Transcendent, Yan Gaoyuan was no stranger to awakening.
It was the most painful transformation before emerging from a cocoon, reborn.
Spiritual energy cleansed the body, and the soul resonated with it.
In terms of outward signs alone, everyone differed to some degree.
Some completed their awakening after a night's sleep, while others suffered three days and nights of torment before completing theirs.
And the girl before him was in the middle of awakening...
Her body was already enveloped in spiritual energy. The dreamlike, multicolored spiritual energy seemed intent on seeping into her body, desperately pressing its way inside...
At the same time, Yan Gaoyuan also felt a surging wave of heat wash over his face.
"A fire-elemental talent...?"
Murmuring to himself, Yan Gaoyuan looked at the girl with a gaze full of complicated feelings.
Elemental talents were among the most terrifying Transcendent talents.
And the fire element was the most volatile and one of the most destructive of all elemental talents.
So far, only a handful of people in the entire country had awakened such a talent.
Even he himself had only awakened body enhancement.
There was no need to say more. Yan Gaoyuan knew he had truly stumbled upon a treasure this time.
As for whether the girl could be awakened, that was not something he needed to consider.
After all, if those old fellows at the research institute found out, they would probably go mad, using every means they had to wake the girl.
(Event period: June 12 to June 14)
Before you continue