The Mysterious Bottle

Han Li slowly walked out of Divine Hand Valley and, as usual, followed the mountain path toward Red Water Peak, faintly visible in the distance.

He had nothing important to do at the moment. The only reason he had gone to see Zhang Tie at the same time every day for the past few days was to watch the strange faces Zhang Tie made as he grimaced and bared his teeth while training beneath the waterfall.

The Elephant Armor Technique really wasn't something an ordinary person could endure. If the mere first layer brought such torment, wouldn't the later layers strip at least a few layers of skin off a person?

Zhang Tie is probably starting to regret it by now, isn't he? The Elephant Armor Technique is far more overbearing than little brats like us could ever have imagined. As Han Li walked and thought, he absentmindedly kicked at the fallen leaves and branches on the ground.

In a few more days, the two of us can beg Doctor Mo to let Zhang Tie switch to another technique, so he won't have to suffer this living torment. Han Li felt a little encouraged at having found a way for his friend to escape his present suffering.

Han Li looked up at the trees on either side of the path. It was late autumn, and their branches were all bare. A thick layer of fallen leaves and dead branches covered the path, soft and pleasant beneath his feet.

Just then, the faint sounds of weapons clashing drifted over from a nearby peak, with loud cheers mixed in from time to time.

Hearing those sounds, Han Li looked over at the peak. His mood, which had only just improved a little, soured again.

The senior brothers who served as instructors at the Hundred Tempering Hall were training the newly admitted junior brothers in weapon combat.

Whenever Han Li saw his fellow disciples gather to train with real blades and spears, he felt somewhat bitter. He too longed to pick up a real blade or spear and give it a vigorous whirl. Unfortunately, for some reason, ever since he had formally become Doctor Mo's disciple, the doctor had strictly forbidden him from touching such things or learning other martial arts from the other instructors, saying that doing so would hinder his progress in cultivating the Mnemonic.

As a result, Han Li could only watch enviously. Occasionally, in private, he could borrow a few weapons from fellow disciples he was close to and swing them around a few times to satisfy his craving.

Honestly, what's so good about this Mnemonic I'm cultivating? Even now, I can't see what use it has. The other disciples who joined at the same time are growing more skilled with every practice, their martial arts advancing a thousand miles a day, while I'm standing still. I can't see any change at all.

Even Zhang Tie, who had only practiced the Elephant Armor Technique for two months, had grown thick-skinned and better able to take a beating, and was much stronger than before.

But if Doctor Mo hadn't taken him as a disciple, he might not even have passed the Registered Disciple test two months ago, much less stayed on the mountain and sent so much money home.

If I can't learn anything else, then I won't!

Han Li grumbled inwardly while comforting himself.

Han Li drew his gaze back from the distance, still muttering in his heart, but his attention wandered even further. His listless eyes drifted over both sides of the path, and even he didn't know what he was looking at.

Suddenly, Han Li sucked in a breath of cold air, his expression turning strange. A moment later, his mouth stretched almost to his ears. He dropped into a crouch as if by reflex and clutched his right big toe tightly with both hands, then half fell onto the grass in pain. The sudden agony knocked Han Li down in an instant. His face turned somewhat pale, and piercing pain shot through his big toe again and again.

It seemed he had accidentally kicked a very hard stone hidden in the pile of leaves.

Han Li curled forward and clasped his ankle with both hands. Instinctively, he blew hard at his injured toe through the cloth shoe on his foot, while privately worrying whether he had hurt himself badly, and whether his big toe would turn bruised and swollen at once, making it hard for him to walk.

After a long while, the pain finally eased enough for Han Li to recover. He raised his head and scanned the piles of leaves near his feet, hoping to find the culprit responsible for his suffering.

The leaves scattered across the ground were all the same monotonous withered yellow. He couldn't pick out what he was looking for among the jumbled piles.

Han Li frowned and groped around on the ground, then picked up a fairly long, thick branch. Leaning on it, he raised his heel and carefully stood up.

Still unwilling to give up, he used the branch to rake forcefully through the thick piles of leaves around him.

Huh! The branch uncovered an object about the size of a fist.

Han Li examined the culprit that had caused his glorious injury. It was a round, bottle-shaped object with a slender neck, its surface caked in dirt and turned completely earth-gray, leaving no trace of its original color.

At first, Han Li thought it was a small porcelain bottle, but when he picked it up, he found its weight was wrong. It was very heavy in his hand.

Is it made of metal? No wonder something so small hurt my foot so badly when I kicked it. But bottles made of metal are quite rare.

Han Li was now interested in the little bottle and forgot the pain in his foot for the moment.

He rubbed the dirt off the bottle's neck, revealing its original color, a beautiful lustrous green. The surface also bore exquisite dark green leaf-shaped patterns, and a small stopper tightly sealed the mouth at the top.

Could there be something inside? He held the bottle to his ear and shook it gently, but couldn't tell that anything was moving inside.

He placed his hand on the stopper and twisted hard, but it didn't budge.

Han Li grew even more curious and was just about to try something else when a sharp pain suddenly shot through his foot.

Damn! How could I have forgotten? My foot is still suffering the ill effects of its intimate encounter with this thing.

With this injury, it looked as though he couldn't go to Zhang Tie's place. He had better return to his quarters, apply some medicine, and then take a good look at the little bottle he had found by chance.

With that thought, Han Li tucked the bottle into his robes to keep anyone else from seeing it, paying no mind to how dirty it was. Then he turned around and limped back.