The Bottle That Wouldn't Open

On his way back, Han Li didn't run into many people. A few senior brothers passing by were a little surprised to see him limping, but none of them said anything to him. It seemed that nobody paid much attention to their junior brother.

By the time he returned to his quarters, the pain in his foot had grown worse. Han Li hurriedly sat on the edge of his bed and gently took off his shoe and sock to examine the injury.

It's so swollen! The big toe on his right foot had bulged up, and the skin over the injury was stretched red and shiny, like a big, bright-red chili pepper.

Han Li hurriedly reached for the wooden pillow on his bed and pulled a small medicine bottle out from beneath it. It contained a medicine for external injuries that Doctor Mo had painstakingly prepared. It worked wonders on bruises, swelling, and even bleeding. Han Li had gone to great trouble to get it from Doctor Mo, intending to have it ready in case Zhang Tie suffered external injuries while practicing the Elephant Armor Technique. He hadn't expected to be the first to use it himself.

As soon as he opened the bottle, a rich medicinal fragrance filled the room. He gently poured the powder onto his swollen toe, and a cooling sensation immediately spread through it. The medicine was indeed worthy of being Doctor Mo's secret preparation; it took effect at once. Doctor Mo's medical skills really were beyond reproach!

Han Li found a piece of clean cloth and wrapped his injured toe into a large bundle before putting his sock and shoe back on.

Mm! Not bad. The pain has eased a lot.

He slowly took a few steps back and forth, fairly satisfied with how quickly he had treated the injury.

Now it was time to deal with that mysterious bottle, the culprit behind his serious injury.

Han Li took the bottle from his robes, found a rag, and wiped it clean. Only then did its full appearance come into view.

The bottle wasn't large; he could enclose it completely in one hand, and it was a little smaller than his medicine bottle. Its entire body was a pale green, with several dark-green patterns on its surface. The patterns were shaped like leaves, so lifelike and raised to the touch that they seemed to be real leaves embedded directly into the bottle.

He hefted it in his hand. It was heavy, yet it clearly wasn't made of any metal Han Li knew, nor was it any kind of porcelain he recognized. It lacked the chill of ordinary metal to the touch, as well as the smooth surface texture of common porcelain.

Han Li examined it closely for quite a while before concluding that the bottle was made of some material unknown to him. The pale green also appeared to be its natural color, a color belonging to the material itself rather than something applied afterward.

When he saw the tightly sealed cap, Han Li decided to satisfy his curiosity. He would open the bottle at once and see whether there was anything inside.

Once again, he put his hand on the cap and twisted with all his might.

Once, twice, three times... The cap and bottle might as well have been cast in one piece. Neither budged, and the cap showed no sign of opening.

Han Li was startled. He hadn't been able to twist it open when he first picked it up, either. But he had been worried about his injury then, with no time to use much strength, so he hadn't taken it to heart. He had thought that opening it would be as easy as lifting a hand once he put all his strength into it. To his surprise, he still couldn't do it.

Han Li twisted it another dozen or so times in succession, until his arms ached, but he still showed no sign of succeeding, so he stopped.

He shook out his arms and flexed his wrists. He had strained them a little by using too much force.

He held the bottle right beneath his eyes and examined it carefully once more. Unfortunately, he found no hidden mechanism on it.

Now Han Li was at a loss. If he couldn't open the cap, how could he know whether there was anything inside? If there was, then with the bottle so unusual and sealed so tightly, its contents were bound to be something extremely precious.

Han Li gripped the bottle tightly and stared at it in a daze for a while. At last, he decided to let Zhang Tie, who was much stronger than him, try to twist it open. After all, Zhang Tie could now carry a bucket of water weighing several dozen jin in each hand and still race up and down the mountain. He was the one who filled the valley's large water vats on time every day.

Having made up his mind, Han Li went to Zhang Tie's room to wait for him, hoping he would return quickly.

Waiting for someone was miserable. Time seemed to crawl for Han Li, and only after a long while did he hear the creak of Zhang Tie pushing the door open and entering.

Han Li looked up and saw Zhang Tie walking in, dressed in a thin green cloth shirt, faint wisps of steam rising from his body and sweat covering his head. Han Li knew this was normal after he had just finished practicing, so he wasn't surprised.

Zhang Tie was startled to see Han Li in his room. Before he could speak, Han Li, who had grown impatient from waiting, immediately held the bottle out in front of him.

"Brother Zhang, do me a favor. Could you help me open this bottle?"

"Where did you find this? It's quite pretty!" Zhang Tie was taken aback for a moment, then took the bottle.

"Creak! Creak! Creak!"

"Huh! This thing's really sturdy. It's so hard to twist open! What on earth is it made of?" Zhang Tie didn't waste words. As soon as he took it, he put both hands to work, but he still couldn't open the cap.

"No good. I can't twist it open. How about asking one of the other senior brothers to try?" Zhang Tie shook his head apologetically at Han Li, tossed the bottle back to him, and offered another suggestion.

"You can't do it either?" Han Li grew a little anxious and couldn't help pacing around the room.

"Hey! What happened to your foot?" Only then did Zhang Tie notice that Han Li's walk wasn't quite right.

"It's nothing. I just kicked a stone while I was walking." Han Li didn't know why, but he didn't want to tell him the truth about the bottle. Perhaps he had simply, without thinking, made the matter of the bottle his own little secret.

Han Li was very disappointed and had no heart for chatting with Zhang Tie. After asking a few questions about his progress in cultivation, he left his room, intending to return and find a way to solve the problem of the bottle himself.

Back in his little room, Han Li stood the bottle on the table and slumped over one side of it, staring fixedly at the bottle while his mind raced, trying to come up with a good way to solve the problem.