Chapter 22: Qigong Deviation
Looking at of Li Feiyu’s back, which was gradually disappearing as he walked away, Han Li quietly stood where he was, lost in contemplation.
After they had agreed to meet at noon the next day, Senior Disciple Li took the initiative to bid Han Li goodbye, saying that he had to meditate to fully heal his injuries.
After they had spoken for a long time, Han Li did not ask Li Feiyu why he had consumed the pill. Han Li knew that even if he had asked, it would be useless because things that already happened could not be changed.
From his observations, Li Feiyu was willing to forsake his future, just for a short 10 years of fame and glory. This probably meant that he had some underlying reason, which left him with no choice but to do so. No one would willingly commit suicide, so if Han Li really did question Li Feiyu, it would be like rubbing salt on his wounds.
Obviously, what Han Li did was correct. Before Li Feiyu left, when he saw that Han Li did not question him about the reason why he was taking the Essence Extracting Pill, he was grateful for Han Li being considerate. Han Li knew that although Li Feiyu did not mention anything, he assumed that he owed Han Li a favor.
Han Li was prepared to fulfill his promise to Senior Disciple Li, so not only would he not spread the secret, he would also concoct the pain-relieving medicine for Senior Disciple Li.
The reason for him doing so was simple. Since Senior Disciple Li was not a vile person, nor did he really want to kill Han Li, Han Li thought that he might as well use this opportunity to increase the amount of favors that Senior Disciple Li owed him. So, in the future, Senior Disciple Li would find it hard to turn down his requests.
In the next few years, Li Feiyu’s martial skills would only exponentially increased as the Essence Extraction Pill burnt his life force, so he would be of immeasurable help to Han Li in the future. Even if Han Li did not need this favor, it did not matter much. Being able to help a character like Senior Disciple Li also caused Han Li to feel happy in his heart. Although Senior Disciple Li may not be a good person, Han Li knew that after the events that transpired today, Li Feiyu wouldn’t jeopardize him.
Han Li ran the whole sequence of events that happened today through his mind again. It was only when he was certain that everything had been accounted for that he returned to God Hand Valley.
After he strolled back to the God Hand Valley in a relaxed manner, Han Li began preparations to concoct the pain-relieving medicine for Senior Disciple Li. It was relatively simple for Han Li to concoct this medicine, as he could find all the ingredients he needed in the nearby medicinal herb garden. The only thing that was slightly complex was the concocting process. One must give it their full attention; if not, the chance of failure would be high.
After a busy afternoon, Han Li concocted a year’s supply of the pain-relieving medicine Senior Disciple Li needed. He did not produce more intentionally as he wanted Senior Disciple Li to seek him out after all of the medicine was consumed so that he could increase his importance in Senior Disciple Li’s eyes. This way, Senior Disciple Li would not be able to easily forget his favor.
In the middle of the night, Han Li was suddenly struck by a sense of loneliness as he raised his head to gaze at the stars in the pitch black sky and begin reminiscing.
He was thinking of his family back in his village!
He had left the village 4 years ago, and ever since he arrived at the mountain, he had been assiduously cultivating the nameless oracular formula every day and had no time to visit his family. The only thing he did to lessen his heartache was to send taels of silver back every month, hoping that his family was living a better life. He deeply treasured the letters that his parents wrote, even though there wasn’t much written in the letters other than telling him that everything was good in his family, his Second Brother had married, and things were getting better because of the silver he sent back. Reading these letters made Han Li feel much better. However, over the years, Han Li felt that the tone of the letters was gradually becoming more and more polite, as if they were writing to a stranger! Initially, this caused fear to blossom in his heart, as he did not know what to do in this situation. However, as time passed, this feeling of fear gradually numbed as the image of his family in his mind gradually became blurred.
He reminisced about matters of the past, thinking back to that warm feeling of the time when he was still back in the village, when melancholy suddenly hit him. That warm feeling was very valuable to him as he knew that he would never be able to savour it again.
Han Li placed his hand on his chest, using his fingers to grip the good luck charm that was in the leather pouch hanging around his neck.
Whenever he was frustrated, he would only need to hold the good luck charm to calm himself down… But tonight, after holding it, his heart only got more and more flustered, and he was unable to calm down.
He was unable to control his emotions because there was depression in his heart, which in turn caused bizarre bodily reactions from Han Li. His blood started to surge as the Qi in his body ran rampant.
“Qigong Deviation!” These two words appeared in his mind. Han Li stood up, and drew in a huge breath, forcibly suppressing his chaotic state as he told himself to calm down. Now that Doctor Mo was away, he could only depend on himself to solve this crisis.
He did not know why he was suffering from Qigong Deviation, and his mind continued to ponder. Even though now was not the best time to question the reason, he still tried finding the root cause and cut the problem at its root as it was the best way to recover from Qigong Deviation.
Han Li rotated his head as he surveyed his surroundings, but nothing seemed suspicious.
He touched his chin with his right hand and at the same time, his hand also knocked against something on his chest.
“Leather pouch, Good Luck Charm”, the names of these 2 items appeared in his mind.
“Could it be the good luck charm that caused the reaction?” Han Li was not sure, but he had no time to hesitate now as the condition of his body was getting worse and there were signs that he would soon be unable to control the surging Qi.
Han Li tore the leather pouch off his neck decisively and flung it away from him.
“No, something is wrong, I feel even worse. The surge in my Qi and blood is getting more violent.”
Han Li forcefully suppressed the surging Qi as he stared at the leather pouch with his bloodshot eyes, hoping to find the reason why he had suffered more after he flung the pouch away.