Chapter 16: Sudden…

With a goal, my heart is at peace, and with a peaceful heart, life in this small village is still pleasant. Mr. Zheng gave the young man who took care of me a sum of money, so I never lacked fresh meat and vegetables every day. The vegetables and meat raised and grown by the villagers in this village are many times tastier than those in the city.

I worked hard every day to eat and drink, always remembering my master’s theory that nutrition comes from eating, especially for cultivators, who need a lot of food! And when you’re growing up or recovering from an injury, you need food even more. I remember that when I was a teenager, I ate four lunch boxes at school, and I could eat to the point of satiety.

With this diet and daily herbal medicine, I recovered very quickly. After ten days, I could already move normally, no different from an ordinary person.

After about 20 days, I was able to practice the Wu Qin Xi (Five Animal Play) in the courtyard, which I had not practiced for a long time, to quickly restore my physical strength.

My wounds also healed quite quickly, but inevitably left behind a scab that I could not get rid of.

In addition, as soon as I could stand up, I started to do my homework as much as possible. I had spent a lot of time running around in those days, and on those days I was destined not to do my homework. Doing my homework regularly every day has allowed me to regain a little of the feeling I had before.

Actually, I dare not relax. After learning about my situation, I understood the danger I was in.

Twenty-six days of such a regular and leisurely convalescence passed in the blink of an eye, and there were still four days left before the one-month deadline.

At noon on this day, the overcast sky finally began to drizzle. I had planned to finish a set of tai chi in the courtyard before eating, but I had to interrupt the plan.

I am currently recovering from an injury, but I can’t catch a cold. After this incident, I began to pay more attention to my health, because I had injured my vital energy, and during the recovery period, I couldn’t catch any minor illnesses, as that would further injure my vital energy.

“Brother Cheng, should I take a bath first or eat first?” The young man who took care of me asked me when he saw me enter the room. For nearly a month, he took good care of me, and his cooking skills were also good. I am grateful to him from the bottom of my heart.

“Take a bath first?” I said casually, and the young man responded with a “yes” and went to prepare the hot water for me.

Running in the wooden tub, my whole body was relaxed. In the steamy heat, I was a little dazed. Is it possible to find such a large wooden tub for bathing in the countryside nowadays? Every time I soak in it, I can’t help but miss the old days.

Nowadays, there is no fragrant hot water, and the master is also nowhere to be found. But the big wooden tubs for bathing are still available. Is that not a consolation?

“Cheng Yiduo, hurry up, the food is almost ready,” the boy’s voice came from the kitchen. I casually replied and was about to get up, but for some reason, a faint sense of crisis suddenly arose in my heart.

This feeling suddenly made me frown. After 26 days in the countryside, except for the beginning, my mood has always been peaceful and calm, so this sudden sense of crisis is so obvious that it is not at all an illusion.

My long experience has made me particularly confident in my intuition about crises. At least, it has never been wrong about this. As I wiped myself off, I thought to myself, where could this crisis come from?

I was told by the female doctor that I would be safe here for a month. Now, 26 days have passed. Could it be…

While I was thinking, I got dressed and sat down at the table.

“Xiao Xiang, after lunch today, you’ll be going back to Hucun, right?” I said to the young man who was taking care of me, Xiao Xiang, while I was eating my food. This was the result of my careful consideration.

Now I don’t feel a strong sense of crisis. Maybe it’s because the distance is far, or maybe it’s because the time hasn’t come yet, but in any case, this is enough for me to decide to leave. Before that, the first thing is to let Xiaoxiang leave, because I can’t implicate the innocent.

“Ah? Brother Chengyi, haven’t I taken good care of you? It hasn’t even been a month yet. If I go back like this, Master Zheng will break my legs.” Xiaoxiang’s face showed a hint of innocent worry. After saying this, he added carefully, “Brother Chengyi, besides, you haven’t fully recovered yet. I can still help you out a little.”

This child was an orphan adopted by Master Zheng, and he loved him the most. He was also the most afraid of him, and his character was also down-to-earth, honest, and extremely reliable. If it weren’t for that, Master Zheng wouldn’t have asked him to take care of me.

He took care of me for nearly a month, and suddenly we had to part. I was quite reluctant to let him go. The boy’s biggest wish was to become a powerful Taoist. I would also give him some guidance in Taoism. Now…

Thinking about this, I said to Xiaoxiang, “It’s not that you didn’t take good care of me, but that you took care of me like a big uncle. It’s just that now that my body has recovered, there are many things I need to do, so I have to leave. But I’m leaving in a more subtle way, so it’s inconvenient to take you with me. That’s why I’m letting you go first. I’ll write a letter later and have you take it to Zheng. He’ll understand.”

“Mm.” Xiaoxiang was a quiet person, and when I had reached this point in my speech, he stopped arguing.

The meal was quickly finished, and Xiaoxiang cleaned up the dishes, while I quickly wrote a letter and then packed some medicinal herbs and two magic weapons in a small package.

When it was time to leave, I handed the letter and the small package to Xiaoxiang and said to him, “This small package is for you. It contains some medicinal herbs that will help you to improve your health and benefit your cultivation. There are also two magic weapons. Although I cannot give you the magic weapons that have been passed down in my family, these two have also been nurtured by my master. I hope you will use them well in the future.”

“Brother Chengyi…” Xiao Xiang suddenly felt a little embarrassed and did not reach out to take what I had prepared.

“Take it. Taoism emphasizes cause and effect. You took care of me because of the cause, and I gave you these things because of the effect. Isn’t that a good cause and effect, and a good relationship? Don’t you want it?” I said seriously.

After hearing this, Xiaoxiang finally took the package, put the letter away, and said goodbye to me with some reluctance…

It was already afternoon, and the drizzle was getting more and more desolate. Looking at the back of Xiaoxiang as he left, the feeling of loneliness in my heart became stronger and stronger. I thought about it, and Xiaoxiang’s figure had already disappeared at the entrance of the village.

Xiao Xiang left, and the empty house seemed even more empty. I didn’t have time to feel sad about anything, but instead bowed my head and quickly began to pack up my things. Because with Xiao Xiang’s departure, the feeling of crisis in my heart not only did not fade away, but instead became even stronger, reminding me that danger was approaching.

But even so, I can’t leave now! Because almost no one in the village knows I exist, if I leave in broad daylight, it will undoubtedly announce my existence.

I had lived in the village for a month, but almost no one in the village knew of my existence. If anyone had heard about it, they would have thought I was bragging, but in fact, it was true. The reason was that the department rented this small courtyard for me in the most remote part of the village, near the entrance to the village, which people did not often enter.

The wall of the courtyard is about 1.5 meters high, so even if someone passes by, they can’t see anyone in the courtyard.

More importantly, the small items in the village are all handled by the department, and I have never left the house. As for Mr. Zheng, he has only come here a few times, and he is very careful to make sure that he has not seen anything before turning in from the village entrance.

The only loophole is that a few medical staff have been here before, but according to the way the department operates, they should have been given an identity or something, and the department must have done something to match that identity.

This is just my judgment. In this environment, I am used to thinking about whether there are any loopholes in a matter. Chen Chengyi is a person who does not exist in the world. I have to make sure that the villagers cannot tell anything from their mouths in order to make myself safer.

I decided to leave at night. I quickly packed my luggage, took the dry food that Xiaoxiang had prepared for me, and put the map of the area that Zheng had given me into my breast pocket.

I suddenly felt that I had nothing to do. Feeling the sense of crisis in my heart, and thinking about the long journey ahead, I decided to sleep for a while. After all, sleeping is the best way to maintain physical strength.

With this in mind, I lay down in bed with my clothes on, tossing and turning for a long time before finally falling asleep, but only sleeping lightly.

When I woke up, I was awakened by the strong sense of crisis in my heart. I glanced outside and saw that it was already dark. After all, it had been almost a month, and it was already late autumn. It was dark early, and the sound of dogs barking could be heard far away in the village.

What made me feel so dangerous? I rolled over and got up, subconsciously smoothing out the traces of the person who had lain on the bed. I didn’t cover myself with a quilt, so I wasn’t worried about the quilt being warm.

Should I leave now? I had been planning to make a decision soon, but suddenly I hesitated.