Chapter 11: Critical Situation

Jiang used his strength to kick me into the lake in a very strange way. I didn’t feel any pain, but I had already fallen into the lake.

The blood that had come out of my body had already dyed the surrounding lake red, and I was falling rapidly… I knew very well that I was not dead yet, but the situation could not get any worse, and I was not far from death.

Jiang Yi’s strength had dissipated, and the buoyancy of the water finally came into play. With no strength to struggle or move, I was slowly lifted up and floated on the lake surface, drifting away with the waves of the lake…

I was extremely short of oxygen and my body was in severe pain, but all of this became blurred as my brain’s self-protection kicked in.

I felt the roar of Shatu, and my last thought was Shatu, don’t move, you’ll die… Then my consciousness became blurred, and I fell into a deep darkness. At that time, I couldn’t tell whether I was in a coma or already in a state of death.

At that time, I vaguely remembered that I had a long dream. In the dream, there was a fog, and I kept walking. I kept thinking, “I have seen so many ghosts, where would I be afraid of death? It’s just that if there is reincarnation, I will be very sad if I forget everything in this life.

I couldn’t see the end of the fog, and this thought kept accompanying me, making me so sad that I couldn’t help but cry. I didn’t want to forget Ruoxue, I didn’t want to forget my relatives and friends, and I definitely didn’t want to forget my master…

As I thought about it, I really started to cry, and then suddenly opened my eyes.

In the blur, I saw that the moon was still in the sky. Then I saw the face of Zheng Daxia. The severe pain in my body came again, stimulating my thinking. I had only one thought: Could it be that I was still alive?

Then I felt a bitter taste in my mouth, and I knew it was the taste of wild ginseng. When I was a child, my master was still able to get precious medicinal herbs, and I had eaten wild ginseng before, so I knew its taste…

And this kind of use has only one purpose, that is, to save your life!

“Don’t move, don’t move, but don’t sleep, don’t sleep.” In the blur, I heard the voice of Mr. Zheng in my ear, calling me urgently.

My thoughts were in a mess, I wanted to say something to Zheng, but I didn’t have the strength. I could only listen to Zheng and try to keep my eyes open. If there was a chance to live, who would want to die?

But my body temperature was rapidly disappearing, and yet another kind of wonderful warmth surrounded me. There was also a thought that kept tempting me: if I fell asleep, would the pain stop?

“Chengyi, you can’t sleep. Think about the people or things in this world that you are most attached to, think about your regrets. You must not sleep. If you do, it will be over.” Zheng’s voice was somewhat anxious.

I felt that he had already taken off my wet clothes and pants, and was now wiping my wounds, then sprinkling some powder on them and bandaging me… I tried to think of my master, of everything I had left behind in this world, and tried to stay conscious, letting Zheng handle everything.

I felt that I was standing on the long reef where I had fought, but I didn’t know what had happened to Jiang Yi, and I didn’t have the strength to turn around and look… I should have hated him, but strangely, I couldn’t.

It’s just because my mind is still relatively clear due to the strength of my soul. I wonder if Jiang Yi really wanted to kill me, he could have just shot me in the head, or shot me in the back. At such a close distance, he wouldn’t have had to worry about missing me. Why did he bother to talk to me?

Why didn’t he kill me with a few shots? Why did Zheng come here?

All of this made me hate Jiang Yi even less. Instead, I thought of him and began to analyze him. My vague will gradually became clearer, and the pain became clearer.

“Fortunately, a strong soul means a strong will, and it won’t leave the body because of physical weakness. Even immortals can’t save you.” Zheng said while he was busy, and his eyes gradually became clearer. He couldn’t help but be happy and said with emotion, “You have a good physical foundation. When you were young, how much did Jiang Lichun love you? How much did he invest in you? You can still hold up with such a serious injury? But he really was ruthless. This blow may have injured your body’s vital energy. Your master’s foundation may be gone, and you can only slowly replenish and practice it yourself. But nowadays, it’s not easy to replenish your body.”

“You have a good physical foundation. How much did Jiang Lichun love you when you were a child? How much did he invest in you? How could you have sustained such a serious injury? But he really went too far. I’m afraid he damaged your body’s vital energy. Now, your master’s foundation for you is probably gone. You can only slowly replenish and practice it yourself. But in this world, it’s not easy to replenish your body.” Master Zheng seemed to be a bit verbose, but I knew he was just trying to help me. Seeing that I was gradually coming to my senses, he tried to talk to me more and keep me in this state.

I tried to smile weakly in response to Mr. Zheng, but I found that this simple thing was now so difficult for me to do that I had to give up.

But Zheng’s words just now made me feel uneasy. Is my physical condition good? Actually, it can only be described as average. The experience I had as a child almost made me unable to survive, and it was my master who saved me and allowed me to grow up healthy.

After arriving at the Bamboo Grove, my master said, “Don’t look at my big size, but the experiences I had as a child drained my body of its energy.

My thoughts drifted, and I remembered the bamboo hut at that time… Every night, the pot of herbal medicine was making a “gong-gong” sound, and every night I soaked in the fragrant soup, while the master next to me smoked a pipe…

Time cannot be turned back, but my heart is very warm. It was these nights and nights that gave me a good physical foundation to deal with the situation today, right? The master probably didn’t think that the things I did over the years to make my practice go smoothly would become the biggest reason for my survival.

There is no concept of time in the memories. I didn’t hear what Zheng was saying clearly, and I didn’t know how long it had been. After a while, I heard the sound of a boat approaching, and I came back to reality. I looked up and saw a boat approaching us quickly.

“Don’t worry, it’s one of our own,” Mr. Zheng reassured me.

In fact, I could recognize it without him saying so. It was one of the two boats unique to Hucun. Since Zheng was here, the boat that appeared here should naturally be one of our own.

The boat soon docked, stopping at the same place where the ferryman had docked that day. Two people jumped off the boat, quickly tied it up, and then ran over to us. I knew both of them. One was Ji Feng, and the other was the person who had come with us into the lake that day.

“Oh my God, how did Chengyi get into this state?” Ji Feng arrived first and exclaimed when he saw my appearance. I saw genuine worry and sadness in his eyes. This person is really good.

The other person was the same. Faced with their attitude, Mr. Zheng shouted, “Don’t ask anything. Carry him on board. Hurry up. Although I stopped the bleeding with a simple method, he won’t last long.”

Ji Feng and the others dared not be rude, quickly lifted me up and carefully carried me onto the boat.

Although they were extremely careful during the process, I almost fainted from the pain. When we got to the boat, they covered me with their clothes to keep me warm, and Ji Feng even lowered the boat’s awning.

“Chengyi, I know you have a lot of questions right now, but just hang in there until we reach shore,” Zheng said to me, while Ji Feng was rowing hard.

I agreed with him with my eyes. In my current condition, even if I were told everything, I wouldn’t be able to think about it in detail. Although my thinking was clear, my spirit gradually began to give out.

Mr. Zheng tried his best to talk to me. He talked about funny things, magical things, and scary things. In short, he talked about everything that could stimulate emotions. Ji Feng and the other man kept rowing back and forth to maintain the fastest speed.

I am very grateful to these kind people in Hucun, but I cannot express my gratitude at this moment.

As time passed, the situation got worse and worse. I gradually lost my ability to respond to Zheng’s words, and my senses of the outside world became increasingly dull. I knew that I was still awake, but my thoughts began to become confused, and I even felt like I was floating away several times.

I heard Zheng saying to Ji Feng with a sad voice, “If it really doesn’t work, we’ll use the secret method to forcibly lock the soul. It’ll buy us some time.”

Ji Feng almost shouted, “If the body is not working, the soul cannot be locked for long!”

“If we can save him, it will buy us some time.” Zheng’s voice was getting lower and lower.

“Tell Chengyi to hold on, he must hold on, we’re almost there, we can see the shore.” Ji Feng was almost roaring.

Hold on? Although I was no longer able to think about what they were saying, I understood that they were saying “hold on…hold on!”