Chapter 10: The tragic Guo Er

I was awakened by a nightmare. In the dream, I was chased by a big, fat bug. I couldn’t shake it off no matter how hard I ran. As a result, I was entangled by the big bug. Not only that, but its mouth was like a chrysanthemum (cough, the chrysanthemum here is a chrysanthemum). After it entangled me, the chrysanthemum mouth opened and bit me.

My cold sweat kept flowing, and the next moment I struggled and woke up. As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw two “thief” faces in front of me before I could wipe the cold sweat.

“Your nephew is awake.” Needless to say, one of them was Huijue.

“What nephew? This is my apprentice. Don’t recognize relatives.” Well, the other one is old man Jiang.

I had a headache, and these two old men wouldn’t let me rest. I wiped the cold sweat off my face, pushed away the two “thief” faces, and sat up. I realized that I was lying on a strange bed. I looked out the window and realized that I was still at Guo Er’s house.

“Master, how long have I been out?” I said weakly.

“Don’t pretend, you’ve only been out for half an hour. You’re just exhausted. You’re pretending to be like this because you don’t want to do your homework today, right?” Old man Jiang gave me a sideways glance, and the next moment he took out a small porcelain bottle from his precious yellow cloth bag, poured out a black pill, and stuffed it into my mouth.

A bitter and cool taste spread in my mouth. I remembered the taste of this pill because I had eaten it once, when I met the snake spirit.

“Hmph, you’re wasting my treasure.” The old man snorted, but there was no trace of reluctance in his expression.

“Look, your master is so stingy. Come be my disciple.” The old monk Huijue was always like this, “poking the needle in the crack” and “pouring oil on the fire.”

“Old bald monk Huijue, believe it or not, I’ll hammer you.” Old man Jiang’s neck stiffened, and he was obviously very angry.

“Come on, let’s fight, let’s fight.” The old monk Hui Jue was not willing to be outdone, and when he got excited, he spoke in Beijing dialect.

I was too lazy to deal with their nonsense, so I closed my eyes and rested. If it weren’t for Master Hui’s timely diversion of the “war,” I’m afraid Old Master Jiang wouldn’t have let me play the weakling. I really can’t say enough about the amazing effects of these pills. The liquid medicine dissolves a little bit outside the mouth and is swallowed with saliva. I immediately felt a coolness in my brain, and I felt much better in an instant.

The room was filled with the noise of the two old men, and a few people came in after a short while.

I looked up and saw that Su Rou had arrived, along with Guo Er’s parents and his wife.

As soon as Su Rou entered, he picked up the tiger claw and handed it to the old man Jiang, saying, “Master Jiang, you told me to wash it with the medicinal water. Look, is it clean?”

The old man took a look and nodded with satisfaction. He touched Su Rou’s head and said, “You are still smart, my apprentice is just a fool, still trying to be a hero.”

Then he used a red string to tie the tiger claw back on my neck.

I touched the tiger claw that I had worn for more than ten years, and my heart felt at ease. I asked casually, “Master, what is it that needs to be washed with medicinal water?”

“Speaking of this, I get angry. You ruined the tiger claw like this? What is that worm? You don’t know? You’re good, take it to the fork worm, this is not tainted with evil? You used this tiger claw, and you raised it for two years for nothing.” The old man Jiang became more and more angry, and couldn’t help but give me another slap.

I felt aggrieved, thinking to myself, “You didn’t tell me how to use it, so how can I use it? Can I just chew it a little and then swallow it to turn into a tiger? Touching the tiger’s claw, I said, “It’s fine to have been raised for two years, but I’ve worn it for more than ten years, and I’ll have to wear it for a long time to come.”

This made the old man angry and he wanted to hit me again. At this moment, Guo Erma coughed and the old man stopped.

I also looked at them curiously and found that the faces of these family members of Guo Er were all sad and miserable. Old man Jiang sighed and said, “Huizhuo, let’s go up and help him again. When it comes to medical skills, you are better than me.”

“That’s good.” The old monk Huijue looked like a compassionate man. I don’t know why, but when I saw him, I felt like smacking him. But I definitely wouldn’t dare to, and I couldn’t either. It’s mainly because I feel that this thing is not something I can control.

As they left, the crispy meat ran up to me and said, “Sanwa, you scared me to death.”

“Isn’t everything fine now? You’re still a good kid, you got here faster than I thought.” To be honest, it was really hard waiting in the back smoking. If it had been any later, I would have passed out. What if that bug…

“What? I’m fine. You know that place you live in is so remote. It took me two whole hours to get there, and I had to bring a dog with me. The dog could walk for a while, then couldn’t, and I had to carry it.

“So how did you get here? How is the dog?”

“The dog is fine. Your master gave it some herbs. He said the dog has a strong recovery ability and will be fine in a couple of days. As for how I got here, it was amazing. Your master carried me down the mountain all the way. When we got down the mountain, Master Hui (Master Hui asked for it, and Su Rou had to call him Master Hui) pulled me along. I couldn’t hold on anymore, so the two of them took turns carrying me. Then your master didn’t want to carry me anymore because I was a burden. That’s not good! I was so worried about you that I followed you all the way here.” Su Rou chattered on and on.

I glanced at the figure of Su Rou and couldn’t help but swallow a mouthful of saliva. My master and the others are really ‘old but vigorous’.

“What’s going on outside now? It’s that bug and Guo Er.” I was unconscious for half an hour and didn’t know how those things were handled.

“Your master used a talisman to kill the bug, then put it in a wooden box and said he would take it to the mountains to dispose of it. As for Guo Er, he’s probably dead. He was vomiting blood. Master Hui said his internal organs were rotten, so he prescribed a blood-stopping formula and sent him to the hospital.”

“Then why didn’t you take him to the hospital right away? Why did you let my master see him?” I can’t say that I have a good impression of Guo Er, but I can’t say that I dislike him either. I can’t just stand by and watch someone die.

“It’s because your master said that some of the essence was sucked out, and it’s useless to send him to the hospital. He’s probably going to be weak in the future.” After saying this, Su Rou looked at me with a rather unpleasant expression on his face: “Sanwa, is that bug a hungry ghost? Is it that powerful? Does it suck people’s essence?”

“I don’t know anything about hungry ghosts. Let’s go up and take a look.” At this point, I had already swallowed all the pills and my spirits had completely recovered. I was even more awake than before I fell into a coma. I said, and I got up from the bed.

When I got up, I realized that I had a sore back and aching waist. My spirit had recovered, but my body had not.

“Sanwa, can you do it?” Su Rou looked at me worriedly.

“Get lost, I don’t have any missing limbs, so why not?”

In the meantime, the two of us went upstairs, found Guo Er’s room, and found that my master and the others were indeed there, and Guo Er’s family was also there.

The room was originally not big, but with so many people in it, it seemed extra crowded. I squeezed in with Su Rou, and was immediately seen by Guo’s mother. Guo’s father coughed and told Guo Dongliang to take his sister out first.

As soon as Guo Dongliang left, Guo Dad and Guo Mom both wanted to kneel down to me, but were stopped by Huijue and the old man Jiang.

“Masters, please let us kneel down. My son is not a good student and has caused trouble with the wrong people. It was this young master who saved him,” said Guo’s mother, very emotionally.

Jiang Laoren and Huijue kept saying this, and forcibly pulled them up. Jiang Laoren said, “He should have helped. This is what he has learned in his life. If you kneel to him, you will be ruining his fortune.”

After the old man said this, the two elderly Guo family members finally stopped. I glanced at Guo Er and said, “Tsk, tsk…

His face was a strange grayish black color. It had only been a short time, but his cheeks were sunken in, and there was blood on the corners of his mouth. He looked extremely weak.

“My son…” Guo Ma asked worriedly.

“It’s hard to say now, but if you stay in your son’s stomach for a few more days, even immortals can’t save him. His internal organs will be completely eaten away. I’ve looked at him, and now he has problems with his stomach and intestines. Take him to the hospital, a big hospital, no matter how much it costs. I can’t guarantee whether he will be cured or not.

“What about the essence and blood of my son? Can it be replenished?” asked Mr. Guo anxiously.