Chapter 772: These three are incredibly lucky! [Seeking monthly votes]

"Huh, there's actually a trace of a heartbeat still intact?" The middle-aged man was surprised. He raised his hand to brush away the dry hair that was stuck to his face, revealing a face covered in blood and grime, with grayish lips. At first glance, he looked like a corpse. "What a lucky life!"

The middle-aged man looked at the pile of corpses.

Several days have passed since the body fell to the ground.

Regardless of the severity of his injuries, the fact that he could maintain a faint pulse after lying among the corpses for so long clearly indicated he was a scholar with a refined and cultured heart. The middle-aged man examined his meridians and confirmed this. However, he didn't do anything further. Instead, he looked up at the old man and the young man before him and asked, "Should we save him? Or just throw him back and pretend we never saw him?"

As the old saying goes, don't rush to help people of unknown origin.

The old man pondered for a moment, calculated with his fingers, and said, "They came because of Shao Bai, which can be considered a kind of fate. If we can save them, we will; if we cannot, it is their destiny."

So weak that only a wisp of a heart pulse remains, this kind of injury is naturally beyond the help of a middle-aged man or an elderly person; it depends on Shao Bai.

Shao Bai raised his hand and conjured a wooden staff with small red flowers growing on it, transforming his tight-fitting clothes into a magnificent sacrificial robe with exquisite patterns.

His robes fluttered without wind, and his palms formed a seal, causing his wooden staff to levitate in mid-air. Mysterious patterns and the Big Dipper bloomed beneath his feet. The young man's eyes were closed in devout prayer, and he murmured a chant. The middle-aged man looked up and saw a gigantic female phantom behind him.

The phantom figure holds a palm up with its left hand and makes a hand seal with its right.

Her face seemed to be shrouded in a thin veil, making it impossible to see the specific details.

According to the old man, this is the evil god they worship.

Just then, Shao Bai's wooden staff fell to the ground.

Countless green leaves sprouted, transforming into vines that entwined and enveloped the "corpse" on the ground. As the green leaves entered the person's body, the previously withered and empty meridians, as if parched land receiving sweet rain, slowly regained their vitality. The weak heart meridian was infused with a powerful life force.

Bang, bang, bang, bang...

The heartbeat gradually became clearer from barely perceptible. The middle-aged man took the man's pulse, and after a while, he could feel a faint throbbing in his fingertips. He clicked his tongue and said, "This is truly a life-saving experience. Sigh, why didn't I receive this treatment when I was rescued?"

To pull a person who was destined to die back from the clutches of death—such skill was beyond the reach of even the most learned scholars and the most skilled physicians in the world. Once the man's pulse had stabilized, Shao Bai tucked his wooden cane into his waistband and walked away.

He said excitedly, "Teacher, I'll go and flip through it again."

Maybe we can even rescue a few survivors.

Despite not being particularly bright, and despite having teachers and Uncle Lin for company, Shao Bai sometimes felt lonely. Seeing a few new faces would alleviate his boredom. With a few leaps, he returned to the spot where the lucky one had been found.

They didn't mind getting dirty and started digging carefully.

As his cultivation deepened, his perception of life force became increasingly acute. For example, with that lucky person just now, neither Uncle Lin nor his teacher could detect the existence of that wisp of heart meridian unless they focused their attention and carefully sensed it. But he could detect it without even touching it, as long as they weren't too far away, as if it were something he was born with.

The middle-aged man, known as Uncle Lin, plopped back down in his seat. Looking at the lucky man's weak chest rise and fall, he said, "Although his heart meridian has miraculously recovered, he's covered in internal and external injuries. Whether he can open his eyes and wake up is still unknown..."

There are many external injuries, but even more internal injuries.

The situation is far worse than it was back then.

The old man said, "Such is fate."

Uncle Lin: "..."

No wonder he's an old charlatan, a firm believer in fortune telling.

After a while, Shao Bai returned carrying the two men on his left and right shoulders, excitedly saying, "Teacher, Uncle Lin, I know these two people!"

The old man and Uncle Lin were surprised to hear this: "You know him?"

Shao Bai put the two down, pointed to the person on the left, and complained, "It was him! He tried to steal my flowers!"

Pointing to the person lying on the right, she said happily, "This person also said they would buy me lots and lots of candy, and I remember it all!"

The teacher always withheld his candy.

His front teeth have already grown in.

"Teacher, is he here to give me candy?" Shao Bai patted him down, trying to find the hidden candy packet.

"Shaobai, when did this happen?"

The two old men couldn't help but look solemn.

They pressed Shao Bai for details about what had happened.

Because he remembered the candy Chao Lian had promised, Shao Bai recounted the events of more than half a year ago in great detail.

Uncle Lin gasped, his eyes widening in shock: "So, you mean—this group of people was transported here from the Northwest? The two places are more than a thousand miles apart!"

And by sheer coincidence, it hit them?

He knew that fierce fighting was taking place in the Northwest, with various forces embroiled in a chaotic struggle, but to create such a massive spatial distortion, transporting people thousands of miles away—what terrifying incantations must that require? What an astonishing spectacle? Uncle Lin began to feel disoriented. Was he certain that the forces in the Northwest were actually fighting and not tearing apart the land beneath their feet?

The old man pondered for a moment, then remembered something like that. Shao Bai had asked him how to kill insects; could it be this person in front of him? He reached out and flipped the "corpse" on Shao Bai's left side over, pulling down the man's collar to reveal his charred back.

Uncle Lin looked closely and said with sympathy, "Was this man struck by lightning? Not a single piece of flesh on his back is intact..."

It not only smelled of blood and decay, but also had a strong burnt smell.

Fortunately, the blood was burned, and the bleeding stopped. Otherwise, with such a large wound on the back, the blood would have flowed out until the person was dried up.

The old man and his apprentice had different focuses than Uncle Lin.

Shao Bai said regretfully, "Teacher, that's all."

The seal he left behind is gone.

Looking at the remaining damaged totem on the shoulder blade, the old man released his grip, vaguely understanding why these people had landed so precisely. It was most likely because this person carried Shao Bai's seal, and Shao Bai happened to be performing a ritual to guide the soul, resulting in an accidental resonance.

Since his life was not meant to end—

"Shaobai, stabilize the injuries, don't let anyone die."

Shao Bai nodded obediently: "Okay, teacher."

Seeing that Shao Bai had not yet exhausted himself after two consecutive prayers, the old man was satisfied, but also vaguely surprised.

High priests' prayers require the expenditure of divine power, and prayers for saving lives are among the most demanding, as they involve snatching lives from the jaws of death and defying the natural order of life and death; the price is naturally high. Throughout history, high priests have needed several days of rest after each prayer for saving a life.

Shao Bai, however, always handled things with ease.

While it is related to his kind heart and devout faith, it also serves as evidence that this child is indeed deeply favored by the gods.

After the prayers ended, both of their heartbeats stabilized.

The old man instructed Uncle Lin to carry the three seriously wounded men back to the cave where the three had temporarily settled, while Shao Bai continued searching for the bodies.

Uncle Lin had no choice but to do as he was told.

Looking at the three people lying in a row, Uncle Lin turned his head and saw the old man squatting in the corner, preparing medicine for their injuries with a blank expression.

Worried: "Won't they really save these three troublemakers?"

The old man replied calmly, "If it's troublesome, then kill him."

It's as if killing someone is as commonplace as killing a chicken.

The old man not only used medicinal herbs when preparing the medicine, but also added some insects that Shao Bai usually played with. He pounded them into powder with a pestle and mortar, then rolled them into a disgusting ball. Although it looked nauseating, the effect was undeniable. After preparing the medicine, the old man felt fatigued.

He ordered Uncle Lin to take care of the person and went to rest.

When the moon reached its zenith, Shao Bai returned with regret.

Covered in filth, he looked like a beggar who had gone out begging but hadn't gotten anything: "Uncle Lin, there's no one left alive."

Only those three lucky ones.

Uncle Lin used the old man's words to fool Shao Bai.

"Shao Bai need not be disappointed; it is their fate."

Inside the dry cave, the three lay in a row on the stone bed that Shao Bai had carved out. A campfire burned beside the bed, illuminating the dark cave with an orange-red glow. Shao Bai took off his white, unrecognizable outfit and tossed it into a clothes basket. He then used a wooden basin to fetch water and took a bath.

"Uncle Lin, when will they wake up?"

When Shao Bai returned, Uncle Lin had already washed and wrung out the dirty clothes, then hung them on a hemp rope to dry. Before being taken in by the old and young couple, Uncle Lin had lived a life of luxury, but now he was like a maid, capable of doing anything.

He didn't want to, but he couldn't win.

"I woke up when it was time to wake up."

They just hoped that one of the three people on the stone bed would be able to do the work.

"Don't worry, these three are not ordinary people. As long as their dantian can resume operation, they will be lively and energetic again in no time."

Uncle Lin was hanging clothes out to dry when he suddenly felt something was wrong.

I'm not afraid of unruly kids making a ruckus, I'm afraid of them suddenly becoming quiet.

Turning his head, he saw Shao Bai pinching one of the people's cheeks with one hand, forcing them to open their mouths, while stuffing a still-wriggling white worm into their mouths with the other. Uncle Lin said, "Don't feed them to death."

Shao Bai: "This is good stuff."

"No matter how good your stuff is, it's only ever been used by wild animals in the mountains. We don't even know if humans can use it..."

Shao Bai said "Oh," and added, "Try asking someone next time."

Uncle Lin's back hair stood on end for no reason—this master and apprentice pair have always been ruthless, could they be targeting him as a test subject?

Shao Bai grabbed two more and stuffed them into the mouths of the other two.

These three individuals were indeed in excellent physical condition; in the latter half of the night, apart from fluctuating body temperatures, everything else remained normal.

As dawn broke outside the cave, Shao Bai continued digging the pit.

Uncle Lin was in charge of preparing food for the master and his apprentice.

In the central part of the mainland, the political environment is much more peaceful than in the northwest. Apart from border frictions and conflicts between countries, there are no major wars in other areas. Although the common people also face great pressure to survive and natural disasters occur every now and then, at least they can work in peace.

The harvest each year is not enough to feed them, but they won't starve either.

Before heading into the mountains, he had already purchased enough daily necessities, and with the addition of wild game from the mountains, the three of them were living a relatively comfortable life.

Uncle Lin skillfully dissected the game that Shao Bai had hunted, cleaned it thoroughly, chopped it up, blanched it, and added seasonings to the earthenware pot.

I used a few bird eggs that Shao Bai had found to make soup.

Before long, the milky white soup was bubbling in the earthenware pot, and the aroma of the food awakened those who had not eaten or drunk anything for several days.

The man lying on the outermost side twitched his eyelids.

The hunger in his stomach was so intense, it felt like countless ants were gnawing at his flesh. As consciousness gradually returned, the pain in his limbs and bones also stimulated his nerves. Finally, he slowly opened his eyelids, which felt like they were filled with lead, his vision blurred.

He seemed to have exhausted all his strength to open his eyes.

His eyes were vacant as he stared at the top of the cave.

At this moment, his mind went completely blank. He didn't know who he was, where he came from, why he was here, or why his body was aching uncontrollably... His brain seemed rusty, running slowly and laboriously.

After a long while, his ears caught the sound.

"You're awake? Wow, you're really lucky." A man dressed in coarse linen clothes turned around, holding a large wooden spoon in his right hand. He tasted the soup to check the saltiness and said, "You've woken up just in time. I've cooked a big pot of soup, it's all very nourishing, have a taste?"

He looked at Uncle Lin with a puzzled expression: "Where is this?"

“In the central part of the continent, within the territory of the Qi Kingdom, there is a deep mountain.”

"The central part of the mainland?"

He inexplicably doubted the authenticity of the answer.

I should be in the underworld.

Uncle Lin asked him, "That's not important. Can I ask you who you fought before, and how did you manage to cause the sky to split?"

fight?

This word is like a key that unlocks the box of memories in a man's mind, and the scenes before he lost consciousness gush out.

Just as Uncle Lin was about to mutter, "Could this guy have injured his brain and lost his memory?", the man suddenly became agitated, fell off the stone bed, and struggled, shouting something like "Big Brother." Helpless, Uncle Lin used his spiritual power to imprison him, coldly watching him.

After a while, I asked him, "Are you calm now?"

"Let me go!"

Uncle Lin ladled out a bowl of meat soup, blew on it to cool it slightly, pried open the man's mouth, and forced the soup down his throat: "You've barely escaped with your life, don't cause any more trouble. If Shao Bai sees this, he might throw you into a worm's belly to slowly heal you."

The man tried to struggle, but his internal energy was depleted, and he couldn't muster any strength in his hands or feet. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of his sixth and thirteenth brothers still lying on the stone bed, and suddenly fell silent. Uncle Lin, not missing his subtle reaction, asked, "You two know each other?"

"One is my older brother, and the other is my younger brother."

"My name is Chao Lian, Chao Qingzhi."

"You just said this is the central part of the continent?"

"Is this really not the underworld?"

“Yes, yes, yes—you’re still alive. You didn’t die. Your brother and younger brother were also saved. The three of you were lucky to run into Shao Bai. Only he could snatch people from the jaws of death with injuries like that.” Seeing that he wasn’t making a fuss, Uncle Lin served him another bowl and even condescended to feed him, but Chao Lian turned his face away and refused.

Uncle Lin was about to use the same trick again to force-feed him the medicine.

How can wounded soldiers recover if they don't eat any meat?

Chao Lian said weakly, "No."

Uncle Lin: "There is no poison in this soup."

Chao Lian leaned back, relieved of his strength, against the edge of the stone bed. His dirty face couldn't hide the sorrow in his eyes: "I am in mourning."

Uncle Lin paused for a moment upon hearing this, and had no choice but to put down his bowl.

After a long while, Chao Lian finally understood what was going on. He had somehow ended up in the central part of the continent, having traveled from the northwest. Who had sent him here? He tried to recall the details, and suddenly remembered his fourth uncle mentioning "the crack in the sky": "What is this crack in the sky you're talking about?"

The two sides exchanged details.

When Chao Lian learned that he had fallen along with thousands of corpses, he clung to a tiny hope: "Are there any other survivors? Are my brothers... still alive? Where are they? Please, let me go find them!"

Uncle Lin said, "Only the three of you are alive."

"Only...only the three of us?"

"What about the others?"

Chao Lian seemed to have lost all his strength.

Uncle Lin said, "Everyone else is dead. According to your story, your eldest brother's self-destruction attracted heavenly lightning, which inadvertently drew your younger brother's lightning punishment. The combination of their powers is the root cause of the rift in the sky. No wonder so many corpses were charred; they really were charred by lightning strikes! As for the three of you, you survived because this kid blocked the direct lightning tribulation, otherwise—tsk!"

As he spoke, Uncle Lin pointed to his thirteenth brother, Shao Chong.

Chao Lian and the other man were not charred, but Shao Chong was charred on the outside and tender on the inside, with almost no piece of meat intact, indicating a serious condition.

Looking at Shao Chong, Chao Lian fell into a long silence.

"You shouldn't have saved them—"

The eldest brother and the others went to their deaths, but the three of them survived.

Upon hearing this, Uncle Lin swiftly drew his sword and held it to Shao Chong's neck, saying to the tense Chao Lian, "Hehe, since that's the case, then we're just meddling in other people's business. Before your brother wakes up, I'll finish him off with one sword and then send you down there, how about that?"

Chao Lian naturally refused, shouting, "Stop!"

Uncle Lin sheathed his sword: "Young man, it's better to live a miserable life than to die a good death. You regret that you can't die on the same day, month, and year as your brothers, but if you die now, you'll at most be on the seventh day after their death. Focus on recovering from your injuries. Living takes more courage than dying."

There is at least one older brother and one younger brother left.

Chao Lian's tears fell in a steady stream.

After enduring excruciating pain, he finally managed to extract a wisp of martial energy and channel it into his dantian, which restored a tiny bit of strength to his weak limbs. He pleaded with Uncle Lin, "Could you please trouble your benefactor to take me there? I wish to prepare my brothers' remains for burial, so they can rest in peace?"

Uncle Lin would naturally agree.

but--

"There are too many corpses on that road, you'd better be prepared."

There's a high probability we won't be able to find the complete older brother; we'll have to patiently piece it together.

(σ)σ:*☆

The five people who emerged from the monster house in the Northwest, who had survived countless battles, could roam freely anywhere.

(End of this chapter)