Chapter 53 Brothers? Lovers? He and I are lovers, and he wants to take me with him…
The heavy, disordered footsteps of mortals indicated that about three or four people were approaching them from a distance.
Lighting a campfire in the middle of nowhere is too conspicuous; the firelight is bright and the smoke rises into the sky, making it easy for anyone with a discerning eye to spot them.
Of course, Fu Ming did it on purpose.
The three marks on Xiao Huaiyuan's body were not common signs of poisoning, but the old man in the village immediately recognized them as signs of a serious illness.
He felt this was no coincidence; the illness and the poison of the "pulling mechanism" were probably indeed related.
Fu Ming remembered quite clearly that the one who controlled the machine seemed to be a close friend of the True Immortal, and even took the opportunity to express his design philosophy at length in his notes:
This poison was created by the Venerable One after being bitten by a snake. The poisoned person only thinks that he has been bitten by a snake, but does not know that he has been poisoned by the Venerable One. By the time he realizes it, it is too late for medicine and he dies. Hehehehehehehe.
Someone even said they wanted to create a love potion. In my opinion, it would be better to plant my strange poison in that unfaithful man, making him stupid and confused until he dies suddenly. Wouldn't that make him only have one person in his heart?
The following pages, filled with short stories of plotting against enemies, were written in a simple, easy-to-understand, and lively style, which Fu Ming thoroughly enjoyed reading during his seclusion. This was also why, among the five types of poison, it was the one that left the deepest impression on him.
The story is certainly interesting, but it wouldn't be good if it made his junior brother as stupid as a pig.
While waiting for the chicken to cook from raw to cooked, Fu Ming, having nothing else to do, told Xiao Huaiyuan these stories: "This shows how vicious this poison is. I think your evil thoughts were also caused by the poison attacking your heart."
Xiao Huaiyuan's words were still cheesy: "If I could die by my senior brother's side, I would have no regrets."
“…Xiao Huaiyuan, you’re getting more and more difficult to deal with. Do you dare say this to your master?” Fu Ming couldn’t find the right words for a moment, and because he had been thinking for too long, he burned a large piece of chicken skin. He was so angry that he poked Xiao Huaiyuan with the twig he used to skewer the chicken.
That was a conversation before they were discovered.
Fu Ming had misjudged the speed of those people; they arrived much slower than expected. During this long wait, he almost forgot about the hand he had placed on Xiao Huaiyuan's mouth and nose.
His palm was brushed against the tip of Xiao Huaiyuan's nose, and the warm, moist breath sprayed down, bringing a tingling sensation. He felt as if Xiao Huaiyuan's lips had brushed against him, which made Fu Ming pull his hand away as if he had been burned.
Just then, three men carrying torches arrived. The flowing flames clung to the wooden sticks, making the newcomers' faces appear even more yellow.
Fu Ming looked closely and couldn't help but feel a deep respect. These people were all crippled or lame, some with missing arms or legs. It was truly admirable that they had traveled such a long way to find someone. Regardless of their purpose, it was truly touching.
A kind-looking auntie with one sleeve empty leaned against a tree trunk, panting, and greeted Fu Ming, "Young man, we've finally found you! Oh dear, we've been looking for you for ages."
"Hiss, you scared me! Where did you guys come from? Trying to rob me?" Fu Ming's eyes darted around, and he hid the roast chicken behind his back, like an ignorant and petty country bumpkin.
Xiao Huaiyuan continued to play the role of a taciturn mute, tugging at Fu Ming's sleeve without saying a word.
“Look at what you’re saying.” The aunt pulled over the lame man next to her, rolled up his sleeve to reveal three black spots the size of fingernails. “We all have this strange disease. We went through all this trouble to come here just to help you. We would never come to harm you.”
"What exactly is this disease? Can it kill people?" Fu Ming seemed taken aback and picked up where she left off, asking the question.
"So many people died. In our village, we didn't even have enough people to dig pits and bury coffins."
After the old man exposed his identity, Xiao Huaiyuan stopped deliberately pulling up his collar, and his aunt pointed to his neck to prove him wrong.
"Look, people like him with spots on their bodies will develop symptoms in less than ten days. At that point, broken arms and legs are the least of their worries; some people even suffer brain damage overnight from a high fever. And in another two weeks, the spots will grow bigger and bigger, and then—"
"Then what should I do, my brother?"
Fu Ming gasped. He had entered the Foundation Establishment stage at a young age, and his appearance was youthful and innocent. He could also convincingly feign innocence.
Gurgle.
Auntie's empty stomach let out an awkward growl.
Fu Ming generously distributed roasted chicken to the three of them, tearing the skinny pheasant, which had very little meat, into several pieces, leaving only a chicken leg for Xiao Huaiyuan, ostensibly to take care of a patient.
"Alright, let's continue. After the black spots get bigger, they will slowly start to rot from the bone. Once those three holes are rotted through, a few more spots will appear, and eventually the whole body will be covered in black, rotten holes!"
As she spoke, the aunt took a big bite out of the chicken leg and showed them the bite mark, describing it vividly and immersively.
Unfortunately, the listeners didn't seem to be moved by her. The one who had fallen ill in high school sat upright, even more imposing than an official in the city. As for the young man who was supposed to be flattering her, he seemed lost in thought and just nodded perfunctorily.
"So, according to you, since we're all going to die sooner or later anyway, why don't we just find a place to wait for our deaths? Why bother coming to us?" Fu Ming questioned.
"That's not what Auntie meant. We old folks have had this disease for two or three months now, and we're still alive."
The aunt waved her hand repeatedly. When she said that, the other two smiled at them in response, but their faces were pale and thin, and their smiles showed a deep bitterness.
“I’m here to show you the way. We old folks who were kicked out by our sons and relatives were lucky enough to be taken in by the village. The miracle doctor prescribed medicine for us. We take the medicine, decoct it, and drink it every day. No matter what happens, at least we’ve survived, haven’t we?”
“That village is nearby; it only takes a few days to walk along the river. Why don’t you go to the village to rest and recuperate?”
This is exactly what Fu Ming was waiting for.
Whether they are rogue cultivators, demonic cultivators, or anything else, the disadvantaged groups who are not well-liked mostly like to stick together for warmth. He was waiting for these people to take the initiative to come to him and lead him to their gathering place so that he could gather information.
He still wanted to get some more information out of the man, but he couldn't get anything useful out of him.
We don't know where this disease first appeared, how many people died from it, how it spreads, who the miracle doctor was, or what's in the prescription.
Instead, the other party kept asking him where he lived, whether he was married, and what his relationship was with Xiao Huaiyuan. Logically speaking, he was a man who was about to die, and he really couldn't understand what their intentions were in asking such trivial matters.
After much buildup, the aunt finally revealed her true intentions: "Hey, young man, you two don't look like you'd do any farm work. You must have quite a bit of money on you."
Why are you asking this?
Xiao Huaiyuan caught a glimpse of Fu Ming yawning out of the corner of his eye, so he squeezed his wrist and answered for him.
Spirit stones are rare minerals, circulating only in cities and towns with close ties to cultivators, apart from major and minor sects. As for the vast lands of Central Continent, Western Continent, and the far north, people use silver for transactions.
Considering his interactions with ordinary people, Xiao Huaiyuan kept a considerable amount of silver in his bag for unforeseen circumstances.
But what he couldn't understand was why, if they were a simple and kind-hearted secluded mountain village, they would suddenly bring up the matter of gold, silver, and valuables.
Auntie was annoyed by Xiao Huaiyuan's cold words and said with a long face, "Asking is not to harm you. Since you're coming, we're all brothers and sisters, as close as family. But there's no such thing as a free lunch. Everyone still has to do their work, otherwise that person will be unhappy."
Xiao Huaiyuan remained unmoved: "And who is that person? Is he the divine physician?"
"How can the divine physician be compared to that person? You'll see when you go. Young man, listen to your aunt's advice: young people shouldn't always talk back to their elders. If you offend someone important, then..."
The aunt, with a stern face, was scolding someone when she suddenly clutched her stomach with one hand, her face ashen, and ran out of the woods. The other two followed her out shortly after.
A rare smile appeared on Xiao Huaiyuan's face.
Fu Ming's culinary skills have really come into play.
To be honest, as a young man who has lived alone, Fu Ming's various dishes, while not necessarily perfect in color, aroma, and taste, are at least above average and comparable to those in a regular restaurant.
However, this person was quite quick-witted when cooking, and not only did he not want to stick to the recipes written in black and white, but when adding seasonings, he completely disregarded the warming or cooling properties of the ingredients, and did not even bother to ask if the stuff was poisonous.
Times have changed. Now, Xiao Huaiyuan can expel the poison with a simple hand gesture, so he is naturally not afraid of his senior brother's terrible cooking.
Fu Ming had his eyes closed, his eyelashes trembling, as if he had tried several times to wake up. He was still somewhat confused when he opened his eyes.
Fu Ming asked, "What did they go about? There's no one here."
Xiao Huaiyuan replied, "They must have gone to the toilet."
"You took so long to go to the toilet?"
He spent some time reviewing the mission description; almost half an hour had passed by then.
Xiao Huaiyuan glanced at the scattered chicken bones on the ground, then at his senior brother, and everything was understood without words.
"Haha, that means my skill in taking people down without them even realizing it is still as good as ever. Pretty impressive, huh?"
He truly lives up to his reputation as Long Aotian.
Despite the considerable effort involved, the group set off early the next morning, bathed in the golden light of dawn.
The village was hidden deep in the misty mountains, with a narrow dirt path winding through the towering green trees. Crows and sparrows cried above, and yellow snakes slithered below; it would be difficult to enter without a guide.
Perhaps feeling somewhat exhausted, the usually outgoing and talkative aunt remained silent, and Fu Ming and Xiao Huaiyuan followed behind in silence as well.
There were many snakes and insects here, so he quickly threw the leech in his hand ten feet away and sent a telepathic message to his junior brother.
"Xiao Huaiyuan, are you sure the missing elders and disciples went in this direction? Could an ordinary person accidentally wander into such a dangerous place?"
“Yes, one of the missing disciples was wearing a badge from the Surveillance Department. The fluctuations generated after crushing the badge only appeared in this vicinity. I didn’t enter through this gate last time; there should be more than one entrance,” Xiao Huaiyuan replied.
After weaving through several tangled, drooping vines, Fu Ming suddenly realized he was in a thick fog. After walking about a hundred steps, a village built against the mountain suddenly appeared before him.
At the entrance of the village, three large, complex characters, somewhat different from their current form, are carved on a stone: Boyunzhai.
The aunt led them to a bamboo house. A woman with ankle-length braids saw them and pushed her braids behind her back.
Fu Ming then noticed that a lazy black snake was coiled around her arm.
The woman pointed at Fu Ming and asked, "I know the other one is sick, but you're not. What are you doing in the village? If you don't tell the truth, my precious snake will bite you."
Fu Ming had already prepared his explanation: "We are brothers who have gone through thick and thin together..."
Unexpectedly, Xiao Huaiyuan interrupted, grabbing Fu Ming's hand: "He and I are lovers. He wants to bring me here for treatment. Is there a problem?"
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