Chapter 3 Ten years passed in the blink of an eye.
The martial arts world is never short of new legends and heroes. The Sigu Clan fell apart after Li Xiangyi's "death." Though it managed to survive thanks to the support of people like "Fo Bi Bai Shi," it never regained the glory it once held as a leader of the martial arts world. Di Feisheng, leader of the Golden Mandarin Duck Alliance, has also been in hiding since that battle, leaving all alliance affairs to his subordinates. The martial arts world has fallen into an eerie calm.
And in the past ten years, some people have been waiting silently for the flowers to bloom.
A mobile wooden building sauntered through the countryside. Strings of dried herbs hung from the eaves, rustling softly in the breeze. A plaque in front lazily read, "Lotus Building."
The host was a young man named Li Lianhua, his face always tinged with a sickly paleness. His medical skills seemed intermittent, but his fees were extremely fair: five taels of silver, no more, no less. He cured many villagers of headaches and fevers, but also killed a few unfortunate chickens and ducks. He was always accompanied by a yellow dog named "Fox Spirit." They lived a simple but comfortable life.
No one knew he was the brilliant, unrivaled Li Xiangyi of ten years ago. The poison of the green tea had seeped deep into his bones. Though suppressed by his profound inner strength and exceptional medical skills, it steadily eroded his body and memory. He deliberately forgot the past, learning to grow radishes, cook, and save money, striving to be an ordinary mortal.
At the same time, there are isolated islands overseas and places of seclusion.
The stone door burst open, and a powerful and fierce aura swept out, blowing the guards waiting outside the door so hard that they could hardly stand.
Di Feisheng walked out slowly. His appearance hadn't changed much, but his eyes were deeper and colder than they had been ten years ago. His aura was restrained, yet it seemed as if a volcano was about to erupt. After ten years of hard training, his Beifeng Baiyang internal energy had reached the eighth level, almost reaching the state of perfection.
He spoke, his voice hoarse but unquestionable: "Is there any news about him?"
The subordinate knelt in shame and said, "Your Majesty, in the past ten years... there has been no definite trace of Sect Master Li. We have searched everywhere."
A flash of extreme disappointment and anger flashed across Di Feisheng's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a deeper obsession. He absolutely did not believe that someone like Li Xiangyi would die so easily.
"He's not dead," Di Feisheng asserted. "He's just hiding. Pass the order to reactivate all hidden lines. There's no need to search for Li Xiangyi anymore."
He paused, a sharp light flashing in his eyes. "Go find someone with decent medical skills, who might have been poisoned but still survived. Pay special attention to the fact that there might be a walking building next to him."
Li Lianhua's Lotus House is parked outside a remote post station called the Xiaomian Inn. She's looking for a drink of water, but instead runs into a dispute. The innkeeper's daughter has suddenly fallen ill, freezing cold and dying. A passing gang of scoundrels, convinced it's the work of an evil spirit, attempt to "exorcise" it with brute force, but they actually covet the inn's heirloom.
Li Lianhua didn't want to get involved, but seeing the girl in pain and the shopkeeper pleading, she finally sighed and slowly walked forward: "Well... five taels of silver, maybe I can give it a try?"
The people in the world laughed and mocked this sickly guy for overestimating his own abilities.
Li Lianhua remained unfazed. She simply took out a few silver needles and, with seemingly clumsy but in reality uncanny precision, pierced the girl's acupuncture points. She then fished out a few dried herbs from her sleeve and instructed the woman to boil them and drink them. Within half an hour, the girl's complexion gradually began to brighten, and her body began to warm up.
While everyone was amazed, the gang of gangsters became angry and wanted to attack Li Lianhua.
At that moment, a dark figure swooped into the inn like a ghost. With a flash of a knife, the leading troublemaker's weapon snapped. The figure didn't kill him, but simply said coldly, "Get lost."
The group felt the other side's unfathomable oppression and fled in fear.
Li Lianhua raised his head and looked at the man who had made the move. The man was also looking at him, his eyes as sharp as lightning, full of scrutiny and inquiry.
Li Lianhua's heart trembled slightly, but she put on a grateful smile. "Thank you very much for your help, you saved me five taels of silver in medical fees... Uh, may I know your name?"
The man was silent for a moment, then clasped his fists and said, "I am the Medicine Demon of the Golden Yuan Alliance. I am here on the orders of the Alliance Leader to search for the world's most famous doctors."
Di Feisheng soon received a message from the Medicine Demon: "At the Xiaomian Inn, I encountered a traveling doctor with strange medical skills, keeping his skills secret. He seems to be the one your Excellency is looking for. However, he has no internal strength and is frail and sickly. His name is Li Lianhua."
"Li...Lianhua?" Di Feisheng muttered the name, and his figure instantly disappeared from the place of retreat.
A few days later, in front of the Lotus Tower.
Di Feisheng stood with his hands behind his back and stopped Li Lianhua who was about to leave.
Their eyes met.
Di Feisheng's gaze was fixed on Li Lianhua's face like a hawk, trying to find any trace of Li Xiangyi in that pale, sickly visage. It was similar, yet not. That startling edge, that dazzling pride, was gone. The man before him possessed only a calmness bordering on laziness, a detached indifference that came from seeing through the world.
But Di Feisheng's intuition was screaming: It's him!
Li Lianhua sighed inwardly, but her face displayed just the right amount of bewilderment and caution. "This... brother? What can I do for you that you're blocking my way down? If you want medical treatment, five taels of silver."
The sound of the flute approached step by step, and the powerful aura almost solidified the air around it. "Li Xiangyi, how long are you going to pretend?"
Li Lianhua blinked, becoming even more confused. "Li Xiangyi? Are you talking about the leader of the Si Gu Sect who died in the Battle of the East China Sea ten years ago? You've got the wrong person, right? How could I be him in this state?"
"Except you, who else in the world can survive the green tea poison for ten years?" Di Feisheng sneered and suddenly attacked, as fast as lightning, probing Li Lianhua's pulse.
Li Lianhua seemed so frightened that she couldn't move and let him hold her wrist.
The pulse is weak, chaotic and faint, which is indeed a sign of a terminal illness with no internal energy.
Di Feisheng's brows knitted together, a flicker of disbelief and... panic flashing in his eyes. Was he truly wrong? Could it be that Li Xiangyi had truly...
At the moment when his mind was slightly shaken, Li Lianhua weakly pulled back her hand: "Brother, you hurt me. I'm really not a sect leader, I'm just a doctor, Li Lianhua."
Di Feisheng stared at him intently for a long moment, then suddenly smiled. That smile was three parts fierce and seven parts paranoid. "Okay, Li Lianhua, right? I don't care whether you are Li Xiangyi or Li Lianhua. From today on, you are the physician of the Golden Yuan League."
"You are poisoned. Perhaps the only thing that can save you is the 'Forgetful Flower', the most precious treasure of our Golden Mandarin Duck Alliance. Come with me and work for me, and I will give you a chance to detoxify."
Li Lianhua looked at this old friend who was so obsessed that he was crazy, and his heart was filled with mixed emotions. He knew that the ten years of peaceful days were over.
He sighed and patted the Lotus Building beside him: "Master Alliance Leader, this building...it doesn't move fast, you have to pay more."
Di Feisheng: "..."
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