Chapter 520 Extra: The Encounter Between Shan Zhongfeng and Huang Pinjie
In the spring, before the ice and snow had melted, Huang Pinjie, whose inner core was damaged, took the tattered mountain token of Jiming Mountain from the clan leader Gu Chan's claws, and secretly stuffed the only storage ring he had into Gu Qingqing's mouth before heading to Jiming Mountain.
She had nothing of value and no one to see her off. To make matters worse, she was injured and could only make her way there step by step, which was truly a miserable experience.
After leaving the Fire Cloud Cave and arriving at the desolate and remote foot of Jiming Mountain, Huang Pinjie felt as if her heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys had all shifted out of place; the pain was excruciating.
With each step she took, she could feel a fine line extending from the inner core of her body.
Meanwhile, the Gu poison in her body began to invade her bone marrow. As the Dao Dan broke open a little, it burrowed deep into her soul, causing Huang Pinjie, who was usually so resilient, to feel like she was about to have a mental breakdown.
As she left, the effects of the pills that Gu Qingqing fed her before her departure dissipated, causing Huang Pinjie's spiritual energy to leak out uncontrollably. Her meridians gradually collapsed, and her body became stiffer.
Jiming Mountain is too remote, with extremely low spiritual energy content; it's hardly like the Central Continent.
Huang Pinjie was originally devoted to the Dao. Along the way, she still held a sliver of hope that she could start over. She thought about collecting herbs in the mountains to save money and buy pills to heal her injuries.
But looking at this desolate and cold scene, she knew that any further struggle would be in vain.
She thought sadly that she would soon die from the shattering of her Dao Core and leave nothing behind. It was pitiful that her third young lady had rushed over and knelt down for her despite her injuries.
Since we're going to die anyway, we might as well die sooner before our meridians become rigid;
Once you're dead, you won't feel pain anymore.
Thinking this, Huang Pinjie no longer wanted to go up the mountain. She lay on a rock to recover, then spat out her inner core, intending to self-destruct and end her life.
Just as she spat out her inner core, a large yellow tiger cultivator with a topknot suddenly leaped out from the yellow earth in front of her. He exuded a kingly aura and grinned, saying with delight, "You fox's body is so good!"
"You've suffered such severe injuries, your Dao Core is even shattered, yet you're still alive. It's clear we have a great destiny; I must heal you."
Then, ignoring Huang Pinjie's ashen face, the tiger cultivator quickly pinched out a green pill and stuffed it into Huang Pinjie's mouth, saying, "You're really lucky to have run into me, Daoist Master. Quickly swallow this healing pill."
Huang Pinjie was powerless to resist. Once the pill entered her stomach, the excruciating pain she felt was indeed greatly reduced. Then she closed her eyes and lost consciousness.
When Huang Pinjie opened her eyes again, she was lying in a simply furnished thatched hut.
As soon as she woke up, the yellow-skinned tiger that was holding a hand warmer and refining pills next to her seemed to be startled and jumped to the side; his hand warmer also exploded, and all sorts of slag and liquid splattered all over his face, which was quite a miserable sight.
Huang Pinjie was completely exhausted, so she lay there and asked, "Why did you save me? I have no money."
The tiger, still furious because the stove had exploded, looked at Huang Pinjie with an air of mystery and said, "Huang Da, we are destined to meet. I don't want your money, just take your medicine."
Fate?! "Hehe."
Huang Pinjie sneered inwardly. Now she had nothing left, so what "fate" did she have?
After living like this for several days, Huang Pinjie was stuffed with countless pills and fed countless amounts of herbal juice by the yellow-skinned tiger. The fox was in a semi-conscious state every day, as if she were poisoned. She was powerless to resist and could only let the tiger do as it pleased.
"I never imagined that when I'm about to die, I won't even have a say in my own life, and I'll be used as a test subject for drugs." In her occasional lucid moments, Huang Pinjie would say this to herself, her heavy eyelids straining.
However, these pills were not entirely useless to Huang Pinjie.
Although Huang Pinjie was in a daze for a month or so because of these pills, and her body was still cold and painful, her Dao Core did not break down any further, and the vitality in her body was somehow increased by 30% by that tiger cultivator.
Having regained some strength and knowing she wouldn't die immediately, Huang Pinjie no longer wanted to die voluntarily.
No matter what kind of living being it is, as long as it doesn't die when it's supposed to, it will have some kind of expectation, and Huang Pinjie is no exception; moreover, she still has some attachments to this world, as well as a lot of anger.
She knew she was powerless to change the world, but she was unwilling to accept it.
Unwilling to accept defeat, she could not bring herself to take her last breath. Even though the yellow tiger's pills were causing her body and mind to ache, she still wanted to live.
Once she felt a little better, she squinted her narrow eyes and began chatting with the yellow-skinned Tiger Mountain Central Peak, who claimed to be an alchemist from Jade Void Palace.
After chatting a few times, the perceptive Huang Pinjie realized that Shan Zhongfeng was most likely mentally ill.
He described his master, Gulin Dansheng, as cautious, not like a disciple, but more like a servant wearing a magic ring, whose every word and action would be known to the master. Such servants would occasionally be released by their masters to do servant work.
Shan Zhongfeng himself let slip that he had made a big mistake. Because his alchemy skills were poor, his master, the Alchemist Gulin, forbade him to practice alchemy, but he practiced it secretly.
The reason he was able to escape and find himself was because the alchemy room of the ancient alchemist Gulin was blown up again by this silly tiger; his years of savings were destroyed in an instant, and the ancient alchemist Gulin had no choice but to go out again and take on some alchemy jobs for large clans to accumulate wealth again. This silly tiger took the opportunity to escape.
Huang Pinjie's guess was confirmed within a few months.
That day, Huang Pinjie watched as the mountain tiger ruined another batch of medicine. The tiger was roaring when it suddenly let out a half-scream, then tremblingly bowed its paws forward and said, "Master, why are you here?"
The newcomer was an old man, holding a whisk, his face as black as charcoal. He looked at Shan Zhongfeng and gritted his teeth, saying, "I went out to refine pills, and you came down the mountain to cause trouble. Who gave you the guts!"
Upon hearing this, Shan Zhongfeng immediately swept his tail to the ground. Terrified, he knelt down at the feet of the old Taoist priest Gu Lin and begged for mercy, "Master, I will never dare to do it again. I will go back with you now." Then he picked up Huang Pinjie and prepared to leave.
Gu Lin looked at Shan Zhongfeng and said angrily, "You stop right there!"
"What? I was only gone for a few months, and you've already learned to hunt! Didn't our Danlou feed you enough?!"
Shan Zhongfeng immediately put Huang Pinjie down and said with a fawning smile, "How could that be, Master? This is Huang Da, I found her. Let her help me tend the fire from now on."
Gu Lin examined Huang Pinjie carefully, then checked her pulse, and frowned, saying, "Feng'er, she doesn't have many days left to live. Throw her away!"
We never keep idle people on our mountain. Besides, she practiced poisonous and sinister arts, her path to enlightenment was cut off long ago, her lifespan was fixed, and now she's crippled and can't work at all.
If you take her back, do you intend to send her to the unloading workshop or the pharmacy?
Or are you planning to use this living cultivator to refine pills next time I go out?!
Upon hearing this, Shan Zhongfeng tucked his tail between his legs and dared not utter another word.
Before leaving, he gave Huang Pinjie some pills and also gave her the few dozen spirit crystals he had left.
He whispered to himself, "Huang Da, you stay here and wait for me. Once the old man goes out to refine pills, I will definitely come out to refine pills and cure you."
Huang Pinjie's eyes darted around, and she readily agreed. After the man and the tiger had gone far away, she headed towards Jiming Mountain.
Even the Alchemy Saint of Jade Void Palace said he was beyond saving, so what am I waiting for?
While she was still able to move around, Huang Pinjie naturally wanted to go to her territory and enjoy her free and unrestrained fox life.
She thought to herself, "Waiting for you? Waiting for you to come back and refine me?!"
"You damn tiger, you have no idea how to name someone! My name is Huang Pinjie, not Huang Da!"
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