Chapter 6: Treating a Dead Horse as if it were Alive

  The shadow of the lingering winter has not yet departed, and the footsteps of spring arrive silently. Red leaves and tender buds adorn the layers of the forest, as life awakens slowly across the mountains and fields.

  The slanting sun shines in the evening, Cheng Zong carries a bamboo basket with pots and pans into Wu Ming's newly built wooden house. Little Cheng Yuan throws the quilt on his shoulder onto the sturdy wooden bed, runs to the stone-built fireplace, squats down for a moment, then runs to the back of the wooden house, curiously measuring the clear mountain spring brought by Wu Ming with bamboo pipes.

  A delicate wooden house two feet off the ground was built entirely with bamboo and wood from the mountain, its roof covered with neatly stripped pieces of pine bark. During the nearly three months of construction, Wu Ming received great help from Cheng Zong and Cheng Yuan, who almost came to help every day.

  I remember that on the day the small cottage was completed, the Daoist priest Bing Zhen unexpectedly arrived with an attitude of indifference, watched for a moment without saying a word and then left.

  Wu Ming was filled with gratitude, knowing that since he proposed building a wooden house to Cheng Zong, he had obtained the tacit consent of Master Zhengzhen. Otherwise, Cheng Zong and his brother would not have come every day to help, nor would they have taken the initiative to borrow tools such as saws, inkstones, and chisels from down the mountain. During this period, Wu Ming followed Cheng Zong down the mountain into the city several times to purchase goods, wearing a Taoist robe that had become habitual, with a green cloth Taoist hat on his head, going back and forth seven or eight times without anyone suspecting his identity.

  For months, Wu Ming would go to the central hall every few days to greet Master Zhenzong, but unfortunately, this high-ranking monk outside the sect was as sparing with his words as if they were gold, and each time he only nodded kindly and at most hummed twice before letting Wu Ming leave.

  Wu Ming had once asked Cheng Zong about this in puzzlement, and Cheng Zong explained that Shifu was just that kind of person, every day devoted to quiet meditation, not liking to talk, and getting used to it would be fine.

  Cheng Zong walked out of the wooden house, leaned on the sturdy pine fence, and gazed at the distant mountains in front of him. He said in a low voice: "Wu Ge, Shifu said that your worldly ties are not yet severed. Don't look at you building houses and opening roads, but this small place can't keep you here, you may leave at any time."

  Wu Ming hesitated for a moment, leaned on the railing and asked in a low voice: "What's your view?"

  "I couldn't make it clear either. I originally thought you would stay, but after going down the mountain with you several times, I felt that you would always leave. These days, this premonition has become heavier and heavier."

  Cheng Zong paused, turning to Wu Ming with a complex expression: "Wu Ge, I find it hard to believe that you're a local who's never left this place before. Although you never speak your mind, I feel like you're extremely familiar with the outside world and know many things, making it impossible for others to see through you. I've been raised in the Taoist sect since childhood, and if I may say so myself, among our generation of 800 disciples, I've always been recognized as one of the top students by my elders. But I've never seen anyone who can go from not knowing how to hold a brush to mastering beautiful calligraphy in just half a year, finish reading 'Tao Te Ching' and have their own insights, and at such an old age, start practicing martial arts and achieve some success."

  "Moreover, the rapid construction method of this house, as well as its novel internal and external layout, are all beyond expectation. Even Master Shu was amazed after seeing it. I've seen you use bamboo sticks to draw calculation symbols on the ground. Once, you drew a segment of symbols without erasing them, although I couldn't understand them, I knew you were writing in a foreign language. I don't know where you learned it from, but I increasingly feel that Master Shu's words are correct - this place is too small to hold you."

  Wu Ming's face turned pale as he smiled wryly, thinking for a moment before saying in a low voice: "Until now, I still don't know where to go or what to do. The outside world is too chaotic, with warlords carving up the land and fighting everywhere. I'm not sure if I can survive properly after leaving. My heart is filled with anxiety. Alas! Even if one day I really have to leave, I will tell you in advance."

  "Where are you going?" Cheng Zong asked.

  Wu Ming shook his head: "I don't know, maybe go to Shanghai, or maybe go to Guangzhou, save some money and then see if I can broaden my horizons."

  Cheng Zong nodded silently: "After the Qinglong Festival, Master Shu will return to Longhu Mountain's ancestral hall for duty. The Qizhen Temple will have a new abbot coming, and I'll follow Master Shu back to Longhu Mountain. I'm almost ready to leave my apprenticeship too; after leaving, one usually needs to leave the ancestral hall, go down the mountain, and travel around for a while. Alas! I really want to explore the outside world with you, but I'm afraid we don't have that fate."

  "How could there be no fate, if you're willing, I'd rather not cut off this long hair, wear a Taoist robe and wander around with you." Wu Mingyue laughed.

  Cheng Zong was somewhat moved, Cheng Yuan came to the side of the two and stood still for a while, unable to bear the urgency, calling out: "Shixiong, Wu Dage, if you both leave, what will I do?"

  Wu Ming burst out laughing, Cheng Zong chuckled and shook his head: "Younger brother, you are the gatekeeper's disciple, next year you will only be twelve years old, how can our sect allow you to leave the mountain? It's not in line with the rules. Besides, you've just laid your foundation, there are still many things you need to cultivate, before you master the skills and become a true master, you shouldn't have such wild ideas, understand?"

  "But..." Chengyuan's eyes were filled with disappointment.

  Cheng Zong laughed and looked at the sky, suggesting: "The sun has set, let's go back together. There is no oil, salt, sauce or vinegar here yet. You can make a fire again tomorrow."

  Three people returned together to the Zhenzhen Temple, where they started a fire and cooked their meal. Cheng Zong specifically took down a piece of smoked venison and instructed Cheng Yuan to fetch a jar of distilled spirits from the storage room.

  At night, the lamp in the backyard was bright, and Wu Ming and Cheng Zong were still drinking wine and whispering to each other. The mellow wine dispelled the faint sadness in their hearts. After drinking half a catty of strong wine, Cheng Zong's handsome face was slightly flushed. He told Wu Ming that he had turned eighteen last month and could drink now. Before, he had secretly drunk his master's wine, but didn't dare to drink too much, so he didn't know how much he could hold.

  Wu Ming didn't know how much he could drink without getting drunk, but fortunately, after downing half a jin of liquor, his eyes weren't blurry and his hands weren't shaking, and he didn't feel any obvious discomfort, seemingly still having plenty of potential.

  Chengyuan, who had secretly drunk a few mouthfuls of wine, climbed onto the low bed and fell fast asleep. Wu Ming got up to cover Chengyuan with a quilt, while Chengzong silently watched without saying a word. When Wu Ming returned and sat down, they clinked glasses again.

  Cheng Zong put down his wine cup and stood up: "No more drinking, Wu Ge. Taking advantage of the excitement from the wine, let's go out and exercise to sweat a bit. In these six months, your stake skills have improved quickly, you've already got the foundation, I'll teach you another set of fist techniques."

  Wu Ming was overjoyed, stood up and followed Cheng Zong out of the house door, into the yard had not yet stood still, just faintly heard the urgent knocking on the door, two people looked at each other, almost simultaneously ran to the front hall, heard outside came the sound of shouting, immediately went up to open the courtyard gate.

  Under the bright torches outside the door, three men from Tianjia Village saw Chengzong and immediately loudly told that a group of wild boars had rushed into the village, injuring people. The villagers were exhausted from driving them away, one was bitten to death and four were injured. They begged Master Zheng and Master Chengzong to go and save their lives.

  Cheng Zong heard this and instructed Wu Ming to accompany the villagers, then ran quickly to report to his master. In less than a moment, Cheng Zhen led Cheng Zong out hastily, comforted the villagers with a few words, and ordered Cheng Zong to immediately go down the mountain to rescue people with the Danmu medicine box on his back. Wu Ming asked to follow Cheng Zong, Cheng Zhen thought for a moment and agreed, waving his hand to let everyone hurry up and set off.

  The winding stone road down the mountain was not difficult to walk, a group of people carrying torches hurried along, usually taking an hour to complete the journey, but the crowd arrived at Tianjia Village in less than half an hour. Before entering the village, they saw figures swaying and heard wails all around, clearly the entire village had been shaken.

  Wu Ming and Cheng Zong, drenched in sweat, followed three men into a relatively spacious house. The bright room was packed with people of all ages, and the wailing villagers suppressed their voices when they saw Cheng Zong and a strange Taoist enter.

  On the central gate of the house, five bloody men were lying, two of whom had white cloth covering their faces, apparently already dead.

  Cheng Zong showed an unusual calmness that didn't match his age, without saying a word he put down the medicine box and squatted to examine the injuries of the three survivors one by one. He then abandoned the severely injured person who was lying in the middle and had lost consciousness, opened the medicine box and started treating another one.

  Wu Ming was at a loss on the side, wanting to help but not knowing how. The atmosphere in the house was tense and oppressive, and the crying had also subsided a lot. Almost everyone was staring nervously at Cheng Zong's hands.

  The family of the seriously injured person saw Cheng Zong give up treating his own relatives, and immediately understood that there was no hope. Under the grief, the whole family cried out in pain, and the village woman who had been crying to death could no longer care about anything, and threw herself on the seriously injured person, screaming in agony: "Husband of our child, how can you bear to abandon us, a whole family..."

  The neighbors on both sides also burst into tears, and the whole house was filled with a cacophony of wailing.

  Wu Ming clearly saw that the seriously injured person under the village woman was still alive, with their feet trembling irregularly, and their Adam's apple still slightly moving. The right thigh was roughly tied up with a hemp rope, with a half-foot long wound on the inside of the lower leg, with skin and flesh turned outward, revealing bone, and broken blood vessels that were still bleeding. The pale face and body were covered in scars.

  After a slight hesitation, Wu Ming took two steps forward and put his hand on the neck of the seriously injured person. He paused for a moment before pulling away the village woman: "Don't cry anymore, he's not dead yet. If you keep pressing down on him like that, he'll probably die even faster."

  The village women were so frightened that they forgot to cry, and the surrounding villagers fell silent one after another. A pair of eyes stared at Wu Ming in shock, only Cheng Zong seemed unaffected, finished bandaging the first wounded person, changed position and continued to stop bleeding and clean up for the second wounded person.

  Wu Ming had no confidence in his heart, but he couldn't bear to watch a potentially salvageable wounded person die, so in the emergency, he could only force himself to take action, relying on the little first-aid theory knowledge in his brain to do his best, treating a dead horse as if it were alive.

  Pulling open the tattered clothes covering the wounded man's lower body, untying the hemp rope hastily tied around his thigh root, a blood arrow suddenly spurted out from the ruptured blood vessels at the wound site. Wu Ming hurriedly tightened the hemp rope and shouted "Bring a strip of cloth", and a Han man beside him immediately untied his waistband and handed it over.

  Wu Ming took over the waistband, quickly tightening the wound on the thigh root of the injured person, untied the hemp rope to carefully examine the wound and the broken blood vessels, saw that a small amount of blood flowed out and stopped quickly, raised his head again and loudly instructed: "I want the strongest burning wine, scissors, cotton gauze, and tweezers... If there are no tweezers, I need a pair of new chopsticks, as well as needle and thread!"

  Two men in the crowd responded loudly and quickly fetched what Wu Ming needed.

  Wu Ming poured half a tank of strong liquor into a clean wooden basin, then threw all the things into the liquor to soak, and his hands also soaked in the liquor for a long time. He wrung out a ball of cotton and began to wipe the wound, then carefully manipulated the curved tube inside the huge mouth of the injured person.

  A moment later, Wu Ming tied the broken blood vessels with thread, his hands slightly trembling and his whole body drenched in sweat. After finishing the task with great difficulty, he picked up the chopsticks to clean the wound, which took another half an hour. Cheng Zong had already finished treating two wounded men and came over to squat beside Wu Ming, curiously watching him awkwardly handle the wound.

  Half a moment passed, Wu Ming completed the suturing of the wound under everyone's gaze, then wiped the wound and surrounding skin clean with cotton thread, untied the bandage on the injured person's thigh root, and observed the suture site for a long time with tension. He stared intently as Cheng Zong applied a secret medicine ointment to the suture site, only then did he sit down on the ground with a thud:

  "It can only be like this, if you don't wake up, or even if you wake up and die from infection afterwards, it's all fate..."