Chapter 4: Visiting Good Friends

  Afterwards, Wu Xin did not go home but instead went to Yanghua Village a few miles away from Hansha Village. Please remember the website of this station: Guanhua Home Network. Although he had never been there before, he clearly "remembered" the path and was going to see someone, a good friend who moved him deeply.

  Yanghua Village has no poplar trees and is situated at the foot of a mountain. The origin of this village name is unknown, perhaps it was once covered with poplar flowers long ago.

  Wu Xin's feet moved quickly, and after passing through several winding paths, he arrived at a mountain road. The footprints became sparse, and soon he came to a residence. The residence was built on the side of the mountain, with two or three earth-sheltered houses standing in a row, with no gaps in between. Behind it was a bamboo forest that seemed to have grown naturally. In front of it was a concrete yard. On the concrete yard, a simple and unadorned little girl was squatting down, intently rummaging through something. The little girl's feet were bare, her pant legs rolled up, revealing a pair of white feet with a hint of redness.

  Wu Xin walked over quietly, but startled her. She turned around to look at Wu Xin and exclaimed: "How did you suddenly appear without making a sound? What are you doing here?"

  Wu Xin smiled faintly and said: "I walked so lightly, you were facing away from me, how did you know I came? Since you knew, why did I need to call out to you?"

  That little girl had a resentful face, but her appearance was even more moving. She said with hatred: "I'm just more sensitive to sound since I was a child! How can you blame others when you're the one who's wrong? So unreasonable!"

  Wu Xin listened and said quietly: "Sorry! Guo Zhen, I know your martial arts skills are very good!"

  Guo Zhen's face turned pale with fright, then suddenly flushed red. She stood up abruptly and warned in a low voice: "You... who are you?"

  Wu Xin still smiled slightly and sincerely said: "I am Wu Xin, but my appearance has changed a lot, so you can't recognize me! I came to see Zi Yi and Hu Bin! Thank you for saving them!"

  Guo Zhen listened, his mouth agape in shock as he stared at Wu Xin, momentarily unable to wrap his head around it.

  After a while, Guo Zhen calmed down and asked in doubt: "How do I know you're Wu Xin? And how can I believe such an absurd story?"

  Wu Xin smiled faintly but didn't answer. He said solemnly, "Didn't you promise me that you would raise Zi Yi to be plump and fair?"

  Guo Zhen listened and knew he was indeed Wu Xin, then smiled and said: "How did you end up like this?"

  "Wu Xin sighed: "It's hard to say, how is he? Is he all right?"

  Guo Zhen believed that he was Wu Xin, although his appearance had changed, but the expression on this face and the tone of voice were the same as before.

  "He's all right, just a bit badly hurt inside and needs some nursing. I'm getting the medicine ready now! Come with me to see him!" With that, Guo Zhen led the way forward.

  Wu Xin followed her into a room, which was very simple. After a slight turn, they entered another room, and at a glance, they saw a person lying on a simple wooden bed, covered with a faded quilt.

  Wu Xin was somewhat excited, and hurriedly ran over. At a glance, he saw that familiar face, the haggardness and pallor on it, and the puzzled look in his eyes.

  Wu Xin looked at him, his throat choking, and suddenly burst out laughing: "Don't I know you? Lying in bed pretending to be what kind of bear? I'll have to use firecrackers to wake you up!"

  Guo Zhen listened, a puzzled look on her face, wondering what was wrong with Wu Xin.

  Hù Bīn, who was lying on the bed, listened and his puzzled eyes came to life, with tears welling up in them. He looked at Wú Xīn and stretched out his hand to grab his hand.

  Wu Xin's eyes were also moist, and he stretched out his hand to tightly grasp Hu Bin's hand, but didn't say a word.

  Guo Zhen didn't quite understand, but he knew that Ding had recognized Wu Xin. His heart was affected by the gaze of the two people, and he said softly: "You guys chat well, I'll go prepare the medicine!" Just as he was about to turn around, he was lightly pulled back by Wu Xin.

  "Really thank you, Guo Zhen!" Wu Xin said gratefully: "Just now I saw many medicinal materials, most of which are used to nourish Qi. It's not necessary to have so many. You only need to choose a few tonic and nourishing medicines to decoct and it will be fine."

  "Alright! No need to be polite! I'm going!"

  Wu Xin nodded and looked at Hu Bin, saying softly: "I'll help you get rid of the stuffy feeling in your chest! When it gets even more uncomfortable and you feel like vomiting, just throw up and you'll be fine!" After that, he helped Hu Bin sit up, took out a silver needle from his pocket, and pricked several key points on his chest to unblock the meridians. With his right hand's index finger pressing down on the Ren Mai (Conception Vessel) at the Ju Que point, he inserted a stream of true energy slanting upwards, directly connecting with the heart meridian; meanwhile, his left hand's middle finger inserted another stream of true energy from the Du Mai (Governing Vessel) at the Ling Tai point on Hu Bin's back. The two streams worked together in harmony, one primary and one secondary, completely unblocking the blood vessels in Hu Bin's upper body. Hu Bin felt a sweet and sour sensation in his throat, then vomited up a large mouthful of black blood that was still steaming hot. Afterwards, his body suddenly felt completely relieved, extremely comfortable, but his eyes felt a bit dark and dizzy.

  Wu Xin helped him lie down and said softly: "Rest for a while, don't catch a cold, you'll be fine soon!" Then he busied himself.

  Hu Bin soon fell into a deep sleep due to excessive blood loss.

  Wu Xin tidied up everything and went out, only to see Guo Zhen carrying a small bamboo basket filled with many medicinal herbs coming in.

  Wu Xin smiled lightly and casually picked up a few herbs, putting them in his mouth to chew for a while before saying: "Guo Zhen! Did you pick these herbs yourself? How come they have such a pure flavor and are of such good quality?"

  "Absolutely not!" Guo Zhentian smiled sweetly and said: "I spent a long time collecting so many medicinal materials, but I didn't expect him to use so many of them!"

  Wu Xin knew she was just joking and didn't take it to heart, saying: "Guo Zhen, you're so young, your martial arts skills are so good, and you also understand medicine, that's really impressive!"

  Guo Zhen listened and gave Wu Xin a sideways glance, smiling coyly: "What's wrong? Have you fallen for me?"

  Wu Xin saw a different kind of charming face, and for a moment he was infatuated. However, he didn't dare to show it on his face, so he turned his head away and thought about something else.

  "What's wrong? Not happy? So petty!" Guo Zhen hummed softly.

  Wu Xin smiled faintly: "How could that be? I was just thinking about something else, thank you so much for your hard work these past few days! Where did Zi Yi go?"

  "I won't tell you unless you thank me properly and repay me!" Guo Zhen coquettishly smiled and started to act spoiled.

  Wu Xin listened and felt a sense of closeness, smiling: "You can ask, as long as it doesn't go against the code of chivalry and I can do it, I will definitely agree!"

  Guo Zhen listened and also giggled, saying: "I thought you were just a bookworm, I didn't expect you to read this kind of book too? It's quite funny! However, you mustn't say it doesn't count, okay?"

  Wu Xin listened and secretly worried in his heart, feeling that he had been too rash just now. This Guo Zhen's identity was unknown, how could he easily agree to something? But it wasn't good to go back on his word either, so he simply said, "How could that be?"

  "I knew you'd regret it!" Guo Zhen said with a sly smile: "I've been waiting for this moment for a long time!"

  Wu Xin was even more worried when he heard this. Had she really been possessed by a ghost? He asked softly, "Oh? What do you want?"

  "Don't worry, I won't give you a hard time! How petty!" Guo Zhen scolded: "Zi Yi is in the house at the back, isn't he?"

  Wu Xin said with a smile: "I'll go take a look at her!"

  "Knew it! You've been smitten with that little girl's beauty and charm, can't get her out of your mind!" She said, skipping ahead to lead the way.

  Wu Xin was enchanted and stood there dazed for a moment before following him.

  "Look who's here?" said Guo Zhen with a smile.

  At this moment, a lovely face with delicate eyebrows and a gentle weak little girl appeared in front of Wu Xing.

  Wu Xin was excited for a moment, but Zi Yi had a confused face, carefully examining Wu Xin, and couldn't find many familiar shadows.

  "Who is he?" Zhou Zi Yi asked somewhat timidly.

  "He's your master now, he bought you, and from now on, you'll have to follow him!" Guo Zhen chattered away.

  "Wait!... No!... I don't want to see him, I don't want to see him!"

  Wu Xin's figure moved, like a phantom, and he had already flashed to Zhou Zi Yi's front, gently grasping the panicked Zi Yi's hand, softly saying: "Zi Yi, I am Wu Xin!"

  As soon as he heard this, he panicked and used all his strength to break free from my grasp. He cried out anxiously, "No, no! Don't think that just because I was ill you can deceive me! I'm fine now, you can't fool me!" After saying this, he grabbed the quilt on the bed and covered his face, bursting into tears.

  Wu Xin knew he looked very different from usual, and sighed softly: "Zi Yi, go to sleep when you're tired. When the time comes, Wu Ge will wake you up again. I still want to marry you, and then I can kiss you every day. Is that okay?" The expression on his face was exactly the same as it was on the day of the tragic event.

  As expected, Zhou Ziyu was shocked when he heard it, and he threw off his quilt, looking at Wu Xin with a mixture of surprise and suspicion.

  Wu Xin smiled faintly and said: "Zi Yi, I went to the Golden Vajra Mountain once, now my appearance is greatly different from before. This can't be blamed on you."

  Zhou Zi Yi listened and already believed a bit, asking: "Are you really Wu Xin's older brother?"

  Wu Xin nodded and said: "You take good care of your illness, I'll bring Xiao Zhao and the others to visit you again in a while!"

  Just as he was about to turn around and leave, Zhou Ziyu suddenly rushed over and tightly hugged Wu Xin, crying with joy: "Brother Wu Xin!......"

  Guo Zhenchao smiled sweetly at Wu Xintian and then ran away.

  Wu Xin turned around, gently patted Zi Yi's shoulder and said softly: "Take a good rest, get your body recovered and then move back to live with everyone together, okay?"

  Zhou Zi Yi hugged Wu Xin tightly and refused to let go, nor did he speak. His head was buried in Wu Xin's chest, his heart racing wildly.

  "Zi Yi!" Wu Xin called out softly.

  "Wu Xing gege, I'm fine now. Can I go back with you?" Zhou Zi Yi lifted his head and smiled at Wu Xing, a faint blush rising to his pale face.

  "Not yet, I'll come pick you up in a few days, okay?" Wu Xin said with a gentle smile.

  "No, I want to follow Wu Xing gege! If you don't leave me, I won't leave you!" Zhou Ziyu pouted and said coquettishly.

  "Alright, listen, we don't have a place to stay yet. Get some rest and I'll come pick you up as soon as I've sorted out the housing issue, okay?"

  Although Zhou Ziyu was unwilling, he had no choice and immediately smiled shyly: "I really want to hear Wu Xing brother say that sentence again!"

  "What did you say?" Wu Xin asked in surprise.

  "It's exactly what you just said!" Zhou Ziyu blushed with a smile.

  Wu Xin suddenly enlightened, and Rou tightened her grip on him, saying softly: "When Zi Yi grows up, I want to marry Zi Yi, and then I can kiss Zi Yi every day. Is that okay, Zi Yi?"

  "Great! Zi Yi has grown up!" After saying that, Zhou Zi Yi, without being bashful, kissed Wu Xin's lips.

  Both of them took a sip and stopped, feeling an unparalleled sweetness in their hearts.

  After coaxing Zhou Ziyan to sleep, Wu Xin came out and saw Guo Zhen sneaking a smile on the side.

  "I knew it, you're taking advantage of her just because she's a pretty and lovely young girl!" Guo Zhen teased Wu Xin with a smile.

  Wu Xin smiled wryly and didn't say much more.

  After leaving Yanghua Village, Wu Xin went to Xugou Town.