Chapter Twelve Smashing Bottles

  "Boom!"

  Han Li clenched his fists and slammed one of them heavily onto the table.

  "With tools, smash open the bottle." This was Han Li's decision after much deliberation.

  Using violent methods to open it is a long-thought-out, unworkable solution.

  This approach is simple and straightforward, yet effective and easy to use.

  But the thought that such a unique and beautiful bottle could no longer remain intact and undamaged made Han Li feel a pang of heartache, extremely reluctant. If there was another way to open it, Han Li would never use such a rough method.

  Call other brothers to help, maybe they can open it. But in Han Li's heart, he had unknowingly regarded this object as his own treasure and was extremely unwilling to let others know about it again. Moreover, every person on the mountain could be the owner of this object, if they knew that the bottle was with him and wanted it back, what would he do? This small bottle was so beautiful and interesting, he couldn't bear to return it now.

  Han Li was now completely intrigued by the mysterious object in the bottle. Although he knew it might just be an empty bottle, he was still willing to take a gamble and bet that what was inside would be more interesting than the bottle itself.

  The more he thought about it, the more unbearable the itch in Han Li's heart became.

  He won't be able to sleep soundly at night unless he solves the mystery in the bottle.

  Having made up his mind, Han Li sneaked into the shed in the valley where miscellaneous items were stored, selected a relatively heavy small iron hammer from among many tools, and brought it back to his own room.

  He went back into the house, found a half-discarded hard green brick from the corner of the room, and selected a relatively flat depression in the room. He placed the green brick flat on it, and then stably laid the bottle horizontally on the brick.

  Han Li raised his right hand, holding the small hammer, and after a brief pause in mid-air, it fell decisively onto the most protruding part of the bottle - the belly.

  "Bang!"

  Because I was afraid of using too much force and breaking the contents inside the bottle, the first tap was just a light touch on top to test the hardness of the bottle.

  Seeing no signs of cracking, Han Li put his mind at ease and it seemed that he could use a bit more force to smash the bottle.

  "Bang!" With five percent of his strength.

  "Bang!" Seven points of strength.

  "Bang!" With great force.

  "Bang" with twelve points of strength.

  Han Li's strength grew greater and greater, his arm movements becoming more and more exaggerated, the hammer falling faster and faster. Even in the end, with one final blow, half of the bottle was smashed into the green brick, but the bottle still maintained its overall integrity, without any signs of being shattered.

  Han Li was stunned, still disbelieving, he reached out to touch the spot where the iron hammer had hit the bottle, but there wasn't a single mark left on it, the green glass surface was still smooth and clean.

  This was beyond Han Li's expectations.

  Han Li was now truly certain that this small bottle was absolutely an extraordinary good thing, and it would not be intentionally abandoned by someone. In all likelihood, the owner had carelessly lost it. Now, perhaps the owner was searching for it everywhere in the mountains, and if he wanted to keep it, he must carefully collect it and not let outsiders see the bottle again.

  In Han Li's mind, as long as he didn't actively steal or rob, things picked up from the ground naturally belonged to him. If it were ordinary items, he might have returned them to their owners, but this bottle was so mysterious that it was probably lost by those rich family heirs or mountain dwellers with status and position, towards whom Han Li had no particularly good impression.

  Han Li's family was very poor from a young age, and the whole family would be busy all day, often unable to eat a full meal. In the Seven Mysteries Sect, he often saw people spending money lavishly, eating and drinking extravagantly (if the disciples of the Seven Mysteries Sect did not want to eat ordinary food, they could pay extra for better meals). They spent money as if it was nothing. Every time this happened, Han Li felt uncomfortable in his heart. Moreover, these rich young masters would often look down on them, the poor disciples from rural areas, and would frequently use words to mock and insult them. There were even several small conflicts between the two groups, and the children had fought each other several times. Han Li had also participated in one of the fights, but unfortunately, he was beaten by those rich young masters who had practiced martial arts until his face was bruised and swollen, unable to go out in public. It wasn't until after resting for several days that he recovered.

  As for some people with status and identity on the mountain, they didn't leave a very good impression on Han Li either. From Wang Hu's acceptance of bribes from Third Uncle to Wu Yan's reliance on Vice Sect Master Ma's power to directly enter the Seven Absolutes Hall, although he hadn't seen many big shots on the mountain, the great image of those big shots in his childhood heart had already been shattered.

  As for the things these two people lost, Han Li not only didn't want to return them but also wanted to hide them away mischievously.

  Thinking of this, Han Li immediately took down a small leather bag hanging from his neck. This leather bag was made by his mother with a piece of animal skin when he left home, which was waterproof and moisture-proof, used to hold a peace symbol made of wild boar teeth, hoping to use it to bless him safe and sound, free from illness and disaster.

  Han Litong opened the leather bag, put the bottle and the amulet together, then tightened the bag mouth, and hung it back around his neck.

  After doing all this, he looked around and saw that no one was there. He puffed out his chest, patted the slightly bulging bag at his breast, and felt that it would not attract anyone's attention again.

  At this point, he felt much more at ease in his heart, and was no longer afraid that something unexpected would happen, the bottle would be found by its owner and taken back.

  Han Li quietly put the hammer back in its original place, pretending to be nonchalant, and slowly strolled around Shengshou Valley for a while until it was completely dark before dragging his injured foot back into the house.