For one wish in my heart

  When Liu Zhi saw the other party pull out a gun, he knew that he couldn't defeat him with just his fists and feet. Fortunately, Liu Zhi's trump card wasn't just his martial arts skills; he had also studied hypnosis in a hypnotic society and had achieved some success. Later, when Liu Xingxu passed on the Five Ghosts' legacy to him, Liu Zhi discovered that Western hypnosis was essentially similar to the Soul-Confusing Technique in magic. With the magical legacy, Liu Zhi's spiritual power became even stronger than before, and his hypnosis skills were also much more effective. To be safe, Liu Zhi secretly released the Five Ghosts; if the hypnosis didn't work, the Five Ghosts would take action.

  The two men locked eyes, and the old man immediately fell into a hypnotic trance. The gun in his hand didn't turn into a poisonous snake, but under Liu Zhi's suggestion, the old man treated the gun as if it were a poisonous snake and hastily threw it away. The gun drew an arc and fell into the abyss.

  Liu Zhi said faintly, "Now you turn around, in front of you is a big road, keep walking forward!" The boss immediately turned around and walked forward without hesitation. After taking a few steps, he fell off the cliff and came to his senses instantly. It was too late, and a mournful cry echoed through the sky.

  At this point, Liu Zhi knew heaved a sigh of relief, and sat down on the ground with a thud. This was his first time killing someone, and it was three people at that. Two had fallen into the pit, and one lay not far from his feet. From a psychological perspective, Liu Zhi was a law-abiding citizen. Although the other party wanted to kill him, he belonged to self-defense, but psychologically, he couldn't accept it for a while. Although he didn't vomit, his heart was also extremely uncomfortable, and his face looked very bad. It took a long time before he came back to himself, seeing Lao Er's corpse still in front of him. Fortunately, until now, this place was remote, and no one had come.

  Liu Zhi found a photo of himself on Lao Er's body, and his mind was filled with suspicion. Who wanted to put him in a desperate situation? From the ID card found on Lao Er's body, Liu Zhi knew that Lao Er's name was He Zhao Shi, from Suzhou. Liu Zhi remembered the address so that he could investigate the reason later. It was Liu Zhi's first time killing someone, and he was very nervous. In the end, he used hypnosis to control the opponent but didn't ask who the mastermind was. Now he regretted it, but it was too late. Liu Zhi put the ID card back on the corpse and kicked the body into the abyss. He estimated that no one would reach the bottom of the abyss, so the three should be listed as missing persons. The possibility of finding their bodies was very small.

  Liu Zhi knew again searched the backpack, apart from some money, it was just clothes and other things. Liu Zhi put the money in his own waist bag, then threw the backpack into the abyss as well. It's unknown whether the two people who fell into the abyss were dead or alive. Liu Zhi felt a bit uneasy, so he sent the five ghosts to investigate. The Five Ghosts had a technique similar to the "Ear Report God" in their Yin Bing tactics. Liu Zhi found that Lao Da and Lao San's bodies were twisted, like old rag dolls, with very strange postures, covered by the tree thicket and bushes, already dead. Liu Zhi put his mind at ease, sat down on the side of the road to rest for a while, and calm his emotions.

  Liu Zhi didn't want to stay in this place any longer. He saw another mountain road not far away, which led to the other side of the mountain, where he had come from. After carefully looking around, he found that nothing was left behind at the scene, so he headed towards that mountain road. As he walked, he thought to himself, who wanted him dead? It seemed like he didn't have any deep grudges with anyone. After thinking carefully, he realized that those three unprofessional assassins were from Suzhou based on their accents, and he had found an ID card on the second assassin, He Zhaoshi, which proved that they were indeed from Suzhou. Suzhou was not far from Shanghai, so it should be related to Shanghai. In Shanghai, there was one person who held a grudge against him - the monk who had sneaked into his home and stolen books that night. But he shook his head, thinking that the possibility was low. The monk wouldn't know his itinerary, and he wouldn't kill him just because of the book theft. Another possible connection was with Yu Jiajia, but she would never harm him. Could it be someone related to her? However, she had already taken a leave and gone back home to Hangzhou when Liu Zhi left. The people behind her were also unlikely suspects.

  Is it unrelated to himself, but related to his grandfather? At this point, Liu Zhi didn't understand. What kind of grudge did Grandpa have with outsiders, Liu Zhi didn't know. For a while, Liu Zhi couldn't figure out the situation, and he didn't dare tell others about today's events. The other party actually followed him to this remote mountainous area. If he died, he would only be considered a missing person if he was thrown into the deep mountains and forests. How vicious!

  At this thought, Liu Zhi's heart moved and he wondered who was behind him. There was a clear clue that outsiders were not aware of his itinerary, only insiders or someone who had inquired about the foundation or called the foundation's hotline could know his schedule, and then come to commit the crime. From this perspective, it might be possible to find out who was behind him!

  After figuring it out, Liu Zhi didn't bother with the matter anymore and hurried back to Ma's village. He walked for a long time along the road, but because he was preoccupied with thoughts, he didn't notice the mountain path turning and sadly found himself lost! He went back along the original road, turned his head again, and found that the mountain path he came from also had a fork in it, which made him even more bewildered.

  He looked around and his eyes lit up, discovering a figure appearing and disappearing in the mountain forest ahead. It seemed to be a woman with a large bamboo basket on her back, probably a herb collector. Since she was a herb collector, she must be familiar with the local roads. Liu Zhi knew hurriedly rushed towards her, looking close but actually separated by several miles.

  The other party also discovered Liu Zhi Zhi, and Liu Zhi Zhi rushed to the front of the other party. Upon closer inspection, he was momentarily captivated by the other party's appearance. The other party was a young girl dressed in traditional Miao attire, with a bamboo basket slung over her back. As a mountain girl, she wouldn't wear makeup, yet her natural complexion left Liu Zhi Zhi stunned. Her skin was particularly striking - pale with a hint of rosiness, like jade stone. Liu Zhi Zhi even felt some doubt: how could an herb-picking girl, exposed to the elements, have such flawless skin? Over the past few days, Liu Zhi Zhi had seen many Miao girls, full of youthful vitality, but their skin usually had a healthy wheatish complexion. Skin as pale and luminous as this was rare even among city beauties who applied sunscreen daily. In terms of skin quality alone, Yu Jiajia couldn't compare to the Miao girl before him.

  Liu Zhi suddenly forgot his purpose, and the girl in front of him might have seen such a scene many times. She smiled slightly, like a spring flower blooming: "This gentleman from afar, are you a tourist?" Although her Mandarin was not completely standard, it had a unique flavor to it.

  "Beautiful Miao sister, I'm not a tourist, I'm a volunteer from a charity foundation who came to inspect the school here. I heard there's a Tiankeng nearby so I came to take a look, but got lost instead. Can you tell me how to get to Majiazai?"

  The Miao girl's face flushed with pleasure at Liu Zhi's praise, and she couldn't help but smile again: "So it's an honored guest. To get to Ma Family Stockade from here, take the road that forks to the right up ahead, then choose the middle path at the next fork. There's a stone bridge up ahead; after crossing it, turn left, and you'll be there in about three or four li."

  "Thank you, sister, for showing me the way!" Liu Zhi thanked her and noticed a reddish-brown flat mushroom-like thing in her medicine basket. Suddenly, he thought of something: "Sister, is that red thing in your basket Ganoderma lucidum?"

  "It's wild ganoderma lucidum I picked in the mountain forest just now."

  "Can you sell me these few Ganoderma lucidum?" When Liu Zhi heard that they were wild Ganoderma lucidum, his heart skipped a beat. As a martial artist who had reached the stage of "easy tendons", he knew that to accelerate this process, apart from using the correct method and sufficient nutrition, combining it with some excellent elixirs was a good approach. Wild Ganoderma lucidum was an excellent ingredient, but normally he couldn't find anywhere to buy them. Those shops claiming to sell wild Ganoderma lucidum - who knew if they were genuine or not!

  "You want to buy my lingzhi, but the price is not low!"

  "Then please quote a price, sister. I have some money on me. If it's not enough, please tell me your address and I'll go to your house to buy it after I get the money!"

  The girl put down the basket, inside which were three lingzhi mushrooms and some other medicinal herbs that Liu Zhi didn't recognize. The three lingzhi mushrooms were two small ones and one big one. The girl said: "This big one is 1,500 yuan, the two small ones are 500 yuan each. These have all been aged for a few years, this big one has already been aged for over ten years, the small ones have also been aged for three or four years, how about it?"

  "Here!" Liu Zhi Zhi took out the money from his body, originally there was only over a thousand yuan on him, but in He Zhao Shi's three killers' backpacks, they found more than five thousand yuan. Liu Zhi Zhi handed 2,500 yuan to Miao girl, Miao girl rummaged through the basket and took out several coarse yellow papers, wrapped the lingzhi mushrooms well, and handed them to Liu Zhi Zhi. Liu Zhi Zhi took it in his hand, and then found something else in the basket, which looked like a beehive after closer inspection.

  "What is this?" Liu Zhi asked, pointing at the beehive.

  "This is a wild beehive, the honey on this side has crystallized, and there's still some viscous honey in the middle, as well as some bee brood. After taking out the honey and brood, the hive can be used to make wine, which is a great medicine, especially for stomach ulcers! If you want it, I'll give it to you for 50 yuan! I picked two-thirds of it, almost got stung by the bees." Miao girl explained when Liu Zhi asked about the beehive.

  "Give it to me then!" Liu Zhi heard this and took out a 50 yuan note, putting the wild beehive in his hand. He had read before in "Science for the Masses" that the beehives of honeybees, due to the bees collecting nectar from various flowers with different medicinal properties, the bees' secretions condensing into the hive, naturally contain the essence of a hundred medicines. Honeybees have existed for tens of millions of years without being harmed by bacteria and other microorganisms, all because of this reason, it is itself a kind of good medicine. The so-called bee glue in society is extracted from these, but those are artificially cultivated, how can they compare to this wild beehive?

  "Ah Mei, you live in that village, may I know your lovely name? Maybe next time I'll come to buy some herbs from you!" Liu Zhi asked, not only wanting to buy medicine, but also thinking how beautiful this girl was. Although Liu Zhi had a crush on You Jiajia, being able to meet such a beautiful girl was also a kind of longing in his heart.

  "I live in the beehive village on the mountain waist, you can call me Ali, my mother gave birth to me when the pear blossoms were in full bloom! What's your brother's name?" Ali said, she also had a good impression of Liu Zhi, after all, he was a talented and refined scholar.

  "My name is Liu Zhizhi, I'm from Shenyang. Maybe I'll be a volunteer teacher at Mazhai Elementary School for a year." Liu Zhizhi also had a very good impression of Ali at first sight, so he talked a bit more.

  Liu Zhi knew that Old Sun had asked him to stay as a volunteer, supervising the use of donations. Now he was having some second thoughts. Liu Zhi had been feeling down since the Yu Jiajia incident and leaving for a while had helped him calm down. He had to move on from love and continue living. Moreover, he discovered that this place sold rare and precious wild herbs which would be beneficial for his martial arts training. He was starting to think about staying temporarily.

  There is another important reason, which is his grandfather's wish. In recent days, Liu Zhi has seen children in the mountainous areas studying under such poor conditions, and he has quietly turned his grandfather's wish into his own. He made up his mind to come back and ask Yu Jiajia about the situation, and then he would come to teach here for a year, also serving as an inspector for the foundation, supervising the use of donations.

  Actually, Liu Zhi had another thought in his heart that he himself was not clear about. As a man, Liu Zhi was unconsciously attracted to the beautiful Ali, which had nothing to do with love, but was just a man's nature. He thought he had a deep affection for You Jiajia, but after all, he was too young and couldn't understand his own inner world. Only someone who could see through everything, whose heart was already transparent, could truly understand this. This kind of enlightenment was not something that ordinary people could attain.

  Liu Zhi knew the way clearly, waved goodbye to Ah Li, and followed the road for more than an hour before finally returning to Mazhai Village. Mazhai Village is a mixed village of Han and Miao people located at the foot of a mountain by a river. In the early years, this village was purely a Miao village, and all its residents had the surname Ma, hence the name Mazhai Village.

  It is now a mixed settlement of Han and Miao people, and the Ma surname has become a minority in the village, but the name of the village has been passed down. The foundation's investigation team lived in the villagers' homes because there were no hotels or tourist resorts in this area, and the investigation team was not here for tourism, so they could only live in the villagers' homes.

  Liu Zhi came back when the sky was already dark, just in time for dinner. Old Sun laughed and said: "Little Liu, if you had come back any later, I'm afraid there would have been no food left. We were just discussing sending someone to look for you after dinner. Who would have thought that you'd arrive at exactly the right moment? How was your outing?"

  Liu Zhi-zhi laughed and said: "How can the place recommended by Old Sun be bad? It really opened my eyes, the natural wonders of heaven and earth are breathtaking!" As he spoke, he put down the wrapped package on the dinner table and prepared to eat. The host's daughter added a set of bowls and chopsticks, and the dinner was not sumptuous, mostly wild vegetables from the mountains.

  Sun Lao and others were all in this generation of partners, but at night they slept scattered in many homes. Fortunately, there were not many people in the inspection team, only about ten. Sun Lao found that Liu Zhi knew something was wrong and asked: "Little Liu, what did you bring back from the mountain?"

  Liu Zhi opened the paper package. Sun Lao hesitated for a moment and asked in an uncertain tone, "Is this really Lingzhi?"

  "Not bad, it's indeed a wild ganoderma!" Liu Zhi said with some pride.

  Everyone's eyes were fixed on the three lingzhi mushrooms on the table, with a curious and inquiring expression.

  "Xiao Liu, what did you pick in the mountain?" Sun Lao asked.

  "No, I bought it from a Miao medicine collector named Ali. And there's another wild beehive." When Liu Zhi knew the situation of getting lost and meeting Ali, Sun Lao and others finally understood the cause. The master's parents and daughter showed a strange expression on their faces. The daughter wanted to say something, but was stopped by her father with his eyes. However, Liu Zhi and Sun Lao did not notice it, they focused on the Ganoderma lucidum.

  Sun Lao said with a bit of embarrassment: "Xiao Liu, can you spare one for me?"

  "Sun Lao, since you want it, just pick one! Even if a junior like me gives it to you!" Liu Zhi Zhuo said with a smile.

  "How is that possible?!"

  "This lingzhi mushroom isn't worth much money, but I think it can be used to make some medicinal dishes. Don't be polite, Old Sun!"

  "Alright, consider it a favor I owe you!" Sun Lao didn't mince words either. He took out a small one and sniffed it by his nose, with an expression of satisfaction. In fact, the lingzhi didn't have much medicinal fragrance; it was mostly psychological.

  Others saw this and didn't dare to ask for more, after all, only two were left. Everyone ate and chatted, after dinner, everyone came out of the house. The mountainous area is different from the city, the sky has already darkened, not completely black, with sparse stars hanging in the sky. Everyone talked outside the house for a while, arranged the schedule for tomorrow, and went to rest one by one. There's nothing entertaining here, so it's better to rest early.

  Liu Zhi and Sun Lao rested in this house, the two slept in the same room. Sun Lao got a wild ganoderma lucidum and had a conversation about it. From the conversation about ganoderma lucidum, Liu Zhi discovered that Sun Lao was actually very good at taking care of his body, knew many nourishing methods, and gained some insight.

  "Xiaoliu, there are many good things in the southwest mountains, such as Ganoderma lucidum, Sanqi, Shouwu, Jigucao, Fu Ling and Tianma, etc. Unfortunately, it's hard to get them! If I were younger, maybe I would live in the mountains for a while, find some herb collectors, and collect some good things!" Sun Lao sighed.

  "Uncle Sun, this morning you told me to stay here as a volunteer teacher for a year, I've thought it over and decided to stay!" Liu Zhi finally made up his mind.

  Young people should have this determination, do something practical, and when they get old, it's also a valuable experience to be proud of! How did you come to realize this so quickly!" Sun Lao was somewhat surprised.

  "My grandfather had a wish before he passed away, let me take a look. After all these days, the children in the mountainous areas are very pitiful and also very lovely. I don't want our donations to fatten up a group of parasites. This was my grandfather's wish, and now it is also my wish!" said Liu Zhi quietly.