Chapter Thirty: Ten Years in the Mountains (Part 2)

  The next day when I woke up, it was already afternoon. I moved my numb and sore body, feeling no big difference. Thinking back to last night's experience, it felt like I had entered a cave of garbage.

  Just as I turned my head unintentionally, I was stunned! The three-eyed ghost face on my shoulder had disappeared! I immediately sat up and grabbed my left shoulder to take a closer look.

  It's really gone! The excitement is like a crazy tidal wave! I jumped up and landed on the ground, hugging a broken stool and bursting out laughing! With tears in my eyes, I shouted: "Damn it! My suffering wasn't in vain! It's gone! It's really damn gone!..."

  Just as I was dancing wildly, a rather annoying voice suddenly rang out: "I'm telling you, kid, what's with the stench? That thing is still there!" I stopped my movements and turned around to gaze coldly at the doorway, where I saw Nai Kun grinning mischievously at me.

  I stretched out my arm and shouted to him: "Fart, look! It's gone! I'm done!" As soon as I finished speaking, he burst into a fit of laughter: "What a fart! I said it was there, and it was indeed - right behind your back, old man! The Dragon Armor Master trapped it with his dragon armor!"

  What? On my back?! I was stunned at the time, and hurriedly ran to the mirror to check. Sure enough, on my back there was a big red circle, with various strange patterns and symbols drawn around it! This was exactly the same pattern as in the temple yesterday! What made me even more depressed was that the ghost face was actually inside that circle!

  A sense of frustration welled up in me, and I threw away the stool in my hand, staring blankly at Nie Kun standing at the door. This old guy was also grinning mischievously at me. Just as I was about to lose my temper, I noticed that his gaze was a bit off, sliding down from my face all the way to my crotch.

  I looked down in confusion, damn! It turns out I was naked! Hurriedly covering myself with my hand: "What are you looking at, old man!" Just then, this shameless old guy burst into a sly laugh: "Oh my, nowadays kids are really something, so young and already have pubic hair!"

  I immediately had a black face, and I cursed: "Nonsense, I'm already 15 years old. In the old society, this would be several children's father!" This old guy heard me finish speaking, and he held onto the door frame, laughing loudly! ?? Four Little Villains 30

  I looked at the old man with a gloomy face, thinking to myself: "How can you be just like my dad! Laugh, laugh until you die! If I weren't afraid of being beaten by you, I would go over there and give you a good scolding!" I walked over to the bed, grabbed a quilt and wrapped it around my waist. When he had finished laughing, he waved his hand at me: "You little brat really knows how to deal with my temper, look at this!" He held up what was in his hand.

  "Your wild rooster!" I replied irritably. He tilted his head after hearing me: "Don't be silly, this is specially cooked for you. Come on, kiddo's dad, let's get started!" Talking about eating, my stomach really did start growling. After quickly getting dressed, I snatched the wild rooster from his hand and ran out.

  As my friend and I were eating pheasant stew with wild vegetables, I saw my Second Master walking over. We hastily put down our bowls and chopsticks, and the old master sat down beside us, waving his hand to indicate that we should continue eating. Then I heard him say: "The yin soldiers on your body have been brought under control, but in the future you will still need to replenish them with yin energy, lest they recur. From now on, it's up to you to find a way to resolve this problem yourself - whether or not you can find a solution is up to your own good fortune!" Having said that, he handed me a porcelain bottle: "You must take the medicine in this bottle every day without fail; when it runs out, come ask me for more." With that, the old master turned and left before I could even ask him any questions.

  I stared at the medicine bottle in my hand, then looked up at Niekun: "Am I usually this brief and to the point? I never speak nonsense!" Niekun spat out the chicken bones from his mouth, grinned and said: "What's nonsense? That's called style!"

  I rolled my eyes at him: "Forget it, just pretend I didn't ask, you'd better hurry up and eat the meat!" The old man ate while chuckling to himself and said with a smile: "Don't think you're getting off cheap, let me tell you, this medicine, Old Master rarely gives it to anyone. Now that I'm telling you, you little brat, what's wrong? You're still not happy?"

  I waved the small medicine bottle in my hand and asked him, "You tell me what this medicine is first, then I'll decide whether to sell it or not."

  "What medicine? You young man remember this is called Dahmo Golden Elixir, also known as Dragon and Tiger Pill! It's a treasure that strengthens the body, and unleashes potential!"

  Looking at his smug face, I chuckled to myself. Since it's a treasure, this young master won't be polite! Smiling, I flashed it in front of him and then put it away in my pocket. Ni Kun looked at me with envy: "You little brat really are the old man's grandson, otherwise he wouldn't have given it to you so readily!" He muttered under his breath: "This old man is really biased, back when I was dying to get some, I had to beg for two bottles, now he just opens his mouth and calls you 'young master' as if that's enough, people really can't be compared!"

  Although he spoke in a low voice, I heard every word clearly. I waved my hand at him: "Alright, what's the big deal if I give you a few more? But let me ask you, at your age, why are you still eating this stuff? To boost your virility?"

  "Get out of here! That's for my son to eat!"

  "Do you have children too?" I asked in surprise. I had always thought that this old bachelor was just a single man, but it turned out he actually had a son!

  Ni Kun glared at me with a fierce gaze: "Nonsense! I'm not a eunuch, how could I possibly have no son?"

  I hastily waved my hand at him: "Where is that kid of yours now? I've never seen him?" As soon as I said this, he smiled happily and said: "My young son is a few years older than you, and has been training outside for a long time. In the future, you two brothers will have the opportunity to meet." After finishing speaking, he didn't continue on this topic anymore.

  Something is wrong! I thought to myself: It seems that the relationship between these two isn't very harmonious. However, this is their family affair, and I don't need to get involved in it.

  After finishing the last piece of meat, he looked at me with a mischievous face, patted my shoulder and said: "Kid, starting tomorrow, you'll have to show a spirit that's not afraid of hardship and death! The real test is waiting for you!" After saying that, he patted his butt and left.

  What's wrong with everyone? Why are they all speaking in half sentences and mumbling?

  The next day, I understood what he meant. Goodness gracious, it almost took my life! Before dawn broke, Ni Kun got me up and had me carry two large iron buckets that were as tall as my waist to fetch water. He wanted me to fill the three large water vats in the courtyard before the old Daoist rose.

  I immediately protested, this is purely a retaliatory strike, it's obvious that it's envy and jealousy! In the end, under my strong protest, he added another one: not a single drop of water is allowed to spill out, otherwise this bucket will have to be refilled! Finally, he also made a ruthless remark, saying that this was the old master's order, and if I didn't obey, go find the old man to argue with him!

  I heard, got it! My second grandfather's words, how dare I disobey? Alright! After carrying this load, I was paralyzed! This damn thing is not something for someone of my age to do. That small river is at least a mile away from this broken temple, and I'm still carrying two large iron buckets, and I have to fill them with water and come back without spilling a drop, isn't this trying to take my life?

  I lay on the ground, waving my hand at him and putting on a dead pig not afraid of boiling water look: "If you have the ability, strangle me to death now, otherwise I'll just stay here, even if you beat me to death, I won't get up!"

  He didn't show any politeness at all, and with a kick on my butt, he scolded: "What are you pretending to be, kid? What's the medicine that old man gave you for?"

  "Right! I still have Longhu pills here! I took out the medicine bottle from my pocket and looked at him. He glared at me: 'Take one, take too many and you'll burn to death!'"

  Fine, humans are the executioners and I'm just a fish on the chopping block. Whatever you say goes, so I'll just accept my fate! I took out a golden pill and swallowed it without even looking at it. And wouldn't you know it, this medicine is actually quite effective! As soon as the pill entered my stomach, I felt a warm current flowing through my body, circulating throughout my entire being. Before long, the fatigue I had been feeling earlier completely disappeared!

  Just as I was secretly enjoying this feeling, I found that the warmth was getting hotter and hotter, and finally it felt like there was a force inside me that wanted to burst out! I quickly jumped up from the ground, and this time I didn't wait for him to scold or beat me, but instead I humbly grabbed the water bucket and rushed out!

  It's been two years since I've been living like this, and the difficulty of carrying water has also increased. At first, it was just three buckets of water, but later on, watering the vegetable garden was added to my tasks. The route I take is no longer the same either; at first, it was along a flat riverbank, but later on, it became a riverbank lined with all sorts of strange-shaped rocks, and eventually, I even had to climb mountains to fetch water! What's most infuriating is during winter, when I actually have to go break ice to carry water! If not for the Da Mo Jin Dan Long Hu Wan, I really don't know how I would've endured it.

  Of course, I've changed a lot over the past two years. I've grown taller and my body has become stronger. Nowadays, I don't envy those track and field athletes anymore. If they really let me compete with them, I'd be a little bit unbeatable! Not for anything else, but because nowadays when I run, it's also like a gust of wind, swift and speedy!

  I got up early today, just about to go fetch water, when I saw that old scoundrel Nie Kun flash before me: "Wang Can, no fetching water today, let's play something new!"

  "Playing something new? What is it?" I asked him. The old man grinned at me, "Hehe, what are we playing? We're going to play a game of getting beaten up! You think you can run fast, don't you? This time, let's play that!" He didn't give me any explanation and just walked out first. I rolled my eyes, looking up at the sky, thinking: God bless me, I hope this old man competes with me in a running race, I must outrun him to death!

  He took me to the riverbank again, which was all pebbles. I looked at it and laughed, thinking: "I've been carrying water here for almost a year, and I've stepped on almost every stone. If you want to compete with me in running, I won't admit defeat! You're looking for trouble!"

  But to my surprise, the old man didn't give me a chance to catch him, and instead, he pulled out a thick horse jacket and threw it at me. I hastily reached out to catch it. What the...? This is a horse jacket? It's too damn heavy! Before I could react, another black thing flew over, and when I caught it, I saw that it was an iron mask!

  I looked at the thing in my hand and asked irritably, "What are you trying to do, old man? Are we going to reenact 'The Haunted Tower' here?"

  Ni Kun smiled at me and said, "No nonsense, put it on!"

  I helplessly rolled my eyes and obediently put on these clothes. After I finished dressing, he smiled at me: "Well, well, well, people rely on their attire, horses rely on saddles, this set of clothes really makes you look like someone who's asking to be beaten up!"

  I glared at him: "You're the one who's asking for a beating..." Before I could finish, he cut me off: "You want to beat me? Fine! Come on! You little brat, run to the other side of the river first, then charge towards me. If you can make it to my side, I'll let you kick me all you want! What do you say?"

  I looked at him suspiciously: "You won't fight back?"

  "I won't fight back!"

  I said to myself: Ah, finally, old man, I've been waiting for today! Not a moment's hesitation, I took off running! But just as I lifted my foot, I saw him secretly pull out something from his pocket. I took a closer look and damn, it was his mother's slingshot!

  I hastily pointed at him with my finger, and just as I was about to say "you", I felt a loud crash on my forehead! Scared, I quickly shrunk my neck, fortunately, I was wearing an iron mask! At that moment, I got anxious: "You damn ghost!"

  The old man looked at me and burst out laughing: "What's the hurry, kid? I haven't finished speaking yet! I said you can kick me if you rush to my side, but there must be conditions! Otherwise, it would be too easy for you, and I'd lose out! See this slingshot in my hand? You'll be on the opposite side, rushing towards me, and I'll use this slingshot to hit you. Only then can you kick me, of course, you have to dodge. If you get hit three times or more, it doesn't count!"

  After he finished speaking, I immediately let out a loud roar: "What right do you have?"

  "Just look at this old guy with a face full of nonsense, saying to me: 'Do you want to play or not? If you don't want to play, I'll kick you away! I just need to beat you up and that's it!'"

  I hastily waved my hand at him, thinking to myself: What a joke, having something is better than nothing! No matter how difficult it is, I'll have to show you some color! Thinking of this, I gritted my teeth and said to him: "Alright, you're the boss, can't we just listen to you?"

  He was finally satisfied with a heh-heh smile: "Well, let's get started then!" As he spoke, he grabbed a handful of bullets made from yellow mud. I took one look and got scared, grandma! I quickly ran out of there!

  Not having run far, I felt a sudden impact on my back. Then I heard the old man shouting from behind: "This shot is on me, it doesn't count!"

  I turned back and cursed: "Damn it! This doesn't count as a hit for you yet?"

  All I saw was this old guy behind me, hehehe, singing a twisted song: "Let me once, shoot enough, give you all of mine..."