Chapter Fifty-Seven: To Kill or To Save

  Tian Qi remembered that when he was stung by a hornet at that time, he went to the hospital and the doctor gave him an intravenous drip, but the pain still lasted for half a night.

  Although it may be due to his young age, he will never forget that pain for the rest of his life.

  Chou Shen is still in a coma at this moment, fortunately, Yingying took his blood pressure and pulse, which are normal, and did not touch the heart meridian, otherwise it would be really troublesome.

  Qiu Shen suddenly ran out without a word, what happened next can only be known after he wakes up.

  But Yan said that he couldn't determine when Qiu Shen would wake up, fortunately his father let her bring a few bottles of antibiotics before leaving, which had some control over the scorpion venom. Qiu Shen was now just in a coma, with symptoms of rapid breathing, weak pulse and muscle spasms not appearing.

  "This kid is really tough, being stung by such a big scorpion and still being like this?" Fatso also knew about scorpions, those were things that could take lives, one of the five poisons.

  Tian Qi recalled the events of last night and felt a lingering fear in his heart. Scorpions, centipedes, snakes, spiders, and geckos - they had encountered four of these five poisonous creatures, and what's more, they were all mutated. It was likely that the gecko had also appeared at the time, but they just hadn't noticed it.

  In the following hours, Yingying was there watching Chou Shen, while Baozi had nothing to do and drilled into his sleeping bag to sleep.

  Tian Qi occasionally glanced at Chou Shen, who still showed no signs of waking up. In her mind, she was thinking that if he didn't wake up by nightfall, what should she do next.

  "Hey Qi Ge, don't worry too much. Isn't there an old Chinese saying that goes 'when the cart reaches the mountain, a path will appear'?" Yingying comforted him, seeing the furrowed brow on his face.

  Tian Qi lifted his head, looking at Yingying, forcing a smile, he knew this smile would be uglier than crying. He wasn't a pessimistic person, but an emotional one. Now that the grudge had run so deep and he himself didn't have a good solution, it seemed quite helpless. If the instructor were here or Zhang Xin were here, they should be able to think of something.

  The waiting time was torturous, Tian Qi went out for a while during the period, but didn't go far, and came back when it was time to eat lunch, also waking up Pangzi to have lunch.

  Chubby stretched out a lazy sleep, this one foot slept very comfortably, because he knew someone was by his side, and it was still daytime, so he didn't have to worry about sleeping uneasily.

  "You can really sleep!" Tian Qi actually admired this aspect of Pangzi, no matter what happened, eating and sleeping he never cut corners, but he himself couldn't do the same, when he had something on his mind he would easily lose sleep and also lose his appetite.

  Just as the three of them were eating, there was a knock at the door.

  "Who is it?" Tian Qi stood inside the door and asked, while Pangzi and Yingying were also ready with their magical instruments.

  There was no response from outside, the knocking sound continued, but Tian Qi found that this knocking sound was very regular, not like an animal made it, more like a person politely knocking on the door.

  Tian Qi was hesitant, wondering if there were really others here, but why didn't they respond to his words? The knocking sound continued, but the frequency became higher and higher, and the sound grew louder, as if it had become somewhat urgent.

  "This damn ancestral hall, the walls don't have windows, and even the door doesn't have a window." The fat man said somewhat nervously. Sometimes things that can be seen are not scary, it's the things that can't be seen that are most terrifying.

  They can't wait any longer, Tian Qi carefully took down the wooden board on the door, he and Pangzi stood on either side of the two doors, Yingying was beside Qiu Shen.

  Because of the long years, the door was no longer so flexible. Fatzi and Tianqi used all their strength to open a crack in the wooden door, but they also saw the situation outside the door clearly.

  "Ma Wen!" Fatso exclaimed.

  That's right, it was last night that the one who appeared scared away those mutated insects and then saw Tianqi and others not attacking but running away and disappearing, Ma Wen.

  Tian Qi was shocked, it was daytime, he was a dead man, how could he appear here, had he evolved or something?

  But when Tian Qi looked at his watch, he understood what was going on. At noon, the time of day when yin energy is strongest, people generally think that nighttime is when yin energy is most intense, but this isn't so. It's like the Taiji diagram, which has a boundary point; only when you're at this boundary point is the yin or yang energy at its thickest.

  If someone says they saw a ghost at noon, it's not something unusual, but such situations are relatively rare.

  Tian Qi saw Ma Wen's eyes through the gap in the door. Those eyes seemed to have lost some confusion, but instead had a sense of urgency, without any hostility.

  Before Tian Qi could ask, Ma Wen opened his mouth and pointed to the inside of it with his hand. To their surprise, there was no tongue in his mouth, which looked very terrifying. No wonder he couldn't speak. Then he raised his other hand, which held some plants.

  "There are herbs!" Yingying also walked over and recognized one of the plants by name.

  Ma Wen seemed to understand Yingying's words, and nodded immediately. He saw Ou Shen lying there, picked up the herbs and pointed at Ou Shen, making a hoarse voice.

  Tian Qi was puzzled in his heart. What was Ma Wen doing here? Was he here to treat Chou Shen's illness, judging from his appearance it seemed so.

  "Let's open the door together, fatty!" Tian Qi finally made a decision. This time period was very short, and Ma Wen also knew it, otherwise he wouldn't have become so urgent. Once past the critical point, even the most powerful ghostly object would be reduced to nothing in an instant.

  And even if he really wanted to do something bad, he wouldn't choose this time.

  Chubby was initially hesitant, but after looking at Tianqi's eyes, he didn't mind anymore. Tianqi must have had his reasons for doing so.

  The door opened and Ma Wen walked in. The fat man stood at the side, holding a black jade in one hand and Tian Qi's black staff in the other, ready to strike at any moment.

  But Ma Wen seemed not to have seen him at all, and walked straight towards Qiu Shen, squatting down to examine Qiu Shen's wound.

  It seems that the treatment is indeed deep-seated, and Tian Qi has put his mind at ease, but he still maintains the highest vigilance. After all, this situation is too bizarre, and it's unlikely to appear even in a dream, yet it has appeared in reality, right now.

  A person who had been missing for many years appeared, with his heart hollowed out, clearly a dead body, and his appearance was exactly the same as when he disappeared all those years ago, without any change, otherwise Tian Qi and the others wouldn't have recognized him so easily. The village chief said that it was taken by those people who were looking for his son to be their guide.

  What's even more bizarre is that this dead person is now treating Qiu Shen's illness. How did he know that Qiu Shen was injured?

  Tian Qi's mind was full of all kinds of questions, but now wasn't the time to ask them. Ma Wen was busy treating Chou Shen's injuries.

  He kept making various gestures with his hands.

  "Your meaning is to grind these herbs, right?" Yinyin guessed.

  Ma Wen nodded frequently, meaning that Yingying was right.

  This task was handed over to Fatty, and before long, those herbs were reduced to powder.

  Ma Wen took over, applied some to Qiu Shen's wound, then poured some water and fed it to Qiu Shen, who was now in a coma and difficult to feed. Yingying took over from there.

  Watching Qiu Shen almost finish drinking, Ma Wen stood up.

  Tian Qi also stood up, thinking that Ma Wen was going to say something, but unexpectedly, Ma Wen ran out without saying a word, leaving everyone in the room stunned for half a day.

  "This guy really likes running, just like last night!" Fatso muttered.

  Tian Qi stood at the door and looked up at the sun in the sky. He knew why Ma Wen didn't say a word and ran away. It was almost time for the Extreme Sun, if he didn't leave now, he wouldn't be able to leave anymore.

  "We can't go any further, so we might as well stay here. There are many corners in the temple that don't get sunlight, aren't there?" said Fatso.

  Tian Qi shook his head, indicating that he didn't know either. Maybe there was something unspoken, but his intuition told him that Ma Wen would come to them again, since he had already chosen to appear.

  In the old man's account, this village wasn't that terrifying, at least there weren't those mutated animals, these should be things that happened later, too many variables made people unexpected, now they actually met Ma Wen, Tian Qi finally saw hope.

  Chou's condition improved rapidly after drinking the herbal medicine. The redness and swelling around his wound gradually subsided, and his face was no longer deathly pale. These were all signs that the poison had been neutralized, and it was only a matter of time before he woke up.