Chapter 13: The Univited Guest

Yan Jin Chang follows the direction of the footprints and discovers that each print is stained with blood. The footprints extend into the grass, and there are also some bloodstains on the nearby blades of grass.

However, it seems that the owner of the footprints and blood has realized he is injured and quickly deals with the traces. So beyond this point, the bloodstains and footprints vanish. The blood is still fresh, and it’s certain that someone has been here not long ago.

He quickly prepares the fish in his hand, wrapping it in leaves and placing it into his qiankun bag. Given the current situation, it is not suitable to start a fire.

Time within the qiankun bag is halted, allowing only dead objects to be stored. But there isn’t much space left inside, so Yan Jin Chang needs to take out some dry rations first.

While eating the dry rations, he stays alert, watching his surroundings. A gust of wind brushes by, making still damp Yan Jin Chang feel a cold.

Although he has already used the Yin Yu Grass to expel impurities from his body. But he has been malnourished since his childhood and is quite weak. As the night draws near, the wind blows make his body shivers uncontrollably.

However, he quickly notices something unusual. The wind direction seems to have changed. Suddenly, Yan Jin Chang remembers something and quickly finishes his dry rations. He returns to the tree he has chosen to rest for the night, and then gazes into the distance.

Under the dark sky, he sees flickering flames in the distance—the small forest where he had been not long ago. The wind blows from that place, carrying a hint of burnt scent along with a cacophony of noise. Because the wind direction has changed, the fire in the opposite forest actually starts to spread towards the village. 

He squints at the trees that are already charred, recognizing that it is the place where he rested before. If he hadn’t moved locations, he would likely be caught up in that chaos from afar.

He has no attachment to this village whatsoever. In his previous life, due to his young age, he couldn’t leave this mountainous area on his own. These mountains are full of dangers, the home for wild beasts. The area close to the village is somewhat safer because those beasts fear the fire in human hands, which is why Yan Jin Chang chooses to rest in the nearby woods.

He does not dare approach the village because those people would drive him away. He has already forgotten most of his childhood, but as far back as he can remember, he has been living near this village for so long.

He withdraws his gaze, walks to the tree. When he is about to climb up, he suddenly touches something unusual and sticky. Something that wasn’t there when he left the tree not long ago. Yan Jin Chang opens his hand to see a red stain on his palm.

It is blood. Furrowing his brows, he slowly retreats, looking up at the tree with caution. Just then, a cold liquid drips onto his face. Yan Jin Chang becomes even more certain that someone is up there. He carefully retreats toward the dense bushes, planning to leave this place first.

The appearance of an injured person nearby means that there is likely someone searching for that person. At present, his body is only that of a child, barely half a person’s height. If he gets caught up in this trouble, he will surely come to no good.

Just as Yan Jin Chang prepares to retreat into the bushes, a shadow suddenly darts down from the tree, heading straight for him! Instinctively, he moves his fingers a few times.

However, having just drawn energy into his body, the spiritual energy inside him is low. The strands of spiritual energy he sends from his fingertips don’t even reach the nearby stones before dissipating.

Meanwhile, the shadow descending from the tree moves swiftly. Just as Yan Jin Chang makes this mistake, they wrap around his limbs and pull him up into the tree!

In that brief moment, only one thought flashes through his mind— “I needs a puppet! No matter the size! A puppet master without a puppet is like a sword cultivator without a sword!”

Once pulled up into the tree by the dark figure, he struggles vigorously but he hears a voice say: “Shh! Don’t move!”

Through the gaps in the leaves, light streams in, allowing Yan Jin Chang to see the person’s face. He instantly recognizes the boy from yesterday, the one who had been hiding in the water and later tossed him a fish.

However, unlike yesterday, the boy’s wheat-colored skin now bears several new wounds. His left eye is wrapped in several layers of cloth, likely containing herbs. Still, blood has stained the bandages, some even dripping down his face.

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Chapter 14: Healing Wounds

When Yan Jin Chang saw the boy yesterday, he was completely soaked. Now, the boy appears ragged, covered in wounds, and bleeding profusely.

The shadow “thing” that ties him to the tree extends from the boy, consisting of black vines with sharp thorns. It’s unclear whether this is intentional or accidental, but the thorns have missed his skin. Therefore, despite the vines tightly wrapping around him, he does not feel any pain.

The boy in front of him clearly looks weak, so simply using his strength to bind Yan Jin Chang has already exhausted him. He lowers his voice, “Don’t move.”

Yan Jin Chang’s fingers twitch slightly. A few thin threads shoot out from his fingertips, accurately piercing into the boy’s hands! The boy is taken aback then looks down. Yan Jin Chang swiftly moves his fingers a few more times, causing the spiritual threads to bind the boy’s hands behind his back!

Previously, he couldn’t bind the surrounding objects because his spiritual threads were too weak and dissipated. But now that they are so close, he does not make a mistake again. The boy stares in surprise, clearly not expecting to be captured. 

Seizing this opportunity, Yan Jin Chang breaks free from the vines wrapping around his hands. He flips his palm, and grips the boy’s neck, pressing him against the nearby tree trunk. He releases some spiritual threads, piercing them into the boy’s hands and feet to secure him to the tree.

He has very little spiritual energy left, and these spiritual threads have already exhausted all of it. However, he cannot show his discomfort, forcing himself to maintain a stern expression.

At this point, a few vines are still tangled around Yan Jin Chang’s waist. But he no longer has the strength to pull them off.

The boy feels the grip around his neck tightening and instantly becomes serious, saying: “Wait, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Yan Jin Chang replies: “Do you think your words are trustworthy?”

The boy releases the vines wrapping around Yan Jin Chang’s waist and continues: “I just want you to help me apply some medicine. I can’t do it myself, and I can offer you a reward.”

As he speaks, the black vines pull out a bag from the boy’s sleeve. Those two vines open the bag for Yan Jin Chang to see.

“I’m not interested…” 

Yan Jin Chang briefly glances at the qiankun bag and asks: “Ebony wood?”

(Ebony wood – 烏木: Ebony is a dense, black hardwood known for its dark color, fine texture, and high density)

The boy replies: “You indeed have a good eye.”

Yan Jin Chang: “……”

The boy urges: “Look around.”

Yan Jin Chang doesn’t even need to look, he already feels that the vines extending from the boy have entangled the entire tree crown. He doesn’t have enough spiritual energy to control such a number of vines at once then escape. However……

Yan Jin Chang says: “I saw some people in black clothes lingering nearby. They must be here to catch you.”

The boy: “……”

Then the boy says: “I really just want you to apply some medicine for me. How about this, you let me go, and I’ll also retract the black vines. I’ll count to three.”

After the boy counts to three, he indeed retracts the black vines. Yan Jin Chang’s spiritual threads are about to wear out anyway, so he simply retracts them.

The boy then points to Yan Jin Chang’s hand still gripping his neck. Yan Jin Chang releases his grip. The boy coughs a few times, covering his mouth, and then pulls out a piece of ebony wood the size of a palm from his qiankun bag.

Yan Jin Chang does not take it but asks: “Is it really just to find someone to apply medicine for you?”

“I just passed by a village and saw a lot of people. After some time, I felt like I couldn’t trust anyone there. In the end, I chose you. But I didn’t expect you to be so fierce!” The boy complains.

Yan Jin Chang: “……”

He takes the ebony wood offered by the boy and instructs: “Turn around and take off your clothes.”

The boy indeed turns around, then quickly undressing his clothes. He pulls his hair to the front, revealing a wound on his back that has already begun to fester and ooze.

Seeing the boy’s unguarded action, Yan Jin Chang is speechless for a moment before saying: “The fact that you’ve made it this far shows that there are many good people in the world…”

The boy’s lips curl into a faint arc, “No, it’s just that I’m so lucky… Ahh!”

The wound on the boy’s back is truly gruesome. Yan Jin Chang spends half an hour using the tools the boy pulled from the qiankun bag to thoroughly clean the pus and fester before applying herbs to the wound.

Throughout the entire process, the boy endures in silence, stifling his cries of pain. He faints several times, only to be jolted awake by the pain.

After Yan Jin Chang finishes applying the herbs, he suddenly remembers something and says: “Actually, I didn’t see any people in black nearby.”

The boy, who has been silently enduring: “……”