Chapter 87: The Miserable Guo Er

I was jolted awake by a nightmare. In the dream, I was being chased by a fat, squirming giant worm. No matter how hard I ran, I could not shake it off, and in the end it latched onto me. That was not all. Its mouth was shaped like a chrysanthemum, and after it wrapped around me, that chrysanthemum shaped mouth split open and lunged at me.

Cold sweat kept pouring down my body. In the next moment, I thrashed awake. The moment I opened my eyes, before I even had time to wipe the sweat away, I saw two “sly” faces right in front of me.

“So our nephew is awake,” one of them said. Needless to say, that one was Hui Jue.

“What nephew? That is my disciple. Stop randomly claiming relatives.” The other voice belonged to Old Man Jiang.

My head throbbed. These two old men would not even let me rest in peace. I wiped my sweat away, pushed those two “sly” faces aside, and sat up. Only then did I realize I was lying in an unfamiliar bed. Looking out the window, I understood I was still in Guo Er’s house.

“Master, how long was I unconscious?” I asked weakly.

“Stop pretending for me,” Old Man Jiang said. “You were out for half an hour. Just mental exhaustion. If you keep acting like this, do you not want to do your ‘training’ today?”

He shot me a glance and then took out a small porcelain bottle from his precious yellow cloth bag. He poured out a black pill and shoved it into my mouth.

A bitter yet cool taste spread through my mouth. I recognized this pill. I had taken it once before, when we encountered the snake spirit.

“Hmph. What a waste of my treasure,” Old Man Jiang snorted, though he did not look the least bit reluctant.

“Look at your master, so stingy. Come be my disciple instead,” the old monk Hui Jue always managed to stir things up at the perfect time.

“You bald donkey, believe I will beat you,” Old Man Jiang said, neck stiffening in anger.

“Come on then, one on one,” Hui Jue replied without backing down, even slipping into a bit of Beijing slang in his excitement.

I could not be bothered with their nonsense. I closed my eyes to rest. If not for the old monk diverting the conflict, my master would not have let me off so easily for pretending to be weak. That pill really was effective. As it dissolved and mixed with saliva, I immediately felt a cool sensation in my brain, and I became much more comfortable.

The room was noisy because of the two old men, and soon several people came in.

I looked over. Su Rou had arrived, along with Guo Er’s parents and his wife.

As soon as Su Rou entered, he proudly held up the tiger claw amulet and handed it to Old Man Jiang.

“Master Jiang, I followed your instructions and washed it with medicinal water. Take a look, is it clean now?”

Old Man Jiang examined it and nodded in satisfaction. He patted Su Rou on the head.

“You kid is still the sharp one. My disciple is just a fool, always trying to be a hero.”

Then he reattached the tiger claw to a red cord and put it back around my neck.

I touched the tiger claw that had been with me for over ten years and felt a sense of reassurance. I casually asked, “Master, what exactly needed medicinal washing?”

“Talking about this makes me angry,” Old Man Jiang said. “Is that how you treat a tiger claw? Do you even know what that worm was? And you used it to stab that thing. Of course it gets tainted with foul energy. You used it like that and basically wasted two years of nurturing it.”

He got angrier as he spoke and could not help but smack me again.

I felt wronged. He never told me how to use it. What else was I supposed to do? Chew it and swallow it, then turn into a tiger?

I held the tiger claw and said, “Two years wasted is fine. I have worn it for over ten years anyway. I will keep wearing it.”

That almost made Old Man Jiang hit me again, but at that moment Guo Er’s mother coughed, and he restrained himself.

I also looked over curiously. I noticed Guo Er’s family all looked deeply troubled. Old Man Jiang sighed and said, “Hui Jue, let us go up and take another look. In terms of medical skill, you are better than me.”

“Very well,” Hui Jue replied with a compassionate expression. I did not know why, but every time I saw that look I felt like hitting him. Of course, I would never dare, nor could I, mainly because I had no control over that impulse.

The group left. Su Rou quickly came over to me.

“San Wa Er, you really scared me this time.”

“Well, I am fine now, right? Not bad, you came faster than I expected,” I said. Honestly, waiting while smoking earlier had been torture. If they had been any later, I might have blacked out again, and that worm might have…

“What do you mean I came fast?” Su Rou complained. “You know how remote your place is? It took me two hours just to get here. I even had to bring a dog. Sometimes it could walk, sometimes it could not, so I had to carry it.”

“How did you get here then? And how is the dog?”

“The dog is fine. Your master fed it some herbal medicine and said its recovery ability is strong. It will be fine in a couple of days. As for how we got here, that was the impressive part. Your master carried me down the mountain. He ran like the wind. After we got down, Hui Jue insisted on pulling me along. I could not keep up, so they took turns carrying me. Later your master said I was a burden and left me behind. I was worried about you, so I still followed all the way here,” Su Rou said without stopping.

I glanced at Su Rou’s build and swallowed. My master and the others really were still full of strength despite their age.

“What is the situation outside now? And what about that worm, and Guo Er?” I asked.

I had only been unconscious for half an hour and did not know what had been done.

“That worm was sealed with a talisman by your master and put into a wooden box. He said he will deal with it on the mountain later. As for Guo Er, he is in bad shape. He keeps coughing blood. Hui Jue said his internal organs are damaged and gave a prescription to stop the bleeding and told them to send him to the hospital.”

“Then send him to the hospital quickly. Why are we still waiting for my master to come?” I said.

“Your master said something first,” Su Rou replied. “He said the essence blood has already been partially drained. Even if he goes to the hospital, it will not help much. His body will likely remain weak.”

Su Rou looked at me with a serious expression. “San Wa Er, that worm really was a hungry ghost? That powerful? It can even drain essence blood?”

“I do not really understand hungry ghosts either. Come on, let us go upstairs and take a look.”

By then, the pill had fully dissolved. My mind had completely recovered, even clearer than before I fainted. I got up from the bed.

Only then did I realize my body was sore all over. My mind had recovered, but my body had not.

“San Wa Er, are you sure you are okay?” Su Rou asked worriedly.

“Get lost. I am not missing any limbs. How could I not be fine?”

We went upstairs and found Guo Er’s room. My master and the others were indeed there, along with Guo Er’s family.

The room was already small, and with so many people inside it felt crowded. I squeezed in with Su Rou. Guo Er’s mother saw me immediately. His father coughed and told Guo Dongliang to take his younger sister outside first.

Once Guo Dongliang left, both parents tried to kneel toward me, but Hui Jue and Old Man Jiang each grabbed one of them and stopped them.

“Masters, please let us kneel. My son did not behave well and attracted something he should not have. This young master saved him,” Guo’s mother said emotionally.

Old Man Jiang and Hui Jue refused, forcing them back up.

“He acted because he should,” Old Man Jiang said. “Everything he has learned is for this. If you kneel to him, you will be taking away his fortune instead.”

Only then did the Guo family calm down.

I glanced at Guo Er. Tsk, tsk.

His face had turned a strange gray black color. In just this short time, his cheeks had sunken in, and there was blood at the corner of his mouth. He looked extremely weak.

“My son…” Guo’s mother asked anxiously.

“Hard to say,” Hui Jue said solemnly. “But if that thing stays inside him for a few more days, even gods would not be able to save him. His internal organs are already being eaten away. From what I see, only his stomach and intestines are still affected. Send him to a hospital. A big one. Spend whatever it takes. I cannot guarantee he will survive.”