Chapter 18: The Martial Artists of This World Part II
“Well, all right then. Oh, my friend wants to buy you a meal. Tell your parents that you will get home late. I will have my driver drive you home,” the old man said.
“Yes, sir. Thank you so much,” answered Bai Zhe.
After Xi Lua hung up, Bai Zhe went straight to an herbalist’s shop downtown near his school. There were customers shopping in the shop; most of them were elderly. The shop staff was busy taking care of them.
The shop owner, who was overseeing orders in the shop, saw a young boy of about 15 years old, enter his shop. He greeted Bai Zhe by himself because all of his staff was busy.
“Hello, what is it that you are looking for? We have herbs in the form of capsules, stems, roots, and leaves. Our shop has them all.” The shop owner inquired about the needs of the boy in front of him. The owner knew that this teenage boy was not part of his main customer base. Asking the boy directly helped him finalise the sale faster and made the shop less busy.
“I want all the herbs on this list. Could you please also check their quality as well?” Bai Zhe handed him a list of more than 30 herbs.
The shop owner read the list before taking another look at Bai Zhe. Bai Zhe knew from the look that the owner was insulting him. That was because these 30 herbs were cheap. Though they were bought in a large quantity, the shop would not make much profit.
“Just a moment, I will tell my staff,” he told Bai Zhe, then called the staff who had just become available to pick up this order. He handed the staff the list and started to calculate the price.
While Bai Zhe was waiting, he felt qi power. It was not the power that was around him but belonged to two martial artists. The boy immediately disguised his qi power.
The shop door opened; an old man and a teenager entered. The old man was wearing a suit that fit him perfectly. Though his face was wrinkled, he was tall and large. He stood with his back straight, like he was in his thirties. The boy beside him had blue hair. He was wearing sleeveless athletic wear that exposed his shoulders and biceps, which showed that he was on a strict training regimen. He wore a pair of famous brand-name sweatpants that Bai Zhe had seen when he did research on clothing brands in this world.
The two newcomers wore iron bangles. The iron had been distilled by qi power. It was called first-level qi iron. If it was smelted by qi that was used for medicine fabrication, it would turn into mid-level qi iron. Its level would be upgraded to high-level qi iron when it was smelted using qi fire in accordance with the principles of Wen Wu fire. The high-level qi iron could be turned into a superior personal weapon. Bai Zhe could sense that they were the two martial artists that he became aware of earlier.
The old man was at the heart level of qi, while the boy was at the primary level. Bai Zhe was still at the first step of the earth level, and he was here to buy herbs to make medicine to strengthen qi.
If he could fully reach the heart level of qi, he would be able to use his qi power and this treasure that he had concealed in his soul, and it would be easier for him to practice higher levels of qi.
“Master Li, what can I do for you today?” The owner greeted the two immediately, leaving his staff to calculate the bill.
“Give him the list bestowed by the elder, Xiao Li,” the old man told the boy who had accompanied him.
The boy pulled out the list and handed it to the shop owner. Even though Bai Zhe was standing at a distance from them, he could see that the herbs on the list had rather strong yang power. When he carefully observed them, he smelled the yang herbs on them. Bai Zhe guessed that one of their family members must have been poisoned by yin power or have a pure yin body, which sometimes could happen from their martial arts practice. If mistreated, the chances for survival were very slim.
“Master Li, I do have an amount of these herbs in stock, but I’m afraid if the amount is this large, we may not have enough,” said the owner.
“Give us all you have,” the boy said harshly.
At this time, a staff member brought Bai Zhe the herbs he ordered along with the bill from his colleague, in order to ring up the purchases.
“May I inspect the products first?” asked Bai Zhe.
“Of course, sir,” the staff member answered. He showed the boy the products and went through the list on the receipt.
“Could I trouble you to change this one and the one next to it? Do you see that they are moldy? Not only are they useless, but they could also poison people who eat or use them. And change that entire bunch of herbs as well. They are so old they likely don’t have medicinal use remaining. Look at this. When you touch them just slightly, they crumble to dust. For this grass, please separate it from the normal grass that has been mixed in with it, you should be able to tell which is normal grass and which is herbal grass. Let me tell you something. Moldy herbs mean that your preservation method is not as good as it should be. People eat and use these things. How can you be this careless?” Bai Zhe frowned. This shop was big, but the management and the preservation of the herbs were not as good as they should have been.
The reason why Bai Zhe was mad was because when he was in Da Xian, his master, Tai Si Kong, had been very strict about herbs and medicine fabrication. He still vividly remembered his words: “Medicine is used to cure, not to kill.”
“This boy! Do not be fussy. We are one of the top medicine shops in this city and have been in business for decades. We know what we are doing. They can be used just fine. You don’t have money to pay for them, is that it? Are you trying to get a discount with all your criticism?” yelled the owner because after Bai Zhe said his herbs were lacking in quality, many customers immediately left the shop.
Bai Zhe pulled out his phone to take pictures of all of the problematic herbs. Naturally, the sign on the front of the shop was unintentionally included in the pictures. He sent them to Xi Lua before looking at the owner’s face. His eyes showed that he hated swindlers. The boy blinked, releasing his deadly psychic power at the man.
“Ahhhh, please, I’m scared now! Don’t kill me! Please!” He clasped his hands together in entreaty to Bai Zhe in the midst of the astonished gazes of his staff and the customers.
“What are you doing? Go replace the herbs for the customer!” he shouted at his staff when he saw they were standing still. The owner was on the floor, sweat bathing his face and clothes, the crotch of his pants soaked with his urine. The old man and the boy who were standing near the owner looked at Bai Zhe with anxious eyes.
“Grandfather, what was that coldness that pierced the length of my body just now?” whispered the boy to his grandfather.
“That was called deadly psychic power. Normally, a person who has been through many fights and battles will have it. But to use it at will, without affecting other people, as far as I know, that person must be a member of the five Divine Sects. Maybe that young boy is one of them,” the old man told his grandson.
“You two whisper loudly. I’m just an ordinary person who happened to come buy some stuff from this shop. Just ignore me.” Bai Zhe smiled before the staff gave him the herbs he had asked to be replaced and started to ring up his purchases. The boy handed over his debit card to pay for them. He then tied all 30 herbs together securely before throwing them upon his shoulder. He called a taxi and eventually left.
“We have to pretend like we didn’t see anything then,” said the old man. If the boy was a member of the Divine Sects, the boy's words meant that he wanted the two to act like they had not met him and not be nosy about his business. His grandson could not do anything but feel confused.
“Owner, what did he order?” the old man asked. The owner handed Bai Zhe’s list to him.
“Grandfather, what would the Divine Sects do with this large amount of cheap herbs? Aren’t they trying to find that herb?” asked the boy.
“We shouldn’t talk about it here,” the old man warned the boy.
“I understand,” the boy responded. He turned to the owner to rush him to prepare the herbs they had ordered.
The next day, that herbalist shop was investigated by authorities because they sold low-quality herbs; the herbs were also dangerous to those who bought them to eat. The government closed the shop for further investigation of all of the herbs in the shop and the purchase orders. They found a large quantity of expired herbs. Thus, they immediately revoked the shop's license. Xi Lua was the one behind this. He contacted his friend to permanently close the shop down after he received messages and pictures from Bai Zhe.
Chapter 19: Reaching the Heart Qi and the Appearance of the Lunatic Lao Lao (18+) Part I
Bai Zhe arrived at his home. Glancing at the clock, he noted that he had about 3 hours before his parents came back home. The boy unwrapped the package of herbs. He lit the stove, placing a steamer on it. Then, he measured out the herbs into different portions and put them into the steamer, turning it into a medicine fabrication furnace. The boy put his qi into the gas stove, then turned it off, using his qi as the fuel source. He controlled the temperature of each part of the steamer, in order to distill various herbs at various temperatures.
“That’s it. Now, I have to dispose of the filthiness,” said Bai Zhe. Sweat now bathed his face. It took a lot of qi energy to fabricate medicine. The power was used for not only the fuel but also for controlling the medicine which was distilled into liquid form and getting rid of the filthiness.
“It’s clean. The next thing to do is form the medicine into balls before the appropriate time has passed.” The boy put more of his qi into the medicine to condense it. A fragrant aroma wafted out of the steamer afterward.
“It’s done.” Bai Zhe used his qi to open the steamer’s lid before using his qi to place the balls of the medicine into a ceramic jar that had been prepared. His qi power was used again to clean the kitchen and put the steamer in its place. After he finished cleaning, Bai Zhe tipped out one ball of qi medicine and put it into his mouth, using his qi to digest it.
His parents came back to find the boy meditating. They did not greet him or interrupt him in any way, They went through their normal routine before they went to sleep. The boy continued putting the medicine balls into his mouth. From what he had witnessed today—the martial artists that had heart qi, and the Divine Sects—it seemed like the old man was just a mid-level artist. The people that he had to worry about were those who had more power than the old man. He used to think that there was no martial artist living in this world. Luckily, he had met those mid-level artists. If he let other martial artists know that he was one of them, they might cause him some trouble.
Bai Zhe opened his eyes around midnight with qi power spreading out from his body. Black stains covered his skin. He had finally reached the heart qi.
“I shall take a shower. I haven’t done my homework yet. Tomorrow, I have to go sign the book copyright contract as well.” The boy got up to take a shower. He did his homework after that and went to sleep.
In the meantime, in the basement of a building located in the capital city, which was about 300 kilometres away from Bai Zhe’s town, a man was walking with another middle-aged man who was dressed as a woman. In the basement was a long hallway, with iron doors lining along the hallway’s entire length.
“Lao Lao, how is my son, Yi Han?” the man asked the middle-aged man.
“Han Han is in the innermost room. Follow me, Mr. Yi San. I called you today to see your son be reborn,” said the man who was dressed as a woman. He led Yi Han to the innermost room.
When the door opened, Yi San saw his son completely naked and had his arms and legs chained up. He felt hurt, seeing his son like that. Yi San tried to walk toward the boy, but Lao Lao blocked him with his arm.
“Let me talk to him,” said Yi San.
“No!” shouted Lao Lao, snapping his fingers.
Two men of about 25 years appeared, seizing Yi San and taking him to a nearby room from which one could see what happened in the room where Yi Han was chained through a special mirror.
After Yi San was taken to another room. Lao Lao sauntered toward Yi Han, who was still unconscious. Lao Lao’s thumb and long, beautiful index finger lifted the boy’s chin.
“Wake up, little boy.” Lao Lao caressed Yi Han's cheek with his other hand, making the boy awaken. He slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was a man dressed as a woman lifting up his chin.
His eyes opened wide before struggling. He was even angrier and more embarrassed when he found himself naked in front of Lao Lao.
He tried to recall what had happened before he fainted. He wanted to take revenge on Bai Zhe who embarrassed him, so he asked his dad to help him. Yi San called one of his connections to ask for an assassin‘s number.
They asked Yi San and Yi Han to meet at a restaurant. They met a good-looking young man. He had bright skin and was so handsome, like an actor. The man was the opposite of an assassin’s image Yi Han had in his mind. The boy thought an assassin had to be bald with a cruel face with a large scar on it. They had to be tall and large, and very muscular.
“From what you are saying, you want me to kill a person named Bai Zhe, right?” the man asked.
“Yes. This is his picture.” Yi Han showed Bai Zhe’s picture to the young male assassin.
“Don’t you want to take revenge by yourself? It’s much more fun than hiring me to kill him. Imagine it. You can torture him to death slowly. Cut off finger by finger. Slowly cut off his arms and legs. Listen to him begging for his life in torment. It will be much more satisfying to you,” the man said like he was having fun. Yi Han, feeling impetuous, was persuaded by his words.
“I want to, but I’m not as good as you,” answered the boy.
“It’s not that hard. You can come with me if you are interested. I will take you to my teacher. He could make you stronger. Not only you could take revenge on Bai Zhe, but money, fame, and women will also belong to you if you train until you are skilled,” said the man. Yi Han agreed to go with him that instant.
“Can you take me there now?” The boy sprang up from his seat.
“Of course, you can follow me now.” The assassin stood up and exited the restaurant, followed by Yi Han.
Yi San got up from his seat, intending to follow them, but he was stopped by the young man. He handed Yi San a piece of paper with a telephone number on it.
“I will contact you in 2 days. I can guarantee your son’s safety. You don’t need to be worried. You pay my wage as we have agreed. Think of it as a referral fee,” said the man before leaving with Yi Han in a taxi. Yi San could only watch the young killer leave with his only son.
At an Abandoned Building
The man took Yi Han to a building that looked deserted from the outside. The inside was empty, but it looked surprisingly clean.
He led Yi Han to the farthest wall and touched a spot on it. The wall opened, revealing a secret stairway to a basement. Yi Han could not help but feel excited because he was a fan of secret bases.
“Yi Han, you wait here on the sofa. I will go to tell my teacher about you. Let’s see if he will take you on as his student.” The assassin took a picture of Yi Han and went to a room that had a sign that read Lao Lao on its door.
It was not long before he came out of the room. He took Yi Han to a long, narrow hallway, which had a large door at its end.
The young man opened that door. Yi Han stepped back two to three steps. He saw boys around 15 to 20 years old bind to crosses. They were flogged and tortured. Some were tortured by having hot metal pressed to different parts of their body. Some had knives slashed across their bodies. There was something strange, though. After the tormentors hurt the boys, they hovered their hands over the wounds they had created. After a faint green light appeared from their hands, the wounds were healed. They completely disappeared as if nothing had ever happened.
“Wh…what is this?”
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
17 Power
stone 
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