Lin Mu would have never expected that he would be seeing Zhou Ye here. Zhou Ye was none other than the second hunter who had become a cultivator in the Northern Town. He was also the person who had won the annual martial tournament in the Wu Lim city last year.
It was also Zhou Ye, in whose hands Lin Mu had first seen a spirit stone in. Unlike Gan Ma, who was oppressive and disliked, Zhou Ye actually had a decent reputation in the town. While he didn't particularly help people or did anything beneficial for them, he didn't do anything to hurt them either.
Because of his neutral reputation, most people in the town recognized him and did not mind him. He and his small team of hunters were also the more sought after rather than Gan Ma's. Though ever since the plague last year, Zhou Ye's team of hunters had dwindled and now only two people were left. The other members had all succumbed to the plague last year.
Lin Mu had seen Zhou Ye a few times before, and even his father was acquainted with Zhou Ye, having cooperated in some hunts over the years. Though Lin Mu did not expect Zhou Ye to recognize him.
Pushing his train of thoughts to the back of his mind, Lin Mu rushed to the injured man to provide him assistance.
"CALL THE HEALERS!" Lin Mu shouted to the other mercenaries.
A few of the mercenaries immediately turned around to carry out his orders, while the rest rushed along with him. But still, Lin Mu was much faster than them and reached the injured man in a couple of seconds.
Zhou Ye too watched the people approaching him and the voice that had called out his name. His eyes were glazed over and the immense fatigue within them could be felt from the distance. There were multiple injuries on the man's body, with the most prominent one being the Bone that was popping out of his left shoulder.
One could easily tell that his left arm was broken and the humerus bone had popped out sideways from the shoulder. The man also had multiple gashes and wounds all over his body, along with a large claw mark that extended from the man's forehead onto his face, covering the nose, lips, and chin and then extending to the chest and the left arm.
Just from the distance between the five claw marks, one could tell that whatever beast that inflicted it was massive in size and had five claws on one limb, perhaps. Looking at Zhou Ye made one wonder how that man had still survived with all these injuries. Most of the injuries had stopped bleeding, and the blood had dried over, which allowed the observer to know that the wounds were perhaps inflicted a day ago.
Zhou Ye could not see clearly and only had one eye that was still open. The other one was too swollen to see from. Upon seeing that he had reached safety, a slight smile accompanied by pain, dressed his face as his mind relaxed in relief, making him collapse.
But just as he was about to hit the ground, Lin Mu appeared in a flash and held him up. He then gently turned him to the side and laid him down. He did a preliminary check on his body and discovered the multiple grievous wounds.
"Use your spirit sense and observer his internal condition." Xukong reminded Lin Mu.
"Ah yes!" Lin Mu respond and hurriedly extended his spirit sense.
The spirit sense tendril touched Zhou Yew's head and then scanned all over his body. Lin Mu discovered multiple internal injuries. Even though he had no knowledge about organs or injuries on them, he could still tell that they were injured because of the blood that was pooling inside his body. There were also many other bones in his body that were fractured and cracked.
Eight of Zhou Yew's ribs were cracked, with one of them bending inward and was only a few millimeters away from piercing his heart. Lin Mu then used his spirit sense and tried to sense Zhou Ye's meridians, but was unable to sense them. Wanting to gain a cleared view, Lin Mu started chanting the severing heart sutra and then tried to sense them again.
This time Lin Mu's mind was still and free from any distractions. His perception rose as a result and he was soon able to sense the extremely faint pulse of qi that was flowing through Zhou Ye's meridians. Even his meridians were damaged in multiple places, and Lin Mu could tell that the spirit qi was being impeded.
Lin Mu continued tracing the flow of qi and reached Zhou Ye's dantian. His dantian seemed to be completely empty and dry of spirit qi. Faint cracks could even see in its surroundings. Though the thing that surprised Lin Mu was the size of his dantian.
Compared to Lin Mu's own dantian, Zhou Ye's was about three times smaller. Because Zhou Ye was so injured and depleted of spirit qi, Lin Mu could not estimate his cultivation base.
"What could his cultivation base be Senior?" Lin Mu questioned.
"He should have been at the peak stage of the qi refining realm." Xukong estimated.
"What? But the size of hi dantian is so small. I thought he would at most be at the late stage of the Qi refining realm." Lin Mu replied.
"The injuries to his meridians and dantian are not because of the beast or whatever that harmed him," Xukong spoke.
"Then how else would he get them then?" Lin Mu impatiently asked.
"He has probably consumed a potential igniting pill. It's a special kind of alchemical pill, that can provide a massive increase in strength and qi. It is supposed to be used in terms of emergencies and life and death situations. Though it has the side effect of reducing if not crippling the cultivation of the said individual." Xukong answered.
Lin Mu felt shocked that such a pill could exist. Now having learned of this, his attention was focused on how to save the man in front of him.
"How do I help him, senior? Do I feed him the healing pills?" Lin Mu questioned.
"Feed him one each of the internal replenishment pill and lesser wound restoration pill. Then use your spirit qi and gently guide it into his meridians. Place your right hand on his abdomen and your hand left on his heart. This will create a small qi circuit that should help replenish his qi and also help in healing his injuries." Xukong explained.
Following Senior Xukong's instructions, Lin Mu first fed Zhou Ye the two pills. The pills melted after entering his mouth and flowed down his throat. Lin Mu then placed his right hand on Zhou Ye's abdomen and his left on his heart.
Then, while using his spirit sense to trace his meridians, Lin Mu started pushing his own spirit qi into Zhou Ye's meridians. At first, it was difficult for him, but soon under the effect of the two healing pills, Zhou Ye's body started responding.
Lin Mu was successful in inserting his spirit qi into Zhou Ye's meridians. Under the instructions of senior Xukong, he then guided the spirit qi in a special circuit.
While Lin Mu was doing this, the other mercenaries that were accompanying him checked up on the other person that was lying on the shield that was being dragged by Zhou Ye. They lifted the cloth that was covering it and then recoiled in shock.
The person under the cloth did not have a head, as it had been decapitated rather gruesomely. One could tell that a very strong blow must have hit the man's jaw as it was separated from there. Five faint claws could even be seen extending from the base of the neck.
One of the mercenaries lifted the man's arm and saw the symbol that was embroidered on the headless man's clothes.
"It's an elite mercenary from the Ashen Cloak mercenary company!" The mercenary shouted.
The other mercenaries came close to take a look and confirmed the mercenary's claim. The symbol, while caked in blood and mud, was still recognizable to them.
By now, the other mercenaries had also reached the site. Hong Luo, Teng Xiaolian, and his team members were nearby as well. They were sprinting with urgency, and tense expressions could be seen on their faces.
A minute later they finally reached the location and saw Lin Mu sitting on the ground, with his hands on Zhou Ye's body. Xiong An and Long Da were about to approach Lin Mu to offer him help when Teng Xiaolian suddenly shouted.
"NO! Don't disturb him."
Xiong An and Long Da froze in their steps as they turned around and looked at their leader with an inquisitive look. Before Teng Xiaolian could speak anything, Hao Xiao suddenly spoke.
"Look, he's using a healing technique." She exclaimed.
Surprise appeared on the faces of the six people as they looked at Lin Mu with an even more intense gaze. And with these very gazes, they saw the injuries on the man healing at a visible rate. The faint trickles of blood that were flowing down from the gashes on Zhou Ye's body stopped bleeding.
The smaller cuts and scratches twitched and slowly started to close up under the effects of the healing pills and Lin Mu's assistance. The swelling that was around Zhou Ye's left eye also started reducing at a visible rate until when it completely disappeared and his eye was visible again.
~Gasp~
"It can't be! A High-grade healing technique!" Hong Luo gasped in shock.
As soon as Hong Luo spoke, a serious expression appeared on Teng Xiaolian's face. He looked at all the mercenaries who were looking at Lin Mu and furrowed his brows.
"What are you all doing, staring? Get to work! Take away the body to a side and make room. Return to your posts we will handle it here." Teng Xiaolian ordered in a stern voice.
The common mercenaries snapped out of their daze upon hearing the orders and scrambled. Some of them took away the dead body that was on the shield and the others returned to their posts. Due to the alarm, a majority of the mercenaries had gathered here, thus a lot of positions were left unmanned.
This could have become dangerous if some enemy decided to take advantage of their current distraction. Teng Xiaolian ensured that all the mercenaries were far away before separating from the group.
~Haaah~
"This could have become risky. Hopefully, not many mercenaries noticed the process of healing." Teng Xiaolian spoke up after letting out a breath of relief.
The members of his team and Hong Luo turned to him as realization dawned in their eyes.
"Oh, heavens! We were so close to committing a mistake." Long An spoke.
"True. It was good that we were already surrounding Lin Mu and were covering most of the angles. So they should not have seen much." Hao Xiao spoke.
"Still, we will have to talk with the ones who saw it. We cannot let them speak of this. We don't know what kind of background he has, but if he knows a High-grade healing technique, then there is no doubt he's from one of the top sects." Teng Xiaolian explained.
The others understood the seriousness of the situation and nodded in response. They knew that while the common mercenaries won't have any thoughts about Lin Mu, but if they randomly spoke of this and some wrong people found out about it, it would get problematic.
There was no lack of people who wouldn't do everything to get their hands on a High-grade Healing technique. But if they really were blind enough to attack Lin Mu and by any chance he got injured, they wouldn't be able to answer to the seniors of his sect.
Because they themselves were cultivators, they knew how fearsome cultivation sects were, and it was just even more so for the top sects. For the top sects were the very beings that ran this Empire, even though there was an imperial family. Their influence and power were nothing to scoff at. Many had perished in their foolishness of challenging the top sects and many more will.
Teng Xiaolian just didn't want for them to become one of them too. Even if they were not at fault directly, it would do them no harm to just be extra sure.
Lin Mu was completely focused on Zhou Ye, thus did not notice all that had happened around him. He had his eyes closed, thus did not know that there were such great changes in Zhou Ye's body. He was currently observing Zhou Ye's condition through his spirit sense and was channeling his spirit qi into his.
Lin Mu could see that while the meridians and dantian did not completely heal, the impediment to spirit Q's flow was at least reduced. It could flow much faster and efficiently now. This was also one of the reasons behind the quick healing of Zhou Ye.
"That's enough," Xukong spoke up.
"Huh, okay senior." Lin Mu replied as he opened his eyes.
Since he was extremely focused on helping Zhou Ye, he was a little abrupt in waking up. He finally took a look at his work and was shocked.
'What! How did he get healed so fast?' Lin Mu internally exclaimed.
"I didn't expect this either." Xukong spoke with a little disbelief in his voice.
Lin Mu felt a little storage upon hearing Senior Xukong's tone.
"What do you mean, Senior? Was this not supposed to happen?" Lin Mu questioned.
"No, not really. I think I underestimated the effectiveness of the method I showed you. For a world of this level, I should have guessed it." Xukong answered.
"Is the technique you showed me something special?" Lin Mu asked.
"It's a basic healing technique, but I guess for a world like this it should very rare. I doubt many people would know of a technique of the same quality." Xukong replied.
It was at this time that Teng Xiaolian and Hong Luo approached Lin Mu along with the rest. While it seemed as if Lin Mu and Xukong had been talking for a few minutes, in reality barely ten seconds had passed. Their mental communication was much faster than talking normally.
Lin Mu turned around and saw the mercenaries standing behind him.
"That was amazing! Brother Lin Mu." Hong Luo praised.
"Yes, I never would have guessed that I would get to witness a High-grade healing technique today." Yi Duyi who had stayed silent for the most part spoke up.
"Brother Lin Mu's skills are indeed excellent. You were even able to pull someone back from their death like this." Hao Xiao spoke in a flattering tone.
"Ah, thank you." Lin Mu replied a little awkwardly as he was not expecting for them to praise him so much.
He then looked around and noticed the absence of the other mercenaries.
"Where are the rest of the mercenaries?" Lin Mu questioned.
"You don't need to worry about your knowledge of high-grade healing technique leaking, brother Lin Mu. I sent the mercenaries away before they could see too much. I'll also talk to the others and make sure that they keep their lips shut." Teng Xiaolian replied, thinking that Lin Mu was worried about the mercenaries.
Lin Mu did not respond and just stayed silent. But in reality, he was actually talking with senior Xukong.
"It seems like I was right. It is indeed deemed as a high-grade healing technique in this world." Xukong spoke.
"But senior, you said that this is a basic healing technique, then why is it a high-grade healing technique here?" Lin Mu curiously inquired.
"While it is a basic healing technique, its intended use is not for commoners or mortals. Instead, this is a basic healing technique for the physique of immortals." Xukong answered.
Lin Mu was a little dumbstruck on hearing senior Xukong's words. He had not thought that he would be using a technique that was intended for immortals here.
"Also, it seems like these mercenaries are smart and tacitly understood what they should and should not see," Xukong spoke.
"Yes, senior. This should make it easier for us." Lin Mu replied.
Lin Mu suddenly thought of something that made him a little excited.
"Wait, senior if this is so effective in healing, can't I use it on myself?" Lin Mu questioned.
"No, you cannot. The technique can only be used on others. Try thinking a bit more, can you imagine using it." Xukong replied.
Lin Mu listened to Senior Xukong's words and tried imagining. He reached the same conclusion and indeed found that it would not be possible. If he did it, it would be the same as a tap filling its own tank. There would be no difference.
"Then senior, do you have other healing techniques that I can use?" Lin Mu asked with a little hope in his eyes.
"No, the ones that I have, are not suitable for humans," Xukong answered.
'Though there are other techniques I have that can help you in healing, but you are not ready yet.' Xukong inwardly said.
Lin Mu nodded slightly and refocused his eyes on the people around him. They were looking at him patiently and were not speaking anything. Seeing that no one was asking him any questions, Lin Mu decided to speak to them.
"What are we going to do now about Zhou Ye?" Lin Mu questioned.
The mercenaries' brows furrowed in confusion upon hearing his words.
"Zhou Ye? You know this person." Hong Luo asked first.
"Yes, he's one of the two hunters in the town, that are also cultivators." Lin Mu answered.
"Hmm, We'll wait for him to wake up and then ask him what happened. From the wounds on his body and the other corpse's I can deduce that it was a spirit beast that attacked them." Teng Xiaolian spoke.
"The other corpse?" Lin Mu asked.
"The other person that Zhou Ye was dragging on the shield was actually a headless corpse. We don't know who that person is exactly, but we do know that they belong to the elite team of the Ashen cloak mercenaries." Hong Luo answered this time.
While Lin Mu was healing Zhou Ye, they had already received a preliminary report from the other mercenaries, thus knew about the corpse.
"That means that the dead mercenary was a cultivator as well, doesn't it. But if that is so, then shouldn't they be in an elite team with other cultivators?" Lin Mu questioned after thinking for a bit.
Teng Xiaolian and Hong Lou's expressions fell upon hearing Lin Mu's question.
"That's the thing we're dreading. The mercenaries in an elite team stay together, rarely do they separate." Hong Luo spoke.
"But if that mercenary was killed, then that means..." Lin Mu trailed off.
"The entire team probably met the same fate." Teng Xiaolian spoke with a grim tone.