Chapter 4: Drug Slave

  Gurgling water flows, green trees shade, a dragon head is drinking water by the clear river, with big and small packages hanging all over its body.

  Next to the land dragon, a dozen or so burly warriors were devouring their food with gusto, discussing topics not suitable for children. Behind the land dragon, there were also a dozen or so emaciated people, all of whom had heavy chains on their hands and feet, squatting on the ground, listlessly lowering their heads to eat nutrient-poor food.

  Inside the sedan chair on the back of the earth dragon, an old man with a cold expression wore a black and gray long gown. On the chest of the gown were embroidered five delicate white medicine bottles. The old man was thin and frail, wearing a hair crown, looking down at those people in shackles as if selecting pigs to be slaughtered.

  The old man's gaze wandered aimlessly, sometimes falling on the heavily armed warriors, revealing a sinister and profound eye expression. Every warrior who was stared at by him would change color, becoming as silent as a cicada in winter, seemingly extremely afraid of him.

  "Have you finished eating? If so, let's continue on our way." Mo Yan Yu carried Shi Yan and walked out of the bush with a cold face.

  Many warriors put down their unfinished food and laughed dryly, saying "We've eaten enough, we've eaten enough."

  Her face was painted with ink-like colors, her whole face showing impatience. When she arrived beside the old man, she forced a smile and said: "Master Kalu, have you eaten yet?"

  The old man nodded coldly and hummed, "Miss Mo, there are still three months to the Merchant Alliance, but you've only brought back sixteen medicine slaves. I'm afraid they won't last until the alliance..."

  "Don't worry, Master. We'll continue to replenish your medicine slaves on the road." Mò Yán Yù's face was serious, and with a flick of her hand, she tossed Shí Yán onto the ground, smiling as she said, "Look, isn't this another medicine slave?"

  "Hmm." Karu nodded slightly, his eyes slithering over Shi Yan's body like a venomous snake. He furrowed his brow and said, "This kid is so skinny, I'm afraid he won't last for several days."

  "He is indeed frail in body, but he has a vital energy within him..." Mu Yan Yu explained.

  "Warrior?" Karl's eyes lit up slightly, clearly showing some interest.

  "He is indeed a martial artist!" Mu Yan Yu affirmed.

  "This is about right." Karu smiled gloomily and began to examine the stone more carefully, nodding slowly after a while: "Good, Miss Mo feed him well for me, I want him to get stronger first, an injured warrior can't withstand my torment, if he's too weak and dies early from the medicine, that would be too wasteful."

  "Master, rest assured." Mo Yan's eyebrows furrowed, and she coldly shouted: "Qiang Sen, what are you still standing there for? Quickly put handcuffs on this guy!"

  "Here!" A nearly two-meter-tall, bald-headed man with a rugged face responded loudly and quickly took out a brand new pair of handcuffs from the ground dragon's body, roughly clamping them onto Shi Yan's hands and feet without caring whether he would feel pain or not.

  The mighty warrior wore heavy armor, the muscles bulging out from under the armor were full of astonishing explosive power, his dark-colored heavy armor seemed to weigh nothing on him, not affecting his speed at all.

  "Qiangsen, you take good care of him, don't let him drag the team down." Mo Yan Yu gave Shi Yan a hateful glance before striding straight to the front of the team, as if not wanting to stay by Shi Yan's side for another second.

  "Don't worry, miss, I'm an expert at this sort of thing." Bald-headed giant Janson grinned, thumping his chest in guarantee.

  Shi Yan's whole body felt numb and sore, his eyes coldly watching the development of the situation, without saying a word.

  He knew that in this situation, saying anything was useless. In this world where the strong prey on the weak, no one would reason with you. He knew that if he didn't adapt to this world, he would soon become a neglected white bone, and no one would pity him.

  The weak sperm in his body flowed slowly, and the numbness in his hands and feet had improved a lot after this period of rest. However, the extra shackles on his hands and feet weighed him down, making his still unrecovered body feel like it was carrying an iron mountain, making every step difficult.

  "Bang!"

  His back was suddenly lashed by a whip, the lash came extremely swiftly and with great force, causing his skin to split open and burn with pain. Turning around, he found that the big man named Strongson was holding the whip, grinning at him with a wicked smile on his face.

  "Damn you, medicine slave! Get out of here quickly! Do you want another lash?" Johnson cracked his mouth and laughed loudly.

  Shi Yan didn't respond, but instead looked at Qiang Sen with an unusually calm gaze for a few seconds. Before Qiang Sen could raise his whip again, Shi Yan silently followed the medicinal slave in front of him, feeling as if every step weighed over a thousand catties, requiring great effort to move forward.

  After Shi Yan turned around, the manic smile on Johnson's face gradually converged, and instead, a strange expression was revealed.

  This road has come, and many of the drug slaves were initially "taken care of" by him. Because his methods are cruel and poisonous, two drug slaves have not been tested by Caru, but they were beaten to death under his "care". All the drug slaves looked at him with only two expressions in their eyes.

  Either fear or deep-seated hatred.

  This person, just as he was looking at him, did not show any fear or hatred, but an unusual calmness, a coldness with a hint of chill.

  This person seems to have no awareness of being a prisoner at all, and I don't know if it's because he hasn't figured out the situation yet or for some other reason.

  That calm gaze made Strongson have a strange illusion that he had become someone else's prey, which made him very uncomfortable. But since Shiyan was already walking steadily forward, he couldn't find an excuse to lash out for the time being and could only give up. However, in his heart, he secretly vowed to make this little guy show fear towards him later on.

  He savored the fearful glances others cast his way, which gave him a wonderful thrill of being in control of other people's lives.

  In the following days, Shi Yan was silent and taciturn, but extremely cooperative. He would walk when told to walk, stop when told to stop, without any resistance or emotional reaction, as if he didn't care about what was happening around him. Among those uncooperative drug slaves, Shi Yan seemed very unusual.

  Even Johnson, who wanted to teach Shi Yan a lesson, found it hard to find an excuse to deal with him. Shi Yan was too cooperative, so much so that Johnson felt it was unreasonable, yet he couldn't think of any reason why.

  Shi Yan only spoke when he was resting and eating, and each time it was to ask for food. Under the orders of Master Karu, this request was always fulfilled.

  It wasn't long before the warriors discovered that Shi Yan was a big eater, and he even enjoyed the low-quality food that was specifically for the medicine slaves. The amount of food he ate at first was roughly equivalent to what seven medicine slaves would eat, and every day after that, his appetite increased by one more portion, with no signs of slowing down.

  This made many warriors feel incredulous, they couldn't understand how Shi Yan's thin body could hold so much food. At first, these people were worried that Shi Yan wouldn't be able to digest it all, but they soon discovered their mistake.

  His bony body, which was as thin as a stone, had actually become slightly stronger in just a few days. Although the change wasn't particularly noticeable, sharp-eyed warriors all detected this phenomenon.

  It is clear that Shi Yan not only digested those low-grade foods but also turned them into nutrients for his strong body.

  The change in Shi Yan's body delighted Master Karu, and the old man with a gloomy gaze allowed Shi Yan to eat freely, as much as he wanted, without holding back even a bit.

  As he watched Shi Yan grow stronger day by day, Strongson felt a growing sense of unease. Every time he saw Shi Yan's calm and collected eyes, which seemed to hold a hint of coldness, Strongson couldn't help but feel that this young man would be a disaster waiting to happen. However, he didn't dare go against Karu's orders, so he could only provide Shi Yan with sufficient food without any deductions.

  It's good that Strongson knows Master Kalu's methods, which makes him somewhat relieved and secretly hoping that Kalu will make a move soon.

  He didn't stop until he had eaten twelve servings of food, and only then did Shi Yan slow down his movements, rolling the last grain of rice into his mouth with the corner of his lips, ignoring the astonished gazes of the medicine slaves beside him. Slowly, Shi Yan closed his eyes.

  A dozen servings of food, quickly digested in the gut, his body was like a bottomless pit, and also like the most precise instrument, grinding and decomposing those foods one by one, converting them into nutrients for blood vessels, bones, internal organs, and muscle cells, making his originally weak body strong in silence.

  The wound on his chest had healed long ago, and the long gash was closed in just a day and a half, without leaving any scars. It was incredibly miraculous, making him realize that he was indeed different from before.

  Only he himself was clear that in these short days, his body had undergone a huge change, and this change, he could feel clearly every moment!

  The food he ate turned into nutrients for his body, making him gradually stronger and more robust. The weak vital energy that existed in his body had doubled in size after several days of non-stop operation and circulation!

  He clearly felt a significant increase in strength within his body, and the originally heavy chains were no longer a burden to him.

  With his spirit concentrated, he clearly felt the essence in his body, naturally starting from the lower dantian, going up along the du meridian, down along the ren meridian, passing through the three gates to communicate the ren and du meridians, making the heart and kidney intersect, water and fire complement each other, after a small cycle of heaven was completed, the essence in his body grew stronger again.

  Shi Yan, who has some understanding of qigong, knows the difference between Small and Large Circulation. The Small Circulation only runs through the Ren and Du meridians, not through the 12 regular meridians or the other six extraordinary meridians. However, the Large Circulation must run through the 12 regular meridians as well as the other six major extraordinary meridians, which is extremely difficult.

  He had only opened up the Ren and Du meridians among the Twelve Regular Meridians and Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and could only circulate the Small Heavenly Cycle. The Large Heavenly Cycle was difficult to circulate. From another memory of Shi Yan, he also knew that in this world, only warriors who had reached the Innate Realm could make the Twelve Regular Meridians and Eight Extraordinary Meridians unobstructed, and then circulate the Large Heavenly Cycle.

  Shi Yan was not discouraged. He knew that as long as the spiritual energy within his body was strong enough, he would eventually be able to unblock all of these closed meridians.

  "Another one died, in six days, two people have already died from taking the drug."

  "I saw it, when he was still alive, his body had already started to rot, it's a terrible sight!"

  "It's better to die by one's own hand than to perish in this way. We can't see any hope for the future, and we're doomed to end up like them."

  "We can't die! If we die, our families won't even get a single blue crystal coin! Alas... let's just endure it. If we can survive for half a year, we'll be free and also get some money. For the sake of my wife and children, we must keep enduring!"

  As soon as the drug slave said this, the other drug slaves fell silent one by one. The idea of suicide seemed to have been dispelled, and they all suppressed their fear in their hearts, secretly reminding themselves that they must hold on.

  ……

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