Chapter 26: Fierce Battle Underground

  The cave under Autumn Ning Mountain didn't let in sunlight, and the only light source came from a few oil lamps on the wall of the cave. Zhou Hao also didn't know how many days and nights he had been unconscious here. However, Li Ruolan told her that according to her biological clock, she had eaten four meals here, which means Zhou Hao was probably unconscious for two days.

  Li Ruolan also said that Gong Sun's husband was quite good to her, as there were white rice and dried meat here, as well as some wild vegetables that couldn't be found in the city, which tasted great. The cave also had an underground spring with excellent water quality, which could be drunk directly and was better than any mountain spring water sold on the market.

  "What kind of person is this Gong Sun Da Fu after all?" Zhou Hao asked, he was still quite repelled by that Gong Sun Da Fu.

  "He said he has been living in this mountain for several decades and usually relies on collecting mountain herbs to exchange for rice, oil, salt, sugar and other goods."

  Zhou Hao did not confirm or deny it, "Is he really a doctor then?"

  Li Ruolan said, "I'm not clear either, he said his name is Gong Sun Daifu, but I think his medical skills are indeed very impressive. Originally when we fell down your right hand was fractured, it was him who helped you fix it, and you also woke up after drinking his medicinal soup."

  Zhou Hao looked at his right hand holding the wooden board and asked Li Ruolan: "How did we fall down?"

  "I don't know, I just woke up and found myself here." Li Ruolan said: "According to Dr. Gong Sun, that boulder smashed through a thinner part of the cave wall above us, causing us to fall down as well. Fortunately, it was like this, otherwise we would have been buried alive by those rocks and sand." She pointed to one side, and Zhou Hao saw a huge boulder and a large pile of rubble, while the hole in the wall that had been smashed through was also blocked by sand and rocks.

  At this time, Zhou Hao was lying on a grass mat outside the thatched hut of Gong Sun Da Fu. He had suffered severe injuries after being rescued and had not only fractured his right hand but also suffered internal bleeding due to the massive impact. However, as Li Ruolan said, Gong Sun Da Fu's medical skills were very high, and he didn't know what medicine he gave Zhou Hao that alleviated this internal bleeding that even a large hospital would find difficult to deal with. Nevertheless, Gong Sun Da Fu did not allow Zhou Hao to enter the thatched hut to recover from his injuries, and he said with a straight face that the thatched hut was too small to accommodate Zhou Hao.

  "Teacher Li, are you going to stay here and be ordered around by that old man?" The thought of Li Ruolan staying here to serve Gong Sun made Zhou Hao feel extremely uncomfortable.

  "Actually, Mrs. Gongsun is not bad, but she has lived in the mountains for decades and her temper has become a bit strange." Li Ruolan held a bowl of meat soup and slowly fed it into Zhou Hao's mouth. This was something she had personally cooked herself, because Mr. Gongsun said that Zhou Hao's body was very weak and could only be supplemented with liquid food.

  "Teacher, I don't want you to stay here because of me, I will be uneasy for the rest of my life." Zhou Hao said to Li Ruolan, but Li Ruolan just pursed her lips and shook her head without saying anything.

  After Zhou Hao woke up, the doctor Gongsun who made him extremely resentful was nowhere to be seen all day long. Occasionally, he would come out of one of the forks in the cave, either to change Zhou Hao's dressing or give Li Ruolan some herbal medicine for her to decoct and feed to Zhou Hao.

  Every time he faced Zhou Hao's gnashing gaze, he would reveal his incomplete teeth with a complacent smile and say: "How is it? Are you very resentful of me? Heh heh, that little girl will stay in the mountains to accompany me. Although I'm old, I can still live for another ten or twenty years. If you like that little girl, wait until after I die to come and take her away."

  "Aren't you afraid that I'll kill you after I recover?" Zhou Hao's eyes gleamed with a fierce light, anyway he wasn't a novice at killing people either.

  "So you're not afraid I'll secretly poison you and take you down?" Dr. Gong's smile also seemed a few shades darker, "Besides, although I'm disabled, however..." He raised his left palm and slapped it heavily on the ground beside Zhou Hao.

  The ground was extremely hard rock, but when Gong Sun Dafu withdrew his left palm, a deep palm print remained there.

  Zhou Hao saw this and felt a chill run down his spine, looking at Gong Sun in surprise.

  That bald-headed brother had already shown Zhou Hao his true martial arts skills, being able to break trees with his bare hands, but compared to this old man, he was still far inferior. Zhou Hao even suspected that this old man might be one of those hidden world-class masters living in seclusion in the mountains.

  "I think your brain is not as hard as this stone." Dr. Gong Sun patted the dust off his hands, "Take good care of your injuries and don't think about any more crooked ideas."

  It was unclear whether Zhou Hao's recovery ability was strong, or if Gong Sun's medical skills were truly remarkable, but after three days of rest, Zhou Hao was able to stand up again, and even the wooden board on his right hand could be removed.

  In these days, Li Ruolan has been taking care of Zhou Hao meticulously, making medicine for him, feeding him, and even helping him wipe his body. In addition to this, Li Ruolan also had to help Gong Sun boil rice and clean the thatched hut. It's unclear whether it was intentional or not, but Gong Sun really treated Li Ruolan like a servant girl, even asking her to massage his back and shoulders in front of Zhou Hao, making Zhou Hao grit his teeth in anger.

  Zhou Hao knew that his mother and Wang Xijun were definitely worried about him, and the stocks Zhao Yuqin had helped him buy would have to be sold in December. If he couldn't get out by then, all the money would be lost. So Zhou Hao had to escape, of course, taking Li Ruoshan with him.

  That day, taking advantage of the fact that Gong Sun was nowhere to be seen again, Zhou Hao came to the front of those several dark and bottomless forks. From here, all the forks were deep and extremely black, just as Gong Sun said, this underground cave was crisscrossed with roads, and if one didn't know the way, it would be easy to get lost. But Zhou Hao had the best tool, that superhuman intuition.

  However, what made Zhou Hao astonished was that he stood in front of several intersections for a long time, no matter how concentrated his mind was, there was no sensation at all.

  "Have I lost my intuition?" Zhou Hao muttered to himself.

  At this time, Li Ruolan walked over, "Zhou Hao, what are you doing here? You won't be thinking of finding your own way out, will you?" She grabbed Zhou Hao's hand, "Don't do that, you'll get lost and then you won't be able to come back. Just wait a bit longer, Gong Sun said that as long as you recover from your injuries, he'll take you out."

  "What about you?" Zhou Hao looked deeply at Li Ruolan, "I can't leave you behind and go."

  In the dimly lit cave, Zhou Hao's starry eyes shone brightly, his gaze extremely firm. As Li Ruolan met his gaze, a strange feeling arose in her heart. She shook her head, "I've already promised Master Gongsun to stay here, and that's why he saved you, so I won't go back on my word." Unbeknownst to her, she had stopped addressing him as "Teacher".

  "No way!" Zhou Hao grasped Li Ruolan's hand tightly and said firmly: "I can't leave you alone here!"

  "What are you two doing?" Gong Sun's voice suddenly came, "A teacher and a student talking about romantic words, aren't they afraid of being laughed at." He walked out from the leftmost fork, looking at Zhou Hao and Li Ruoshan with a cold smile.

  Li Ruolan heard what Gong Sun said and her body trembled slightly. She quickly let go of Zhou Hao's hand.

  Zhou Hao glared at Gong Sun Da Fu, "Although you saved the lives of both of us, but you also have no right to keep Teacher Li under house arrest here!"

  "What does it have to do with you whether I have the power or not? Anyway, this girl has already agreed." Gong Sun said with a smirk, "If you make me unhappy, I'll just marry her off to myself. Although I won't be able to consummate the marriage, having a young and beautiful wife is still pretty good, even if it's just for show."

  "How dare you!" Zhou Hao bellowed.

  "How dare I not? As long as I give her a few more doses of medicine, she'll be completely obedient to me." Dr. Gongsun said with a cold smile.

  "I'll kill you right now!" Zhou Hao, like a furious beast, charged towards Gong Sun. In his rage, he felt as if there was a flow of energy inside him, making his blood vessels bulge with an urge to vent out.

  Zhou Hao's speed was extremely fast, and in the blink of an eye, he rushed to the front of Gong Sun Da Fu, and with a punch to his chest.

  "Zhou Hao, don't!" Behind him, Li Ruolan hastily spoke out to stop him.

  But Gong Sun's hand moved and he used his crutch to take a step, dodging to the side with unusual agility. Zhou Hao's right fist also hit the wall of the cave behind him.

  All of a sudden, there was a loud "bang" sound, and several cracks appeared on the wall of the cave where Zhou Hao had struck.

  Zhou Hao's right hand injury had not yet healed, and this move touched a sore spot, causing him to feel piercing pain. However, the intense pain further fueled his anger, and he let out a loud roar as he turned around to grab Dr. Gongsun.

  Gongsun Dafu saw that one punch had cracked the hard cave wall, and his eyes revealed not only shock but also a hint of surprise. Seeing Zhou Hao pounce on him, Gongsun Dafu released his right crutch and used only his left crutch to support his body, while using his right hand to block Zhou Hao's arm, and slapped Zhou Hao's forehead with one palm.

  Zhou Hao only felt a severe shock, his head started to ache, and the figure of Gong Sun's doctor in front of him also became blurred. However, he shook his head violently and punched Gong Sun's abdomen with an even more furious fist.

  Gongsun didn't expect Zhou Hao to withstand his palm strike without fainting, and before he could react, he was punched flying by Zhou Hao. Zhou Hao didn't let him off, rushing over before Gongsun even landed.

  But Gong Sun saw the master in the air throwing away the remaining stick, and when Zhou Hao rushed over, he quickly flipped backwards to avoid Zhou's hand, while stretching out his palms and heavily slapping Zhou's temples.

  With a thud, Zhou Hao finally fell softly and passed out with his eyes tightly closed.

  Gongsun Dafu also fell to the ground, clutching his abdomen which was hit earlier, and suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. Looking at Zhou Hao who had fainted, he gasped with laughter: "I didn't expect it to really work, it seems this kid is really suitable after all. But we have to hurry, there's not much time left."