Chapter 154: Re-seeing the Light of Day

  The darkness of the shadow land has brought me a lot of suffering. Although my poor eyesight can barely see the ground here, those small stones that are hard to distinguish in color always inadvertently touch the wounds on my feet, making me unbearable pain and slowing down my movements.

  The wound on my foot was caused by Wang Ping's gunshot that hit the sole of my foot. Perhaps he himself didn't know, but his counterattack before his death also hurt me. Fortunately, I was only injured on the instep of my foot. If he had fired a second earlier or if the bullet that hit him had been delayed by a second, he would have been able to raise his arm and send the bullet that hit the sole of my left foot into my heart.

  This damn bullet pierced through my left foot, leaving a big bloody hole. So when I walk on the road, if I'm not careful, I'll touch this wound and feel very depressed.

  I've been trying hard to be a strong ninja, not letting myself think about the wound. But those small stones on the ground keep reminding me of the pain again and again... I'm so depressed and helpless.

  I took off my clothes and wrapped them around my left foot, secretly using the last bit of true energy inside me to alleviate the pain. However, the effect was still not good, and my pace continued to slow down gradually.

  This bullet must have hit my bone, and it's possible that it has shattered my entire foot. Otherwise, I wouldn't be feeling such unbearable pain, nor would I be bleeding so much. As I walk away, if someone sees the trail of blood behind me, they'll definitely be shocked by this bloody road. Moreover, during those fifteen minutes when Wang Ping and I were standing still, I lost too much blood. So now, I feel like my whole body is a bit dizzy, as if I'm about to faint.

  In the end, I had no choice but to undo my belt and tie up my left leg tightly in order to help stop the bleeding.

  I didn't dare stop because I knew that if I stopped at this time, I would probably fall asleep. And for someone who has lost a lot of blood, falling asleep is dangerous.

  I gritted my teeth and kept moving forward. Gradually, my left foot lost its sensation. After another ten or so minutes, my left leg also started to lose its sensation...

  I know I'm in great danger now and could die at any moment.

  I drank a little water in the underground river, just a little bit. People who have lost too much blood can drink some water, but they must not drink too much. Then I continued to move forward, insisting on moving forward.

  I don't know how long I've been walking, nor do I know how far I've gone. But I feel like I should be close to catching up with Jing'er and Liu Mei, who left me heading in this direction earlier. Because in a daze, I suddenly heard someone talking, and the voice sounded just like Jing'er and Liu Mei's...

  So I used all my strength and shouted: "Qin Jie, Liu Mei, is that you?"

  This is my last voice, because after I shouted out this voice, I felt dizzy and the whole person fell down all at once, completely losing consciousness...

  Dreaming is something that everyone experiences, and it's usually a wonderful thing. So when I started dreaming, I felt my whole body relax, as if I had returned to the days when I was still in college a few years ago.

  I dreamed of many people, including my friends and classmates. There were also my teachers, even the old bosses who used to run restaurants and internet cafes... I was very happy to greet them warmly, shake hands with them, chat with them...

  They seemed unwelcoming towards me, everyone had a straight face as if I owed them a lot of money.

  I felt a sense of unease, just as I was about to ask them why they were treating me this way, their faces began to change. They each transformed into people I had seen on the battlefield before. There were my comrades and also my enemies. Each one was covered in blood, some with missing arms or legs, others with only a single head remaining. Every person was terrifying, every person was also pitiful.

  I felt fear and because of that fear I had the idea to leave here as soon as possible. So I ran away desperately, using all my strength to escape.

  My speed was still very fast, like a gust of wind. I ran and ran, suddenly coming to the edge of a cliff. The cliff wasn't high, but it was very steep. So when I couldn't stop in time and fell down, I felt completely weightless, my body flying downwards, and before I could blink, I had already hit the hard ground.

  I feel like my whole body is aching, as if even my bones are falling apart.

  I couldn't help but let out a miserable scream, as if I was crying for help, yet also struggling...

  I see my blood slowly flowing out, moistening a large piece of mud. I also see the fractured bones on my body piercing through my skin, proudly rushing towards my eyes, as if saying to me: "I am finally free..."

  I was so scared that I shouted loudly, I didn't want to die, and even more, I didn't want to die in this desolate place with no one around.

  This dream was not good at all and didn't make me feel relaxed. On the contrary, I felt very scared and terrified.

  This is a nightmare, and nightmares are what make people feel scared.

  I want to get out of this nightmare, otherwise I'll be scared silly.

  All I can think about is to work hard and get out of this nightmare. So I shouted loudly, wanting to scare away all the ugly things in my dream.

  My roar is so scary that even I myself feel frightened. So I really succeeded, I scared away those terrible people and things, and then opened my eyes.

  Everything around me was pitch black and I couldn't see anything. However, I heard a very urgent voice that seemed to be calling out my name: "Jin Cang, Jin Cang..."

  "Who's calling me?" I said subconsciously.

  Then the voice calling me disappeared and was replaced by another very pleasant voice: "Are you awake? Great..."

  I couldn't see the person speaking, but I felt that this person should be an acquaintance of mine because the voice was very familiar: "Who... are you?"

  "This voice said: 'I am Liu Mei, do you still remember me? You are injured and have lost a lot of blood...'"

  I suddenly remembered something, and then I felt a sharp pain in my left foot. Then, I instantly recalled many things, many, many things.

  "I muttered dazedly: 'I'm hurt...the enemy wounded me in the foot...my foot hurts so much...'"

  Liu Mei said with some worry: "Don't worry, we've already found the exit to get out, it's just that the exit is blocked and needs to be cleared before we can pass through. Once we get out, I'll immediately go find a doctor to save you."

  I smiled and said with full of hope: "Alright, I'm counting on you." After a pause, I felt a little scared: "You said the exit is blocked? Then... when can we clear it out?"

  Liu Mei hesitated for a moment: "I... I don't know either, now Qin Jie is the only one cleaning up... You know she's also injured, so it's going very slowly."

  I remembered that Ying'er was still unconscious, and Qin Zhenzhen's foot... was also injured like mine. I had just woken up, and Liu Mei was taking care of me... It really was only Qin Zhenzhen who had the time to clear the exit, but when would that be?

  So I gritted my teeth and sat up from amidst the rubble: "We... should go help together..."

  Liu Mei reached out and pressed down on me: "You rest for a while, your injury is very serious... I'll go help Qin sister..."

  I tried hard but felt that I really didn't have the strength to get up, so I had no choice but not to speak and let Liu Mei and Qin Zhenzhen go clear the blockage at the exit first.

  I knew I must have been seriously injured and had a nightmare, so I didn't take the dream just now to heart, but tried my best to sit up and start practicing, trying to recover my cultivation.

  As long as the true energy in my body can recover a bit, I have a way to self-regulate and let my body recover some energy. With energy, I can go help clear the exit. As long as I get out, I think I'll be fine.

  This time I promised the Queen Mother to save Ying'er and them, but it was really a trip through the Ghost Gate. Now thinking about it, it's quite frightening. Moreover, we still haven't escaped yet, and don't know if this exit can be cleared out. If this exit is blocked and cannot be cleared, then we're in trouble.

  Originally, going back and forth would have given us a chance to leave this dark place, but that way, we would have had to walk a very long distance. In our current state, walking an extra distance is not an easy thing to do.

  I tried to recover the true energy in my body, but at first, due to excessive blood loss and lack of nutritional supplements, the effect was minimal. However, I didn't dare give up, persisted in practicing the heart method, and slowly recovered a little bit. Although the recovered true energy was very small, it was not enough for me to stand up. But I felt much better, at least I wouldn't faint again.

  I heard Qin Zhenzhen and Liu Mei were working hard to clear the blockage at the exit. From their conversation, I gathered that clearing this exit wouldn't be a matter of a short while. Because we didn't have any tools, relying on our bare hands to do these things, it was impossible to hurry.

  I can't help now, I can only wait quietly. Waiting is often very boring and long. So I started to observe this place, wanting to know what kind of environment we are in.

  To be honest, the light is too dim and I can't see very far. But within my line of sight, apart from seeing Ying'er who is still unconscious, there are just some scattered stones. Those stones are scattered all over the ground in a disorderly manner, it's unclear how many there are, but they're densely packed. In the distance, you can vaguely make out the riverbed of the underground river, and there are some sounds of flowing water, although they're very faint. It seems that this section of the underground river is quite flat, so there isn't much sound of rushing water.

  I tried hard to get up, but after several attempts, I finally gave up. Previously, I couldn't have imagined that I wouldn't even have the strength to stand up, so at this moment, I felt a bit disappointed and felt like I was useless.

  I quietly watched as Jing'er's breathing calmed down with my help, and suddenly thought of a possibility. So I said to Qin Zhenzhen and Liu Mei: "Don't rush to clear the exit yet, I have something to say to you."

  Qin Zhenzhen and Liu Mei stopped what they were doing, turned around and looked at me, saying in unison: "What do you want to say?"

  I heard their tone was urgent, so I said briefly: "You see if you can wake up Jing'er first."

  Liu Mei walked up to me, reached out and touched my forehead, then turned around and said to Qin Zhenzhen: "He's still got a fever, and he's talking nonsense..."

  I exclaimed loudly: "I'm not talking nonsense, what I mean is that if Ying'er can be awakened now, she should be able to help us."

  Liu Mei paused for a moment, then asked doubtfully: "The princess is still in a coma, even if we wake her up now, what can she do to help us? Don't forget, the princess is ill, her brain isn't good, and there's an old injury on her heart..."

  I said, "I've cleared her two meridians and removed the stagnant blood from her brain. She should be fine now. As for the old injury on her heart, I've stabilized it, so there shouldn't be any major issues."

  Liu Mei still didn't quite understand what I meant: "What's the use of that? The princess doesn't know any kung fu, and she's never done hard labor like digging with her hands... You're not thinking of having the princess clear out this exit, are you?"

  I nodded: "If Ying'er wakes up, it's equivalent to becoming a top martial artist. You don't know, after opening the meridians, people will have a huge change in both physical strength and reaction speed. After Ying'er wakes up, I'll teach her the cultivation method, letting her temporarily become a top martial artist within a few hours using the true energy I left inside her body... Although such a martial artist can't be maintained for long, but in a short time, she will become the most formidable among the four of us... Do you understand what I mean?"

  Liu Mei nodded vaguely and turned around to push Jing Er who was still in a daze: "Princess, princess, wake up..."

  Liu Mei's movements and voice quickly woke up Ying'er. However, the newly awakened Ying'er had a look of surprise and confusion on her face. After Liu Mei's explanation, Ying'er stood up, walked to my front, slowly bowed down, and said: "Please teach me kung fu, Master!"

  This time she spoke very clearly, and as soon as I heard it, I knew that she wouldn't be confused again. Actually, after I cleared the blood stasis in her brain, I already knew that she had recovered normally. However, at the beginning, she might still occasionally get confused, but only after a period of time would she fully recover.

  It took a process, but now it seems that Ying Er is clearly very normal. I was secretly delighted to know that my almost desperate treatment of Ying Er had finally taken effect. So when she saluted me, I didn't feel anything out of place: "I'll tell you the basic method of cultivation right now and teach you how to use the true energy in your body." I smiled and said what was on my mind: "This can also be considered as a master accepting an apprentice, so from now on you are my junior sister."

  Ying'er nodded obediently and said seriously: "Thank you, Shixiong! I will study hard and won't make you lose face."

  I smiled: "It's not that I'm losing face, but if you don't cultivate properly, we might not be able to leave this place."

  Ying'er was taken aback for a moment, then said: "Don't worry, Brother Shifu, I will definitely learn how to use my true energy. This place won't be our burial ground."

  I nodded and stopped talking nonsense, instead telling Ying'er the complete introductory chapter of Wudang Heart Method, then letting her ponder it herself.

  I only taught her the most basic things, which can be said to be the simplest. Now she has already been opened up by me with two meridians, and there is also the true energy I input in her body, so it should be very soon that she can learn to use the true energy. Once she learns this point, I believe that relying on her alone, clearing out this blocked exit is not impossible.

  Ying'er listened to my words and pondered the mental technique I taught her by herself on one side. I closed my eyes to rest, but secretly circulated the mental technique, wanting to recover a bit myself, so that when I went out later, I wouldn't need others to help me.

  Ying'er spent a full two hours pondering. None of us had brought our mobile phones or anything like that, and even if we had, there was no signal here, so they wouldn't have been usable anyway. So if we wanted to survive, we would have to rely on ourselves. I didn't let Qin Zhenzhen and Liu Mei stop clearing the exit, nor did I disturb Ying'er as she pondered the introductory chapter of the Wudang Heart Method. Not until Ying'er herself looked up and suddenly asked me: "Can I really knock away the blockage here with one punch?"

  I knew she must have been secretly practicing her inner skills and knew how to use them, so I smiled and said: "If you use it properly, it should be fine."

  Ying'er stood up and said slowly: "Then I'll try, if it doesn't work out, I'll help Qin Jie and the others clear the exit, and definitely... let Shixiong leave here safely."

  I nodded and didn't say anything else. Qin Zhenzhen and Liu Mei also took a step back at this time, making way.

  Next, I saw Jing Er's figure move, and she rushed straight towards the blocked object at the exit.

  I saw a flash of light on her fist, and I knew she had used up all the true energy I left in her body. She just learned the heart method and wanted to cultivate her own true energy, which was impossible, so she could only use the true energy I left in her body.

  This seems a bit suspicious of cheating, but under our current circumstances, this is already the best solution I can think of.

  Ying Er's first move, with a momentum that is quite reminiscent of a master's style, so I'm really looking forward to her final performance.

  This is also what I expected. After all, whether we can get out of the dark land as soon as possible, all our hopes are on Ying'er's this punch.

  I was watching Jing Er's punch with an excited heart, so when her fist hit this place, I immediately widened my eyes.

  But then I heard a dull thud, accompanied by a tremor that shook the earth, and suddenly my eyes lit up, after which I involuntarily closed them.

  My heart exclaimed at once: "Great, we finally opened up this exit... We can finally leave here..."

  But immediately I heard Liu Mei's exclamation: "Princess, are you okay?"

  I hastily opened my eyes, ignoring the strong light that made me uncomfortable, and forced myself to look at Ying'er.

  Ying'er seemed to be stunned at this time, standing at the exit that she had punched through, and seemed to have returned to her previous silly and stupid appearance.

  I was startled and couldn't help but ask: "Junior sister, are you okay?"

  Ying'er heard my voice, turned her head to look at me, patted her own chest and exclaimed in surprise: "Wow, I'm so fierce! I didn't know I could be this fierce!"

  I laughed and knew she was just stunned from the previous punch's power and hadn't returned to her previous state.

  I smiled and said: "After you have cultivated successfully in the future, you will no longer feel that there is anything strange."

  Ying'er ran a few steps to my front, excitedly saying: "I finally know why you're so powerful, it turns out it's all because you're a Wudang disciple, practicing Wudang kung fu. I must practice hard and strive to become a true master as soon as possible..."

  I looked at her excited face and said: "I believe you will become a master."

  Ying'er suddenly reached out and supported me, saying loudly: "Shixiong, you need treatment, I'll take you away from here right now..." After a pause, she said to Liu Mei and Qin Zhenzhen: "Later, have someone come over to expand the exit here, also, install lights inside, we'll use this place as our underground base from now on. And, Jin Cang will be my shixiong from now on, tell everyone not to bully him again."

  Liu Mei said loudly: "Yes, I will go to handle these two things at the first time."

  Ying'er nodded and supported me as we walked out, these past few days had been suffocating for all of them, they couldn't wait to leave this place. Now that it was finally possible to leave, everyone was in a hurry.

  We felt as if we had returned to the world of the living from the gates of hell, with a sense of having died and come back to life. So we stood at the exit, each of us couldn't help but burst out laughing.