"Huh?" Yuan Fang, who had just been knocked over, felt a pang of pain.
"Aah!" Only then did he react and scramble away.
It wasn't long before he returned with a clay pot. He immediately wanted to pour water for Niu You Dao, but Yuan Gang wouldn't allow it. He took the pot from him and carefully, drop by drop, poured water from the spout into Niu You Dao's mouth.
Gradually, Niu You Dao's belly filled with water. Yuan Gang stopped giving him water and watched him warily.
Niu You Dao spoke again in a faint voice, "Hungry, is there any thin porridge?"
Yuan Gang immediately turned, and Yuan Fang guessed, "I'll run!" — and he disappeared like smoke.
Yuan Gang looked at Niu You Dao and asked seriously, "Lord Dao, how did it go?"
Niu You Dao: "It's nothing, this is normal. I should recover in about a month. However, I still can't move. I'll likely need to be fed like this for three days. Only then will I be able to get up."
Yuan Gang: "Lord Dao, does it always feel like this when you break through a realm?"
Niu You Dao: "It should be. It's just that some people have restorative spiritual pills by their side, so they recover quickly. But many people are hunting me. Plus, I don't want to attract the attention of the Heavenly Jade Sect. So, I have to rely on my body's resilience."
Seeing his pained expression, Yuan Gang clenched his jaw tightly: "Damn Supreme Purity Sect! Sooner or later, I'll destroy it."
Niu You Dao chuckled weakly. He knew Yuan Gang was angry at them because of him: "With your strength, you want to take on the Supreme Purity Sect?"
Yuan Gang: "Did you forget there's sulfur here?"
Niu You Dao froze. That's an explosive substance. And back in his previous life, Monkey was a weapons expert. He could mix different compounds to create explosives. If he wanted to blow up the Supreme Purity Sect, it wouldn't be an impossible task for him.
"You... The matter with the Supreme Purity Sect is in the past. As long as they don't cause me trouble, I won't cause them any. I don't want to get involved with them anymore. After all, thanks to them, I've made such progress. Moreover, Dong Guo Hao Ran was their disciple. I shouldn't destroy them. It's better to live a free life, riding with the wind and rain. So, don't touch them!" Niu You Dao began to ramble.
Seeing Niu You Dao chatter on, Yuan Gang said:
"I understand. Don't talk, rest." He turned and went to light the lamp to make it brighter.
"Originally, I wandered in the dragon's lair, with a palm I could separate yin and yang, grasping Qian and Kun..." A faint voice drifted.
Yuan Gang looked up and saw Niu You Dao sitting cross-legged.
He watched him for a moment, then sat down on the steps, listening to Niu You Dao's humming. He stared at the lamp's flame, lost in thought...
Cang Wu County, Prince Ning's Estate.
The man kneeling at the entrance, who had stood there day and night, finally collapsed.
As soon as he fell, numerous people immediately rushed to him. They examined him.
"Looks like he's dead?"
"Let me see... No breath, no pulse."
"He actually knelt to death."
"Of course, after kneeling for so many days, without food or water. You try kneeling, you wouldn't last a day."
"Was something wrong with his head?"
The commotion at the gates attracted the attention of the cultivators on guard. They reported the incident to Bai Yao.
When Bai Yao emerged from the gates and saw the men holding Wei Duo, he immediately spoke in a cold tone, "What are you doing? Who told you to touch him?"
A bodyguard replied, "Master, he's already dead. He died kneeling. We want to carry him away now."
"Died kneeling?" Bai Yao trembled. He looked at Wei Duo: "I never imagined there could be such stubborn people. How obstinate must one be to hold onto their beliefs like this?"
He couldn't help but walk forward and personally examine Wei Duo. He eventually found a faint, almost imperceptible pulse.
"Water!" Bai Yao shouted. Immediately, someone ran to fetch water.
Bai Yao took a pill from his waist, crushed it, and, opening Wei Duo's mouth, began to sprinkle it in. When the water was brought, he slowly poured it into his mouth so the crushed pill would travel through his channels.
"Feed him water slowly."
Seeing the situation, the people understood Bai Yao. It seemed Wei Duo was not dead yet. They propped up Wei Duo's head, helping to give him water.
After a while, Bai Yao told them to stop, and later to carry him into their courtyard...
Three days later, Niu You Dao emerged from the cave. More precisely, he was carried out on a sedan chair, the same kind used to carry Shu Qing down the mountain.
Meng Shan Ming, Shu Qing, and Luo An stood at the foot of the mountain. When they saw the blood-soaked Niu You Dao, they were alarmed. Shu Qing even covered her mouth with her hand. Niu You Dao was quickly carried past them. And when they reached a secluded courtyard, they began to clean him. Yuan Fang wiped the dried blood from his body. Then, he was brought to a bathing tub. After that, Yuan Gang very carefully began to wash him.
A few days later, Niu You Dao walked out the doors again. He could already move slowly and looked upright and composed.
Yuan Gang didn't leave his side, and Yuan Fang ran errands for them.
On the second day, Niu You Dao smiled bitterly. For now, Shu Qing was once again combing his hair.
She took care of him like an invalid. And he could no longer refuse her.
The days that followed continued in this manner. Niu You Dao walked around the village and rested. He wasn't cultivating. Indeed, there was no need to cultivate now. And the craftsmen had specifically made him a lounge chair.
So Niu You Dao, enjoying the warmth of the sun, lay under it and basked.
Yuan Fang diligently ground soybeans nearby. He didn't know where Yuan Gang had gotten the soybeans or why he was told to do this.
And Yuan Gang, following Niu You Dao's instructions, produced some coarse salt from a clay pot. He dissolved it in water, which turned into a black liquid. Yuan Fang had no idea what they were doing.
"Bear, don't sigh. Aren't you a vegetarian? You'll thank Monkey later," Niu You Dao said, squinting as he lay in the sun.
Once everything was prepared, Niu You Dao finally stood up.
The three men went to the kitchen and put all the ingredients into a cauldron. They also strained everything through a mesh cloth.
And when they took the mixture out again, they had a white, porous substance. Yuan Fang blinked. Niu You Dao tied a bamboo stick and used it to stir the cauldron. After all that, he asked Yuan Gang, "It'll be ready in a quarter-hour. Can you handle it?"
Yuan Gang nodded, gazing contentedly at the cauldron: "I can. It'll be easy."
When the entire cauldron turned white and porous, Yuan Gang scooped its contents into a bowl and offered it to Niu You Dao. But Niu You Dao shook his head, turned, and went back to bask in the sun.
It wasn't long before Yuan Gang also emerged. Yuan Fang held a bowl and was licking the resulting mixture: "Lord Yuan, should we make some more of this stuff?"
Yuan Gang: "Not anymore."
Yuan Fang: "But I'm not full..."
After Yuan Gang took the porous substance from the cauldron, he sprinkled some seasoning on it.
A little later, Yuan Gang took some fresh fish and went to make soup.
Just then, Shu Qing arrived; she smelled the delicious aroma wafting from the kitchen. She noticed Niu You Dao, who was lying on the couch.
At noon, Shu Qing didn't leave and ate with them.
Several people happily began their meal. Only Yuan Fang sat and stared at his empty bowl. However, the smell of fish spread everywhere. He thought for a long time, then clasped his hands, mumbled something under his breath, and endured. He refrained from eating fish and meat.
After lunch, Shu Qing put down her chopsticks and declared, "This tofu is delicious. Is it really made from soybeans?"
Yuan Fang nodded: "Princess, indeed. Unheard of and unseen, yet so delicious. It's truly wonderful. If you don't believe me, you can ask Lord Dao to make it again. If he does, I can grind the soybeans!" He said, patting his chest.
Shu Qing looked at Niu You Dao: "If you sold this tofu, you could make a lot of money."
Niu You Dao smiled: "I'm not interested in that. Princess can ask Monkey."
He knew that for a young woman, this was a better pursuit than war. Especially in such turbulent times, when food was hard to come by. Such a delicacy would be even scarcer...
After lunch, Yuan Gang came into the courtyard with a pile of sticks on his shoulder. Yuan Fang quickly closed the door and curiously asked Yuan Gang, "Lord Yuan, is this delicious too?"
Yuan Gang offered him a stick and said, "Want to try?"
Yuan Fang stretched his mouth and laughed: "Lord Yuan, you jest."
Yuan Gang looked at him stone-faced: "I've often beaten you. You must hate me, don't you?"
Yuan Fang waved his hand: "Not at all."
Yuan Gang: "I'll give you a chance for revenge."
"No need. It's all in the past. We've fought together, and now we live in peace." Yuan Fang sensed a trap in his words.
Yuan Gang blocked his way:
"Today, you can beat me. I won't retaliate, I won't dodge, and I won't seek revenge!"
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