Chapter 4 – Guinea Pig
Tall trees formed a huge umbrella above a small river, beside which was a dragon drinking water, carrying several bags.
Ten strong, tall warriors were dining and talking lewdly near the dragon. Behind the dragon, a group of malnourished men were crouching and having a coarse meal. They were all wearing chains, their eyes dim.
In a sedan chair on the dragon, a poker-faced thin old man was sitting motionlessly. He was wearing a black robe embroidered with five white cauldrons on his chest. He kept staring at the warriors and the chained men. Every warrior was frightened and turned silent once the old man looked upon them viciously.
“Are you done? Then move your ass and walk!” Mo Yanyu showed up from the bush with a rigid face, lifting Shi Yan up in her hand.
The warriors wrapped up their unfinished meal and were embarrassed, “Yeah, we’re done. We’re done.”
Mo Yanyu went up to the old man and showed an unwillingly smile, “Master Karu, have you finished your meal?”
The old man nodded coldly and murmured, “Miss Mo, it will still take 3 months to get to the Merchant Union. However, we have only 16 medicine slaves left. I’m afraid we won’t make it…”
“Do not worry, Master Karu. We will catch more medicine slaves for you.” Mo Yanyu threw Shi Yan onto the ground and laughed, “Look, a new slave!”
“Hmm.” Karu nodded as he examined Shi Yan with his evil eyes. “Too skinny! He won’t even survive a week!” He frowned.
“Yes I know. But, he has Profound Qi in him…” Mo Yanyu explained.
“He is a warrior?” Apparently Karu was now interested, and his eyes lit up.
“Definitely!” Mo Yanyu confirmed.
“That is good.” Master Karu smirked. He continued to focus his eyes on Shi Yan. After quite a while, he nodded slowly, “Very good. Miss Mo, feed him. I want him to be strong first. A severely injured warrior cannot bear what I am going to do. It would be a total waste if he died through the course of my medicine when he is still too weak.”
“Do not worry Master.” Mo Yanyu wore her rigid face and scolded, “Johnson! What are you doing there! Shackle this man as soon as possible!”
“Yes, ma’am!” This bald, fat man appeared to be six foot six. He took out a new set of shackles from the bags on the dragon and swiftly shackled Shi Yan’s hands and feet.
This giant wore heavy armor and his robust muscles looked extremely powerful. The heavy dark armor seemed as light like a feather and didn’t affect him whatsoever while he was moving.
“Johnson, take care of him! And always keep an eye on him!” Mo Yanyu glared at Shi Yan in hatred, and rushed to the head of their caravan, not bothering to waste one more second on him.
“I can handle it, Miss! I’m the best at it!” The bald man chuckled cunningly and reassured her, punching his chest.
Shi Yan observed silently despite his body hurting all over.
He knew it would be useless to say anything at the moment. In this dog-eat-dog world, morals was the last thing one should believe in. He will receive no pity and would only become a skeleton and if he didn’t adapt to this world soon.
As the Profound Qi flowed slowly within him for a while, Shi Yan felt less pain. However, the newly added shackles were like a mountain on his exposed and feeble body, making every step much harder.
“Bang!”
Shi Yan suddenly got lashed by a whip, which was so fast and powerful that his back was cracked open and ached badly. He turned around to see the big man Johnson smirking with a whip in his hand.
“Damn medicine slave! Move faster! Or do you want one more lash, huh?” He laughed with an evil smirk on his face.
Shi Yan gazed at him for a few seconds and didn’t reply. He staggered towards the medicine slave in front of him, before Johnson could lift his whip again. Every step consumed a lot of energy.
After Shi Yan moved forward, Johnson’s smirk disappeared and was replaced by a weird expression…
Along the way, many stumbling slaves had been ‘taken care of’ by Big Johnson, who was famed for his brutality. Two slaves were even beaten to death by him before Master Karu could even test his medicine on them. All of the medicine slaves looked at him with either fear or hatred.
However, this man didn’t show the slightest hint of fear or hatred. There was only an incredible silence, cold and solemn.
This man didn’t seem to realize his status as a prisoner. Maybe he didn’t clearly understand the situation.
The solemn eyes gave Johnson the illusion that he was prey. This made him uncomfortable. However, since Shi Yan had begun obediently marching, Johnson couldn’t find a reason to make a fuss. He swore to himself that he would force Shi Yan to be frightened of him.
Big Johnson enjoyed the sight of others’ frightened eyes so much. He found an interesting pleasure in being in control of the life of another.
In the following days, Shi Yan stayed mute and obedient. He obeyed every order that was given by Johnson without any resistance. No change of temper, no interest in anything. Shi Yan was different from the other medicine slaves.
Even Johnson, who was always waiting for a chance to give him a lesson, couldn’t find any excuse to trick him. Shi Yan was unbelievably cooperative. Johnson was confused.
Shi Yan only talked when he asked for food, which was under Master Karu’s permission.
In no time, the warriors noticed that Shi Yan had a big appetite and he enjoyed the inferior food. He ate what seven medicine slaves ate as a first meal. And day by day, he ate more and more!
The warriors couldn’t believe their eyes. How could that weak skinny body contain so much food! At the beginning they worried that he couldn’t digest it but it soon turned out to be unnecessary.
It was clear that Shi Yan had not only digested the inferior food, but also grown much stronger.
The changes in Shi Yan’s body pleased Master Karu significantly. This cunning old man allowed Shi Yan to eat as much as he wanted.
As Shi Yan grew stronger day by day, Johnson gradually became worried. Every time he looked into Shi Yan’s solemn eyes, Johnson got the premonition that Shi Yan would be a calamity in the future. But still, he couldn’t go against Master Karu’s order and had to supply Shi Yan with enough food.
Nevertheless, Johnson knew who Master Karu was and what he could do. Thus he was relieved, and hoped Master Karu would take action soon.
After eating enough for 12 people, Shi Yan put down his bowl, licked the last grain of rice from the corner of his mouth, and closed his eyes, neglecting the dumbstruck medicine slaves beside him.
That huge amount of food was soon digested in his body, which was like a bottomless pit. It was also like a precise machine that transformed the food into nutrition, supplying his blood, bones, tendons, muscles and inner organs, strengthening his weak body secretly.
The injury on his chest had long since recovered. It took only a day and a half and didn’t leave a scar. He felt like was a different man.
Only Shi Yan knew precisely what had happened to his own body in such short time. He could sense the transformations in occurring within himself every second!
While the nutrition from the food strengthened his body, the weak Profound Qi inside him had also risen by a level during its continuous circulation.
Shi Yan could feel a great strength now and the heavy shackles didn’t weigh him down anymore!
As he concentrated, he could tell the Qi was flowing from his Dantian, up to the Governor Vessel, down the Reception Vessel, and then balancing the water and fire in the heart and kidney. After it completed a Small Circulation, his Profound Qi grew stronger.
Thanks to a little knowledge of Qigong, Shi Yan knew the difference between a Small Circulation and a Big Circulation. A Small Circulation only included the Governor and the Reception Vessels, while a Big Circulation contained the twelve Channels and the other six vessels.
Since there were only two vessels; the Governor and the Reception Vessels, which were open among his twelve Channels and eight vessels, he could only complete a Small Circulation. From the other Shi Yan’s memory, he concluded that only warriors of the Elementary level could open all the channels and vessels to conduct a Big Circulation.
Shi Yan carried on, for he believed that as long as the Profound Qi residing in him was strong enough, he would open his Channels and Vessels sooner or later!
“One more death! Two slaves have died from the medicinal trials in just six days!”
“I saw that! That guy had already grown weak before he died. Terrible! Hideous!”
“It’s better to commit suicide than die that way! We will die that way too! There is no hope in sight!”
“No suicide, no! Our family won’t get a single blue crystal coin if we commit suicide! Alas! Endure it. We will be free if we survive half a year, and get some money. We must endure until we make it back to our wives and kids!”
Hearing this, all the medicine slaves went silent. They decided not to commit suicide and made up their minds to carry on.
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