Chapter 28: Faking
With the Blood Thinning Pill handed out, all the men who had contracted “typhoid” recovered by the next day.
Having received the elixir and bacon, they were naturally extremely grateful, and worked even harder to refine the desolate bones.
Of course, Yi Yun was one of them. His “recovery” was the fastest for he simply needed to wipe off the fake sweat–water he had sprayed on his face.
As such, Yi Yun headed to the grain-sunning ground the next morning as if full of energy,
After this bout of illness, Yi Yun and the group changed from the night shift to the day shift. This suited Yi Yun’s wishes since he could no longer learn much more from Yao Yuan’s “Dragon Rib Tiger Bone Fist”. Yao Yuan was not planning to teach the remaining stances, but the first few stances was enough to occupy Yi Yun for a period of time.
Refining the desolate bones in the day, and practicing in the back mountains at night made it more covert.
“Kiddo Yun, is your body feeling better?” asked the auntie from next door. She had seen Yi Yun skipping down the road, as if he had excessive energy.
“Auntie Wang, I’m totally fine! Thanks to Young master Lian’s elixir! Young master Lian is such a great person!” smiled Yi Yun, with a look of gratitude. As he went down the road, he boasted to others about the effectiveness of the Blood Thinning Pill.
“That’s great, that’s great!” Auntie Wang said as she saw Yi Yun’s energy, knowing that he had fully recovered.
For an adult like Yi Yun, it was pretty awkward for him to skip down the road, but he was after all a twelve-year-old child in the eyes of others.
The age of twelve was when kids were the most playful. Yi Yun was “noticed” by Lian Chengyu because Lian Chengyu had felt he was too mature, unlike a child.
A twelve year old had to behave like a twelve year old. If he acted as one occasionally, it would reassure people that nothing was out of the norm.
“My family’s man wanted to brew that bone soup thingy, but too bad he was not able to. Kiddo Yun, you sure are lucky.” Auntie Wang said with envy.
“Ha ha, Auntie Wang, There’s still some bacon left from the one I received. I’ll give you a piece tonight.” Yi Yun said casually; he did not cherish this piece of bacon that were coveted by all these poor commoners.
Actually, Yi Yun had cut a small piece from the bacon to feed a dog. Of course, that dog did not belong to Yi Yun’s family for a poor family did not have the means to rear a dog. Even if they did, the dog would have long been slaughtered and eaten.
In the entire Lian tribal clan, only the warrior preparation camp reared a few dogs. All of these dogs were hunting dogs. As there were few wild beasts near the wonderland, searching for rabbits without hunting dogs would be no different from searching for a needle in a haystack.
Yi Yun had fed the meat to the dogs because he was worried that Lian Chengyu had poisoned the bacon. Although it was unlikely, Yi Yun had to be cautious.
After seeing that the dog was all right, Yi Yun then allowed Jiang Xiaorou to use the meat for cooking.
Yi Yun had not enjoyed the taste of meat for ages. However, the taste of the bacon wasn’t great, as it had been cured far too long. The meat was hard and tasted like wood. It only tasted salty and lacked the fragrance of meat.
But for such a piece of bacon, Jiang Xiaorou had insisted on leaving it for Yi Yun, and refused to eat it. Yi Yun took a lot of effort to convince Jiang Xiaorou to have a small bite.
Yi Yun did not eat much himself. He even hung the remaining meat on the wall.
Yi Yun had aimed for the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom warrior selection in two months; hence he was not concerned about this tasteless piece of bacon. He had heard from Jiang Xiaorou that the Auntie Wang from next door had taken care of them in the past, especially in the years after Yi Yun’s mother had passed away. Jiang Xiaorou was always out of food before the ration distribution, and if not for Auntie Wang giving them some food, they would have long starved to death.
It was a great, kind debt, after all few people would give their food to others in this world. It was much more difficult than lending money on Earth.
Hence, giving this piece of bacon to Auntie Wang was fitting.
“How…How can you. Kiddo Yun, you and your sister are undergoing puberty, it was hard for you to obtain this meat. Auntie can’t accept it!” Auntie Wang said firmly, giving mixed feelings to Yi Yun.
In this poor and backward tribe, although there were many obstinate citizens and wicked people, but there were people like Auntie Wang who thought of others even when they were starving.
Such a land could actually produce all kinds of people.
“Auntie Wang, Xiaoke is also in the growing stage. Even if you don’t eat it, Xiaoke would need too.” Auntie Wang’s child, Zhou Xiaoke was about the same age as Yi Yun. When they were young, she used to follow Yi Yun all around.
With Xiaoke growing up and full of life, together with Yi Yun’s resurrection, the two had interacted a lot less.
“Auntie, say no more. I’m going to brew the bone soup.” Yi Yun did not wait for Auntie Wang’s reply before running away.
“This kid!” Auntie Wang shook her head, but a happy smile plastered her face.
In the Lian tribal clan’s Patriarch compound, Lian Chengyu was standing in the middle of the stone courtyard, practicing his boxing.
He wore a loose practice suit. This practice suit was made of a rare silk fabric uncommonly found in the Lian tribal clan. It was very expensive. This practice suit was smooth and soft to the touch, and was extremely comfortable when worn.
Lian Chengyu walked in circles in with varying speeds. When he was slow, he was like an old man exercising in the morning, but when he was fast, he was like a cheetah hunting a prey.
Through it all, Lian Chengyu’s eyes were focused on his fingertips. His arms were like a snake sliding through the woods, making it difficult to determine where he would launch his attack .
Zhao Tiezhu stood silently by the side, waiting for Lian Chengyu to finish his practice.
After about half an hour, Lian Chengyu was finally done.
He held his hands by his waist and spit out a breath arrow. This arrow flew far without dissipating.
Spitting out a breath arrow was the symbol of the Vigor realm, but Lian Chengyu’s breath was no longer a simple Vigor realm’s breath. It was powered from the Mortal Blood’s fifth level, Qi Gatherer. Lian Chengyu was able to gather the Yuan Qi from the environment into his body, so the air he spit out was not only air, but also consisted of Yuan Qi!
“Fabulous! It’s absolutely fabulous!” shouted Zhao Tiezhu as he saw Lian Chengyu finish. His eyes lit up as he began to kiss ass.
“This strength, this skill, in the warrior selection in two months, Young master will definitely become a Kingdom Knight of the Tai Ah Divine Kingdom!” Zhao Tiezhu began his flattery once again. Lian Chengyu’s strength was indeed not bad. For him to have that ambition, he had to have the means to do so. He had reached the fifth level of Mortal Blood the previous year, so the few punches he displayed were reminiscent of a master’s.
“Cut the crap, how is the refining of the desolate bones?”
“Everything is going as per normal!” It has to be normal!” said Zhao Tiezhu as he patted his chest. “Those cheap people were extremely grateful after receiving Young master’s bacon and drugs. They wish they could refine the bones all day!”
“Hmm…Give them some of the herbal dregs then,” said Lian Chengyu casually. The herbal dregs were of no more value to him. Suddenly, Lian Chengyu asked, “Right, what happened to that Yi Yun?”
“Yi Yun…” Zhao Tiezhu gave a look of disdain. “That kid fell sick a few days ago and had diarrhea, and was covered with sweat. The entire house stank. He was no different from a beggar.”
“If not for Young master’s mercy, he would have long died without the elixir! Lowly me followed Young master’s instructions and saw with my own eyes that the kid swallowed the pill. But thankfully, that kid still has some conscience. These few days he had been going around singing praises of Young master, saying that he could recover all thanks to Young master’s medicine!”
“This…” Lian Chengyu’s mouth formed into a gentle arc after listening to Zhao Tiezhu’s narration.
This tribe of cheap lives, each more foolish than the preceding one. He thought that there were a few clever ones in the tribe like Yi Yun, but it seemed he had worried too much.
It was good, them being dumb allowed him to cover up any incidents in the future.
“Make sure to keep watch. The nearer we are to the end, the more we need to ensure that nothing goes wrong with the refining of the desolate bones. If it’s refined successfully, I’ll reward you greatly. If anything wrong happens, you will pay me with your head!” Lian Chengyu said the last word with great killing intent, scaring Zhao Tiezhu into nodding incessantly.
“Young master, don’t worry. This servant will keep watch day and night, I will ensure that nothing goes wrong!”
…
Zhao Tiezhu hurried to the grain-sunning ground in a flurry. Yi Yun was still chopping wood in his usual unhurried manner. Yi Yun secretly smiled when he saw Zhao Tiezhu, it was true an idiot could do no harm.
“What are you looking at, get to work! Are you looking to die!” Zhao Tiezhu roared and threw a big bag. When the bag was opened, out came a huge pile of herbal dregs.
These were the remnants after Lian Chengyu finished soaking his body in.
“This herbal dregs are a reward for you. The necessary supplementary drugs are in there too. Take them back and boil it in water. Soak your body in it while it’s still hot, and it will benefit you much. Damn it, you guys really have it good!” Zhao Tiezhu swore as he said those words. The men’s eyes lit up after hearing it. They rushed to grab the herbal dregs.
Of course, Yi Yun did not get any. Even if it was given to Yi Yun, he would not have wanted it. That was after all the bathwater of Lian Chengyu, would he want to soak in the leftover bath water? It must be a joke!
Yi Yun still did the motions of lunging forward. When he did not get any, he just sighed.
Seeing Yi Yun having such a slow response, and being dim-witted, Zhao Tiezhu could not help laughing. This idiot could not do anything even when in a hurry, what else could he do? He deserved starving to death!
Zhao Tiezhu left, as the men carried on refining the desolate bones. The refinement process was to brew the desolate bones’ essence in the Li Fire Water, and then evaporate all the Li Fire Water, allowing the dissolved essence to crystalize.
The Li Fire Water’s boiling point was extremely high, so it was not easy to evaporate it away. Countless amounts of firewood had been burnt. The men in charge of the refinement had their skin grilled red.
But Yi Yun was an exception. His skin was still like a baby’s bottom and his cheeks were rosy. This rosiness was not a result of the fire, but from the absorbing of the desolate bones’ essence. Because he was well-nourished, his healthy body displayed a healthy pink.
As Yi Yun looked at Zhao Tiezhu’s back, he glanced at the huge cauldron. Again he had satiated his appetite, and could not wait to go “rampant” on the back mountain.
His body was full, but his fist could no longer wait!