Chapter 204

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As the thunder finally faded into the distance, the rattled He Tianshu slowly drifted into sleep.

Yet, within the small courtyard, many had not slept that night. In fact, across the entire Huanxi Villa, countless people lay awake, restless. Even in Piaomiao Manor, there were those who did not sleep. Each of them seemed to wonder silently: “Which unlucky soul must have done something terrible to provoke a whole night of heavenly thunder? Even immortals would be reduced to ashes by such a storm!”

Though the thunder had moved on, the rain showed no signs of letting up. Under the blanket of dark clouds, the sun’s rays could not pierce through. Yet in the small herb shed, Zhang Xiaohua suddenly opened his eyes. A fleeting glimmer in the depths of his gaze vanished in a flash.

Upon waking, Zhang Xiaohua was first filled with confusion. Then, delight surged through him. He hastily ran his hands over his body, checking himself from head to toe, and finding nothing amiss. Relief washed over him as he remembered something, and without hesitation, he dashed out of the shed, utterly indifferent to the rain that enveloped him.

In the faint light of dawn, the herb field came into full view. The vibrant green of the plants, interspersed with hints of yellow, looked breathtakingly beautiful—a sight he had seen countless times yet never appreciated as much as he did now. For a moment, Zhang Xiaohua stood frozen in the rain. The downpour drenched his hair, his clothes, and his face. Whether the wetness on his cheeks came from the rain or his tears, he couldn’t tell. Zhang Xiaohua’s eyes were moist, and his nose stung with emotion.

This night, my effort was not spent in vain!

After a long while, Zhang Xiaohua snapped out of his reverie, brushing aside the lingering fear of the night’s dangers. Without delay, he sprang into action, rushing back toward the small courtyard.

The distance between the herb field and the courtyard was considerable. After a night of relentless rain, the path was now muddy and slippery. Zhang Xiaohua hadn’t run far before his feet were caked in mud, nearly causing him to trip. Instinctively, he began to use the Piaomiao Step. His Air Floating technique showed immediate results, actually lifting Zhang Xiaohua slightly off the ground. With another burst of effort, Zhang Xiaohua applied the skill more fluidly, and he darted forward like a swift swallow in the rain, agile and graceful, heading straight for the courtyard.

Luckily, it was still early in the morning. Most people, disturbed by the night-long thunderstorm, were catching up on sleep and had yet to rise. Had anyone been awake to witness Zhang Xiaohua’s profound Qinggong, they would have been utterly astonished.

When Zhang Xiaohua, moving like the wind, arrived at the small courtyard, his first stop was He Tianshu’s door. He pounded on it vigorously while shouting: “Captain He! Captain He! The herbs are alive! The herbs are alive!”

Inside, He Tianshu, still groggy from sleep, was startled awake by the yelling. Hearing the words, “The herbs are alive,” his heart leapt with joy. But as he glanced around the dimly lit room, he chuckled at himself, muttering: “I must be dreaming. Daytime thoughts turn into nighttime dreams. How could those herbs possibly come back to life?”

He rolled over, intent on returning to sleep and continuing his meeting with the Duke Zhou. But before he could settle down, the pounding on the door resumed with renewed force, accompanied by Zhang Xiaohua’s familiar voice: “Captain He! The herbs are alive!”

This time, He Tianshu couldn’t dismiss it as a dream. He sprang out of bed, quickly crossed the room, and opened the door. There stood Zhang Xiaohua, drenched from head to toe, his clothes soaked through and streaked with faint traces of blood.

Alarmed, He Tianshu asked urgently: “Zhang Xiaohua, what happened to you? Where have you been? You’re completely soaked! And… wait, is that blood? What on earth happened?”

As he spoke, He Tianshu suddenly wrinkled his nose and took a few deep sniffs. After several attempts, he grimaced and added: “Where is this awful smell coming from?”

Following the unpleasant odor to its source, he turned his gaze back to Zhang Xiaohua, his face full of confusion.

Zhang Xiaohua was just about to explain the situation with the herbs when He Tianshu pointed out the traces of blood and the foul smell on him. Startled, Zhang Xiaohua quickly looked down. Sure enough, his sleeves had faint red streaks, and the rainwater dripping from his hands and feet carried a faint reddish hue. However, the dim morning light made it difficult to see clearly. Recalling the stinging pain he felt before losing consciousness the previous night, Zhang Xiaohua surmised it was from injuries sustained during that ordeal. Raising his sleeve to his nose, he caught a whiff of the sharp stench and quickly played it off with a grin. “It’s nothing, Captain He. Maybe I scraped myself when I fell on the way here. As for the smell, there’s nothing on me. Could it be your nose acting up?”

Not wanting to dwell on the topic, he swiftly changed the subject. “Captain He, great news! Most of the herbs in the field have come back to life, with just a few still showing signs of wilting.”

Hearing this, He Tianshu’s attention immediately shifted. His expression turned to disbelief. “Really? That’s impossible!”

By now, Nie Xiao’er and the others, awakened by Zhang Xiaohua’s thunderous knocking, had come out of their rooms, dressed and curious. They overheard Zhang Xiaohua’s shocking proclamation and shared He Tianshu’s skepticism, their faces filled with doubt as if saying, “Don’t try to fool us—we’re not falling for it.”

Seeing their incredulous looks, Zhang Xiaohua became anxious. Tugging on He Tianshu’s sleeve, he urged: “You don’t believe me? Come with me to the herb field and you can see for yourself!”

Equally eager, He Tianshu was about to rush out into the rain when Nie Xiao’er grabbed him by the arm and reminded him: “Captain He, an umbrella. The umbrella.”

Only then did He Tianshu come to his senses. Everyone hurried back to grab umbrellas before stepping briskly out into the rain.

He Tianshu glanced at Zhang Xiaohua’s disheveled appearance and chuckled: “Zhang Xiaohua, look at you. Go wash up and change into some dry clothes. You don’t understand inner force, and your constitution is still weak—don’t catch a cold. You don’t need to come with us right now. Since the herbs have already revived and you’ve seen them, just wait a while before heading back out.”

Zhang Xiaohua thought about it and agreed. Drenched to the bone and possibly covered in bloodstains, it wasn’t practical to follow them in such a state. Once He Tianshu and the others left with their umbrellas, Zhang Xiaohua quickly returned to his room, grabbed a fresh set of clothes and an umbrella, and went outside to wash up.

As Zhang Xiaohua scrubbed himself clean, he noticed a thin layer of blood scabs covering his body. These had already hardened, and much of it had been washed off by the relentless rain, clinging to his clothes or flowing away with the rainwater. The scabs also contained black, foul-smelling substances that made him feel nauseous just smelling them. Yet, upon close examination, he found no visible wounds on his body—his skin was “spotless and unblemished”.

This discovery surprised Zhang Xiaohua greatly. The sharp pain he’d felt the previous night had clearly been concentrated on the surface of his body. Could it be that all the injuries had healed overnight? Or had he misjudged, and it was all internal damage instead?

However, with his current level of internal cultivation, Zhang Xiaohua knew he couldn’t inspect his meridians without sitting in meditation and channeling his energy. For now, he focused on finishing his washing.

The strange stench that He Tianshu had noticed wasn’t entirely new to Zhang Xiaohua. Back in Guo Village, he had occasionally experienced it, though in much smaller amounts with a less intense odor. At the time, he had simply attributed it to sweating excessively from hard work. But now, with the smell amplified tenfold, Zhang Xiaohua couldn’t ignore it any longer. A sudden realization struck him, and a term flashed in his mind: “Cleansing the Marrow and Washing the Meridians!”

This was the very term Zhang Xiaohua had just read about in the fourth level of the [Carefree Heart Sutra]. Supposedly, practicing the sutra to the fourth level would bring about the effect of “Cleansing the Marrow and Washing the Meridians”, expelling impurities from the practitioner’s body. But he had barely begun cultivating—how could he have already achieved this stage? Moreover, what explained the faint foul smell that had appeared in the past?

Suddenly, Zhang Xiaohua felt that there were many things about himself that defied understanding. In the past, he hadn’t paid them much attention and was too lazy to think deeply about them. Yet now, with more inexplicable events piling up, he couldn’t help but reevaluate everything.

At that moment, his gaze fell on the black, wide bracelet on his left wrist. It had been a long time since he left Guo Village, and Zhang Xiaohua was no longer the helpless, naïve boy he once was. Having gained experience with the ways of the world, he understood more about the things around him, especially common objects like bracelets.

Gently, Zhang Xiaohua slid the bracelet off his wrist. On closer inspection, it was clear this was no ordinary bracelet. It was about twice as wide as the ones typically worn, yet incredibly thin. The material was a dark, lustrous black, and upon closer examination, his gaze seemed to sink into its depths. When he slightly rotated it, faint starlight seemed to flicker within. But how could that be? Zhang Xiaohua looked up—the entire room was enclosed and filled with humid mist; there wasn’t a single source of light.

After examining it for some time, Zhang Xiaohua still couldn’t discern anything unusual. The bracelet had been on his wrist for so long that he had nearly forgotten it, treating it as though it were part of his body. Now, reflecting on the many inexplicable things that had happened to him, Zhang Xiaohua realized they all seemed connected to this bracelet. However, all these occurrences had been to his great benefit. Since it was something that brought him nothing but good, why overthink it?

Time is often the resolution to all questions. Zhang Xiaohua reasoned that eventually, even if he didn’t seek the answer, the secret of this bracelet would likely reveal itself to him.

With that thought, Zhang Xiaohua sighed and slid the bracelet back onto his left wrist.

The moment he put it on, though, a faint sense of something being “off” struck him. He removed the bracelet, only to feel the same sensation. Placing it back on again, Zhang Xiaohua repeated the action a few times, and his eyes suddenly lit up as he realized what was unusual.

The bracelet was self-adjusting. When he slid it onto his wrist, it would contract, fitting perfectly to the shape of his wrist without any excess space for movement. Its fit was so snug and comfortable that it felt as though it were part of his skin. What’s more, the bracelet was astonishingly light, so much so that wearing it felt no different from not wearing it at all. Moreover, when he removed the bracelet, it would expand just enough to allow his hand to pass through it effortlessly.

Even if Zhang Xiaohua were slower to grasp things, it was now impossible to deny that this bracelet was tied to the transformations in his body. One thing was crystal clear: this bracelet was extraordinary.

Recalling the bracelet’s extraordinary nature, Zhang Xiaohua immediately thought of a famous saying: “An innocent man can become guilty by merely possessing treasure.” Both Liu Qian and Li Jinfeng, as well as He Tianshu, had once told him this proverb. Setting aside his cleaning for a moment, Zhang Xiaohua carefully reviewed everything that had happened since he acquired the bracelet. As far as he could recall, aside from his parents and his two brothers, no one else knew about the bracelet. Even his parents likely assumed he had long since discarded this “trinket”.

With that realization, Zhang Xiaohua finally breathed a sigh of relief.