I was gasping heavily, unable to even stand up, but I dared not lie at the door. I feared the person might return, or worse, his associates could spot me and rush in to finish me off.
I could only struggle to crawl to the door and press the button for the rolling shutter.
Once the door was closed, I let out a long sigh of relief.
After a brief moment of recovery, I began circulating my energy according to the downward method, trying to restore my internal Qi.
At that moment, I heard Huang Jiu's voice from outside: "What's going on? You have to open the window when you leave, but now it's like the place is free for anyone to come and go?" As he spoke, he jumped onto the windowsill and peered inside. After a glance, he turned around and said, "I came back too early."
I was furious, and seeing this only made me angrier. Through gritted teeth, I said, "If you dare leave today, I'll have you pack your things and go back to the mountains tomorrow!"
Huang Jiu paused, turned around as if he had just noticed the situation inside, and asked with a shocked expression, "Brother, what happened here?"
My tongue felt like it was about to bleed from the frustration, and I took two deep breaths to calm myself. I reminded myself not to get too worked up over an animal, that it wasn't worth damaging my health.
Besides, if I got into it with him now, he'd probably just run off and keep causing trouble until the morning.
This bastard would definitely do something like that.
I hated him, but I was also helpless. I forced a smile and said, "Huang Bro, the people from the Luban Sect came earlier, but I chased them off. But after depleting my energy, my body feels like my tendons and bones have been drained. What's going on?"
Huang Jiu looked at me, astonished. "Your grandfather was such a powerful figure. Didn't he teach you to always leave some energy in reserve?"
Leave some in reserve?
Grandpa didn't even have any energy left himself, how could he teach me?
Fearing that my excuse would fall apart, I chose to remain silent.
Huang Jiu hopped down from the windowsill and said, "Your dantian is like a reservoir. If you drain all the water, the sun will crack it open, and your meridians will become like dry, brittle branches. If you keep doing this without leaving any reserve, it will leave irreversible damage over time."
His explanation made sense to me.
But my dantian has so little energy to begin with, that if I leave any reserve, there would be nothing left to use.
It seems it's not that I don't know how to use it—it's that I'm too weak.
Even so, at least I managed to save my life.
Huang Jiu told me to meditate and recover. As long as I regained some Qi in my dantian, I would regain strength.
He was worried that the Luban Sect might return, so he turned on all the lights in the shop and opened the rolling door at around 4 a.m. When the breakfast shop opened, no one dared to make trouble in the busy market.
I meditated until about 6 a.m. when I finally felt a trace of energy in my abdomen.
As soon as that trace of Qi gathered, it was like a shot of adrenaline, and I snapped back to life.
Opening my eyes, I saw Huang Jiu had already reassembled the mechanical beast I had disassembled. Although there was a hole in its back and some parts were damaged, it still looked masterfully crafted.
Huang Jiu fiddled with it a little, and the mechanical beast's limbs could still move flexibly.
When he saw me wake up, Huang Jiu sighed and said, "What a pity. The Luban Secret Talisman inside was destroyed by you, or it would have been valuable. Now, it's just a pile of wood pieces."
Thinking back to last night, I felt a surge of fear. "Huang Bro, do you think we should change locations?"
Huang Jiu froze for a moment and asked, "Change locations? Just because you offended the Luban Sect?"
I nodded, not denying it.
Huang Jiu looked at me like I was some kind of monster. "Li Yang, I understand that you couldn't bring yourself to kill Liu Changxuan and his disciples in the mountains. I can accept that it was your first time, but today, I've figured you out. You are not cut out for this kind of life."
After saying this, Huang Jiu turned and went back inside to pack his things.
For a moment, I didn't know what to say.
Is this path really all about killing and fighting?
It didn't take long for Huang Jiu to come out, carrying a small floral bag, and without looking back, he was about to leave.
I knew he was serious, so I rushed to stop him. "Huang Bro, you have no one to rely on in this city. Where will you go?"
Huang Jiu, fuming, replied, "I'd rather stay in a garbage dump than follow you!"
I didn't like that response. I stopped him and asked, "Then what do you think I should do?"
Huang Jiu answered, "What should you do? Stay here. If someone comes, kill them. Let them understand one thing: if they want trouble, they need to first weigh their own strength!"
After he said this, I slapped him on the back of the head. He stumbled, and angrily turned around to look at me. "What do you mean?"
I shifted my stance and started cursing at him. "You rely on that damn mouth of yours! I told you not to go out last night, but what happened?"
As for whether I couldn't bring myself to kill someone… I can only say that the world has misunderstood me, Li Yang.
If not for the people from the mountains, Liu Changxuan and his disciples would've been dead by the edge of the Ten Thousand Mountains.
The same goes for what happened this morning. If I still had a sliver of energy, I wouldn't have let him go.
In matters of life and death, I know how to make a choice, and I won't let sentimentality stand in my way.
Huang Jiu had originally planned to give me a lesson, but he ended up being severely reprimanded by me.
Around 8 a.m., Su Yimei brought breakfast for me and Huang Jiu.
I cleaned up the shop, and she didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, but I didn't dare let her stay inside. I made up an excuse and sent her away.
Around 10 a.m., Uncle came to the shop. He had other matters to discuss, but as soon as he entered, I pulled him into the room and told him what happened last night.
After listening, Uncle patted me on the shoulder and said, "Anyone who eats from our bowl will eventually face such situations. The bigger the business, the more trouble there is."
"Are you not afraid?" I asked, somewhat confused.
"Afraid?" Uncle replied, "I've been in this world for so many years. I've learned one thing: the most terrifying thing in this world is poverty. Everything else is not worth mentioning."
The logic made sense, but I wanted to say that the people from the Luban Sect are targeting me, not him.
Seeing Uncle's calm expression, I couldn't help but doubt if he was really my uncle.
While talking to me, Uncle started packing his things and I saw he brought the Golden Sword and the Peachwood Sword with him.
I couldn't help but ask, "Do we have business again?"
Uncle nodded. "It's from General Wang. His friend had some issues on a construction site. I need to go check it out."
I asked, "What about the Luban Sect situation?"
Uncle asked me back, "If someone is targeting you, does that mean you stop eating and sleeping?"
I still couldn't fully understand.
Uncle stood up, looking serious, and said, "Yangyang, there's only one important thing: to live well every day. You faced danger last night, but you survived. That's the best outcome. The more you survive, the better you'll understand how to protect yourself."
"This path was never meant to be smooth sailing. If you keep thinking about hiding, you can still back out now."
I fell silent.
But I couldn't stop thinking about Uncle's words.