Yang Jun slided on his buttocks toward the door. His hands and legs were tied. With all his might, he pounded hard on the door.
Thud! One...
Thud! Two...
Thud! Three...
And finally a loud voice was heard behind the room. "Shut up! Stop making that noise, Moron!... hic... hic..." Someone yelled with a loud bang on the table. His voice was unstable, as he was drinking much.
Yang Jun pounded once more, and another sound was heard again. "Hey, kid! Do you want me to dismember your body and throw it into wilderness? If you dare to make sound once more, I will not hesitate to do it..." The voice was firm and sober.
Two people are outside watching us. Well, this will be easy. He took a look at the dying boy across and sighed, first, I need to take care of this.
He slided to nearest pole, wiggled his wrists altogether and rubbed them to the pole to make friction. With his inner energy flowing to his hand, just within minutes, the rope was burned down. After his hands were free, he stomped the remaining fire with his bare hand.
He untied his feet and uncovered his mouth. He walked to the dying boy. His complexion was no good. His face was pale and his body was freezing, as if he had already died.
Yang Jun reached the boy's hand to check on his pulse, the pulse is so weak but his dantian point is flowing with energy that keep him alive. He was stunned for a moment. This boy was abundant of yin energy, it was not something can be reach within this age. Was this not a boy but grown up? What kind of art that could do so? Interesting...
Many thought Yang Jun was an angel in human disguise. He was a sweet boy with beautiful appearance. He spoke politely. He had good ethics and knew how to position himself in social hierarchy.
In fact, he was a demon with angel face in human skin -- not particularly evil. But he would do anything to achieve his vision, even if the method was manipulative, uncommon, and unethical.
Just like right now, he was about to test his medical knowledge to the dying boy. He had never had formal medical education, only happened to read books about medic and accupunture.
His right hand was holding hairpin as his left one caressed the boy's accu points.
"Frankly, this is my first time. You are stuck here with me -- no one will come to your rescue and without any proper medical equipment. If you want to complain, blame it to your tragic fate. But if you survive, your life will be mine."
He puncture his hairpin lightly to the boy's top head as he flowed his own energy into the hairpin, bai hui, the hundred meeting point.
After that, he took it out and reached for his upper lips, shui gou, the philtrum groove point. Then, holding his right hand, turned it over, he gu, union valley point. Finished with the right hand, he went to the left one.
The boy started to sweat. The frozen body felt warmed. Yang Jun grabbed his arms, puncture the point above his wrists, nei guan, open the inner gate point.
Lastly, he reached the boy's ankle, shen mai and zhao hai, to regulate the energy flowing. Yang Jun meticulously pierced the hairpin with high precision. He repeated it over and over, until the boy's complexion turned normal. Then, he checked on his pulse again.
The energy inside him has been linked, but still lack of yang energy. He opened up the boy's run out robe, transfering his own energy into him. Only that, the boy woke up,vomitting crimson red clotted blood.
Yang Jun himself witnessed the bruises on the boy's body healed by itself as if they were never there. The body volume changed rapidly. Before, he was so thin that his bones nearly visible to eyes. And now, it seemed the muscles had filled them up.
Who is this boy?
***
He had walked thousands of Li through the south desert of ShenGang. He survived through countless sandstorm, the heat of desert, hunger and thirst. He would feed on scorpions, centipedes, snakes, merkeets, or lizards -- whatever passed on his way. He drank their blood, body fluids, and cactus. He also survived from desert bandits, killing them were as easy as stomping ants. Yet, he was helpless walking through snow.
As he exited Desert ShenGang, passing through rocky mountains, he arrived at unknown land full of white snow. That was the first time he saw snow and experienced winter. His body was slowly freezing; he was weakened. Until he could move no more, lying on the pile of snow. He wondered how come the weather changed so extreme.
His body was indeed paralyzed, but his mind and sense did not fade away. From a far he heard horses gait. Closer and closer as it stopped before him.
"Laoda, it's a kid lying here. Should we take him in?" He heard them talking, but he was too tired to respond.
"Stupid, look how skinny and poor he is. Just leave him here. We do not need more mouth to be fed." The other member answered.
"Laoda, he is dying from frostbite. He won't last long. Why bother helping the dead? We cannot sell him either."
The man who supposed to be leader, stepped down from the horse, examining the dying boy. The boy was pale and freezing, yet still breathing. He examined the clothes and rubbed on the boy's cold cheek -- the traces of desert sand. One glance, he knew this was no ordinary boy. This one had walked through desert and climbed on rocky mountain to get to Dong Nan region.
He was facinated, how a little boy survived extreme desert climate. He searched the body to find a rusty 短刀 (Duǎn Dāo) -- a kind of short saber that been used by desert bandit to ambush, the tip of the blade was curved -- tied on his back. He immediately recognized the blade.
"Say, how long have we lost contact with ShenGang horse bandits?" He asked.
"More than a month ago. Those horse bandits really bastards. After taking our money, they did not bring the goods to us." One of them answered.
"Because of them, we have to look for another supply. If I ever see one of them, I will kill them and throw their dead bodies to the wolves..."
The leader took out the rusty duan dao out. "I know what happened to them..." He said while looking at the freezing body before him.
"Laoda, do you mean that this kid killed them all?"
"You are joking, aren't you? How can a skinny limping kid kill the horse bandits. It's impossible, even in a dream."
The leader looked at the blade keenly. The rusty waa clearly caused by blood oxidation and the desert climate fastened the reaction. He did not say anything, not to scare his wingsmen. He then diverted his gaze to the boy's feet. The feet seemed to walk long distance in a long time. Dirty of sands and mud, rough and callous, but still strong and firm.
Dried blood trail could be seen on his clothes and body. The leader was horrified. His instinct told him that was no ordinary boy. This boy was likely two edges swords, one side could bring huge sums of money, the other side was death and hollow. He liked to bet.
"Bring him on. We don't have to give him anything to eat. If he survives, he may be useful one day. If he dies, let him be. In addition, we have no more goods to sell. The east region is under Yang household territory. It's too dangerous for us to take an action there. Without those horse bandits, it will be difficult for us to traffick children and women from Jiang Nan. Meanwhile, we will stay low. After the winter has over, we will look another spot." He ordered and the people coming with him cheered along.
So the boy was brought together with them. He was dragged on the ground by one of the horsemen. They headed to You Hua town. Arriving at a hut, they threw his body on the hays, in one of the rooms, and leaving him alone. He was conscious all the time, yet he wasn't able to move, speaking, or even opening his eyes. As if all his senses were dormant, except for his mind.
He did not know how long he was there until he heard a thump sound -- a person being thrown in. Later, he heard four pounding sounds and two people outside yelled.
Not long after that, a soft voice of a boy whispered on his ears followed by burning sensasion all over his body. He could feel that his body was full of energy -- not his, but strange energy burged into his and mingled in. As it collided with his own.
Afterwards, he felt alive, revitalized. Warmth flowed all over like river flowed. He opened his eyes, seeing a long haired beautiful boy smiled in relief. He met his eyes for seconds, bewitched by his dazzling brownish eyes.
Glossary
1.The accupunture point in this chapter is real. It is to enhance the energy flow, revitalizing and strenghten body. The points are :
- bai hui, located at the top of the head
- shui gou, located between nose and upper lip
- he gu, located on the back hand, between thumb and index finger.
- nei guan, located above the wrist crease, between the tendon.
- shen mai, located behind outer ankle bone
- zhao hai, located below inner ankle bone
2. 短刀 (Duǎn Dāo) – "Short Saber"
- A compact, single-edged blade (~40–60 cm) for ambushes and dirty fighting.
- Used by foot bandits or assassins in the desert.