Chapter 313: The decision to see

Ga Ga felt very uncomfortable.

It wasn't pain, but rather a general feeling of 'unease' throughout his body.

His breathing was labored, his muscles wouldn't obey, his senses were blurred, he couldn't hear clearly, and he couldn't open his eyes.

Evil Qi had entered his body, corrupting his five internal organs, causing five ailments and seven injuries, dissipating his spirit, and paralyzing his body.

Therefore, he couldn't even feel pain, because his body was numb, and he felt nothing from his injuries.

This, instead, allowed him to hold on, as he didn't unconsciously tense his muscles due to the severe pain of his injuries, which would have increased blood loss.

Wounds that are too painful are more prone to heavy bleeding; relaxing helps with recovery.

However…

Ga Ga's injuries were likely very difficult to recover from.

Evil Qi not only caused paralysis but also damaged the body and corrupted wounds.

Although there was no pain, and because his wounds had been cleaned, allowing him to survive the night, he would still die if the wounds continued to worsen later.

There was nothing he could do.

He urgently needed external supplements.

Fortunately, the two people who stayed behind carefully poured some soup into him.

With some easily digestible energy in his body and a replenishment of water, he finally felt a bit better.

He subconsciously chewed on some things, then lay slumped in the cart, dazed and unresponsive.

It wasn't until the midday sun caused a headache that the paralysis throughout his body finally dissipated somewhat.

The sun is where Yang Qi gathers, and sunlight is even purer, intense Yang Qi, though it crosses the Universe and is weakened by the world's own罡 wind layer, so only a very faint portion remains.

But no matter how faint, the strong Yang Qi began to dispel the foul, dark Qi from his body.

One of the banes of evil Qi is Yang Qi.

Finally, with a little strength recovered, Ga Ga, though not yet awake, instinctively began to perform Qi circulation.

The Daoist method of Qi circulation is the foundation of cultivation, needing to be practiced to the point where it can be performed instinctively, without thought.

Coincidentally, he had reached this level, able to instinctively circulate Yang Qi.

Coincidence, coincidence, yet again coincidence.

On Ga Ga’s person, it seemed there were always ‘coincidences’.

Breathing and circulating Qi, drawing Yang into the abdomen.

His body was bathed in sunlight, his face had a jade-like luster.

Essence and Qi flowed, Yang taking its form.

Yang Qi surged into his body; although the evil Qi was deeply rooted and difficult to dispel by such a simple act, a portion of it was suppressed.

With this suppression, the original feeling of paralysis disappeared.

No longer numb, intense pain suddenly struck! It directly caused the deeply unconscious Ga Ga to let out a cry of pain, forcing him to open his eyes.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he suddenly sat up, gasping for air.

“Benefactor, you’re awake?” a voice sounded beside him, its tone sounding very joyful.

It was just… still the language of Immortals, which is the elegant tongue of the world.

There was no other way.

Immortals had descended for a hundred years, and for most of the newly born Sacred Flame Clan people, this was their 'mother tongue'.

Even Ga Ga himself couldn't speak the traditional Sacred Flame Clan language, let alone others.

However, Ga Ga noticed that this voice… was exceptionally clear and precise.

Ga Ga himself spoke with a slight accent, which was unavoidable.

But this voice sounded completely without accent, as if spoken by someone with a certificate, very standard.

Ga Ga immediately realized this meant the other person was not local.

He immediately turned his head to look in the direction of the voice, only to see a woman.

Her appearance… should not be ugly, but she deliberately applied many things to her face, hunched her back and shoulders, and walked stooped, making it impossible to distinguish her gender at a glance; one had to look carefully to discern it.

Clearly, those thieves didn't have the patience to observe carefully.

“You are…? Before, Ga, that… cough cough, from the convoy?” Ga Ga endured the pain, struggled to sit up in the cart, looked at the two people beside him, and tried to speak.

But his words were extremely hoarse and intermittent, becoming so difficult for even himself to understand.

This was because his vocal organ, the base of his wing, had been half torn off.

This was a very serious injury; for the Sacred Flame Clan, it meant simultaneously losing the ability to vocalize and to make expressions.

Their emotions and language are produced by wing root vibrations.

With one wing gone, Ga Ga could still barely produce some hoarse, indistinct sounds, but speaking would become very difficult in the future, causing pain with every word, and others would find it hard to understand him.

He had to stop speaking and instead observe the two people beside him.

One male, one female; the female was the one who had just called him.

The other male, upon his awakening, quickly went to the clay pot and brought a bowl of soup.

The woman seemed to understand Ga Ga's words and said to him, “Yes, we, brother and sister, were captured by the Xijiang bandits. Benefactor, please don't speak yet, your injuries are too severe, you should rest.”

The man also quickly brought the soup to Ga Ga and fed it to him.

Ga Ga moved a bit, his body so painful he could barely stir; he knew his condition and had no choice but to lie down.

However, after lying down, he still struggled to vibrate his wings, trying his best to produce a hoarse sound: “You… aren’t… cough, locals?”

This sentence, at least, the two of them understood.

The brother of the siblings replied, “Benefactor, you are correct. We were both captured by the Xijiang bandits from Jinling Temple.”

Ga Ga froze for a moment upon hearing the place name.

Jinling Temple?

This place name sounded like… a place still occupied by Immortals?

It had been mentioned before that two-thirds of the Holy Flame World currently remained Immortal territory, with only the remaining one-third being a chaotic, warring zone.

However, Ga Ga was unaware of this; his sources of information were too restricted.

It was the first time he had heard of a place still belonging to the Immortal faction, and the first time he had seen people from such a place.

This sparked some questions in Ga Ga's mind that he wanted to resolve.

However, those matters should wait until after they left this place; they were still not out of danger yet.

Ga Ga lay in the small cart, starting to form hand seals.

Now that he was awake, expelling the evil Qi was no longer difficult; he possessed Daoist techniques and could use Yang Qi to nourish his body.

Seeing this, Shen Shuibi expanded her vision, scanning the surroundings.

No one was coming; those so-called Xijiang bandits were still busy enjoying themselves, completely unconcerned that a small team hadn't returned.

Indeed, they were too lazy to care; given the discipline of the Xijiang bandits, it was perfectly normal for them to play for a couple more days if they encountered something outside.

Hmm… In that case, there's no need to watch what happens next.

The rabbit lost interest in the subsequent developments, no longer observing these minor matters, and instead began to busy herself with her own affairs.

She would only intervene when Ga Ga's life was in danger.

However, at this time, Ga Ga began to think calmly.

He had seen… commoners from the Immortal faction.

He had always had little fondness for the world ruled by Immortals, which was why he had initially placed his hopes in the Holy King, desiring to restore tradition.

But now, after being injured, he discovered that the people from the Immortal faction's territory spoke clearly and logically, and even as commoners, they were grateful and polite.

Moreover, they could push the cart, indicating they were in good physical condition, and judging by their appearance, they must have been able to afford food before being captured.

Being able to afford food allowed them to understand honor and shame, etiquette, and gratitude.

However, being able to afford food… had become a luxury in this chaotic world.

Thus, the local captives, after encountering trouble, seized food and fled, with only these two people from the Immortal faction remaining to rescue Ga Ga.

What did this signify?

It meant that even commoners could eat their fill in the Immortal faction's territory?

Was the Immortal faction… the correct path? At least, they were able to eat their fill.

Doubt began to creep into Ga Ga's heart.

Was his support for tradition truly correct?

The Immortal laws were overthrown, but this world became the territory of people like the Xijiang bandits…

Were the Immortals, perhaps, correct after all?

And had he perhaps misunderstood the Dao of the Guardian before?

The Daoist cultivation method he acquired was immensely powerful and versatile.

However, when facing a life-or-death crisis earlier, he ultimately chose the Dao of the Guardian to fight for his life.

It was an almost unconscious choice, made without much thought.

This was like an instinct, and besides…

Just like his choice, he could have investigated and then immediately left to report the situation to Ge Gu.

He didn't need to risk his life at all.

But upon seeing what those people were enduring, he still stepped forward, even at such a heavy cost.

Is this the meaning of the Dao of the Guardian?

He always felt that the Dao of the Guardian was the path he should choose.

Although Dao was powerful, it… wasn't as intimate?

While thinking these thoughts, he did not stop, but silently circulated his cultivation method, gathering Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to heal his injuries.

Daoist techniques were useful at such times.

While circulating Qi to recuperate and resting, the two captives were also resting; their injuries were not light either, they just could still move.

They stayed in place for another day.

By evening.

Ga Ga opened his eyes.

“Discard the cart… cough cough cough, Ga!” Ga Ga tried to speak, but was still choked by his damaged vocal organ.

He was surprised to find that when he spoke now, it seemed to come with an uncontrollable 'Ga Ga' sound.

Just like… his name.

A coincidence?

Ga Ga hated the word 'coincidence', but it seemed unavoidable.

“Benefactor, you’re awake? Discard the cart, can you walk?” The brother and sister quickly scrambled up from the ground, the brother immediately asking.

Because Ga Ga didn't look like he could walk, they probably still had to push the cart.

They hadn't traveled during the day because Ga Ga and they needed rest, and traveling during the day made them easily visible from afar.

When still, they might be overlooked, but moving made them very easy to spot.

So they planned to push the cart and travel at night.

“Yes… yes, follow, follow me, I have, home…” Ga Ga spoke with difficulty, then got down.

After a day of recuperation, he could move again.

The two siblings exchanged glances, then abandoned the cart, picked up the remaining mycelial food, and followed Ga Ga to what he called 'home'.

Benefactor, he must have a camp, right?

The three set off.

They quickly returned to the camp.

Ge Gu was surprised, but immediately arranged for a physician to treat them.

After the treatment, the two captives were interrogated, with Ga Ga listening in.

It was then that the brother and sister began to reveal their origins.

They were indeed from a place ruled by Immortals, from Jinling Temple, a temple that enshrined a 'Golden God', but they only knew it was a Golden God and not which 'Immortal' it was.

Both siblings now spoke of that Golden God with reverence, their mouths full of 'Our God', showing extreme respect.

Especially the sister, she spoke to Ge Gu in an extremely humble tone: “It was the Golden God who bestowed food upon us, and taught us virtue, and it is precisely because of this that the place where we live is vastly different from here.”

Ga Ga sat by and watched.

He saw Ge Gu reveal a sneering expression; clearly, Ge Gu felt nothing for this rhetoric, even wanting to laugh.

But Ga Ga didn't find it funny.

He wanted to see if the Immortal faction's territory was also this chaotic and disorderly, this terrifying? Was it better than the current chaotic situation?

After hearing all this, Ge Gu shook his head and stopped them from continuing: “Alright, what you say now is useless. You can't go back to Jinling Temple. Do you want to stay in our camp, or go back on your own?”

This question stumped the siblings.

To be honest, they wanted to go back, but the journey was too dangerous.

However, at this moment, Ga Ga suddenly spoke.

“Let them, themselves, here, cultivate.”

“Wait, after harvest, take a portion as, rations, then… I will escort them.” Ga Ga struggled to make the sounds.

Ge Gu vibrated his wings, making a questioning sound.

Ga Ga's meaning was simple: let them farm here, and after the harvest, a portion would stay here, and the rest would be taken as rations, then Ga Ga would escort them out of here.

“Are you very idle?” Ge Gu didn't seem very pleased with this suggestion.

“I, want to, see.” Ga Ga forced out the sound stiffly.

Now his speech had almost no inflection; for the Sacred Flame Clan, this meant no expression, so it sounded completely devoid of emotion.

However, despite the apparent lack of emotion, Ge Gu seemed to hear a certain longing.

He sized up Ga Ga.

This young man… he could have run away himself, yet he desperately saved those people, getting himself into this state…

“Alright, as you wish, but you cannot take from the camp’s existing food. What you eat now must also be accounted for and repaid later.” Ge Gu shook his head, no longer dwelling on it.

However, for now, that was the decision.

The two siblings had no food and no way to leave, so they temporarily stayed in this camp.

No idlers were supported here; everyone had to work, so it wasn't considered harsh treatment.

— — — — — — — — — —

Meanwhile, Li Qi had already taken the seat of an honored guest in the Liu family, signifying he was a welcome visitor.

Liu Canzhi's father, Liu Junyi's Uncle, sat at the head table, cupped his hands to Li Qi, and said:

“My son is fortunate to have gained Young Master’s favor and friendship. I am very pleased.”

It's the last day, brothers, please cast your free monthly votes.