"Who are you...?"
Lin Huang didn't ask how he got here but asked just one important question. These three words were filled with such intense emotions that could make the heart of anyone shake with perplexity.
Wang Chen, who was merely smiling a moment ago, felt as if his mind had frozen for a moment. The overwhelming emotion in that question made him forget what he wanted to say. He could feel the immense gratefulness as well as the joy of being alive. However, strangely enough, Wang Chen could also sense another kind of emptiness that he couldn't put into words.
Although he experienced a roller coaster of emotions, outwardly his face remained the same. Acting like a nonchalant expert, he simply looked in Lin Huang's direction with an indifferent expression and merely tossed the bottle in his direction.
"Here, take this pill first and then ask questions once you have recovered."
After saying that, Wang Chen didn't wait for Lin Huang's reaction but simply walked deeper into the hall and sat cross-legged in a meditation position.
"This...!"
Lin Huang looked at the pill bottle in his hands then back at Wang Chen. As someone with strong self-esteem, he wanted to return the bottle back to Wang Chen and immediately walk out of the dojo.
This thought had merely occurred in his mind, then out of nowhere an intense pain that could be described as thousands of ants biting at the same time shot through his back and he fell squarely on his butt.
His body still hadn't recovered properly. After all, his injuries weren't minor—the fact that he was still alive after getting his innate sword bone extracted was no less than a miracle in itself.
Lin Huang's mind was blank as he stared empty into the ceiling with a dazed look in his eyes.
Then maybe his ears were ringing—he heard a voice in his head:
Is that it? Just one setback was enough to break you, little son?
The voice was extremely gentle, like a mother talking to her child.
For a moment, Lin Huang seemed to have seen a woman watching him from the sky, a look of disappointment in her eyes.
As if struck by lightning, Lin Huang clenched his fist, his hands shaking.
"No, his mother didn't raise a disappointment!"
With that thought he tried to get up but failed miserably. After all, he was too weak.
But Lin Huang didn't give up. He tried again and again until he could no longer move.
A single thought rang in his head again and again:
A single setback was not enough to stop him.
He was better than this. Moreover, he couldn't make a fool of himself in front of his savior.
When his train of thoughts reached this point, his gaze subtly shifted to the figure of the young man sitting at the back. From start to finish, after handing him the pill bottle, Wang Chen hadn't spoken a single word, much less taken a single step.
Suddenly Lin Huang's eyes flashed with iron will. He was already indebted to Wang Chen—then might as well take another debt.
With that thought, he held the glass bottle and brought it closer to his face.
Even though the bottle cap was tightly sealed, he could feel the intense vitality trapped inside the pill.
Just holding the bottle in his hand seemed to have relieved a little of his injury.
Lin Huang paused for a moment, a look of hesitation on his face, then in the next moment, he decisively uncorked it and popped the pill into his mouth.
Immediately, like a droplet of water striking hot iron surface, the pill instantly melted into an explosion of vitality, merging with the very fiber of his being.
Although he knew the pill was precious, even then he didn't expect it to be this extraordinary.
It was precious—too precious for someone like him.
Without him realizing, the debt in his heart turned even more heavy, to the point he felt if in this life he would be able to repay it at all.
Meanwhile, Wang Chen watched this scene from start to finish without disturbing at all. Although he wanted to accept Lin Huang as his disciple, in his heart he knew that haste makes waste. Although he could have taken the initiative himself, the effect wouldn't be as good as it was.
Sometimes the more you try to control things, the more uncontrollable they become.
Now that Wang Chen had simply handed him the bottle without saying anything, Lin Huang might have let his guard down, but if he started blabbering, the young boy might have realized something was wrong. This was considering the fact that Lin Huang seemed to have been recently stabbed in the back.
Wang Chen looked at Lin Huang's expression and inwardly grinned. His plan worked—the fish seemed to have taken the bait.
Time continued to pass. Soon one week passed in the blink of an eye. In the meantime, Wang Chen acted as an indifferent expert who didn't care about worldly things.
In this past one week, there had been no news from the Blood Fang Gang. However, Wang Chen, who was familiar with the situation, could tell this was just the calm before the storm. The Blood Fang Gang could come knocking at his door at any moment.
Wang Chen however wasn't too worried—he had the means to save his life.
Meanwhile, from the very day when he first took the pill, Lin Huang's injuries seemed to have completely healed. He took up all the duties of taking care of the dojo like sweeping and mopping the floor, and finally dusting the library.
Although Wang Chen was no psychologist, he could tell that something was weighing heavily on the young man's mind.
"My meridians are completely destroyed..."
Lin Huang muttered with a look of complete despair on his face.
Every day after cleaning up the dojo, he would sit cross-legged and meditate, trying to ticket the surrounding qi into his own body.