Chaotic Times and Disasters: I Hunt Down Martial Arts Masters and Become a God

...

The campfire deep in the mountains was about to go out, with only a few pieces of charcoal still glowing.

Xiao Lu squatted by the campfire, using a dagger to whittle a branch for firewood. Every time he whittled it a couple of times, he would glance at Fu Qing.

When Fu Qing opened her eyes, Xiao Lu had just finished whittling a tree branch.

Seeing Fu Qing open his eyes, Xiao Lu threw the whittled branch he had just prepared into the campfire like a dart. He jumped up and ran to Fu Qing.

"Brother Fu! You're finally awake!"

Fu Qing propped himself up on the ground and sat up, the wound on his back being pulled painfully.

His soft armor had been removed, and his back was wrapped with the medicinal cloths from Suwen.

Xiao Lu squatted down next to him and handed him his water pouch. Fu Qing took a couple of gulps before his throat felt less dry.

With red eyes, Xiao Lu said frankly that Han Yue and his men had been scattered, and the three thousand-man teams had suffered heavy losses. The surviving brothers were still trying to contact each other.

Suwen used sleeping powder to knock out the pursuers, and then he carried Fu Qing and hid in this mountain forest.

Fu Qing leaned against the tree trunk and turned to look at the opposite side of the campfire. Su Wen sat cross-legged on a rock, holding a palm-sized medicine cauldron in her hand. The pale green medicinal fumes rose from the mouth of the cauldron and reflected on her face, which remained expressionless.

Fu Qing pushed himself up and walked over to her, sitting down opposite her. "Thank you for saving my life, Miss Suwen."

Suwen looked up at him and said, "Thank me too soon. You won't live more than five years. I couldn't have saved you."

Fu Qing was stunned on the spot, and the dagger in Xiao Lu's hand fell to the ground with a "clang".

Suwen put down the medicine cauldron and placed her hands, folded, on her knees.

"You have a 'Five Internal Organs Temple' in your body, a kind of Gu poison engraved in your blood. As it is passed down from generation to generation, the Gu poison begins to activate within two years of adulthood, and the five internal organs fail in sequence: spleen, lungs, kidneys, liver, and heart."

"Within five years, all five signs of decay will appear simultaneously, beyond even the help of a deity."

Fu Qing was suddenly startled, "It's from the Di Kingdom..."

"no."

Suwen interrupted him, "A rare bloodline poison, one is born with it."

Fu Qing looked down at his chest.

"Can the medicine palace cure this?"

"I'm only 10% sure, provided the poison hasn't reached the third stage. Once it does, there's nothing I can do."

Fu Qing's heart sank to the bottom.

He leaned against the tree trunk, staring at the campfire in silence for a long time, and Suwen didn't say anything either.

The damp firewood in the campfire crackled.

"However, the remains of the 'Medicine Immortal,' a top-ranking physician who passed away a thousand years ago, can cure all poisons in the world, bring the dead back to life, and heal flesh and bones. It is the most precious treasure in the world."

"The whereabouts of the other four organs are unknown, but the remains of the Medicine Immortal's heart are in the Jingjing Imperial Household, and have been personally kept by successive emperors."

Fu Qing looked up abruptly, almost choking on her breath. "Can you please stop panting when you speak?"

"It's because you didn't listen to the whole thing."

Suwen remained calm and said, "It is possible to solve it, but finding the remains and internal organs is more difficult than climbing to heaven."

Fu Qing leaned against the tree trunk, looked up and gazed at the stars through the gaps in the canopy, and felt a sense of peace settle in her heart.

It may be difficult, but at least there's something to look forward to.

Xiao Lu had been listening the whole time, and finally couldn't hold back any longer. He plunged the dagger into the ground.

"Brother Fu, what do we do now? Ironblood City is still under siege, and we can't fight our way back with our small force. How about we go to Jingjing to get reinforcements? Doesn't Commander Tian have 100,000 reinforcements on their way?"

Fu Qing shook his head. "It will take at least half a month for 100,000 reinforcements to reach Ironblood City. By the time they arrive, they will have starved to death. Besides, the Di Kingdom has more than just cavalry this time..."

"They also have experts above the Qi Condensation Realm. Soldiers against soldiers, generals against generals. Now that any Qi Condensation Realm expert in Ironblood City has been transferred out, the Di army may take advantage of the situation. We can't move Tian Shuai, we can't move Zhou Tie, we can only rely on ourselves."

Xiao Lu scratched his head and muttered, "So what can we do?"

"Let's try to get back to the city first."

The three set off late at night and encountered a patrol team on their way back.

Just as Fu Qing was about to slash with his sword, he suddenly stopped halfway through the air. The burly man with a thick beard, who was leading the way and was carrying a curved sword, was Ma Xiong.

Ma Xiong's eyes widened.

"Boss, what are you doing here?"

Fu Qing put the knife away.

"I was also wondering what you're doing here?"

More and more border soldiers emerged from behind Ma Xiong.

Han Yue emerged from behind a tree, his left arm wrapped in a bandage and sling around his neck, his face pale. Ding Meng peeked out from a bush, his eyes lighting up when he saw Fu Qing, and he limped over.

"Boss!"

"We've fallen for their trap!"

Han Yue spoke in a deep voice.

"The Di army has already surrounded Ironblood City. We can't go back. The remaining soldiers of the three thousand-man squads total more than eight hundred, less than 30% of what they were when they set out."

Fu Qing looked at them one by one. Among the eight hundred people, many were still injured. Some were using broken spears as crutches, some had blood-soaked strips of cloth wrapped around their heads, and some were sitting against tree trunks with splints on their legs.

Fu Qing stood in front of the eight hundred remaining soldiers, and stuck the spare sword that Han Yue had handed him earlier into the ground, the tip of the sword drawing a winding line in the mud.

"Since we can't go back to Ironblood City, let's fight our way deeper into the grasslands. Commander Tian said that the Di Kingdom has put up all its resources this time, and they won't leave many people at their headquarters. Let's go to the Di army's territory and steal their lives!"

Xiao Lu hesitated for a moment.

"Isn't 800 people too few?"

Fu Qing chuckled, "Eight hundred men can do a lot if they strike first."

His knife tip poked a spot in the mud. "Let's go find the supply horse farm and steal horses. With horses, we'll have cavalry. Eight hundred cavalrymen can roam freely on the grasslands, more effective than three thousand infantrymen."

Han Yue crossed his arms and shook his head.

"This is insane."

Fu Qing sheathed his sword and looked at the crowd.

"Those who can walk, follow me. Those who can't walk, two to one, don't leave any of your brothers behind. I'm taking you home!"

The group headed north.

...

Inside Ironblood City, Song Yawei sat on a bamboo recliner under a jujube tree, sewing a small garment in her hands.

Her belly was already very big, making it very inconvenient for her to move around. Even bending down to pick up a ball of yarn that had fallen on the ground required her to slowly squat down while holding onto the jujube tree.

The fire in the kitchen was still burning, and the soup in the pot was bubbling and steaming. She had been cooking it according to the schedule. Fu Qing would be gone from the city for two or three days at the earliest, and four or five days at the latest. He should be back today.

The courtyard gate was pushed open.

Song Yawei looked up and saw not Fu Qing, but Zhou Tie.

Zhou Tie stood at the door without coming in. He glanced at her and then lowered his head, his expression not good. He lifted his foot and then put it down again, as if he didn't dare to come in.

This morning, he received a reply from his scouts that Fu Qing had been ambushed. When the scouts arrived, they found only corpses scattered on the ground, and not a single living person.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Tiehu's body trembled, and his head buzzed.

...

Zhou Tie's expression made Song Yawei stop her needlework in mid-air.

She suppressed her heart palpitations, stood up, and forced a smile.

"Brother Zhou, why don't you come in and sit down?"

"Sister-in-law..."

Zhou Tie's voice was deep, "Brother Fu... he was ambushed when he went out of the city to seize grain; three thousand-man squads were surrounded!"

Song Yawei was stunned for a moment, her face gradually turning pale as she looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

Zhou Tie gripped the door frame, breaking off a piece. After a long silence, he finally managed to squeeze out the rest of his sentence, "Most likely... gone."

Song Yawei's needlework slipped down her knees, the color draining away.

She paused for a few moments, then bent down to pick it up. Actually, she didn't need to, but she still bent down.

As she bent over, her stomach was pressed down, and a sharp pain shot up from her lower abdomen. She groaned and slid off the bamboo recliner, clutching her stomach.

Zhou Tie was startled and rushed forward, but he didn't know what to do. He immediately flew to Old Man Shen's courtyard.

Old Mr. Shen carried his medicine chest, and Zhou Tie carried him into the courtyard, followed by Shen Yao. Song Nini ran out of the kitchen, dropping the soup spoon she was holding.

"Sis, what's wrong?"

Old Mr. Shen laid Song Yawei flat on the bamboo recliner, opened her eyes to take her pulse, and then waved his hand, "Get out! Everyone get out! She's about to give birth! Yao'er, come here, I've taught you how."

All night long.

Zhou Tie squatted on the steps at the entrance of the courtyard, with cigarette ash scattered around his feet.

He didn't smoke; he stole his cigarettes from Old Qian's pipe.

Song Nini leaned against the kitchen doorway, clutching her belly, listening to the sounds coming from inside, and trembling uncontrollably.

The pork rib soup in the kitchen had boiled dry, the bottom of the pot was burning red-hot, and no one cared.

"Cough cough..."

Zhou Tie smoked another pipe, glanced around the room, raised his hand and slapped himself. Old Qian, who was next to him, was startled.

"Boss, what are you doing?"

Zhou Tie spat out a mouthful of blood, gritting his teeth, "Damn it, why am I so foul-mouthed? Couldn't I have waited until the baby was born before saying that!"

"If anything happens to Old Fu's child, I really..."

Old Qian sighed and remained silent.