A journey through the world of martial arts

Chapter 52: Out of the Valley
Valley of Villains

Chang Baicao placed a bowl of steaming medicinal soup on the table and said to Yan Nantian, "Hero Yan, drink the medicine while it's hot." Yan Nantian looked at it, picked up the soup, and gulped it down. In no time, his face turned bright red.

With a "poof," a clump of black, dirty substance was forced out of Yan Nantian's body.

Seeing Yan Nantian's improved complexion, Chang Baicao stroked his beard and smiled, "We've finally cleared away the remaining poison. How are you feeling now, Master Yan?"

"Thank you, Ghost Doctor. I am now completely fine." Yan Nantian slowly finished his practice. With the stubborn illness that had plagued him for years gone, he felt a surge of comfort. Moreover, thanks to the Ghost Doctor's care over the years, the hidden injuries in his body had gradually healed.

"That's good, that's good. Luckily, it didn't ruin my reputation as the Ghost Doctor."

The poison that Yan Nantian was afflicted with was no ordinary poison; it was a mixed poison that penetrated deep into his internal organs, rendering ordinary methods useless. Therefore, Chang Baicaobing took a risky approach, first using ghost needles to block his heart meridian, then using various tonics to continuously strengthen the poison and concentrate it in one place. Finally, he used a two-pronged approach, administering internal medicine and applying acupuncture externally. It took a long time to completely cure him.

"Chang Baicao, Chang Baicao, have you seen Xiaoyuer?" Li Dazui shouted as he pushed open the door and entered.

"What are you yelling about? Can't you see I'm treating a patient?" Chang Baicao retorted.

"Master Yan, are you alright?" Li Dazui asked, noticing that Yan Nantian's complexion was much better than before, and the pile of filth on the ground seemed to confirm this.

Yan Nantian didn't speak, but nodded. Li Dazui was pleased to see this.

"That's great! Now that Master Yan is alright, please bring Xiaoyuer over quickly. We really can't take it anymore."

Li Dazui complained bitterly. He said that after Yan Nantian taught them a lesson, they behaved themselves for a while. Although they didn't seek revenge because of Chang Baicao, they set their sights on Xiaoyuer and decided to train the child into the biggest villain in the world, and then see what Yan Nantian would do.

In the first few years, Li Dazui and his gang took advantage of Chang Baicao and Yan Nantian's lack of time to deal with the situation, so they took Xiaoyuer under their wing and taught him. Soon, Xiaoyuer became clever and mischievous, full of bad ideas, which made the villains find fun in life. Little did they know that Yan Nantian was watching all of this. As long as they didn't go too far, he was at ease.

Every time the moon is full, Yan Nantian would call Xiaoyuer out and personally instruct him in martial arts, telling him that this was a secret between the two of them, which Xiaoyuer kept in mind.

The gifted Xiaoyuer learned superior martial arts and made the villains suffer terribly. Li Dazui loved to eat meat, so Xiaoyuer stole anesthetic from Chang Baicao and mixed it into the meat. After eating it, the villains couldn't move for three days.
Tu Jiaojiao was vain, so Xiaoyuer personally made her a rouge that would not fade for a month. Tu Jiaojiao saw that the rouge had a pure color and a strong fragrance, and she loved it as soon as she got it. She applied it to her face that day, but ended up getting stung all over her head by a swarm of bees.
Haha'er loves to laugh. When Xiaoyuer stole the Tearful Smoke, his tears flowed freely. He laughed and cried at the same time, which looked very funny.
Du Sha had a fierce face. When Xiao Yu'er was a child, he was afraid of him. But when he learned that Du Sha was most afraid of rats, he carved more than ten lifelike wooden rat sculptures and placed them on Du Sha's bed. Then came screams of agony.

Seeing the four people in front of him being tricked, Yin Jiuyou worried that he wouldn't be able to escape either, so he simply stayed in the cave to prevent Xiaoyuer from coming in. Unfortunately, despite his careful planning, he still managed to expose the four people in front of him. Li Dazui and the others were persuaded by Xiaoyuer and devised a plan to lure Yin Jiuyou out, ultimately becoming the prey in the net.

In addition, there were many other tricks that gave the five of them a real headache. How could such a lovely child have turned into this?

"Isn't this all your own doing? You handed over all your knowledge to Xiaoyuer, and he only used it on you. In the end, it's all the bitter fruit you sowed," Chang Baicao said gloatingly.

“Chang Baicao, don’t be so smug. Have you forgotten who pulled out the Linglong Grass in the first place?” Li Dazui retorted.

Chang Baicao was taken aback upon hearing this, then said calmly, "Kids are bound to be mischievous. Besides, I don't care about those things anymore." Although she said this, Chang Baicao's heart was bleeding.

The Linglong Grass only blooms once every ten years. Its flowers have the effects of detoxifying, healing, and reversing yin and yang. It was only half a month away from being able to pick it, but unexpectedly, four-year-old Xiaoyuer pulled it out, destroying all her hard work and causing Chang Baicao to faint on the spot.

After Yan Nantian found out, he severely punished Xiaoyuer. When Chang Baicao woke up, she decided to have Xiaoyuer serve as her medicine boy for five years.

Yan Nantian found it quite amusing to watch the two bickering.

"Little Fish isn't here; he's probably run off to Hundred Herbs Mountain again." Hundred Herbs Mountain originally didn't have a name; it was only later, when Chang Baicao was collecting herbs on the mountain, that it was given that name.

"Baicao Mountain," Li Dazui thought to himself, feeling that it was highly likely, since the five of them dared not go up there.

Baicaoshan, Secret Cave
Little Fish was banging and tapping in the secret cave, and he stood up a wooden stake about the height of a person. After pressing the mechanism, the wooden stake's left hand, which was covered with iron, suddenly struck out and smashed a piece of bluestone with a punch.

Overjoyed at the completion of his masterpiece, Little Fish leaped onto the shoulders of the wooden man, pressed the mechanism, and the wooden man slowly moved forward to a secret cave covered with vines, the burial place of the Mischief Master.

After getting off the wooden stake, Xiaoyuer looked at the lifelike old man's corpse on the boulder in front of him and knelt down. "Thank you so much for the secret manual of mechanisms left by the master. I am extremely grateful. Now I have completed the work that you were unable to finish in your lifetime. I am now considered your disciple, right? Master, please take a look."

Bringing the wooden figure to him, Xiaoyuer respectfully kowtowed three more times.

After bypassing the old man's corpse, Xiaoyuer sat on the wooden man and came to the back of the secret cave. There, he saw a smooth stone wall that reflected his features clearly.

"Bang, bang, bang," the wooden stake man swung his arm and smashed it down. Stone fragments fell, and the originally smooth stone wall was cracked. With the last blow, the entire stone wall shattered completely, revealing a deep, dark hole.

Lighting torches, Little Fish led the wooden figure inside. They had barely entered when a light suddenly appeared on either side of the passage. Little Fish went further and saw more than ten bronze lamps, each containing whale oil.

Continuing forward, a wide plaza came into view, with a rotating sphere about the height of three people in the center. Above it was a map of the stars, and on both sides were various mechanical diagrams. Little Fish was dazzled by the sight.

"The mechanisms here are more numerous and detailed than those recorded in the manual. This is indeed the true inheritance. The Master of Mischief did not lie this time."

After obtaining the secret manual of mechanisms, Xiaoyuer studied it diligently. Some of the parts were defective products deliberately left behind by the Mischief Master to trick others, which caused Xiaoyuer a lot of trouble. This time, he made the wooden stake man on the one hand to fulfill the Mischief Master's last wish, and on the other hand to verify the authenticity of the true inheritance. Fortunately, it was not fake.

After spending half a day in the secret cave, Xiaoyuer was worried that his master and the others would be anxious, so he sealed the cave entrance and hurriedly went down the mountain.

It was already dusk when Xiaoyuer leaped down the mountain and ran all the way to Chang Baicao's herbal medicine hut. Just as he was about to push open the door, a deep voice came from inside: "Aren't you coming in?"

"Master!" Xiaoyuer exclaimed in surprise, and hurriedly pushed open the door. She saw Yan Nantian and Chang Baicao drinking tea, with bowls and chopsticks set on the table next to them.

“Master, you’re alright now,” Xiaoyuer glanced at Chang Baicao, who nodded slightly. “That’s wonderful, I’m so happy!” Over the years, Yan Nantian had suffered greatly from the poison, and Xiaoyuer had been anxious about it. So he diligently followed Chang Baicao to learn medicine, hoping to help his master detoxify.

"You little rascal, always running around, have you mastered the fist and sword techniques I taught you?"

"I've already mastered it. If you don't believe me, Master can come and check tomorrow," Little Fish said confidently.

Chang Baicao then said, "Master Yan, although this rascal is clever and mischievous, he is extremely intelligent and learns everything very quickly. When I saw him practicing swordsmanship before, he did have a bit of the spirit."

Yan Nantian nodded upon hearing this. This kid has good talent and potential, but he is a bit impulsive. If he could calm down and focus on this, his progress in the Divine Sword Technique and the Southern Heaven Divine Fist would probably be much greater than this.

"Oh, since you're so confident, I'll see how far you've progressed tomorrow morning."

Upon hearing this, Xiaoyuer quickly stepped forward, pressed down on Yan Nantian's shoulders, and slowly kneaded them with both hands, saying ingratiatingly, "Master, please go easy on me tomorrow. Your disciple is not as powerful as you."

Yan Nantian chuckled, "Let's talk about it tomorrow. Let's eat quickly, we're waiting for you."

The candlelight flickered, the moon hung high in the sky, and laughter filled the medicine hut.

The next day, outside the medicine hut, Li Dazui and the others watched Yan Nantian and Xiaoyuer in front of them as if they were watching a good show.

"This brat deserves to be taught a lesson by Master Yan," Li Dazui said as he gnawed on a pork bone, his mouth covered in grease.

"Haha, haha, Little Fish's in for a rough time now!"

"Woo, woo, woo"

"Little Fish, draw your sword and let me see how well you've mastered this divine sword technique."

"Master, I'm sorry to offend you," Xiaoyuer said, holding his sword in his hand. He reached out and touched the sword, which flew out of its sheath and struck Yan Nantian. The latter remained calm, stood on the ground, and pulled the sword back from its sheath.

The longsword was reversed and gripped tightly. Xiaoyuer leaped forward and thrust, his indomitable spirit pressing down on Yan Nantian. The latter secretly praised him, but remained in his original position. The scabbard clashed with the longsword, and Xiaoyuer withdrew. Then, his figure moved in an instant. In the eyes of the onlookers, four Xiaoyuers were attacking from all sides, their chilling sword energy trying to trap Yan Nantian.

"Alright," Yan Nantian said, drawing his longsword. The sheath shot out, its target pointing south—the place where Xiaoyuer's true form was. Seeing his master easily see through his disguise, Xiaoyuer remained calm and took the initiative to meet the attack.

With a whoosh, Xiaoyuer's longsword returned to its sheath, which then shattered. The other three phantoms simultaneously closed in. Yan Nantian held his sword horizontally and with a slight slash, the three vanished like bubbles. At this moment, Xiaoyuer's attack had already arrived.

Seeing that Yan Nantian did not move, Xiaoyuer was secretly pleased. But when his sword touched Yan Nantian, Xiaoyuer hurriedly let go of the sword and threw a punch. The fist wind surged and Yan Nantian caught it with one hand. He looked at Xiaoyuer and said, "Your swordsmanship is not bad, but your fists are a little lacking."

Then his figure flickered, throwing punch after punch at Xiaoyuer, making it impossible to tell which was the real body. Xiaoyuer hastily defended himself, his body constantly retreating, leaving a deep mark on the ground that stretched for dozens of meters.

"This hero Yan is really..." Li Dazui watched Yan Nantian display his power, and the bone in his hand no longer tasted good.

"I hope Xiaoyuer will be alright," Tu Jiaojiao asked worriedly.

"It's alright, Master Yan knows how to use his strength," Chang Baicao said cheerfully.

A moment later, Xiaoyuer was knocked down by Yan Nantian's punch. His face was pale, he was panting heavily, and his clothes were dirty and disheveled.

"Master, you're being too harsh! Am I really your disciple?" Little Fish complained.

"If you weren't my disciple, I wouldn't bother exchanging so many moves with you. So, have you remembered the key points?"

"I've got it, I've got it," Xiaoyuer said reluctantly. It seemed that his master was dissatisfied with his practice of the fist technique, which was why he used so much force. He should spend more time on it in the future.

"Just remember that. In a few days, I'll be leaving the valley. You can come with me." After being away from the martial world for so many years, it's time for him to go back. Jiang Qin, who betrayed her sworn brother, should pay the price. And there's that bet. Yan Nantian looked at Xiaoyuer lying on the ground and pondered.

"Really? Master, we're finally leaving the valley!" Little Fish exclaimed in delight.

"Will godfather, godmother, and Doctor Chang also leave the valley together?" Xiaoyuer asked, straightening up.

“We’re not going out. Life outside is none of our business. We’ll just enjoy our retirement here. But you, young man, are in the prime of your life. You should go out and see the world,” Tu Jiaojiao said, looking at Xiaoyuer with affection.

"I just like studying medicine here. I'm not interested in anything else, and I don't go out," Chang Baicao sighed.

Little Fish was a little disappointed upon hearing this. Seeing this, Li Dazui said, "Little Fish, we won't go out. Just take a good look at the outside world for us. When you're tired of playing outside, come back here and tell us some fun things. We'll be content."

"That's right, that's right."

After everyone comforted him, Xiaoyuer perked up and looked at Yan Nantian, asking, "Master, when exactly do we set off?"

"Three Days Later"

(End of this chapter)