From Robinson Crusoe

After the battle with the mammoth, Bi Kai and Gao Yao survived, but they were inevitably injured.

Gao Yaoxun's elk had long been frightened away by the mammoth and had disappeared. Bi Kai had also broken his sword.

Although you survived the great calamity, you will not see any good fortune in the future.

Regardless, at least they survived. The two young men were relatively optimistic and discussed how to recover from their injuries while preparing reindeer to repay the kindness shown to them.

The weather hadn't turned cold yet, and the grassland was still full of life.

Herds of mammoths, deer, cattle, and horses are everywhere.

The two decided to wait there, so they found a nearby spot, built a temporary shelter, and set a trap to capture the giant deer.

After all, they were martial arts practitioners and had some knowledge of pharmacology.

Gao Yao was familiar with some folk remedies for injuries and bruises in northern China, while Bi Kai had systematically learned how to use medicine from famous doctors.

The two of them gathered medicinal herbs in the mountains and forests, tested their pharmacology little by little, and recuperated, and their injuries gradually healed.

At that time, the beacon hung high in the sky, like a second sun. Such a sight naturally amazed people, especially Bi Kai and his companion from ancient times. They looked at it every day and always felt that it was like a miracle.

By the time Bi Kai had recovered from his injuries, Gao Yao had also tamed the deer. He was thinking about his family heirloom bow and wanted to exchange it for the deer, so he repeatedly urged Bi Kai to set off north with him.

Of course, Gao Yao still had some sense of shame, so he didn't say it so bluntly, only using the excuse that going north might be able to help his benefactor.

Bi Kai has a keen eye; how could he not see through Gao Yao's thoughts?

He knew that Gao Yao was obsessed with the family heirloom bow and dreamed of getting it back. Coincidentally, he was also curious about the second "sun" hanging in the sky, so he went along with it and agreed to Gao Yao's request.

So the two set off late, heading straight for the northern border.

Compared to Chen Zhou, who went north first, the two were almost a month later.

However, they weren't looking for any rewards, so they didn't feel any pressure. They chatted and laughed along the way, giving off a feeling of adventuring in the martial arts world.

When they set off, the two never expected to encounter enemies along the way.

Having left so late, those who weren't interested in competing wouldn't have even set off. As the last group, they shouldn't have encountered any talent.

However, the entire challenge area is so large, and so many people are rushing towards the beacon from all directions. Among them, there are naturally many who want to be the first to arrive, but there are also those who are waiting to reap the benefits or those who try to intercept them along the way.

When we got closer to the tundra, the beacon had already dimmed.

The two were not in a hurry, and by this point they had lost their bearings.

And the closer you get to the beacon, the more challengers you will encounter.

The North may be vast, but that can't stop everyone from crowding into one place.

Bi Kai and Gao Yao were without their own weapons, which greatly reduced their fighting strength. Moreover, they had just recovered from their injuries and had not yet returned to their peak condition. Therefore, they did not want to have any conflicts with others, so they would ride their deer to avoid people whenever they saw them from a distance.

……

However, even though humans have no intention of harming tigers, tigers have the intention to hurt people.

Soon after they entered the tundra, the increasingly dim "sun" in the sky went out, and they were completely unable to discern their true direction.

With the weather turning cold, hunting on the tundra became difficult, and they had to struggle for food all day long, leaving them physically and mentally exhausted.

Unable to find any trace of Chen Zhou and with nowhere to go, both of them began to consider giving up.

……

New firewood was added to the campfire, and some kind of wood was mixed in, which gave off a fragrant aroma as it burned.

The fawn lying by the fire was unusually quiet; it was unclear whether it was asleep or dead.

At this point, Bi Kai's face, which had just been somewhat lively, turned pale, and his expression became miserable.

Just as Chen Zhou had predicted, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse—

On their return journey, the two did not walk in a hurry. They had not encountered any humans for a long time, so they were not wary.

When they looked for a place to rest at night, they would just find a sheltered spot. If they couldn't find one, they would sometimes set fire to the open ground. They never cared that anyone would come looking for them by the light of the fire, and they never expected that this careless act would lead to their deaths.

……

Bi Kai came from the Central Plains, where the soil and water are fertile and there is no sandstorm all year round. As a result, he had a fair complexion. If he hadn't been skilled in martial arts, no one would have questioned that he was a scholar.

Gao Yao looks older than Bi Kai, but he is actually two years younger than Bi Kai. The two usually address each other as brothers, and after they became familiar with each other, Gao Yao started calling Bi Kai "Big Brother Bi".

Although they did not swear a blood oath, they had been together for so long that they got along well and were no different from brothers.

If it is cold and windy at night, one of the two will stay to keep watch.

There were many wild beasts on the grassland, and they were worried about being attacked in the middle of the night. Even though they were exhausted from keeping watch, the two of them dared not slack off.

Unlike the grasslands, the tundra is usually deserted, with no large wild animals to be found during the day, and naturally, there's no need to worry about being attacked at night.

Comfort was a gentle poison, silently eroding their vigilance.

On the night they were about to leave the tundra, neither of them kept watch.

Both Brother Bi and Brother Gao considered their brotherly bond. The older brother was worried that the younger brother would get tired, and the younger brother was worried that the older brother would be exhausted, so they tacitly took a break this time.

This oversight led to an unexpected night raid.

……

Revisiting painful memories is always extremely agonizing.

At this point, Bi Kai's unruly beard began to tremble, and he curled up on the bench, his body shaking violently, his eyes reflecting the burning flames—

Chen Zhou could see that this top swordsman in the martial arts world was gripped by fear, but that fear also contained resentment and anger.

Unable to vent his anger, he could only transform it into sharp needles, piercing his heart and leaving it riddled with holes.

"Brother Gao was more alert after all; he was the first to be awakened."

Then I heard the deer cry, I heard Brother Gao's warning, and I heard his scream..."

As Bi Kai recounted the story through gritted teeth, Chen Zhou felt as if he had returned to that night.

A pair of unusually tall and strange men, dressed like wild beasts, covered in fur and horns, drove a colossal elephant and held huge torches. They moved silently, like a city wall, to the campfire.

Gao Yao was the first to realize the danger and picked up a long stick to fight back.

Without his bow and arrows, how could the "Number One Archer in the Martial World" be a match for others, especially since someone else had already seized the initiative.

Not to mention that Gao Yao was no match for that person.

Even though the man held a torch in one hand and used only the other to fight, Gao Yao was still firmly at a disadvantage.

Reminded, Bi Kai hurriedly got up and fought back with a weapon. His weapon was a wooden sword carved with a knife, which was exactly the same as his Flying Star Sword.

But wood is wood after all, and it can't replace steel.

No matter how exquisite Ren Bikai's swordsmanship was, the two men just kept attacking.

As the saying goes, strength can overcome skill. Those strange men were incredibly strong, and they were also covered in thick fur. Neither Gao Yao's long staff nor Bi Kai's wooden sword could tear through their defenses.

After exchanging only a dozen or so blows, the two realized that they could not possibly win this battle. They exchanged a glance and both had the intention to retreat.

Unfortunately, he was entangled by the strange man, and it wasn't so easy for him to leave.

Two large deer were tied to a protruding rock nearby. They were terrified by the mammoth brought by the strange man and tried to break free but couldn't. They kept kicking their hooves in frustration. Gao Yao knew that the only way to escape was to find an opportunity to ride the deer, so he led the strange man to the deer.

By the time he untied the leather rope binding the deer, he had already taken several solid blows from the strange man.

That strange man was using a peculiar weapon—

Tie a stone to a long stick, and when you throw it, it's so powerful that it can break bones and tendons. When you swing it, people can't get close to you.

After being injured, Gao Yao relied entirely on his internal energy to stay upright, and when he turned onto the deer, his face was as pale as paper.

He forced himself to beckon to Bi Kai and led another deer toward Bi Kai's side.

Just then, two strange men suddenly approached.

One of them suddenly grabbed the deer's antlers, pulling the deer so hard that its front hooves bent down, almost causing it to kneel.

Seeing this, Bi Kai knew that if he didn't fight desperately, both brothers would probably perish. So he abandoned his dodging and weaving skills and forcefully used his sword to stab the strange man's eyes.

No matter how invulnerable your body becomes, there will always be weaknesses.

Knowing the danger, the strange man immediately released his grip on the deer's antlers to shield his eyes, and Bi Kai seized the opportunity to leap onto the deer's back.

However, the giant deer was suddenly pulled by the strange man and couldn't recover for a moment. The strange man realized first that he wanted to escape and swung his strange weapon at the back of Bi Kai's head.

Seeing this, Gao Yao was anxious to save his brother, so he threw his long stick and stabbed the strange man's arm, causing the attack to deflect and only hit Bi Kai's arm.

The great stag finally stood up completely, and upon hearing its owner's whistle, it galloped away on all fours.

Just before running away, Bi Kai was punched in the leg by the strange man in his panic. He felt excruciating pain, but the situation was so urgent that he had to save his life and had no time to treat his injury.

Fearing that the strange man would catch up on his elephant, the two ran wildly like startled birds until the great deer was so exhausted that it was foaming at the mouth and its body was burning hot.

……

Bi Kai knew he had lost an arm when he was riding on the deer's back.

His deer was positioned in front of Gao Yao, so he couldn't see Gao Yao's situation when he was escaping.

In the world of martial arts, no one is immune to injury. Losing fingers or arms, being wounded by knives or spears, or even being poisoned are all common occurrences.

At that time, Bi Kai never expected Gao Yao's injuries to be so serious, nor did he expect that the two of them would have such a tragic ending.

……

As most of the firewood in the campfire burned down, the firelight dimmed.

As he recounted the events that had been weighing on his mind for so long, Bi Kai's emotions gradually calmed down from agitation, and his expression became less violent and more sorrowful.

"When I dismounted from the deer and stopped running away, I discovered that the Gao Yao brothers had already fainted on the deer's back."

If he hadn't been holding the reins so tightly, I probably wouldn't have known I would have fallen off the deer's back along the way.

I checked his breathing to make sure he was still alive, but I couldn't wake him right away, so I helped him down from the deer's back and laid him flat on the meadow to check his injuries.

"We both suffered a crushing defeat, narrowly escaped death, and were both seriously injured."

I had a broken arm and a crippled leg, but I was still able to take care of myself. Gao Yao, however, was different.

He did take several blows to save my life. Although his hands and feet were not broken, he suffered internal injuries. Since then, he has been unable to use even half of his full strength in martial arts, and his mobility has been a problem.

After I revived him, I could only barely keep him alive.

Unfortunately, the weather turned against us, and the area grew increasingly cold, making our situation even worse.

Bi Kai sighed as he spoke. He knew he was about to talk about Gao Yao's passing, and he was so grief-stricken that he couldn't speak for a moment.

They say that men don't shed tears easily, but they are not sad yet.

Although the firelight was dim, Chen Zhou could see the glistening tears in Bi Kai's eyes.

After calming down for a while, Bi Kai finally finished telling the whole story.

……

Knowing he owed Gao Yao a life, Bi Kai insisted on hunting alone and taking care of Gao Yao, even though he was physically disabled, in an attempt to cure him.

Fortunately, wild animals often fought on the grasslands at that time, and there were many corpses left on the ground. Occasionally, some berries could be picked, so although the food was not good for a short period of time, they would not starve to death.

However, Gao Yao's injuries were too severe. Not only was there a lack of medical resources here, but Bi Kai's medical skills were also not particularly advanced.

Even if Bi Kai were truly Hua Tuo reincarnated, he couldn't save someone whose internal organs were severely damaged.

But Bi Kai refused to believe it, always feeling indebted to others. He believed that with his talent and knowledge of pharmacology, he could thoroughly study the herbs in this land and formulate a suitable prescription.

Disliking the scarcity of plants on the grassland, he led Gao Yao to this mountain valley. Every day, besides searching for food, they collected unfamiliar herbs, tasting them one by one to test their toxicity and determine their medicinal properties, hoping to emulate Shennong and create a prescription that could cure internal injuries.

But there's no such thing as a free lunch.

As the saying goes, every medicine has some degree of poison. Bi Kai spent his days tasting medicines, but not only did he fail to find a prescription, he also contracted some unknown poison, and most of his skills were wasted.

His severed arm could have been healed with proper care, but after spending his days hunting and cooking at the shelter, he gradually developed a chronic condition that eventually rendered it useless.

Knowing his own body well, Gao Yao knew he could not escape with his life. During his time with Bi Kai, he handed over all his knowledge of animal taming, martial arts, and his last wishes to Bi Kai.

Those who practice martial arts are physically strong and healthy, so Gao Yao could have held on for a while longer.

But seeing Bi Kai chewing herbs like a madman, fearing that his elder brother, whom he had risked his life to save, would die before him, he found a windy night, got up alone, left the shelter, and froze to death in the cold wind.

Bi Kai worked hard all day long, and when he rested at night, he only had time to add more firewood to the campfire. Usually, when the campfire was about to go out in the middle of the night, Gao Yao would wake Bi Kai up. If Gao Yao didn't make a sound, he would sleep as if he were unconscious.

Therefore, it wasn't until he was woken up by the cold the next morning, saw that the campfire had gone out, and that Gao Yao was no longer on the animal skin bed, that Bi Kai realized something was wrong.

When he found Gao Yao, Gao Yao had already frozen to death, lying dead in the cold forest, his body stiff, but his eyes were still open.

His head was facing north, where the beacon was vaguely visible.

That was his last wish—

Having come to this world and died in this world, one can no longer return to one's roots or homeland.

For Gao Yao, that bow was his only solace, his home.

He passed on the art of animal taming to Bi Kai, hoping that Bi Kai could tame the giant deer for him, fulfill his benefactor's request, and in return, he could get back his family's heirloom bow. He hoped that on the day he died, he could be buried with the bow.

Gao Yao knew he would never live to see his benefactor again, and all he could do was keep Bi Kai alive.

Perhaps one day, his older brother Bi will be able to help him fulfill his last wish.

Therefore, the last thing he did was to leave and add more firewood to the campfire, which was the last warmth he left for his brother.

Bi Kai did not disappoint him in the end. Despite his crippled body, he spent his days moving between the mountains and grasslands, accumulating a herd of deer, and finally waited for Chen Zhou's arrival.

It's a pity that Gao Yao won't be able to see all of this—

He was buried in a shallow grave not far from the shack.

The soil was hard in winter, and Bi Kai was exhausted. He finally managed to dig a pit big enough to bury Gao Yao and covered it with a layer of soil.

This renowned archer died far from home, his grave marked only by a wooden tombstone blown over by the wind, on which his surname and given name were written in charcoal.

Gao Guangye.

Its light is dazzling, its brilliance is radiant. (End of Chapter)