Chapter 44: An Improper Reward

After Wu Chengyu's left leg recovered, he received two rewards in total.

The first was Ox-Horse Pile and Turtle-Grandson Technique; although these two arts had improper names, they were excellent Foundation Establishment Techniques.

The second was two prescriptions, which were thoroughly improper; the first was somewhat reliable, merely an incapacitating drug, Ci Su Qing Feng.

The prescription contained herbs such as mandrake, datura, aconite, strychnine, toad venom, and galangal with anesthetic and hallucinogenic properties; the only one Wu Chengyu had not heard of, and also the core ingredient, was called Ghost Melody Grass.

According to the bamboo slips, Ghost Melody Grass mostly grew in Xi Yu, and during the Xi Xia period it was heavily harvested for making Ci Su Qing Feng, and now it was nearly extinct; yet for some reason, on a mountain north of Gushan County there actually grew a Ghost Melody Grass, just coincidentally running from Xi Yu to Jiangnan.

Such a coincidence was hard to convince others; Wu Chengyu seriously suspected the bamboo slips only gave him one chance to use Ci Su Qing Feng.

While recuperating from his injuries, Wu Chengyu secretly went to North Mountain and picked this Ghost Melody Grass back; according to the proportions and production method in the prescription, and the guidance function of the bamboo slips, he made Ci Su Qing Feng; because there was only one herb and no chance for trial and error, Wu Chengyu was very careful when making it, and after great difficulty obtained this small bottle.

The bamboo slips' evaluation was just passing; the range of use was small, and it took ten breaths to take effect, but Wu Chengyu still regarded it as the best self-defense weapon; indeed it helped him turn the tide at the critical moment, and incidentally made him stand out.

The first prescription was an incapacitating drug; the second was even more vicious, directly an aphrodisiac; Wu Chengyu carefully recalled that back then his fantasies about brothels were merely wanting to experience the romance of ancient men and satisfy his curiosity, with no lewd thoughts at all; who would have thought the bamboo slips were even more direct than him.

This aphrodisiac's fame was certainly not inferior to Ci Su Qing Feng; its effects were equally extraordinary, and the required herbs could basically all be found; as long as Wu Chengyu wanted, he could make as much as he wanted; but after thinking it over Wu Chengyu still gave up.

This was absolutely not because Wu Chengyu was now young and his body could not withstand it, or because Wu Chengyu was actually a proper person; Wu Chengyu himself did not believe it; back when he went to nightclubs, he was so busy he didn't even have time to eat the fruit platter; it was simply that the effect of this aphrodisiac was truly too exaggerated.

The name of this aphrodisiac, most later people had heard of: I Love a Piece of Firewood; in Master Xing's movies, regardless of male or female, once hit by it, they would immediately fall into madness.

Getting back to the main story, after Wu Chengyu responded to Wei Shujuan in the posture of a victor, he was too lazy to humiliate her further; he first carefully observed the situation inside and outside the Broken Temple; the heartbeats of the opposing Eagle Dogs had all become weak and powerless; it was impossible for anyone to not be hit and deliberately fall to the ground, waiting for an opportunity to ambush Wu Chengyu.

Then outside the temple, he pushed his five senses to the extreme, expanding the three-dimensional image to a radius of one hundred and twenty meters outside the temple; this was already Wu Chengyu's current limit; and he did not find any fish that slipped through the net.

Wu Chengyu exhaled a breath, finally letting his heart settle; then he turned to look at Niu Dajie and the others.

Ci Su Qing Feng was an area-of-effect technique, not distinguishing friend from foe; Wu Chengyu had no chance to give them the antidote just now; now Niu Dajie and the others were limp and powerless like Wei Shujuan; their eyes looked at Wu Chengyu, with surprise, doubt, and wariness; these were all natural human reactions.

Now Wu Chengyu controlled everything before him, the life and death of everyone, including Lu Dage and the others; but he had no intention of killing to silence them or seizing treasures.

This was not some saintly thinking; aside from those thorough villains, killing was never an easy thing; Wu Chengyu killed that Beggar Sect scoundrel back then because he had to fight for his life; now asking him to kill people with no ability to resist, and over a hundred at once, Wu Chengyu could not do it.

A person educated under nine-year compulsory education—ask who could really kill at will; that would be a true antisocial personality.

Of course, if there were no Lu Dage and the others present, Wu Chengyu might have struggled within himself and then killed with his own hands.

Wu Chengyu also felt fondness for Lu Dage and the others; the pleasant conversation when they first met, Niu Dajie's trust in him, the tragic grandeur of chanting Man Jiang Hong together, and just now the determination to fight to the death to carve a bloody path for Wu Chengyu.

Most importantly, they were all descendants of the Yue Family Army, loyal and righteous beyond compare; every true Hua Guo person in later generations must feel reverence for Yue Grandpa, representing the most esteemed moral standard of the Hua Xia nation.

No matter how much later generations argued and spouted strange theories, Wu Chengyu always held to his own beliefs.

Now having the chance to befriend the heroes of the Yue Family Army, Wu Chengyu would only feel honored; how could he possibly harm them.

Wu Chengyu walked up to Lu Dage, opened a small bottle, and placed it at Lu Dage's nose tip.

Lu Dage immediately smelled a foul stench; before he could cover his mouth and nose, he felt his strength gradually returning; at this moment he was certain Wu Chengyu had no intention of harming them; his gaze immediately turned gentle, and carried a touch of gratitude.

Wu Chengyu gave the antidote to the remaining people one by one; in the short time of half an incense stick, everyone recovered; Lu Dage patted Wu Chengyu's shoulder, overflowing with gratitude.

"Brother Wu Xiaoxiongdi, the grace of saving us today, we descendants of the Yue Family Army will never forget for all eternity; great kindness needs no thanks; from now on you are our life-and-death brother; if Brother has any matter needing our service, as long as it does not violate chivalry, we would even stake our lives and accompany you through mountains of knives and seas of fire."

"Lu Dage, you flatter me; to be brothers with descendants of the Yue Family Army, this junior is blessed for three lifetimes. Earlier we met by chance like floating duckweed, and I dared not reveal my true name; I hope all elder brothers and sisters will forgive me. My true name is Wu Chengyu."

Lu Dage, Niu Dajie, and the others all laughed heartily; using a false name when traveling outside was normal; having experienced life and death together, how could they care about such small details.

Niu Dajie slapped her hand and said: "We didn't give our names either; my true name is Niu Wanrou; my home is in Ruian Prefecture; normally I run a wine shop; when you grow up, there will be plenty of good wine."

Lu Dage also introduced himself: "I am Lu Zhiyi; I live in Lu Family Village in Jiahe Prefecture; my family mainly engages in farming."

Also, Yu Xiaowu interjected: "My name is Yu Qiuyu; my mother said that the year I was born there was a drought with no rain; coincidentally on the day I was born the first autumn rain fell; so she gave me this name; my home is in Shaoxing Prefecture; my family runs a restaurant; in the future if there is a chance we must compare cooking skills."

Ruian Prefecture is Wenzhou of later generations; Jiahe Prefecture is Jiaxing; Shaoxing Prefecture already had this name in the Southern Song; as for Wushang where the He Family is located, it is actually Yiwu; the descendants of the Yue Family Army are scattered across different prefectures and counties of Zhejiang.

As for names, Lu Zhiyi was passable; who knew if he was good at cuju; Niu Wanrou was as her name suggested, indeed gentle and graceful; Yu Qiuyu was a bit much; but as long as he wasn't called Zhou Dongyu, Wu Chengyu still had some resistance.

Hearing these names, Wu Chengyu felt these people before him were increasingly amiable, far more refined than Lu Youjiao.

Two things; these past days many criticisms have appeared; I can tell they are not black fans, but truly dissatisfied with the book I wrote, thinking it has flaws; I also deeply agree; after all it is my second book; I am no genius; I can only adopt the good from everyone's suggestions and improve slowly; additionally, the problems raised earlier I will also revise; however revision is limited; sometimes after revising only a few times there will be a prompt, and I must slow the pace.

Also, received a station message; tonight at 12 o'clock, which is zero hour on April 27th, this novel enters the first round of recommendations; I don't really know what to do afterward; after all my first book never got a single recommendation; but I believe it is inseparable from everyone's support; please support us.

【39】

(Chapter End)