Chapter 141: Chapter 141: Senior Brother, Wake Up

「Projection has descended.」

「Current World: Profound Mystery」

「Exploration Level: 0%」

「Legend Level: 0」

...

...

After the stream of information flashed through his mind,

Wang Xi’s consciousness gradually sank. In the total darkness, he could faintly hear a call from afar.

It was the soft, sweet voice of a young woman, maybe eighteen or nineteen, her tone urgent and choked with tears:

"Senior Brother! Senior Brother, wake up!"

"Qiao’Er, calm down," a steady male voice interjected. "Junior Brother Wang’s injuries are severe. He can’t take being shaken like this."

"But Brother Yu," the young woman sobbed, "Senior Brother Wang was hurt by those thugs from the Three Rivers Gang because he was trying to save me. If anything happens to him..."

Her words trailed off into quiet sobs.

Brother Yu sighed heavily. The room fell silent, save for the sound of suppressed weeping.

"Qiao’Er, Ruiyang, the medicine is brewed. Help Xizhi drink it."

Another voice, this one gentle and mature, spoke up, accompanied by the sound of light footsteps drawing near.

"Yes, Mistress," Yu Ruiyang immediately replied, sounding as if he were reaching for the medicine bowl.

"Mother, let me do it!" The girl named Qiao’Er cut in, carefully taking the bowl. "I want to take care of Senior Brother myself."

"..."

A brief exchange of words and soft movements followed.

Wang Xi’s consciousness gradually sharpened, only to be instantly consumed by excruciating pain.

A heart-piercing, bone-deep agony shot through his legs, as if a thousand steel needles were churning within his marrow. A searing fire burned in his chest and abdomen; every breath felt like it was being scraped away by a dull blade, and even his exhalations carried the tang of blood.

’What kind of start is this?’

The thought flashed through Wang Xi’s mind, leaving him speechless.

The intense pain made his consciousness exceptionally clear. His legs were completely unresponsive, his chest felt tight, and breathing was difficult... This body had probably been beaten to a pulp.

Somehow, he felt even worse off than Gai Farrell from the Fairy Tale Otherworld.

He struggled to open his eyes.

Wang Xi’s blurry vision slowly came into focus.

It was a simple room. An old-fashioned yellowed calendar and a faded acupuncture chart hung on the green brick walls. On the elmwood nightstand sat an enamel medicine pot and a copper kerosene lamp.

Sunlight filtered through the wooden window, casting dappled shadows on the bluestone floor tiles. A thick, lingering scent of traditional Chinese medicine filled the air—bitter, with a hint of burnt mugwort and the earthy smell of angelica root.

His Mistress and his martial siblings stood around the bed, their faces filled with concern.

Wang Xi quietly sized them up.

「Huo Shenglan (Friendly)」

The Mistress was in her early forties. Her hair was tied in a simple bun, and she wore an indigo blouse with a diagonal fastening and a black pleated skirt. The cuffs of her over-sleeves were stained with dark brown medicine.

「Yu Ruiyang (Friendly/Two Stars)」

His senior brother, Yu Ruiyang, was twenty-five or twenty-six, with thick brows, large eyes, and a tall, straight build. He wore a faded navy-blue student uniform, its sleeves rolled up to reveal his sturdy forearms.

「Huo Qiao’Er (Friendly/One Star)」

His junior sister, Qiao’Er, was about seventeen or eighteen. Her glossy black hair was in two braids, and her almond-shaped eyes were red from crying. She wore a lotus-pink short jacket over a dark blue pleated skirt, with a training belt tied around her waist. A few crookedly embroidered plum blossoms decorated her cuffs.

Beyond them, Wang Xi noticed another person standing a short distance away.

A woman in her early twenties.

She hadn’t spoken a word, remaining silent and reserved. She wore a loose-fitting, gray martial arts training uniform. A casually tied ponytail hung by her neck, and a few strands of hair stuck to her pale cheeks. She was as quiet as a shadow.

「Huo Silin (Friendly/Three Stars/Elite)」

The woman was silently wringing out a hot towel. Steam curled around her fingers, turning her well-defined hands red from the heat.

’This senior sister is the strongest of them all...’

Wang Xi noted internally.

Just then, his junior sister Qiao’er drew near with the medicine bowl. As she leaned in to feed her senior brother, she met a pair of half-open but lucid eyes.

"Senior Brother! You’re awake?!"

she exclaimed in delight.

"Ugh, my whole body hurts," Wang Xi rasped, his lips dry and pale. "What happened to me? I can’t remember a lot of things..."

"?!"

Hearing this, everyone present was startled... Could he have suffered a head injury and lost his memory?

Brother Yu hurried forward, gently helping Wang Xi sit up and placing a pillow behind his back.

Huo Qiao’Er carefully began to feed him the medicine while recounting what had happened, hoping to jog her senior brother’s memory.

According to her, Wang Xi’s injuries were courtesy of the locally infamous Three Rivers Gang. It had all started that morning—

Wang Xi had been accompanying his junior sister to the market when they ran into two drunken men at the entrance. Emboldened by alcohol, the shorter, scrawnier one had publicly hurled obscenities at Huo Qiao’Er, making her tremble with anger.

As her senior brother, Wang Xi couldn’t stand for it and taught the two of them a lesson.

But on their way back, the two men gathered a dozen or so thugs from the Three Rivers Gang and ambushed them. Although Wang Xi was skilled in martial arts and fought desperately to protect his junior sister, he was ultimately outnumbered.

By the time a crowd of onlookers had gathered, Wang Xi had already been beaten half to death. Only then did seven or eight patrolmen from the Qingwei Town Defense Bureau finally arrive. Seeing them, the thugs scattered in all directions.

Fortunately, the Huo Family Martial Arts Hall, where Wang Xi studied, was also something of a medical clinic. Master Huo Mingchuan was not only skilled in fist, palm, and leg techniques, but was also proficient in the Qihuang Skill.

After some emergency treatment from Master Huo, Wang Xi’s condition was stabilized. However, he had suffered multiple fractures and significant internal injuries, which would require a long period of recovery.

"Where is Master?"

Wang Xi asked hoarsely, leaning against the headboard as he swallowed the medicine his junior sister fed him.

Huo Qiao’Er glanced at Yu Ruiyang, saying nothing. It was the Mistress who spoke up:

"Xizhi, your Master has gone to the Defense Bureau to seek justice for you... While he may not be a major figure in Qingwei Town, he still commands some respect. The Three Rivers Gang was too brazen this time, attacking someone in broad daylight. Someone has to be held accountable."

"At the very least, they have to lock up that Liu Mengzi."

The Liu Mengzi she mentioned was the scrawny, short man who had harassed his junior sister that morning. The man was uneducated and unskilled, but had somehow managed to become a minor leader in the Three Rivers Gang.

"Xizhi, just focus on your recovery. Don’t worry too much..."

The Mistress tucked him in, her voice gentle:

"Even though you can’t practice your forms for now, Qiao’er has been copying out the boxing manuals and cultivation notes every day. She’s even compiled your Master’s Handover Records from over the years into a book."

She added comfortingly:

"Doesn’t your Master always say, ’True boxing is beyond the fist; true spirit is within the self’? This is a good opportunity to quiet your mind and study these techniques. You can improve your skills even while lying in bed. When you’ve recovered, this might even turn out to be a blessing in disguise, and you’ll find you’ve made great progress."

"Thank you, Mistress."

Wang Xi said with a faint smile.

A short while later, the Mistress left the room to start the fire and cook for everyone.

Brother Yu seemed to want to say something but hesitated. He finally let out a sigh and said he was going to the kitchen to help the Mistress, then left as well.

"What’s wrong with him?"

Wang Xi asked curiously.

Huo Qiao’Er put down the medicine bowl and said hesitantly:

"Senior Brother... Brother Yu went to ask around earlier. It seems that Liu Mengzi isn’t so simple. He might actually have some connection to the Liu Family in the Provincial City."

"Father’s trip was probably for nothing."

"..."

Wang Xi was lost in thought.

He mostly understood the situation, but being completely ignorant of his surroundings, he couldn’t come up with a plan.

So, using the excuse of his "spotty memory," he began to ask his junior sister, who was sitting by the bed, for more information.

"Senior Brother, you..."

As Wang Xi started asking questions, Huo Qiao’Er’s eyes reddened again. She blamed herself. Her senior brother had stood up for her, and now he had been beaten so badly he couldn’t even remember things properly.

Wiping her tears, Qiao’er choked back sobs and explained everything to him.

No matter what Wang Xi asked, she answered with great patience.

...

...

「Late that night.」

Wang Xi was alone in the room.

A kerosene lamp was lit on the nightstand, next to a stack of hand-bound, thread-sewn books his junior sister, Huo Qiao’Er, had brought him.

Based on the information he had gathered from his junior sister during the day, Wang Xi had formed a rough picture of his current environment.

This land was called Daluo.

It had kept the name of the old dynasty.

Now, it was divided among three major warlord factions, which occupied Daluo’s Northern Territory, Central Earth, and Southern Territory respectively.

’Central Earth Chen Kingdom, Jingu Province, Qingwei Town.’

Wang Xi recited inwardly.

This was his current location.

’Pinghai City, where Shen Miaowei is, is far away in the Northern Territory under the rule of the Northern Alliance Government... Looks like I won’t be able to get to her side anytime soon.’

His expression was pensive.

Jingu Province was made up of nine towns and over a hundred villages, with the Provincial City of Fengdeng being quite prosperous.

The major powers in Qingwei Town, such as the Three Rivers Gang, the Zhang Family, the Defense Bureau, and the Black Eel Army, all had intricate connections to the great families of Fengdeng City.

The Liu Mengzi mentioned earlier was a distant relative of the Liu Family from the Provincial City. If not for this connection, how could he have been doing so well for himself in the Three Rivers Gang?

’First, I need to heal these injuries.’

Wang Xi thought.

Only by regaining his mobility could he seize the initiative. Lying here wasn’t a solution.

Fortunately, after some experimentation, he found that Magic Power also existed in the Profound Mysterious World, though it was far less abundant than in the Fairy Tale World.

The free-floating Magic Power and elements in the air were relatively thin.

But it was enough.

Bathed in the moonlight from the window, Wang Xi sat cross-legged on the bed, opened his mouth, and began to breathe.

His chest rose and fell, his muscles vibrating slightly. The fourth Seal in his mind, 「Moon Breathing」, began to glow—under the night moon, this Breathing Technique could rapidly heal both internal and external injuries.

Time passed, minute by minute.

In the dead of night, just past the third watch,

Wang Xi opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath. His injuries were already mostly healed.

Only the fractured bones and internal injuries had not yet fully recovered. But within three days, he would be completely healed.

This was the power of the 「Moon Breathing」 Seal.

Listening to the chirping of insects outside the window, the faint barking of a dog in the distance, and the sound of the night watchman’s clapper, Wang Xi couldn’t help but smile.

Another new journey had begun.

He reached over, picked up the thread-bound books from the nightstand, and began to read by the light of the kerosene lamp and the moon.

The Huo Family Martial Arts Hall primarily taught four arts.

Medicine, Fist, Palm, and Leg.

Previously, Wang Xi had only learned the Huo Family Leg Technique. That was why the thugs from the Three Rivers Gang had broken his legs to vent their anger.

In the manual he was flipping through, Huo Qiao’Er had recorded the martial arts stances, detailed explanations, and her own insights in red ink, all in her elegant, stroke-by-stroke handwriting.

A moment later, a prompt appeared in his mind:

「You have discovered a Martial Arts Manual!」

「Do you wish to accept the teachings of ’Huo Mingchuan’ and capture this ability?」

’Yes.’

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