Awaken Chapter 3

The celestial hour.

It is not yet light.

Among the dwellings.

Xu Qingnian opened the box.

A maroon coloured elixir emerged.

The pill was not big, so Xu Qingnian swallowed it straight away, not caring whether there were any side effects or not.

The cold qi in her body was getting stronger and stronger, and to be honest, she was already in good shape to be able to keep walking back.

Soon, as the pill entered his throat, it reacted in less than a few moments.

It was like a flame that burned in the abdomen, making Xu Qingnian’s body much more comfortable.

The flames spread through his limbs and torso, as if he was immersed in a hot spring, which was incomparably pleasurable.

After a short while, Xu Qingnian got up and practiced the Zhengyang Fist once more, completely stretching out his muscles and bones, and then began to think of a way to save him.

“A different technique?”

The first two of the three self-rescue methods that Doctor Zhao had given him would not work at all.

The only way that could be tried was the magic.

But it was extremely difficult to find such a thing, not to mention the fact that there could not be any magic in such a small county as Ping’an.

There were some brain pains.

Inside the room, Xu Qingnian did not light up the oil lamp, and it was pitch black.

In the darkness, Xu Qingnian closed his eyes and only had two words in his mind.

[Magic]

He vaguely felt that he should know some information, but perhaps because he had just crossed over, the information he received was not very complete, so he could not recall.

Now that there were only ten hours left in his life, Xu Qingnian did not want to delay.

Not a single minute or second could be delayed.

However, the more so, the more distracted one became and the more easily one became anxious.

An hour.

Two hours.

It was already the hour.

The day had already dawned, and inside the house Xu Qingnian sat on a stool, still thinking with his eyes closed.

At that moment, a light footstep sounded slowly.

Opening his eyes, a knock on the door appeared at that moment.

“Brother Qingnian, it’s me.”

A voice rang out, Xu Qingnian got up and opened the door, and what he saw was a man of similar age to himself.

He was also a fellow magistrate from Ping’an County, but Xu Qingnian could not quite remember his name.

“What is it?”

Xu Qingnian was a little curious and asked the other man what the purpose of his visit was.

“Brother Qingnian, I’ve come to bring you medicine, this is good medicine prepared for you by the magistrate’s office, it can relieve the cold in your body.”

The other party spoke, carrying several packs of herbs.

“Can this medicine save my life?”

Xu Qingnian asked.

The latter was instantly a little embarra*sed, how could the herbs he was carrying in his hand directly save Xu Qingnian’s life.

This stuff could barely ease the pain.

Seeing the other party’s expression, Xu Qingnian also understood the effect of this medicinal herb.

He did not say anything and returned to his position to continue his contemplation.

Seeing that Xu Qingnian was not paying attention to himself, the latter did not take offense, after all, he was already a dying man, anyone would have some pity, where would he bother with this.

“Brother Qingnian, I’ll help you decoct the medicine, although it’s not very useful, but at least it’s somewhat useful.”

“And brother Qingnian, it’s not necessarily true that there is no way to save you, I heard that someone from above has been sent down to specifically catch the fugitive who injured you.”

“If we catch him, we might be able to find a way to save him.”

“But I’m also puzzled, this fugitive escaped from the South Yufu prison, obviously he could have escaped by going north, but he had to go south and come to our Ping’an County, so when we really catch him, I’ll have to experience the torture at our county office anyway.”

The magistrate who came was a bit chatty, and his intention was still to comfort Xu Qingnian, and to prevent him from becoming too depressed.

It was only these words that caused Xu Qingnian to suddenly freeze.

He could travel north? But to the south?

Yes, the north of South Yu Province is a vast mountainous area, deserted and uninhabited. Even if the government officials were to arrest them personally, it would not be easy to find a living person in the vast mountainous area.

If you run towards Ping’an County, there are people everywhere and it is extremely easy to be exposed.

Anyone with a bit of brains wouldn’t be able to do that, right?

Why would he go to a crowded place?

Did he have some purpose?

At this moment, Xu Qingnian’s brain was running fast, although he didn’t know why he was dwelling on this, but right now there was nothing else worth pondering over.

“Wait!”

Xu Qingnian ran his brain, trying hard to recall the memory images from before he was injured.

He vaguely guessed something, but it was too vague to be coherent.

“South Yufu!”

“Northbound and southbound?”

“Ping’an County!”

One word after another flashed in the middle of his mind, but there was never a clue.

“Calm down.”

“Xu Qingnian, calm down.”

With his heart burning, Xu Qingnian took a deep breath as he tried hard to calm himself down.

Otherwise, the more anxious he was, the more anxious he was, and the more anxious he was, the more he would be caught in a deadly cycle, and that would be hopeless.

A quarter of an hour later.

Xu Qingnian’s mind was stabilised.

He began to recall and search his memories.

Another hour pa*sed, and it was the sixth hour.

Suddenly, the shattered memories returned to life and a picture appeared in Xu Qingnian’s mind.

Two days ago, the original owner of this body was patrolling the county normally.

When he noticed something strange in a private house, he just knocked on the door and before he could actually walk in, a human figure rushed out.

It was difficult to see the figure’s face clearly, but what made Xu Qingnian’s memory stick out was this.

This figure was suffused with a cold aura, and his body seemed to have frozen, and he had casually slapped himself, causing the Yin Underworld Qi to enter his body.

Cold Qi!

Cold Qi!

Also in a flash, it was as if a bolt of lightning had pa*sed through the middle of his mind.

All the information was also linked up.

“This person is a martial artist, and a martial artist who has cultivated a foreign art.”

“He’s entangled in the Yin and Underworld Qi, so he’s obviously suffered a backlash from a foreign art, and I guess his situation is even worse than mine.”

“He didn’t go north to escape, instead he went south, and chose Ping’an County, he must have a plan.”

“He’s looking for a solution to the Yin Underworld Qi.”

Xu Qingnian’s thoughts opened up, and he reasoned out bit by bit based on the only information available.

Nothing was accidental.

There were no fools in this world.

Knowing full well that one could escape by travelling north, even if the imperial court took it seriously, it was still a hundred times better than coming to Ping’an County.

But why would this man come to Ping’an County?

Desperate? Delirious?

This is clearly impossible.

The only explanation was that Ping’an County was important to him, and what was most important to a person who practised a different art?

Of course it was his own life, after all, practising a supernatural art would suffer an extremely terrible backlash.

That was why he had come to find a way to resolve the situation.

In Ping’an County, there was most likely a cure.

But what was this cure?

Xu Qingnian ran his brain as he frantically pondered.

But here was the problem.

What could a small county like Ping’an have to offer?

The terrain? Treasures? Or …… other supernatural arts?

Xu Qingnian envisioned them one by one, all the way to the appearance of the supernatural arts.

Bang!

In an instant, Xu Qingnian stood up, a shocked look in his gaze.

If there were any, they would have been requisitioned by the imperial court, how could they have waited until now?

Even if there were treasures in Ping’an County, they would have been offered up long ago and hidden away privately, so it would be impossible for a fugitive to know about them.

So the only possibility is that Ping’an County has hidden a foreign art.

And this foreign art was most likely the supreme Yang foreign art, which could solve the Yin and Underworld Qi in his body.

It was.

It is.

This must be the case.

Xu Qingnian took a deep breath as he became more and more certain that his guess was correct.

But a new problem had arisen.

If there really was a different technique, where was it?

Where was this magic?

At the very moment when Xu Qingnian was struggling to understand, a voice interrupted Xu Qingnian’s contemplation.

“Brother Qingnian, I have already decocted the medicine, remember to drink it after half an hour, don’t forget, otherwise it will be troublesome if it burns dry.”

It was the fellow officer who had come earlier, reminding himself to drink the medicine.

Hearing the other party’s voice, Xu Qingnian could not help but inquire.

“Little brother, during the two days I was away, was there anything particularly odd at the county office? For example, has there been an increase in security there?”

Xu Qingnian opened his mouth and asked.

“Something particularly odd? Apart from that fugitive, what else is odd there.”

“But there are some extra guards, several people have been put on guard at our county courthouse, and I don’t know why.”

The other party said so, making Xu Qingnian come to his senses.

“The document library?”

Since the empress ascended to the throne, in order to stabilize the world, all cities and counties down to the villages and towns had to set up a document library.

If someone is vindicated and does not have a dossier, the local magistrate will take off his hat or send him to the capital.

“Why are you asking this, Qingnian?”

The other party asked curiously.

“Nothing, I just want to ask who is guarding the document library now? Who is the leader?”

Xu Qingnian asked.

“The leader is Chen Shou.”

The latter answered honestly.

Xu Qingnian nodded, but didn’t say anything more.

“Brother Qingnian, take care of your health, I’ll leave now.”

Seeing that Xu Qingnian did not say anything, the latter also arched his hand in farewell, Xu Qingnian returned the salute and then closed the door to his room.

“There are strange arts in the case library.”

“Not entirely sure, but nine out of ten.”

“It’s just that how to sneak into it is another problem.”

Xu Qingnian smiled a little bitterly.

He felt that the heavens were playing tricks on him again, giving a hope and setting a difficult hurdle.

On a normal day, one could not enter or leave the case file vault at will, one needed a warrant to do so, let alone the case file vault which was now fortified, so it was almost impossible to sneak in.

The leader of the group was still Constable Chen.

This was a tenth-ranked martial artist.

A martial artist who has entered the rank is as strong as an ox and is experienced in many battles.

If they were to play softly, given his temperament, it would be even more impossible.

It was difficult.

Difficult.

Difficult.

Xu Qingnian’s head was spinning.

Was it really that hard to stay alive?

A little depressed, Xu Qingnian couldn’t help but pour himself a bowl of tea.

It was just when his lips touched the tea.

Suddenly, Xu Qingnian’s eyes lit up and he thought of a solution.