Chapter 2: Testing the Medicine

After half an hour.

Chen Luo stared at the dog doing leg presses on the ground, feeling that something was not quite right.

“Could it be that I gave it the wrong dose?” Chen Luo was at a loss; he had only given the dog a small sip of the medicine, and yet it had turned into this. The dog had been lying on the ground and doing leg presses nonstop for the last half hour. Chen Luo wasn’t sure if it was about to die, but either way, if Third Uncle returned tonight, Chen Luo wouldn’t be able to explain himself.

“Da Hua, wake up, it’s chicken leg time!”

Chen Luo tried calling to it, but Da Hua didn’t respond, remaining stiff as it lay on the ground and kicked its legs.

Having lost his patience, Chen Luo grabbed the dog by the nape of its neck and delivered two forceful slaps to its face.

These slaps would have normally sent the dog yelping away with its tail between its legs, but today, it didn’t react at all, continuing to kick its legs.

“I’ll try it with chickens,” Chen Luo thought stubbornly.

After finally catching sight of hope for turning things around, he couldn’t possibly give up because of this minor setback.

Consuming the liquid himself would definitely not work; he was afraid of dying.

Chen Luo turned around and headed to the rear courtyard, where he found two chickens in the kitchen. These chickens had been purchased at Third Uncle’s request when Chen Luo arrived home earlier, originally intended for dinner that night. At present, however, other matters took precedence.

He grabbed the two chickens, then poured the medicinal liquid from the ceramic jar into the mouth of the larger one.

Cluck-cluck-cluck!

After consuming the medicine, the chickens became agitated, flapping their wings as if they had gone mad. Chen Luo exerted great effort to keep these beasts pinned down, but even when pressed to the ground, the chickens continued to struggle, as if they no longer felt pain.

“What’s happening?!” Chen Luo was at a loss as well. Glancing at the twitching dog and the two chickens he held down, he found himself momentarily unable to understand the effects of this particular medicine.

A quarter of an hour passed.

The leg-kicking dog recovered its strength, abruptly rolling away from Chen Luo and staring blankly around, as if completely forgetting what had just happened. The two chickens, which Chen Luo had pressed to the ground, also calmed considerably, their flapping wings slowing to a stop.

Exhausted from his exertions, Chen Luo let go of the chickens and sat heavily on the ground.

The medicinal liquid inside the ceramic jar had already dispersed most of its scent and begun to solidify, turning into a sticky black ointment.

“I need more tests!” Gritting his teeth, Chen Luo prepared to continue his experiments.

Chen Luo needed enough samples to test the medicine’s actual application method. The formula that remained in the body of the wandering cultivator was certainly useful, otherwise it wouldn’t have been recorded in his brain even after death.

Holding the congealed medicinal paste, Chen Luo locked the door and headed to the mountain nearby.

After reaching the summit, Chen Luo caught a wild rabbit with ease.

Chen Luo’s family had been poor. His father, Old Man Chen, had raised him by hunting. For a poor family, hunting wasn’t particularly difficult. After living in this world for more than ten years, Chen Luo had inherited most of his old father’s skills.

Holding the rabbit by its ear, Chen Luo picked up a small piece of the medicinal paste and forcefully stuffed it into the animal’s mouth.

One minute passed.

Two minutes passed.

Ten minutes later, the rabbit suddenly began to struggle, its legs squirming incessantly. A strange power seemed to emanate from within its body. Strange, root-like patterns appeared within its red eyes, lending them an eerie appearance. Multiple bulging muscle groups also appeared on the rabbit’s skin, tree-root-like veins protruding from them—also terrifying.

Thump!

After being kicked in the chest, Chen Luo felt a tightness in his chest, as if he could not breathe. The rabbit in his hands struggled harder and harder until it finally broke free from Chen Luo’s grip. The maddened rabbit, now seemingly infected with madness, dashed its head into a tree trunk right in front of it.

A loud thud rang out, followed by the sound of something squishing. The rabbit’s brain splattered everywhere, leaving a gruesome scene behind. The force of the impact was so great that it left a dent in the tree trunk.

“Such strength?” Chen Luo was shocked; he quickly walked up to inspect the hole left behind by the rabbit.

The tough bark of the old tree had been dented by seven or eight centimeters, filled with bits of rabbit blood and brain matter, creating a grisly sight.

“This medicine works!” Chen Luo grew excited.

Now, all he needed to figure out was how to administer it properly.

Chen Luo then proceeded to catch more small animals, such as snakes, hedgehogs, and foxes, until he ran out of the medicinal paste.

After sacrificing all these animals, Chen Luo reached a conclusion: the medicinal paste was effective, but the effects varied depending on the species.

The animals on the mountain showed much better results.

After a day of work, Chen Luo returned home, exhausted. Third Uncle, drunk from drinking, returned to his house as well.

These corpse collectors were busy only during certain times of the year, so the rest of the time, they had plenty of free time. Third Uncle, an old bachelor, naturally spent his money on women. Despite having worked in the city for his entire life, he hadn’t managed to save up a single cent, which made it obvious how carefree his lifestyle had been.

“Which shitty motherfucker is cooking cow dung in my house?!” Third Uncle was immediately assaulted by the smell upon opening the door, and he retched a good while before finally recovering his senses.

Once Third Uncle caught his breath, he reached out to grab the bamboo stick he kept hidden nearby. When Chen Luo first moved to the city, he had used this stick often to discipline his nephew. With him gone to drink, and knowing only his nephew was at home, he didn’t even need to guess who the culprit was.

The mangy dog, which had recovered its senses, carried over the bamboo stick. This dumb dog had spent all day kicking its legs in the yard, but now, at night, it had miraculously recovered. This meant that Chen Luo’s experiment was successful; he prepared another batch of medicine inside the house, ready for another round of trials.

“Third Uncle? How come you’re back?!”

Chen Luo froze upon hearing the voice.

From his experience, on the first day of receiving his monthly stipend, Third Uncle never returned home before nightfall. The pretty girls of the Widow’s Alley also wouldn’t let him return, so it was anyone’s guess what had possessed him to return early today.

“You little rascal! Three days without a beating and you’re already tearing the roof off the place! If I hadn’t returned tonight, would you have dug up that old hole in the neighbor’s yard to roast something?”

Seeing the clay jar in Chen Luo’s hands, Third Uncle’s anger surged, and he raised his bamboo stick, ready to teach his nephew a lesson.

“Third Uncle, wait! These are medicines!!”

Chen Luo refused to let Third Uncle touch him and swiftly wrapped an arm around his waist. Third Uncle, already drunk and puking by the door, was no match against Chen Luo, who held him fast, leaving the old man’s faithful hound pacing anxiously behind them.

It hoped its old master would take revenge for him!

“Medicines?”

Upon hearing that these were medicines, Third Uncle sobered up instantly.

“Are you poisoned?” he asked anxiously, forgetting all about being upset.

The old Chen family prized male heirs, and Chen Luo was their only hope for carrying on the bloodline. If anything were to happen to him, how could Third Uncle have the courage to face his elder brother?

“No.” Chen Luo quickly explained his actions to Third Uncle, skipping over the important bit about his encounter with the corpse’s obsession and only saying that he had obtained an ancient formula and wanted to test it out.

“You wish to learn the martial arts?” Third Uncle frowned as he looked at his nephew.

The idea of learning martial arts wasn’t strange; Third Uncle had entertained similar thoughts in his youth, and had even sought a master to learn a few tricks. Such things were typically practiced for the sake of exercise and self-defense, and not much different from what ordinary people did.

The tricks he learned were not the same as the martial arts.

A powerful martial artist wielded god-like strength, capable of moving mountains and shifting seas, like a deity walking on land.

Though Third Uncle had never personally encountered such a person, he had heard the boasting of his drinking buddies at the yamen. They claimed that martial arts connected one with the divine, and that cultivating them to the pinnacle could make one a god.

This was why martial arts were so heavily suppressed.

To ordinary people, whether its the court or the jianghu, both are in a completely different world. Those in that world pursued mythical treasures, while those in this world chased after daily necessities.

Chen Luo nodded quickly. It was one thing when there was no hope, but now that an opportunity had presented itself, it would be ridiculous to shrink back like a turtle.

Third Uncle silently retrieved a jar of wine from a cabinet, then poured himself a cup.

Chen Luo stood beside him, not saying a word, knowing his uncle was deep in thought.

Unlike his parents, who lived in the countryside, Third Uncle had been working as a body collector for many years and naturally had some connections. If Chen Luo wanted to learn martial arts, he would have to go through his uncle’s connections. Leveraging one’s personal connections within the confines of one’s own social class was the rational choice for any normal person.

As for taking medicine…

He still didn’t fully understand the medicinal properties of the formula in his hand, nor did he know its efficacy. He didn’t dare consume it without more information. If he ended up dying from misadventure like the rabbit, he would have lost it big.

“Damn brat, always getting into trouble for your old man!”

Third Uncle finished the last sip of wine and cursed under his breath, then closed the door and went back to sleep.

Chen Luo let out a long sigh of relief, knowing that his uncle had agreed to his request.