1001 Paying One's Dues

"Are you really in your late 20s?" Miao Xihe asked.

"I am," Wang Yao replied.

Miao Xihe remained silent for a long time.

"I thought of living indefinitely before," he finally said. "I once lost hope about that. But seeing this herbal field of yours lit up my hopes again."

"If you're able to stay alive, that is," Wang Yao sternly said.

"Let's begin!" Miao Xihe made a move but quickly found himself incapable of flinching.

Wang Yao pressed at the air before him, causing him to feel as if a mountain had been brought down onto him. It made it impossible for him to move.

Move!

Miao Xihe clenched his teeth. The golden sheen on his face intensified. He was able to move again, but he still felt heavy. It was as if he had been placed in invisible shackles. It severely limited his speed. Such movements would not have been able to hurt Wang Yao at all.

A punch was seen.

It was streaking through the air.

Miao Xihe was sent reeling behind for over a dozen feet. He rolled off the southern mountain.

The dog outside the herbal field had recovered enough to stand. The dog wagged its tail upon seeing Wang Yao.

"Good work, San Xian. Stay here and rest." Wang Yao patted the dog's head and disappeared from where he stood. In the very next moment, he appeared beneath the southern mountain.

Miao Xihe stopped falling halfway through the height of the mountain. Faint, golden liquid was seen at the corner of his mouth.

"Tempering one's body with medicine means having the medicine seep into the skin, bones, internal organs, and mind," Want Yao said. "It is the right path to take. You have obviously taken the wrong path."

"I've indeed taken the wrong path, but there is no turning back for me now," Miao Xihe said as he stood up.

"I take it that you have harmed a lot of people," Wang Yao said.

"Yeah, I have harmed many." Miao Xihe took a deep breath.

The young man before him was so powerful that it made him feel helpless. It was something he had never felt before.

He wondered how someone of such a tender age could possess such a frightening level of power.

There was no other way to it.

Woooomm! Two black cloud-like things rose from behind him. It was two separate collections of poisonous bugs.

Kill!

Wang Yao took a deep breath and brought his hands together. A gale blew, shrouding the place and tearing the bugs apart.

He quickly launched another punch.

Miao Xihe was sent flying backward. Faint golden blood was spilled as he flew through the air. He crashed hard onto the ground halfway up the height of the mountain before dropping into the woods. Wang Yao leaped after him and quickly heard things streaking through the air. An untold number of flying needles coated with poison were seen glittering as they were hurled at him.

Scatter.

"Maneuvers of the gods!" Miao Xihe exasperatingly sighed.

Wang Yao did not give him another chance. He blocked the older man's meridians and robbed the old man of any capacity for resistance.

"Are you regretting it now, Chief Miao?" Wang Yao asked as he looked at the man on the ground. The anger burning inside Wang Yao had considerably dimmed. The man before him was persistent to a fault, which almost made the man worthy of respect to a certain extent.

"Regrets? I'm feeling regret. I've taken the wrong path, and I've come here too late!"

Huh?

The rustling of leaves and hurried footsteps were heard. Two people were seen rushing in the woods. It was Jia Zizai and Hu Mei. They hurriedly made their way there as soon as they received the news from Zhong Liuchuan.

"Are you alright, Master?"

"I'm fine," Wang Yao replied.

"It's you." Jia Zizai looked at the man on the ground, who was none other than the weird guy he saw at the entrance of the village.

"I believe introductions would be in order. Meet Chief Miao of the Valley of Thousands of Medicines."

"Miao Xihe?" Jia Zizai was stunned when he heard that. That mysterious figure was someone who he had asked his friends down south to keep a close eye on. He never expected such a person to show up in their village, let alone be defeated by the hands of Wang Yao.

"Did he go into the herbal field?"

"Yes, he broke in and entered without permission," Wang Yao replied.

"What are you training in?" Miao Xihe suddenly asked.

"I'm a medicine man, and I train in the Taoist arts."

Miao Xihe was speechless when he heard that.

"So, what do we do with him, Master?"

"Hand him over to the police, of course," Wang Yao said. "Oh right, Chief Miao, the young master of the Guo family is in Haiqu as we speak. I believe he'd like to meet you." Deep down, he knew very well that all that happened lately had something to do with Guo Zhenghe.

"I've been thinking of meeting with him for a while," Miao Xihe said.

"I'll go check San Xian out," Wang Yao said. "Be careful, you two, this guy is filled has poison all over him."

"Yeah, we know that, Master."

Wang Yao climbed up the mountain, leaving the two of them behind.

"Master, huh? So, is he your teacher then?" Miao Xihe had lost the ability to move, but he retained the capacity for speech.

"Yes, he is."

"The one who is more accomplished in the arts is the master," Miao Xihe said. "Was he taught by the gods or something?" His tone was very calm. He sounded nothing like that of someone caught in his current predicament.

"I'd be more concerned for myself if I were you."

"I've taken the wrong path, and I'm now at the end of my journey." Miao Xihe chuckled and said, "I might have had hope if I met your teacher some years earlier."

"You have your own fate to blame."

"Yeah, fate indeed." Miao Xihe sighed.

The police arrived and took Miao Xihe away.

None of what took place was as turbulent or astonishing as he imagined. It was as if one threw a pebble into a great river. There was a splash, and nothing more after that.

"What? Captured?" Guo Zhenghe, who was in Haiqu, was indescribably shocked when he heard the news.

"Yeah, I heard the news just moments ago. He went to that village and ended up being beaten by Wang Yao."

"Beaten by Wang Yao? I recall you saying that Miao Xihe is quite formidable, no?" Guo Zhenghe asked, still feeling very shocked.

"He is very formidable," Xu Xinyuan said. "I've been to the Valley of Thousands of Medicines before, which was how I learned of how terrifying he was. This means that Dr. Wang is simply even more powerful!" Truth to be told, he was also very shocked when he heard of the news. From what he was able to gather from the man who managed to escape from the Valley of Thousands of Medicines, that chief had been so terrifying that his proficiency at poisons, curses, and martial arts were at levels hardly found in anyone for the past century. He never expected one such frighteningly powerful figure would have been brought down by a young man in his 20s from that tiny village.

"Man, this is getting interesting!" Guo Zhenghe grinned.

"I was thinking of how to take him down before hearing this. I never expected Wang Yao would take care of that for us. What's his status now?"

"Multiple bone fractures all over his body, which makes it impossible for him to move," Xu Xinyuan said.

"Is he comparatively safe to approach?" Guo Zhenghe asked.

"Comparatively safe, but hardly absolute," Xu Xinyuan said. "He is still able to talk."

"Being able to talk means that he could still bite," Guo Zhenghe said. "Let's go see Chief Miao."

The way the events unfolded exceeded his expectations. He never expected that Wang Yao was capable of defeating the target. Then again, things worked in his favor. He now had a lot less trouble to deal with.

Guo Zhenghe went to see Miao Xihe, who was admitted to a special ward in the hospital. The man was lying on the bed. He had been robbed of his mobility.

"Good day, Chief Miao. We meet again," Guo Zhenghe smiled as he greeted Miao Xihe. He was about nine feet away from the older man. He dared not to get any closer.

"Good day, Secretary Guo," Miao Xihe said. "You look dashing as usual."

"You flatter me. But Chief Miao, you don't look so good."

"Someone got someone else to do the dirty work for him," Miao Xihe replied with a smile. "To be able to end up defeated at the hands of someone so formidable and brilliant adversary has been quite an honor."

"Chief Miao, did you people consider the consequences when you made a move against me? Isn't it best to just stick to your corner? Why bother kicking up a fuss?"

"I was reluctant to do all of that myself, but it does not matter," Miao Xihe said. "It's too late for everything in my case."

"Indeed, Chief. Rest well. You'll be relocated to a new place soon. I do hope you'll be able to get used to it."

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Guo Zhenghe pushed the door opened. He suddenly felt dizzy.

It can't be, can it? He was rather shocked. He had been very careful, but it seemed that he was still hit all the same.

After taking a few steps, he began bleeding. First, his nose bled. Soon his eyes and ears started bleeding.

"Sir."

"Get Wang Yao, quickly!"

The car sped all the way to the village, but they soon found Wang Yao's clinic was closed for the day. Miao Xihe had destroyed certain things on the southern mountain, so Wang Yao needed to start rebuilding them.

"I'll go look for him at his place."

Xu Xinyuan managed to locate Wang Yao's house, but not even the doctor's parents were home. Wang Yao feared that Miao Xihe would have acted against his parents, so he had them go elsewhere. They were to stay out of town for a few days.

"What am I going to do now?" Xu Xinyuan was dumbfounded.

Cough, cough, cough. Guo Zhenghe kept coughing blood. There were wiggling bugs in the blood.

"Sis, it's me." Guo Zhenghe called his sister.

While he was on the southern mountain, Wang Yao took a call from Guo Sirou.

"Yeah, I'm not seeing any patients for the time being. Right, right, sorry." Wang Yao refused.

Guo Zhenghe had been setting him up again and again. Now, he was paying for what he did. Wang Yao was not a Bodhisattva. There were some people out there who were just stupid enough to keep messing with him. He thought it was undeserving of his compassion or sympathy since it would have only resulted in him being caught in a predicament in the future.

"Go back to Haiqu!" Guo Zhenghe was almost growling as he spoke.