Chapter 87 87 – Henry's Story 1/2



*Mmmmm*

A humming sound vibrated in the air as Henry brought up one palm to his chest, his fingers just slightly under his chin. 

An outline of a huge palm could be seen above the goat, and a strong pressure pushed it down. The goat raised its head in surprise; it wasn't sure where the attack was coming from. 

Since the concealing came from the pill's power, attacking didn't cancel it. Worse thing yet, Henry's technique formed in the sky, and there was no projectile to follow its origin.

'He is a monk!'

Ken thought to himself as he watched Henry's palm pushing down toward the goat. Ken noticed that the palm was slightly away from them, making their direction the shortest path out for the goat.

All going according to the plan, the goat jumped from the rock it was standing on in their direction, only to sense Miles in its path. Miles brandished his saber and prepared to cleave the beast's head.

Panicked, the goat sent a powerful gale of wind to slow down Miles and readied its horns for the impact.

*CLAP*

A powerful clap sound came from Henry and Ken saw the man having his palms against each other. During the clap, Miles' saber met with the horns, and Miles was sent back a few meters.

Two large palms appeared from the goat's two sides and flew toward each other as if trying to clap. The goat quickly leaped upward, attempting to skip above the two palms trying to squeeze it.

*Baaaaa!*

The goat screamed as its back leg got crushed between the two palms. Unfortunately, it couldn't dodge the palms attack completely. 

'Fire Cut.'

It staggered on its way back to the ground, affected by the injury in its leg. Before it could regain its balance, Miles appeared next to it and left a deep cut on its neck while flames found their way inside the goat's body, cooking it from inside.

With a last painful shout, the goat collapsed on the ground and died. 

Overall, Ken found the two bodyguards well synchronized. The two managed to defeat a beast of the same rank in under a minute, and they seemed to be aware of each other's next move.

He also learned that Miles used Fire Qi aside from Saber Qi, and that Henry's only weapons were his palms.

"Henry, those were interesting techniques. Are they from our sect?"

Ken asked curiously as the two collected their loot and came back to the group. Miles looked at his friend, and seeing his approving nod, he spoke for him.

"When Henry was still a third-stage outer disciple, he fortuitously discovered an inheritance in the desert situated below our sect. While he was lost and had no water, he used a technique that sensed the ground under him."

While Miles was telling his friend's tale, the group collected the herbs on the mountain under the goat's jurisdiction. There were 3 fifth-grade herbs and 13 fourth-grade.

"Because of the sand, his technique was quite limited, and coupled with his low stage back then, he couldn't see far away. Luckily for him, he stumbled upon some ruins, and he sensed water 10 meters under the sand."

Ken took out 31,000 medium Qi Stones and sent them Henry's way. It was the prize for the fifth-grade herbs. Henry then separated 15,500 and gave them to Miles.

"Thank you. Anyway, he dug in the sand until he found a small building buried under the sand. He broke the ceiling and found inside a pool of water, protected by a formation that kept the water pure and clean."

Ken stored the herbs in his storage ring. Since the girls didn't participate in the fight, they weren't eligible to get any of the spoils.

--------

25 years ago:

"Water! I'm saved!"

A handsome young man called out with ecstasy as he rushed to the pool. He took large, long gulps, and sat on the ground while breathing heavily.

His height was average, and his brown hair reached slightly under his shoulders. A silver hairpin tried to keep his hair arranged behind his back, but it failed miserably; it was messy and filled with sand.

The young man wore gray robes, but those were covered with sand. Now that he had time to notice his condition, he moved uncomfortably in his robes as the sand kept agitating his skin.

'I'm exhausted.'

Just like that, the man fell asleep on the cool floor. A few hours later. He woke up from a weak noise nearby. Looking around him, he saw that the desert sand was falling inside the room through the hole he created himself for entering.

'Oh, I should move out soon if I don't want to get buried in the sand. Let's take a tour inside to see if there's anything interesting first.'

Henry took out an enhanced leather bag from his storage ring and filled it with water to the brim. With the runes covering it, the bag could contain 5 cubic meters of fluids (A/N: 5,000 liters). 

He only ran out of water because robbers on the way emptied it and took the rest of his items. Other than the leather bag, his storage ring was empty. He got goosebumps thinking about the weird worms he hunted for food those past few days. Their blood was poisonous, so he could only eat the meat after cooking it carefully.

The young boy, 14 years old only, started looking around the room. It seemed to have only 4 closed walls, but one symmetrical crack in the wall hinted at the existence of a door.

Henry pushed the wall around the crack and a door opened toward another room. As he entered, he found writings engraved on the walls.

"Be active, never be inactive, and don't react to the outcome of the work."

He read one out loud and pondered on its meaning. He walked around the room and read the rest of the engraving. 

"Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without."