After half a month, the poison in Wu Dahu’s body was finally released under the control of the antidote.
As for drug addiction, it wasn’t that kind of frequent any more. Though Song Qinghan still hadn’t defeated it root-and-branch, it wasn’t that big deal now for him as he was quite accustomed to.
Everything seemed to have settled down in peace gradually, even Guan Yiyu hadn’t bothered them after they came back as if he had already evaporated suddenly in this world. It just happened that when Song Qinghan mentioned this guy in some casual conversation did he realize that Guan Yiyu had already left this place. Yet for the further information about where he went, no one was able to figure out.
The day of the final tournament was approaching, Wu Dahu and Song Qinghan commenced planning about marching to the state capital.
The biggest pity for them was that they had to close their “The Eccentric Shop” temporarily. Yet as for the re-opening time, it would depend on the progress of the event and development they was about to experience in that state capital.
Many old customers were reluctant to accept such a news, but they still expressed their understanding. They bought a bunch of items and went back to store them in their private stock, as if they were certain that Song Qinghan would not come back again and get this shop run again.
Though Song Qinghan was a bit embarrassed there, he felt quite delightful about that. After all, the original intention for opening the shop was not only to get bunch of benefits, but to obtain sense of personal identification here.
In fact, among them Doctor Shi should be the one who was the most disappointed and reluctant one to see them off.
It was not only because of his admiration for Song Qinghan’s medical skills, but also because of his great expectation for Yuan Wenxuan, the one he had spent time with in the Huichun Shop.
If Yuan Wenxuan was not Song Qinghan’s disciple, he would have recruited this little boy as his own disciple in the Huichun Shop without hesitation.
Yuan Wenxuan was rather calm there. After all, no matter how good Doctor Shi was, he was never better than Song Qinghan in his point of view. In his thought of decisiveness, he could only get one master in his life, and that one should be Song Qinghan with a full assurance.
Besides, his learning ability was indeed strong. Although it has only been a few months here in the Huichun Shop, he had learned almost everything in the shop. Recently, he often felt that he couldn’t refresh his awareness and expand his knowledge stock. If Doctor Shi did not want his help in the Huichun Shop, he would have chosen to stay at home to do some further research by his own.
On the day they left the provincial capital, there were quite a lot people who came to see them off. Wu Dahu’s old acquaintances from the Liangyi Martial Club, people from Huichun Shop, Old Zhu and Old Man Gao, etc.. It seemed that all their Old Friends were at presence biding farewell to them. Tears lingered quietly at the corner of Song Qinghan’s eyes.
He never imagined that he would get so many friends and stories imperceptibly.
Little Shitou rose from the arms of Song Qinghan as if he came to know what was happening right now, he was babbling in a language which only he could comprehend towards those people across the way. Such an adorable action incurred a general outbreak of laughter among the crowd, suddenly the permeating sorrow dissipated but turned into a joy in the end.
However, the strangest thing was that ever since Little Shitou called Wu Dahu “Dad” on that day when Wu Dahu set off for Song Qinghan, they never heard the similar word or syllable ever again. Though Little Shitou babbled everyday, it was more like that he was just talking to himself, immersing himself into his own world.
They were not in a hurry as they had set off for the state capital, they spent more time on viewing the scenery along the journey.
It was almost early spring and the weather was getting warmer. All living creatures seemed to regain their strength, the green sprout started to break through the limit of the soil after the iced water commencing melting. Frogs were croaking aside the lake and the birds were calling in the sky.
A few days later, the majestic state capital finally showed its true colors in front of them.
Song Qinghan let out a praising sigh just at the moment he was facing the tall and erect city wall featuring an amazing thickness.
Sure enough, it made sense that the state capital would always be the most magnificent city in any countries, any times, ancient or modern, or in different dimension. The one which was selected as a center should have gained something unique.
Streams of people busily came in and out through the tremendous city gate, most of them were quite obedient to be in line waiting for the security check. And occasionally,one or two people who was trying to jump the queue were sent by the guards to the last of the line. It seemed that the heavily guarded security system had already banned any form of bribe, in other words, coins seemed not to rein within this place.
Of course, the carriage they brought did not contain any illegal goods, but when the guards saw there were a lot of strange and useless plants in their carriage, these guards’ expression started to be equipped with a sense of queerness.
Luckily, they didn’t seem to intend to bother them, the lead of the guards waved his hand, motioning to let Wu Dahu in.
In fact, even if the guards asked them something, it was nothing for them to be guilty at all. Most of the plants in the carriage were fresh spices. On the way, they even used these spices to make dried meat. If the guards asked, they would at most take out a piece of dried meat for them to see, and they would be able to prove their innocence.
As soon as they entered the capital city, Song Qinghan was so much stunned by the huge traffic.
Oh yeah! The so-called ‘jostle each other in a crowd’ described in several ancient academic masterpieces was indeed describing a real scene! This bustling picture bore much resemblance to the one in holiday in the modern times. If they dared to join the flow of the crowd, probably they would drift forwards by the force of human ocean without a chance to go back.
However, even in modern times, such a scene would only appear at a specific period. Unlike now, even at a random corner in a casual day within the state capital, it was already busy and crowded as hell. If there really existed somewhere right at the prosperous area, it would totally out of Song Qinghan’s capacity to imagine about.
Wu Dahu also looked a little headache, so he casually asked to a random stranger on the street, “Hey brother, do you know where the tournament venue is?”
That person was just an ordinary person, he sized up and down on Wu Dahu, and then he answered politely, “Oh you might come here for the final tournament, right? Just go straight on this street, and then turn right after the third turning point, go straight until you pass through two streets, and then turn left, and keep going straight, the venue is right there at the end of that street.”
It didn’t sound complicated at all. After Wu Dahu showed his gratitude towards the stranger, he led the carriage directly into the crowd.
Ah, it was not until he entered the crowd did he realize how naive the careless decision was.
When they reached the place where they should stop, they were forced forwards. And they were pushed out from the crowd at a spot they shouldn’t stop.
He stumbled all the way, and by the time he regained his attention, he had already walked into a quiet alley.
The alley was not small, but no one passed by. It was so quiet that it was like another world of desolation separating from the one outside.
Wu Dahu saw an old man selling wine in the distance. He walked over with the carriage and bent down to ask, “Excuse me, do you know where the tournament venue is?”
“The tournament venue?”, the old man repeated, struggling to raise his heavy eyelids. A trace of dim light was flashing in his turbid eyeballs.
“Follow this path to the end. You will see a big house there at the right side, that’s it.”
Wu Dahu was utterly stunned, as if he hadn’t expected that the flowing crowd did actually send them to the right direction and spot by coincidence.
He didn’t think much about it. After all, this old man seemed to get a clear brain himself with a clear logic when he spoke, he didn’t look like a real old man who had already messed his mind with other muddy thoughts. So after showing gratitude, Wu Dahu continued to go straight through this alley.
After they left, another old man who was supported by a crutch walked out of the house behind and muttered, “They just first came here, you might take away their lives by this coax, you should have acknowledged that, right?!”
The old man who sold the wine stretched and loosened his eyebrows. Yet the wrinkles on his face were more distinct, among those wrinkles there hidden a sense of slyness.
“It’s fine. At least he is coming here for the final tournament. If he fails to handle these tiny stuffs, he’d better go back home right now!”
The voices of these two old men disappeared in the air of tranquil. Song Qinghan sat quietly inside the carriage, though he could sense something wrong himself, he still chose to trust over Wu Dahu’s judgment.
Although the position described by the person at the city gate and the position described by the old man were obviously not in the same place, but it might be caused by the complicated terrain of the capital. Anyway, he couldn’t conceived of the value of them being cheated.
When they reached the end of the alley, they turned to the right according to the description of the old man, and found a bunch of brawny men in evilness showing up in front of them.
“How dare you intrude into the mansion! Release the dogs!”
Wu Dahu was a martial arts practitioner after all, and he was more sensitive to danger than other ordinary people. As soon as he sensed the approaching danger, he pulled out the dagger behind his back. With his eyebrows sank with confidence, he pounced on those aggressive and fierce dogs.
These dogs seemed to be one certain kind of crossbreed mixed with Tibetan Mastiff. They not only got a rather gigantic shape but a fiercely ear-splitting roar.
If it was other people who were facing them, they might be too scared to make a movement, but Wu Dahu was not afraid after seeing this scene, instead he itched for a try.
Finally, he got the chance to test out his own capacity himself!
Along the way, in addition to using a little martial art when hunting, he spent most of his time accompanying Song Qinghan to eat, and drink. His life was indeed comfortable, but for someone who was used to busying, he was still a little uncomfortable.
Witnessing that Wu Dahu beheaded one of the dogs by a nimble wave on his hand, the head among the brawny men got his nerve strained suddenly and he shouted loudly as his voice cracked, “He killed the childe’s beloved dog! Brothers, catch him!”
Even so, none of those muscular men didn’t seem to attack Wu Dahu before the rest of the dogs were killed.
Wu Dahu frowned tightly. Although he felt a little strange, he didn’t think too much about it. With a nimble backward somersault, he succeeded executing the other fierce dogs.
“The childe is coming!” a voice suddenly sounded among those people while those brawny men were all startled at once as if they had encountered a century-aged ghost who haunted them for years. Some of them cried, some of them bawled, even worse, one of them kneed down in front of the corpses of those furious dogs, yelling at the same time, “You wicked bastard! You unforgivable jerk! How dare you killing the childe’s beloved dogs! I will kill you, I will kill you!”
Wu Dahu’s face assumed an expression of queerness, he walked straightly to the man and looked down while moving his chin slightly towards the man kneeing, and then he said calmly, “Alright! Go ahead and take my life if you can, I am just right in front of you.”
The man’s body trembled and he didn’t even dare to raise his head. He continued to hug the corpse of the furious dog which was without a head, and then commenced bawling.
“WHO ARE YOU? WHY DID YOU KILL MY BELOVED DOGS FOR NO REASONS?”
A clear voice sounded. It would be a rather nice voice if it came with a peaceful tone.
Wu Dahu looked up and glanced at the plaque on the door. After seeing the two big words “Wang Mansion”carved on the plaque, he finally came to know that they were tricked by that previous old man. As he tightened his eyebrows, and then answered directly without a further consideration about that old man, “They released the dogs first and tried to hurt us at first, I was just protecting myself and my family.”
As soon as his voice fell, the brawny men started to complain in a mess.
“No, no! Childe, it was their fault. If they did not show that they would break through the gate, how dare were we to release the dogs?”
“Yes! Didn’t you say that if someone break in without permission we should release the dogs directly? Childe! We were just being obedient to you.”
“He made his move too fast. We didn’t have time to stop him. As soon as we regained our attention, he… he has done the slaughter…”
“…”