455 A Man Should Serve His Country! (1/2)

When Yun Yang regained consciousness once more, he was surprised to hear a noise coming from beside him. There was also a faint light that stung his bleary eyes the moment he opened them.

A group of people was pushing each other beside him.

”Give way, let me see, let me see as well. I want to look at this rare person.”

”So unbelievable, it's really rare.”

”F*ck, I didn't believe it when I heard it, but it's true!”

”Awesome! So awesome!”

”Tsk, tsk, tsk...”

”What a miracle.”

”I wouldn't call it a miracle, but he is certainly an oddity indeed!”

”Your father will kneel now, it's truly unbelievable. How incredible…”

”If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I truly wouldn't have believed it…”

…

Yun Yang was dumbstruck.

What was all this ruckus about?

Yun Yang opened his eyes fully and glared at the heads hovering before him. They wore curious and shocked gazes that were trained on him as if they had seen a rare and precious item. It felt like a crowd was that was cheering with glee and amusement. ”Wow, here's a big tiger in the cage…”

Yun Yang was titled a popinjay, but his extraordinarily good looks had caused him to become accustomed to being watched and being admired. It was a way of life for beautiful things to be admired, but right now… he knew what he was made of. How could he possibly be good looking right now?

Yun Yang felt his head throb, but he could not help asking, ”What are you all looking at?”

The moment the words left his mouth, Yun Yang was surprised. He could actually talk now, and his diction was clear and audible.

”He's woken up, he's woken up. He's alive!”

”Oh my gosh, he actually managed to survive such severe injuries…”

”Not only did he survive, he can speak as well! I just heard him talk!”

”A miracle! This is nothing short of a miracle! There's no doubt about it!”

”Old Liu, the person you've saved came alive! Your efforts have not been wasted!”

Yun Yang understood the situation immediately the moment he heard the inane chatter.

He had been saved by a kindhearted person, and the main reason he had obtained an audience was that they were shocked that he was not dead from his fatal injuries. It was quite rare indeed!

An elder who wore a friendly smile appeared before Yun Yang, checking him carefully for a long period of time before he heaved a sigh of relief and said, ”Young friend, you're very lucky. If it had been any ordinary person who had to suffer such heavy external wounds and internal injuries, they would have died one too many times… And you, young friend, have come back alive. Once you woke up, your vital signs turned stronger as well. It's truly incredible. This old man has practiced medicine for so many years, yet it's still my first time to witness such severe injuries and a strange condition to boot.”

Yun Yang replied hoarsely, ”Thank you for saving me, old sir.”

”It's a good thing that your vital signs are recovering greatly, but your healing can't be rushed. You have to rest well.” The old man smiled as he said, ”I've boiled a bowl of medicine for you just now. Drink it quickly and go back to sleep. A complete rest is the best recovery method for you now.”

Thinking about it, Yun Yang could feel that his wounds had been treated. The broken bones throughout his whole body were secured with bamboo shards and wood; they were tied to his chest, back and all over his torso. He was practically a mummy.

Yun Yang did not dare to slip back into oblivion, but asked again, ”May I ask what place is this? What country does it belong to?”

The old man was taken aback by the question as he said, ”This is the southeast sector of the Empire of Yutang, belonging to the Empire of Yutang's Tiannan Circuit. It's a small village of Xinghui City's Laishui County. We call it Huang Col Village.”

”Tiannan Circuit… Xinghui City, Laishui County…”

Yun Yang exhaled deeply, his eyes slightly unfocused from confusion.

He knew about the Tiannan Circuit the old man had mentioned, as well as Xinghui City too, but he knew nothing about Laishui County. Even then, this place belonged to Xinghui City so it should not be too far away.

Therefore, this place should be about five thousand and seven hundred miles away from the eastern border. This distance would take only two hours to traverse if Yun Yang's ability was not lost and he went as wind and cloud, but now…

Yun Yang closed his eyes dejectedly. What could he do now, even if he had gone to the battlefield?

He had lost his cultivation base and both his external and internal injuries were tremendously severe. Losing his manifestation powers, in particular, would make him lesser than an ordinary practitioner; if he had indeed gone to the battlefield, he might be buried the moment he encountered the enemy!

Hence, the only important task right now was to recover as speedily as he could and reacquire his cultivation method. As to what extent his cultivation method could come back to, he would leave it in the hands of the future. Right now, the only thing he must not do was to give up!

He closed his eyes to rest, quietly recovering his energy, but the people beside him were talking.

”I wonder who this fellow is… he looks like he just came from the battlefield…”

”Most probably. Look at him, even if he was attacked by ten thousand men, he wouldn't have been this badly injured. Is the war really so devastating these days?”

”A little speaks volumes. I can imagine the terror! I wonder how Young Six and the rest are now…”

Everyone sighed collectively; the atmosphere turned quiet for a moment.

Yun Yang opened his eyes and turned his head with great difficulty to ask, ”War?”

It was then that he noticed the crowd surrounding him were mainly made up of older adults between forty to fifty years of age. Every one of them was lined with wrinkles and wore the evidence of life's vicissitudes.

One of them said, ”Are you not from the battlefield?”

Yun Yang sighed, ”I was on my way to provide assistance on the battlefield… and was attacked and injured by the enemy's experts.”

”Oh dear, is the journey to the battlefield also so difficult too? There are ambushes from the enemy nation's experts?”

The audience was stunned hearing him.

”The empire has announced a dictum to fight till death. Everyone is to fight in the war and protect the homeland!” Seeing Yun Yang's confusion, an elder explained, ”We are merely simple people of the mountainside, but everyone is responsible when the country is in danger…”

”The strong and young hunters of this village have gathered together, thirty-six people in all, and went to assist on the battlefield. We just don't know if they've arrived safely.”

Yun Yang felt his heart warmed by the news.

”If the world is peaceful and Yutang is safe and sound, we would naturally take recluse here, asking only for happiness and peace. But now, facing the threat of our homes being destroyed… we're insignificant citizens, but we can't hide and hope for safety. It's what we should do, to send our sons and grandsons to provide aid on the battlefield. We don't ask to turn the situation around, but we would ask to have a clear conscience, when the country is in crisis, as a man of Yutang.”

The elders looked solemn.

”Sigh… actually, you were discovered when Young Six and group were crossing the river upon their departure. They thought that you were an injured soldier from the war; sharing the same nationality, there's always a natural compassion, so they sent you back, asking us to take care of you…”

An old man said kindly, ”Child, you were injured from going to the war, after all. From that alone, you are Yutang's warrior. As long as you still have breath left in you, we'd revive you, even if we have to go bankrupt to do. Don't worry, and just concentrate on recuperating.”

Another elderly said seriously, ”That's right! This is our tacit understanding – everyone who has been injured on the battlefield is our hero! What's more, your injuries are so serious!”

The implied meaning was that unless he had gone through an extremely overwhelming battle, he would not have been wounded to this extent. That he hadn't died proved that Yun Yang was no ordinary person. By inference, one could imagine how devastating a battle he had faced. All the more it proved that his identity as Yutang's hero and a warrior of the battlefield.

”I am ashamed!” Yun Yang said softly.

The elderlies comforted him quickly.

It brought warmth to Yun Yang, as he felt an unprecedented surge of fervor and exclamation in his heart.

With such citizens, how could Yutang fall? How could it perish?

Subsequently, the old people went out and closed the door, afraid to have disturbed Yun Yang's rest.

Yun Yang could still hear the soft sighs outside.

”Wonder if the Nine Supremes Lords will be taking part in the war or not… I hear that the situation now is unprecedentedly dangerous. Dongxuan has come at us with the military might of the entire nation…”

”Isn't it so? Otherwise, how can His Majesty announce the dictum to fight to our deaths and deploy the entire country to salvage this crisis? We have never seen danger of this momentous before!”

”When we finally have a few years of peace, chaos has struck again…”

”Sigh…”

”I just don't understand. Yutang has never provoked the other countries first all these years and we have never started any wars as well. Why must those countries target us over and over again? Will they only rest when the entire world has been conquered?”

”I don't know. This is probably what those authorities are contemplating. We only need to do our part…”

”Sigh, how I wish I could go ten or eight years back in time. Even if I'm forty years old now, I'd go challenge those war-crazed people in the battlefield! How do they want us to live with the war going on every day?”

…

Yun Yang sighed inwardly. He promptly calmed himself down and began mustering his mystical Qi.

There was honestly nothing he could do in his current state. Rather than dwelling in panic and also helplessness, he might as well try to recover quickly. After all, what was needed the most now was to recover from his injuries and his abilities with the hope that he could still rush to the war in time!

He had to go and help, to reach this war that would decide Yutang's fate!

Ptui! Yun Yang spat out a mouthful of blood, feeling lethargic.

It was already midnight now.

There was simply no improvement in his body or cultivation method that he needed so much to recover promptly. There was no other reason for that, except for the fact that Yun Yang's meridians were incredibly weak now. Any slight movement would shatter them; how could there be any chance of improvement? Yun Yang was expecting this, knowing that he must not be impatient. However, the piercing pain in his head would surge occasionally, while his internal organs felt like they were on a rollercoaster ride in his body; the pain that had taken him captive was unbearable and it made cultivating even harder.

Luckily, the treasured gems Yun Zuiyue had fed Yun Yang the other day was showing their efficacy now. They stored a great amount of energy within the muscles and meridians and it was slowly being released now, repairing Yun Yang's body on its own accord.

After multiple attempts, Yun Yang realized that he had to wait for the hidden energy to finish repairing his meridians or else any movement of Qi would bring splitting pain to his meridians. If he were to push through it forcefully, it would only inhibit the speed of repair.

Consequently, Yun Yang did nothing. Instead, he settled for resting with his eyes closed.

When morning came, another bowl of bitter medicine was delivered into his stomach, waking Yun Yang up from the depths of sleep.

Yun Yang felt around and moved his body gently, only to find out that the pain he had lived with for days had significantly subsided, especially the agony in his mind. As for the wounds littered all over him, they were finally showing signs of healing.

The sight of his healing wounds drew gasps wonder from the elder physician who looked after Yun Yang.

With the injuries Yun Yang had suffered from, there should hardly have been any improvement even if a month or two had passed; it was well within reason to expect him to be bedridden forever, unable to recover fully. Who would have expected this patient to heal so much in just one night, especially with a vitality that far exceeded the capability of a severely injured person?

The old physician did not know how massive the mysterious energy stored within Yun Yang was, of course. Such a process was only a matter of course that if it were not for Emmie's disappearance and his loss of manifestation powers, the external and internal damage was of no consequence at all to Yun Yang!

”For such serious wounds to have recovered so extensively in a single day, you must be an impressive figure of significance!” said the old physician respectfully.

The old physician did not know about Yun Yang's background and ability, but he who faired proficiently in medicine could tell vaguely that Yun Yang must not be an ordinary person nor a common cultivator; he was possibly an ace cultivator as rumored in legends, a reclusive expert!

”You flatter me, elder. I'm only a small Yutang soldier.” Yun Yang said respectfully, ”To save people and heal the world, you are the real hero.”

The old man smiled humbly.

”Grandpa!”

A youth's voice rang out before a teenager of fifteen to sixteen years old walked in. The naivety that belonged to a child was yet to wear off from his face. He carried a big basket of frozen herbs, still stained with soil on his back.

How much trouble it must have been for such a young child to search for these medicinal herbs in this harsh winter.

Just by looking at the weariness evident on the youth's face, he could tell that the trip must have been exhausting.

”You're back? Rest up first, we'll eat in a bit,” said the old man warmly.