A Clash of Gods - Chapter 15

Chapter 15 Withering Wood Hand
Yang Ning walked through the woods with Mr. Mu on his back. Mr. Mu leaned on Yang Ning’s back, pointing the direction from time to time. But the ways he led were all gloom and difficult to walk on. Yang Ning knew that this old guy deliberately went into the messy and gloom places in order to avoid his enemies. He wanted to dump this old guy several times. But when he thought of it that this guy had killed dozens of men from the Five Poisons Palace alone, he was still horrified and didn’t dare to easily make a move.

Although the old man was not heavy, he coughed once in a while. Every time he coughed, the stink with the smell of blood came to him, making Yang Ning uncomfortable.

The mountain road was rugged, and they went higher and higher. They had been walking for four hours. Yang Ning was tired and couldn’t bear it. At this time, he had entered the deep mountains. Yang Ning was about to stop and take a break, when Mr. Mu said, “Is there a cave?” He raised his hand and pointed the place where was not far away.

Yang Ning looked over and saw a bunch of thorns and dead vines in front of him. It seemed that there was really a dark cave. He went close there, and Mr. Mu said, “Let’s rest here.”

Yang Ning was very tired and pulled away the dead vines. Behind was a rather spacious cave. Inside, it was dark and he couldn’t see anything. He put Mr. Mu down first and then sat down.

Mr. Mu said, “You guard at the entrance of the cave. Once you notice the movement, tell me instantly.”

Yang Ning sneered and thought in his heart, “I carry you here and I am so exhausted, and now you want me to do a gatekeeper? When you get hurt, I’ll kill you.” Sitting at the entrance of the cave, he was much thirsty but helpless.

After a moment, he only heard Mr. Mu breathing lightly. He turned around and whispered, “Sir, how are you feeling now? Is the injury serious?”

But Mr. Mu didn’t answer, as if he were asleep.

Yang Ning called him again, but Mr. Mu didn’t respond. Yang Ning sneered. At this time, he adapted to the dim light. When he saw Mr. Mu curling up in the cave, he stood up and walked slowly to him. He clenched his fists but hesitated for a while. Finally, he shook his head, thinking that this old guy was seriously injured. Although he suffered a bit, the old man didn’t actually hurt him, so there was no need to murder him when he was weak.

However, this spooky guy was really disgusting. He didn’t believe that Mr. Mu would take him out of the mountain. On the contrary, once this old guy recovered, he would cause him great trouble. Of course, Yang Ning didn’t want to be controlled by this old guy. Seeing that he was asleep and motionless, he felt it was a good chance for him to leave.

The Niutou Mountain was continuous and Mr. Mu was injured. If he left at this time, Mr. Mu could never find him.

And Yang Ning was always concerned about the safety of Xiaodie. He certainly couldn’t waste time here.

He turned around and walked quietly out of the cave. He had just stepped out of the cave, when he felt that something hit into his knee, and his whole leg was numb and stiffened instantly. It couldn’t move any more.

He was taken aback, but he heard Mr. Mu’s spooky voice behind him, “Are you leaving?”

“Mr. Mu, you really misunderstood me.” Yang Ning responded very quickly, and laughed, “You are injured, so I want to find you some water and see whether there are wild fruits to pick, in order to guarantee your energy. You are now a wounded person. You can’t do it without nutrition.”

The old guy obviously pretended to be sleeping before, and his purpose was to test whether he would leave him alone. Yang Ning felt afraid. If he really had chosen to take this opportunity to attack him, he would have lost his life.

Although Mr. Mu was injured, it was still easy for him to take Yang Ning’s life with his martial skills.

“So you are thinking for me?” Mr. Mu smiled, “You are a filial boy. I thought that you were leaving me alone and fleeing at night.”

Yang Ning smiled and said, “I can meet you in such a remote place. It is our fate. You are hurt now. If I leave you behind, that would be too cold-blooded. Sir, don’t think that I am that bad.”

Mr. Mu smiled and said, “It seems that you are also very loyal?” He raised his arm slightly, and another thing hit Yang Ning’s knee. Yang Ning felt that the sense of stiffness on his leg disappeared immediately. His right leg, which was unable to work, could move again. Mr. Mu said, “You come here!”

Yang Ning wished to pick up a stone and smash the old thing into pieces. But he still smiled and said, “Mr. Mu, you are so skilled at martial arts, and I admire you so much.” When he came next to Mr. Mu, he squatted down and asked, “What do you want?”

Mr. Mu stared at Yang Ning. Yang Ning was originally very bold, but stared at by these eyes, he was very uncomfortable, and his back was even a bit cold.

“Since you are so loyal, I shall tell you the truth. I was injured by the Five Poisonous Needles of that group of people, and now I am poisoned.” Mr. Mu said slowly, “But this amount of toxicity is not threat to me. I can eliminate the poison from my body in less than three days.”

It turned out that the old guy was poisoned, no wonder the blood spit out was with that stink.

“Why weren’t you poisoned to death?” Yang Ning cursed in his heart. The old guy really did not change his look when he called a bluff. He said that the toxicity didn’t threaten him, but it took three days to remove the poison. It was obviously that those words were contradictory. Only those shameless like him could say the words in a grand manner.

But if the old guy claimed that it took three days to detoxify, would he wait here for three days? If he spent three days in the mountain, it would be totally impossible for him to catch up with the escort team.

Yang Ning was anxious, but his face did not change.

“You’re right. I can meet you here and it is indeed our fate.” Mr. Mu raised his hand and patted on Yang Ning’s shoulder, showing a strange smile, “You are loyal, so I shall bother you these days to help me guard the entrance and seek for water and food. When the three days passed, I will definitely bring you out of the mountain.”

Yang Ning was upset in his heart, but he looked slightly embarrassed and said, “Mr. Mu, let alone several days, I am willing to learn more from you for several years. But I still have something important to deal with. I’m afraid I can’t listen to your teaching by your side. How about this? I will find you water and food for you, prepare the amount for three or five days, and then go to find my companion. You leave me an address. When I miss you, I will go visit you. What do you say?”

Mr. Mu laughed in a strange way, making Yang Ning so scared.

He withdrew his hand from Yang Ning’s shoulder, but his eyes were looking at his right hand like a piece of art. He asked slowly, “Right, what’s your name?”

“I’m a wanderer, and others call me Bunny.” Yang Ning said seriously.

Mr. Mu still looked at his hand and said, “Bunny, do you know the name of my hand?”

Yang Ning was a little annoyed, wondering whether this old unreasonable guy was teasing him. He never heard that a hand could still have a name. But he couldn’t help asking, “Is it called Five Girls?”

“What?” Mr. Mu didn’t hear it clearly.

Yang Ning grinned reluctantly, “I don’t know. Mr. Mu, please tell me.”

Mr. Mu said softly, “Many people call this hand the Withering Wood Hand.”

“Withering Wood Hand?”

“Once the wood hand passes, everything will be withered.” Mr. Mu said slowly, “Just like it when I patted a few times on your shoulder, several veins of yours were injured. From now on, they will slowly shrink, and it won’t take a few days before they are completely withered. Bunny, do you know what happens to people after the veins are withered?”

Yang Ning’s face had changed greatly at this time. He had never expected Mr. Mu would hurt him when he patted on his shoulder. He even wanted to rush forward and strangle this old guy. He smiled reluctantly, “Mr. Mu, why did you do that? Did I offend you?”

“If the normal veins are withered, you will only paralyze. However, the veins I touched were the strange veins in your body. Once they are withered…” Mr. Mu smiled, and didn’t continue to say.

The name of the strange veins sounded that they were greatly important. Yang Ning sighed and said, “Mr. Mu, you… you are biting the hand that feeds one.” Although he said so, he was still doubtful in his heart, thinking whether he could really hurt his veins by patting a few times. This old guy had the habit of calling a bluff. Maybe he was just acting mysterious and horrible.

“You can rest assured, I just let you know that Withering Wood Hand is very powerful.” Mr. Mu coughed a few times before continuing, “I find that your talent is outstanding, so I prepare to accept you as a prentice and teach you the top martial skills. I will develop you into a top master. As long as you succeed in cultivating, there will be nothing that you can’t get. Bunny, are you willing?”

The top martial skills?

Yang Ning really wanted to spit on the face of this old liar. If you really had such top martial skills, how could you be hit by the hidden weapon of the people from the Five Poisons Palace?

“This… Of course, I am willing.” Yang Ning could only say, “But my veins…”

“Don’t worry, I will massage you once a day in these three days. After three days, you will be safe and sound.” Mr. Mu said, “But if there are accidents in these three days, or you are lost in the mountain and can’t see me, then don’t blame it on me.” Right after that, the body of Mr. Mu trembled. He raised his hand and said, “You… You guard at the entrance…”

Yang Ning already knew at this point that the poison in Mr. Mu was attacking him once in a while. Mr. Mu seemed to be safe and sound before, because he was not attacked. At this moment, it was obvious that the poison started to attack him.

He knew that without complete assurance, he could not easily make a move. Otherwise, he would not only be able to kill this old liar, but also lose his own life.

Mr. Mu was sitting cross-legged at this time, with his palms facing each other in front of his chest. Yang Ning returned to the entrance of the cave. He leaned against the stone wall and scolded Mr. Mu from his previous eighteen generations to his later eighteen generations.

Perhaps it was because of the continuous traveling in the past several days, coupled with the tossing this night, he was really exhausted. Leaning on the stone wall, Yang Ning actually fell asleep unconsciously.

In his dream, a girl at the age of 13 or 14 stood in the flowers and smiled at him, pretty and beautiful. The person was more beautiful than flowers. Her eyes were flickering, like the stars in the night sky.