Yan Liqiang squatted down in front of the old man, and then let the old man put his arms around his shoulders and lean his upper body on his back. Then he carefully put his arms around the old man's thighs near his hips and slowly stood up...
"Father, do you think this is okay? If it hurts, just tell me..."
"Young man, you are a good person. I am really sorry to trouble you today..." said the old man who was picking herbs excitedly.
"No trouble, no trouble, I'll take you down the mountain first..."
"Well, the mountain road is slippery and steep, young man, please walk slowly..."
"Don't worry, old man..."
The old man weighed less than 70 kilograms, which was nothing to Yan Liqiang. Yan Liqiang didn't feel tired or disgusted when carrying him on his back. After carrying him steadily, he strode down the mountain.
"Young man, where are you from..."
On the way down the mountain, the old man who was picking herbs took the initiative to speak and started chatting with Yan Liqiang.
"I'm not from anywhere, the world is my home..." Yan Liqiang smiled bitterly.
"You're so young and you're already traveling around the world. What about your parents at home..."
"Passed away..."
"Hey, young man, you look so handsome and good-looking, but I didn't expect that you are also a lonely and miserable person!" The old man sighed.
"Haha, there are many people in this world who have a more miserable life than me. At least God has not made me lose my arms and legs, and I still have the ability to support myself. Sometimes, think about it and don't ask for too much!"
"Young man, you are quite open-minded, better than I have been at this age!"
"No, I'm just trying to have fun in misery. I can't be sad all day. If I were to do that, others would be annoyed and I would feel bad too. I can't live in misery forever. I have to look forward and have a goal to strive for..."
"Yes, people have to have a purpose in life!" The old man laughed. "Like me, I have lived to this age without children and am poor. I persisted because I thought that I could go up the mountain to collect herbs every day. Although I could not make much money, the herbs I collected could save lives!"
"Don't you have anyone else in your family?"
“No one else, I am the only one. Sometimes, when people are together, it depends on fate. You can’t force something that doesn’t have fate. Even if you travel to the ends of the earth, it will be useless…” The old man sighed.
"Yes, in this world, everything is about fate!"
It was a rare occasion to meet someone who could still chat with him, and this person had nothing to do with him. Yan Liqiang did not hide anything, but opened his heart and chatted with the old man. Through this chat, he vented a lot of the pressure and resentment he had experienced since his rebirth.
"Oh, I remember the road above leads to the Dragon Tiger Sect. Young man, you are a disciple of the Dragon Tiger Sect, right..."
"I would like to join the Dragon and Tiger Sect, but unfortunately they won't accept me, saying that my background is unknown..." Yan Liqiang sighed as he walked down the mountain.
"Indeed, the disciples that these big sects accept must be people whose origins and identities can be verified. They dare not accept people like you who travel around the world and whose backgrounds cannot be verified. They are afraid that you are an undercover spy sent by the enemy to their sect. In big sects like these, who doesn't have a few enemies? Even if there are none, there is no guarantee that there won't be people who are jealous and covet the cultivation secrets of these sects. Therefore, they are very strict about the disciple stage, and basically accept children from good families with good family backgrounds..."
Yan Liqiang was silent. His father-in-law's words expressed his greatest helplessness and despair. The rules of these large sects for recruiting disciples meant that he might never be able to enter these large sects in his lifetime to learn those advanced secret techniques and martial arts. The matter of revenge also became a distant prospect and he could not see any hope at all.
At this time, Yan Liqiang couldn't help but think that if it really didn't work, he would go back to Pingxi County, Ganzhou, and then slowly find a way to get close to the official named Ye. When he found the right opportunity, he would risk his life...
"Don't be discouraged, young man. There is always a way out. If you hit a wall here, there may be another place in the world that is open and waiting for you!"
Yan Liqiang took his father-in-law's words as comfort and just smiled, "Thank you, father-in-law. I won't give up until the end!"
As the two chatted, Yan Liqiang had unknowingly walked a long distance on the mountain road, almost six or seven miles, and had already walked down half of the mountain road.
"Ah..." the old man suddenly yelled.
"Father, what's the matter..."
"Young man, I forgot to bring my key. I think it fell where you carried me just now. I can't open the door when I go back without the key..." The father-in-law said, a little embarrassed, "Young man, can you... help me find it when I go back..."
"Father, this... go back and pry open that lock, and I'll give you a new one..."
The old man sighed, his tone somewhat sad, "That lock was bought by my ex-wife when she was still alive. My ex-wife said that as long as there is a lock and a door, there is a home. There are two keys to the lock, a pair. I have used it for decades. I want to keep it as a souvenir and I don't want to damage it..."
It would be difficult for ordinary people to be so kind as to escort someone down the mountain, but if they encountered such a thing halfway down the mountain and had to run back, nine out of ten people would not go back to help the old man find the key. However, after listening to what the old man said, Yan Liqiang said nothing more and nodded directly, "Okay, I'll leave you here first. Wait a moment, I'll go back and find the key for you..."
As Yan Liqiang was speaking, he saw a big tree by the mountain road, so he walked up to the tree, carefully put the old man down on a stone under the tree, and after asking about the shape and characteristics of the key, he turned around and walked back the way he had just come down.
Just when he was less than fifty meters away from the old man, Yan Liqiang heard the old man behind him suddenly yelling, "Snake, snake..."
Yan Liqiang looked back and saw a nearly two-meter-long venomous snake with a triangular head and a dark body with white patterns. It had just come to the mountain road and was spitting out its tongue, swaying its body, raising its head, and approaching where the old man was.
The old man was terrified, thinking that he could not run, so he could only grab some dirt and gravel from around him and throw them at the snake, not wanting the snake to get close.
Yan Liqiang was also surprised. Without thinking, he broke a branch of a nearby tree and ran towards the old man with the branch.
I don't know whether the snake was frightened by the gravel thrown by the old man, or startled by the sound of Yan Liqiang running towards it. When Yan Liqiang had just taken a few steps, the snake suddenly turned around and hid back in the grass by the roadside.
Yan Liqiang ran over and used the branch in his hand to peel away the grass, but there was no trace of the snake. Because behind the grass was a ravine and a deep stream, covered with weeds. A snake could disappear without a trace in an instant if it burrowed into it.
Yan Liqiang turned his head and found that the old man's face was pale and he seemed to be still frightened.
"Father, what was that snake just now?"
"That's a black-scaled snake. If it bites someone, they'll die instantly!"
"How many snakes are there on Longhu Mountain?"
"A lot, of course there are a lot. The so-called dragons in Longhu Mountain are snakes. In the past, the most common animals on this mountain were poisonous insects and ferocious beasts. But the situation has improved since the establishment of the Longhu Sect here. Many ferocious beasts have been driven away or killed by the people of the Longhu Sect. However, there are still many poisonous snakes. If my legs were good, I wouldn't be afraid of this snake, but now..."
Listening to the old man's words, Yan Liqiang looked at the dense forest around him and the old man's inconvenient legs. In the end, he could only continue to squat in front of the old man, "Old man, come, let me carry you up. It's good for me to carry you, so I can take care of you. I'm really worried about leaving you here alone. If I leave and the snake comes out again, I will be guilty..."
"That's really troublesome for you..."
What Yan Liqiang didn't see was that when he squatted down again in front of the old man with a pale face, a strange smile appeared on the old man's face.
Yan Liqiang carried the old man on his back again, then turned around and started climbing the mountain...
If Yan Liqiang had not practiced the Yi Jin Xi Sui Jing, he would have collapsed from exhaustion after carrying a living person up and down the mountain. However, even if Yan Liqiang had not collapsed from exhaustion, he was sweating profusely. His collar was soaked with sweat and his face was red.
Yan Liqiang carried the old man on his back and climbed the mountain road for six or seven miles again, returning to the place where he met the old man. Sure enough, he found a key in the grass where the old man had just sat.
After giving the found key to the old man, Yan Liqiang continued to carry him down the mountain.
This time, just as they arrived at the foot of Longhu Mountain, a big man with a scar between his eyebrows and a somewhat gloomy face suddenly jumped out from the side of the road and blocked Yan Liqiang's way...
As the man waved his hand, seven or eight men ran out from the bushes nearby, surrounded Yan Liqiang and stared at him coldly.
The clothes these people wore were exactly the same as those of the two thugs who were with Wu Tao and were killed by Yan Liqiang that night.
Seeing these people suddenly rushing out, Yan Liqiang's heart jumped violently, but his face remained calm, and he was still carried on the old man's back, "Heroes, are you going to rob? This is at the foot of the Dragon and Tiger Sect. You are too brave..."
"Kid, stop pretending!" The man with a scar between his eyebrows sneered at Yan Liqiang, "You're pretty ruthless..."
(End of this chapter)