Chapter 05 Rice Only

Inside the carriage, Ma Jingguo continued to close his eyes. He knew that from when he met Mu Dishi in Tong Village to the last time he held Mu Dishi in his arms, they were not destined to stay together. After all, he is the son of an enemy of Mu Dishi. Even if they overcome all odds against them, they will never escape their fate. Fate marked them to never stay together.

He murmured, "I hate fate…" He sighed. "I hate the darkness…"

Lying in the dark night, Ma Jingguo slowly released his acupuncture points with internal energy, one acupuncture point at a time. When the last acupuncture point was released, he began to feel his body again. He slowly got up, he felt backward onto the ground next to the many corpses thrown by the Gu guards. He shook his head, because everything around him was blurred and he couldn't see where he was going. He slowly walked away from the pile of corpses.

After walking endlessly in the dark, he found a small house on the outskirts of a small town. He walked in and knocked on the door. A middle-aged woman came over and opened the door. Ma Jingguo then fainted in front of the woman. Ma Jingguo only heard the woman calling her husband.

Ma Jinguo slowly opened his eyes and he saw a man staring at him. The man said, "Xiong-tai, you are awake." He returned to the table and poured a bowl of tea, and walked back to Ma Jingguo. "Drink something first."

Ma Jingguo took the bowl of tea and drank it. He handed the bowl back to the man and asked, "Where am I?"

The man said, "You are in Shizi Village."

Ma Jingguo knew that Shizi Village was not far from Gu Manor. There are four villages around Gu Manor, namely Lang Village, Huli Village, Shizi Village and Laohu Village. Ma Jingguo also knew that these villagers had a high evaluation of the Gu family.

The man came back with a bowl of rice and a small plate of vegetables. Ma Jingguo grabbed the rice in the bowl and started to eat. Eating white rice made him wonder how his shifu was doing. Failing to take Zan Huangming out of the Gu prison dungeon with him, it made him sad.

The man asked, "Xiong-tai, what happened to you?"

Ma Jingguo said, "I was robbed by some bandits."

The man asked, "Are there bandits here?"

Ma Jingguo said, "No, I was robbed near here. I was on my way seeking help from the Gu Household, but I was so hungry that I fainted."

The man smiled and said, "Fortunately you found us."

Ma Jingguo said, "If it's not too troublesome, I'll stay one night. Tomorrow, I'm going to Gu Manor."

The man smiled, "You are welcome. I believe chief Gu can help you track down those bandits and give you justice."

Ma Jingguo scoffed, "I believe he can."

Later that night, Ma Jingguo was lying on the hard daybed in the living room. He looked up at the dark ceiling, which brought him back to when he was in the prison.

In the dark dungeon, there was not a trace of light, only the small oil lamp could be seen from the outside. Ma Jingguo suddenly woke up from a nightmare. He was sweating profusely and was out of breath. Ma Jingguo wiped the sweat from his forehead, still feeling a little sad. He counted the number of days he was kept in jail, and it had been three days since Mu Dishi stayed behind. He wondered if Mu Dishi escaped. The more he thought about it, the more likely it was that Mu Dishi might be unable to escape, the angrier he became. Mu Dishi was seriously injured. If Mu Dishi survives the jump from the cliff, his wounds will prevent him from leaving the river without help. He wanted to leave here and ran back to the cave, but the iron latch door prevented him from leaving here. He stood up and knocked on the iron door twice.

Zan Huangming said, "You can't open that door by knocking on it."

Ma Jingguo said, "Shifu, I don't know what happened to my xiao shushu. I hate the feeling of not knowing."

Zan Huangming, "Seeing with your own eyes, might not give you closure."

Ma Jingguo said, "Shifu, my xiao shushu is a survivor. I know he is still alive. He promised me that he will go home with me. He promised that from now on, he would not make a decision without me."

Zan Huangming, "I don't want you to think about it now. I want you to concentrate on studying the Devil Fists Manual. You can leave here only after you complete the training."

Ma Jingguo, "I will complete it, because I want to get out of here and go find xiao shushu. I also want to save shifu from this living hell."

Then the food tray slide down through the small opening at the bottom. Ma Jingguo picked up the tray and saw two chicken legs, two bowls of rice, and a plate of stir-fried vegetables. Ma Jingguo walked to Zan Huangming and put the food in front of Zan Huangming. Ma Jingguo grabbed the bowl of rice and handed it to Zan Huangming.

Ma Jingguo said, "These people treat their prisoners with good food." He picked up a chicken leg, but Zan Huangming snatched it from his hand.

Zan Huangming said, "Rice only." He took a big bite of the chicken leg.

Ma Jingguo said, "Why rice only?"

Zan Huangming said, "The chicken legs and vegetables are poisoned." He bit the chicken leg. "You eat rice only."

Ma Jingguo asked, "Shifu, if you always knew, why do you want to eat it?"

Zan Huangming, "Because I have been taking the poison for a long time, and if I don't take the poison for a day, I will die within three days. Moreover, at that time, I lost Chujiu, and I decided to eat and drink whatever they gave me." He looked at Ma Jingguo. "You are different. If you want to see your xiao shushu again, you must survive." He handed his bowl of rice to Ma Jingguo. "So, rice only."

After recalling the past, Ma Jingguo closed his eyes and sighed heavily, "Xiao shushu, wait for me. I'm coming for you."