Chapter 17 Unsettled Hearts

[Doctor Zhen Jian] 

Today was quite strange; I had an odd feeling that lingered within me. With no patients to attend to, I decided to close the clinic early and take a walk to ease my unsettled nerves. Yet, despite my efforts, nothing seemed to alleviate my unease. I found myself wondering to my parents' grave, seeking solace in prayer, before making my way to the merchant's shop. There, I ended up purchasing candy for both the merchant's boy and myself, hoping to distract myself from my lingering discomfort. However, as I strolled through the village once more, I inevitably returned to my farmhouse.

My thoughts drifted to the gang members who had pledged to protect the village from hostile forces in exchange for my mercy. The day following my encounter with General Zhang, I discovered their lifeless bodies on the outskirts of the village. In gratitude for their service, I ensured each of the ten men received a proper burial, offering prayers at their graves. Yet, despite these gestures, my uneasiness persisted, refusing to be quelled.

Resigned to my restless state, I rose from the farmhouse porch and wandered a few feet, reflecting on my skirmish with General Zheng. It had been an exhilarating battle, though my recollection of the events was somewhat hazy. Nonetheless, I could vividly recall the movements of my own body as I wielded my sword, Grandpa. With a swift sway and a powerful swing, I unleashed a slash upward.

A brilliant white light erupted from the blade, tracing an arc through the air with a deafening SHHHHHH, illuminating the verdant surroundings with its ethereal white glow.

I observed a thick, white light following the trajectory of my slash, illuminating the air with its brilliance before fading into nothingness a few feet away. "Wow, that's the first time that's happened," I murmured to myself, my senses heightened by the unusual occurrence.

The scent in the air seemed more potent than usual, wrapping around me like a cloak. My strange feeling lingered, refusing to dissipate, but at least now I had something to distract myself. With each upward swing of my sword, I aimed at the empty air, careful not to let the white light connect with anything accidentally.

After a dozen repetitions, I found myself gasping for breath, the exertion of my full-strength swings far more draining than I had anticipated. "Hmm, would the white slash occur if I swung normally?" I wondered aloud, pondering the intricacies of my newfound ability.

I tested my theory, swinging my sword with a more restrained motion. The familiar aroma filled the air, a testament to the hours I had spent honing my skills. However, this time, no white slash accompanied my swing. "Interesting," I muttered, filing away the observation for future experimentation.

Feeling a surge of excitement, I made my way back to the forest between my clinic and the waterfall, eager to put my newfound power to the test. "These trees are strong," I thought to myself, eyeing the towering sentinels that surrounded me. "Let's see how the white light fares against them."

With a determined hush, I swung my sword downward with all my strength. A thick white light erupted from the edge of my sword, slicing through the air in a straight line, before coming to an abrupt halt at the sixth tree, five feet away.

As the light dissipated, leaving only a faint shimmer in its wake, I found myself feeling strangely drained and disappointed. "Ha ha ha, I feel so exhausted, and it did nothing?" I chuckled wryly, swallowing hard as I struggled to catch my breath. "HAAA, Hoooo."

Disheartened, I approached the first tree and reached out to touch it. To my astonishment, the moment my fingers made contact, the tree split in half with a resounding crack, revealing the layers of its inner structure in stark relief.

Before I could fully process the sight, the momentum carried one half of the tree into the next, setting off a chain reaction that echoed through the forest like a thunderous symphony.

As the sixth tree finally succumbed to gravity, another loud crack reverberated through the air, followed by the unmistakable sound of splashing.

"Huh, maybe one of the trees hit a rock and landed in the water?" I mused, my mind racing with the possibilities of what I had just witnessed.

[Huo Lian]

To die—it feels even odder to think about, but that was my thought while falling. The cold wind whipped around me as I plunged from the cliff, the deafening roar of the waterfall enveloping me. I could see those evil bastards' faces stretching into grotesque masks, laughing like hyenas as I fell. Their eyes, dark and mocking, glinted with malevolent glee.

The waterfall was immense, a cascading torrent of white foam that started at the peak of the tallest mountain in the kingdom and plummeted to the base far below. There was no point in looking down; the chasm beneath me seemed endless. Not even a nascent soul could survive such a fall, much less me.

As I descended, I reminisced about the life I had lived. Though I was only eighteen years old, I felt as if I had lived a long life, filled with struggles and fleeting triumphs. I had been ignored and disrespected by everyone around me, which drove me to seek power—power to free myself, to make others acknowledge me, to create fear in those who belittled me, and, most importantly, power to be respected.

I achieved it. Through blood and sweat, I climbed the ranks, my body bearing the scars of countless battles. My hands, once soft, had become calloused and strong. My eyes, once bright with hope, had hardened with determination and sorrow.

But then I learned that my plight, my tragedy, was only the tip of the iceberg. Others had it much worse than me, living lives of unimaginable suffering with no hope of ever being free. I swore I would be their liberator; I would seek vengeance for them. For the brief month that I commanded my army and estate, I rooted out all the evil beneath me and executed every last villain. I made those living under oppression free.

For a single month.

That was my life's work—worth just one month of liberation. The evils brought my life to an end.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" I screamed, the sound lost in the roaring waterfall.

I felt unsatisfied; it was not enough. My goal had not been reached, my destiny unfulfilled. As I fell, the realization that my efforts amounted to so little tore at me. I felt belittled, disrespected, and powerless once more.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" I roared, my voice raw with anguish.

The spray from the waterfall enveloped me, a chilling reminder of my impending fate. The world blurred around me, the verdant green of the mountainside merging with the azure sky, the sun casting a golden hue on the cascading water. The last thing I saw was the base of the waterfall, a violent maelstrom of churning water and jagged rocks. And then, darkness.