12: Chapter 12 Hand Rubbing Powerful Pills

After saying goodbye to Zhang Yan, Xia Shaoxin returned to Liushu Ao and walked straight to his grandfather's grave.

"Grandson was too stupid. I didn't even realize that when you were trying to crawl out back then, you were trying to chase after Li the Toad."

"If I guessed correctly, you were sleeping in the room, and Li the Toad snuck in, startling you. In the end, that bastard released the Five-colored Scorpion to bite you."

"I was too careless, thinking it was your mistake, old man. I'm so stupid; how could you possibly have made a mistake!"

He clenched his fists tightly and swore to the heavens: "Rest assured, I will go make the strength pill immediately. Li the Toad won't live much longer."

He turned and returned home.

The 19 medicinal ingredients for making the strength pill had all been obtained.

The other medicinal materials had been processed a few days ago; as long as he added the Liquan Tongcao and Qingshan Baiji, he could begin refining the medicine.

He took out the medicine grinder and first ground these two ingredients into powder.

Then, following the order, he placed the other medicines into the mortar one by one.

Pounding the medicine, adding water, roasting, chanting the incantations—every procedure was carried out without the slightest error.

The medicinal ingredients for the strength pill were not very precious; if taken individually, each one was completely unremarkable.

Once mixed together, with the correct technique and the incantation chanted, all sorts of strange phenomena immediately began to appear.

As some of the medicinal powders were being pounded, they suddenly turned into liquid.

Sometimes, a bolt of lightning would suddenly shoot out from a corner, giving one a fright, but it caused no harm to people, merely increasing the difficulty of mixing the medicine.

Making the strength pill was much harder than the qi and blood pill or the miasma-repelling pill, but with his heart full of hatred turning into strength, he didn't feel it was that difficult.

He didn't want to sleep; his grandfather's face kept appearing in his mind.

His grandfather's hand stretched outward must have been a plea for help.

Perhaps he was even calling for help, but no one could hear it.

The homes of Bug Catchers were all on the very outskirts of the village, not along the main road.

He didn't know why Li the Toad had come to Liushu Ao—was it a premeditated plan?

Or was it just passing by and taking advantage of an opportunity?

There were quite a few villages near Dawu Mountain, and each village only had one or two Bug Catcher households.

There were many paths up the mountain, and everyone mostly met at the Gu Bureau in Li Family Hollow to get familiar with each other, but they didn't interact much on a daily basis.

These details were significant to the Punitive Division, but they meant nothing to Xia Shaoxin.

Whether it was an opportunistic act or a premeditated plan, Grandfather's death could not be separated from Li the Toad.

This was an irreconcilable enmity.

He thought of his parents again.

The impression they left on Xia Shaoxin was mostly one of determination, calmness, and smiling faces; they never worried about anything.

But they really weren't strong Bug Catchers; they were exposed to too much poisonous miasma and died prematurely in their thirties.

The shadow of his uncle was still in his mind, but unfortunately, he died too early, and the impression wasn't deep.

Come to think of it, the Xia Family was once a thriving, large Family. Grandfather thought that by working hard, he could earn a fortune, raise descendants, and bring honor and prosperity for generations.

Now, only Xia Shaoxin was left; was this Heaven's will?

Recalling the words of Liu Xinglong from the Gu Bureau and Zhang Yan, perhaps it wasn't Heaven's will at all, but a deliberate human arrangement.

Bug Catchers, whose bodies were slightly different from Mortals and had a tiny bit of resistance to poisonous miasma, were chosen and entered into slave status.

Their fate was decided the moment they were registered.

This was not the life Xia Shaoxin wanted.

Unknowingly, it was late at night, and he had entered the final step: rolling the pills.

After rolling for a little less than an hour, not a single strength pill had been made.

Weariness washed over him, and he couldn't continue working, so he had to stop and planned to rest for a while.

As soon as he closed his eyes, he fell onto the bed without realizing it. After a while, in a daze, he felt movement outside the house.

Bug Catchers faced Poisonous Insects all year round and were particularly sensitive to danger, so he woke up immediately.

He heard light footsteps.

He quietly grabbed the dagger Zhang Yan had given him, then picked up his own sword, and walked lightly to the window. Looking out through the crack, he saw a few figures looming outside the courtyard.

Coming sneakily, they were certainly not guests.

This place was not by the main road, and they were definitely not travelers passing by at night.

The Xia Family had no enemies in Liushu Ao; without even thinking about it, it must be Li the Toad's Family.

He was secretly shocked; Li the Toad's actions were truly fast!

Calming his heart and listening intently, the intruders had already climbed over the courtyard wall, and there were sounds outside the door and the window.

Xia Shaoxin held his breath and got out of bed silently.

He casually shoved the strength pill medicinal chunks from the bedside into his bosom, flung the door open, and slashed his long sword forward.

A figure was right outside the door. Xia Shaoxin's sword slashed through the person's clothes, but there was no blood on the sword tip; he had fallen short of success.

"Ah!"

The person let out a cry of surprise, reacted quickly, and retreated rapidly.

In the dim moonlight, he recognized that this person was indeed Li the Toad.

Zhang Yan was indeed right; the hatred between Bug Catchers was irreconcilable.

Everyone believed in striking first to gain the advantage, while striking later meant suffering.

Xia Shaoxin thrust his long sword forward, slashing continuously, and Li the Toad turned and jumped into the courtyard.

Clap—the window behind him was smashed open. Xia Shaoxin dared not look back; Li the Toad had already run out of the long sword's attack range.

At this moment, if he chased after Li the Toad, the person who smashed through the window would inevitably attack his back, and there were other shadows jumping into the courtyard outside.

Xia Shaoxin might not necessarily win against Li the Toad in a one-on-one fight; being surrounded by multiple people would be even more ominous.

A strange fear arose in his heart. "Damn it, I'm only one person; if I die, that's it."

He immediately feinted with his sword, circled to the back of the house, jumped over the wall, and sprinted toward Dawu Mountain.

"Damn it, he got away! Chase him!" Li the Toad cursed angrily.

Without looking back, Xia Shaoxin ran to the small pavilion, stuffed a miasma-repelling pill into his mouth, and without stopping for a moment, rushed into the area filled with poisonous miasma.

Li the Toad's Family chased him to the small pavilion and stopped angrily.

"How could we let him run into the mountain?" the second brother muttered.

"It's because you were too clumsy," the third brother complained.

Li the Toad roared lowly: "Shut up, stop saying these useless things!"

The eldest brother asked timidly: "What should we do now?"

"You hurry back and bring all the gear for entering the mountain. We will guard here, and tomorrow we will enter the mountain from here to hunt down the Xia kid."

The eldest brother was greatly invigorated: "Right, and we can collect Poisonous Insects along the way."

Li the Toad's eyes were terrifyingly gloomy: "Idiot, why do you care about Poisonous Insects at a time like this? If we don't kill the Xia kid, even if you catch more Poisonous Insects, the money from selling them might not be yours."

The eldest brother rushed home in a hurry.

Li the Toad's home was not very far from Liushu Ao. By the time it was almost dawn, the old, weak, women, and children of the Li Family arrived at the small pavilion with equipment for entering the mountain.

As soon as it was dawn, the men of the Family drank a large gulp of calamus water, raised their swords, and rushed into the poisonous miasma, filled with Killing Intent.

Xia Shaoxin actually hadn't gone far.

He had taken a miasma-repelling pill, which could resist the mountain miasma.

But he didn't have various antidotes. If he were bitten by a Poisonous Insect, he would be done for without Li the Toad even having to lift a finger.

So, he found a bare spot in the valley with no vegetation and tried hard to roll the strength pill.

At the same time, he had to be distracted and pay attention to his surroundings so he wouldn't be bitten by passing Poisonous Insects.

Terrified, hungry, and tired, he still dared not sleep.

The strength pill was extremely difficult to roll; this was his only hope for survival, so no matter how hard it was, he had to grit his teeth and persist.

After rolling for an hour, a force emerged within the strength pill, sticking all the medicinal powder together, while simultaneously emitting a strange fragrance.

Xia Shaoxin had tears streaming down his face; it was finally done.

After resting a little, he continued to roll the pills.

The first time was awkward, the second was better, and by the third, he was skilled.

Before dawn, he had rolled out four strength pills.

According to the prescription, the duration of one pill was two cups of tea; he had to finish off the Li the Toad Family members within two cups of tea.

After dawn, the figures of Li the Toad's Family appeared in the distance.

"Can I defeat four people at the same time?"

He dared not be arrogant and decided to adopt guerrilla tactics, launching sneak attacks from the shadows.

Just as he stood up and looked around, he saw the mountains were high and the forests dense, with Poisonous Insects of all sizes everywhere. If he dove into the woods to launch a sneak attack, heaven only knew who would be ambushing whom.

He sighed: "Forget it, life and death are fated, and wealth is in the hands of Heaven. No need to hide; let's fight to the death head-on."