Han Li turned and walked toward the door. When he reached the entrance, he suddenly turned back and asked one more question:
"The fellow standing behind you, Doctor Mo, has remained silent the whole time. I wonder what his background might be?"
Hearing Han Li's sudden question, Doctor Mo smiled faintly and, with his characteristic cunning, deflected rather than answered:
"You're so clever — take a guess. I'm sure you can figure it out."
Han Li shook his head and walked cleanly out of Doctor Mo's room, whether unable or simply unwilling to make the guess.
The moment he stepped outside, his expression darkened.
"In this confrontation with Doctor Mo, I was completely powerless to fight back and was subdued in an instant. That just proves I'm still too naive, thinking I could outmaneuver him with a little cleverness. All the effort I put into crafting that tube of Five Poisons Water — it never even got a chance to serve its purpose before it was confiscated. I need to go back and really think this through, about how to strengthen my own abilities."
With these thoughts, he strode toward his own quarters. It was clear that he was not content to simply remain under Doctor Mo's control.
Inside the room, Doctor Mo stared dumbfounded at the wooden plank floor, where a hole as wide as a bowl's rim had appeared, scorched black. Just moments ago, he had casually tested the contents of the Iron Tube. The venom sprayed from within had effortlessly corroded all the way through the floor. Seeing the bizarre toxicity of that liquid, Doctor Mo could no longer suppress the cold dread rising in him. He sprang to his feet and erupted into curses:
"Little bastard! When did he learn to brew this kind of poison? I never taught him a thing about this — I thought it was just ordinary Immortal's Fall knockout powder. This wretched kid is truly ruthless and heartless, turning on people without a second thought."
Han Li, unaware that he had already given Doctor Mo quite a fright, returned to his own room and threw himself onto his bed, falling into a deep sleep. He had endured far too much today, and both body and mind were utterly drained — he desperately needed rest to recover.
When Han Li had restored his energy, he slowly woke from sleep. He sat up and checked the sky — the east had turned faintly white, so it was already the next morning. That sleep had been no short one.
Sitting upright in bed, Han Li did not get up. Instead, he propped his chin in both hands, elbows resting on his thighs, and began mulling over ways to escape Doctor Mo's control.
Obviously, he would be completely safe for this one year. For the sake of his own life, Doctor Mo would not lay a hand on him — on the contrary, the doctor would do everything to keep him alive. Whether he would still be safe after that year, however, was another matter entirely.
As for the Eternal Spring Technique, Han Li did not need to worry. He had already reached the fourth layer recently, and reaching the fifth layer in a year would surely be well within his grasp — no extra effort required.
The Corpse Worm Pill problem could be solved easily enough as well. When the time came, he would simply demonstrate his cultivation progress. Before the doctor demanded treatment, he could leverage that to demand the antidote. Doctor Mo would hardly want to antagonize him over such a thing.
Suddenly, a thought struck Han Li. He fished a medicine bottle from inside his clothing, shook out a single emerald-green pill, and swallowed it in one gulp. After a moment, once the medicine took effect, he began quietly conducting an internal inspection.
"Hmph! That old ghost Doctor Mo actually didn't lie about this Corpse Worm Pill. The Clear Spirit Powder, which can supposedly neutralize any poison in the world, has absolutely no effect on this pill. It really seems I'll have to wait a full year before I can demand the antidote." Han Li muttered in quiet frustration.
After tucking the medicine bottle back into his clothes, he got out of bed and came to the space beside it.
He circled the only table in the room, pacing round and round.
As he walked slowly with his hands clasped behind his back, he continued turning the various problems over in his mind.
Truth be told, Han Li did not entirely believe what Doctor Mo had told him. He knew there were certainly many untruths in the other's account. Unfortunately, even knowing this, he had no way to resist — his family had been used as leverage.
Han Li was deeply skeptical about whether Doctor Mo would truly honor his promise after the year was up. If things really were as simple as the other claimed, then it would be easy — there would be no need for any resistance at all. But what if the doctor had concealed the parts that worked against him, and turned on him with a killing blow when the time came? If Han Li made no preparations whatsoever, he would not even have room to fight back.
Han Li went back and forth through the problem again and again, but could not find a good solution.
Now he and Doctor Mo were equally afraid of each other — the other feared that he wouldn't take his cultivation seriously and endanger his own life, while he in turn worried that once his captor no longer had any reason to hold back, he would strike with lethal intent.
Originally, he could have used this standoff as leverage, forcing the other man to think twice before acting. But now that the opponent had seized control of his relatives — that vital pressure point — he could only hold himself in check and submit helplessly.
"Am I really going to pin my life on the palm of his hand, hoping he'll show mercy and spare me when the time comes?" Han Li felt a pang of discouragement.
"No, I absolutely cannot do that. My fate must never rest on the whim of another person — handing over everything about myself for someone else to manipulate is the most foolish idea there is." He immediately dismissed the stupid notion.
After racking his brain, Han Li still came up with a plan that wasn't really a plan.
He intended to strengthen himself in every way possible, to find whatever means he could to tip the balance of power in his favor, so as to intimidate the other side. Even if Doctor Mo truly tried to make a move, he would at least have some room to protect himself.
It really was a crude strategy — purely defensive, forcing him to wait for the other to strike first. But right now, it was the only viable option, and the most thorough one at that.
Having made up his mind, Han Li decided to go outside for a walk. He pushed open the door, stepped out onto the open ground beyond his room, lazily stretched his arms, and let out a yawn.
Facing the slightly biting morning wind, gazing at the red sun that had already risen halfway above the horizon, a surge of defiance welled up within him:
"My own fate can only be held in my own hands — I will never let anyone else control it."
(End of Chapter)