Han Li's thoughts were a tangled mess — fear, regret, and a blank helplessness all mixed together. Despite having dragged things out this far, he still couldn't think of any way to extricate himself, and a growing panic began to set in.
After all, he was still young. He couldn't hope to match someone like Doctor Mo, an old hand who had weathered countless storms. The act of feigning composure and keeping his expression unchanged had already been seen through. The thin sheen of sweat beading on his forehead gave the game away, exposing him as the paper tiger he was.
Doctor Mo hadn't missed a single flicker across Han Li's face, and he was quite satisfied with the enormous pressure he had imposed. He had always believed that only when someone's composure completely crumbled could they be made to speak the truth.
"You think I've been deliberately slacking, dragging out your training progress?" Han Li was stunned by this completely unexpected accusation.
"Of course. Two years and you still haven't reached the fourth layer — do you really think I can't see through your little tricks? The first three layers took only three years to complete. Even if the fourth layer is exceptionally difficult and you had no medicinal assistance, there's no way you wouldn't have made even a sliver of progress in two years." Doctor Mo spoke in a grim tone, his two eyebrows bristling upward, radiating a fierce, murderous aura, as though he had long been dissatisfied with Han Li and was only now letting it erupt.
"It seems that no matter what I say, Doctor Mo won't believe me." Han Li laughed bitterly to himself. He hadn't expected that the progress he had just concealed was the very thing that had triggered this crisis. He really had picked up a rock only to drop it on his own foot. He couldn't say whether bringing Doctor Mo's eruption forward like this — tearing open the truth behind everything — had been the right choice or the wrong one.
"Say no more. I don't want to know whether what you've done in the past was true or false. Listen well — I'll ask you just one question now: give you one more year, and can you cultivate the Eternal Spring Technique to the fourth layer?" Doctor Mo let out a cold laugh and slowly spoke the most important sentence of the day. Then, without even blinking, he stared fixedly at Han Li, waiting solemnly for his answer.
Han Li was perfectly clear-headed. He knew that the answer to this question would determine not only the other man's survival a year from now, but also whether he himself would walk out of here alive.
"You should know in your heart that I can't give you any other answer. Come, release my acupoints first." Han Li's entire body relaxed all at once, and his tone of voice became light and easy.
Doctor Mo's expression softened when he heard this, and a flicker of approval appeared in his eyes. But he did not step forward to undo the acupoints. Instead, he carefully reached into his robe and produced an exquisitely carved sandalwood box, square in shape.
"Just your word isn't enough to put my mind at ease. What if you insist on paying lip service while refusing to train in earnest — how would that be any different from before? For both our sakes, it's better to add an extra layer of insurance." His voice carried a sinister undertone.
He gently opened the lid. A white pill sat quietly in the center of the box.
Doctor Mo reached out and tapped a point on Han Li's body, undoing the acupoints. Before Han Li could so much as move, the box was already thrust in front of him.
"You're a smart man — I don't need to spell it out. You know what to do." Doctor Mo narrowed his eyes, an unkind gleam within them.
Han Li flexed his slightly numb hands and feet, and without a word, reached out and took the sandalwood box. Using two fingers, he pinched the pill gently from within. Right in front of Doctor Mo, without even looking at it, he placed it directly in his mouth and swallowed.
"Clap clap! Very good. The wise bow to circumstance. Help me recover to normal, and I won't forget to reward you generously. I won't give you empty words — there's a rift between us now, and taking you on as a proper disciple is out of the question. But ensuring you a lifetime of wealth and honor is well within my power." Doctor Mo clapped his hands twice and made his promise to Han Li with apparent sincerity.
"Now you can tell me what that pill actually does," Han Li said, his face expressionless, showing no sign of being moved. "I'd rather not accidentally cross some line and lose my life without knowing why."
"Heh heh. This pill is called the 'Corpse Worm Pill.' It isn't truly a medicine — it's an egg of a certain insect, prepared through a secret method. Once you've swallowed it, it will lie dormant inside your body for one year. Rest assured, during that year you'll be perfectly safe. It won't affect anything else you do. After one year, as long as you take the specially prepared antidote, it will dissolve on its own, leaving no lasting side effects. But if a year passes without the antidote — heh heh! — the egg will have absorbed enough nutrients to hatch, and the creature will eat through every organ in your body, large and small, while you're still alive. You'll writhe in agony for three days and three nights before finally dying." Doctor Mo described the pill's horrific effects with an air of utter nonchalance, all the while issuing Han Li a veiled warning.
Hearing the full cruelty of the pill, Han Li's body trembled slightly, and his face turned hideously pale. He could barely restrain the fury blazing inside him. But Doctor Mo's true killing blow was only now about to fall.
"Oh, and by the way — I hear you have quite a few family members back home. Is the silver you send home each month still enough? If not, don't hesitate to ask me for more. I'm quite fond of your relatives." Doctor Mo spoke this seemingly heartfelt remark in a leisurely, unhurried tone. Only now did he truly bare his fangs, sinking them into Han Li's most vulnerable point.
Han Li's face had turned an iron-blue color. He could no longer maintain the state of mental stillness and emotional composure that the texts described.
Drawing on the last of his willpower, he bit down hard on his lip, terrified that curses or desperate pleas might slip from his mouth. He understood perfectly — no matter how he begged or threatened, the other man would never relinquish his most devastating leverage.
"Rest assured. Within one year, I will reach the fourth layer." Han Li clenched his teeth and spoke each word with deliberate force, making no further attempt to conceal his hatred for Doctor Mo.
Under this naked extortion, he had no choice but to submit for the time being. He was not yet so heartless as to disregard his parents' safety entirely.
Now, with his death-grip seized, Han Li had no choice but to abandon even the notion of dragging Doctor Mo down with him in a mutual destruction. This first confrontation with Doctor Mo had ended in a complete and utter defeat.
When Doctor Mo heard Han Li's words of submission, he let out a long, slow breath, releasing the tension that had been pressing on his chest. His own anxiety had been no less than Han Li's — he had simply concealed it completely behind a shifting mask of strange expressions.
"This Eternal Spring Technique really is something else. This brat is so young, yet he's already this difficult to deal with." Deep inside, whether it was envy or jealousy, Doctor Mo cursed viciously under his breath.
In truth, while the Eternal Spring Technique did bestow certain benefits upon its practitioner — cleansing the marrow and sharpening the mind — the actual effects depended entirely on the individual. Han Li had been born far more precocious and sharp-witted than others his age, and after cultivating the Eternal Spring Technique, his intelligence and cunning had far surpassed those of an ordinary youth.
(End of Chapter)