Chapter 7: Half Blind

Please! Don’t be stupid, don’t go!

Behind the statue, Ji Yuan was very worried. If something happened to these merchants, he would be next!

But he couldn’t make a sound, he could only listen to the sound of footsteps getting further and further away until they disappeared from his range of hearing.

In this intense inner struggle, Ji Yuan’s eyelids shook violently, the corners of his mouth kept shaking, and the little finger of his right hand twitched slightly.

Ji Yuan immediately felt this change, which swiftly cheered him up.

He inspected his body carefully, and found that under the fierce struggle of consciousness, the “ghost pressure” had been relieved slightly, and he could wiggle several of the fingers on either hand. Although it wasn’t a big achievement, it was still huge progress.

Ji Yuan was ecstatic. The four merchants who were led out were bound to meet a terrible end, but if he could take action and join with these merchants, he might be able to survive.

At the entrance of the mountain temple, Zhang Shilin lit two of his torches and handed the first to Wang Dong. The cold night wind made the flames flicker from side to side.

“Be careful, and protect Mr. Lu.”

“No problem, Brother Shilin!”

“Lao Jin, pay attention!”

“Don’t worry, Shilin! I’ll be careful!”

Jin Shunfu took the torch, and together with his small group, they assured Zhang Shilin that they were traveling merchants, after all, which was already halfway to being a mountaineer.

Zhang Shilin wanted to give the second torch to Scholar Lu, since he had wanted to lead the way, but Scholar Lu didn’t pick it up.

“No, no, I’m a little afraid that the torch will burn my robe, just let Brother Xiao Dong hold it!”

“Alright, alright, give it to me, hehehe…”

Wang Dong smiled and grabbed the torch.

“Kid!”

Zhang Shilin scolded with a laugh, put the remaining unlit torches in the covered basket on Liu Quan’s back. He instructed them once more to pay attention to the road under their feet, and the group set off to dig up the mature ginseng.

Inside the mountain temple, Ji Yuan’s face, hands, and feet were continuously twitching. Naturally, this was not because he was suffering from an illness, bur rather he was struggling violently to gain control of his body.

The remaining eight merchants by the door did not return inside until the fire had gone low. The expressions on their faces were full of anticipation and joy.

Even if it wasn’t a ten-year-old ginseng, a one-year-old ginseng was still worth a lot of money. After all, rich people cherished their lives and were willing to spend a lot of money to pay for good medicinal materials.

“Zhang Tou, what happened to this beggar?”

One person by the the fire noticed something strange going on with Ji Yuan and couldn’t help but exclaim.

Zhang Shilin hurriedly walked over, and the other merchants gathered around. They were a little panicked when they saw Ji Yuan twitching.

“He’s sweating a lot…”

“Is this epilepsy?”

“Bring a wooden stick and pry open his mouth, don’t let him bite off his tongue!”

Zhang Shilin squatted down to hold down the beggar’s twitching body and roared at the others.

Immediately someone found a suitable stick from the firepit.

“I’ll open his mouth, and you’ll put it in immediately!”

“Uuuuuu…”

Ji Yuan resisted instinctively. He wasn’t suffering an epileptic attack, and that stick was so dirty!

“Help me hold him down!”

Despite his best efforts, a wooden stick finally was lodged in Ji Yuan’s twitching mouth. Fortunately, they had inserted it horizontally so he could bite it.

The merchants watched over him for a while, then slowly returned to the fire.

Someone sighed.

“This beggar probably won’t survive tonight. If that’s the case, let’s dig a hole so we can bury him.”

“Yeah, we still need to use this mountain temple as shelter in the future, so we can’t let a corpse stay here.”

You guys are crazy!

Despite knowing that they had good intentions, a vein was twitching in Ji Yuan’s forehead.

Ten minutes had passed since four of the merchants had left.

“ROOOOAAAR-“

A terrifying roar suddenly sounded somewhere far away, frightening everyone in the mountain temple and making them tremble.

“Screech…”

“Twee… twee… twee…”

Countless birds in the surrounding mountain trees scattered in all directions, frightened, screeching frantically around the temple.

At the same time, a cool wind blew through the door, making the fire inside the temple flicker.

“Zhang Tou!”

“Shilin! What was that sound?”

“Was it a beast?”

Zhang Shilin’s face was a little pale, and he subconsciously shrank away from the door, gazing at the night outside the temple.

“The roar of the tiger shocked the mountains and the forest… It’s a beast king!”

“Hiss…”

There was a sudden sharp intake of breath.

“Then what about Xiao Dong and Lao Jin!?”

No one dared to continue.

Zhang Shilin clenched his fists and glanced outside the temple.

“The roar of the beast king came from far away, Xiao Dong and the others… they should be fine. Yes, they also brought torches with them, just in case. Everyone, prepare for watch, we won’t be able to sleep tonight!”

The tiger’s roar also frightened Ji Yuan enough to tremble.

But after the shock, Ji Yuan found that he had actually gained control over his body!

At this moment, his right hand was clenched tightly. Although his movements were a little jerky, he was still in control. He didn’t rashly stand up, but rather carefully luxuriated in the hard-won feeling.

Then, Ji Yuan slowly cracked his eyelids open. If he could have seen his own eyes at that moment, he would have noticed that his pupils were a lighter color, a kind of clear gray.

The light in the room was a little weak, so dim that it was difficult to see clearly. If it weren’t for the fact that just before now he couldn’t see anything at all, Ji Yuan would have assumed he was blind.

He turned his head to the side and looked at the fire. His heart skipped a beat.

The fire was very blurry in his eyes, and the firelight that he could see looked like it had been filtered through a thick layer of frosted glass. Hardly any light made it through to his eyes.

Was his eyesight really that bad?

‘At least I’m not completely blind…’

Ji Yuan comforted himself in his heart.

However, just opening his eyes for a brief moment was already making them sore. It wasn’t unbearable, but it was definitely uncomfortable.

“Zhang Tou, the beggar is awake!”

Although the remaining merchants were currently very nervous, a couple people still noticed Ji Yuan’s changes. The sound made everyone turn to look in the beggar’s direction. Sure enough, they noticed that he was moving.

However, not even Zhang Shilin had time to pay attention to someone like the beggar, who was neither a family member nor a friend. Everyone rummaged around their baskets and took out hatchets and short sticks, holding them tightly in their hands, nervously looking in the direction of the temple door.

Ji Yuan didn’t have time to worry about his eyesight at the moment. The most important thing currently was his own life. He tried to sit up, but halfway there, he felt a strong sense of dizziness and his arms went weak.

“Crack…”

Suddenly, Ji Yuan fell back to the ground, hitting the back of his head.

“Hiss…hoo…”

Ji Yuan couldn’t help but to let out a hiss of pain, baring his teeth.

That although he was able to move, it was like his body was recovering from a serious illness. He couldn’t use any strength, and currently no one had the time to pay attention to him.

Ji Yuan didn’t bother to ask for help. He grabbed the base of the statue with his right hand, and pushed himself up with great difficulty.