The Portal of Wonderland

Chapter 25 - The Waste Blood of the Stone Monkey

The blood drop disappeared after a flash.

A moment later, the wooden bowl trembled briefly, and a “whooshing” sound was heard when a small puff of white fog rushed out of the bottom. After swirling for a bit, the white fog became quite dense and eventually turned into a mini monkey, whose body was curled up and whose eyes were tightly closed, as vivid as though it was living. But there were white lines faintly visible on the surface of its body: a bad sign.

“Why, it’s not even on the list, only the blood of the stone monkey. The most worthless one even among other waste bloods. I truely wasted my time coming here! I’ll go now. Please excuse me.” The straw hat man observed the mini white monkey and the lines on its surface closely, then declared his disappointment with a stern face.

He then waved one arm to disperse the white fog. Taking back his wooden bowl, he nodded goodbye to the two instructors and left the hall. From start to finish, he didn’t even look at Shi Mu once.

Seeing this, the two instructors’ faces fell, and Shi Mu also sensed something undesirable from their looks.

“One more word, if I were you, I’d stop dreaming about the enrollment test to Kai Yuan Martial Arts School. With your waste blood, you’ll only be a fruitless seed.”

The straw heat man’s stony voice came over from the gate. Then, nothing more was heard from him.

“The waste blood of the stone monkey? Master Li, what does he mean by this? Is it that I haven’t inspired my blood or the already inspired blood was useless?” Shi Mu’s eyes blinked as he turned his head to seek an answer from Li Canghai.

“Well, Let me think how to explain this...” Li Canghai murmured subconsciously, his face sullen.

“I’ll tell you the truth. Shi Mu, it’s only that you don’t have good luck. You have inspired your blood, but the blood was a waste blood of the stone monkey. Better to not have inspired it! You know, there are surely some blood warriors who can make amazing progress with inspired blood, at a speed far higher than ordinary warriors. But there are also some who inspired a useless, or, let’s say, a counterproductive blood, that will be an obstacle, creating more difficulty in the future. So this is called a waste blood. And the one you inspired is the most widely known one, it can make one’s skin rather thick and one’s strength enormous at the practitioner level, but once he acquires qi-sensing, the blood will obstruct the passages through which his energy circulates, so the gathering speed of his real qi will not even equal an ordinary man’s . Now that I’ve explained fully to you, it’s up to you to decide your future path.”

In a little while, there were only Shi Mu and Li Canghai at the hall.

Shi Mu’s heart sank after hearing instructor Min’s words.

“Master Li......”

“Shi Mu, you can quit the enrollment test now. As far as I know, all those who have been known to have waste blood are not enrolled in any martial arts school. After all, schools want practitioners who are able to become Houtian Warriors or, even better, Xiantian Saints. A practitioner who is unable to reach the next level means nothing to the schools.” Li Canghai knew from Shi Mu’s looks that his student still held a gleam of hope, and so he tried to break his hope and told him to face the reality.

“To tell you the truth, I am disappointed myself. I had thought that I could have cultivated a powerful warrior myself but never once had I expected this result. I should have known this much earlier, for only those with the blood of the stone monkey have such brutal force to accomplish the Stone-Breaking Fists in a few months.”

There were apparently some regrets in his last words.

“Could it be said that it is impossible for me to be a powerful warrior in any way?” Repressing the coldness and depression in his heart firmly, Shi Mu gritted his teeth and asked the question, knowing that it was the last time he would get an answer to this question.

“When you start to learn a certain technique of the Houtian level, you’ll find the gathering speed of your real qi will be much lower than others, not even nearing half of the average speed. Then you’ll taste real despair. As your ‘former’ instructor, I’ll send you my last piece of advice. Just take it as a dream, the thing about being a powerful warrior. Go back home and lead the life of an ordinary person. Yes, don’t come to Liu Feng dojo anymore. Although we teach when we are paid, but for someone of waste blood, we won’t teach even when paid. Otherwise, we’ll only be a laughingstock to other dojos.” Li Canghai finished his remark, his face expressionless, his voice stony. After a pat on Shi Mu’s shoulder, he also turned and left the hall.

Shi Mu stood frozen to the ground. After a while, he walked slowly to the nearest chair and sat on it. His face was a completely dumbstruck one.

“Haha......Ha......Yesterday I was the top practitioner in the city, and today I became the waste blood of the stone monkey, that’s so funny.......Haha......”

There came Shi Mu’s wild laughter from the hall, breaking the silence.

Li Canghai was still not far from the hall. Hearing the laughter behind him, his looks changed only slightly, and then he went on without hesitation.

After some time, Shi Mu left Feng Liu dojo for his suburban manor directly with a seemingly cool face.

Several days later.

The news that the blood tide had begun, that the blood messengers were seen in Feng City and found three blood practitioners soon circulated through the city, making a stir among the city’s clans and gangs.

Meanwhile, the news that a messenger had visited Liu Feng dojo and found Shi Mu to be of the waste blood was also spread out. This astonished many, but also overjoyed some.

......

In the manor of the Jin Family, at a small hall.

Auntie Zhen was questioning a man who seemed to be in his fifties and extremely austere.

“Big Brother, I just heard that you have given out all the ten newly obtained Qi Ling pills, and the one which should have been Shi Mu’s was given to Jin Tian?”

“Yes, I did give Shi Mu’s pill to my nephew. Sister Seven, I was just looking for you. Listen, here is a note of a million liang of silver offered by Brother Five. Give the money to Shi Mu.” The austere man was none other than the current leader of the Jin Clan, who answered Auntie Zhen’s query unhurriedly, and then passed her a silver note.

“With just one note he dared to buy a Qi Ling pill? Big brother, are you really regarding Shi Mu as a fool?” Auntie Zhen swept away the note with a hand, raged even into laughter.

“Hehe, even if he’s not a fool before, now he is one indeed. We Jin Family don’t buy Qi Ling pills as easily as blowing off dust, why should we waste it on a worthless fool?” The austere man did not care the least about Auntie Zhen’s protest, answering coldly, but his hand now taken back.

“Even if he is a worthless fool, I have promised ‘that fool’, so I’ll never eat my word. I’ll see father and let him judge.” Auntie Zhen retorted without the least intention of giving up.

“Calling for our father? Sister Seven, let me tell you the truth. It was father who ordered this.” The leader of the Jin Clan said causally.

“What? Father ordered this?” Auntie Zhen’s look changed.

“Remember, You are a Jin, not a Shi, and your husband was married into our family. One pill doesn’t matter that much, but your deeds will make us a laughingstock to other clans. Sister Seven, please be more mindful of your own daughter, Yu Huan. Since the blood tide has begun, messengers from the three sects will definitely show themselves, and I’m trying every way to contact them, this may be an excellent thing to Yu Huan.” Speaking of the talented girl, the leader of the Jin Clan finally eased up a little.

“Humph, since it’s father’s idea, then I won’t disobey. As for Yu Huan, Big brother please rest assured and mind your own business.” Auntie Zhen’s look changed for several times, and eventually, she stomped and turned to leave.

“Hold on, take the note with you.” The leader shouted out.

“This little sum of money? I can pay it myself, just take it back to Brother Five.” Auntie Zhen went out of the hall in an instant, not even turning her head once.

At the door of the hall, Yu Huan was waiting for her mother. As soon as she saw her, she came up and asked, “Mother, what’s the result? How’s the conversation going between you and Big Uncle? Can we have that pill back for my brother?”

“I’m afraid not, the order was made by your paternal grandfather. There’s nothing more I can do. But I’ll tell Butler Cheng to send Shi Mu three million liang of silver.” Auntie Zhen answered with a sigh.

“Mother, grandfather was so unfair!” Yu Huan was very displeased at the result.

“It’s hard to say whether your grandfather and Big Uncle are right or wrong this time. To give a Qi Ling pill to a hopeless practitioner will definitely bring shame to the Jin Clan. It’s my fault this time, it’s me that failed to meet my promise.” Auntie Zhen was full of regret but had no alternative.

......

At the backyard of Tian Wang Temple, Feng Li and Gao Yuan stood gaping at each other listening to a well-informed person relate the news that had stirred the city. The man apparently made money by selling information.

After a while, Feng Li waved him off.

“That’s quite unexpected! That Shi Mu should have the stone monkey blood! That explains a lot - why he could have beat other practitioners of his level. Do you remember when we asked him to be our gang’s leader? He didn’t even deserve that!” Gao Yuan said with a grin, somewhat gloating over Shi Mu’s fate.

“Exactly! I never thought Brother Shi could have useless blood, that’s a shame. Otherwise even for an ordinary man, that strength must be of use in practicing martial arts. Now that we have to find a new protector.” Unlike Gao Yuan, Feng Li lamented over the loss of a powerful guardian.

......

“This Shi Mu should be a trash! I had thought of challenging him at that time! “

In Fei Hong dojo, Zhong Dong twitched his mouth after reading a note; he then tore the note to pieces and continued to exercise his newly learned fist art.

He could have challenged Shi Mu’s Stone-Breaking Fists if he had accomplished this fist art.

......

At the secret room in the Wu manor, wild laughter roared.

“The inspired blood should be the waste blood of the stone monkey! Awesome! Now the Jin Family won’t even look at the bastard, father, I’d like to have someone make him a cripple.” Wu Hua laughed wildly at the pale man with him.

“No problem. A worthless bastard deserves no scruples of our Wus. And your Big Uncle and I have just found that to exploit the gadget’s power, we must have the ugly girl’s blood. Just wait for a bit longer, your third uncle will go personally and take the girl back so that you can avenge yourself by the way.” The pale man looked at Wu Hua, full of fondness, answering without thinking.

“Awesome! I’ll go with third uncle and see with my own eyes the scene when Shi Mu’s legs are broken.” The proud youth laughed with glee.