Chapter 43

The next day, when Zhang Heng met Hao Qi, Hao Qi was standing at the agreed place, lost in thought. It wasn't until Zhang Heng approached that Hao Qi snapped back to reality.

"What's wrong? Did you find something unusual?" Zhang Heng quickly looked around.

Hao Qi shook his head and said, "No, I just have some things on my mind... Let's go, we can talk while we buy supplies."

Zhang Heng nodded in agreement, and the two headed towards the market. Halfway there, Hao Qi suddenly asked, "Zhang Heng, if we find evidence, have you thought about how to use it to clear your father's name?"

Zhang Heng was taken aback for a moment, then he shook his head and said, "I haven't thought that far ahead. First, we don't even know if we can find the evidence. Even if we do, to be honest, I don't know how to clear my father's name. After all, the enemies I face aren't just one or two people. On the surface, it might just be Sid, but in reality, this is something the entire Baicao Kingdom is involved in... I don't know, even if we present the evidence and prove that the crimson bluegrass can be cultivated, the state can still turn white into black, so..."

"I see... I understand," Hao Qi said softly, and then he didn't say anything more. He just asked Zhang Heng about the supplies they needed to buy. After some discussion, they bought two large bags of supplies, enough for both of them to survive for over two months.

After that, the two didn't set off immediately but went to the library first. They organized the information they had gathered over the past few days and looked up some geographical books and historical records about the Baicao Kingdom. In the afternoon, they finally left the capital of the Baicao Kingdom.

The journey was uneventful, and they safely returned to the small village. They then continued their investigation.

A month passed in this way.

During this month, the two re-investigated several places that might have been overlooked, but unfortunately, they found no traces of anything. The situation was at a dead end, with no possible breakthrough, just like when countless people had investigated after Zhang Heng's father's "suicide." They found no place where the crimson bluegrass could be cultivated.

To be honest, at this point, Zhang Heng was starting to feel desperate. From any perspective, even if his father hadn't stolen Sid's research notes, he must have lied. There was no place where the crimson bluegrass could be cultivated, as there was no such place in the areas his father could have visited. His father... might not be as innocent as he thought...

One day, the two emerged from a glowing crystal tunnel in a cave and climbed up the mountain. When they reached the snowline, Zhang Heng suddenly stopped and sat down by the cliff, staring blankly at the distant horizon.

Hao Qi watched Zhang Heng silently for a long time, then sighed and sat down beside him, lighting a cigarette. He said, "What's wrong? Are you feeling desperate?"

"A little..." Zhang Heng didn't hide his feelings and said in a low voice, "We've been to every place we could think of, every place we could go. We've almost searched everywhere my father could have been. We even considered the farthest distance he could have traveled in a straight line, which is definitely beyond what he could have reached. But we've searched everywhere, and we can no longer find any reason to believe my father is innocent. I... am indeed starting to feel desperate."

Hao Qi didn't blame Zhang Heng. He just smoked silently. After a long while, he suddenly said, "I once played a game where a character's words really resonated with me..."

"A game? A character's words? Is it a board game? Recently, a game called 'Beast Cards' has been introduced from the Hai Tian Kingdom," Zhang Heng said curiously.

"Don't get hung up on the details!" Hao Qi replied irritably, then continued, "This character said, 'Let me try again where I just fell.' These words flashed through my mind during the ten years I practiced boxing alone, when I couldn't see any hope for the future, and when I faced death. Now I'm telling you, I hope you can take this to heart."

Zhang Heng didn't dwell on the character's words from the game. He just repeated the phrase to himself, "Let me try again where I just fell. Let me try again where I just fell. Let me try again where I just fell..." After repeating it several times, his eyes gradually regained their sparkle. He stood up, ready to smile at Hao Qi, when he suddenly slipped and fell off the cliff.

But Hao Qi's reaction was incredibly quick. As soon as Zhang Heng started to fall, Hao Qi reached out and grabbed his arm when he was about a meter down. He laughed and said, "Do you really think you can find a secret realm like in those novels by falling off a cliff? And then get treasures and manuals?"

Zhang Heng was startled but laughed and said, "We've investigated the paths below this cliff more than once. There's no secret realm there. But I'm really lucky you were here, or I would have been dead for sure."

Hao Qi laughed and pulled Zhang Heng up. When Zhang Heng got back to the cliff, he shook his other hand, and a common bluegrass, with green leaves tinged with light blue, fell out. It was a standard common bluegrass herb.

"Bluegrass still grows on the cliff. My father must have searched for herbs in these dangerous cliffs and steep slopes..."

Zhang Heng still stood by the cliff, threw the bluegrass away, and said, "Don't worry, Hao Qi, I won't give up until the end. Let's try again where we fell. Father, I will... wait, Hao Qi, I think I've got an idea!!"

Hao Qi was taken aback for a moment, still not fully comprehending, while Zhang Heng urgently said, "I just had an idea, but I haven't thought it through yet. Give me a moment..."

Zhang Heng immediately started pacing around the flat ground, and his pace became faster and more urgent. Finally, he looked at Hao Qi and said, "Hao Qi! Please answer me seriously, really, I beg you, answer me one question, can you?"

Hao Qi was silent for a moment, then seriously said to Zhang Heng, "Yes, I will answer your next question seriously and with the answer from my heart, with the heavens as my witness."

Zhang Heng took a deep breath and looked at Hao Qi with a pleading gaze, "Then, Hao Qi... can I trust you? Can I trust you like I trust my brother, to entrust my life to you? Can I trust you?"

Hao Qi didn't answer immediately but thought silently for a moment before solemnly replying, "Yes, as long as you don't do anything that would make you ashamed or guilty, you can trust me like you trust your brother, to entrust your life to me, and I will never betray your trust."

Zhang Heng took another deep breath, then said firmly after a long pause, "Then, Hao Qi... I think I've found a way to cultivate the crimson bluegrass, just like my father did. This might be the only possible way to cultivate the crimson bluegrass in the Baicao Kingdom!"

"Huh? What way!?" Hao Qi immediately asked.

Zhang Heng didn't object but said, "Although I'm confident I've found it, we still need to conduct an experiment. Hao Qi, help me gather bluegrass, a lot of bluegrass. Pick it whenever you see it. It's late today, so we'll start the experiment tomorrow!"

On the way, the two started gathering bluegrass, and Zhang Heng also explained the principle of cultivating the crimson bluegrass to Hao Qi without reservation. Of course, these were just his personal theories, and whether they were feasible still needed to be verified.

First, Zhang Heng mentioned the initial points they had discussed, the differences between his father and other searchers. In summary, his father had been traveling in this area for decades, not just searching a few times but living there.

Second, because of his mother's death, his father would always bring back herbs every time he returned, and he spent a lot of time digging for herbs, so he always carried herbs with him.

"Based on these two differences, my theory is as follows," Zhang Heng said as they walked. "First, my father picked a lot of herbs every day and carried them with him. He also searched for large and medium-sized prey, so he moved around a lot, not just in a specific place. In fact, we overlooked an important fact: my father talked about cultivation, meaning a method that could be mass-produced anywhere, not a miracle that required a specific treasure land. Our thinking was misled because we assumed the crimson bluegrass needed a treasure land, and we didn't interpret the word 'cultivation' literally, which means it can be grown like crops, anywhere and anytime."

Hao Qi was increasingly amazed and couldn't help but ask, "Then, how can we achieve this?"

"Let me explain slowly," Zhang Heng picked a bluegrass from the shade of a tree and continued, "First, my father carried a lot of fresh herbs. He searched for prey in the mountain tunnels day after day, year after year. The seeds of the herbs he carried scattered along his path. Most of the herbs withered and died in unsuitable places, but some survived. One day, when my father walked along the old path he had taken for decades, he was shocked to discover something... in one place, over a hundred bluegrasses grew in an acre, and they all survived. Among them, one was a crimson bluegrass."

At this point, Zhang Heng suddenly clenched his fist and asked Hao Qi, "Hao Qi, how do you think of my strength? How is my physical condition?"

Hao Qi looked at Zhang Heng seriously for a long time and then said, "Your strength isn't great, to be honest. I think you spent most of your time on books and information about treasure lands. Your strength is quite weak, but your physical condition, I estimate, will reach the quasi-internal force realm in a year or half a year."

"Exactly," Zhang Heng retracted his fist and clenched it tightly. "According to the amount of training and effort I put into martial arts, I shouldn't have reached my current physical condition. Martial arts is a process where you either advance or regress. My physical condition shouldn't be this good. I always thought I might have a natural talent, but even someone with a congenital constitution like you, before reaching the internal force realm, wouldn't have a physical condition like mine. Before you reached the internal force realm, your physical condition didn't break through your martial arts level, right?"

Hao Qi didn't know how to respond, as he wasn't truly a congenital constitution, so he remained silent. Zhang Heng took this as an acknowledgment and continued, "So, I have a theory. My father had a crimson bluegrass and gave it to me when I was young, though I didn't know it. Thanks to the effects of this treasure, my physical foundation is much stronger than an ordinary person, which is why I am in my current state..."

"Do you know, Hao Qi, the leaves of bluegrass are blue, though they also have green chlorophyll. However, most of the nutrients of bluegrass don't come from photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is just a supplement. Bluegrass needs only a small amount of light to survive, but it requires a lot of water and soil. Therefore, it grows better in dark places. You should know that in underground areas, there are often dim lights, whether from plants or minerals. This light is enough to meet the light needs of bluegrass..."

"Can you imagine? In some underground tunnels or narrow dead-end alleys, the only direction without soil is above. The soil is present on all other sides, even on some protruding pillars on the walls. In such an environment, as long as there are luminous minerals, bluegrass can survive, and..."

Zhang Heng spread out the bluegrass in his hand and shouted loudly.

"In an acre, over a hundred bluegrasses can survive!"