Chapter 5

Qin Fengming returned home safely, which brought his mother great joy. She held him in her arms, choking with emotion, unable to speak.

"Mother, I'm fine, didn't I come back safely?" Qin Fengming, in his mother's embrace, wiped away his tears and comforted her.

"It's good that you're fine, it's good that you're fine." His mother, with both hands, gently touched Qin Fengming, carefully examining him. Finding no injuries other than torn clothes, she finally felt relieved.

Qin Fengming wiped away his tears and asked, "Where's Grandpa? How badly is he hurt?"

"Grandpa's leg is injured, he's lying in bed. Go see him, it will put his mind at ease."

Qin Fengming didn't hesitate, running into Grandpa's room. He saw Grandma sitting by the bed, helping Grandpa drink water.

"Grandpa, Grandpa, I'm back. How is your injury?"

Hearing Qin Fengming's voice, Grandpa propped himself up with his elbow, forcing himself to sit up. He rubbed his eyes, recognized Qin Fengming, and immediately smiled, as if his pain had lessened.

Grandma, however, hugged Qin Fengming, tears streaming down her face, asking if he was hurt.

It turned out that when the wild boar had pushed Qin Fengming off the cliff, Grandpa and Father were also approaching the boar. Seeing Qin Fengming roll down the cliff, they panicked and simultaneously attacked the boar from behind with their steel forks.

The boar, hit in the buttocks by Qin Hong, became even more enraged and charged straight at Grandpa. Grandpa calmly thrust the steel fork at the boar's eyes.

Blood splattered, and one of the boar's eyes was pierced by the fork.

In pain, the boar, driven by inertia, still managed to injure Grandpa, its tusks tearing a large gash in Grandpa's calf, revealing the white bone.

The boar, severely injured, fled into the depths of the mountain.

Seeing his son fall off the cliff and his father injured, Qin Hong was heartbroken. He quickly checked his father's wound, finding it serious, and immediately found some herbs nearby. He chewed them up and applied them to the wound, then bandaged it with a cloth.

He then went to the edge of the cliff, looking down and shouting loudly, but there was no response.

Faced with the steep cliff, Qin Hong had no way to climb down. He could only endure his grief, move his father to a safe place, and then run back to the village to inform the village chief and request help.

As the grandfather and grandson were recounting what had happened, Qin Hong and the other villagers, who had received the news, returned from the mountains one by one.

But when they saw Qin Fengming, they were all greatly surprised to find that he was completely unharmed.

When asked, Qin Fengming briefly recounted what had happened after he fell off the cliff, but he omitted the part about eating the Zhu fruit and finding the small gourd. He couldn't explain why he did this.

When the villagers heard that Qin Fengming had single-handedly killed a nearly two-zhang-long python, they were all amazed and skeptical.

Qin Fengming didn't argue but took out the bag containing the snake skin and gallbladder, placing it in front of everyone.

Seeing such a long snake skin, everyone was astonished. An adult would have only one path to survival if they encountered such a large python. For a ten-year-old child to kill it was truly astonishing.

Only then did Qin Hong have time to check his father's wound. He was greatly alarmed to see that, although the wound had been treated with herbs, it was too severe to be cured by the mountain people's traditional methods.

After giving some instructions to the family and the villagers, Qin Hong immediately set off to invite a doctor from a town several dozen miles away.

The villagers waited until evening to see Qin Hong return, leading the village's old horse. On the horse sat an elderly man in his seventies or eighties, holding a small box. Despite his age, the old man was very spry.

After a thorough examination, the old man found the wound to be very serious. He thought for a long time before prescribing a combination of external and internal medicines.

Pointing to the prescription, the old man hesitated and said, "All the herbs except for the Dragon Tooth Grass (also known as Crane Grass, which has hemostatic, cardiotonic, antibacterial, and vermifuge properties) should be available at the pharmacy in Tenglong Town. We'll have to try our luck to find the Dragon Tooth Grass. If we can't find it, we'll think of other ways."

After dinner, Qin Fengming went to his father's room to listen to his parents discuss the plan to buy the herbs in Tenglong Town the next day.

Qin Hong, sitting on a small wooden stool, thought for a while before saying, "The money from selling the snake skin, gallbladder, and the mountain marten should be enough to buy the herbs. But whether we can find the Dragon Tooth Grass is a matter of luck."

Hearing his parents' discussion, Qin Fengming was eager to go.

"Father, let me go with you tomorrow. I haven't been to town in a long time, and I miss my second brother."

Before Qin Hong could speak, his mother, sitting beside him, said, "No, you just got back, and you've been in the mountains for three days and three nights. You must be tired. Stay at home."

"I'm not tired. I'll be fine after a good sleep. Besides, I didn't suffer much in the mountains. Let me go, Mother," Qin Fengming hugged his mother, pleading.

After much debate, seeing that Qin Fengming really wanted to go, his mother stopped arguing. She only warned him not to run around in town.

Hearing this, Qin Fengming was overjoyed and returned to his room, sitting by the bed, thinking about the trip to Tenglong Town.

While thinking, he inadvertently touched something on his chest. Startled, he remembered the small gourd. He closed the door, made sure no one was around, and took out the green gourd, placing it under the pine oil lamp.

Under the lamp's light, the gourd looked small and exquisitely green, with five clouds on it that shimmered and seemed to float.

Holding the small gourd, Qin Fengming was very happy. He knew this small gourd was a treasure. Although he was a child, he understood the importance of keeping valuable things secret. He decided not to let anyone else know about the gourd.

He picked up the gourd and shook it, feeling something inside, but he couldn't be sure. He then held the gourd in one hand and the cap in the other, trying to unscrew it, but it wouldn't budge.

The thought of what was inside the gourd continued to tempt him.

He found a small pair of tongs, clamped the cap with them, and tried again, but still couldn't open it. Looking at the emerald green gourd, Qin Fengming was at a loss. He could only wait until he was stronger to try again.