Chapter 2

In recent times, such situations have frequently occurred to Chen Guo.

Chen Qiyue was very clear in his heart that his illness was getting worse. His master, Old Immortal, had once solemnly instructed him, “The ‘Yanluo Medicinal Hand’ is extremely powerful and domineering, but the dosage of the medicine must not be excessive, otherwise the toxicity will seep into the bone marrow. In mild cases, it will render one’s martial arts useless, and in severe cases, it will cause muscle and bone weakness, threatening one’s life. Old Immortal, during his prime in the southwestern provinces, suddenly retired and left the martial world because of the backlash from the medicine, which posed a significant hidden danger in his body. If he continued to engage in fierce battles, he would either die at the hands of his enemies or die by his own hand.”

Old Immortal chose to live in seclusion in the remote mountain city of Qingyuan to avoid his enemies finding him and forcing him into a fight. Each time he fought, the toxicity backlash would deepen.

Fortunately, the world changed later on. After the new government was established, it strongly suppressed various martial sects and secret societies. The once powerful sects all disappeared, and the enemies Old Immortal had offended also scattered, with no one coming to trouble him. Thus, he enjoyed a long life and died a natural death. The only regret was that he had no children or descendants. When he passed on the “Yanluo Medicinal Hand” to Chen Guo, it was partly because he saw potential in him for martial arts and partly because he did not want the lineage of the school’s secret techniques to be lost in his hands.

In this era of firearms, Chen Guo thought that even if he practiced the “Medicinal Hand,” it would only be for self-defense and not require much effort.

But what Chen Guo’s master did not expect was that after many years, the world had changed again. Chen Guo had also become a member of the袍哥 (Pao Ge, a secret society), and his status was no less than his master’s in the past.

Of course, today’s Pao Ge is not the same as the Pao Ge of the past. Many things have changed, perhaps only inheriting the name of Pao Ge, with vastly different behavior and style, especially in their relationship with the government.

Chen Guo practiced the Medicinal Hand to an extremely deep level, just like Old Immortal did in the past, and the medicine began to backfire.

In recent years, although Chen Guo had stopped using the medicine, he could still clearly perceive the various changes in his body. Dizziness was just the mildest external symptom. Now, even if the most beautiful young girl was stripped naked and placed in front of him, Chen Qiyue could only stare helplessly, unable to do anything.

Thinking of this, Chen Guo removed the leopard-tooth pipe from his mouth and turned to ask a capable man in his thirties beside him, “Lao Liu, have you found any leads on the Wu Yang wood?”

The capable man, dressed in a suit, was the most trusted brother under Chen Qiyue and the general manager of the Qingyuan Grand Hotel. In recent years, Chen Guo rarely went out, often going into the mountains to gather herbs personally, leaving many matters to Lao Liu to handle. Lao Liu was his spokesperson, not only loyal but also extremely capable, and Chen Guo trusted him very much.

Lao Liu shook his head, his brows furrowed, and said, “Qiyue, what exactly is this Wu Yang wood? I’ve asked many people, and not only have they never seen it, they’ve never even heard of it…”

A bitter smile appeared on Chen Guo’s lips.

Not only had Lao Liu never heard of it, but Chen Guo himself had never heard of it either. The life-saving prescription was given to him by Old Immortal on his deathbed, telling him that if the medicine backfired too deeply, he should follow this prescription to save his life. However, Old Immortal also told him that this prescription was given to him by a hermit he met in his youth, and he had never used it himself. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to use it, but there was one ingredient that he couldn’t find anywhere.

The name of that ingredient was “Wu Yang wood.”

Old Immortal warned Chen Guo that without the Wu Yang wood, the prescription would have the opposite effect.

Since the signs of the medicine backfiring began a few years ago, Chen Guo had sought medical help everywhere, consulting both traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine. He had been to top hospitals in major cities like Capital Mingzhu, been hospitalized, and consulted the most famous professors, but the results were minimal.

It was then that Chen Guo remembered the prescription his master had given him years ago. He quickly found it and prepared to gather the ingredients. At that time, Chen Guo was still very confident. Qingyuan was a hub for herbal medicines in the southwestern provinces, so gathering a prescription should not be difficult.

What he never expected was that while the other dozen ingredients in the prescription were quickly gathered, the Wu Yang wood could not be found. Qingyuan was a gathering place for herbal merchants from all over the country, and knowledgeable people were as numerous as fish crossing a river. However, no matter whom Chen Guo asked, they all shook their heads, and even a major herbal merchant from the northeast asked him curiously what Wu Yang wood was, thinking it might be a type of wood used for furniture.

Chen Guo was very frustrated at the time.

But Chen Qiyue was not someone who gave up easily, especially since this matter was related to his life, and he had to go all out. Chen Guo decided to go into the mountains himself to ask the elders deep in the mountains for information.

The hundreds of miles of mountains surrounding Qingyuan were the home of the Miao and Yao ethnic groups, who had a tradition of gathering herbs. Old Immortal had also said that the hermit he met in the mountains was a herbal gatherer who had just returned from the most mysterious witchcraft area deep in the mountains. They had a connection, and he gave him this life-saving prescription.

The most mysterious witchcraft area deep in the mountains was something Chen Guo had only heard of, and no one had ever truly been there. It was said to be a place of great mystery, with witchcraft and miasma everywhere, and anyone or any animal that entered would die.

Such legends existed in all parts of the world where technology was not advanced, especially in poor and backward areas. However, Chen Guo had indeed never heard of anyone fully exploring the hundreds of miles of mountains around Qingyuan.

The depths of the Miao territory were always shrouded in mystery.

Several times, Chen Guo went deep into the mountains, visiting villages and tribes, but he was deeply disappointed.

It wasn’t that he had no gains at all.

In a remote village deep in the mountains, Chen Guo finally heard an old herbal gatherer mention the Wu Yang wood. The old herbal gatherer told the well-dressed man from the city that, according to ancient legends, the Wu Yang wood was a highly yang divine wood, not a tree but a vine. It absorbed the essence of the earth’s fire and became a highly yang wood.

Chen Guo was confused by this.

Although he had not read much, he was a civilized person living in modern society and did not really believe in such obviously legendary words.

Moreover, the old herbal gatherer had only heard of it and had never seen the real Wu Yang wood, let alone provide a plant to Chen Guo.

He returned empty-handed.

Despite this, Chen Guo’s belief in the effectiveness of the prescription grew even stronger. None of the dozen ingredients in the prescription were ordinary; they were all extremely precious herbs. Especially after learning that the Wu Yang wood did indeed exist, Chen Guo’s confidence was even more firm.

Now, everything was ready except for the Wu Yang wood.

If he could find the Wu Yang wood and boil it, it might resolve the hidden danger deep within his body.

But where was the Wu Yang wood?

Chen Guo slightly spread his palm, and a purplish-blue bruise刺痛了他的眼睛。掌心正中这团青紫的淤血，五年前不过只有花生米大小，现在已经变得和核桃差不多大小了。老不死师父说得再清楚不过，等青紫之色布满整个手掌，就是药物反噬到顶点的表现。到那个时候，非死即残，神仙也难救。

五年！

按照这个速度发展下去，陈果担心，熬不过第二个五年了。

这该死的至阳神木，到底隐藏在何处？

老六凑了过来。

陈果猛地将手掌收紧了。

他不想任何人看到他掌心这团青紫。就好像一个练武之人，绝不会将自己的软肋“命门”无遮无掩地暴露在敌手面前。

哪怕老六这样的亲信心腹也不行。

尽管这个世界上，可能连听说过“阎罗药手”这个名字的人都不多。

科技昌明，热武器一代更胜一代，传统武术早已式微，淡出了主流群体的视野，仅仅只能在电影电视和小说上看到了。

“老六，那两个人，是谁介绍来的？”

陈果重新将烟斗含在嘴里，淡然问道，眼神又落在那一对年轻男女身上，不过没有再盯住那女孩的脸看，总觉得看久了会犯晕乎。这女孩固然很漂亮，也还谈不上貌若天仙。况且陈七爷眼下对漂亮女孩真的不怎么感兴趣。

能看不能吃，会搞死人的。

但他得搞清楚这两个人的来头。

陈七爷保证每位客人的绝对安全，也不是没有条件的。前提就是，他自己必须要了解这些客人的来路。老客人也就罢了，有名有姓有公司，一查一个准。如果是生面孔，那就必须有熟人推荐，推荐人还不能是无名之辈。

万一有客人在这里闹事或者受到什么伤害，陈七爷都得有个交代才行。

别人也得给陈七爷一个交代。

老六顺着他的目光看去，也愣了一下，说道：“咦，很面生啊……”

陈果的脸色顿时沉了下来，淡淡说道：“查清楚。”

陈七爷可不喜欢听这样的话。

你老六是干什么的？

既然这个场子交给了你，你就得把每个客人的底细都给我搞明白。

“哎……”

老六心中一寒，连连点头，转身就跑。

七爷平时挺和气的，不在弟兄们面前摆脸子。但这并不意味着，你可以不把自己的事情干好。真要等七爷生气了，不管是谁，都吃不了兜着走。

陈果望向那个静静喝茶的男人。

凭直觉，陈果就能知道，这两人是以这位柔和的年轻男子为主的。一坐一站，彼此并不交谈，情形显得十分奇异，似乎两人的身份区别，也能由此看出一丝端倪来。

便在这个时候，年轻男子放下青花瓷杯，往走廊上望了过来，正好和陈果的目光相对。

年轻男子柔和地微微一笑，顿时令人如沐春风。

陈果情不自禁地露出了微笑。

待年轻男子收回目光，陈果心里顿时一惊。

又是一种极其奇特的感觉，这年轻人没有任何恶意，陈果吃惊的是，自己似乎在不知不觉间就受了他的影响。

对于陈果这种刀头舐血的江湖大哥而言，这才是真正的危险。

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Chen Guo slightly spread his palm, and a purplish-blue bruise stung his eyes. The purplish-blue bruise in the center of his palm, which was only the size of a peanut five years ago, had now grown to the size of a walnut. Old Immortal had made it very clear that when the purplish-blue color spread across the entire palm, it would be the peak of the medicine’s backlash. At that time, he would either die or be crippled, and even the gods would find it hard to save him.

Five years!

At this rate, Chen Guo was worried that he wouldn’t last another five years.

Where the hell was this damn divine yang wood hiding?

Lao Liu came over.

Chen Guo quickly clenched his palm.

He didn’t want anyone to see the purplish-blue bruise on his palm. Just like a martial artist would never expose their vulnerable “vital point” to their enemies, he wouldn’t expose it to anyone, not even to Lao Liu, his trusted confidant.

Even though there might be very few people in the world who had even heard of the “Yanluo Medicinal Hand.”

With the advancement of technology and the development of firearms, traditional martial arts had long declined and faded from the mainstream, only appearing in movies, TV shows, and novels.

“Lao Liu, who introduced those two people?”

Chen Guo put the pipe back in his mouth and asked calmly, his eyes falling on the young couple again, but he no longer stared at the girl’s face, feeling that looking at her for too long would make him dizzy. The girl was indeed beautiful, but not so much that she could be called a celestial beauty. Besides, Chen Qiyue wasn’t really interested in beautiful girls at the moment.

Looking without being able to touch could be deadly.

But he had to figure out who these two were.

Chen Qiyue guaranteed the absolute safety of every guest, but it wasn’t without conditions. The prerequisite was that he must know the background of these guests. For regular guests, it was easy to check their names, companies, and identities. For new faces, they had to be introduced by someone known, and the introducer couldn’t be just anyone.

If any guest caused trouble or was harmed here, Chen Qiyue would have to give an explanation.

Others would also have to give an explanation to Chen Qiyue.

Lao Liu followed his gaze and was also taken aback, saying, “Hmm, they look very unfamiliar…”

Chen Guo’s face immediately darkened, and he said coolly, “Find out.”

Chen Qiyue didn’t like hearing such words.

What are you, Lao Liu, supposed to do?

Since you’re in charge of this place, you must get to know every guest’s background.

“Ah…”

Lao Liu felt a chill and nodded repeatedly, then turned and ran off.

Chen Qiyue was usually quite amiable and didn’t put on airs in front of his subordinates. But this didn’t mean you could slack off. If Chen Qiyue got angry, no one would be spared.

Chen Guo looked at the man quietly drinking tea.

By intuition, Chen Guo knew that the two were led by this gentle young man. One sitting, one standing, not talking to each other, the situation was quite peculiar, and it seemed that the difference in their status could be inferred from this.

At that moment, the young man put down the blue-and-white porcelain cup and looked down the corridor, meeting Chen Guo’s gaze.

The young man smiled gently, and it was like a warm breeze.

Chen Guo couldn’t help but smile in return.

When the young man looked away, Chen Guo was suddenly startled.

It was another extremely peculiar feeling. The young man had no ill intentions, but Chen Guo was surprised to find that he had been influenced by him without realizing it.

For Chen Guo, a man who lived on the edge of life and death in the martial world, this was the real danger.