Chapter 30: The End of a Heroic Tyrant

“How old do you think I am?” The muscles on his cheeks twitched slightly as he stiffly asked an irrelevant question.

“From your appearance, you look about sixty years old. But since you’re asking, your actual age must not match your looks. Are you much older or far younger?” Han Li was somewhat surprised, but his tone remained calm and even.

“Tch, tch! Truly worthy of someone who’s practiced the ‘Changchun Technique.’ A mere country kid transformed into such a sharp and clever person!” Doctor Mo praised incessantly, his gaze turning fervent as he looked at Han Li.

“You guessed right. I’m only thirty-seven years old this year.” A number that Han Li could hardly believe came from Doctor Mo’s mouth.

“Impossible!” For the first time, Han Li, who had always maintained his composure, was visibly shocked.

“Impossible! Indeed, it’s impossible! Anyone who sees me would think I’m sixty, and if I claimed to be seventy, no one would doubt it.” Doctor Mo’s voice suddenly turned shrill and piercing, grating on Han Li’s ears. It was as if the words had touched the deepest pain in his heart.

“I, Mo Juren, was once a renowned figure in the martial world of Lanzhou, Yue Kingdom, making a name for myself and carving out my own territory with my bare hands. Hah! Back then, who in Lanzhou didn’t know the might of ‘Ghost Hand’? Be it the righteous or the wicked, those who followed me thrived, and those who opposed me…” Doctor Mo’s voice returned to its usual low tone as he slowly recounted his story. His eyes gleamed with a sharpness like that of a blade, as if he had returned to the days when he was brimming with ambition and held power.

Hearing Doctor Mo’s words, Han Li was secretly astonished. He hadn’t expected his nominal master to have such a grand background.

“But good times don’t last. Just as I entered my prime and aimed to achieve even greater feats, I was betrayed by a trusted confidant and poisoned with a sinister method. Though my medical skills allowed me to suppress the poison’s effects, I couldn’t fully heal myself. My martial prowess drastically declined, and I could no longer hold my ground in Lanzhou. To avoid assassination by my enemies, I had to abandon my foundation and family, disappearing into obscurity in other parts of Yue Kingdom to search for a cure, hoping to restore my former strength.” As he recounted his later misfortunes, Doctor Mo became fully immersed in his story. His fists clenched tightly, nails digging into his palms until blood dripped, yet he seemed oblivious, his face contorted with a ferocious, venomous expression. The hatred he bore for the one who poisoned him was palpable, sending chills down one’s spine.

Sensing the relentless hatred in his words, Han Li couldn’t help but feel a chill run through him, a cold dread settling in his heart.

“Heaven has eyes. In a certain mysterious place, I stumbled upon a remarkable book. It was obscure and profound, and it took immense effort for me to understand even a fraction of it. From it, I found a shortcut to restore my strength. I followed its methods, and the result…” Doctor Mo paused, his expression brimming with frustration and a hint of regret.

“The result was that you ended up like this,” Han Li said coldly, finishing the sentence Doctor Mo left unsaid.

“Exactly. I never expected that while the method restored my strength, it caused me to age rapidly, turning me into this prematurely aged, half-human, half-ghost figure.” Doctor Mo nodded dejectedly, showing no anger at Han Li’s mockery.

“You must have found the reason by now, haven’t you?”

“It was due to an error in my practice, allowing evil qi to invade my body. Now, every day I live consumes the vitality of ten days for an ordinary person. I’m constantly overdrawing my life force. Fortunately, my expertise in nurturing techniques, combined with a secret medicine I formulated from the book, has slowed the aging process in recent years, allowing me to hold on until now.”

“What does the technique I practice have to do with solving your problem?” Han Li cut straight to the core of the matter.

“Not long after I became like this, I found a solution in the book: the ‘Changchun Technique’ you practice. If someone who has cultivated it to the fourth level assists me with their energy to stimulate my secret acupoints, I can escape this predicament and recover the vitality I’ve lost.”

“Why choose me? Couldn’t you just find someone else to practice this technique?” Han Li pondered for a moment before asking a question that had long lingered in his mind.

“Do you think the ‘Changchun Technique’ is something anyone can learn? It not only requires a young person to start from scratch but also demands that the practitioner possess a ‘spiritual root’ constitution. I don’t even know what a ‘spiritual root’ is, but before you, I tested hundreds of children, and none could practice the Changchun Technique.” Doctor Mo’s face was filled with frustration.

“Such a thing exists?” Han Li was slightly stunned, not expecting the technique’s cultivation requirements to be so stringent.

“In my remaining years, I thought I’d never find someone who could practice the technique, so I gave up and wandered as a江湖郎中 (itinerant doctor). Unexpectedly, I came across the Seven Mysteries Sect’s Sect Leader Wang, who had also been betrayed. Out of shared misfortune, I saved his life, and at his invitation, I became an honored guest of the sect, planning to live out my days incognito on this mountain. But a miracle happened! Initially, I took you and the others into the valley to pass down my medical and martial skills. I intended to take you both as disciples, but for some reason, I had you try practicing the Changchun Technique—perhaps a lingering hope. Even if you couldn’t cultivate it, I would have taken you as disciples and passed down some of my knowledge. But to my utter surprise, you showed a response to the technique. Haha! Truly, heaven never seals off all paths!” Doctor Mo revealed all these mysteries in one breath, his face flushed with a sickly excitement, clearly delighted with his stroke of luck.

“I haven’t reached the fourth level of the Changchun Technique yet. Why restrain me now and lay all this out?” Han Li finally asked the question that concerned him most.

“That’s your fault. I invested so much effort and care in you, yet you’ve never satisfied me, always playing tricks. We’re just one step away, but you refuse to progress further. I could have waited two more years, but when I went down the mountain this time, an old enemy recognized me. After a bitter fight, I killed them, but it exhausted what little vitality I had left, drastically shortening my lifespan. Even with all my efforts, I can only live for one more year. How can I afford to wait any longer?” Doctor Mo’s smug expression vanished, replaced by a fierce glare as he roared at Han Li.

After listening, Han Li’s expression remained unchanged, showing no sign of being affected. But inside, his emotions churned like turbulent waves, far from the calm and collected demeanor he displayed.

Though he had long suspected Doctor Mo had deep intentions toward him, he never imagined such a complex backstory. His master’s origins, experiences, and the technique he practiced all far exceeded Han Li’s expectations.