Han Li didn’t meet many people on the way back, save for a few Senior Disciples who were curious at how Han Li was limping his way back. But because he didn’t say anything, they didn’t pay much attention to him.
Returning back to his room, the pain in his leg was still painfully noticeable. Han Li sat on his bed and took off his shoes to examine his wound.
The swelling was incredible! His right toe had an impressive bulge on it, while the cuticle on his toe had already turned bloody red like a big chili pepper.
Han Li hurriedly took out a bottle of herbs from under his pillow. This was a medicine that was carefully controlled by Elder Mo, which helped with the clotting of blood to an astonishing degree. Medicine of this caliber didn’t come by easily by any means from Doctor Mo, since it was originally meant for Zhang Tie to use while he practiced the Way of the Armored Elephant and inevitably sustained an injury. He didn’t think that he would be the first to use the medicine though.
Opening the bottle, a strong fragrance of herbs filled the room. He placed a bit of the medicine on his injury and immediately felt a relaxing sensation on it. Just as Elder Mo had said, it had an immediate effect; Elder Mo’s medicine was truly amazing!
Han Li took a clean cloth and wrapped up his foot before putting back on his shoes.
Good! The pain was slowly subsiding.
He began to walk in a circle around the room in satisfaction as he felt that moving was easier than before.
Now it was time to take care of the mysterious bottle that had caused such an injury to him.
Han Li took out the bottle from his robes and wiped it cleanly to restore its natural luster.
This bottle wasn’t all that big, and a single hand could wrap around it fully. It was actually smaller than the bottle of medicine next to Han Li. The bottle was a green color with a dark green decorative colored vine wrapping around it that looked almost alive. Feeling the surface of the bottle, it was almost as if actual leaves were embedded in the bottle itself.
Weighing the bottle in his hand, Han Li had no idea what type of metal was used to make this bottle, or if it was porcelain even. The bottle didn’t have the icy cold metallic feeling to it, nor it didn’t have the glossy glow a porcelain bottle had.
Han Li had observed the bottle for a good while, and the only thing he had really found out was that he didn’t know what material was used to make this. This shade of color looked to be a natural color from the material itself, and not a color that was added after it was made.
Seeing how the bottle was sealed, Han Li naturally became curious. Eyeing the bottle, he wanted to see whether or not there was something in it.
Once more putting his hands on the bottle, he began to try to open the bottle.
One try, two tries, three tries…It was as if the lid of the bottle was melded into the jar. It didn’t move a single inch almost as if it was refusing to move.
Han Li was astounded; back when he picked up the bottle, it didn’t even twist. But at that time, he was injured and could not use much energy so he didn’t realize how stubborn the bottle was. But now that he was using his entire might to open it, he had expected the bottle to easily open.
Han Li tried to twist the lid once more until his arms began to ache, but there was no success, so he had no choice but to stop.
He stretched to loosen his arm, as it looked like the effort had strained it.
Holding the bottle under his eye, he began to inspect it even closer. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any sort of safety mechanism under the lid that would allow him to easily open it.
This had made Han Li worried. He wasn’t able to open the bottle, so how would he know if there was something inside or not? If it was sealed up this tightly, then there was definitely something precious inside.
Han Li held the bottle in his hand with a vacant look. In the end, he had decided that he would let the stronger Zhang Tie give it a try to see if he could open it. He knew that Zhang Tie could lift over 10 buckets of water up and down the mountains as if he was flying. Right now, it was Zhang Tie who would fill up the water every day.
After this thought, Han Li headed towards Zhang Tie’s place in hopes that he would return soon.
Waiting for someone was truly unpleasant; after waiting for so long, Han Li thought that the time was going by slowly. Finally, a creaking sound was heard as Zhang Tie opened the door.
Looking up, Han Li saw Zhang Tie enter wearing only a thin piece of clothing. His entire body was steaming as he entered the room. Han Li knew that this was the result of his cultivation, and so he didn’t find it strange.
Seeing as Han Li had suddenly visited, Zhang Tie was surprised. But before Zhang Tie could say anything, Han Li impatiently thrusted the bottle towards him.
“Brother Zhang, please lend me your assistance and help me open this bottle.”
“Where did you find this? It looks rather nice!” Zhang Tie remarked as he took the bottle.
“Zi! Zi! Zi!” [TL Note: Sound of twisting bottle]
“Ai! This item is really durable. It’s so hard to open! What was used to make this?” Zhang Tie cut straight to the chase: he wasn’t able to open the bottle either.
“I can’t do it, this bottle won’t open. Why don’t you find a Senior Disciple to help you?” Zhang Tie shook his head and handed the bottle back to him as he suggested another method.
“Even you can’t open this?” Han Li was getting more anxious and couldn’t help but pace around the room.
“Ai! What happened to your leg?” Zhang Tie inquired as he noticed Han Li’s foot.
“It’s nothing; I kicked a rock on the road.” Han Li didn’t want to tell Zhang Tie about the situation with the bottle just yet. Right now, he had just wanted to keep the bottle as his own personal secret.
Han Li was secretly disappointed. He didn’t want to sit around and chat with Zhang Tie at the moment, and after briefly asking about his cultivation speed, he immediately left the room and returned back to his own place to think of a way to resolve this matter with the bottle.
Returning back to his room, Han Li put the bottle on the table and stared intensely at it. At the same time, his mind was shuffling through plans.