Chapter 205 Undoing The Knot.
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One week had passed and Hao Ren had been traveling the place on his feet. However, the growth he had accomplished was astounding. His speed was faster, and he had stopped stumbling completely. Yes, it was not as exaggerated as him running around like a cat, but the situation was not as bad as it was in the beginning as well.
At the moment, he was drinking the potion to recover his energy as last night he had to cross through a swamp and it consumed a lot of his energy. He removed the leeches that have been biting on him and the potion was healing him.
Tang Zen was following behind him, at some distance, the two of them had not conversed for even a moment in the past seven days. Tang Zen did not wish to bother him or help him with the training, as she has said before, the path of cultivation was not an easy one.
Hao Ren suddenly began to mumble as he walked through the woods, "I can sense vibrations through every inch of my skin, however, to increase my speed even more, I need to be able to perceive things at far greater distance."
Tang Zen smiled amusingly as she thought, 'Finally, he sees the crucial part of this training.'
Indeed, as a cultivator, knowing the situation around him was not enough. Hao Ren could now sense the vibrations from everything five meters away from his body. Heavens knew how it worked, but that was how it was.
Hao Ren needed to be quick and he could come across people who might block his vision or other senses using various means. He realized why his mother was so hard on him. While they trained Hao Mei, and did not pay him much attention, their goal had been to send the girl away to protect her.
These past seven days, he had been pondering over these things and could not help but empathize with them. If he was to be put in a place where his daughter could have been targeted by someone who held a significant backing and could create a lot of trouble for them, he might have done the same.
They had already left the Spirit Shimmer Continent, and this world was their last option. If they were to be chased even here, it would indeed cause a great deal of trouble for them. As he was thinking about these things, the knot in his heart was coming undone.
His knot was not caused by the fact that his parents did not love him or they lied to him. Many parents hide things so that their children does not feel troubled. They loved him, but they could not express it to him. Yes, his mother embarrassed him many times and seemed to be toxic, but probably that was because she was trying to hard to fit in the shoes Hao Mei left.
Hao Mei also teased him about things in the past. Probably, Tang Zen was trying to copy her daughter and failing at it too hard. A gentle gust blew through the woods, and caressed Hao Ren's skin. The young man appeared to be shocked, and he froze in his footsteps.
Tang Zen narrowed her eyes, and began to count down to ten. If the young man did not move, then she would not back off from her words earlier. After ten breaths, she took out a white stick from her space ring and walked over. The stick was glowing with light. Tang Zen appeared next to Hao Ren and she swung the stick, aiming for his buttocks.
Suddenly, his lips turned up. Earlier on the mountain summit, he had not only comprehended the Heart Of the Mountain, but also the True Meaning of the wind. This was something Tang Zen did not know. The gust of wind earlier, had triggered something inside him.
In his soul sea a character was glowing faintly, the character spelled 'wind'. Hao Ren was one with the wind, and he could not manipulate it. The gust that hit him illuminated the surroundings as it passed through them.
The stick was about to land on his butt, when the young man dashed forward as he said, "Ma, you are so slow."
Tang Zen was surprised to see the sudden change in his movement and could not understand what was going on. All she could see was the figure of her son dashing through the thick forest, jumping from one tree to the other, and accelerating even more. She chased after him but even after a day she could not understand what was going on.
It was night when Hao Ren was standing a few meters away from a herb that smelled like chili. However, the young man was not eager to harvest the herb. He waved his hand and located a wolf pack in his surroundings.
He asked, "Are they the guardian beasts?"
Tang Zen replied as she sat on a tree branch, "Correct."
Hao Ren sighed and took out a few needles from his space ring. He would deal with these guys quickly. The wolves growled and Hao Ren located them precisely. He flicked his wrist and the needles shot forth issuing a sharp whistle. The needles were coated with the most potent poison that Hao Ren could manufacture with the herbs he could find.
The needles dug into the flesh of the wolves that attacked him. Hao Ren could not stand still, so he also moved around. He could not use his spiritual energy but he still possessed great physical strength. As he moved he thought, 'With eyes, I could only see what is ahead of me. However, with my senses working in unison, I can see everything around me.
To think that the most priced privilege of the human species turned out to be somewhat over rated. No wonder the blind folks are more focused on their goals.'
In his mind, there was a complete three sixty degree map of his surroundings. He had laid waste to seven of the nine wolves. The two survivors saw their friends falling down and did not have the guts to engage Hao Ren. They were not spiritual beings yet. They have only absorbed some spiritual energy by living around the herb.
Hao Ren had slain their leader so they were obviously worried. Just when the young man was about to deal with the two of them, he sensed Yin crawling out of his sleeve. She had been very obedient these past few days and only came out at night to cultivate. Hao Ren could not understand what this little thing might want to do.
However, in his senses, the wolves that were gradually retreating appeared to be frozen. Then he sensed the little snake leave his arm, and attack the two wolves. Hao Ren was worried and Tang Zen said, "Do not worry, she is using them to practice and hunt. She is fine. Collect the herb and be done with the training. I have not eaten anything nice."
Hao Ren took out a small knife as he walked up to the herb and asked, "How about some beast meat? I will cleanse it of poison before we eat."
The old lady shrugged and said, "It is up to you."
On the other side, Yin displayed speed that even shocked Tang Zen. The old lady could see the little snake properly, but she could tell that if a normal person was to watch it, or even a spirit gathering realm cultivator would not be able to catch up with Yin. Soon, the two wolves were dead.
Tang Zen swooped down from the tree, and appeared next to the two wolves. Hao Ren asked, "What are you doing?"
He could 'see' her scooping up Yin in her palm. Tang Zen replied, "This little one is very strong and has great potential. Ren when you go to the Spirit Shimmer continent, make sure to hunt the spirit beasts and have her absorb their blood, prioritize snakes."
Hao Ren coughed and said, "I cannot attack snakes if they do not attack me. Naga seal prevents me from that."
Tang Zen nodded and said, "The beast above beast core realm would be able to defy that seal. Only Naga's or the beasts affiliated with them would honor it, so do not worry."
Hao Ren nodded and finished harvesting the herb. As he sniffed the gentle scent emitting from the flower, he found that his vision was coming back. He asked, "What is this?"
Tang Zen replied, "Silver Honitus Lily. A low level cure all for about thousand poisons."
Her tone was calm, but Hao Ren asked, "It seems to me that you have been planning this training for a long time?"
Tang Zen stayed quite, but Hao Ren asked, "Ma, I hate it when you hide things."
The lady shivered a bit and then said, "When you were born, I had wanted to train you into the finest warrior that I could. I wished for you to reach the realms which I possibly could not. When I was traveling to look for resources for Mei, I found this place.
I set a barrier around her to prevent it from being discovered by anyone else. That barrier vanished three years ago, because I did not come to replenish it."
Hao Ren asked with a surprised expression, "If you planned things for me from such a long time, why didn't you show affection to me? Why did you force me away?"
Tang Zen revealed a bitter smile and said, "It was because we knew that someday we will have to go back with Mei, and fight there. We did not want for you to have any emotional entanglement with us that hinders your life."
Hao Ren was shocked as he heard these words. It turns out they really did all this so that he could sever his bonds with them easily when the time comes. His father and mother has always said the same thing, but due to his anger earlier, he never cared about it.
Now his temper had calmed down a lot and over the past few months, his parents had really been repenting their behavior sincerely. He had seen that his mother had never been able to look him in the eye and Hao Ren did not know why, until now. She felt guilty and ashamed of her own actions. However, she never stopped loving him.
Suddenly, all the burden that had been stuffing his chest seemed to have vanished. He said, "Can you take off this necklace?"
Tang Zen nodded and took it off as she asked, "How did you manage to accelerate so quickly? By my estimation it should have taken you three more days to reach this point."
Hao Ren smiled but did not say anything and Tang Zen also did not ask much because who in this world did not have secrets? After Hao Ren finished cleaning the wolves, he collected their pelts, and claws. Tang Zen said, "These things have no use in the spirit shimmer continent."
Hao Ren nodded and said, "I will give them to Xiao Mei, they will serve a security purpose for the company."
After he was done, he quickly called back Yin, who had finished absorbing the blood from the two wolves. The two humans then found a place to seat at the bank of a stream and Hao Ren set a bonfire to roast the meat. As the meat was being prepared, he asked, "I always wanted to ask you something."
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Tang Zen looked at his visage reflecting the glow of the flames and said, "Go on."
Hao Ren asked, "Why did you name us siblings in such a simple fashion?"
Tang Zen smiled and said, "Only you are named this way. Your sisters full name is Hao Ling Mei. Your father wanted to name you, Hao Hu Shan. However, when I found that your meridians were blocked, we only wished for you to grow up to be a good man. That aligned with the last name Hao, so we named you Ren."
Hao Ren chocked on his saliva, and said, "Thankfully, you did not name me Hu Shan. I cannot imagine the nickname, Xiao Hu, or Xiao Shan. Thank heavens."
Tang Zen mumbled the nicknames and said, "You would have been bullied by the people for such a domineering name."
Hao Ren nodded quickly and the two looked at each other before they began to laugh out loud. The knots in their hearts have come undone, and Hao Ren was very relaxed. After the meal, he was ready to go back home when Tang Zen said, "After fifteen days, the entrance of the guards in the DEHB will change and the array around the entrance will weaken. That is when you should enter. What do you think?"
Hao Ren thought and said, "Let me talk to Lingshi about it first."
Tang Zen nodded and the two of them sat around the fire looking at the starts and listening to the wind.