On his way back, Han Li didn't run into many people. Only a couple of passing senior brothers noticed him limping and looked surprised, but none of them said anything to him. It seemed nobody paid much attention to this junior disciple.
Once he was back at his quarters, the pain in his foot got worse. Han Li quickly sat down on the edge of his bed and carefully took off his shoes and socks to check the injury.
It was badly swollen! His right big toe had puffed up high, the skin at the wounded area stretched tight, red and shiny — like a bright red chili pepper.
Han Li hurriedly reached for the wooden pillow on his bed and pulled out a small medicine bottle from underneath it. This was a carefully prepared external injury ointment from Doctor Mo, remarkably effective for bruising, swelling, and even bleeding. He had managed to get it from Doctor Mo at great effort, originally intending to save it for when Zhang Iron got hurt practicing the Elephant Armor Technique. He never expected to be the first one to use it.
The moment he popped the cap, a rich medicinal fragrance filled the entire room. He sprinkled the powder gently onto his swollen toe, and a cool, soothing sensation spread through it immediately. It really lived up to being Doctor Mo's secret remedy — it worked right away. Doctor Mo's medical skills were truly beyond compare!
Han Li found a clean piece of cloth and wrapped the injured toe into a big bundle, then put his shoes and socks back on.
Hmm! That was better. The pain had eased considerably.
He took a few slow steps back and forth, fairly satisfied with how quickly he had dealt with the injury.
Now it was time to deal with that mysterious bottle — the culprit responsible for his injury.
Han Li pulled the bottle from inside his jacket and found a rag to wipe it clean. Only then did its true appearance reveal itself before his eyes.
The bottle wasn't large — it fit entirely in one palm, a size smaller than his medicine bottle. Its body was a uniform pale green, with several dark green patterns printed on the surface. The patterns were leaf-shaped and remarkably lifelike; when he touched them, they felt raised, as though real leaves had been directly embedded into it.
He weighed it in his hand. It was heavy, but the material was clearly not any metal Han Li knew of, nor was it any kind of porcelain he recognized. When he touched it, it lacked the cold feel of ordinary metal and also didn't have the smooth texture of typical ceramics.
After examining it carefully for quite some time, Han Li became certain that the bottle was made from some material he had never encountered. The pale green color appeared to be natural — the inherent color of the material itself — not something that had been dyed on afterward.
When he saw the cap sealed firmly shut, Han Li decided to satisfy his curiosity right away and open the bottle to see what, if anything, was inside.
He placed his hand on the cap again and twisted with all his might.
One turn. Two turns. Three turns... The cap and the body were fused as though cast from a single piece — utterly immovable. The cap showed not the slightest hint of budging.
Han Li was startled. When he had first picked up the bottle, he hadn't been able to twist it open either. But at the time, he had been preoccupied with his injury and hadn't exerted much force, nor had he thought much of it. He had assumed that now, using his full strength, opening it would be easy. He never imagined it still wouldn't budge.
Han Li twisted another dozen times in succession, until his arm grew sore, but there was still no sign of success. So he stopped.
He shook his arm and loosened his wrist — he had used too much force and slightly strained it.
He brought the bottle up to eye level and inspected it once more, very carefully. Unfortunately, he couldn't find any hidden mechanism on it.
Now Han Li was in a bind. If he couldn't open the cap, how was he supposed to know whether there was anything inside? And if there was — given how unusual this bottle was and how tightly sealed it was — it had to be something extremely valuable.
Han Li gripped the bottle tightly, stared at it, and sat in a daze for a while. Finally, he made a decision: he would let Zhang Iron, who was far stronger than him, try to open it. After all, Zhang Iron could now carry a bucket full of water — several dozen jin — in each hand and sprint up and down the mountain path. He was the one who filled the large water vats in the valley every day, right on schedule.
Having made up his mind, Han Li went to Zhang Iron's room to wait for him, hoping in his heart that Zhang Iron would come back soon.
Waiting was truly unbearable. Han Li felt time crawling by. It was a long while before he finally heard the creak of Zhang Iron pushing open the door.
Looking up, Han Li saw Zhang Iron walk in wearing a thin blue cloth shirt, wisps of steam rising faintly from his body, drenched in sweat. Han Li knew this was a normal phenomenon after finishing his training and didn't find it strange.
The moment Zhang Iron spotted Han Li sitting in his room, he was taken aback. Before he could even open his mouth to speak, Han Li — who had long run out of patience — immediately thrust the bottle in front of his face.
"Brother Zhang, do me a favor — help me open this bottle, will you?"
"Where did you find this? It's quite a good-looking bottle!" Zhang Iron was briefly startled, then took the bottle.
"Creak! Creak! Creak!"
"Huh! This thing is really sturdy — it's hard to twist open! What on earth is it made of?" Zhang Iron didn't waste any words. He took it and immediately put both hands to work, but he couldn't open the cap either.
"No good, I can't get it open. Why don't you try asking some of the other senior brothers?" Zhang Iron gave Han Li an apologetic shake of his head, tossed the bottle back to him, and offered another suggestion.
"You can't open it either?" Han Li grew anxious and couldn't help pacing around the room.
"Hey — what happened to your foot?" Zhang Iron finally noticed that Han Li's gait was a bit off.
"It's nothing. I just kicked a rock while walking." Han Li, for reasons he couldn't quite explain, didn't want to tell Zhang Iron the truth about the bottle. Perhaps it was just instinct — he had come to think of anything related to the bottle as his own little secret.
Han Li was thoroughly disappointed now and had no energy for small talk with Zhang Iron. He asked a few questions about Zhang Iron's training progress, then left his room, planning to go back and figure out how to solve the bottle problem on his own.
Back in his own small room, Han Li set the bottle upright on the table, lay down on one side of it, and fixed both eyes on the bottle, his mind racing as he tried to think of a good solution.
(End of Chapter)