Siheyuan: Sap is the last word

"Are you really a reborn person?" The old man interrupted him impatiently before he could finish, staring at him with his turbid eyes, as if he wanted to see through him.

"I am really, more real than pearls!" He Yudong raised his right hand helplessly, "Heaven and earth, the sun and the moon can bear witness to this. If I lie, let me..."

"Alright, alright, I believe you." The old man waved his hand impatiently, interrupting his oath, "Let me ask you, since you are a reborn person, then you know..."

The old man lowered his voice, leaned close to He Yudong's ear, and said mysteriously: "Do you know how to achieve immortality?"

He Yudong was totally confused. What did this have to do with anything?

Just as he was about to open his mouth to explain, he heard a "ding" sound in his mind, and the system's voice sounded again: "Ding! Detected that the host has triggered a hidden mission: Explore the mystery of immortality."

"Mission requirements: Help the old man find a way to live forever."

"Mission Reward: Randomly gain a supernatural power."

"Mission failed: random reduction of ten years in lifespan."

He Yudong: ...

What is all this mess?

He looked at the weird old man in front of him and suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart.

Could it be that this old man is suffering from some kind of paranoia?

"Uncle, listen to me, there is no such thing as immortality in this world. It's all a lie!" He Yudong persuaded patiently, "You, don't think about those things, living a good life is the most important thing."

"You don't understand!" The old man waved his cane excitedly. "I've lived for so many years, and I've seen everything. I'm telling you, there must be a way to achieve immortality in this world, but we just haven't found it yet!"

He Yudong looked at the stubborn old man in front of him and knew that he would not believe anything he said.

He sighed and decided to follow the old man's instructions to see what he was up to.

"Then tell me, how do you want me to help you?"

When the old man saw that he agreed, he immediately smiled and quickly pulled him to a towering tree. He pointed to a strange symbol on the trunk and said, "Look at this. Do you recognize it?"

He Yudong looked closely and saw that the symbol was strange, like some kind of writing, yet it seemed familiar.

Just as he was carefully identifying it, a sudden flash of inspiration came to his mind, and a bold idea came to his mind:

This symbol, could it be...

He Yudong was dragged by the old man's arm and stumbled all the way to a dilapidated temple deep in the woods.

This temple has been abandoned for a long time. The yard is overgrown with weeds, the walls are mottled, the altar in the main hall is covered with dust, and even the clay statue of the god is missing arms and legs, which looks a bit creepy.

"Uncle, what are you doing..." Before He Yudong could ask a question, the old man pushed him down on the broken cushion in front of the altar.

"Young man," the old man rubbed his hands excitedly, "are you serious? Do you really have that...system?"

He Yudong was even more confused: "Uncle, what on earth do you want to do?"

The old man sighed and sat down opposite him. His weather-beaten face was full of sorrow. "Young man, to be honest with you, I have lived for most of my life and have seen all kinds of storms, but this time..."

As he spoke, his eyes turned red: "My precious granddaughter is dying!"

He Yudong then noticed that there was a timid girl hiding behind the old man. She was about fifteen or sixteen years old and had pretty features, but her face was pale, her lips were bloodless, and she looked very frail.

"This child has had a strange disease since he was young," the old man said with a sob, "he has seen so many doctors and taken so many medicines, but there is no improvement. It seems that..."

He wiped his tears and grabbed He Yudong's hand: "Young man, since you have that system, you must have a way to save my granddaughter, right? Please, save her!"

Before He Yudong could react, a system notification sounded in his ears:

"Ding! The host is detected to have triggered a random task: rescue the dying and the wounded."

"Mission requirements: Cure the old man's granddaughter."

"Task reward: Get a random attribute improvement."

"Mission failed: Randomly lose one acquired skill."

He Yudong: ...

This broken system really knows how to take advantage of others’ misfortunes!

He originally wanted to refuse, but looking at the old man's expectant eyes and the girl's pitiful appearance, he couldn't bring himself to say no.

"Uncle, please don't worry," He Yudong tried to appear calm, "I'll give it a try."

He pretended to check on the girl's condition, but he was secretly groaning in his heart.

How could he know any medical skills? The "miraculous healing" skill he just mentioned sounded quite impressive, but he didn't even know how to use it!

"System," He Yudong muttered to himself, "How do I use this skill?"

"Ding! The healing skill has been activated. The host only needs to touch the patient to automatically diagnose and treat him."

So simple?

He Yudong reached out his hand half-doubtingly and gently placed it on the girl's wrist.

A stream of warm air instantly gushed out from his palm and flowed through the girl's body along her meridians.

The girl's body trembled slightly, and then her eyes widened in surprise.

"Grandpa," she exclaimed in surprise, "I feel much better!"

The old man burst into tears and held He Yudong's hand, speaking incoherently with excitement: "Young man, you are really a living Bodhisattva! You saved my granddaughter, you are the savior of our family!"

Before He Yudong could say a few humble words, he felt a black screen in front of his eyes and lost consciousness.

......

When he woke up again, he found himself lying in the woodshed of the dilapidated temple, covered with a tattered cotton jacket.

He struggled to sit up, feeling sore all over and his head dizzy.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully completing the mission: saving the dying and the wounded."

"Mission Reward: Strength attribute +10."

"Host's current attributes:"

"Strength: 20 (normal people are 10)"

"Speed: 10 (normal people have 10)"

"Spirit: 12 (normal people are 10)"

"Skill: Resurrection."

"System prompt: The host's power attribute has exceeded the normal level. Please use it with caution to avoid unpredictable consequences."

Before He Yudong had time to carefully study his attribute panel, he heard a noise coming from outside the door.

"It was this boy who stole my purse!"

"Catch him, don't let him escape!"

He Yudong's heart skipped a beat and he thought to himself that something was wrong.

He remembered that before he fainted, he seemed to vaguely see a dark figure taking something from him...

Damn, I can’t be so unlucky!

He Yudong felt his head buzzing, and the noise in his ears was as noisy as a hundred ducks quarreling. He struggled to open his eyes, but everything in front of him was blurry, with only a bunch of black shadows swaying around.

"Don't play dead, you little brat!" A sharp voice exploded in his ears, "Give me back my purse!"

He Yudong blinked his eyes with great effort, and then he saw clearly that there was a muscular man with a face full of flesh standing in front of him, staring at him fiercely. Behind the muscular man were a few hooligans, rubbing their hands, looking like they were going to eat him alive.

"Where is my purse?" the sturdy man asked again impatiently, his big hand like a palm leaf fan already pressing on the butcher knife at his waist.

He Yudong was groaning in his heart, he had no idea what a purse was. He was aching all over and his head was dizzy, he just wanted to find a place to lie down for a while.

"Brother, I really didn't take your purse," He Yudong forced a smile, "I was knocked unconscious just now, and I woke up here, I don't know anything!"

"Bullshit!" The sturdy man obviously didn't believe his nonsense, "I saw you sneaking behind me with my own eyes, who else could it be if not you?"

"That's right, kid, if you know what's best for you, hand over your stuff right away!"

"You dare to steal our Brother Tiger's things, you are tired of living!"

......

He Yudong was surrounded by this group of people, in a dilemma. He knew that he was so weak that he couldn't fight them, let alone run away even if he wanted to.

"System, is there any way to solve the current dilemma?" He Yudong muttered to himself.

"Ding! The host can use the strength attribute to cause physical damage to the target." The system's cold voice sounded in his mind.

Strength attribute? Physical damage?

He Yudong was stunned for a moment, then he was overjoyed.

This broken system is actually quite reliable at critical moments!

He took a deep breath, slowly stood up, glanced at the thugs in front of him, and a sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"You want your money back, right?" He Yudong stretched his muscles and bones, making a crackling sound, "Then come and get it!"

Before he could finish his words, he had already jumped out like a cheetah and punched the thug closest to him in the face.

"boom!"

There was a dull thud, and the gangster screamed, blood splattered from his nose, and he flew backwards like a kite with a broken string.

"Fuck!"

"This kid is evil!"

Before the remaining thugs could react, He Yudong had already approached them, punching and kicking them like raindrops.

"boom!"

"boom!"

"boom!"

......

Screams and the sound of breaking bones echoed in the ruined temple.

In just a few breaths, all the thugs fell to the ground, wailing.

He Yudong clapped his hands, walked to the stunned man with a relaxed look, and looked down at him: "Now, do you still want your wallet back?"

The sturdy man looked at the thin young man in front of him, as if he had suddenly turned into a ferocious demon. He was so scared that his legs went weak and a warm liquid flowed down his trouser legs.

“No…no…no more…” the sturdy man stammered, “I…I was wrong…please…let me go…”

"Get lost!" He Yudong kicked him in the stomach and said coldly, "If I see you again, I'll break your dog legs!"

The strong man seemed to be pardoned and escaped from the ruined temple in a hurry.