When Tang Peng and Liu Sheng returned to the peach farm, Tang Peng was instantly put to work, labouring away in the fields. The peach farm was at least a few kilometres away from the main town. As Tang Peng was extremely tired, Liu Sheng has been wheeling the cart, and walked side by side with Tang Peng.
The area that it encompassed was so vast that Tang Peng could feel death looming behind him. No wonder that previous labourer was reduced to such a state. He had thought that he would only be dealing with a few trees, but these trees were quite big as well.
"Look at this peach. I only raise the Roaring Tiger Peach type. If you look carefully here, you can see the image of a tiger. Make sure to treat the peaches as gently as possible. If you damage my produce, I will restrain your pay for three months." Liu Sheng was giving advice casually to Tang Peng, who had started plucking the various peaches, while eating a peach on the side.
"Can you not eat while talking? It's very distasteful." Tang Peng blurted out, upon seeing that Liu Sheng was spitting out the peach's flesh while talking. His mother had ingrained this habit of his into him when he was young.
"It's my property, I can do whatever you want! Now that you have learned the basics, I want to see 10 buckets of peaches by the end of today!" Liu Sheng walked away, leaving Tang Peng to his own devices. Once he left, Tang Peng had a resentful look. He took the peach that he was holding, and bit inside.
He could not begin to describe how incredibly bitter the peach was. It was if someone had concentrated bitter gourd and increased it by 100 times. He retched it out immediately.
After looking at the inside of the peach that he had bit into, he could see that it had already rotted. However, it maintained a beautiful outside, tempting others to devour the whole thing in one go.
"How can he sell these peaches to people? Wouldn't others complain? Otherwise, does he have a method to reverse this?" Tang Peng looked at the fruit, intrigued by the mysterious figure known as Liu Sheng.
"I feel so lethargic... the peach." Tang Peng then started swaying. He gripped onto one of the branches tightly to act as support for himself. He understood that this was probably an effect of the peach. What exactly was going on in this peach farm?
He quickly slipped off the trunk onto the ground, since it would be too dangerous if he just dropped off the treetop. As he tried to retain his consciousness, his eyelids were constantly drooping, as he entered a hazy state.
"It's too heavy..." As Tang Peng's eyelids dropped down, he was completely knocked out. As a result could not see a thin root extending from the base of the trees, and plunging into his leg, as a golden substance started draining from his body to the tree, conducted by the roots. The tree started to shine brightly and slowly grow bigger, along with its fruits spontaneously growing out of the branches.
***
The soft warm air caressed Tang Peng's skin, as he felt someone calling for him. "Just 5 more minutes..." Tang Peng muttered under his breath softly. Then, he was whacked on his head by a powerful fist, which made him come awake instantly.
"Stop being a dumbass, and I wouldn't have to do you like that. You ate the peaches, didn't you?" Liu Sheng immediately accused Tang Peng.
"What... Yes... No!" Tang Peng was still in a groggy state, but when he finally comprehended the question, he quickly denied it. He didn't want to lose his job on the first day for eating a random peach.
"You shouldn't have. Do you know what this peach does to you? It degenerates your muscles and takes away your life force, you know?" Liu Sheng said this with a grim face. Tang Peng looked at his body, and realised that it had become quite grey, and had several wrinkles on it.
"So... how do I recover from it?" Tang Peng grabbed Liu Sheng's hand, and gripped it tightly. A passion could be seen in his eyes, showing how desperate he was.
"Well... first, you need to extend your contract by 6 months. Then only can I give you the special formula to detox this poison." Liu Sheng took out another contract, urging Tang Peng to quickly sign it.
Tang Peng then stared him dead in the eyes. Both of them locked into each other, and killing intent was released. However, on Liu Sheng's side, the killing intent was almost suffocating. Liu Sheng then suddenly tossed the antidote to Tang Peng, who drank it down like a refreshing drink. Both of them withdrew their killing intent, so surprised at their coincidental meeting, that they started laughing.
"You're a fellow martial artist too? Who would have thought a 15 year old like you would be a martial artist? You hid your strength well back there." Liu Sheng has not expected someone so scrawny to survive the Roaring Ghost Peach tree's absorption. That killing intent too... only a martial artist who had experienced life and death battles would have it.
"What a coincidence. I didn't expect my employer to be a martial artist too. So, why are you running a peach farm here?" Even though Tang Peng did not know what a true martial artist was, he still went along with the conversation. This might be his chance to come into contact with events that may increase his strength.
"Recently, you know that Li's Healing Potions Shop? I heard they managed to contract an apprentice alchemist recently! I'm planning to get that alchemist to make me a Qi Maddening Pill!" Liu Sheng spoke with great fervour about his plans. He wanted to earn more money, so he can directly offer the alchemist to craft a pill for him.
"Qi Maddening Pill? What's that?" Tang Peng wanted to get more information out of Liu Sheng. He could possibly get more details and identify the pills inside the pill bottles that were sealed inside the ring.