Chapter 77.1: Why Do You Force My Hand? (I)

Official Xia paced back and forth in his daughter’s room, consumed by anxiety. The moment Lu Changsheng stepped inside, Official Xia hurried toward him and caught him by the hand.

“Physician Lu, you’re finally here. Please, you must save my daughter,” he pleaded in a trembling voice.

“Official Xia, don’t panic. Let me first see what has happened to Lady Xia.”

Lu Changsheng walked toward the bed but froze at the sight of Lady Xia. She had been tied down. Her face was drained of color, her eyes vacant. Her hair hung loose and messy, and she kept whispering the same name again and again.

“Zhang Lang… Zhang Lang…”

She is completely out of her senses! No wonder Official Xia was frantic. If this continued, she could lose her mind entirely or slip into an unresponsive state.

Lu Changsheng sat by Lady Xia’s bed and asked her a few questions, but she was utterly incoherent. He then asked her personal maid about her condition before taking her pulse. Fifteen minutes later, he rose to his feet.

“Physician Lu, how is my daughter?” Official Xia asked, his voice filled with worry.

Lu Changsheng glanced around the room, checking who was present.

“Physician Lu, speak freely,” Official Xia said quickly. “Everyone here can be trusted. Aside from my wife and me, only my daughter’s maid is present.”

Lu Changsheng nodded. “Official Xia, I warned Lady Xia that she must avoid the bewildering incense at all costs. But her condition makes it clear she was exposed to it again. And this time, the dosage was even stronger.”

“What? Again?!” Official Xia’s voice cracked with anger. He turned to the maid. “Xiao Mei, you serve her day and night. Tell me the truth. Who did she see?”

Lady Xia was in no state to shield her, and a lie now could cost her life. She dropped to her knees, trembling so hard her voice barely came out.

“It… It was Young Master Tan. Lady Xia met him once during an outing outside the city, and… and they exchanged letters afterward. Lady Xia grew fond of him, and she forbade me from telling Master or Madam.

“Then she fell ill with that strange sickness, and their contact stopped. But after she recovered, she went out to meet him again. Who could have known she would fall victim to bewildering incense once more…”

Xiao Mei then fell to the floor, begging over and over again, “Master, Madam, please spare my life!”

Official Xia’s face turned dark. In a household of their standing, a scandal like this was disastrous. But instead of exploding immediately in anger, his expression hardened, and a cold, murderous aura rose around him.

“Where is this Young Master Tan?” he demanded.

“This… Xiao Mei does not know,” she whispered. “Each time, it was Young Master Tan who sent the letters and arranged the place to meet…”

Bang!

“Useless!” Official Xia snapped, kicking Xiao Mei over. “Find him! Turn the entire city upside down if you have to, but bring this Young Master Tan to me!”

“Master, please calm yourself. This must be handled quietly, or our daughter’s reputation will be ruined…” Madam Xia urged, gripping his sleeve.

Her words eased his anger slightly, though the murderous intent in his eyes did not fade. He turned to Lu Changsheng. “Physician Lu, can she be treated?”

“Yes,” Lu Changsheng replied. “I will prescribe another set of medicine. With a few days of rest, she will recover. But this time, we must do everything we can to ensure Lady Xia isn’t exposed to bewildering incense.”

Lu Changsheng wrote the prescription and quickly left the room. The affairs of wealthy households were not matters he wished to involve himself in. As for this Young Master Tan, Official Xia would certainly deal with him on his own.

***

Several days slipped by in a flash. By Lu Changsheng’s count, he had already spent more than ten days in Yan City, and during that time Lady Xia’s condition had noticeably improved. Her mind had cleared, and with just a bit more medicine, she would make a full recovery.

Yan City had quieted down as well. Ever since Lu Changsheng struck down the Blackwater Gang’s leader under the identity of Zhuang Shisan, the city had been spared the trouble that gang had always caused. The Blackwater Gang had long been a bane to Official Xia’s authority, even with all the influence he held. Naturally, Zhuang Shisan’s intervention had benefited him greatly. With their chief dead, the gang’s hall masters were now too busy scrambling for the vacant seat to bother the Xia Clan.

As for how Official Xia intended to deal with Young Master Tan, Lu Changsheng had no idea and did not care. All he knew was Lady Xia had been placed under strict confinement, and no further word was spoken on the matter.

With nothing left to keep him in Yan City, Lu Changsheng decided it was time to leave. He went to Official Xia to offer his farewells.

“Official Xia, Lady Xia’s condition has stabilized. The way things are looking, she’ll make a full recovery soon,” Lu Changsheng said plainly. “With my duty fulfilled, I will now return to Nanyang City.”

Official Xia did not appear surprised. Instead, his expression brightened into a smile. “I understand, Physician Lu. I have to say, your remarkable skills show that you have truly lived up to Old Wu’s teachings. Now, my daughter recovered because of you, so please don’t refuse a small token of my appreciation.”

He gestured to a nearby servant. “Bring two hundred gold taels for Physician Lu.” Then he turned to a guard nearby, “Liu, take a squad and escort Physician Lu out of the city. Make sure he reaches Nanyang City safely.”

“Yes, Master,” Liu replied and left at once to ready the men and the carriage. As an Organ Refinement martial artist, Guard Liu was not someone Official Xia dispatched lightly. Sending him showed how highly Official Xia regarded Lu Changsheng.

Lu Changsheng accepted Official Xia’s goodwill without protest; it was payment he had rightfully earned. With the matter settled, he returned to his room to pack his belongings.

Lady Xia did not come to see him off, but given her confinement and fragile state, Lu Changsheng hardly expected otherwise. When he was ready, he stepped outside, where the carriage and guards were already waiting.

Lu Changsheng climbed into the carriage and began his journey back to Nanyang City. The carriage rolled steadily toward the city gates, and before long, the group had left Yan City behind and entered the peaceful stretch of bamboo forest outside the walls.

However, the peaceful journey was suddenly disrupted.

Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!

From both sides of the bamboo forest, arrows shot out from both sides of the forest, piercing the guards escorting Lu Changsheng’s carriage. They collapsed to the ground one after another.

Liu also took a hit to the hand. Normally, he would have brushed off a small wound like this, but when he saw it turning black, his eyes widened with fear. In the next moment, his body went limp and he fell hard onto the ground.

“Poison…” he managed to choke out before his final breath.

To die of mere poison seemed pitiful for a man of his skill, but this was no ordinary poison. This was a rare toxin that killed almost instantly.

Inside the carriage, Lu Changsheng’s expression darkened. The attack had been so sudden that there was no way he could have intervened. For the enemy to take out an entire unit led by an Organ Refinement expert so quickly, they must have come prepared.

But this again showed how vulnerable martial artists in the Body Tempering Realm were. No matter how skilled they were, they could still be killed by weapons.

With Guard Liu dead, the rain of arrows stopped. Then a group of martial artists dressed in black emerged from the bamboo forest with an elderly man and a young man leading them.

“Lu Changsheng, come out. I know you are still alive,” the young man shouted.

Lu Changsheng lifted the carriage curtain and stepped out of the carriage. He studied the group but recognized no one. One thing he noted was that they addressed him by his real name, meaning they knew nothing about his other identity.

His thoughts turned immediately toward the Xia Clan. Are they after me because I treated Lady Xia?

“So,” he said calmly, looking at the young man leading the group, “how is it that you know me?”

The young man smirked. “Of course. You are a disciple of Wu Jing, the renowned physician of Nanyang City. But I did not expect your medical techniques to be so skilled that you could save Lady Xia from the bewildering incense.

“If not for you, Lady Xia would already be in my hands, and the Xia Clan would soon fall under the control of the Myriad Poison Cult. You ruined everything. So tell me, why should I let you live?”

Lu Changsheng’s eyes narrowed slightly. “I take it you’re Young Master Tan?”

The young man let out a cold laugh. “So you’ve figured it out.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep