Ling Huan had a lot to say to Brother Jiu, that bastard, but in the end, he still arranged for Brother Jiu to take Gu Chengxue back to the Ling family first.
He had to send the children home himself.
As for how to explain things to Yan Qing, Ling Huan just brushed it off, saying the person was a petty thief who tried to rob him, and got away with it.
He felt there was more to this matter, so it was best not to let the child get involved.
Still, his care for these children hadn’t been in vain.
Seeing his arm injured, every single one of them got frantic, clamoring to take Ling Huan to get treated.
They said that outside Qingmu City, on Sijiao Zhishan, a martial arts school had opened.
Not only was the headmaster highly skilled in medicine, but he even treated patients for free.
Now everyone was going there for treatment.
Some cried, some shouted, and those with strength simply dragged him along.
Especially one little girl—she looked delicate, but her strength was absurd, carrying him right on her back!
A seven-year-old girl, one meter sixty tall!
Taller than Ling Huan himself!
Fortunately, Brother Jiu the “coward” always carried a strip of cloth for staunching blood.
After Ling Huan bandaged his mangled arm, he desperately explained to the children until the little—no, big—girl finally set him down.
After sending the children home, Ling Huan hurried straight back.
Brother Jiu squatted at the door, and after telling him where the woman was being held, Ling Huan immediately had him lead the way.
“Young master, you really don’t know how to cherish the fairer sex. That woman got it bad from you—had all her teeth knocked out, her face swollen, her nose broken! And she’s even been poisoned!”
Brother Jiu teased Ling Huan, but deep down he was full of admiration for him.
He was also shocked.
So the rumors about Qingmu City were true after all.
Brother Jiu hadn’t believed it at first.
After all, as a hidden guard who followed Ling Huan every day, how could he not know if Ling Huan had a master?
But the young master really had gained cultivation skills, which made him feel uneasy all this time.
After all, there were plenty of fake spiritual root scams out there, using special tricks to let people temporarily store spiritual energy, making it look like they were at the Qi Refining stage.
It wasn’t just him—other guards thought so too.
They knew all too well how bitter cultivation was.
They’d originally planned to have Brother Jiu secretly protect Ling Huan and keep an eye on him in case he got mixed up with any suspicious characters, and then take care of everything at once.
But now, the young master had defeated an enemy even he couldn’t beat… That alone proved the young master was a true Qi Refining cultivator!
And how old was he?
Ten!
A ten-year-old Qi Refining cultivator!
Their young master really was a genius among geniuses!
As for when he took a master… That would be the legendary Nascent Soul cultivator!
Maybe he learned it in a dream!
How could someone at his little Qi Refining level possibly fathom the means of a legendary cultivator?
“It was just luck! Dammit… If it hadn’t been for that woman botching her skills, pretending to be a master and messing up, then getting poisoned by her own needle, would I have survived to come back with you?Cherish the fairer sex?”
“What about you, hiding this from me for so long! Why didn’t you tell me you were a cultivator? Dammit, I thought my parents hadn’t arranged any so-called hidden guards for me! Turns out you’ve been watching over me all along? Doesn’t that mean—”
Ling Huan felt uneasy inside.
All those times he’d secretly flirted with girls or snuck peeks into the brothel… Had they all been seen?!
“Heh, young master, you’ve got quite the range of interests, huh? From married women to pretty young girls, you seem to like them all. But at your age, wanting to go to the brothel… The sky’s the limit for your future! But take a word of advice from your Brother Jiu—you can’t handle that place yet.”
“If you’re really curious, why not give me the money and let me check it out for you? I’ll tell you all about it after!”
“Go, go, go!”
Ling Huan rolled his eyes.
“I was just observing in a critical spirit, not actually interested. I was using my pure, innocent eyes to warn those who’ve gone astray, that’s all.”
“Heh heh. Worthy of being the young master! Truly admirable! But seriously, don’t you want to see the medical hall? There’s a really good one outside the city. Your arm will heal in no time, trust me. Don’t worry, the old master and the others will never find out! Once we’re done there, I’ll take you to another good place!”
But after a bit of teasing, Ling Huan’s mood eased quite a bit.
He knew Brother Jiu cared about him.
But when he thought of that woman, Ling Huan couldn’t sit still.
At first, he thought she’d killed Brother Jiu and Yan Qing, and was just a brute—he wanted her dead!
But after learning the truth, Ling Huan instead started to care about the motive.
Since it was a targeted assassination, there must be a reason.
And since she didn’t show her true face, but disguised herself as Lin Chuan—the one who’d had a conflict with him—it looked like someone was trying to stir up trouble between him and Liuyun Pavilion—or rather, the Nascent Soul master he’d made up.
Ling Huan realized he’d oversimplified things.
He’d thought that in a place like Qingmu City, no one would dare lay a finger on a Nascent Soul disciple.
If they couldn’t prove he was genuine, they wouldn’t dare risk it.
Plus, he was always spending freely and not hiding at all, which made him look all the more confident.
He’d thought this bluff would be enough, but now he’d been utterly slapped in the face.
But now that he thought about it, maybe his status was set too high, so no one believed him?
Hmm…
Thinking alone wouldn’t solve anything.
Ling Huan followed Brother Jiu to the place where the woman was held.
Opening the woodshed door, Ling Huan saw Gu Chengxue lying there like a dead pig, face unrecognizable, poison spreading through her whole body.
Her hands and feet were bound, but her consciousness seemed to have returned somewhat.
She kept mumbling something, probably crying out in pain.
“Brother Jiu, I need to question her alone.”
“Young master, that’s too dangerous.”
“Brother Jiu, could you go and fetch Teacher for me? She’s seen a lot, maybe she can find some clues from this person.”
“…”
Brother Jiu wanted to say more, but he’d rarely seen Ling Huan look this serious and solemn.
His impression of Ling Huan was always smiling.
“Yes, young master.”
Brother Jiu left the woodshed to fetch Jiang Yue.
Ling Huan used this window of time to gently touch the poison on her.
The poison instantly shifted into the woman’s body, and Ling Huan’s finger sucked it in like a black hole.
There was none of the previous discomfort.
His body seemed to have adapted to the poison, and its effects were weakened.
Ling Huan no longer felt the continuous surge of spiritual energy he had before, only a faint pain in his arm that was slowly fading.
It seemed, if he wanted to use poison to boost his strength, he could only do it once, and there was a time limit too?
He’d have to test it with Jiang Yue to be sure.
At least the poison from this woman no longer did anything for Ling Huan.
Earlier, he’d broken her fingers, picked up a bundle of straw from the ground, stuffed it straight into her mouth, then—
Snapped her arms and legs with force.
“Uhhhh—mmm mmm mmm!”
The excruciating pain jolted her fully awake, but with a mouthful of straw, she couldn’t make a sound.
But… Was that really a scream?
Ling Huan… Why did it sound like the tone was off?
Liu Han didn’t care much, though.
He just pulled out a simple healing pill he’d bought at Lingyun Pavilion—a basic one for external injuries—and shoved it into Gu Chengxue’s mouth, waiting for her muffled moans to become steady breathing.
Only then did Ling Huan coldly ask, “You…”
But as soon as he uttered “you,” Gu Chengxue immediately turned to him and, in an extremely fast and eager tone, said, “My name is Gu Chengxue. Whatever you want to ask, I’ll answer. I’ll tell you everything I can say, anything you want to know.”
Ling Huan was caught off guard, because Gu Chengxue’s gaze was just too intense.
The way she looked at him, it wasn’t like she was looking at someone who had kidnapped, tortured, and beaten her half to death.
It might sound narcissistic, but it felt like Gu Chengxue was a fangirl who’d fallen for his handsome face.
Ling Huan knew he wasn’t bad looking, but surely he wasn’t that handsome?
“What is your goal? Who are you?”
“My goal? To fan the flames,” Gu Chengxue said frankly.
“As for who I am? That, I can’t say. But I can tell you this—I’m in Qingmu City for a purpose, but that, too, I can’t say.There are certain restrictions. If I speak, I’ll die on the spot.”
Ling Huan couldn’t judge if she was telling the truth.
It wasn’t that Gu Chengxue’s swollen face made it hard to see her eyes.
It was just that Gu Chengxue seemed far too honest.
What had he done to make Gu Chengxue this open with him?
After all, he’d beaten her head into a pig’s, and broken her arms and legs.
In that situation, why would she be honest?
He hadn’t killed her, but not out of pity—he just wanted to know more about Gu Chengxue and the information she held.
Normally, anyone would keep such information as a bargaining chip.
But look at Gu Chengxue—she didn’t act like she was bargaining at all.
It was like she was some traitor, eager to hand over all the intel.
And Gu Chengxue seemed to notice Ling Huan’s confusion.
“Young master, if you’re asking about my own goals, then I can tell you. I want to fan the flames, to cause lots of trouble for the power behind me—even if it means my own death, it’s fine. But if you want to know my organization’s goals, all I can say is that it’s related to Qingmu City.”
“Qingmu City?”
Ling Huan was confused.
Never mind fanning the flames or using others to kill, but what about Qingmu City could be so attractive?
It’s just a remote little city with thin spiritual energy—there’s nothing here.
Gu Chengxue seemed to read Ling Huan’s mind and answered, “As far as I know, Qingmu City does have something, but nobody’s sure what. As for whether other places have people like me infiltrating, I can’t say. But—”
Gu Chengxue said sincerely, “But since the people behind me sent me here, this place must be important.I am also the only personal disciple of a Nascent Soul cultivator.”