*Tap, tap, tap.*
Gu Wangchen rested his hand on the hilt of the Taixu Cangyue sword at his waist and stepped inside.
The light was dim, and the air was humid and stifling. Aside from a small window on the roof, the room was airtight.
The smell of damp earth was heavy inside. The scent of blood mixed with the odor of low-quality herbs rushed into his nostrils, making Sikong Yue shudder.
Countless people dressed in hemp clothes with ulcerated skin lay haphazardly on the earthen beds lining both sides of the room. Their breath was as thin as silk, and their voices were raspy.
‘What is going on?’
The girl had originally thought they would find a group of people eyeing them like prey, but she had not expected a… clinic?
She glanced at the herbs on the people’s rotting skin and the piles of discarded cotton gauze in the corner, nodding secretly to herself.
‘Consider it a clinic, then.’
“Sirs, the people here are poor souls from the alleys who cannot afford doctors or medicine. I thought I would bring them together so they could help each other. There is no problem with that, is there?”
The dark-skinned Kunlun Slave carefully tucked away the banknotes and bowed as he stepped in front of Gu Wangchen to explain.
“…”
Gu Wangchen glanced at the people lying on the beds and said nothing. He pulled Sikong Yue aside and asked, “Are you sure the aura of those attackers led to this room?”
“Yes,” Sikong Yue whispered, nodding. Her beautiful eyes swept over the surroundings. After confirming no one was paying attention to them, she stood on her tiptoes and whispered into Gu Wangchen’s ear, “There is only one aura. A single person must have fled here alone.”
‘A lone person?’
Gu Wangchen’s brow arched as a deduction immediately formed in his mind.
‘They likely split into two groups. This person… is a discarded pawn meant to delay us.’
After all, the left path he and Sikong Yue had taken was more crowded, making it easier for them to hide. Therefore, under the assumption that they did not know about Sikong Yue’s tracking abilities or that he had sent An Li to monitor them from the shadows, leaving one person here to stall them was the most logical choice.
‘But are these guys really that confident? Can they be sure the one used as a pawn won’t betray them?’
Since they were so confident, they could not blame him for being ruthless.
“Sikong Yue, go. Check them one by one,” Gu Wangchen whispered his command.
“I understand!”
The girl nodded slightly, closed her eyes to focus her breathing, and began to move back and forth between the two rows of beds, checking each person.
“What is your name?”
Gu Wangchen leaned against the doorframe. His gaze did not linger on the groaning patients for long before returning to the Kunlun Slave in front of him.
“In response to the lord, this lowly one is called Wang Youli.”
*Ho,* he even had a Central Plains name?
“The name is not bad. It implies one who listens to reason.” Gu Wangchen smiled faintly and pointed into the room. “Are all these people homeless in Sheng’an City?”
“Yes. They are all bitter-fated people with nowhere to go, just scraping by in these alleys,” Wang Youli replied with his head down, his eyes fixed on the floor.
“Is that so?”
Gu Wangchen’s smile vanished, and his voice turned cold. “This official is busy with public affairs and has no time to listen to your stories. Where is the person who just ran in? Hand them over of your own accord. It will save both of us the trouble.”
Wang Youli did not move, remaining hunched over. “You must be joking, sir. There are only patients here; no one ran inside. We are only running a clinic to save lives. We have neither the intention nor the courage to oppose the government.”
His mouth was quite stubborn.
Gu Wangchen tapped the hilt of his sword with his finger, intending to apply more pressure. However, he saw Sikong Yue, who was searching the room, suddenly stand up straight. With a solemn expression, she beckoned him over.
Gu Wangchen’s heart stirred. Ignoring Wang Youli, he walked quickly to Sikong Yue’s side.
The two of them arrived at an earthen bed in the corner.
“He is dead.”
Sikong Yue pointed at a figure lying on the bed and whispered, “He severed his own meridians. His heart is completely shattered.”
“Is it the person we are looking for?”
Sikong Yue did not speak, only nodding silently.
“Did he just die?”
“His body is still warm. He has not been dead for long.”
Gu Wangchen looked at the corpse and remained silent.
He stepped forward, unbothered by the filth, and reached out to grasp the deceased’s palm.
There were thick callouses at the base of the thumb, marks left by years of wielding a blade. The knuckles were thick and deformed, clear evidence of practicing external martial arts.
He brushed aside the dead man’s disheveled hair to reveal his forehead.
There was a distinct line between black and white skin — the kind of mark left by wearing a helmet for years in the sun.
“A military man,” Gu Wangchen judged. “Your intuition was correct. This person was likely a colleague of Wei Yang.”
There was an extremely high probability that he was a soldier of the Anxi Army.
However, this guy was truly ruthless toward himself. The moment he sensed someone entering, he severed his own meridians without a second thought.
Gu Wangchen straightened up and glanced at Wang Youli out of the corner of his eye.
It seemed this man knew he could not escape. Seeing that Wang Youli was blocking the way outside and had not exposed him, he chose to commit suicide to avoid implicating the room full of sick people and the man who had sheltered him.
‘He is a man of character.’
Putting everything else aside, he had not disgraced the integrity of a soldier of the Great Qian.
But why would these soldiers come to Sheng’an to carry out a terrorist attack?
Gu Wangchen frowned, sensing that the reason behind this was not simple.
At that moment, Wang Youli also walked over silently. Looking at the corpse on the bed, a trace of undeniable emotion flashed through his large, bell-like eyes. Although he quickly suppressed it, Gu Wangchen still caught it.
“Do you know him?” Gu Wangchen asked suddenly.
Wang Youli’s body stiffened. After a long silence, he finally stopped hiding it and sighed. “I know him.”
“He was from the Anxi Army. Two years ago, he came to Sheng’an. At that time, I was almost beaten to death on the street. He stepped in to save my life and even gave me half a flatbread.”
He looked at Gu Wangchen, a hint of pleading entering his voice. “Sir, he was just passing through. I only let him hide here to repay his kindness. Everyone else here is innocent. Please, sir… stay your hand.”
“I told you, I am only here to investigate a case. I do not kill the innocent indiscriminately.”
Hearing Wang Youli’s words, Gu Wangchen nodded. This completely confirmed the identity of the attackers.
“However, this clinic of yours…”
Sikong Yue spoke up from the side. She looked around at the terrible environment in the room and could not help but frown. “These conditions are too poor. How can you save anyone?”
She pointed at the ulcerated wounds. “This kind of trauma is most sensitive to filth. It is airtight in here, and you have everyone crowded together. If you want to cure them, you must at least dig up this mud floor and lay down lime. You also need clean hot water, cotton cloth, and…”
She listed the requirements one by one, according to the standards she had seen at the Sword Sect’s infirmary.
Wang Youli gave a bitter smile and interrupted her. “Lady hero, if we had the money to arrange the things you mentioned, we would not be the Beggar Gang.”
He pulled the banknotes Gu Wangchen had given him earlier from his robe and patted them carefully. “However, thanks to this lord’s reward, we can at least buy some decent medicinal salve and replace a few sets of clean bedding.”
As he spoke, he bowed deeply to Gu Wangchen again. “My brothers outside were ignorant and offended you two earlier. I apologize to the lord on their behalf.”
Gu Wangchen waved his hand, not bothered by it.
Sikong Yue was somewhat curious and could not help but ask, “By the way, since you are the Beggar Gang and usually only seek money, why were you so… hostile toward us outside?”
As a gifted cultivator of the Fourth Realm, Sikong Yue believed her perception of killing intent was very sharp.
The way the beggars outside had looked at them did not seem like they were looking at fat sheep, but rather at enemies.
Wang Youli straightened his back and pointed at the brocade robe on Gu Wangchen’s body.
“Lord Gu, do you know why these people have rotting skin and can only lie here waiting to die?”
Gu Wangchen’s brow twitched. He did not respond to the question but instead asked, “You recognize me?”
Since entering, aside from taking out the Empress Dowager’s gold medallion, he had never introduced himself.
Did the people in this slum recognize him as well?
Was his face really that well-known now?
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.