Embroiderer Won't Wake Up?

"How dare you hurt the Wild Wolf Gang's men! You're courting death!"

The speaker was a bald, muscular man with a bare upper body. A long scar ran across his face from his right ear all the way to his chin, and half his ear had been sliced off.

Seeing the Wild Wolf Gang members' hands and feet chopped off, the burly man roared and punched at Li Shengnan's head.

"Whoosh!!"

Before his fist reached her, the wind from it came howling in, stinging Li Shengnan's cheeks. Seeing how fast he was, she knew she couldn't draw her saber in time and instinctively raised it across her body to block.

Bang!

The blade slammed hard against Li Shengnan's arms. The tremendous force sent her flying into the courtyard wall.

With a crash, the wall collapsed, and rubble quickly buried her.

Her opponent was at the Mid-Stage Flesh-Refining Realm, a cut above even Huo Zheng. Li Shengnan's arm bones had been broken not long ago and had yet to heal completely. The punch broke them again, sending unbearable, stabbing pain through them.

"Pfft!"

Li Shengnan spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of her internal organs.

Her face was deathly pale. The punch had injured her badly.

"Huh, interesting. You've got some thick skin."

A trace of surprise flashed through the bald man's eyes.

Li Shengnan was only at the Late Skin-Refining Realm, yet a punch he'd put his strength behind had merely injured her badly.

He glanced down at the unconscious Embroiderer on the ground, and a flash of admiration crossed his eyes.

"No wonder the Incense Master can't get this woman out of his mind. She really does have a charm all her own." The bald man's gaze traveled up and down Embroiderer's perfect, curvaceous figure. He instinctively rubbed his head and couldn't help swallowing. If the Incense Master hadn't taken a fancy to her, given his usual way of doing things, he would have had his way with her right there.

A trace of regret crossed the bald man's face. He picked up Embroiderer, tossed her into the carriage, and prepared to leave.

"Wait!"

Li Shengnan braced herself on the Cold Iron Saber and struggled to her feet, her legs trembling.

"You can't take her away!"

Li Shengnan gritted her teeth and blocked his path.

"Heh heh!"

At the sight, the bald man couldn't help laughing. "So there really are people who aren't afraid to die! Good, then I'll send you on your way!"

With that, the bald man raised his hand, his face vicious, and struck at Li Shengnan's face with his palm.

Li Shengnan was already seriously injured. Given the bald man's strength, if the palm strike landed squarely, she would undoubtedly die.

Even so, there was still not a trace of fear in her eyes.

She knew she absolutely could not retreat.

Junior Brother Qin had entrusted Embroiderer to her, so she couldn't let this man take her away!

Just as Li Shengnan was about to die under the palm strike, Pei Heng arrived with his people at the critical moment. Xiong San was among them.

"Stop!"

Xiong San shouted, and the terrifying presence of a Bone Refining Realm expert bore down on the bald man like overturning mountains and seas.

"A Bone Refining Realm expert! Xiong... San!"

The bald man's expression changed drastically, and his whole body shuddered. Most of the force behind his palm strike drained away in an instant, but the remaining force still landed on Li Shengnan.

With a pfft, Li Shengnan flew high into the air like a kite with its string cut, before crashing heavily to the ground, barely breathing.

"Shengnan!"

"Senior Sister!"

Lu Liu hurried forward.

Li Shengnan was barely conscious. Blood flowed from all seven of her facial orifices, the bones in both arms had been shattered, and every rib in her chest was broken, nearly piercing her lungs and internal organs.

"Senior Sister! Senior Sister!"

Lu Liu carefully held a hand beneath Li Shengnan's nose, but could feel only the faintest breath.

"Master, Senior Sister is dying!"

"What?!"

Pei Heng flew into a rage and hurried over, leaning on his cane.

Xiong San's face turned grim.

His senior brother had only just arrived in Qingyang County, and one of his disciples had nearly been beaten to death in the street. As the county yamen's chief constable, Xiong San found it an utter disgrace!

Xiong San strode forward. His fierce presence frightened the bald man and the others into dropping to their knees and begging, "Spare us, my lord! Spare us!"

"You're with the Wild Wolf Gang?!"

Xiong San recognized them.

"Yes, my lord, we are indeed with the Wild Wolf Gang. We were acting on orders this time. It has nothing to do with us, so please show us mercy."

The bald man cupped his hands and spoke with great courtesy. After all, the man before him was not only the chief constable but also famously ruthless.

"Show you mercy?"

Xiong San threw back his head and laughed, his gaze growing colder as he looked at the bald man. If the commotion hadn't attracted so many passersby, he would have killed the bald man and his companions on the spot.

"Men! Arrest them and throw them in the Water Prison. I'll interrogate them myself later."

"Yes, my lord!"

Xiong San's voice was cold.

The bald man and the others knew Xiong San's methods and didn't dare resist, allowing several yamen runners to tie them up.

Given Xiong San's nature, resisting would only give him a reason to act, and they would surely die miserable deaths.

"Take them back! I'll question them when I return!"

Seeing that none of them resisted, Xiong San's eyes flashed with killing intent.

They think I won't have a reason to act if they don't resist? How naive! Once they were in the Water Prison, not even a man of iron could withstand Xiong San's interrogation methods.

"Shengnan!"

After examining Li Shengnan's injuries, Pei Heng's heart sank.

Her breathing was extremely weak. Unless she received treatment quickly, she would soon breathe her last.

"Don't worry. As long as I'm here, she won't die."

Xiong San reached into his robes, took out a pill bottle, and tipped out a red pill the size of a mung bean. He pried open Li Shengnan's mouth and dropped it in.

"A Qi-Blood Pill!"

Pei Heng was overjoyed and heaved a deep sigh of relief.

With this Qi-Blood Pill, Li Shengnan's life was finally hanging by a thread.

Sure enough, after taking the Qi-Blood Pill, Li Shengnan's breathing gradually steadied, and a little color finally returned to her face.

"All right, take her inside and let her rest."

Xiong San spoke.

"Something's wrong! Master, come quickly! There seems to be something wrong with Embroiderer!"

Lu Liu seemed to have noticed something, and his heart sank.

Pei Heng and Xiong San immediately went over to examine her and soon found that something was wrong. Her eyes were tightly shut, and her body was ice-cold.

"She was given an overdose of a secret drug. This can kill her!"

Xiong San's expression changed drastically.

If it had been poison, that would have been better. An antidote could have cured her, and she would have been fine.

But this was a knockout drug.

Taking too much of it could leave a person in a deep coma, perhaps even unable to wake up ever again.

"We're done for! How are we supposed to explain this to Junior Brother now?!"

Lu Liu's face was filled with deep remorse.

They had barely managed to escape Qingshan Town, and on their very first day in Qingyang County, Li Shengnan was gravely wounded and near death, while Embroiderer was in a deep coma. If Junior Brother returned and found out, wouldn't he turn Qingyang County upside down?

"Go, fetch a physician!"

Xiong San summoned an old physician to examine and treat Embroiderer.

The old physician carefully checked Embroiderer's pulse, a trace of regret appearing on his face. "An overdose of knockout drug. I'm afraid..."

"Afraid of what?"

Lu Liu asked hurriedly.

"I'm afraid... she may never wake up again."

At those words, Lu Liu's face turned deathly pale.

Given Qin Ming's methods, the Wild Wolf Gang would surely pay a terrible price!

"Isn't there anything we can do?"

Lu Liu pressed, unwilling to accept it.

"Unless a miracle occurs... or you could try using a spiritual medicine. It might help her wake up."

The old physician shook his head and left. Xiong San personally escorted him out of the room.

"Junior Brother, this physician is the most skilled in Qingyang County. Even he says there's nothing to be done. I'm afraid Embroiderer can't possibly wake up."

Xiong San shook his head and sighed. "My condolences. I'll get to the bottom of this and give Martial Nephew Qin an explanation!"

With that, Xiong San turned and left.

Looking at Embroiderer and Li Shengnan lying on the beds, Pei Heng let out a long sigh.

None of them had expected that after escaping bandits and ghosts, they would encounter something like this even after reaching the Qingyang County yamen.

I hope Qin Ming can remain a little more levelheaded when he returns.

Pei Heng thought to himself.

He had some idea of the place Embroiderer held in Qin Ming's heart. Now that she was in this state, Qin Ming would surely pursue the matter to the end.

Thinking of the severed limbs, pools of blood, and stark white bones in the dense forest, Pei Heng couldn't help shuddering. He held a moment of silence for the Wild Wolf Gang.

Of all the people they could have provoked, they just had to provoke a madman!

Even he, the madman's master, was afraid of him.

The Water Prison.

After receiving Xiong San's special attention, the bald man quickly confessed everything from beginning to end.

"The Wild Wolf Gang! Fuck, I should've known it was that beast Yan Yue-Ren?!"

Xiong San cursed furiously. The yamen runners beside him exchanged glances, and the anger in their eyes soon gave way to helplessness.

On the surface, Yan Yue-Ren was merely an incense master of the Wild Wolf Gang. In truth, he had another identity that outsiders would have had difficulty discovering.

He was the county magistrate's brother-in-law.

The county magistrate's most favored concubine was Yan Yue-Ren's own younger sister.

This was also the fundamental reason the authorities had always turned a blind eye, despite all the things Yan Yue-Ren had done.

What angered Xiong San was that Yan Yue-Ren had actually set his sights on his martial niece this time.

"Constable Xiong, I advise you to let us go as soon as possible. Incense Master Yan is still waiting for us to return with news."

The bald man said coldly, "I'll report your use of torture on me in private to the Incense Master exactly as it happened. You'd better think of what you're going to say when you explain yourself to the county magistrate!"

Hearing this, the others began shouting as well, showing no regard for Xiong San in their words. After all, the county magistrate outranked Xiong San by a great deal. Once the magistrate gave an order, wouldn't Xiong San obediently carry it out like a dog?

At those words, the faces of the nearby yamen runners changed. They exchanged glances and quietly withdrew. Soon, Xiong San was the only one left with the prisoners in the Water Prison.

A chill ran through them, and they had an extremely bad feeling.

The corners of Xiong San's mouth slowly rose, and the killing intent in his eyes surged.

"Explain? If I kill you, won't that spare me the need to explain?"

"Xiong San, you... what are you going to do?! No!!"

After several loud crashes, the Water Prison quickly fell silent.

Outside, the yamen runners looked at one another without a word, all pretending they hadn't heard anything.

This Water Prison in Qingyang County had once held quite a few prisoners, but as time passed, their numbers dwindled, until now there was not a single one left.

That was because Xiong San had killed all the prisoners who had been there.

The yamen runners were warier of Xiong San than outsiders were, even afraid of him.

Not long ago, during the campaign against Clearwind Stronghold, Xiong San had killed several hundred men by himself, striking terror into the stronghold. His fearsome reputation had been forged through killing.

Footsteps sounded.

Xiong San soon walked out.

"Go in and clean up. Throw the corpses to the dogs. Write a report later saying they refused to submit to discipline and tried to ambush and murder me in the Water Prison, so I had no choice but to kill them in self-defense. You hear me?"

"We heard you, my lord."

Xiong San nodded in satisfaction.

Meanwhile, Qin Ming, completely unaware of what had happened at home, had arrived at the black market.

The so-called black market was a place where stolen goods were traded in private.

Many things couldn't be disposed of openly, and no one dared buy them, but here, as long as you could pay the price, they were yours.

As Qin Ming walked along, he saw stalls on both sides. Many offered martial arts manuals, weapons, and the like. The weapons were stained with blood and reeked of it; one look was enough to tell their owners had died not long ago.

Qin Ming stopped and started along the way, occasionally leafing through the martial arts manuals at the stalls.

Most were ninth-grade, incomplete versions of external arts. There wasn't a single internal cultivation manual among them.

Qin Ming immediately made up his mind.

That meant the six martial arts manuals he carried could all fetch a good price, especially the stance training manual from the Tiger Martial Arts Academy. It was a complete internal cultivation manual, a treasure many people dreamed of obtaining.

Qin Ming's robes were stuffed full of banknotes.

He had taken them from Yuan Lie and the Qingshan Town gentry. Together, they amounted to several thousand taels.

Qin Ming bought some Qi-Blood Powder and a large bag of tiger meat.

Although he was already at the Late Skin-Refining Realm, he still needed to replenish his Qi and blood. Tiger meat was highly nourishing for martial artists, especially those in the Flesh Refining Realm.

Qin Ming wandered around and eventually stopped in front of a stall.

It had dozens of martial arts manuals on display, but aside from the names and introductions on the first pages, they were all blank paper.

"Shopkeeper, do you have any body-hardening martial arts?"