Fang Shuwen paid no attention to the clamor outside.
He pushed through the door and turned into the room on the left.
The room was small, with a table and a bed. A woman lay on the bed.
She was Lu Guiyan, the young chief escort of the Lu'an Escort Agency.
Lu Guiyan was not bad-looking, but her face had a faint bluish tint.
"She's definitely been poisoned."
Fang Shuwen came to her side and lifted the blanket for a look. The wound was on her arm and had already been bandaged.
A faint, bloody stench seeped through the fine cloth, and the blood clinging to it was black.
He checked her pulse. It was so faint as to be almost undetectable.
Fang Shuwen shook his head gently.
"She's practically at death's door, and they're still worried about sharing the blame.
"They're either stupid or wicked."
He first undid the bandage around her wound. Poison and blood were mixed together, and letting them flow freely was better than covering them up.
Then he helped Lu Guiyan sit up, circulated his Qi through one palm, and slowly pressed it against her back.
As his internal force entered her body, Lu Guiyan's figure trembled slightly.
[Muscle Tendon Change] itself had the power to treat poison. He wouldn't claim it made him immune to all poisons, but it was certainly no ordinary technique.
Compared with the medicinal ingredients Mo Beidou had bought, which did nothing for her condition, using internal force to treat the poison was more reliable.
Moreover, the poison in Lu Guiyan was clearly inferior to the [Qi-Severing Powder] Li Nanchen had used on the people at the Pearl Pavilion. That [Qi-Severing Powder] had lain hidden in the body, and Fang Shuwen had been unable to detect even a trace of it.
But he quickly determined the nature of the poison now in Lu Guiyan.
Using his internal force, he forced the poison into one place, then sent it back out the way it had come.
Thus, streams of black blood could be seen slowly flowing from the wound on Lu Guiyan's arm.
After roughly the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the blood that emerged was no longer black, but bright red.
Only then did Fang Shuwen slowly withdraw his palm.
He glanced beside the bed and saw a small knife, which had probably been used to treat her wound earlier.
But without removing the poison, treating the wound was useless. Fang Shuwen now picked up the knife and cut away the rotten flesh around Lu Guiyan's wound.
It was naturally somewhat painful. Lu Guiyan let out a muffled groan and actually opened her eyes.
She first looked around the room, her gaze finally settling on Fang Shuwen. A flicker of surprise and wariness appeared in her eyes.
"Who are you?"
Fang Shuwen looked up and met her eyes, then lowered his head and continued working.
"Fang Shuwen, from the Four Seas Martial Hall."
"You're Escort Mo's junior brother?"
It wasn't that Mo Beidou had mentioned him to her. Rather, Mo Beidou was the eldest senior brother of the Four Seas Martial Hall, so someone Fang Shuwen's age had to be his junior brother.
Fang Shuwen nodded, then frowned.
"Don't move. If the rotten flesh isn't removed, the wound will fester and cause a high fever.
"One slip, and you really could lose your life."
In plain terms, the wound would become inflamed and trigger a high fever.
Lu Guiyan was no ordinary woman and naturally understood this, so she endured the pain and let Fang Shuwen work.
After quite a while, Fang Shuwen felt he had done enough and finally took some wound medicine from his robes.
It could stop bleeding, promote the growth of flesh, and reduce inflammation, making it the ideal choice for injuries from blades and swords.
The bottle Fang Shuwen had was one he had looted from Zhou Qingmei's Lakeheart Cottage. He carried it with him in case he needed it.
He hadn't expected to use it here.
He applied the wound medicine for her, then found some clean fine cloth and bandaged the wound again.
During the process, Lu Guiyan felt all the discomfort the poison had caused her disappear.
Now she felt only weakness and the pain from her wound.
She looked at Fang Shuwen in surprise.
"The poison in my body?"
"I forced it out."
Fang Shuwen spoke nonchalantly.
"No need to thank me. I only helped for my eldest senior brother's sake."
Lu Guiyan, however, was startled.
Others might not know, but she knew full well that the poison in her body was no easy thing to deal with. Otherwise, she could have forced it out with her own internal force. How would she have ended up in such a state?
This young man had dealt so casually with something she couldn't do herself... just how capable was he?
Since when had the Four Seas Martial Hall become so unfathomable?
Surprised as she was, she didn't dare be discourteous and hurriedly sat up on the bed.
"No matter what, you saved my life, brother. I, Lu Guiyan, am endlessly grateful."
"I wouldn't dare accept that. Just don't make my senior brother pay with his life."
Fang Shuwen sneered.
Lu Guiyan was taken aback. She immediately realized that Fang Shuwen had most likely encountered opposition before treating her.
She gently let out a breath and got up from the bed.
Fang Shuwen glanced at her.
"Can you manage?"
"Yes!"
Lu Guiyan stood up and felt her True Qi circulate without any obstruction. As her internal force flowed through her body, her previously feeble body gradually regained a little strength. After taking a couple of steps, she felt better than she had while lying in bed.
She breathed a great sigh of relief and thought even more highly of Fang Shuwen.
She came to the door and pushed it open.
Sun Qian was still confronting Mo Beidou in the courtyard, and the tension between them was now on the verge of erupting.
Mo Beidou had planted himself in front of the door, refusing to let Sun Qian take a single step past him.
When the door opened, Mo Beidou instinctively turned around and was immediately overjoyed.
"Young chief escort, are you all right?"
"I took a trip to the gates of the King of Hell's palace. If your junior brother's divine skill hadn't reached the heavens and snatched me back, I'm afraid I'd have finished drinking Meng Po's soup by now."
Mo Beidou burst out laughing.
"That's because you're blessed with great fortune and a long life, young chief escort. Otherwise, how could I have run into my junior brother here in Guangning City?"
With that, he turned to Sun Qian.
"What do you have to say now?"
A strange look flashed through Sun Qian's eyes, followed by delight.
"That's wonderful! Nothing matters more than the young chief escort being all right.
"I acted that way earlier because I was worried sick. Old Mo... don't hold it against me."
"I can let it go, but my junior brother can't be made to swallow this indignity!"
Mo Beidou snorted.
"He came here full of zeal to save someone, yet you obstructed him at every turn. Don't you owe him an apology?"
"Yes, yes, of course."
Sun Qian nodded repeatedly. Just then, Fang Shuwen also came out of the room, and Sun Qian hurriedly bowed deeply to him.
"I failed to recognize Mount Tai and underestimated this brother. Please forgive me."
Fang Shuwen glanced at him but paid him no further attention. Instead, he looked at Mo Beidou.
"Eldest senior brother, can you tell me what happened now?"
Mo Beidou scratched his head and looked at Lu Guiyan. Only when he saw her nod did he speak.
"We were on this trip to protect two clients, but somehow, the Fierce Tiger Gang suddenly ambushed us.
"Those people are terribly treacherous. Their sudden attack caught us completely off guard.
"The young chief escort was hit by a dart in the chaos, and we fled to Guangning City and found a place to stay... You know what happened after that."
Fang Shuwen nodded and glanced at the two people in the courtyard who stood out from the rest. He figured they were the clients Mo Beidou had mentioned.
Then he heard Lu Guiyan say:
"Brother Fang, since you're Escort Mo's junior brother, I have the audacity to make an unreasonable request.
"Your skills are remarkable, Brother Fang. I wonder if you could temporarily join us and help complete this escort job?
"Once it's done, the Lu'an Escort Agency will reward you generously!"
[ Ding! New protection mission detected! ]