In the side hall, the charcoal fire burned brightly, driving away the chill that seeped in through the cracks in the door.
Wang Meng dismissed everyone else and personally poured Ji Ye a cup of hot tea. It was coarse tea, but he poured it with great care, not spilling a single drop.
"Mr. Ji, please."
Wang Meng sat opposite him with both hands on his knees, the posture of a soldier awaiting orders. Though he addressed him as sir, the trace of doubt deep in his eyes had not fully faded.
After all, though that display just now had been astonishing, claiming it could make him County Lieutenant was a little too fantastical.
Ji Ye picked up the teacup and warmed his icy fingers.
"I know what you're thinking."
Ji Ye blew aside the foam and took a light sip. His voice was somewhat weak, yet carried the clear-eyed lucidity of one who saw through fire itself. "You're thinking, how could a scholar too weak to truss a chicken dare promise you a future?"
Wang Meng fell silent for a moment before admitting frankly, "Sir, I won't deny that your insight is divine. But officialdom isn't the martial world. A fast blade alone may not be enough to rise through the ranks. And besides..."
He patted his left leg and gave a bitter smile. "This leg has been crippled for five years. I sought out every famous physician in the prefectural city, and all said my meridians had necrosed—beyond even the immortals' rescue. You say you can treat it. I believe you, but I still can't quite put my mind at ease."
"Necrosed meridians?"
Ji Ye set down his teacup, his gaze falling upon Wang Meng's left leg.
Within the vision of [Martial Dao Heavenly Eye], that leg was not necrosed at all. Rather, between the "Futu Acupoint" and "Xiyan Acupoint" at his knee lay a mass of old black-red congealed blood, like a stubborn boulder blocking the path of his qi and blood.
To ordinary physicians, this was a terminal illness. To Ji Ye, who possessed Microscopic Control, it was no more than a small job of unclogging a pipe.
"Roll up your trouser leg," Ji Ye said flatly.
Wang Meng froze, then did as told, exposing a calf covered in scars, its muscles somewhat atrophied.
Ji Ye used neither needles nor a prescription.
He extended his index and middle fingers, pressing them together in a sword-finger gesture.
"Bear with it."
Before the words had faded, Ji Ye's fingers had already struck like lightning.
"Pa! Pa! Pa!"
Three crisp cracks rang out.
Ji Ye's fingers struck three major acupoints around the knee with unerring precision.
Each tap sent an incomparably pure force, concentrated into a thread, through flesh and skin. It was not inner force, but pure physical vibration. Yet through control refined to the finest hair's breadth, it pierced straight through the muscle layers and struck the mass of congealed blood.
"Ugh!"
Wang Meng let out a muffled grunt, cold sweat instantly beading across his brow. It felt as though a red-hot awl had drilled into the gaps between his bones.
"Qi and blood like mercury—charge!"
Ji Ye shouted low, pressing his final finger heavily upon the "Zusanli Acupoint."
"Pfft—"
Wang Meng felt his left leg convulse violently. Then a warm sensation spread from his knee, like a river frozen for years suddenly thawing.
The blocked congealed blood was shattered and rejoined the surging current of qi and blood.
That long-lost sensation of standing firmly upon the ground had returned.
Wang Meng's eyes widened. He tentatively moved his toes, then rose and took two steps.
It did not hurt anymore.
The agonizing pain that had tormented him for five years, that made him want to saw off his leg whenever rain and gloom arrived, had actually faded by more than half!
"This... this..."
Wang Meng was so excited that he could barely speak. Childlike delight appeared upon his fleshy face. "Miraculous! Truly miraculous!"
"I only dispersed the congealed blood. The root of it hasn't been eliminated yet."
Ji Ye wiped his fingers, his face turning several shades paler. Those few strikes had drained a great deal of his mental strength and placed no small burden on his current body. "Apply several plasters that invigorate the blood and disperse stasis afterward. Rest for a month or so, and you'll make a full recovery."
"Thud!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Wang Meng dropped to his knees like a golden mountain collapsing and a jade pillar falling, then heavily kowtowed to Ji Ye.
"Mr. Ji, I will never forget the grace of giving me a new life! From this day onward, Team Ding... no, the entire constable division of the Black Stone County yamen will obey your command! If I speak one false word, may heaven strike me with thunder!"
This was a bow from the bottom of his heart.
To a martial man, healing a crippled leg was equivalent to giving him a second life.
Ji Ye accepted the bow calmly.
"Get up."
Ji Ye pointed at the paper and brush on the table. "Now that your leg is healed, your saber technique can't be left behind. Your Severing Gate Saber has only nine moves?"
Wang Meng rose and stood respectfully at the side. "Yes. I learned it in the border army's scout camp back then. They said it was an incomplete manual, and there should have been three more moves afterward, but they were unfortunately lost."
"They weren't lost."
Ji Ye picked up the brush and dipped it deeply into the dark ink.
In his previous life, he had seen the complete saber manual for Severing Gate Saber in Qin Wuji's military camp. He had even developed it to a higher realm through countless battles.
The brush danced like a dragon and snake.
Ji Ye's hand was steady. With only a few strokes, he sketched several tiny figures wielding sabers onto the paper.
The lines were simple, yet their spirit was complete.
"These first nine moves are too fierce and rigid. They break easily."
As Ji Ye drew, he said, "I altered the routes of force for you. Look at this move, 'Sweep the Thousand Armies.' Originally, it relied on brute waist strength to swing the saber. Now, use your footwork to turn your body and borrow the momentum. Its force will increase by thirty percent, and it won't injure your waist."
Wang Meng leaned closer for a look, and his eyes instantly went blank.
When an expert made a move, one immediately knew whether there was substance.
Following the alterations in the diagram, how could this still be that crude military saber technique? It had simply shed its mortal frame and exchanged its bones!
"As for these final three moves..."
Ji Ye finished drawing the last three figures and tossed down the brush.
Tenth move: Look Back at the Moon.
Eleventh move: Snow Blocks Blue Pass.
Twelfth move: Severing Gate and Ruining Household.
"I came up with these myself," Ji Ye said indifferently. "They were designed specifically for your build and this Wild Goose Feather Saber. Master them, and within the Skin Grinding Realm, you'll be invincible."
Wang Meng held the still-wet sheet of paper, his hands trembling.
He could tell that the profundity of these final three moves far surpassed the first nine. Especially the last move, "Severing Gate and Ruining Household"—sinister, vicious, and fatal in a single strike. It was practically a work of art born solely for killing.
"Thank you for your instruction, sir!"
Wang Meng clasped his fists again. This time, he bent even lower.
If healing his leg had earned his gratitude, then this had won his complete submission. In his eyes, anyone capable of casually completing and even improving a saber technique was already a grandmaster-like existence.
"Enough. The benefits have been given. It's time to discuss serious business."
Ji Ye leaned back in his chair, his fingers lightly tapping the tabletop. "I need money. A great deal of money."
This body was far too weak. Though [Martial Arts Through Divinity] was formidable, without a powerful body to support it, it was like putting a Ferrari engine into a bicycle. One stomp on the accelerator, and the frame would fall apart.
He needed medicinal baths, meat, and resources piled up as they had been in his previous life.
"How much does sir need?" Wang Meng immediately asked. "I've saved up some assets these past few years, around two hundred taels. I'll go fetch them now."
"Two hundred taels? A cup of water against a cartload of firewood."
Ji Ye shook his head and looked through the window toward the south of the city.
That was the Ghost Market.
In his previous life, he had fought his way in with an Intimidation Stick.
In this life, he intended to eat by a more elegant method.
"I heard the Ghost Market recently received a batch of fine goods?" Ji Ye asked.
Wang Meng froze, then nodded. "Yes. The Black Tiger Gang just brought in a batch of Crimson Blood Ginseng from the Western Regions. They say it has miraculous effects in replenishing qi and blood. But the Black Tiger Gang are iron roosters. Trying to pull teeth from their mouths won't be easy."
"Crimson Blood Ginseng..."
A glint flashed through Ji Ye's eyes. This was exactly what he urgently needed.
"No need to pull teeth."
Ji Ye rose and straightened his sleeves, a strange smile curving at the corner of his mouth.
"We'll go help them 'appraise their treasures.'"
"Wang Meng, gather the men. Bring the seals."
"Say the county yamen received a report that Barbarian spies are selling counterfeit medicine in the Ghost Market, intending to poison the people of Great Liang."
"We're going to... seize the place."
Wang Meng was stunned.
This excuse... wasn't it a little too far-fetched? The Black Tiger Gang had roots deeply entrenched in the county. Even the County Magistrate did not dare move against them lightly.
"Sir, Black Tiger Gang Leader Zhao Hei Hu is at the Peak Skin Tempering Realm, and he has four Red Sticks under him..." Wang Meng hesitated.
"Zhao Hei Hu?"
Ji Ye chuckled and walked out the door.
"After today, he'll kneel and beg us to take that batch of medicine."
"Let's go."
"Let me show you what it means to... persuade people with reason."
Before you continue