Fair Skin Tinged with Red

After Zhao Wanqing left, Lin Heng did not stay idle and went straight to find Sun Hao.

The two of them drank wine and roamed the streets, mainly to deepen their bond.

Of course, by bond, it meant the heart-to-heart understanding between villains. Aside from that, there was another purpose.

That was to use Sun Hao's eyes and conspire together to make a killing in Swallow Cloud City.

Lin Heng put up the funds, Sun Hao put in the effort, and the profits were split seventy-thirty.

In less than half a day, every major treasure shop and jade store, especially anything connected to gambling on wealth and treasure hunting, had practically been looted clean by them.

However, this behavior quickly drew sanctions from quite a few shopkeepers. Before the two had even stepped inside, they were driven straight back out.

"Brother Lin, I think we should call it a day. Don't you feel like quite a few people are watching us?" Sun Hao said cautiously.

"We did make a big scene. Let's sort out the haul first!" Lin Heng nodded.

He turned back and looked around, and found that quite a few people were casting glances at the two of them from time to time.

An ordinary man was innocent, but the jade disk he carried was his crime.

There was nothing to be done. They had obtained too many things through treasure gambling, so it was inevitable that people would set their sights on them.

"I have three crystal stones here, one Green Iron Stone, and one Red Shine Stone." After opening his Storage Pouch and taking stock, Sun Hao replied.

"I also have a Green Iron Stone, and a pile of essence ores... How about this, give me the Red Shine Stone."

"Here."

"Give me the Red Obsidian, Purple Gold Iron, Ice Prism Crystal, and other essence ores among the five-element type materials. How about all the remaining Meteorite Essence Ore goes to you?"

"Ah? Brother Lin, are you sure you want to give all the Meteorite Essence Ore to me? All this Meteorite Iron put together would be enough to forge a divine weapon."

Lin Heng waved his hand. "I have no use for it. We're each taking what we need. I can't just hog all the good stuff. There'll still be chances to work together in the future, won't there?

"I put up the money, you put in the effort. There are far too many treasures in the Thirteen Cities of the Western Continent."

Sun Hao's pair of eyes that could recognize treasures had truly come in handy today. What Lin Heng lacked now were essence items related to the five elements.

These crystals were enough for him to refine for a period of time.

"Hahaha." Sun Hao did not stand on ceremony any longer either. He cupped his fists and said, "Then it would be disrespectful to refuse. After tomorrow's Auction Feast, Dad and I will leave Swallow Cloud City. When we meet again another day, Brother Lin, you can't fight me to pay for the wine."

"Until we meet again!"

After seeing off Sun Hao, this helper he had picked up for free, Lin Heng did not return to the inn. Instead, he took advantage of the fact that night had not yet fallen and went to a proper Medical Hall.

He got himself a full set of meridian tuina massage services.

Some other day, pillow-side feelings would part with the night; life was not only about burying one's head in cultivation, but also the clouds beside the pillow and the blue lamp's candlelight.

Swallow Cloud City · Zhao Mansion.

At this moment, two figures stood within the ancestral hall of the Zhao Mansion. The brightly lit surroundings stretched their shadows long, projecting them all the way to the edge of the door.

"Qing'er, you saw that person? Did you retrieve the White Tiger Essence Jade?"

"Replying to Mother, the jade pendant has already been retrieved... and I also met that young master. It's just..." Zhao Wanqing hesitated for a moment.

The woman's gaze rested faintly on the spirit tablets in the very center of the ancestral hall. Enshrined there were all the ancestors of the Zhao Family.

At the end of the last row, Zhao Zigong was precisely Zhao Wanqing's father.

"Just what?"

"That Young Master Lin seemed to have seen through my purpose, including the White Tiger Essence Jade. He even knew there was another piece in existence."

The woman's pupils gradually widened. She turned to look at Zhao Wanqing and murmured, "There can be no mistake. The Chosen One your grandfather spoke of is him."

"The White Tiger Essence Jade is the lead to finding Medicine King Valley, and also the Secret Key to obtaining the Medical Ancestor's inheritance of the Alchemy Path... The Zhao Family obtained the right person and harmony, yet could not obtain the right timing. Only someone who truly bears Dragon Qi can resonate with the White Tiger Essence Jade."

"Whether it was him saving you in Zigu, or you unintentionally gifting him the White Tiger Essence Jade, both are part of the right timing. The heavens truly aid the Zhao Family!"

"If you can become Dao companions with him, whether it is resolving the illness on your body or obtaining the Medical Ancestor's inheritance of the Alchemy Path, it will all be as easy as turning over a hand."

Hearing this, Zhao Wanqing's face first showed surprise, then changed into bashful annoyance. "Mother, what are you saying... If even the Medical Ancestor's inheritance of the Alchemy Path cannot resolve your daughter's illness, then no matter how I befriend a Dao companion, it will be of no use."

"Besides, that Young Master Lin and I can't even be considered acquaintances. How could we possibly become Dao companions?"

"My silly girl, Mother only hopes that you can attach yourself to this person. I did not say you had to forcefully raise it to that level. You, ah, after hearing so much, your attention only landed on the two words 'Dao companion.'

"If my guess is correct, that Young Master Lin you mentioned should be someone with an extraordinary bearing and appearance. Just mentioning him, look at your little face."

"What's wrong with my face!?"

"Your fair skin has gained a tinge of red." Zhao Mother teased.

"Mother!! Cough, cough!!" Zhao Wanqing coughed several times in a row.

"All right, all right, Mother won't tease you anymore. That Young Master Lin of yours wants to borrow our Zhao Family's name to participate in the Auction. This is the perfect chance for you to get better acquainted with him. If he takes a fancy to anything, our Zhao Family will pay for it, and we can gain a favor as well.

"There is no need to rush the matter of the White Tiger Essence Jade. You already occupy the right timing and human harmony, so simply wait quietly for the opportunity."

"Thank you, Mother."

"Now let's talk about your assassination!" Zhao Mother's gaze suddenly turned cold. A trace of restrained anger appeared on her exquisite, flawless face. "Do not concern yourself with the disasters of Hedong Land anymore. Regardless of whether those people are from the Dynasty or not, you cannot muddy yourself in these waters."

"Those people deliberately released disaster sicknesses. No matter what purpose they have, if the Dynasty sits by and does nothing, it still is not the turn of Medical Clans like us to act. Otherwise... there will always be people who treat us as Sages who rescue suffering and save the afflicted."

"Mother knows what you want to say. The matters of your father, your grandfather, and your great-grandfather will not just be left at that. The Zhao Family already has no capital left.

"You were born with illness. If you perish there, how is Mother supposed to face the ancestors of the Zhao Family after death?"

"I... I understand. Mother, don't worry. Wanqing knows what to do now. The Zhao Family cannot be without me. I will definitely live on."

Zhao Mother took her hand in relief, and mother and daughter leaned against each other just like that.

Hedong Land was located in the easternmost part of the Western Continent, at the narrow junction where the eastern and western continents met, belonging to the buffer zone in between.

Eighty years ago, the first disaster erupted in Hedong. Poison fog spread unchecked, and the Zhao Family's old ancestor Zhao Gengfeng went there and never returned.

Sixty years ago, the second disaster erupted in Hedong. A strange purple-blood disease spread, and Zhao Wuji, Zhao Wanqing's grandfather, unfortunately contracted the strange disease and remained there.

Thirty years ago, the Zhao Family head, together with the leaders of three other Medical Clans, vowed to resolve the calamity of Hedong, but after arriving in Hedong, they lost all contact.

Not long after that, the identity jade tablets enshrined in the ancestral hall shattered. Three generations of the Zhao Family, grandparents and grandchildren who had practiced profound medicine to aid the world, remained forever in that peril-ridden land.

Now, no matter what, she could not let her precious daughter go there to die.

The night was bright with sparse stars, and cloud mist billowed thickly.

Very soon, the great sun pulled open a golden curtain from the horizon, telling the world that a new day was about to arrive.

Lin Heng opened his eyes and stretched his limbs, then walked to the window and looked outside. He saw that a carriage bearing the distinctive mark of the Zhao Mansion had already stopped by the side of the street.

The person standing beside the carriage was precisely the servant who had accompanied Zhao Wanqing in Zigu that day.

"Yo-ho, you came pretty early!"