Near North Street in Heavenly Dance City, there was a wonton stall tucked away in an alley.
An Itinerant Doctor was holding a bowl, slurping down wontons with great gusto.
The wontons had thin wrappers and generous filling. The broth was made with little greens, sprinkled with dried shrimp, then topped with chili oil.
The Itinerant Doctor ate until a fine sheen of sweat appeared on the tip of his nose.
A moment later, he swallowed the last mouthful of soup and tossed the huge bowl onto the stack of bowls beside him.
Patting his belly, he let out a satisfied breath.
"Delicious, delicious. If you ask me, Boss, your wontons are truly unmatched in Heavenly Dance City. Zhiwei Restaurant and Green Bamboo Pavilion are both a far cry from you."
The stall owner sat to one side, bored out of his mind.
Business was dismal today. The Chu Family was hosting a banquet with an open feast; anyone who went over and offered a word of congratulations could sit down and drink to their heart's content.
Naturally, no one would come patronize his little wonton stall.
Hearing the Itinerant Doctor's words, the owner was not particularly pleased. Instead, he eyed the doctor warily.
"You're not planning to eat without paying, are you?"
These days, people unable to afford food were everywhere. Though Heavenly Dance City was fairly well governed under Wu Ganqi, it had not reached the point where everyone could eat their fill.
There were also those who did no productive work and loafed around all day. When hunger drove them to desperation, they would go to restaurants and the like to dine without paying.
They would order a whole table of fine wine and good dishes, stuff themselves senseless, then call over the shop assistant, clutch their heads, curl up, and wait for their beating.
Restaurants had big businesses and plenty of hands. Even if they had not hired thugs or martial artists, the kitchen helpers and the men chopping firewood in the rear courtyard could serve as muscle.
After one beating, if someone had a heavy hand, it was easy enough to beat a person to death.
This Itinerant Doctor had finished eating without paying and was still flattering him. No matter how he looked at it, the man did not seem like a good person.
If he truly meant to eat without paying, this little stall of his was nothing compared to a restaurant's great wealth and broad foundation.
Without anyone to back him up, if they came to blows, it was hard to say who would beat whom...
The Itinerant Doctor merely laughed.
"What are you saying, Boss? Do I look like the sort who eats without paying?"
As he spoke, he took out the money for the wontons from his robes and tossed it onto the table.
He got to his feet and gently exhaled.
"I keep feeling like it's going to rain. I hope I'll have another chance to eat your wontons next time."
After saying that, he picked up the banner at his side and headed out of the alley.
Watching his retreating back, the owner curled his lip, gathered up the payment, and tucked it into his robes.
He looked up at the clear sky stretching for ten thousand miles. Where was there any sign of rain?
"Lunatic..."
After muttering that, he swiftly packed up his stall.
He was done working for the day too. He planned to go to the Chu Family's banquet.
After leaving the alley, the Itinerant Doctor headed east all the way. Once outside the eastern city gate, he did not take the main road, but turned onto a narrow goat-track beside it.
When he reached a secluded spot, he tossed the banner into the grass and began taking off his clothes.
But just then, several figures dressed in azure robes appeared and surrounded him.
The doctor's expression froze, and he gave a dry laugh.
"Gentlemen, are you after my money or my life?"
"Come with us."
One of the Azure Robes stepped forward and spoke coldly.
"Fine, fine. So you want the man."
He hurriedly nodded, clasping his hands together as though willing to submit to whatever they did.
Just as one Azure Robe reached behind him for a rope to bind him, the doctor suddenly scattered flowers with both hands. White powder instantly rose, filling the air with a white mist.
Seeing how obedient he had been, the Azure Robes had thought he would be captured as easily as turning over a hand.
Who could have expected such a twist? Apart from one Azure Robe who had remained wary and never approached, all the others were covered from head to toe in the powder.
The next instant, a flash of cold brilliance appeared.
Several of them grunted, clutching their throats as they fell to their knees.
Blood gushed through the gaps between their fingers.
Seeing that things had gone wrong, the last Azure Robe turned and fled... This man had killed several of his companions the moment he struck. He was certainly no match for him and had to return to deliver the news.
But before he had taken more than a few steps, he heard the howl of something cutting through the air behind him.
He hurriedly turned around, only for his body to jolt.
A shuttle dart had already pierced through his throat.
Once the white mist filling the air dispersed, the doctor bared his teeth.
"Troublesome. Truly troublesome...
"They discovered me so quickly? Something's not quite right."
He rubbed his temple and began clearing away the traces at the scene.
Then he stripped off the clothes on his body as well and removed a set of azure robes from one of the dead men. He did not put them on, merely carried them with him.
This was to confuse the pursuers behind him. When they arrived here and saw the doctor's clothes on the ground while one set of their own azure robes had been stripped away, they would surely suspect that he had changed into azure robes.
Yet they would not know that beneath his outer garments, he wore a set of fitted black clothes.
After creating the false impression that he had fled eastward, he finally leaped into the air and hurried north.
He had sent those behind him east to search for someone in azure robes. Who would have thought that he would be dressed in black and heading north instead?
After traveling like this for half an hour, winding this way and that, he finally relaxed once he was certain there were no pursuers behind him.
Just as he was about to continue onward, his expression suddenly changed.
He whipped around and saw a figure leap into the air. With one palm extended, it seemed as if an invisible wall of force had risen all around him.
"Azure Void Palm!!"
He could scarcely believe his eyes. The Azure Void Palm was the Chu Family's secret art, never passed beyond their bloodline.
Within the Chu Family's inheritance, it was a palm technique that ran from beginning to end.
At the start of cultivation, its power was ordinary, but as one's Ruoxu Scripture inner force grew, its marvelous effects gradually emerged.
How had someone from the Chu Family tracked him here?
But though the thought flashed through his mind, he did not hesitate. He brought both palms together, facing them vaguely toward each other, while something like veins seemed to flow between them.
Then he turned his hands and thrust them forward.
A vast force erupted from his palms and collided fiercely with the palm force of the Azure Void Palm.
Boom!!!
A muffled blast rang out, but the doctor inwardly relaxed.
Though this person used the Azure Void Palm, his internal cultivation was insufficient. He could not bring out the palm technique's true might and had been sent flying through the air by that strike.
He was not an assassin. He was a contact man.
Though he did not know which member of the Chu Family had made the move, he had no desire to tangle with him.
Taking advantage of his opponent's retreat, he turned to leave.
Yet the instant he turned around... a longsword suddenly pierced straight through his shoulder.
"What..."
Though shock filled his heart, his reaction was not slow in the slightest.
The instant his opponent pulled the sword from his body, the doctor used the momentum to turn around. Inner force concealed in his palm, he was about to strike at the slightest movement, but when he turned, there was nothing behind him.
Then a chill ran through both his ankles. He no longer had the strength to stand and dropped to his knees with a thud.
A bloodstained longsword rested against his neck.
An incomparably familiar voice sounded beside his ear.
"Bai Qi, you came back to life. Why didn't you tell me?"