Already Here

Wen Rou listened to Chu Qing's words, pondered for a moment, and said:

"But if he gets away, that puts me in a difficult spot...

"I can keep the poison from spreading, but I can't undo it."

"How long can you keep it under control?" Chu Qing asked.

"About one shichen...

"After one shichen, it will spread from my palm through my meridians.

"At most, I have roughly ten shichen left before I die."

Even as Wen Rou said this, her expression barely changed.

It was as though whether she lived or died had nothing to do with her.

Chu Qing nodded.

"Can you move?"

"No."

Wen Rou answered honestly.

"Then excuse me."

After saying that, Chu Qing carried Wen Rou into the house, seeming to have completely forgotten about Mei Qianluo.

After settling Wen Rou on his kang bed, Chu Qing said:

"You stay here and slowly keep the poison under control. Don't let it spread.

"I'll go find you an antidote."

Wen Rou thought for a moment.

"Then be careful."

Chu Qing was speechless.

"You really trust me? You don't even know who I am..."

"I trust you," Wen Rou said without a ripple in her voice. "After all, if you hadn't stepped in just now, I'd already be dead."

That made sense. Wen Rou was Chu Fan's junior sister; if not for the monk's sake, then for the Buddha's. No matter what, Chu Qing could not let her die before his eyes.

He immediately smiled.

"Then stay here peacefully and wait for me to come back."

With that, he picked up his saber and went out.

He also began considering where he ought to move tomorrow.

This place was probably no longer safe to live in...

Originally, it had been hard to say whether Wen Rou might invite Chu Fan over as a "guest." But now that he had saved her life, the possibility that she would invite Chu Fan over to repay that life-saving favor had become boundless.

So he had to move.

Still, when he thought back on what had happened tonight, he could not help but feel some emotion.

It truly was not easy to survive in this kind of world.

If the one living here tonight had not been him, but an ordinary commoner, and two jianghu people had inexplicably come to fight and kill atop his roof—

When he woke the next day and saw the corpses in the courtyard, who knew how badly he would be frightened?

And given Mei Qianluo's caution, perhaps he would not even spare the owner of this courtyard.

After all, Mei Qianluo himself had said that his scheme was vast, and he could not leave behind the slightest trace.

To ordinary people, this was a calamity fallen from the sky, with no room whatsoever to resist.

"This is still within Heavenly Dance City. Wu Ganqi may not be a peerless hero of great talent and broad strategy, but he can still be considered capable of governing well.

"Yet even so, it is difficult to put an end to such things.

"The hardships of the world often point their needles at ordinary people..."

As he thought, Chu Qing followed the traces Mei Qianluo had left behind.

He was an assassin. Tracking was one of his greatest skills.

Mei Qianluo had lost an arm to him. The blood could not possibly be stopped in a short time, leaving behind even more flaws.

Finding him could not have been easier.

So Chu Qing was not afraid of him running away. If he ran, Chu Qing might instead pull up the radish and bring out the mud.

After the initial numbness had passed, the wound on Mei Qianluo's arm now hurt so badly that even his breathing trembled.

Waves of violent dizziness crashed over him, making his suffering unbearable.

Along the way, he not only had to guard against pursuers who might be behind him, but also take care to avoid the Heavenly Dance Guards.

If the Heavenly Dance Guards discovered him, the situation would become worse beyond measure.

The only thing worth celebrating was... that young man did not seem to intend to pursue him.

At least so far, everything behind him had remained quiet.

"Who exactly was he?

"That girl named Wen Rou was poisoned by me. Without an antidote, she would most likely not survive twelve shichen.

"I can only hope that young man does not send her to the Chu Family. Otherwise, my identity will no longer stay hidden."

Mei Qianluo staggered onward, feeling that his condition had already deteriorated to the extreme.

But soon...

His residence was just ahead, and Second Boss Mystic Staff Crouching Dragon, Ge Jingchun, was there now.

As long as he returned here, he would be safe.

Afterward, he could have the Second Boss make a trip himself and kill those two people. Then this matter would be settled.

With that thought, a fresh burst of strength arose from nowhere.

He forced himself not to fall, but those few short steps felt as though he had walked for half a lifetime.

At last, he slammed violently into the courtyard gate and burst it open.

The sound of the gate breaking was especially piercing beneath the silent night sky.

There were people in the courtyard, and more than one.

Mei Qianluo raised his head and looked at the scene within the courtyard, momentarily bewildered.

Mystic Staff Crouching Dragon was clutching a black-clad man by the throat and holding him aloft in midair.

Disturbed by the sound, he furrowed his brow and turned toward Mei Qianluo. When he saw Mei Qianluo's severed arm, his pupils contracted slightly.

"What happened?"

With a casual flick, he flung the black-clad man from his hand. The man had luckily not died and lay on the ground coughing without pause.

Mei Qianluo could not help asking:

"And what is going on here?"

"A fish that slipped through the net from the Xia Family. He has some skill. Without a sound, he followed us here. After you went out, he thought he had found an opening.

"He wanted to poison my teacup. I played along and lured him out... It took a bit of effort."

The moment Ge Jingchun mentioned the Xia Family, Mei Qianluo understood.

The Xia Family was a renowned clan within the Divine Sand Gang's territory.

But unlike the Chu Family, which was a jianghu aristocratic family, they were wealthy merchants, possessed of vast fortunes.

All along, they had been a money pouch for the Divine Sand Gang to take from as it pleased.

Yet the Xia Family had clearly been unwilling to let the Divine Sand Gang bleed them dry to the marrow. In secret, they had sought to defect to another power.

After the Divine Sand Gang discovered this, it slaughtered all one hundred and thirty-plus members of the family overnight, seizing every last bit of their wealth.

Yet unexpectedly, there was still a fish that slipped through the net among them.

Mei Qianluo glanced at the black-clad man and let out a soft breath.

"Fortunately, he could not hold himself back. Otherwise, he truly might have ruined the great undertaking...

"No, Second Brother Ge, leave this man to me.

"I encountered an expert. Not only did I fail to kill my target, but in a single exchange, that man severed one of my arms."

Upon hearing this, Ge Jingchun's somewhat aged eyes flashed with solemnity.

"I thought you had killed him at the cost of your life. He severed one of your arms, yet he himself was unharmed, and he simply let you go?"

Mei Qianluo froze and instinctively said:

"We had no grudge against him, he..."

At that point, he could not continue.

His entire face had gone terrifyingly pale.

Just now, A Single Leaf Blinds the Eye. Since Chu Qing had not pursued him, he had assumed the other man did not wish to kill him all.

But in reality, was that possible?

"You have lost too much blood. Even your mind has grown muddled."

Ge Jingchun's face darkened. He took a pill from his robes and tossed it to Mei Qianluo.

"That man has likely already arrived."

At these words, Mei Qianluo felt a layer of icy chill form throughout his body, even in his blood, cold to the bone.