Healing and the Letter

Zheng Hetong lay on the bed, his face utterly bloodless. The room was filled with the sharp smell of medicine.

His meridians were blocked, and he had lost a great deal of blood, leaving him terribly weak. If not for the vigorous vitality of someone in the Innate Realm, these injuries would have been enough to kill him.

"Senior Disciple Brother, everyone, please step outside. I need to treat Master's injuries!"

After examining the injuries, Zhao Ping'an pondered for a moment, then spoke to Senior Disciple Brother Ji Xiangming, the few physicians, and the servants standing nearby.

"All right! I'll stand guard outside the door. Call me if anything happens!"

Ji Xiangming didn't hesitate. He immediately called out and strode toward the door.

As for the finest physicians in South Ridge City, they didn't dare utter a word. Along with the servants, they followed Ji Xiangming out of the room.

Zhao Ping'an put far too much pressure on them!

In his terrible mood, Zhao Ping'an unconsciously let out a trace of the pressure of a Martial Venerable Realm expert. To them, who were no stronger than the Houtian Martial Artist Realm, it was overwhelming.

Once everyone had left and closed the door behind them, Zhao Ping'an carefully lifted the blanket off Master Zheng Hetong as he stood by the bed.

A blackish-red palm print, sunk into his chest right in the center, came into view. It was impossible to miss.

"You injured my Master, kidnapped my Mistress, and killed my servants! I don't care who you are—I'll make you pay for every drop of blood!"

As he stared at the appalling palm print, a red glint flashed in Zhao Ping'an's icy eyes. His killing intent surged.

"Phew..."

After letting out a long breath to steady himself, Zhao Ping'an placed his right hand over the palm print on Master Zheng Hetong's chest.

With a thought, a surging wave of Water True Essence flowed from his palm, slowly seeping into Master Zheng Hetong's body.

At that moment, True Essence's remarkable malleability was on full display.

First, Zhao Ping'an used the gentlest Water True Essence to envelop all of Master's bones, muscles, organs, and flesh. Then, strands of True Essence stretched into countless tentacles, carefully removing the bone fragments from his organs and flesh and setting everything back in place.

The process was painfully slow. He had to account for the position of every fragment while using True Essence to promptly seal and repair the wounds left in the organs and flesh as each one was removed.

Fortunately, Water True Essence was also highly effective at healing injuries. It wasn't as good as the finest Wood True Essence, but it was countless times better than other attributes.

Time slipped by as Zhao Ping'an treated Master Zheng Hetong's injuries, one step at a time.

Mending ribs, clearing pooled blood, sealing wounds, unblocking meridians.

A full hour later, he finally let out a long breath.

Zheng Hetong's breathing was now steady, and the palm print on his chest had vanished without a trace. His face was still pale, but that was only from the blood loss. He just needed some restorative blood-tonic soup, followed by a period of rest while his bones and organs fully healed, and he would recover.

While Zhao Ping'an was treating Zheng Hetong, a letter was delivered to City Lord Zhou Ruiming. The messenger was nothing more than a beggar one could find on any street.

According to the beggar, a person wearing a bamboo hat had asked him to deliver the letter to the City Lord's Mansion, promising him one tael of silver as payment.

One tael of silver would keep him fed and clothed for months if he spent it carefully.

At this critical juncture, even the slightest disturbance was enough to draw Zhou Ruiming's attention.

So the City Lord's Mansion guards didn't dismiss the beggar just because he was one. They immediately delivered the letter to their master.

The letter was enclosed in a large kraft-paper envelope, with no name on it.

Zhou Ruiming carefully opened it and found a smaller envelope and a folded note inside. The smaller letter had no name on it either.

He immediately opened the note. It contained just one sentence:

"Find Zhao Ping'an as quickly as possible and deliver this letter to him in person. Otherwise, you'll bear the consequences!"

"They've made their move? Brother Ouyang, where is Grandmaster Zhao now?"

Zhou Ruiming muttered, then turned to Ouyang Yun beside him.

After what had happened in the city, Zhou Ruiming, naturally cautious, had stayed close to Ouyang Yun this whole time.

"Brother Zhou, is that letter for Grandmaster Zhao? He should be at the Zhao Residence. A scout reported a quarter of an hour ago that he was treating Zheng Hetong."

"Exactly, it's for Grandmaster Zhao. Guards, prepare the carriage!"

At Ouyang Yun's question and answer, Zhou Ruiming nodded and called loudly toward the door.

"Yes, sir!"

"Creak..."

As the tightly shut door slowly opened, everyone in the courtyard looked toward Zhao Ping'an as he emerged.

"Master is out of danger. He only needs some blood-restoring medicinal soup and a period of recuperation to make a full recovery."

Zhao Ping'an spoke softly to the four senior brothers and sisters gathered in the courtyard.

The four brightened, all eager to go in and take a look, but Zhao Ping'an raised a hand to stop them.

"Wait until Master wakes before going in. Third Senior Sister, stay here with two servants and have the blood-restoring soup ready. Give it to Master as soon as he wakes. The three senior brothers, come with me to the City Lord's Mansion. I'm going to rally every force in the city and have them search outside the city!"

After stopping them from entering the room, Zhao Ping'an continued, assigning everyone their tasks.

"Uh... All right. We'll do as you say, Junior Brother."

The four exchanged glances, and Senior Disciple Brother Ji Xiangming nodded in agreement.

"Reporting! Sir, the City Lord is waiting outside the residence!"

As they were speaking, a guard from the entrance hurried in, dropped to one knee, and reported loudly.

"Hmm? Speak of the devil, and he appears. I didn't expect him to come looking for me himself. Let him in!"

"Yes, sir!"

The guard was puzzled by who this "devil" was, but he quickly got to his feet and ran back toward the entrance.

Zhao Ping'an then called his senior brothers and sisters to join him in the nearby reception hall to wait.

"Someone brought you a letter? Is this it?"

In the reception hall, Zhou Ruiming took out the letter and handed it directly to Zhao Ping'an, explaining where it had come from.

"That's right, Grandmaster Zhao."

At Zhao Ping'an's question, Zhou Ruiming nodded.

Zhao Ping'an examined the letter in his hands. After confirming it was safe and hadn't been opened, he broke the wax seal and took out a folded sheet of paper.

"They want me to go alone to Thousand Guts Valley? They want my cultivation technique? Fools!"

After reading the letter, Zhao Ping'an spoke in a low, icy voice.

The message was short and to the point. Before nightfall, Zhao Ping'an had to take to Thousand Guts Valley the cultivation technique supposedly given to him by the Martial King expert he had made up, in exchange for his Mistress, Zhao Xiuyun.

If he didn't arrive before sunset, he would never see his Mistress again. And next time, it would be his Master, one of his senior brothers, or one of his senior sisters who disappeared.