In an alley near North Main Street in Heavenly Dance City, there was a wonton stall.
A Wandering Doctor was clutching a bowl, slurping away with gusto.
The wontons had thin wrappers and generous fillings, with a broth made from tender greens, sprinkled with dried shrimp and topped with chili oil.
As the Wandering Doctor ate, a sheen of sweat appeared on the tip of his nose.
A moment later, he swallowed the last mouthful of soup and tossed the big bowl onto the pile beside him.
He patted his belly and let out a satisfied breath.
"Delicious, delicious. In my view, boss, your wontons are the best in all of Heavenly Dance City. Zhiwei Tower and Cui Zhu Xuan don't hold a candle to yours."
The stall owner sat off to one side, bored out of his mind.
Business was slow today. The Chu Family was hosting a feast, with banquet tables open to all. Anyone who came up and offered a word of congratulations could sit down and eat.
Naturally, no one was stopping by his little wonton stall.
Hearing the Wandering Doctor's praise, the owner wasn't pleased. Instead, he eyed the doctor warily.
"You're not planning to eat and run, are you?"
These days, there were plenty of people who couldn't afford a meal. Although Heavenly Dance City was doing reasonably well under Wu Ganqi's rule, not everyone had enough to eat.
And there were those who refused to work, lazing about until hunger drove them to eat and run at places like restaurants.
They'd order a table full of fine food and wine, gorge themselves, then call the waiter over, curl up with their hands over their heads, and wait for the beating.
Restaurants did big business and had plenty of staff. Even without hiring hired thugs and martial artists, they could use the kitchen hands or the men chopping wood in the back courtyard as muscle.
A beating from someone heavy-handed could easily kill a person.
This Wandering Doctor had finished eating, hadn't paid yet, and was still making nice. However you looked at it, he didn't seem like a good sort.
If he really planned to eat and run, this little stall of his was nothing like a restaurant with a big business and deep pockets.
With no one around to help, if it came to blows, there was no telling who'd beat whom...
The Wandering Doctor laughed in disbelief.
"Now, boss, why would you say that? Do I look like someone who'd eat without paying?"
As he spoke, he took the cost of the wontons from his robes and tossed it onto the table.
He stood up and let out a soft breath.
"I just have a feeling it's going to rain. I hope I'll get the chance to come back for your wontons."
With that, he picked up the sign beside him and headed out of the alley.
The owner watched him go, curled his lip, collected the money, and stuffed it into his robes.
He looked up. The sky was clear for ten thousand miles. Where was the rain?
"Crazy..."
After muttering that, he packed up briskly.
He wasn't working anymore today. He planned to go to the Chu Family's feast.
After leaving the alley, the Wandering Doctor headed east. He went out through East City Gate, but instead of taking the main road, he turned onto a narrow path nearby.
When he reached a secluded spot, he tossed the sign in his hand into the grass and began taking off his clothes.
Just then, several figures dressed in blue appeared and surrounded him.
The doctor froze, then gave a dry laugh.
"Gentlemen, are you after my money or my life?"
"Come with us."
One of the men in blue stepped forward and spoke coldly.
"Good, good. So you want me."
He hurriedly nodded, clasping his hands together to show he'd submit to whatever they wanted.
One of the men in blue was about to take a rope from behind him and tie him up when the doctor suddenly flung both hands outward. White Powder billowed into the air, filling it with a cloud of white.
The men in blue had seen him behaving himself and thought he'd be easy to capture.
They hadn't expected this. All but one, who'd stayed back, wary and out of reach, were hit full in the face and head.
In the next instant, a glint of cold steel flashed.
The men let out muffled groans, clutching their throats as they dropped to their knees.
Blood trickled through the gaps between their fingers.
Seeing things go wrong, the last man in blue turned and ran... The doctor had killed several of his companions with a single strike; he was no match. He had to get back and deliver the news.
But before he'd gone more than a few steps, he heard something cut through the air behind him.
He spun around in a panic, and his body shuddered.
A Shuttle Dart had pierced his throat.
When the cloud of white powder finally cleared, the doctor grimaced.
"Troublesome. What a nuisance...
"They found me so quickly? Something's not right."
He rubbed his temple and began erasing the traces of the fight.
Then he took off his clothes and stripped one of the men of his blue outfit, but didn't put it on. He merely carried it with him.
This was to mislead the pursuers behind him. When they reached the spot and saw the doctor's clothes on the ground and one of their own outfits missing, they would surely suspect he'd changed into blue.
They wouldn't know that underneath his outer clothes, he was wearing a Black Combat Suit.
Finally, after leaving behind false signs that he'd fled east, he sprang into the air and headed north.
He'd make the people behind him search to the east for someone dressed in blue. Who would imagine he was heading north in black?
He kept going like this for half an hour, doubling back and winding around. Only after confirming that there were no pursuers behind him did he relax.
He was about to continue onward when his expression suddenly changed.
He whirled around and saw a figure soaring through the air, one palm thrust out. The air around it seemed to rise into a wall.
"Azure Void Palm!!"
He could hardly believe his eyes. Azure Void Palm was a secret art of the Chu Family, never passed on to outsiders.
It was a palm technique that ran through the Chu Family's entire martial tradition.
At first, it was unremarkable in power, but as the Internal Energy of the Void Scripture grew, it gradually revealed its extraordinary effects.
How had someone from the Chu Family tracked him all the way here?
At that thought, he didn't hesitate. He brought his palms together, facing each other, and faintly, it was as if channels of energy flowed between them.
Then he turned his hands and pushed.
A surging force burst from his palms and crashed head-on into the power of Azure Void Palm.
Boom!!!
A muffled impact rang out, and the Wandering Doctor felt his heart ease.
Though the man had used Azure Void Palm, his Internal Energy Technique was too weak to bring out its full power. The blow sent him flying through the air.
The doctor wasn't an assassin. He was a contact.
He didn't know which member of the Chu Family had come after him, but he had no desire to get entangled with them.
Taking advantage of the other man's retreat, he turned to leave.
But just as he turned... a long sword suddenly pierced through his shoulder.
"What..."
Though stunned, he reacted without losing a beat.
As the other man pulled the sword from his body, the doctor used the momentum to turn. His palm held Internal Energy, ready to strike—but when he looked behind him, there was no one there.
Then a chill swept across both his ankles. His legs could no longer support him, and he dropped to his knees with a thud.
A bloodied sword rested against his neck.
A voice he knew all too well spoke beside his ear.
"Bai Qi, you came back to life. Why didn't you tell me?"
Before you continue