Self-Righteous

Changsun Li lowered his head, focused on "inoculating" the disciples of the Mad Saber Sect. He waved his hand nonchalantly, "Alright, go and come back quickly."

"Yes," Jiang Shuo replied. He exchanged a glance with Sun Daoming and walked out of the courtyard gate. As expected, as soon as they left, two Mad Saber Sect disciples followed them. Although they were meant to guide and escort, their real purpose was to prevent the two from wandering off.

Previously, the Hundred Flowers Sect had explained the dangers of the epidemic and requested that the Mad Saber Sect place their prepared courtyards in remote locations. The Mad Saber Sect had indeed complied. As Jiang Shuo walked through the corridor and turned a corner, seeing no one around, he immediately clutched his stomach and bent over, his features contorted in a pained expression.

"Hey, little brother, what's wrong?" a Mad Saber Sect disciple asked in surprise.

"I can't take it anymore, I can't take it anymore! I suddenly have a stomachache. The latrine, where is the latrine?" Jiang Shuo's acting was incredibly convincing. He was trembling all over, sweating profusely, and his face had turned deathly pale. He shouted noisily while frantically waving his arms, not even giving the other person a chance to react. Bent over, he dashed into the depths of the residence, not forgetting to say to Sun Daoming, "Junior Brother Sun, wait for me here. I'll be right back after I use the latrine."

"Wait, little brother, wait! The latrine isn't in that direction." One of the Mad Saber Sect disciples rushed after him. Jiang Shuo ran very fast. He passed through several courtyards before the disciple caught up. By then, the two had already reached the depths of the Mad Saber Sect. The disciple grabbed Jiang Shuo, panting, "Follow me, the latrine is this way."

Jiang Shuo feigned unbearable agony, causing the Mad Saber Sect disciple to wrinkle his nose slightly. He found a nearby latrine.

"Hold these things for me first." Jiang Shuo took out a cloth bag from his embrace and thrust it directly into the disciple's hand. He turned and ducked into the latrine, leaving the disciple no chance to refuse.

The Mad Saber Sect disciple covered his nose and walked a short distance away, staring intently in the direction of the latrine. After watching for a while, he saw no sign of Jiang Shuo emerging. Bored, he couldn't help but look down and examine the items Jiang Shuo had entrusted to his care.

"This... is a sachet? A grown man carrying such a thing with him. The disciples of the Hundred Flowers Sect have interesting habits..." the disciple chuckled inwardly and couldn't resist picking up the sachet, playing with it in his palm. A faint fragrance emanated from the sachet. He narrowed his eyes, enjoying the scent, when a sudden dizziness washed over him. By the time he realized something was wrong, his mind exploded with chaos, and his vision went black as he fell unconscious.

Jiang Shuo emerged, his back straight and his complexion normal, showing no signs of a stomachache. He took back the cloth bag, looked around, and dragged the unconscious disciple behind a secluded rock garden. Then, he retraced his steps to find Sun Daoming.

This was the plan they had devised early on. Sun Daoming also had a cloth bag containing Sleeping Powder. If everything went as planned, he should have already subdued his target.

As he arrived at the courtyard they had left earlier and was about to enter, Jiang Shuo suddenly heard sounds of fighting. His heart leaped. He hid by the corner of the wall and peeked. To his surprise, for some reason, Sun Daoming was already engaged in combat.

Sun Daoming clearly had the upper hand, but his opponent was no pushover. The fight was fierce and evenly matched for a time.

"Take this!" At this moment, Sun Daoming threw a powerful straight punch. His fist shot forward, landing squarely on the opponent's chest. The opponent stumbled back several steps, his breathing ragged, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. He was wounded.

A smug smile played on Sun Daoming's lips. He clenched his fists and attacked again. The opponent, knowing he was outmatched, rolled his eyes and turned to flee.

"Where do you think you're going!" Sun Daoming shouted, quickening his pace and rapidly closing in on his opponent. At the same time, he swung a heavy fist towards the back of the opponent's head.

The Mad Saber Sect disciple felt a chilling sensation from behind his head. Knowing he couldn't dodge, he was about to cry for help. Suddenly, a figure leaped out from the corner ahead. Before he could even see who it was, his jaw took a heavy blow, instantly making him dizzy and unconscious.

Sun Daoming was putting all his strength into finishing off his opponent when an unexpected interloper appeared. He could only suppress his frustration and retract his blow. He looked at Jiang Shuo, raising an eyebrow, and said angrily, "Heh, he was as good as dead. You showing up now is really stealing my thunder."

"Where is the Sleeping Powder that Uncle-Master Changsun gave you?" Jiang Shuo asked, ignoring the sarcasm in Sun Daoming's tone.

"In my embrace," Sun Daoming shrugged.

"Why didn't you use it?"

"I could knock him out with my own strength, so why use such a despicable method?" Sun Daoming spread his hands, looking smug. In his opinion, Jiang Shuo was simply too weak in martial arts to be confident and thus asked for the Sleeping Powder; he also wanted Jiang Shuo to use it to avoid losing face. His intervention just now had undoubtedly confirmed his own assumptions.

"You..." Sun Daoming's self-satisfied demeanor, oblivious to the trouble he had caused, infuriated Jiang Shuo.

The reason for using Sleeping Powder, besides convenience, was most importantly to be able to feign ignorance afterward and avoid detection by the Mad Saber Sect, thus concealing their intentions. Now that Sun Daoming had caused such a scene, with his face seen by others, even if they were to silence him, it would inevitably sow hatred between the Mad Saber Sect and the Hundred Flowers Sect.