Can You Save Me?

Su Jiuer turned her head aside, not wanting Xu Yan to see her in tears.

Hearing Xu Yan's words and thinking of her father, whose fate was still unknown, filled her with boundless sorrow. Her nose stung, and tears spilled before she could stop them.

"All right, don't cry. From now on, we're family. Now that you have family, there's no need to cry." Xu Yan gently wiped away Su Jiuer's tears.

Seeing Su Jiuer cry today had moved him deeply. All things had feelings; it wasn't just people who felt them.

"Third Elder, what do we do now?" Hu Li asked cautiously, looking at the Demon Tiger Clan Third Elder's grim face.

He had told the Demon Tiger Clan Third Elder that Xu Yan had taken Su Jiuer with him when he came out just now. The Third Elder had gotten so furious that he'd jumped straight up from the ground, startling quite a few passersby.

The other three elite members of the Demon Tiger Clan watched the Third Elder and Hu Li from the side. They couldn't get a word in—and didn't dare try.

The Demon Tiger Clan Third Elder sighed. "We miscalculated. I never thought that mortal would be so cautious. Looks like we've finally met our match."

He had gone over it again and again, convinced that the ploy to draw the tiger away from the mountain would work without fail. But he'd overlooked the possibility that Xu Yan might take Su Jiuer out to treat someone.

"So we can't capture Su Jiuer?" Hu Li asked, deeply unwilling to accept it.

If they took Su Jiuer back to the Demon Tiger Clan, they'd be rewarded. The reward had been right before his eyes, yet he still couldn't claim it. It was infuriating.

A sharp gleam flashed in the Demon Tiger Clan Third Elder's eyes. "Who says we can't? We still have one option: wait!"

At this point, he had no choice but to use his last resort.

"Wait? Wait for what? Reinforcements?" Hu Li scratched his head, unsure what the Demon Tiger Clan Third Elder meant.

The Demon Tiger Clan Third Elder shot him a cold look. "Can you try being a little smarter? Obviously, we wait outside that little shop. I refuse to believe that mortal never goes out alone!"

After thinking it over, he could come up with only this plan—and he thought it had a very good chance of success.

"As expected of the Third Elder. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!" Hu Li said, slapping the back of his head.

He hadn't even thought of such a good plan. Compared with the Third Elder, he was miles behind. He still had plenty to learn by watching and listening.

Xu Yan watched Jiang Li sweeping and asked, "Have you noticed any changes in your body? You seem to be getting more and more energetic."

He'd noticed that Jiang Li was now like a completely different person from the boy he'd first met. His vitality and spirit had improved beyond measure, and he'd grown much more confident and cheerful.

Jiang Li smiled. "I just feel stronger. I've got energy to spare, and I could do the work of two people at the teahouse without a problem."

Thanks to his newfound strength, he could now do two people's work and earn double the pay, while his mother only had to do one person's share.

That made him very happy, and he admired Xu Yan even more.

These changes had only started after he met Xu Yan, so he felt they might have something to do with him.

Hearing Jiang Li, Xu Yan smiled. "You may have a good talent for cultivation. Perhaps one day you'll become a powerful cultivator."

He knew that ordinary people didn't usually change like this, so he could only put it down to Jiang Li's unusual constitution. Perhaps he had exceptional talent for cultivation.

"If I get the chance to cultivate, I'll treasure it," Jiang Li said.

He soon finished sweeping and happily went home.

Su Hu'er lounged at a table in the shop's front room, watching Jiang Li leave. She felt a little contemptuous of Xu Yan.

The human boy had clearly improved his constitution and aptitude by unconsciously absorbing the Dao charm in Xu Yan's calligraphy and paintings. And yet that old monster Xu Yan was still putting on an act.

"Young people are wonderful—so full of energy," Xu Yan said with a shake of his head.

He hoped Jiang Li could embark on the path of cultivation and become a powerful cultivator.

"Senior Xu, do you think I've improved a lot?" Qin Tian asked, gazing at Xu Yan expectantly.

A chessboard sat on the table between them. They'd just played a few more games, and Qin Tian hadn't managed to make it to the tenth move in a single one.

But he thought he'd made tremendous progress. His chess skills had risen to a whole new level.

Looking at Qin Tian's expectant expression, Xu Yan wanted to say, Don't you have any idea how bad you are? You lose after just a few moves every time. Even Qin Yudie is better than you now.

But since Qin Tian called him Senior, he held back and said, "You've made some progress, but the revolution hasn't yet succeeded. Comrade, you still need to work hard."

Xu Yan's words fired Qin Tian up. "Qin Tian definitely won't let Senior Xu down. I'll keep working hard to improve myself."

Then he left, in high spirits.

Night had fallen long ago. Xu Yan was about to close the shop when a figure suddenly rushed in from the side and collapsed into his arms.

He reflexively caught the soft figure. He caught the faint fragrance of a young woman, mingled with the slight tang of blood.

Xu Yan looked down and saw an extraordinarily beautiful woman. Her face was pale, and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

Startled, he quickly carried her inside and laid her on a chair, then hurriedly shut the shop door.

Only after closing the door did Xu Yan breathe a sigh of relief. He went to the woman's side to examine her.

Her breathing was faint, and she looked as if she might die at any moment.

After checking her pulse, Xu Yan's expression turned grave.

The woman had internal injuries and had been poisoned. If she hadn't met him, she would almost certainly have died.

Just then, the woman opened her dreamlike, beautiful eyes and looked at Xu Yan. "Can you save me?"

She still had something important to do. She couldn't die here. But she knew how dire her condition was; even if the man before her was a doctor, there was little chance he could bring her back from the brink.

But she had no other choice. She could only entrust her last hope to Xu Yan, a stranger.

"I can!"

Xu Yan's gaze was calm. He answered with just one word.

Only a divine physician of this age could treat her condition.

And he was that divine physician!

"Thank you!"

At Xu Yan's words, the woman gave him a pale, endearing smile. Her voice was extremely weak.

Her voice was beautiful, like a pool of sweet dew that could soothe the heart.

After saying those two words, she fainted, placing her life in Xu Yan's hands.

Xu Yan carried the woman to the back courtyard and laid her on a flowerbed.

Now the flowers and plants he'd grown could finally come in handy!