Li Qiwei heard Li San's shout and tensed all over, instinctively dodging at once.
Whoosh!
The sharp blade swept past Li Qiwei's back, grazing him and drawing a thin streak of blood.
Seeing this, Li San's eyes blazed with fury. He threw himself forward, his legs like cannonballs, and reached the trench-coated man in a single stride.
He didn't care that he was unarmed. Forcibly shoving Li Qiwei aside, he fought the man with his bare hands.
At that moment, Li Qiwei felt a burning pain across his back. He reached behind himself and touched a good deal of blood.
Fortunately, though, he could tell it was only a flesh wound. If Li San hadn't warned him, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
Li Qiwei gulped in air, his mind racing as he tried to figure out who wanted him dead.
Cecil?
He ruled Cecil out first. Cecil wasn't deranged enough to send an assassin after him.
Raymond? Even less likely. He wouldn't have the guts.
Then who could it be?
He'd only been in this world for a few months. He had no mortal enemies.
Could it be someone who'd held a grudge against the original owner?
But there were no relevant memories in his mind.
For a moment, Li Qiwei couldn't make sense of where this sudden assassin had come from.
He looked anxiously toward Li San, worried that without a weapon, he'd be at a disadvantage against the assassin.
Fortunately, Li San's martial arts were formidable. He was able to hold his own against the armed assassin with nothing but a pair of iron fists.
Though Li Qiwei knew nothing about martial arts, even he could see that Li San was gradually gaining the upper hand.
For some reason, however, he didn't seize the moment and finish the assassin off.
The two traded blows, countering each move in turn. After more than five minutes, the black-clad assassin suddenly vanished into the darkness and fled.
Worried about Li Qiwei's safety, Li San didn't pursue him. Instead, he hurried to Li Qiwei's side to check his wound.
"Young master, are you all right? Let me look at your back."
"I'm fine, Third Brother," Li Qiwei said weakly. "It's only a flesh wound. Did you get a read on that assassin?"
Li San said coldly, "I can tell he's definitely Chinese, not a foreigner. And he deliberately concealed his martial arts lineage. Everything he used was a miscellaneous move."
"If he hadn't had a knife, I'd have taken him down within ten moves."
Li Qiwei didn't ask who had sent the assassin. Instead, he said, "Forget about him for now. Let's go back and check on Hong'er."
"Then, once I've recovered, we need to leave Germany as soon as possible. I suspect someone's been following me in secret."
Li San hurriedly asked, "Who do you think it could be, young master? We've been in Cambridge for three years and have never offended anyone."
"Could it be that fellow Raymond from last time?"
"It wasn't him," Li Qiwei said. "I don't know who wants me dead. For now, let's just be careful."
"At least he wasn't a foreigner. That means his abilities aren't as terrifying as we might have imagined."
Li Qiwei didn't go straight to the hospital. With Li San supporting him, he first returned to the inn.
Only when he saw Hong'er quietly embroidering did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Seeing how pale Li Qiwei was and that Li San had to support him, Hong'er immediately stood up.
When she saw the wound on his back, she panicked, at a loss for what to do. Her voice broke as she cried, "Young master, what happened to you?"
"Don't scare me! How did you get so badly hurt? Wuwuwu, young master, does it hurt?"
This time, Li San didn't criticize Hong'er. He stood silently to one side, evidently ashamed of his failure to protect Li Qiwei.
Li Qiwei smiled and wiped away Hong'er's tears. "I'm fine. It's just a flesh wound."
Then he turned to Li San. "Third Brother, don't blame yourself. Without you, I'd have been dead already."
"Young master, I...I—"
"All right, no need to say anything. There's no need for explanations between us."
"Now, hurry. Both of you, come with me to the hospital and have a doctor dress the wound."
The three of them didn't dare delay. After asking the innkeeper for the address of the nearest hospital, Li San hired a carriage, and they set off at once.
At the hospital, Li Qiwei refused to be admitted. At his insistence, the doctor had no choice but to clean the wound with alcohol and wrap it in two layers of gauze.
Then the doctor told him to rest and keep the wound dry.
Li Qiwei offered no explanation. Under the doctor's disbelieving gaze, he simply walked out of the hospital.
He knew his own condition. It was only a simple flesh wound; as long as it was disinfected promptly and kept from getting infected, he'd be fine.
In this era, he didn't trust doctors. Even in a German hospital, bloodletting was still widely practiced.
But Li San couldn't help asking, "Young master, are you sure this is all right? Don't you need to stay in the hospital for a few days?"
"It's fine. I know my limits. Don't worry."
Hong'er hadn't said a word. Tears glimmered in her eyes as she gripped Li Qiwei's hand tightly and helped him along.
Li Qiwei gently stroked her hair, then forced himself to laugh heartily. "Your young master is a god descended to earth. Having survived a great calamity, I'm sure good fortune awaits."
Neither of them responded, leaving Li Qiwei feeling rather awkward.
Hong'er remained downcast, while Li San stayed intensely alert the whole way, watching their surroundings in case the assassin returned.
The three of them slowly made their way back to the inn. By the time they arrived, it was already ten at night.
Li Qiwei and Li San hadn't eaten, so Hong'er hurried to prepare some food while Li San kept watch outside the room.
Lying on the bed, Li Qiwei's thoughts churned.
Until now, he'd treated this world like a video game, thinking everyone in it was an NPC.
Only when he'd come close to dying that night did he truly realize he was a person in this world now.
A knife or a bullet could wound him. He could even die again.
Li San and Hong'er's loyalty filled him with warmth. Their unconditional trust was what sustained him as he built up his strength in a foreign land.
Li Qiwei thought again about Li San saying the assassin was Chinese. Could the man have been an enemy of his family?
But to cross mountains and seas just to come to Britain and kill him seemed a little too far-fetched.
Could it really be that fellow Cecil?
Just moments ago, he'd been caught up in the race to become the king of physics; in the blink of an eye, things had turned bloody and violent. Sure enough, staying alive in this era wasn't easy.
The more Li Qiwei thought, the more his head hurt. In the end, he gave up. After Hong'er fed him, he drifted into a deep, drowsy sleep.
Meanwhile, in a secluded corner of Berlin...
The black-clad assassin was kneeling on one knee. Across from him stood a middle-aged man whose face was obscured.
The black-clad man trembled slightly, fear in his voice as he spoke in Chinese. "My lord, I deserve a thousand deaths. I failed to complete the mission."
After a long while, the middle-aged man finally spoke. "Get up. It wasn't your fault. I didn't expect that boy to have an expert by his side."
"The Li Family sure knows how to hide its strength!"
The black-clad assassin didn't dare reply. He simply remained kneeling in silence.
"After this, he'll certainly be on his guard. Here's what you'll do: return to Britain tomorrow and wait for my orders."
"Do not act without my orders. Li Qiwei will have to return to Britain sooner or later."
"As you command!" With that, the two men disappeared into the night one after the other.
Before you continue