The next morning, Liu Ruyan had once again prepared an elaborate breakfast early, just as she had the day before.
Once everything was ready, she headed straight for Jiang Feng's room.
Though she hadn't kept her eyes on him the whole time yesterday, she had a fairly good idea of how long and how intensely Jiang Feng had trained.
In her view, someone bearing the Evil Spirit Mark who kept up that near-masochistic level of training would never come to a good end.
At best, his blood and qi would suffer and his cultivation would regress. At worst, he would damage his martial foundation—or even end up half-paralyzed.
If it turned out to be the latter, she would have to start thinking about finding a replacement.
But before she could reach his room, the door swung open from the inside.
Jiang Feng stepped out, his lean figure emerging into the morning light. It traced the sharp angles of his slightly pale face.
"恩...恩公, you're awake?"
Liu Ruyan's voice faltered, and for a moment her expression turned awkward.
Though Jiang Feng had picked up several new injuries, she could still tell at a glance that he was completely different from yesterday. His entire bearing had risen a full notch.
A wave of irrepressible suspicion stirred in her heart:
What was going on? The Evil Spirit Mark was clearly wrapped around this kid, yet his blood and qi hadn't weakened at all. If anything, they were stronger than yesterday.
Could that reckless-seeming regimen of bitter training really have worked?
What unsettled her even more was something else: Jiang Feng's cultivation had actually advanced.
How could someone bearing the Evil Spirit Mark break through without outside help? How had he done it?
Or... was there some other secret about him that I didn't know?
Liu Ruyan looked at Jiang Feng differently now. She had to admit that he had genuinely piqued her interest.
Jiang Feng glanced at Liu Ruyan and gave a slight nod in reply, then walked straight toward the table laden with fragrant food.
As he had the day before, he had her taste every dish first. Only after confirming they were safe did he slowly pick up his chopsticks. Now and then, he tossed a few pieces of meat to the Mute crouching off to one side, keeping his guard fully up.
The meal was quiet as ever.
But Jiang Feng could clearly feel the woman named Liu Ruyan watching him more than she had yesterday.
He wasn't so vain as to think his charm had suddenly increased. He figured she had probably noticed the changes in his body.
That only further confirmed his earlier suspicions: this woman was not as simple as she seemed.
After the meal, Liu Ruyan got up to clear the dishes.
Jiang Feng suddenly said, "I'll be leaving for a while. Madam Liu, I want you to keep following the rules I laid down before. Don't leave this courtyard, and don't contact anyone outside."
Liu Ruyan paused, then put on her usual gentle smile and nodded.
"Rest assured, benefactor. I know how dangerous it is outside, and I'll do as you say."
She hesitated, then added tentatively, "It's just... what are you going out to do this time, benefactor?"
Jiang Feng's gaze settled calmly on her, but he didn't answer.
Under his stare, Liu Ruyan grew uneasy. She hurriedly gave an awkward laugh and tried to smooth things over herself.
"Don't misunderstand, benefactor. I don't mean anything by it. I just wanted to know roughly how long you'd be gone, so I could plan ahead and prepare your meals."
Jiang Feng shook his head.
"Hard to say. Maybe a day, maybe two or three, or perhaps longer. It depends on how things go."
He didn't commit to an answer. He still had no idea what the situation was at the Medicine Hall.
After a quick tidy-up in his room, Jiang Feng found an inconspicuous spot, climbed over the wall, and hurried toward a familiar destination.
Liu Ruyan watched the direction Jiang Feng had disappeared in. The gentle smile had long since vanished from her face, leaving her expression dark and uncertain.
"Could that kid have found out something and be using this chance to escape? Should I stop him now?"
Jiang Feng worried that his presence here might be exposed. She was no less concerned about her own whereabouts being discovered.
In the end, though, she suppressed the urge to act. She watched his lean figure disappear completely at the end of the alley, then turned and went back down into the cellar.
Meanwhile, at the Benevolent Heart Medicine Hall.
Shopkeeper Xie Shu, who managed the shop, sat in the main hall with a furrowed brow, his mind in turmoil.
The account book lay open before him, but he couldn't bring himself to turn a single page.
The team that had gone out to gather medicinal herbs had been gone for three whole days, and the Medicine Hall still hadn't received a word from them.
Under normal circumstances, even if they couldn't make it back yesterday, they should at least have sent someone ahead with a message.
This complete silence was way out of line.
Of course, that wasn't even what troubled him most. For the past few days, Song Huai, the Alchemy Hall's Alchemist Song, had come to see him five times, one after another.
He had only one purpose: to ask for a person.
Even though Shopkeeper Xie had sent two more Medicine Hall guards over as assistants, the other side still insisted on having Jiang Feng and no one else.
He truly couldn't understand what was so special about Jiang Feng, an ordinary apprentice, that Song Huai would be so fixated on him.
But they were old acquaintances, and he couldn't just turn a blind eye. The worry was giving him a splitting headache.
He rather regretted not having worked up the nerve to remove Jiang Feng from that list in the first place. If he'd gone to the trouble back then, he wouldn't be saddled with all these headaches now.
Just then, a plainly dressed servant hurried over to Shopkeeper Xie, panting as he reported:
"Shopkeeper Xie, I have something extremely important to tell you."
Shopkeeper Xie sighed and rubbed his deeply furrowed brow, his voice heavy with fatigue.
"Sigh, is Song Huai asking for someone again?
"I told him to wait, and wait some more. He's a grown man—how can he have so little patience?"
The servant didn't dare respond. He awkwardly scratched his head and hurried to explain:
"Shopkeeper Xie, you've misunderstood.
"It's not Alchemist Song this time. Someone from the team that went out to gather herbs has returned. He looks badly injured. I'm afraid something's happened."
Shopkeeper Xie shot up from his chair. His expression turned grave in an instant, and his voice sank.
"Who came back? Did he say what happened?"
The servant was startled by his reaction and began to stammer.
"I-it seems to be Jiang Feng. He didn't say what happened, only that it was urgent and he had to report it to you in person."
When he heard that Jiang Feng had returned, the tension in Shopkeeper Xie's face eased somewhat. Still, he hurried toward the door, calling back over his shoulder as he went:
"Come on. Take me to him."
Meanwhile, in a secluded courtyard.
A woman's coquettish moans and soft singing drifted out of a room again and again. The maids passing through the courtyard all blushed and hurried along with their heads lowered. None dared linger, for fear of stumbling upon something they shouldn't see.
Inside the room, three exceptionally alluring women wore their clothes half-undone, broad swathes of smooth, snowy skin exposed to the air.
Their eyes were smoky, their bodies writhing seductively. They pulled out every trick they had, gazing at the only man in the room with eager eyes, hoping to stir even the faintest spark of interest in him.
Wu Han sat in a chair, his expression growing darker by the moment.
In his eyes, the three alluring women had somehow changed. They looked like the filthy, enormous sow in a pigsty, snorting as they rubbed their grimy, swollen bodies against him.
The sight didn't arouse him in the slightest. Instead, his stomach lurched, and he nearly retched from disgust.
Xue Zhao stood beside Wu Han, drenched in sweat. He didn't know whether to stay or retreat; every muscle in his body was taut as a drawn bow.
Wu Han was useless now, but Xue Zhao was a perfectly normal man. The room was full of wanton beauty, yet all he could do was look. He couldn't touch, let alone taste.
To him, it was more tormenting than any punishment.
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