Crippled

Watching Fan Qingyang's fat figure limp out through the courtyard gate, Jiang Feng's little courtyard finally became completely quiet.

Jiang Feng turned and entered the small room, locking the door tightly behind him.

He strode to the corner and pried the ten Blood-Qi Pills, buried deep within the cracks between the bricks, out one by one.

The pills were pitch-black, small and round. Stuffed into those narrow crevices, they blended seamlessly with the gravel and clumps of mud; unless one leaned in for a close look, they were impossible to distinguish.

What was more, he had deliberately used the repaired gap earlier to draw Xue Zhao's attention, reducing the chance of discovery to the absolute minimum.

As for the copy of the Exquisite Breathing Method, he had burned it to ashes the moment he had committed the technique to memory, then mixed the ashes into mud and plastered the wall with it.

"This hurdle has been weathered for now."

Jiang Feng dusted off his hands, his gaze gradually darkening.

"But I need to raise my strength as quickly as possible and find a way to shed my status as an apprentice. Otherwise, once Xue Zhao and Fan Qingyang recover from this, they'll only torment me all the more viciously."

At Benevolent Heart Medicine Hall, any apprentice who broke through to the seventh level of the Blood-Moving Realm was deemed to possess the natural bones for martial arts and could be promoted directly from apprentice to guard.

Compared with apprentices, guards received treatment as different as heaven and earth. Not only were their living conditions and standard of living vastly improved, but their monthly pay increased severalfold. More importantly, they could cultivate higher-grade techniques and gain the qualification to advance further.

Thinking of this, Jiang Feng no longer hesitated. He immediately assumed the stance of the Iron Stake Technique and began practicing each move and form inside the cramped little room.

In any case, the entire Medicine Hall had descended into the chaos of an emergency search today, giving him a rare stretch of peace in which to cultivate without worry.

Meanwhile, Wu Tian, led by an attendant, arrived at the small courtyard where Wu Han lived.

The living environment here was immeasurably better than the quarters of Medicine Hall apprentices like Jiang Feng.

Red bricks and green tiles, blue bricks paving the ground; maids and servants hurried about, keeping the courtyard spotless. Lush trees cast their shade, while exotic flowers and strange plants dotted every corner of the courtyard.

Under normal circumstances, the moment one stepped into this courtyard, one would be touched by its tranquil elegance. But today, a thick, pungent stench of pig shit hung over the entire place, ruining every trace of that atmosphere.

Wu Tian frowned and strode through the courtyard. Along the way, the maids and servants bowed in greeting, but he did not even lift an eyelid.

Pushing open the door and entering the room, he immediately saw Wu Han on the bed, surrounded by a crowd.

When the old physician from the Medicine Hall saw Wu Tian arrive, he hurried forward and bowed. "Young Master, Second Young Master's condition has completely stabilized. There is no serious harm to his body. He only needs a few days of rest to recover fully."

Wu Tian nodded and waved everyone else out of the room.

He looked gravely at the figure on the bed. His lips moved as he prepared to speak, but Wu Han suddenly burst into loud sobs.

"Big Brother, save me, Big Brother! I... I can't feel anything down there anymore!"

"Big Brother, you have to help me! I... I still have to carry on the Wu Family line! I can't be left without descendants!!!"

A vein throbbed at Wu Tian's temple, and his face instantly turned black as the bottom of a pot.

So the "extremely urgent matter" this fellow had mentioned was that bit of trouble in his trousers? How had he ended up with such an idiot for a younger brother?

Seeing Wu Han about to continue his wailing, Wu Tian said nothing and slapped him across the face.

The crisp smack echoed through the room for a long while. The next moment, the room finally fell silent.

"Tell me. What exactly happened last night?"

Wu Han choked back sobs, but before his enraged elder brother, he dared not conceal a single thing. He obediently recounted everything that had happened the previous night from beginning to end.

The more Wu Tian listened, the angrier he became, and the more his blood surged upward.

He had thought he had already imagined this younger brother of his to be stupid enough, but he had never expected that he had still underestimated him. There was actually someone in this world idiotic enough to drug someone else with an aphrodisiac, only to take the drug himself first—and not even carry an antidote.

Wu Tian now even felt that Wu Han being crippled down there might actually be a good thing. Otherwise, who knew what even more outrageous disasters that two taels of flesh would cause in the future.

"Father told me that he handed that technique manual to you yesterday. Where is it now? Hand it over immediately."

Wu Tian had never cared much about this younger brother of his. The technique manual was the true reason he had made such a massive fuss this time.

That internal cultivation method was a top-tier second-grade technique that the Wu Family had spent a vast fortune to acquire at an auction. Let alone in a tiny place like Black Water Town, even across all of Ping'an County, it was an exceptionally precious item.

At the mention of "technique manual," Wu Han's face turned deathly pale. His lips trembled, and he began to stammer.

"I... I remember I had it on me the whole time, but now..."

At this point, the meaning could not have been clearer.

The technique manual was gone.

The thing Wu Tian had feared most had finally happened.

His fists clenched abruptly, his knuckles cracking. The veins at his temples throbbed uncontrollably as a violent aura silently spread through the room.

If killing this idiot could bring the technique manual back into his hands, he would not hesitate for even an instant.

"Big Brother, you... don't do anything rash!"

Wu Han was terrified out of his wits by that killing intent. He no longer cared about the trouble in his trousers and curled up as he desperately shrank backward.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely get the technique manual back! Besides, isn't it just one technique manual? At worst, we can have Father buy another one. Our Wu Family has plenty of money. If you hurt me, Father definitely won't let you off!"

Wu Tian laughed in extreme anger.

His younger brother was not only stupid; he could not even see the situation for what it was.

Was a superior internal cultivation technique something one could buy whenever one had money? How many years had the Wu Family waited, and what a price had they paid, just to luckily obtain this one copy? Yet in this idiot's mouth, it had become something so easily dismissed.

Wu Tian took several deep breaths, his chest heaving violently. Only after a long while did he forcibly suppress the surging killing intent and calm himself.

"Do you remember anything about the person who attacked you last night?"

Wu Han furrowed his brow and thought hard for a long time, but his mind remained a blur. Only that bluish stone brick growing larger and larger, along with that peerlessly beautiful figure beneath the moonlight, became clearer and clearer instead.

"That person attacked from behind and struck viciously... I, I was knocked unconscious the moment I turned around. I didn't see anything clearly."

Wu Tian was completely speechless. He did not even know whether the other party was male or female. Finding that person in this enormous Medicine Hall would be like fishing for a needle in the sea.

Just then, Wu Han's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Big Brother, although I didn't see what that person looked like, Li Muxue definitely did! She was standing face-to-face with me at the time. Even if that attacker wanted to make a move against her, they absolutely couldn't have escaped her notice!"

Only then did he suddenly come back to his senses and urgently ask, "Right, Big Brother, did you find Li Muxue? Where is she now?"

Wu Tian fell silent for a moment before saying,

"We searched the entire rear courtyard. You were the only one in the pigsty. There was no sign of anyone else."

Wu Han's face filled with disbelief.

"How could that be? She was clearly..."

His voice suddenly stopped. Then his expression visibly twisted into something savage and distorted.

"Bitch, slut, whore!

She must have been fucked by that thief!

Pah! She deserves to die! If it weren't for her, how would I have ended up like this?!"

Wu Han grew even more frenzied. The thought of himself sleeping all night while hugging a stinking sow, while Li Muxue and that thief overturned clouds and rain in a wild tangle, made him feel sick from the bottom of his heart.

He looked at Wu Tian, who was still standing nearby, and wailed,

"Big Brother, go kill that bitch for me! I hate her so much, I really hate her!!!"

Wu Tian looked at Wu Han with pity.

"You don't need to concern yourself with this matter. I know what must be done.

"I need to return home at once and report what happened here to Father. After that, I'll make a trip to the Spring and Autumn Martial Arts Hall.

"During this time, you will thoroughly screen everyone in the Medicine Hall. Do not let anyone leave under any circumstances. Find the whereabouts of the technique manual if you can."

Wu Han gritted his teeth and replied, "Big Brother, go without worry. With me here, there won't be any problem. As long as that thief is still in the Medicine Hall, I'll definitely drag him out!"

Wu Tian gave him a long, deep look. Without another word, he turned and strode away.