The Great Medicine Is Ripe!

Thinking of what the goddess constable had said, Duan Yun actually felt somewhat fortunate—fortunate that she had spoken so many heartfelt words to him. It showed that she had not come specifically for him.

Otherwise, if a conflict had truly broken out, he might really have locked her in the cellar, creating needless trouble.

A few days later, the goddess constable left.

Duan Yun figured it was about time for him to leave as well.

After he had slaughtered the Black Bear Gang until it was scattered to the four winds, the remaining fools fought two more bloody clashes over tangled interests, then disappeared completely.

The county magistrate had died suddenly, and it would probably be some time before a new one took office. This little city was simply left as it was.

The people living here, however, gradually came to their senses.

No one fought and killed, no one rode on their heads and took a shit, and no one collected protection fees. Life had become much easier; they were no longer beasts of burden as before.

Yet many people still could not adapt to this change. They always felt that something was off.

Were they really allowed to live like this?

Sometimes, Duan Yun thought about how, three months ago, he had still been paying protection fees, getting kicked around like a cuju ball by hot-tempered people, and bitten by mosquitoes in the latrine, feeling that this place was full of challenges everywhere.

But now, the challenges were gone. He had dealt with the people who created them.

He felt a trace of loneliness.

This tiny town had no fellow travelers, and business for a gynecologist was terribly slow as well.

Duan Yun decided to go out and take a look.

He was not one to hold grudges, but he still had to find an opportunity to kill the Red Tower Fairy cleanly and completely, lest he have to worry about being raped while roaming the martial world.

And that author, "Purple Jade Fairy," who had fed him half a book's worth of shit—if he ever met her, he would definitely vent some vicious emotions on her.

As for where the Red Tower was, or whether the author of The Fallen Goddess Constable, "Purple Jade Fairy," had truly vanished without a trace, Duan Yun did not know. In any case, he was not one to hold grudges.

He decided to visit Springwatch City first.

Because he felt that there, he could better fulfill his modest ambition of "a healer's benevolent heart, spreading martial arts across the land."

Springwatch City was a true metropolis. It was said that martial schools and sects stood in great numbers throughout the city, and its population was vast. Even gynecologists had excellent prospects there.

His father had once longed for that city, but had failed to make the journey before his death.

This world had far too many crooked and evil paths of killing and rape. For ordinary people, traveling far truly was a dangerous undertaking.

Every city and town seemed like an isolated island. Unless one was powerful, it was easy to meet with disaster on the road. That was why the overwhelming majority of Riverside City's residents had never left the place of their birth even once in their lives.

Now, he could be considered to have the capital to see a broader world.

Thinking of the wider world outside, more martial comrades with whom he could exchange ideas, an environment more suited to spreading martial arts across the land and practicing a healer's benevolent heart—and, of course, the evil Red Tower Fairy waiting for him to eradicate—Duan Yun could no longer sit still.

Yes, even going out to see more and prettier girls would be good.

There were no beauties worth mentioning in Riverside City.

As a gynecologist, he dared to say that.

At night, Duan Yun still practiced the Jade Stake Art beneath the moon, strengthening the true qi within his body.

The Jade Sword True Qi had encountered a bottleneck. Its growth rate was far inferior to before, but Duan Yun continued practicing.

If his previous rate of true qi growth had been dozens of times that of the Black Bear Gang's members—say, three months of his training equaled ten years of another's—then his current rate was probably only around ten times theirs.

Ten times was not particularly cost-effective, but after thinking it over, he could barely accept it.

No matter how small a mosquito was, it was still meat. Something was better than nothing.

In less than three months, he, Duan Yun, had gone from being kicked around like a cuju ball by a Black Bear Gang member to exterminating their entire gang. It all relied on these little drops of effort.

Elsewhere, the pair of twin brothers held the Jade Sword Stance while their nostrils twitched violently.

The younger brother wore a look of utter astonishment.

"Brother, it smells so good! This Great Medicine grew much faster than expected!"

"Indeed."

"Then should we set out? You know, if this Great Medicine gets too old, its flavor will no longer be pure, and it will not absorb well."

"Fine. We will depart in two days. We are truly fortunate; harvest has come much faster than we imagined."

"We really picked up a treasure! Hahahaha!"

The two identical middle-aged men laughed boldly, their faces brimming with heroic spirit.

Duan Yun had no relatives or friends in Riverside City, and his interactions with neighbors had been shallow. After all, in their eyes, a gynecologist did not count as a proper doctor.

If he had to name friends, there were only the young master and young mistress of the Zhao Family. They had been the first to let him experience the wonderful feeling of saving someone.

After that, there was no one else.

In this relatively isolated little city, aside from an old house for which he did not need to pay rent, he was more like a passerby.

Thus, when Duan Yun left, he only bid farewell to the Zhao couple.

Upon hearing that he was leaving, the Zhao Family's young master's eyes unexpectedly reddened. "Doctor Duan, I was even saying that I wanted my child to acknowledge you as his godfather. After all, you saved his life."

Duan Yun patted his shoulder and said with easy grace, "That is because he is blessed. From now on, I will go seek my own blessings too."

After that, he left with easy grace. The Zhao Family competed to stuff travel money into his hands, but he refused it all.

He, Duan Yun—the one-in-ten-thousand swordsmanship genius and terminator of unreasonable charges—would never be poor no matter what.

In truth, after receiving the Zhao Family young master's fifty taels of silver as consultation payment, Duan Yun was no longer all that poor.

When setting out, he even bought a gray donkey.

Why did he not buy a horse? Because horses were too expensive. Not only did they cost more than ten times what this gray donkey cost, feeding one well was not cheap either. They needed eggs and refined feed added regularly.

Besides, though horses ran faster than donkeys, they were far, far, far less durable.

And even if the donkey could no longer go on, donkey-meat flatbread was delicious too.

To Duan Yun, buying a horse was like buying an ancestor to serve, while this gray donkey, though not fast, was far more worry-free.

What, only those who rode horses could be heroes? Those who rode donkeys could not?

Duan Yun set out filled with lofty aspirations.

The gray donkey seemed to sense its master's mood as well, its hooves light and brisk.

Thanks to the gray donkey's hard work, Duan Yun managed to reach Clear Tea Market before nightfall.

He went to notify the landlord and explained about the wall and side room.

To his surprise, the landlord did not pursue the matter at all and even voluntarily returned his deposit.

"That house was old. I had planned to tear it down anyway, and you saved me the trouble," Old Li the landlord said with a grateful expression.

Duan Yun had already prepared himself to lose some silver. He had never expected such an outcome.

By upholding justice on Heaven's behalf, he had unexpectedly saved the man the effort of demolishing the house. And the landlord had not used this as an excuse to extort money from him—truly a rare good man.

For a moment, Duan Yun looked at this previously ill-tempered landlord in a new light.

One truly could not judge people by their appearance. There were still more good people than bad in this world.

After watching Duan Yun leave in satisfaction, Old Li the landlord's back was drenched in cold sweat.

From fright.

He was afraid of becoming that Man-Bear.

Leaving aside how most accomplished martial artists had terrible tempers and enjoyed rape and murder, even the sight of Duan Yun cutting open the Man-Bear's head to observe it that day had left Old Li trembling with fear.

The night before last, he had even dreamed that this tenant cut open his head and examined it, just as he had examined that bear.

He had jolted awake in terror then and there.

He had been so afraid just now because he feared his dream would become reality.

For now, this tenant seemed like quite a good person.

After all, he had not cut open Old Li's head for research, nor had he slaughtered his entire family.

The next day, after eating a bowl of oil tea, Duan Yun continued on his journey.

As the gray donkey carried him farther and farther away from Clear Tea Market and Riverside City, Duan Yun felt both wistful and excited.

He felt wistful because everything he could barely call familiar was receding from him, while he felt excited because everything ahead was new.

He would see a broader world, cultivate stronger martial arts, become a better gynecologist, and perhaps even, like the senior who had spread the Jade Sword True Canon, spread martial arts across the land!

In a rural courtyard, only a little broth remained in an iron pot, along with things floating within it that resembled skin sacs.

The "seniors" in Duan Yun's mind, the brothers Hua Wen and Hua Wu, both had their hands inside the iron pot.

Threads of black aura crawled up their arms, while the skin sacs in the pot shriveled further and further, strands of hair entwining around them.

In the dim environment, the scene was bizarre and horrifying.

At that moment, the younger brother Hua Wu pulled out his hands and said disdainfully, "This medicine has no flavor. How could someone so young be unable to endure hardship?"

Hua Wen also withdrew his hands, flung off the liquid on them with bold abandon, and said, "There are countless lazy people in this world. That is the norm, which only shows how precious good Great Medicine is."

Hua Wu could not help saying, "Brother, after eating this appetizer, we must hurry there without stopping."

"Only that Great Medicine can allow us brothers' Sword Qi to advance another step."

Hua Wu laughed, his laughter bold and heroic.

He raised his right hand and unleashed a Jade Sword Finger.

With a bang, a hole exploded into the earthen wall, though it did not pierce all the way through.

Hua Wen looked at the hole and said thoughtfully, "Yes. Only by eating that Great Medicine can we advance another step and gain a firm foothold."

"This martial world is hard enough for ordinary people. It is even harder for great heroes like us."