A healer's compassionate heart

Ye Wuyou finally met the Lord Zhao whom Chun Tao had mentioned, Zhao Changhe.

Oh, Chun Tao was that young woman's name. According to her, she was something of a half-disciple of Lord Zhao.

Why only half a disciple? Because Chun Tao was a physician who plied her healing arts to help the world, and what she studied under Zhao Changhe was something other than medicine.

She was still young. Although she lacked Lu Caiwei's monstrous talent, she had reached the Second Realm a few days earlier.

Ye Wuyou felt deeply embarrassed, especially before this bona fide [A]-rank big shot of the Heavenly Prison.

For instance, right at the start, Zhao Changhe asked him,

"You haven't even reached the First Realm. How did you get into the Heavenly Prison?"

"I was specially recruited."

"..."

"I got in through the back door."

It was a little awkward.

[The old geezer is very displeased with you right now. What right does he have to be displeased? A mere Fifth Realm mortal-it's not as if you've never fought one before. You sneer inwardly, ready to strike and teach him a lesson.]

Zhao Changhe had no idea what was going through Ye Wuyou's mind. He merely fell silent for a while before saying flatly,

"The Prison Warden asked me to look after you. I don't quite understand why, and I'm not particularly willing."

"But you came out of the Eighth Layer alive. Even if you borrowed that little Lu girl's strength, you must have some ability."

Zhao Changhe did not know what had happened on the Eighth Layer, and the Prison Warden had offered no explanation.

That day, the Prison Warden had emerged from the Eighth Layer with Lu Caiwei, who had barely a breath left in her, and Ye Wuyou, who was covered in blood.

The Lu girl had been able to get out of bed and walk by herself the next day. This brat...

He had slept here like a pig for an entire week.

With Zhao Changhe's temperament, he naturally could not stand that. The moment he learned the brat was awake, he went straight to find him.

Since the Prison Warden had asked him to look after the boy, Zhao Changhe had to show him that courtesy, however unwilling he might be.

Of course, if the boy really was a blockhead, he could simply fob him off and send him packing.

"Now, show me what you're really capable of. Attack me with everything you have." Having said that, Zhao Changhe stood coldly in the courtyard with his hands behind his back.

The courtyard was fairly large. The clatter of pots and pans came from the kitchen to one side, and wafts of meat fragrance drifted over on the evening breeze. Chun Tao was cooking dinner.

[The old bastard wants to put you in your place. Ridiculous. A Fifth Realm cultivator against someone still in body tempering-tell me, what exactly are you showing off for?]

Ye Wuyou ignored the noise in his head. His gaze shifted from Zhao Changhe to a corner of the courtyard.

A rack stood there, laden with weapons.

Noticing Ye Wuyou's gaze, Zhao Changhe slowly nodded.

"Choose whatever you like."

So Ye Wuyou picked out a sword.

He could not judge the sword's quality, but after giving it a cursory feel, he suspected it was not as good as the one Lu Caiwei had held that day.

Sensing the meager vital breath within him, Ye Wuyou took a deep breath and dispensed with further courtesies.

"Pardon me."

His sword flashed out!

The Formless Heart Sutra began circulating of its own accord.

Ye Wuyou's figure had looked frail in the evening breeze, but the aura surrounding him abruptly changed.

His sleeves snapped in the wind. He squeezed out what little vital breath he possessed, sending it along his arm and into the sword's edge.

Wind and thunder rose from level ground.

It really works!

Ye Wuyou's eyes shone as he thrust his sword forward.

Although the cultivation realm he had attained that day had been a castle in the air and had already vanished, the effects of the Formless Heart Sutra remained, even if this execution of Sword Rises with Wind and Thunder was much weaker.

It was still an exceptionally fierce sword move.

Following his sword, Ye Wuyou appeared before Zhao Changhe in an instant.

A sharp glint seemed to flash through Zhao Changhe's eyes.

The next second, Ye Wuyou was pinned to the ground, sword and all, unable to rise.

Zhao Changhe's furious voice came from in front of him.

"Who taught you to train like this? Do you want to die?"

"You haven't even finished body tempering, yet you've cultivated vital breath and can use a sword move like that. Do you think that makes you some kind of genius?"

"When the Lu girl taught you this move, didn't she tell you what precautions to take?"

"It's a barrier-breaking move that forcibly drives your energy channels, concentrating everything into a single point to reach the utmost pinnacle. You haven't even nourished and conditioned your body, yet you dare use it so recklessly? Do that a few more times, and you can forget about ever entering the First Realm!"

At the dinner table, Zhao Changhe's scolding poured forth without end.

Ye Wuyou actually felt the old man was overstating things, but he could not argue back.

As for blaming Lu Caiwei, that would be utterly absurd. He had simply copied the move himself.

[How could an ordinary mortal comprehend the mysteries of the formless? After modification, a vicious, life-risking move has long since become no different from an ordinary sword technique.]

See? There shouldn't be any problem.

[As long as using it doesn't kill you, use it to death.]

Uh, perhaps there is a little danger after all.

"Until you reach the First Realm, you will stay here and behave yourself. Chun Tao, keep an eye on him for me. He isn't allowed to go anywhere, or it'll be my reputation he disgraces."

"After all, you wouldn't want to lose your job and become an unemployed layabout, would you?"

After speaking, Zhao Changhe took out a bottle of liquor and filled his own cup, then looked at Ye Wuyou and gestured.

"Dare to drink?"

Ye Wuyou did not refuse.

But when he downed the liquor in one gulp and his gaze passed over Zhao Changhe's aged eyes, which held a faintly teasing smile, he knew he was in trouble.

Sure enough, the liquor caused no trouble when it first entered his throat, but a moment later it became a line of fire, burning down his throat and into his chest.

His skin instantly flushed red. Waves of force surged upward through him, and Ye Wuyou felt as though even the crown of his head was trembling.

"You're lucky to get a taste of this. Medicinal liquor steeped with fourth-tier snake gallbladder. If that incident at the Heavenly Prison hadn't resulted in so many demons being slain, you'd never normally get to enjoy it."

Ye Wuyou no longer knew when Zhao Changhe left.

Through his daze, he heard only Chun Tao's gentle voice beside his ear.

"Young master, come along. Time for a bath. I've already prepared the Medicinal Bath for you."

Hmm? A bath?

Right, right, it's time to wash. It's been a whole week. Even Ye Wuyou could no longer stand himself.

Dazed, he let Chun Tao support him all the way to a room. The tub was already filled with hot water, and a medicinal fragrance wafted from it.

"Young master, normally you shouldn't bathe after drinking, but this medicinal liquor is so precious. It would be a terrible waste not to use the Medicinal Bath to help you absorb it now."

[What more is there to say? As the saying goes, once wine and food have filled the belly, lust fills the mind. You seize this woman at once. Her fair, beautiful body, fragrant with medicinal herbs, is all the more delectable paired with the Medicinal Bath. Tonight, you decide to become a pair of mandarin ducks, nesting and flying together upon the water...]

Tsk...

Ye Wuyou shook his head, walked straight toward the tub, and began undressing.

A moment later, he turned around and asked in puzzlement,

"Why haven't you left?"

Through the swirling steam, he could not make out Chun Tao's expression, but her voice came calmly.

"You're drunk, young master. I'm afraid you might drown in the wooden tub."

"But you don't have to stand guard beside me..." Ye Wuyou felt something was off.

Chun Tao smiled and said with perfect composure, "Are you feeling shy, young master? But I'm a physician. Throughout the week you were unconscious, I was the one who wiped your body clean."

At that, Ye Wuyou had nothing more to say and stopped dwelling on it.

After all, she was a physician with a healer's compassionate heart. Since she had put it that way, why should he fuss over such trifles?

In no time at all, Ye Wuyou stripped naked and climbed into the tub.

Splash.

Water splashed everywhere. Immediately afterward, Chun Tao gave a startled cry and ran straight out.

From outside the door came the whispered conversation of Chun Tao and several other women.

"Xia Li, you lost. I told you the young master was this... big down there."

"It's all Qiu Gua's fault! She was the one who insisted on betting!"

"Why blame me? You should blame Dong Zao."

Ye Wuyou: "..."

Wait, why are there other people here?

And what happened to a healer's compassionate heart?