Sorrowful Softening Breeze

"I saw that..."

Lu Changfeng keenly caught that fleeting chill, and was utterly speechless.

Here I am, bending over backward to treat patients and save lives, farming rewards, and the moment I've cured someone, before I can even rest, along comes someone who wants me dead...

"Am I really that easy to hate?"

Words could not describe how sick Lu Changfeng felt of all this.

Ever since childhood, what he had hated most was getting dragged into these messy affairs. All he wanted was to quietly do what he enjoyed, but whether something was wrong with his constitution or not, he had never had a moment's peace!

Receive a love letter in the morning, and the school bully would block the classroom that evening; publish a paper one day, and someone would spread plagiarism rumors the next; excel in his major courses, and people grew jealous, deliberately score in the middle of the pack, and others mocked him...

"You're all making me want to quit medicine and take up poisoning..."

Lu Changfeng drew a deep breath and silently recited the Treatise on Great Physician Sincerity, reminding himself to stay steady.

Qing Dai frowned slightly. Instinctively, she felt something was wrong.

She had seen Gao Jian's attitude toward Mr. Lu at noon, too. She knew the man before them: Gao Jian's trusted subordinate, a Subordinate Fifth Rank Personal Guard named Yue Tao. He had come from Gao Jian and belonged to Gao Jian's faction. Could he really be so well-intentioned?

But... to suggest that he dared plot something treacherous seemed too grave an accusation.

The Plum Blossom Guards had an iron law: Inner Guards were strictly forbidden from harming one another. Any offender would be deemed a rebel and executed without pardon, and all relatives in the principal offender's family line would be exiled three thousand li!

That iron law ensured that the Inner Guards' blades pointed only at external enemies.

Gao Jian held the esteemed position of guard commander, with high status and great power. Would he truly dare take such an enormous risk just to eliminate a Director of Medicine who had only recently entered the residence? Once exposed, he would not only lose his own life but implicate his relatives as well, and all his years of painstaking work would flow away down the river.

The price was simply too high.

Or was he certain the princess would protect him? Or perhaps... she really was overthinking things? Was Yue Tao merely following orders to ensure the medical officer's safety?

The two possibilities clashed fiercely in Qing Dai's mind, leaving her unable to decide.

After some thought, she decided to decline politely. Better one less complication than one more. Just as she was about to speak, however, Lu Changfeng beat her to it, telling Yue Tao calmly, "Sorry for the trouble. That sounds excellent. Lead the way."

Somewhat surprised, Qing Dai turned to look at him. Lu Changfeng's face was expressionless, betraying neither joy nor anger-just as it had been when Zhang Shouzhuo pressed him with questions earlier that day!

Seeing Lu Changfeng so "cooperative," Yue Tao's eyes flashed with the savage satisfaction of a successful scheme, though his expression remained respectful. "Please follow me, sir."

He turned to lead the way, heading straight toward a deeper, more secluded alley.

Qing Dai hurriedly said goodbye to Zi Zhi and the others. Zi Zhi also sensed something wrong with the atmosphere and quietly warned her, "Be careful."

Qing Dai nodded and followed Yue Tao, her hand resting on her sword hilt as she guarded Lu Changfeng with every sense alert.

The three left the brothel and entered a narrow alley. High walls on either side blocked the moon, and only the faint clamor from the distant wards reached them, making this place seem all the more deathly still.

Lu Changfeng compressed his voice into a thread. "Hold your breath."

Qing Dai's heart tightened, and she immediately stopped breathing.

At that very moment, everything changed!

Several white figures suddenly swooped down from the corner ahead and the walls on either side, surrounding the three in an instant! Dressed in white robes and white caps, their eyes shone with fanaticism as they shouted that chilling slogan in unison:

"Ride the vessel of compassion across the sea of suffering, establish a Buddhist kingdom upon the earth!"

They looked every inch like fanatical followers of the Great Vehicle Sect!

"Protect the gentleman!"

Qing Dai shouted sharply. The flexible sword at her waist shot out like a silver snake from its burrow, snapping perfectly straight in an instant as she shielded Lu Changfeng. Cold light flickered at its tip, aimed at the suddenly appearing "enemies."

Almost simultaneously, Yue Tao, standing just ahead and to Lu Changfeng's side, shouted, "Watch out, sir!" But as he twisted around, instead of confronting those "cultists," he pressed his right index and middle fingers together. A fierce, explosive gust of finger force-the Shaolin Great Strength Diamond Finger-shot like a venomous dragon from its lair straight toward a vital point on Lu Changfeng's chest!

If that strike landed solidly, it would be enough to shatter his heart meridians in an instant!

The respect on his face had long since turned into savage killing intent!

Yet Lu Changfeng was faster!

Even before those "cultists" appeared shouting their slogan, Lu Changfeng had detected them with his five senses enhanced by the Shennong Glazed Glass Art. Concealed within his sleeve, his hand silently crushed a small wax capsule.

A colorless, odorless vapor quietly spread-the reward he had just received, [Sorrowful Softening Breeze]!

-[Sorrowful Softening Breeze: A liquid poison gas refined from poisonous substances found in Bliss Valley on Great Snow Mountain. When used, it becomes a colorless, odorless gas. Those poisoned suffer two symptoms: stinging eyes with tears falling like rain (hence "Sorrowful"), and numbness throughout the muscles and bones, leaving them unable to move (hence "Softening").]

This extraordinary poison acted with incredible speed. Just as Yue Tao was about to unleash his finger force, his eyes began to sting, and a wave of weakness instantly swept through every limb and bone. The fierce internal energy gathered at his fingertips abruptly dispersed, and his body faltered!

"This..."

Yue Tao was overwhelmed with horror. Before he could understand what had happened, Lu Changfeng shifted sideways like a phantom, avoiding the finger strike. His right palm shot out like lightning, carrying a faintly cold, deathly still force, and slammed squarely into Yue Tao's chest!

Thud!

With a muffled impact, Yue Tao flew backward as though a heavy hammer had struck his chest, blood spraying wildly from his mouth. His eyes filled with disbelief, horror, and agony-that palm strike from Lu Changfeng was none other than the deadly [Heart-Crushing Palm] from the Nine Yin Manual!

The palm force penetrated his body and had already damaged his heart meridians!

And it was not over yet!

Lu Changfeng pressed his advantage without mercy, following Yue Tao like a shadow. Before Yue Tao could hit the ground, he curled the fingers of both hands into claws and, with shrill cries of rending air, seized Yue Tao's limb joints like lightning!

Crack!

Crack!

Crack!

Crack!

Four teeth-grating sounds of splintering bone rang out almost simultaneously!

Yue Tao let out an utterly agonized scream. Lu Changfeng had crushed every joint in his limbs with the vicious techniques of the [Nine Yin White Bone Claw]! He fell to the ground like a torn burlap sack, unable to do anything but howl in pain!

Lu Changfeng immediately followed with a knife-hand strike to his throat, giving him no chance to warn the others that the area was poisoned!

"Hhk... hhk..."

Yue Tao lay sprawled on the ground, his entire body convulsing, his eyes bulging and his face contorted, yet he could no longer make a sound.

From the "cultists'" appearance, to Yue Tao's sudden attack, to Lu Changfeng's thunderous counterattack that instantly crippled a Subordinate Fifth Rank Inner Guard expert, the entire exchange had taken place within a single breath!

Deathly silence fell over the scene.

The assassins disguised as Great Vehicle Sect followers were all stunned. Their orders had been to kill a lowly Subordinate Eighth Rank medical officer. Never had they imagined that their target not only concealed extraordinary martial arts but struck with such viciousness, every move intended to kill, like a practitioner of an evil school!

Even Qing Dai, who had been shielding Lu Changfeng all along, was shaken to her core by what she saw, and her hand involuntarily tightened around her flexible sword.

Although she knew Mr. Lu possessed martial skills, she had never imagined that his methods could be so fierce and decisive. The sinister cruelty of the Heart-Crushing Palm and the viciousness of the Nine Yin White Bone Claw made him seem an entirely different person from the calm, gentle physician she normally knew!

Lu Changfeng stood alone at the center, his sleeves stirring without wind, his foot planted on the crippled Yue Tao. His icy gaze swept over the cowed "cultists" around him, and his voice was as cold as frost:

"With coordination like that, is there any point in keeping up the act? Either Gao Jian sent men in disguise to silence me and pin the blame on someone else, or Gao Jian himself is a Great Vehicle Sect fiend, a thief crying 'Stop thief!' Take your pick."

Clearly, they did not want to kill Qing Dai, the princess's personal maid, lest they thoroughly enrage Taiping and bring down a rigorous investigation. But they also feared she might spot something amiss. After all, they were not genuine Great Vehicle Sect fiends, and their martial arts had only the outward appearance. That was why they had Yue Tao attack, aiming to kill with one clean, decisive blow!

Trading a Subordinate Fifth Rank for a Subordinate Eighth Rank would leave Yue Tao as the guilty fugitive afterward, while Qing Dai remained unharmed. Even if the princess had her suspicions, the man would already be dead. Could she really launch a sweeping prosecution for a dead man?

At the end of the day, Gao Jian was merely "vying for affection," while Lu Changfeng was only a somewhat capable medical officer, not yet someone close to her.

Gao Jian was betting that Princess Taiping would not severely punish a still-useful "male favorite" and capable subordinate over a dead, lowly medical officer!

Once Lu Changfeng understood this, the chill in his heart deepened.

-I fucking told you I wasn't interested! And you still pull this shit? Don't you know I hate being pushed more than anything?! Looks like you want to drop dead too!!

Lu Changfeng's words exploded like thunder through the silent alley.

Although the false "cultists" maintained their encirclement, panic and uncertainty involuntarily crept into their eyes... Qing Dai was listening, and they could not touch her, so she would inevitably pass those words on to the princess. What would happen afterward? Gao Jian was a male favorite, but they were not, and they could not withstand an investigation. Yue Tao was still alive, too. If he confessed...

For a moment, no one spoke, and their offensive stalled.

That was precisely the effect Lu Changfeng wanted. He said nothing more, quietly waiting for the [Sorrowful Softening Breeze] to spread fully through their bodies.

Yet during that brief stalemate-

"Whoosh!"

A piercing sound of something tearing through the air suddenly rang out!

Then an extremely concentrated, eerily dark-red blast of energy three zhang long shot from the depths of the alley, like a blood-red rainbow ripping through the curtain of night!