Anglers Can Catch Anything Except Fish!

The little physician hardly needed to say that things had gone wrong.

Chu Xingchen had seen it too. That blood energy swiftly latched onto the little physician's spiritual energy, then began winding along it to attack her.

That energy might have been nothing to Chu Xingchen, but it was a real handful for the little physician, who was only at the Qi Refining stage.

Her expression was grave, and the little hand resting lightly on an acupuncture point was trembling.

Seeing that she could not hold out, Chu Xingchen reached out and took her arm, carefully controlling the flow of his spiritual power.

He concealed his cultivation as best he could, adjusting his output to roughly the Foundation Establishment early stage.

Underplaying his cultivation could sometimes spare him a great deal of trouble.

With Chu Xingchen's help, the little physician finally dealt with the blood energy.

Sweat had broken out on her face, and she looked rather relieved. She turned to Chu Xingchen gratefully.

"Thanks a lot. Without you, things would've gone bad."

"No need to thank me. But I'm afraid these silver needles won't be so easy to remove." Chu Xingchen looked a little apologetic. "My cultivation is too low. I'm afraid I can't pull them all out."

The little physician gave Chu Xingchen another look. She had thought he was merely handsome, but his cultivation was quite impressive too. He had to be at Foundation Establishment, at least.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator was already a pillar of strength in Yuzhou City. Even the Demon-Capturing Bureau's squad leaders were only at that level.

But the little physician did not dwell on it. After all, he really had saved someone, and he really had lent a hand at a critical moment.

As for solving the case and figuring out exactly what had happened, those were not things a little physician like her needed to think about.

Once she healed this lad and he woke up, wouldn't everything become clear?

"Never mind." The little physician shook her little head. "Even if you could do it, I couldn't. It's too much work. I'll take him back and treat him slowly. Thanks a lot. If you have time later, go straight to the Demon-Suppression Bureau to collect your reward. Give them my name. I'm A Nian."

After explaining everything, A Nian gave Chu Xingchen a friendly smile.

"All right, Miss A Nian." Chu Xingchen offered a slight cupped-fist salute.

Hearing Chu Xingchen call her "Miss," A Nian's smile widened. People meeting her for the first time always treated her like a child. Even the nicest of them only called her "little sister."

"You're quite something yourself, lad. You've got a bright future. Thanks for this."

"No need. Since there's nothing else for me to do here, I'll be going. I'll leave you to your work, Miss A Nian."

"All right, off you go."

With her permission, Chu Xingchen offered another slight cupped-fist salute, then turned and left without hesitation.

The chair was not worth much, so he left it to the Demon-Suppression Bureau. As for his fishing rod, Chu Xingchen could never be bothered to carry it back and forth. He simply hid it at his fishing spot.

This time had gone reasonably well. There had not been too many unexpected antics.

He could count it as earning some goodwill with the Demon-Suppression Bureau. If they came looking for trouble later, it might even come in handy.

He had not come out at a loss.

"What are you two waiting for? For this lad to breathe his last? Hurry up and help carry him to the Demon-Suppression Bureau!"

Behind him, A Nian's voice reached his ears as she ordered the two guards around.

Whatever else might be said, Miss A Nian certainly had a personality of her own.

But Chu Xingchen had no desire to get involved again.

He had only helped because he was the one who had fished the boy out... What a damned ill-fated connection.

After turning down a few streets, Chu Xingchen reached his rented house.

He pushed open the gate.

In the courtyard, Li Yingling was playing with a small wooden sword, casually gesturing with it in motions that were half swings, half chops.

But Chu Xingchen had gained a basic understanding of Li Yingling's divine ability. After watching for a moment, he realized she was quietly pondering sword intent.

That was fairly unusual. At this time of day, Li Yingling usually wandered along the river outside their gate, then went into the streets to buy some strange little trinkets.

"You're back, Master?" Li Yingling glanced over and saw him returning. She put away her small wooden sword and looked him over, only to discover that her master was carrying no fish at all.

"Didn't you catch any fish today, Master?"

Chu Xingchen sighed. "No fish today. I caught a person instead."

"A person?" Li Yingling looked slightly puzzled.

What did he mean, he caught a person?

Chu Xingchen briefly told Li Yingling what had happened that day and how he had fished someone out of the lake.

"As expected of Master. Even your fishing is extraordinary."

After hearing the story, Li Yingling laughed so hard she sprawled out, limbs splayed.

Hearing his disciple tease him, Chu Xingchen said with a perfectly calm expression:

"I'm certain that Wooden Fish brought me bad luck. Bring it out and burn it at once, to soothe the hatred in your master's heart."

"Master, didn't you say something like... anglers can catch anything except fish?" Li Yingling laughed. "Look at it that way, and catching a person isn't so outrageous, is it? What does that have to do with the Wooden Fish?"

Chu Xingchen said helplessly, "Why don't you remember anything else I say so clearly? All you remember are the quips."

"Because your quips are all so funny, Master."

Li Yingling answered with a smile, then cleared her throat softly and blinked.

"By the way, Master, are you free tomorrow?"

"What is it? Isn't the Lantern Festival still a few days away? Don't worry, I remember."

"That's not it." Li Yingling took her master's hand. "There's a Little Temple Fair before the Lantern Festival. I heard it's lively too, and it starts tomorrow evening. Come with me, Master?"

"If you don't go, you can't expect me to go all alone, can you? Surely you wouldn't have the heart?"

Chu Xingchen's expression did not change. "To be honest, I could quite easily find it in my heart."

"Master!" Li Yingling drew out the word, wheedling. "You're the best master in the whole world."

After spending so much time with Chu Xingchen and growing close to him, Li Yingling could more or less say she understood her master.

Whether it was her or Li Xingtian, her master always instinctively cared for his disciples.

He was especially helpless against requests from his disciples that were not too unreasonable.

Nor did her master ever put on airs. All of that together made him particularly precious.

At any rate, as far as Li Yingling was concerned, her master currently ranked first in her affections.

Chu Xingchen shook off Li Yingling's hand with a look of distaste and said helplessly:

"All right, all right... At this rate, you might end up calling all the shots in this sect."

Seeing her request granted, Li Yingling could not hide her smile and promptly declared her loyalty.

"Yingling will always stand on Master's side! Master's word comes first!"

Chu Xingchen remained entirely unmoved. Including himself, the sect master, their sect only had three people. If she did not stand on his side, the only other side she could take was Li Xingtian's.

Li Xingtian was a certified obedient disciple, whose defining trait was being utterly worry-free. Naturally, he would stand on his master's side.

By that reckoning, even if Li Yingling did not stand on his side, the rules of conversion meant she still had to stand on his side.

Thus, Li Yingling's declaration meant absolutely nothing.

Inside the Demon-Suppression Bureau.

A Nian stared gravely at the young man Chu Xingchen had fished out.

Trouble. Now this really was trouble.

The trouble was not the young man lying unconscious in bed.

Although his injuries had yet to improve, as long as someone entered the Demon-Suppression Bureau alive, A Nian was confident she could pull them back from the brink.

Besides, in A Nian's eyes, the young man's injuries were not troublesome. They would merely take some work.

The trouble was the Demon-Suppression Bureau squad leader standing beside him.

Good heavens!

How could this young man be that she-devil's younger brother?!

"Are you saying all his meridians might be ruined, leaving him a cripple?!"

A Nian looked at the woman in the black uniform of a Demon-Suppression Bureau squad leader. She was tall, with a short saber at her waist. Standing behind her, A Nian could only see her back, along with her sleek, long black hair, which looked every bit as cold as the she-devil herself.

Even the sight of her back exerted an intense pressure.

"Ahem..." A Nian struggled to choose her words. "N-not a cripple... It's just... just..."