At that moment, A Nian felt she had read far too few books. She simply could not think of any suitable words to put a prettier face on this young man's likely future as a cripple.
After all, the young man before her would probably never get to eat with both hands again.
The silver needle A Nian had removed was from his left hand. Even with the needle removed, that hand's meridians were on the verge of being completely ruined.
If he could even lift it to eat, that would already be a testament to A Nian's superb medical skill.
As for the other major acupoints where the silver needles remained, he would probably struggle to move them at all.
The blood qi had already begun churning through his meridians.
And it was not just his hands and feet that would be difficult to move. His lower body had been sealed with silver needles too.
In theory...
A Nian had never seen this greenhorn before, so he had to be new to the Demon-Suppression Bureau. This she-devil had always been cold and unapproachable, and she had never given anyone a heads-up.
Had she known, A Nian would have gone all out to remove the needles from his lower body, at the very least, wouldn't she?
And she had no idea what mission he had taken, either. The danger certainly had not been slight.
"At least the lad's still alive, isn't he?!" In the end, that was the only comfort A Nian could offer the Demon-Suppression Bureau's she-devil before her.
Zhao Wanqing's hand unconsciously settled on the short saber at her waist. She did not turn to look at A Nian behind her. That reassurance seemed to have had the opposite effect.
Her voice was cool. "Were you the one who put these needles in?"
"No... but don't go getting the wrong idea. Without those needles, this lad would probably have breathed his last long ago." A Nian hurriedly added, "I checked. These needles were only inserted recently."
Zhao Wanqing nodded lightly, accepting A Nian's explanation.
Then she drew the short saber at her waist and gently nicked open a meridian. The blood qi inside the young man instantly surged toward the newly introduced spiritual energy.
Without any change in her expression, Zhao Wanqing took a talisman from her waist and immediately pressed it against the blade. Once it had absorbed some blood qi, she promptly put the talisman away again.
Then Zhao Wanqing gently sealed the opening once more.
She was not a professional physician, and she was not adept at fighting that blood qi within meridians already riddled with holes.
Dealing with this blood qi was not difficult for Zhao Wanqing. Doing so without damaging the meridians, however, was extremely difficult.
She only needed a little blood qi.
Zhao Wanqing took one last look at her unconscious younger brother, then swiftly turned to leave.
"Sorry for the trouble, Physician A Nian. Please look after him."
"It's just my job." A Nian shook her head lightly as she answered.
After leaving the treatment room, Zhao Wanqing headed straight for the archives.
Her younger brother had been assigned to the second squad, and Zhao Wanqing had not given anyone in the Demon-Suppression Bureau a heads-up. Could someone have seized the opportunity to take revenge on her?
Zhao Wanqing quickly searched through her younger brother's duty records. Soon, she found the file for this mission.
Investigate the missing persons case in Wang Family Village.
The squad leader was a capable veteran member Zhao Wanqing had heard of.
Ever since her younger brother had been fished out and brought back, the Demon-Suppression Bureau had sent people to search that river, checking whether anyone else had fallen in with him. They had also dispatched another squad to Wang Family Village to look for the others.
The Demon-Suppression Bureau had already responded very quickly.
Zhao Wanqing then ruled out the possibility of retaliation. After all, the veteran member's fate was unknown, while her younger brother could at least cling to his life for now.
But Zhao Wanqing also understood that relying on the Demon-Suppression Bureau alone would probably not get to the bottom of this.
Even if they could uncover the truth, their investigation would probably not be swift.
If demonic beasts were causing trouble, the Demon-Suppression Bureau would simply throw people at them.
But this had clearly been a man-made disaster, a malicious attack. The investigation would inevitably be slower.
After all, people were far more intelligent than demonic beasts.
And the Demon-Suppression Bureau was busy. It would not assign very many investigators, either.
Now, she had to open a separate line of investigation herself.
With the file in hand, Zhao Wanqing swiftly turned and headed straight out onto the street.
The Bamboo Jade Court.
Quite a few books lay before Yaoqin, and a formation apparatus held a dark red Blood Qi Spirit Stone aloft.
Holding a book, she read carefully while making minute, cautious adjustments to the apparatus, trying to reverse the process by which the blood qi had corroded the spirit stone.
But soon, the spirit stone abruptly flared with dark red light, shattering the apparatus that was attempting to control it.
Yaoqin looked a little discouraged. "Damn it..."
A Ling, the maid standing beside her and watching, urged her softly:
"Miss... take a break. You haven't rested in so long. How could that lecher's business be so important?"
Yaoqin raised her slender, fair hand and gently rubbed her forehead.
"All right, I understand. Go outside for now."
A Ling understood as soon as she heard that. Her mistress did not understand and want to rest at all. She clearly found A Ling's presence annoying and wanted to send her away so she could continue her research.
"Miss..."
"Go outside for now." Yaoqin's tone remained unchanged.
Helpless, A Ling could only sigh and leave the room.
Once the maid had left, Yaoqin closed her eyes and rested her mind briefly, then began setting up the apparatus again.
She had to admit that as Chu Xingchen's cultivation improved,
the things he asked her to do were getting harder and harder...
This spirit stone was not something Yaoqin could easily deal with, even with the many books in her sect available for reference.
But he was the one who had asked her, after all.
Unsurprisingly, Yaoqin's latest attempt also failed.
As the apparatus was scattered once again, the Blood Qi Spirit Stone fell onto the tabletop with a crisp clink.
She could not help feeling somewhat discouraged, but at least she had made some headway.
Still, this was hardly her first or second failure. Yaoqin soon regained her composure. Just as she was preparing to continue her research in earnest, her maid's voice came from outside the door.
"Miss, Miss Zhao would like to see you."
Yaoqin answered offhandedly, "I'm busy. I won't see her."
There was a brief silence outside before the maid's voice sounded again.
"Miss, she says it's urgent."
Yaoqin took a deep breath and tucked the spirit stone before her into her sleeve.
"Let her in."
As soon as she spoke, the door was pushed open.
Yaoqin raised her eyes.
Zhao Wanqing stood in the doorway, looking somewhat dispirited. Much of the confidence that usually shone in her features had faded.
"I'm busy these days. Say what you came to say, then leave."
Zhao Wanqing took two steps inside, then cupped her hands. "I need you to help me with something."
"I'm busy." Yaoqin answered almost instantly.
What did these people take me for? Every one of them comes to me whenever something happens. Can't they learn to solve things themselves?
As though she had not heard, Zhao Wanqing took out the talisman containing the sealed blood qi and placed it on the table.
"I need you to help me find out where this blood qi comes from. It was used to attack people from the Demon-Suppression Bureau. If you ever need anything in the future, I won't refuse."
Blood qi?
Yaoqin had been utterly uninterested, intending to let Zhao Wanqing finish speaking before telling her to get lost. At those words, however, her gaze instinctively turned toward the talisman on the table.
No way, right?
After a moment's hesitation, Yaoqin still reached out to touch the talisman.
As she poured spiritual energy into it, Yaoqin immediately sensed the violent blood qi within.
Yaoqin abruptly tightened her grip on the talisman, squeezing her eyes shut in anger. "I understand. I'll send someone to notify you when I have results."
Surprise appeared on Zhao Wanqing's face. She had not expected Yaoqin to agree so decisively.
Before coming, Zhao Wanqing had prepared herself to be fed rejection until she was stuffed.
What puzzled Zhao Wanqing was that, judging by Yaoqin's expression, she seemed to know something about the blood qi's inside story.
But Zhao Wanqing knew which sect stood behind Yaoqin, and she had considerable trust in where Yaoqin stood.
"Thank you."
Zhao Wanqing cupped her hands and did not linger, swiftly turning to leave.
She still had a great deal to do.
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