"Gao... don't..."
Zhou Qi seemed to want to say something more, but though his lips opened and closed, he only managed to squeeze out two indistinct words.
Gao Shang had no time for his nonsense.
Two consecutive, full-strength slashes had aggravated the injuries inside him that had only just stabilized. His chest felt tight; he had to end this fight as quickly as possible.
Gao Shang held his long saber across his chest. The next instant, he abruptly bent low and lunged forward, slashing at Zhou Qi's waist and abdomen.
Zhou Qi gripped his scalpel tightly, still hoping to repeat his old trick, deflect the force, and escape.
But Gao Shang had already seen that move.
Just as the two blades were about to collide, he tilted his edge slightly. The long saber brushed past the scalpel's tip and swept toward Zhou Qi's legs.
Shhk!
The system-produced long saber was exceptionally sharp, cutting straight through.
With nothing beneath him, Zhou Qi fell heavily to the ground.
His two severed legs landed to one side, no longer able to support his body.
His stitched-together face still showed little expression, but his remaining arm braced hard against the ground, dragging his body backward.
"Cough... you really do have a strong will to live."
Gao Shang coughed lightly, another trace of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
"But those people you killed probably didn't want to die either, did they?"
He wiped the blood from his mouth and put away his long saber.
"Killing you just like that would let you off too easily. Savor the taste of death a little longer."
Gao Shang waved a hand, sending a serpent of flame flying out to envelop Zhou Qi.
He lowered the flames' temperature somewhat so Zhou Qi would not die immediately, then ignited the severed limbs nearby as well, lest anything unexpected happen again.
"Urgh... aah!"
Hoarse cries rose intermittently from the flames.
But even with its temperature suppressed, this was still Ultimate Fire. In less than two minutes, the sounds stopped entirely.
"Hmph. You really can't take much burning."
With a cold snort, Gao Shang looked away, finally finding time to examine this newly discovered secret chamber.
Compared with outside, there were fewer things here, but a greater variety.
An iron bed two meters long stood in the middle of the chamber, its surface mottled with bloodstains. A long table stood against the wall, covered with potions and tools.
At the far right end of the table, also its cleanest spot, lay two notebooks, one thin and one thick.
Gao Shang did not even know what those potions were for. One glance left him without any interest.
The two notebooks, however, caught his interest somewhat. The pages of one were dark yellow, clearly indicating it had existed for a very long time.
But now was not the time to read them.
He put the notebooks into his Storage Soul Tool, then tapped each of the other three walls in turn.
Only after confirming there were no other hidden chambers did he swallow two pills and summon the Fire Phoenix Wings.
With a beat of his wings, Gao Shang left the underground chamber.
He had only just returned to the surface when a faint commotion reached him from afar. It sounded like nearby residents, or perhaps patrol guards arriving.
"The law enforcement response is faster than I imagined."
Gao Shang delayed no longer. Finding the girl who was still unconscious, he gently lifted her into his arms and beat his wings, disappearing into the night sky.
Gao Shang's courtyard, Gao Manor.
The moment he landed, Gao Shang spat out a large mouthful of blood.
The Fire Phoenix Wings' consumption was terrifying. Summoning them alone took half his Soul Power, and maintaining flight required a continuous expenditure.
Using Soul Power with such intensity placed immense strain on his already injured meridians. In just two minutes, his injuries had nearly doubled in severity.
Now that he had stopped, even mobilizing his Soul Power again was somewhat difficult.
Gao Shang gently laid the girl on the grass nearby, quickly purchased suitable healing medicine from the shop, and fed her a pill first.
Then he took medicine himself and sat cross-legged, beginning to refine its medicinal power.
A long while later, Gao Shang opened his eyes again.
His body still ached faintly, but his breathing had finally steadied.
From here on, he could only minimize his use of Soul Power and recover slowly.
"The humans of the Douluo Continent have at least ten thousand years of history behind them. How have they still failed to develop decent healing medicine?"
Gao Shang felt somewhat helpless.
He had already taken nearly thirty pills in a single day. He did not know whether taking them one after another had given him drug resistance, but the later doses were growing less and less effective.
Had he not feared that indiscriminately taking high-grade pills and herbs might cause problems, he would have bought some herbs with a high age and chewed them directly.
Gao Shang shook his head helplessly, stood up, and walked toward the girl.
He had already examined her with his Soul Power earlier. She had Soul Power too, but was only at rank eight, still a Soul Scholar without a Soul Ring.
Perhaps it was because she had never taken this sort of pill before, but the medicine worked very well on her. Most of her injuries had eased, though her broken bones still needed a physician's attention.
After checking her condition, Gao Shang summoned a maid.
"Go tell Hong Hua to take this little girl to a clinic. I've already given her healing medicine, so just have the physician set her bones and secure them."
"Yes."
The maid bowed in acknowledgment. Without asking further about the girl's origins, she hurried out of the courtyard.
Hong Hua arrived quickly, her clothes neatly arranged, as though she had not slept at all.
The moment she entered and saw the bloodstains and torn clothes on Gao Shang, her expression changed.
"Boss, you're hurt?"
Gao Shang waved a hand.
"It's nothing. There was just a little mishap. A couple of days' rest will do."
Hong Hua studied his complexion carefully. Seeing that his breathing was fairly steady, she finally relaxed a little.
"Then Zhou Qi..."
"He's dealt with. No need to worry about him anymore."
Hong Hua's nerves, which had been taut all night, finally relaxed.
Earlier, when she learned Zhou Qi was a Soul Ancestor, she had even considered fleeing.
But Gao Shang truly treated her and Wang Tianyuan well, and had shown both of them kindness. In the end, she had not left.
Besides, her boss could reliably produce all sorts of rare Soul Beast meat every day.
With resources like that, she would never believe there was no force backing him at all.
Now that even Zhou Qi had been dealt with, her gamble had paid off.
At least as far as she knew, the forces in Nuoding City that possessed a Soul Ancestor could be counted on one hand. Being able to deal with a Soul Ancestor meant her boss's side should also rank among the city's notable forces.
Reassured, Hong Hua looked at the girl on the grass.
"Boss, once this girl is healed, what should we do with her?"
"Once she wakes up, ask where her home is, then accompany her there."
Gao Shang glanced at the girl and sighed softly.
"If her family is still alive, send her home. If they're gone, bring her back."
Judging by her clothes, this girl did not seem to come from a wealthy family. Given Zhou Qi's nature, her parents' chances of survival were probably slim.
But they would only know the truth after going to look.
"Yes."
Hong Hua answered and left with the girl.
Gao Shang closed his door again and devoted all his attention to healing.
Only at dusk the following day did he slowly open his eyes and let out a long breath. His chest and abdomen still felt somewhat tight.
He had been lying prone when using the Thunder Hand Cannon, and his torso had taken almost all the recoil.
Without help from a high-grade healing Soul Master, healing medicine alone had very limited effectiveness on internal injuries like these.
After recuperating from last night until now, his injuries had only recovered by about ten percent.
For now, he would even have to put circulating his Soul Power for cultivation on hold.
Still, he did not want to simply sit idle.
Gao Shang turned his hand over, and two notebooks appeared in it.
He wanted to see just what Zhou Qi had been researching with all those bones and internal organs.