Chapter 1373

Xia Zhangming darted forward in a single stride, embraced Xiaorou's body, and snapped, "What are you doing?"

Hu Xiaotian coldly stared at Xu Fengwu; this person's ruthlessness in striking far exceeded his imagination.

Zhao Wusheng also flew into a rage; although he was battle-hardened and accustomed to death and injury, Xu Fengwu's habit of hurting people at the slightest provocation still shocked him greatly.

Xu Fengwu's face showed a sinister smile: "This is my family affair; you'd better not meddle."

Hu Xiaotian nodded.

Xiaorou lay pale in Xia Zhangming's arms, her forehead covered in cold sweat, she trembled, "I know I was wrong..."

A sudden surge of nameless fire rose in Xia Zhangming's heart; he roared, "How much? How much? I want to redeem her!"

Xu Fengwu chuckled: "I didn't expect to meet such a great benefactor today." He held up five fingers: "Fifty thousand taels of silver!"

Hu Xiaotian had just won a total of forty thousand taels; that meant to take Xiaorou away he'd have to pay an extra ten thousand—this man's heart was not only vicious but also greedy.

Xia Zhangming pulled a five-nation exchangeable silver note from his bosom; this time he was also in charge of the money—actually Xia Zhangming wasn't usually like this, but today he was clearly stirred by the scene. Hu Xiaotian placed the four chips from his hand on the table; the fifty thousand taels of silver were not lacking a single tael.

Hu Xiaotian said no more, picked up Xiaorou's severed hand from the ground; after all, time was short, the sooner he performed the limb reattachment surgery on her, the better the prognosis.

The three turned to leave, but heard Xu Fengwu coldly say: "Take the person with you, but leave that hand to me!"

Zhao Wusheng's hand slammed onto the sword hilt—enough is enough.

Just as Hu Xiaotian was about to erupt, a sigh came from afar: "Forget it!"

Only the voice was heard, no person seen; yet upon hearing those words, Xu Fengwu actually did not persist.

After Hu Xiaotian and the others left with Xiaorou, the speaker finally came down from the small building. It was exactly the white-clad gentleman Hu Xiaotian had met before the Gold-Sinking Den's door; the white-clad gentleman walked slowly up to Xu Fengwu, looked with some disgust at the bloodstains on the ground, took out an embroidered handkerchief to cover his nose, apparently unable to bear the bloody smell, and said softly, "Sixth Uncle. Killing needs only a nod to the ground; spare where you can."

Xu Fengwu seemed quite wary of this nephew, forcing a pleasing smile: "Mubai! They're cheating!"

Xu Mubai said calmly: "On a gambling table, why quibble over methods? Doing this makes others think you can't afford to lose; a mere forty thousand taels of silver is nothing compared to reputation."

Xu Fengwu nodded, smiled as Xu Mubai departed, and only after he had gone far did he mutter lowly: "Empty fame is nowhere near as solid as silver; nowadays young people don't even grasp this simple truth."

Hu Xiaotian, Xia Zhangming, and Zhao Wusheng hurried back to the dock with Xiaorou; Hu Xiaotian had also brought an instrument case for this trip to the Tianxiang Kingdom. He had Xia Zhangming assist as he re-sutured Xiaorou's severed hand. For Hu Xiaotian this surgery wasn't complex, but it was a time-consuming, labor-intensive delicate task; after debridement, replantation surgery was required. This included rebuilding the bone scaffold, restoring blood circulation, and, in the absence of a surgical microscope, suturing blood vessels was absolutely a test of eyesight and skill.

Moreover, nerve repair was needed; muscle and tendon repair came next, and only after all that was done was the final step of suturing the skin.

Fortunately, Xu Fengwu's cut was so swift and fierce that the incision was neat and smooth, causing no tissue loss—this condition is favorable for limb replantation. Even so, Hu Xiaotian spent nearly three hours before finishing the surgery.

Stepping out of the cabin into the open air, he removed his mask, Hu Xiaotian drew a long breath, looked up, and saw the moon already high in midheaven; just earlier, when he had brought Xiaorou back, it had still been afternoon—who would have thought it was already night.

Footsteps sounded behind him; it was Xia Zhangming coming out after him, and Hu Xiaotian smiled at him.

Xia Zhangming wore an ashamed look: "My lord, I've caused you trouble today."

Hu Xiaotian laughed heartily: "What trouble? This trouble originally arose because of me; even if you stayed silent, I would surely have rescued her."

Xia Zhangming nodded, moved; the longer he followed Hu Xiaotian, the more he discovered his captivating charm that wins hearts—Hu Xiaotian not only possessed superb martial arts and miraculous medical skill, but most importantly he knew how to respect others, never forgetting to consider their feelings at any time.

Hu Xiaotian said: "I'm just a bit hungry right now."

A tempting meat aroma suddenly wafted through the air; he and Xia Zhangming both looked up to see Zhao Wusheng approaching from the bow with a lantern, laughing heartily: "Gentlemen, the food and drink are ready; we're just waiting for you to take your seats."

Hu Xiaotian was already starving; he shoved several large chunks of beef into his mouth, then raised his cup and drank with them. Zhao Wusheng had prepared a table full of seafood; although prices inside the Gold-Sinking Den were shocking, market seafood was cheap and varied, and their ship had a cook on board; Zhao Wusheng, while the two were treating Xiaorou's injuries, took the cook to shop and prepared a feast for them to enjoy.

Xia Zhangming soon filled his stomach, then went to stay by Xiaorou's side.

Zhao Wusheng gazed at Xia Zhangming's back and said meaningfully: "Zhangming seems quite fond of that Xiaorou."

Hu Xiaotian laughed: "That's also normal."

Zhao Wusheng said: "I've already ordered them to speed up ship resupply; at the earliest we can leave the island by noon tomorrow."

Hu Xiaotian knew Zhao Wusheng did this to avoid unnecessary trouble; he lifted his head to gaze at the night sky, seeing the new moon hanging high, its silver light bathing all of Nanjin Island, the distant sea calm and peaceful, gentle waves shimmering like fish scales under the moonlight. Hu Xiaotian sighed softly: "If it weren't for me, her hand wouldn't have been cut off." He hadn't lied to Xia Zhangming; even if Xia Zhangming hadn't stepped forward to redeem Xiaorou, he would still have done so. If it weren't for his momentary competitiveness, his suggestion to play dice with Xiaorou wouldn't have led to what followed. After all, he was simply too eager to win; although he defeated others, he ultimately relied on trickery—a hollow victory. In fact, after winning, Hu Xiaotian could have just taken the forty thousand taels and left; but then Xu Fengwu suddenly appeared, smiling while hiding a blade, his nature extremely cruel, and right before them he sliced off Xiaorou's right hand.

Although that blow struck Xiaorou's body, it ignited the fury of Hu Xiaotian and the others.

Seeing Hu Xiaotian silent for a long time, Zhao Wusheng knew he couldn't swallow this anger, and whispered: "Boss, what do you say we do?" If Hu Xiaotian decided to take revenge on the Gold-Sinking Den, he would without hesitation lead his brothers to burn it down.

After some thought, Hu Xiaotian said: "Impatience spoils grand plans; we'll leave the Gold-Sinking Den alone for now, and settle accounts when we return."

Zhao Wusheng nodded; Hu Xiaotian's words made perfect sense, after all their main mission in going to the Tianxiang Kingdom was to compete for the position of Prince Consort—Nanjin Island was merely a stopover along the way, and stirring up trouble now truly serves no purpose.

Zhao Wusheng said: "I think the people of the Gold-Sinking Den are no ordinary lot; to guard against delay bringing complications, after tomorrow's resupply is done we should still leave Nanjin Island as soon as possible."

Hu Xiaotian said: "The boss of the Gold-Sinking Den is not weak in martial arts, and the white-clad gentleman we met at the door is an even greater hidden expert."

As the two were speaking, Xia Zhangming came out again.

Hu Xiaotian smiled: "Why aren't you staying inside with Miss Xiaorou?"

Xia Zhangming said: "She's already asleep."

Hu Xiaotian nodded.

Xia Zhangming added: "Just now she said something strange, that we couldn't afford to offend the Xu family, and urged us to leave quickly."

Zhao Wusheng asked: "Which Xu family is so formidable?"

Hu Xiaotian's heart stirred at his words; if one were to speak of the richest, most powerful Xu family under heaven, it would have to be the Jinling Xu clan—his maternal grandmother's family. Although he had long known of this relation, over the years he had had no contact with the Jinling Xu clan; though his maternal grandfather Xu Lingkong had often helped him, his maternal grandmother, Old Lady Xu, was a cold-hearted person who not only watched his family's misfortune without lifting a finger, but even staged the tragedy between his parents.

Hu Xiaotian had always been puzzled by his mother's death, which is why, before she died, he had Weisali use soul-capturing technique to control her consciousness; Xu Fengyi then revealed that earth-shattering secret of his birth. Although Hu Xiaotian believed his mother would not lie, who could guarantee that the secret she obtained was truly reliable? Even if Old Lady Xu were ruthless, she probably wouldn't commit such a heinous act—unless Hu Buwei and Xu Fengyi had no blood relation to her, otherwise her doing so would be hard to understand.

Yet from the various behaviors of maternal grandfather Xu Lingkong, there seems to be an unspeakable difficulty; what exactly happened between the old couple? Unless one experienced it personally, others would hardly know.

Because of Xiaorou's matter, Hu Xiaotian worried the Gold-Sinking Den wouldn't let it rest, so he had Zhao Wusheng strengthen shipboard security.

That night, surprisingly, there was no wind or waves; they passed peacefully. The next morning, Hu Xiaotian woke, left the cabin, and saw Zhao Wusheng walking over, smiling, "Early!"

Zhao Wusheng said: "I was woken up early by the Gold-Sinking Den people."

Hu Xiaotian frowned slightly, thinking the Gold-Sinking Den folks had come to cause trouble, and whispered, "Coming to cause trouble?"

Zhao Wusheng said: "No, just their boss came to see my lord."

Hu Xiaotian followed Zhao Wusheng to the ship's side and saw, on the dock, a luxurious carriage parked; Gold-Sinking Den's manager Xu Fengwu stood before it, with two beautiful women beside him, apparently waiting for an audience.

Today is Saturday; as usual, First Update, Zhangyu needs to rest and adjust! (To be continued~^~)