Chapter 182

Murong Feiyan showed no mercy, raising her hand and sword fell, consecutively stabbing two; a punch knocked one of the thugs to the ground.

Hu Xiaotian, at this moment, crawled out of the pond water stained red with blood; an arrow was stuck in his buttocks, though not deep, it hurt him enough to grit his teeth. Liu Kuohai hurried forward, helped pull him out of the pond, exclaiming in alarm: "Sir, you're wounded!"

Hu Xiaotian nodded, turned his head to look behind his buttocks; the arrow was still stuck there, looking as if he had grown an extra tail, and he sucked in a breath of cold air.

Xu Qinglian

Hu Xiaotian limped over to the two men, recalling the arrow in his buttocks, his anger flared; he lifted his foot and kicked hard at one assassin's face, shouting: "Damn you... how dare... scheme against this official... ow!" This movement made his buttock hurt terribly.

Murong Feiyan glanced at the arrow in his buttocks; from the exposed shaft, the wound seemed not deep, she felt some concern in her heart, but seeing Hu Xiaotian's sorry state made her want to laugh, letting him get carried away—now he had learned his lesson.

Liu Kuohai walked over and ripped the black cloth from their faces, shouting angrily: "Speak? Who sent you?" One of them trembled: "Sir, spare my life... Sir, spare my life..."

Murong Feiyan said: "Answer our questions honestly, and perhaps we'll show you leniency."

That person bit his lip, glanced at his companions' corpses, seeming to finally make up his mind: "Someone hired us... gave... one hundred taels of silver... to buy Sir Hu Xiaotian's life..."

Hu Xiaotian flared up upon hearing this—not because someone plotted murder for profit, but because the price was pitifully low; although he didn't consider himself delicate and precious, one hundred taels of silver was still too shabby.

Government Office

Xuantian Guan

Murong Feiyan said: "Talk or not?" She raised the long sword in her hand, poised to strike down.

Both shouted at once: "Don't... we only know... they are people from the Government Office... exactly who... we don't know either."

Hu Xiaotian and Murong Feiyan exchanged a glance; both looked extremely furious, Hu Xiaotian gritted his teeth. He was certain this deed was done by Xu Qinglian's gang. I haven't even moved against you yet, and you dare plot to harm me—damn it. If you dare to act on the first, I dare to act on the fifteenth. Hu Xiaotian originally wanted to say kill them, but then thought it improper, since we still don't know whether what the two said is true; better to first take them to the Government Office. If it really is Xu Qinglian's gang, they'd fear exposure and would surely silence them.

With an arrow stuck in his buttocks, he certainly couldn't hurry on; fortunately the arrow wasn't poisoned, nor was it the barbed canine-tooth arrow that had once wounded Murong Feiyan in the capital, and the shooter's strength was modest, so the wound was shallow. Hu Xiaotian placed both hands on a tree trunk, bit a branch in his mouth, and nodded firmly.

Liu Kuohai gazed at Hu Xiaotian's buttocks; the arrowhead still had a small half exposed outside. This arrow's force had been greatly weakened by water resistance; otherwise the injury would have been worse. Liu Kuohai said: "Sir, I'm about to pull it out, okay?"

Meng Zizai

Liu Kuohai gripped the arrow shaft with both hands, gave a sudden hard pull, and drew the bloody arrowhead from Hu Xiaotian's buttocks; Hu Xiaotian let out a muffled groan, his gluteus maximus involuntarily tensed, and the pain grew worse.

Hu Xiaotian spat out the branch from his mouth, sweat cold beading his forehead from the pain, he took a long breath and said: "Use alcohol to disinfect me!"

Liu Kuohai unscrewed the gourd and poured the strong liquor over the wound; this pain was even more intense than when the arrow was pulled out, and Hu Xiaotian screamed like a slaughtered pig. Even Murong Feiyan, who had her back turned and stood far away, couldn't help turning her head; seeing Hu Xiaotian stark naked in the woods, his trousers fallen to his ankles, she blushed and whispered a curse: "Shameless." But then she realized no one had let her look—it was her own inability to restrain curiosity that made her peek.

Liu Kuohai followed Hu Xiaotian's taught method to help disinfect his wound, then applied Golden Trauma Medicine and bandaged it.

The road back to the city wasn't far, but for Hu Xiaotian it was agony; his butt was injured, he couldn't ride, so he had to lie prone across the horse's back. Murong Feiyan, though sharp‑tongued, was still very considerate of him, deliberately slowing their pace so the jolting wouldn't add to his pain.

The two assassins were captured alive and escorted along the way.

Not long after the Shen hour, they were already back in Qingyun Xian county seat, and someone had already reported the situation to the county government office.

Upon hearing that Hu Xiaotian had been ambushed, Xu Qinglian was also startled; Hu Xiaotian had Murong Feiyan send the two assassins straight to the county government office, while he himself returned to his residence accompanied by Liu Kuohai.

Hu Xiaotian had just arrived when Wan Boping came over; hearing that Hu Xiaotian had returned alone without bringing back his son, Wan Boping looked disappointed. Although he was worried about his son, the first thing he had to do was inquire about Hu Xiaotian's injury: "Sir Hu, what...?"

Hu Xiaotian lay on the bed; his butt no longer hurt at the moment. He sighed and said, "On the way we were ambushed by bandits; I killed a few and captured two."

Wan Boping exclaimed in shock, "Who could be so bold? Could it be the horse bandits from Tianlang Mountain?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "I'm not entirely sure either."

Wan Boping then asked about his son, and Hu Xiaotian briefly recounted today's trip to Black Stone Stronghold.

Wan Boping had in fact just received a report, knowing his son was still imprisoned by the Tianlang Mountain horse bandits; he couldn't help sighing, "These horse bandits are truly faithless and treacherous." The matter being what it is, he didn't feel able to say more; Hu Xiaotian's injuries this time were partly his fault, so Wan Boping left some condolence gifts and departed dejected.

No sooner had Wan Boping left than County Magistrate Xu Qinglian and County Constable Liu Baoju, having heard the news, rushed over; although deep down they wished Hu Xiaotian dead, they still had to put on a show of concern.

Those who can stand firm in the officialdom are mostly top‑notch actors; Xu Qinglian feigned concern, his face full of apparent sympathy: "Oh dear, Sir Hu, how could this happen? How could this happen?"

Hu Xiaotian silently cursed this man for putting on an act; at this moment the two were surely delighted, perhaps even regretting they hadn't shot him dead. He sighed, "I don't even know why this happened."

County Constable Liu Baoju said, "Sir Hu, rest assured; I have already sent men to Flying Eagle Valley, determined to net the assassins who plotted against you."

Hu Xiaotian snorted twice, "Net them all? By the time your men arrive, those assassins will have vanished without a trace; going there just to collect corpses would be about all you could do."

Xu Qinglian asked, "Sir Hu, what was your business outside the city today?"

Hu Xiaotian sighed, "It's a long story; right now I'm in great pain and my thoughts are in disarray—better wait till I recover a bit before I speak." He wouldn't tell them the truth, for otherwise these scoundrels would surely take advantage and, nine times out of ten, blame him for acting on his own.

Hearing Hu Xiaotian's dismissal, they naturally felt embarrassed to linger, and offered a couple of insincere comforting words, essentially telling him to stay home and rest, and not to meddle in office affairs.

Hu Xiaotian had Liang Da Zhuang see them out, thinking to himself, these two fellows wish they could never set foot in the government office again for the rest of their lives.

Hu Xiaotian's injury stirred many; the proprietor of Huichun Hall, Liu Danggui, came after hearing from his son, and even the famed Xichuan physician Zhou Wenju, having learned of it somehow, arrived with gifts, specially bringing his own secret formula Golden Trauma Medicine.

They were all fellow practitioners; after meeting, they naturally exchanged pleasantries. As Hu Xiaotian had once said, each field has its specialty—Zhou Wenju may not be skilled in surgery, but he has a sure hand with chronic ailments; his Golden Trauma Medicine is quite efficacious. After Hu Xiaotian applied it, the pain vanished instantly, his butt felt cool and comfortable; just moments ago he had been tossing and turning in bed, but now he could limp out of bed.

Hu Xiaotian praised, "Doctor Zhou's Golden Trauma Medicine is truly miraculous—apply it and the pain disappears."

Zhou Wenju, hearing his praise, felt somewhat embarrassed; since arriving in Qingyun Xian he had faced setbacks everywhere, and several acute patients he'd encountered left him helpless, this experience made him realize that the path of medicine has no limit, and before this young man Hu Xiaotian he grew ever more humble.

In the eyes of Liu Danggui, a renowned local physician of Qingyun Xian, Zhou Wenju was already a grandmaster‑level figure; although he had heard rumors of Hu Xiaotian's medical skill, his respect for Hu Xiaotian stemmed from Hu Xiaotian's kindness toward him and his status as a local official—he himself could not fathom why the famed Xichuan physician Zhou Wenju would hold Hu Xiaotian in such esteem.

Hu Xiaotian inquired about the Black Miao Tribe doctor Meng Zizai; Zhou Wenju had never heard of him, having mostly practiced in Xiezhou and rarely venturing to the Xichuan frontier, he had only heard of Black Miao medicine in passing and lacked deep understanding.

Liu Danggui knew Meng Zizai better, and he said softly, "That Mr. Meng is a Black Miao Tribe member; he once practiced in the capital, on and off for a full ten years, only returning to his hometown seven years ago. Black Miao healers excel at using snakes, insects, and herbs, especially at detoxifying. I once had a patient bitten by snakes or insects, and I went several times to Black Stone Stronghold to seek medicine from Mr. Meng; that man is outwardly cold but inwardly warm, and on several occasions he gave me snake medicine."

Hu Xiaotian said, "He told me just today that he used to be the resident physician at Xuantian Guan."