Chapter 384: Refusing to Become Accomplices

Pan Yun checked the wounds on Hu Jing's body while saying, "Just slip along the wall cracks and see if there's a hole. You can get through without crossing the yard."

Pan Xiaohei cursed and grumbled, but still quickly climbed up the roof beam, slipped from here to the next room, then braved the rain drifting down from the roof, slipping through a gap in the beam into another room, and finally found a hole in the corner of the wall, which led straight into the mountain god temple.

Perfect, only its fur was a little wet.

Pan Yun took Hu Jing's hand to feel his pulse, pulled out a medicine bottle from her small square bag, poured out a pill, hesitated for a moment, then pinched Hu Jing's philtrum anyway.

After forcibly pinching him awake, she stuffed the pill into his mouth. "This pill is a bit big. Chew it quickly."

Hu Jing was seriously wounded and dazed, but could still understand human speech. His mouth moved unconsciously, as if he had tasted the bitterness of the medicine. He paused, then chewed even harder.

The medicine spread across his tongue. Whether it was the bitterness or the medicine taking effect, Hu Jing became a little clearer.

Pan Yun kept taking things out of her bag, sprinkling medicinal powder on the wound on his chest and pressing it with clean gauze.

Mu Lin had already finished examining the two assassins and walked over to look at Pan Yun. "Hey, little Daoist, those two are about to die."

Pan Yun glanced back at the two assassins and was about to go check them when Hu Jing weakly tugged at her.

He still had undissolved medicine in his mouth and mumbled, "Sanzhu, save me first…"

Pan Yun squatted back down, carefully examined his complexion, and frowned. "You took the elixir, so why is your face still this pale? This is the Restoration Great Tonic Elixir my senior brother refined!"

Hu Jing said weakly, "Lower back…"

Pan Yun heard this, reached out and flipped him over, and saw his lower back was a bloody mess, stabbed through with a bloody hole.

Pan Yun immediately pressed gauze against it. "Sorry, sorry, I thought the blood was from those three wounds on your chest and arm. I didn't expect there to be one on your lower back too. Not enough experience, not enough experience."

Hu Jing let out a breath of relief, lay on his side and let his thoughts drift. Good, he shouldn't die now, right?

Mu Lin asked curiously, "Who is he? Why are you so nervous about him?"

Pan Yun: "He's my friend. Stay a little farther away. I don't completely trust you yet."

Mu Lin hadn't expected her to be so direct. He paused before saying, "You really are… I can't possibly be in cahoots with two Japanese pirates, can I? I obviously look like a Great Ming person."

Pan Yun: "Once a Japanese pirate pretended to be a Great Ming merchant right in front of me. If this poor Daoist hadn't studied her craft so well, I almost would have been fooled."

Mu Lin was about to speak when he suddenly heard some other sounds.

Pan Yun also looked up toward the door.

Wang Cong and the others came over with umbrellas and packs on their backs. Miao Zhen was still holding Pan Xiao Hei in her arms.

Rain pattered loudly against the umbrellas, making a huge noise. The fog was thick, and people couldn't be seen clearly. Looking out from inside the room, only a few human silhouettes could be made out.

Mu Lin pressed his hand to his waist sash, frowning as he watched the approaching people.

Pan Yun spoke first. "Senior nephew, I'm here."

Wang Cong quickened his pace, ducked his head to enter the room, casually set his umbrella aside, and came over. "So this is Hero Hu? He's badly hurt."

Wang Cong called Tao Yanbai and Miao He over. "This room leaks. That spot over there is cleaner. Junior Xiao Shishu, you and Miao Zhen spread out some straw, cover it with clean cloth, several layers. We'll come debride him."

Tao Yanbai spotted the wound on his lower back at a glance and said, "This wound is too serious. We'll need boiled water, and we'll need to stitch it."

Pan Yun rolled up her sleeves and said, "I'll tidy up the place."

Miao Zhen helped too.

Hong Yan came in last, put her umbrella in the corner of the room, and her gaze fell on the black-clad man and the withered-robed man lying alone on the ground.

The ignored Mu Lin looked at Hong Yan with eyes full of admiration for a moment, then shifted his gaze to watch Pan Yun make the bed.

They took out two rolls of cloth from the black luggage bag, spread them out, lifted Hu Jing onto them, and then some did acupuncture, others cleaned the wounds.

Mu Lin's gaze sharpened as he saw them uncap the water pouches they carried, pour out warm water to clean the wounds, and then Tao Yanbai produced needle and thread and actually sewed up the flesh on Hu Jing's body as if mending clothes.

Mu Lin watched, stunned.

Miao He squatted beside them handing over tools, sprinkling medicinal powder, pressing gauze—one person doing the work of three.

Pan Yun had nothing to do, and finally went over to look at the two Japanese pirates.

The two lay silently on the ground, faces deathly pale, with faint bloodstains seeping out onto the floor.

Pan Yun stepped forward and felt the necks of the two, frowning. "This one's dead."

Pan Yun gave a reproachful glance back at the sword on her back before going to look at the withered-robed man.

The withered-robed man still had one breath left in him.

Pan Yun let out a breath of relief, stuffed a pill into his mouth, then used cloth to bind the wound on his chest, and pressed two acupuncture points to stop the bleeding.

Miao Zhen glanced at the bloody hole in his chest and his limp right palm and asked, "Junior Xiao Shishu, is his kung fu very powerful?"

Pan Yun nodded. "Not low. Even without the Fifth Hour, he should be at the peak of the Fourth Hour. And his concealment skill is profound—at first I couldn't find them even using shockwave spiritual energy."

This showed that they had not only blended into their surroundings visually, but also made their own energy infinitely close to the surrounding objects, which was why her shockwave spiritual energy couldn't detect them.

Miao Zhen: "Could Hero Hu really have a treasure map in his hands? Otherwise why would they send such powerful people to find him?"

Pan Yun looked at her. "Why do you think Wang Cong and I were in such a hurry to find Hero Hu?" Miao Zhen's eyes went wide. "But…"

Pan Yun said, "The cultivation manuals and secret scriptures available for students to consult in the Academy—I always copy two copies. One for my elder brother, one to keep, to be placed in our Daoist temple later."

Pan Yun said slowly, "Before I handed the map over, I made a copy of it myself. Guess whether Fourth Senior Sister has a simplified copy?"

That treasure map was very detailed, even including some strategic deployments, but if one really only wanted the treasure, it would be enough to just note a few coordinates and shipping routes.

Before handing the map over, Pan Yun had skipped those strategic deployments and directly copied a version with just the treasure's coordinates and shipping routes.

"We've only had the map for a short day and a night, and everyone wanted to make backups, keep something in reserve. Guess whether Zhu Zixun also kept something in reserve?"

Miao Zhen's eyes went wide.

Pan Yun said, "These Japanese pirates came ashore and didn't look for anyone else, only went after Hu Jing. This shows they're quite certain Hu Jing has something on him."

Her biggest purpose in coming was to stop them from getting anything useful from Hu Jing. Saving Hu Jing was only secondary.

Pan Yun tilted her head to glance at Hu Jing in the other corner. This Hero Hu truly had a chivalrous heart and could be considered a good person.

She couldn't just stand by and watch him get hacked apart by a bunch of Japanese pirates, could she?

!. Read

Mu Lin squatted nearby watching Wang Cong and Tao Yanbai rescue Hu Jing with great interest. Once they finished, he hurriedly asked, "Are you Daoist physicians? Then can you cure corpse poison?"

Wang Cong looked up at him and asked, "What corpse poison? You've been infected with corpse poison?"

"No, no, I'm just curious—I saw someone die with their whole body rotting after being infected, so I wondered if Daoist medicine has a cure?"

Wang Cong said, "If you've just accidentally been infected, remove all the rotting flesh, take the Red Pill, then bury your entire body in glutinous rice, drink only a little water, and in three days and three nights, it will be cured."

Mu Lin fell silent for a moment, then asked, "What if the corpse poison spreads from within outward?"

Wang Cong raised an eyebrow, scanned him up and down, then said, "Then eat whatever you want, drink whatever you want, do whatever you want—as long as you don't break the law or disrupt order."

Mu Lin pressed his lips together, displeased: "You can't cure it doesn't mean no one else can."

Wang Cong nodded. "The world is vast—there are many extraordinary talents. Perhaps you can find someone. But my abilities are limited; in all the books I've read, no one has ever cured this poison."

Mu Lin lowered his head and said nothing.

Wang Cong asked, "May I ask your name? Why are you here in this back courtyard?"

Mu Lin bowed his hands. "I am Mu Lin. I met…."

He turned to look at Pan Yun. "I met the young Daoist, and we came here together to escape the rain. I saw the back door slightly ajar, so I followed her here."

Upon hearing his name, Wang Cong couldn't help but scan him up and down, then fixed his gaze on his face.

Mu Lin instinctively touched his own face. "What's wrong?"

Wang Cong smiled at him and shook his head. "Nothing. I just find Young Master's face familiar."

Outside, wind and rain raged; inside, cool breeze and fine drizzle drifted.

Hu Jing had taken his medicine and fallen into a deep sleep, but he was shivering violently.

Wang Cong took off his outer robe and covered him with it, then piled his own clothes on top—but it still wasn't enough.

At this moment, the outsider Mu Lin was extremely unwelcome.

Wang Cong quietly slid beside Pan Yun and whispered, "Little Master, we need to find a way to get rid of him."

Pan Yun turned her head, glanced at Mu Lin, then stepped forward directly. "Go to the front."

Mu Lin froze. "Why?"

Wang Cong also froze. Little Master is so blunt—couldn't she be more tactful?

Pan Yun: "We're not allies. We have secrets to discuss—we must interrogate these two assassins about why they tried to kill our good friend, our dear brother. Outsiders can't be involved."

Mu Lin: "... I—I can turn my back and not look or listen."

Pan Yun coldly rejected him: "No."

Mu Lin thought for a moment and remembered: "But wait—you can't set up your own tribunal. I'm, I'm…"

Mu Lin stammered for a long time but couldn't say who he was.

Pan Yun said, "You look about my age—do you really think you're an official? Don't even think it. Even if you were an official, you still couldn't interfere."

Pan Yun picked up an umbrella and shoved it into his hand, pushing him toward the door. "Leave quickly—it's spring. Getting soaked will make you sick."

"No, brother—wait, sir—no, young Daoist—how can I make you believe me? We just went through life and death together!"

Wang Cong covered his mouth, watching from the side. He tried to speak several times but stayed quiet each time.

Pan Yun grabbed a packet of pastries from her bag, shoved it into his hand, and pushed him out the door. "They went through life and death—not me. Go eat the pastries in the temple first. Come back after you're done."

(End of Chapter)