Chapter 30: Don't Get Our Hands Dirty!

Fang Yuan wants to trade my life for medicine, to extend his life!

And in Wufu Town, whose hand might hold Fang Yuan's life-saving medicine while also wanting my life?

The more I think, the more alarmed I become—what a huge game!

I had already warned myself beforehand, but in the end I still couldn't guard against it.

Who could have expected that?

As time passes, the cracks on my body keep increasing.

The flesh is turned outward, oozing dark pus-blood; in the worst spots, the skin even shows signs of peeling off.

At this moment, Li Qingying also realized: "Is that the guy named Fang Yuan? You have his contact, right? I'll go find him now!"

"It's him, but not only him," I said. "There's someone behind him."

Li Qingying asked: "Who?"

I said firmly: "The Bai Family."

"Is it the Bai Family that runs the medical clinic in town?" Li Qingying grabbed her whip and headed out, "I'll go get the antidote for you! If they refuse, I'll overturn their clinic!"

"Sister Qingying!" I shouted to stop her, "Don't act rashly; what they want is for us to lose our footing. If we have no trump card, going to them now would mean defeat."

Li Qingying trembled with anger, veins bulging on her forehead: "How can I stay calm like this? Xiao Jiu, they want your life!"

I still shook my head: "Sister Qingying, I won't die."

"If the Bai Family merely wanted a corpse, I'd already be stiff." I patiently explained to her, "They want to take me for a sacrifice, to nail me alive into a red coffin; as long as I can endure, it's they who will be anxious."

Li Qingying said with heartache: "But... how can you endure like this?"

I thought for a long time—how exactly should I save myself?

What does the Bai Family fear?

Or rather, what did the Five Immortals, who committed evil deeds back then, fear?

By sealing each pure-yin body into a red coffin, chaining it with iron locks, and sinking it into the Pearl Coiling River, what were they trying to achieve?

In the Pearl Coiling River, besides those eight red coffins and Fu Wan, there is also... Zhao Zixun!

Upon realizing this, it dawned on me—yes, Zhao Zixun!

I immediately opened the box I had retrieved from the stage, handed the local gazette to Li Qingying, and solemnly said: "Sister Qingying, please run to the medical clinic and personally deliver this gazette to the Bai Family, telling them that if they don't want the Língchí dagger to see the light of day again, I need to see the antidote before cockcrow."

Li Qingying took the gazette and was about to leave.

I called out to her again, urging: "Sister Qingying, stay calm; just deliver the message, and don't get into any conflict with the Bai Family."

Li Qingying nodded: "Don't worry, Xiao Jiu."

Having said that, she hurried away with the gazette, vanishing into the night.

The cracks on my body multiplied, black blood soaked my clothes, and my whole body ached.

I took two painkiller pills and sat in the room counting time.

Actually I'm still a bit worried; Sister Qingying is fine in every way, but her temper is fiery—I fear the Bai Family might provoke her with a few words, causing her to lose composure and start a fight, which would be bad.

I'm even more afraid that I guessed wrong.

I studied the gazette carefully; in my understanding, Zhao Zixun is on the same side as Chen Ping, while the Five Immortals used red coffins to sink pure-yin bodies into the Pearl Coiling River—what was their purpose?

Could it not be to suppress something?

I'm betting that this suppression is related to Chen Ping and Zhao Zixun!

If I guessed wrong, then it's just my bad luck.

But what if I guessed right?

This is the only self-rescue I can think of right now.

As I was thinking, sudden hurried footsteps sounded outside; my heart pounded, and I lifted my foot toward Nan Shu Fang.

I had just reached the door when I saw Li Qingying flying in from the east.

In the darkness, something white was chasing behind her.

Only when Li Qingying entered the area illuminated by the Dang Pu's lights did those white lumps in the darkness quickly retreat.

As soon as Li Qingying entered, I asked: "Sister Qingying, how did it go?"

"I didn't provoke them," Li Qingying said. "I delivered the item, dropped the message, turned and left; they followed behind me, wanting to fight, but I dodged."

I breathed a sigh of relief: "It's good that you dodged."

"But..." Li Qingying said, full of uncertainty, "Will the Bai Family really give the antidote?"

I don't know either; for now we can only take it step by step: "Sister Qingying, go get some sleep; if we haven't received the antidote by cockcrow, we'll think of something else."

Li Qingying shook her head firmly: "I won't sleep; I'll stay with you."

The night is too long.

Especially since my whole body keeps cracking and oozing pus-blood.

Li Qingying wishes she could suffer this ordeal in my place, but she can't do anything.

Several times, she stood outside the threshold holding her whip, almost unable to resist going to confront the Bai Family to the death.

Thus we waited until three in the morning.

By then I had started coughing blood, and my five viscera felt as if they were about to be crushed.

At that moment, footsteps finally sounded outside.

On the empty street, the footsteps sounded somewhat hollow; the closer they got to the Dang Pu, the more tangled and stagnant they became.

When the person finally came into view, Li Qingying saw who it was, and without a word, she grabbed her whip and charged forward.

The whipping sound of the long lash, accompanied by the man's mournful howl, almost echoed throughout Wufu Town.

Sitting at the counter, I heard Fang Yuan's gasping cries, as if he might die at any moment; the pent-up anger in my chest finally eased.

At that moment, a feeling of satisfaction actually arose in my heart!

Those who harm me ought to make him pay the price!

But it's not enough, far from enough.

Fangyuan showing up now is enough to prove I guessed right.

This is the Bai Family's compromise with me.

It seems Zhao Zixun's deterrence over them is still strong.

Since we can compromise, there's room for further discussion.

Outside, the long whip lashes into the flesh.

Fangyuan had been whipped to the ground, bloody, crawling toward Dang Pu, shouting while crawling: "Xiao Jiu Zhanggui, I was wrong, I was forced."

"Li Qingying." I then said, "Let him in."

Li Qingying grabbed Fangyuan's collar with one hand, like dragging a dead dog, and dragged him into Dang Pu.

Fangyuan tremblingly produced a small medicine bottle from his bosom; Li Qingying snatched it away, then stepped on his right hand, grinding it hard: "Speak, who sent you to deliver the medicine? Is there a problem with the medicine?"

"It's the Bai Family." Fangyuan said through the pain, "I stake my head on it—if the antidote is faulty, may I be struck by lightning and die a horrible death."

Li Qingying gave a cold snort: "I doubt you'd dare."

I reached out, took the medicine bottle, opened it, and without hesitation swallowed the pill.

Since the Bai Family has compromised, they wouldn't tamper with the antidote anymore.

The pill melted on contact, a medicinal fragrance rushing into the five viscera and six bowels; the pain throughout my body vanished instantly, and the wounds healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In just two or three minutes, I had fully recovered.

Seeing the antidote take effect, Fangyuan began to plead: "Xiao Jiu Zhanggui, believe me, I was really forced; only the Bai Family's medicine can save me, I have no choice, I..."

"Throw him out." I said coldly.

Li Qingying unwilling: "Xiao Jiu, just let this brat off so easily?"

Seeing me not respond, Li Qingying gritted her teeth and threw Fangyuan into the street, then shut the door.

The moment Fangyuan was thrown out, he went mad, crawling toward Dang Pu, incessantly pounding on the door begging for help.

Then I said: "He's just a dog of the Bai Family; since the master's task wasn't done well, the Bai Family will deal with him themselves—don't soil our hands."

Not long after, a rooster's crow rang out.

Outside, Fangyuan's pleas for help abruptly ceased.

The whole world grew quiet.

I and Li Qingying each returned to our rooms.

I took a good shower, leaned against the headboard, opened my phone, and saw my senior sister's reply: "A genuine early Qing piece, offered before the Buddha; the open route is worth up to 100,000, the hidden route—I can get you 300,000, junior sister, interested?"