"How come Chu Jiangli is dead, yet they've managed to hold out for so long?"
Another took a sip of his drink and shook his head: "Who knows? But it's good that their cult is fighting amongst themselves. It would be best if they were all dead so they wouldn't be able to wreak havoc on the martial arts world!"
“That’s true,” the first person said. “But do you think Chu Jiangli is so easy to kill? He’s someone who can take on a hundred men single-handedly. No one in the entire martial arts world can beat him. How could someone like that die just by jumping off a cliff?”
"What does his life or death have to do with us disciples of small sects?" Another person tapped his companion on the head: "You should eat your food and stop thinking about him. I heard that all the major sects have spies in Sanshui Town, ready to enter Wulian Mountain to find Chu Jiangli at any time. We'll just watch the show from the sidelines."
If I get involved and learn things I shouldn't know, I probably won't survive!
Upon hearing this, Chu Jiangli paused slightly with his chopsticks, but quickly resumed normal movement.
He said to Yu Tang, who was still listening intently to the conversation, "Divine Doctor, you should rest well in this inn for the next few days. I have some things to take care of in town. Once I've finished them and you're feeling better, we can set off again."
Yu Tang was called out, and subconsciously hummed in response, but quickly lowered his voice and said, "Isn't Li Yue Palace under siege? Shouldn't you hurry back to take charge?"
"It's alright..." Chu Jiangli poured Yu Tang a cup of warm tea and replied, "They can't conquer Liyue Palace."
"Moreover, the most important thing is with me, so even if they conquer Liyue Palace, it won't matter."
He spoke in a calm tone, but Yu Tang sensed an intense killing intent.
At this moment, Chu Jiangli seemed like a completely different person—unfamiliar, cold, and aloof.
Yet Yu Tang could also see the other person's seriousness and attentiveness from the way he poured tea for her.
It seems he needs to learn more about Chu Jiangli.
Chapter 15
Died for the villain for the sixth time (15)
Since the inn only had two rooms left, Xiao Han and Yu Qi shared one room, while Chu Jiangli was naturally assigned to share a room with Yu Tang.
The candlelight flickered, and Chu Jiangli did not go to bed, but sat at the table lost in thought.
The warm yellow light divided his face into distinct light and shadow, giving it a somewhat gloomy appearance.
He asked Yu Tang, "Divine Doctor, do you still remember who the murderers were who slaughtered your entire family?"
Yu Tang possessed the original owner's memories, so he knew a few names. He said, "Most of them had their faces covered, but during the fight, the masks were torn off for a few people, and I saw what they looked like."
One was Zhao Tianyuan of the Fierce Blade Gang, another was Chen Fangyun of the Wind Harmony Cult, and then there were Gao Yufeng of the Lu Tianmen Cult and Jiang Tianjun of the Joyful Union Cult. The rest could not be seen…”
Upon hearing these names, Chu Jiangli paused, then said, "The Divine Physician's enemies are truly a mix of reputable sects and wicked cults."
He asked Yu Tang, "However, have you ever thought about why, when your Yu family is located in the capital and has dealings with powerful and influential people as well as famous figures in the martial arts world, no one came to your rescue when such a big incident occurred?"
Chu Jiangli's words reminded Yu Tang. After careful consideration, he recalled the original owner's experiences and his speculations over the years, and concluded: "Back then, our Yu family produced many famous doctors and was renowned in the martial arts world for making medicines and poisons, which even aroused the interest of officials in the imperial court."
"Thirteen years ago, Prince Ning ordered our Yu family to produce a large quantity of addictive hallucinogenic drugs for him. My father disagreed and left in anger, never mentioning the matter again afterward."
But not long after, we were persecuted by these people…
"How interesting." After a long while, Chu Jiangli said with a cold and solemn expression, "I didn't expect that Prince Ning, who is known for his gentleness and propriety, is not a good person at all."
After saying this, Chu Jiangli said to Yu Tang, "Alright, I have noted down all the people the divine physician mentioned."
“I will make you pay for the blood debts of your Yu family, bit by bit, from these people in the future.”
Yu Tang looked at Chu Jiangli and found it hard not to be moved.
He didn't know if the other person had killed countless people. But at least this kid was incredibly good to him.
Thinking this, Yu Tang replied to Chu Jiangli, "Then I'll leave it to you, A-Li," but instead of lying down to sleep immediately, she patted the spot next to her and said to the man, "It's late, don't sit at the table anymore, come and go to sleep."
His words caused the atmosphere in the room to suddenly freeze.
After a long pause, Chu Jiangli finally said, "No, I'm not sleepy yet, you should go to sleep first."
"Even if you're not sleepy, come and lie down for a while," Yu Tang continued to persuade him. "You've been traveling all day, and you'll get better rest if you lie in bed."
Chu Jiangli remained silent for a while before saying, "I'm really not tired."
"Sigh..." Yu Tang sighed, "It seems that Ali still dislikes me after all."
“I slept alone in the yard last night, and tonight I’m sitting at the table like a stone.”
It's as if I'm some kind of filthy thing, and you'd feel uncomfortable lying in the same bed with me.
"If I had known, I should have squeezed in with Yu Qi and Xiao Han to make room for Ali, so you wouldn't have to make yourself suffer like this."
As she talked, she got more and more excited, and Yu Tang never expected that her acting skills would one day be put to use in this way.
Instead, he pretended to be having a great time, his voice full of embarrassment and self-loathing: "I'm just a burden. I'm clearly a man, yet I'm so fragile. I've dragged everyone down and even made Ali dislike me. I'm really..."
"No!" Before Yu Tang could finish speaking, Chu Jiangli interrupted him, quickly walked a few steps to sit on the edge of the bed, and said to Yu Tang, "Divine Doctor, please don't think like that. You're not a burden. I've never felt that you're holding me back, and I've never looked down on you. If what I did just now embarrassed you, I..."
Chu Jiangli pursed his lips tightly before saying, "I apologize to you."
Because he was blind, Chu Jiangli did not see Yu Tang's upturned lips after he sat down.
The system cat meowed twice beside Yu Tang, praising him: "Host, that was a brilliant move! Brilliant!"
Yu Tang adjusted his breathing so that Chu Jiangli wouldn't notice anything amiss, but he was secretly laughing hysterically.
He coughed and said, "With Ali's words of advice, I feel relieved."
He crouched down, lay down, and tugged at Chu Jiangli's sleeve with his other hand, saying to him, "So, now that everything is settled, let's hurry up and come up."
Yu Tang's actions were undeniably intimate. Her hand, which had been tugging at Chu Jiangli's sleeve, deliberately slid down, landing casually on the back of the man's hand as he braced himself against the bed. She asked, "Shall we sleep together?"
Chapter 16
He died for the villain for the sixth time (16)
The man had never learned martial arts, and his hands had no calluses; his palm pressed against the knuckles of the back of his hand.
Because the fever hadn't subsided yet, I sweated a bit, and the air was warm and humid.
The tactile sensation was so distinct that Chu Jiangli could not ignore it at all.
He snapped out of his daze, quickly withdrew his hand, coughed, and without even taking off his boots, rolled over and lay on the inside, restraining himself from touching Yu Tang at all.
"Okay, I'm going to sleep now."
As he spoke, he picked a bead from the bedside table and flicked his finger to extinguish the candle.
"The miracle doctor should go to sleep soon too."
The room fell into darkness, and Yu Tang laughed until his eyes disappeared.
Who would have thought that this great devil would be like a naive young man when it comes to this kind of thing, so conservative that it's hilarious.
Moonlight streamed in through the gaps in the curtains, and the room was quiet.
Yu Tang turned over, facing Chu Jiangli's direction.
Chu Jiangli immediately and subtly moved further into the bed, widening the distance between himself and Yu Tang.
He smiled helplessly and didn't move any closer to Chu Jiangli. Instead, he asked him softly, "Do you still want to know who my sweetheart is?"
After saying this, Yu Tang noticed that Chu Jiangli's ears twitched.
"This is the divine physician's private matter, and it is not convenient for me to inquire further."
Chu Jiangli's face was tense. He inexplicably thought of what Yu Tang had said before, that the person he loved could not be him. His heart felt like it had been stabbed by something, and he felt a dull pain.
Yu Tang pondered for a moment, then chuckled and said, "What is a private matter to outsiders cannot be called a private matter to family members."
Chu Jiangli was stunned, and after a long while he said, "Divine Doctor, you are joking. 'Wife' is a term used between husband and wife, and it is probably not appropriate to use it to refer to you and me."
Yu Tang interrupted him.
If I told you that you are the one I love, would you believe me?
Chu Jiangli's body stiffened completely.
Yu Tang watched as he went from pricking up his ears at the beginning to having his mouth agape, his face full of shock.
The system cat chimed in, seizing the opportunity: [Good heavens! His affection level is fluctuating wildly again!]
"Don't joke with me, Doctor." After a long while, Chu Jiangli still denied Yu Tang's words: "I'll pretend I didn't hear what you said tonight, and don't joke about this again in the future."
Yu Tang twitched his lips, just about to force himself on Chu Jiangli and take action to break the ice, when Chu Jiangli suddenly covered his mouth with his palm, silencing him.
"Shh..." Chu Jiangli lowered his voice: "Divine Doctor, don't speak, there are people outside the window."
Yu Tang's heart skipped a beat, and he nodded. Chu Jiangli then covered his head and face with a thin blanket: "Wait here and don't make a sound. I'm going out for a bit."
After saying that, he got out of bed, jumped out of the window, and did it all in one smooth motion.
Yu Tang crawled out from under the covers and could only see a glimpse of the man's red clothing.
Good heavens! This is the second floor!
Thinking this, Yu Tang, wrapped in a blanket and hunched over, with the system cat beside him, sneaked to the windowsill and poked half his head out to look outside.
In the dead of night, all the shops in this remote town were closed, and the autumn wind blew debris tumbling across the streets. Chu Jiangli stood in the middle of the road, long sword in hand, his voice laced with laughter yet carrying a sinister undertone: "You call yourselves a righteous sect, yet you dare not act rashly during the day, only to start your petty thefts at night. Are you that afraid of me?"
Yu Tang's heart skipped a beat when he heard this.
Did Chu Jiangli know during the day that someone had noticed them?
That's why I'm sitting at the table instead of sleeping?
However, Yu Tang only guessed half of it correctly.
As soon as Chu Jiangli left Wulian Mountain, he knew that someone was following them.
Moreover, the reason he didn't disguise himself was so that these people from various factions lurking in Sanshui Town would recognize him.
Then... they were all caught in one fell swoop.
Sure enough, as soon as Chu Jiangli finished speaking, dozens of people came out from the surrounding alleys.
They appeared out of thin air, and each person's shoes had a soft cloth covering the soles, making the sound of their footsteps almost negligible.
They surrounded Chu Jiangli, gradually tightening their encirclement. Yu Tang recognized that several people had embroidered patterns of the Sword Casting Manor on their clothes.
Yu Tang narrowed his eyes, his gaze falling on a certain person's face.
That was Gao Yufeng from Lu Tianmen, the very enemy the original owner saw on the night the Yu family was massacred.
Thinking this, Gao Yufeng raised his voice and asked Chu Jiangli, "Was the person who took you out of Wulian Mountain Yu Tang, the eldest young master of the Yu family with a natural medicinal body?"