Li Sui’s hand was very cold, as cold as a piece of ice directly chiseled from the ground. Zhu Yanyin rubbed the half of his face that had turned red from being pinched. Suddenly, he realized that he had been in the room for quite a while, yet the other person’s body still felt damp, as if devoid of any excess body heat.
Fengming Mountain is densely wooded, and the nights are naturally cold. With such a big chunk of ice nearby, Zhu Yanyin couldn’t help but shiver. Li Sui looked over the disassembly diagram of the Heavenly Craft Knot again, memorizing all the hidden doors. Then, he crumpled the diagram into a ball and tossed it aside and said, “You can go back now.”
Young Master Zhu stood up with a “swoosh” and ran away faster than a dog—at least faster than the dog that got sick after eating the fish. In an instant, he disappeared into a snow-white figure.
Li Sui: “…”
As the night fell, the entire Fengming Mountain became quiet.
There weren’t many guests in the inn, and the waiters were happy to have some free time. They quickly closed the doors and lazily lay behind the counter, taking a nap.
The candlelight flickered faintly in the guest room, casting eerie shadows that swayed menacingly when blown by the wind.
Li Sui was adjusting his breath with closed eyes. The icy, wet hair, like a cold snake, snaked across his shoulders, making one uncomfortable. It was akin to the sensation of having a heavy weight pressing down on his chest during sleep, a continuous nightmare, with a dull ache in his heart and slow, laborious breathing.
With a loud “bang,” the door was forcefully pushed open.
The wind rushed in.
Li Sui coldly opened his eyes, and a fleeting dark red glow flashed through his pupils.
Jiang Shenglin, holding a blood-stained black robe, urgently asked, “Is your poison acting up again?”
Li Sui replied: “Yes.”
Jiang Shenglin felt that sooner or later he would be infuriated to death by this person. No wonder when Second Young Master Zhu came earlier, he appeared with a wet robe. He wasn’t bathing at all; clearly, he was using ice-cold water to extinguish the internal poison. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Jiang Shenglin said, “Didn’t I tell you before? This method is okay once or twice, but how can you treat it like a bathhouse, soaking yourself like this? Do you even want your life?”
Li Sui answered, “Yes.”
Jiang Shenglin felt a tightness in his chest, “Why don’t you listen to me?”
Li Sui turned a deaf ear, yawned, and got out of bed barefoot and poured himself a cup of herbal tea.
Jiang Shenglin yelled angrily, “Put it down quickly!”
After a while, the waiter, sleepy-eyed, ran to the kitchen and boiled a large pot of hot water to make ginger tea with brown sugar for the guests.
It was warm, so warm that Palace Master Li himself felt restless. Before dawn, he grabbed a long sword, with a look of “I’m going to kill someone,” and wandered around the inn, scaring the chickens into silence.
The sky gradually brightened.
In the Weeping Willow Academy, everything remained normal.
The two workers entered the empty room one after the other as usual, and about half an hour later, they came out one after the other and hurried away.
Li Sui swiftly entered, lightly tapping the corner of the wall. Following the dismantling method of the Heavenly Craft Knot, he quickly opened the entrance.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Inside the secret passage, the light was dim, and there was a faint medicinal scent. At first, it was barely noticeable, but as one ventured further in, the odor grew increasingly pungent and harsh, making one’s nose sting. Even holding his breath, Li Sui could feel the sour, bitter, and strange smells lingering around. Li Sui furrowed his brows, and his ears caught a faint sound, as if metals were dragging and colliding.
Pc atf wlvvif bo atf aeccfi, j ijguf gbbw tjv yffc tbiibkfv bea. Zbnlcu obgkjgv, atfgf rtbeiv yf rfnfgji nfcalijalbc qjrrjufr ab wjxf atf abgmtfr bc atf kjiir oilmxfg.
Pc atf gbbw, atfgf kjr j ijguf aey oliifv klat j obei-rwfiilcu, atlmx yijmx ildelv. C wlvvif-jufv wjc klat ugjslcu tjlg kjr rlaalcu klat mibrfv fsfr lc atf aey. Llr fcalgf ybvs kjr fcajcuifv lc lgbc mtjlcr. Ktf mtjlcr qeiifv ajea jcv ibmxfv bcab atf kjii, ifjnlcu tlw mbwqifafis lwwbylilhfv.
It seemed to be some kind of martial world torture, but upon closer inspection, it wasn’t. The attendants standing around all had lowered eyebrows, showing a respectful attitude. They didn’t seem to be guarding a criminal. Next to the tub, an incense stick was burning, emitting cyan smoke. As soon as the last bit of ash fell, a servant reminded in a low voice, “Master, the time is up.”
The man opened his eyes, and three attendants approached, unchaining him and helping him out of the tub.
The water rippled with a “splash.” Taking advantage of this moment, Li Sui raised a palm wind. With a quick swing, a string of water droplets condensed into a fine line and flew like a dart, silently piercing through the air and landing in a porcelain bottle in his hand.
It was a secret skill from the Jianghu called “Dragon Sucking Water.” Some people practiced it for a lifetime and could only create a commotion in a full bucket of water.
Li Sui had practiced it for about three hours.
The so-called talent was so unfair that it made people’s teeth rot.
The man’s steps were weak, and he was helped to lie on a large bed nearby. Breathing heavily, he soon fell into a deep sleep. The attendants busied themselves wiping his body and changing him into clean clothes, communicating only with eye contact. It was unclear whether they were mute or puppets.
….
In the inn, Jiang Shenglin was having a meal, with a table full of chicken, duck, fish, which he ate carefully and meticulously.
Doctors are all particular.
The only ones who aren’t particular are the demonic overlords of the Jianghu.
Li Sui pushed the door open and threw a porcelain bottle into the air. Jiang Shenglin hurriedly caught it: “What’s this?”
“There’s an old man on the verge of death soaking in a bath in the secret room at the Weeping Willow Academy,” Li Sui said. “This is his bathwater.”
Jiang Shenglin lost his appetite. You really know how to pick your timing. Why couldn’t you stay in the tunnel a little longer, at least until I finished my meal?
Li Sui asked: “What is it?”
Jiang Shenglin opened and sniffed, “It seems to have python saliva, a highly poisonous substance. Used for a bath?”
“Doesn’t look like any decent old man.” Li Sui said, “First, go get paper and pen, draw it and see if anyone recognizes him.”
Jiang Shenglin held out a glimmer of hope: “You will draw?”
Li Sui said: “Of course, it’s you.”
Jiang Shenglin felt a pang in his chest. Why is it ‘of course’ me? I’m not a painter. I can’t draw.
Li Sui was displeased: “When you were drawing Chi Tian in Jincheng before, weren’t you skilled at fine drawing?”
Jiang Shenglin tried to reason with his person. Drawing Chi Tian in Jincheng was because the Wulin Alliance issued that reward order thought up by a dog-brained person, deceiving a large number of people to bravely seek out the demonic overlords. To make it less dangerous, the more unlikeable the portrait is, the better, so as to avoid a head-on collision with Chi Tian. Who doesn’t know how to draw different ghost symbols? How could it be the same as now?
Li Sui slapped the brush and ink in front of him: “Draw!”
Jiang Shenglin: My liver hurts.
Li Sui recalled, “Around fifty years old, grizzled hair, looks hunched and obscene.”
Jiang Shenglin: I thought I only needed to draw the face. Why is there hunched and obscene?
Li Sui watched him draw while nitpicking, “Make the eyes bigger, the nose is also wrong. What is this that you’ve drawn?”
Jiang Shenglin: …When others get angry, I don’t get angry. When others get angry, I don’t get angry. When others get angry, I don’t get angry.
In the end, the painting still didn’t turn out well. Firstly, because Palace Master’s description skills were questionable, and secondly, because Diving Doctor Sheng’s drawing skills were indeed just like that. Drawing a ghastly ghost with a blue face and fangs was possible, but drawing an obscene old man still resulted in a ghastly ghost with a blue face and fangs.
Jiang Shenglin suggested: “Why not find a painter in the city?”
Li Sui frowned, “What if the news leaks?”
“That’s easy,” Jiang Shenglin replied without thinking, “Once the portrait is finished, you can just kill the person to silence them.”
Li Sui raised his eyes at him.
Jiang Shenglin took a step back to avoid having his head pushed into the inkstand “why find an artist when there’s one ready-made at Zhu’s residence?” The calligraphy and painting of the Second Young Master Zhu were famous in Jiangnan and even throughout the entire Dayu Kingdom. Why worry about not being able to paint an old man?
Li Sui nodded, “You go.”
“Just go like that?” Jiang Shenglin reminded, “Last time, to get him to solve the Heavenly Craft Knot, I even gave away the treasured Cold Soul. When you’re asking someone to do something, you can’t just show up empty-handed. Do you have anything valuable there?”
Li Sui opened the cabinet door and casually tossed a square box to him.
“What’s this?”
“A Twelve-Linked Consecutive Crossbow.”
Once the trigger is pressed, it can continuously shoot twelve consecutive shots of highly poisonous darts, each capable of penetrating thick stone slabs. It is rarely seen in the Jianghu, but it is commonly used when two armies clash, often turning the enemy into a blood mist whirlwind, with brains flying chaotically. Of course, if not used carefully, it can also turn oneself into a blood mist whirlwind, with brains flying chaotically. Jiang Shenglin sighed, “This gift, just by hearing it, seems so suitable to be given to a Young Master from Jiangnan who is even weak to tie a chicken!”
Li Sui: “…”
Jiang Shenglin handed the Twelve-Linked Consecutive Crossbow back to him, “Forget it, I’ll take care of the arrangements.”
In the Zhu residence, Zhu Yanyin was also painting, depicting landscapes, birds, and flowers filling the entire courtyard.
As soon as Jiang Shenglin entered the door, he thought, isn’t it just a coincidence! Divine will, divine will, very good!
….
Half an hour later, Second Young Master Zhu was brought back to the inn.
The table was already prepared with brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. He picked up the brush and asked, “What does he look like?”
Li Sui still said, “Gray-haired, about fifty years old, with a hunched and obscene figure.”
Zhu Yanyin roughly sketched a few strokes on the paper. “Is this how it is?”
Li Sui nodded: “Yes.”
Standing by with a teacup, ready to enjoy the show, Divine Doctor Jiang was astonished. This works?
Zhu Yan drew quickly, almost without corrections or wasting paper. In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he had already depicted the appearance of the old man in the pot. His fingers were slender, and when he painted, he would roll up his sleeves, revealing a dazzlingly white section of his arm.
Li Sui nodded: “It’s almost like this.”
Zhu Yan let out a sigh of relief: “Hmm.”
He was curious and wanted to ask who this person was but didn’t dare to. Instead, he just carefully washed the wolf-hair brush, took out a small box of fragrant balm from his sleeve, mixed it with water, soaked the brush tip in it, turned it a few times, and then took it out to dry.
Divine Doctor Jiang, who had also been writing for many years, thought, So there’s this step too?
Li Sui shot a glance at him with a sly look.
Jiang Shenglin: Don’t think I can’t tell you are smiling just because you’re expressionless. You’re laughing your ass off. Have you ever seen the world of Jiangnan either?
He stood up, “It’s getting late; I’ll take the Second Young Master home first.”
“Need not to send me off, my family’s carriage is downstairs.” Zhu Yanyin packed up the table, sneaked a glance at Li Sui, wanting to speak but hesitated.
Jiang Shenglin guessed his thoughts and hurriedly said, “When the weather is sunny and bright, let’s go to the vacant valley outside the city, and let Palace Master Li show Young Master Zhu a set of impressive boxing skills.”
Li Sui: “?”
Zhu Yan “Hmm”ed, walked away with full of anticipation, joyfully.
Li Sui’s face turned dark: “Speak!”
Jiang Shenglin stood his ground. You don’t have any valuable possessions to show off, so you can only impress with your martial arts. It so happens that Second Young Master Zhu is also interested in the martial arts secrets from the stories. Just show him a few moves. It won’t take much effort, and it’ll make him happy. Who knows, it might be useful in the future.
Li Sui: “Get lost.”
Indeed. Divine Doctor Jiang is very insightful. It will be indeed be very useful in the future.
Thanks a lot to KoshkaHP for your kind support. It means a world to me. Please enjoy the update of three chapters.
My pleasure! Thank you for translating this novel! 🫶 I’ve been laughing so hard while reading it.