After a short while, Doctor Cheng returned and checked the pulses of Zheng Hui and Yu Ping.
"How are they?" Li Qingxian asked.
Doctor Cheng stroked his beard and said, "Their lives aren’t in danger. They’ll be able to move freely after a few days of rest. The other party didn’t go for the kill."
"What about their Lower Dantians?" Li Qingxian asked.
Doctor Cheng glanced at Li Qingxian. "This old man is Ungraded, so I dare not speak rashly. We’ll have to wait for someone from the Night Guard to make a definitive judgment."
Li Qingxian nodded and said no more.
After a long while, squads A7 and C4 arrived. The two Tenth-Grade captains of the squads examined the unconscious men one after another, remaining silent.
Finally, one of the Squad Commanders said, "Let’s take them back to the Government Office first."
"What about Fengxiang..." Li Qingxian started to say.
Han Anbo gripped Li Qingxian’s shoulder tightly, his gaze fixed on his eyes.
"Let’s get the Captain and Yu Ping back first," Han Anbo said, his voice slow and firm.
"Alright." Li Qingxian turned his head and looked at the three people at Fengxiang’s main entrance. He stared at the smiling Shopkeeper, at the Fengxiang sign, and at the small red rose emblem in the sign’s bottom-right corner, as if to burn the image into his mind.
Han Anbo slowly bent down, picked up the crumpled wad of silver notes on the ground, and stuffed it into Zheng Hui’s leather pouch.
The group borrowed a cart and brought Zheng Hui and Yu Ping to the infirmary at the Night Guard Office.
The Night Guard’s Doctor Sun reached the same conclusion as Doctor Cheng: the two were not in critical condition and would be able to get out of bed the next day.
But their dantians were destroyed.
Inside the infirmary, Zheng Hui and Yu Ping lay on their sickbeds.
Han Anbo sat hunched over on a bamboo chair, his head bowed low.
Li Qingxian stood at the doorway, gazing at the high walls, blue-gray tiles, and shady green trees of the Night Guard Office.
The Street Patrol Room was already one of the safest places in the entire Night Guard, yet the Captain still fell victim to this.
’Is this world really so dangerous?’
’Without immense power, even a Tenth-Grade Martial Cultivator can only swallow his pride when silver notes are thrown in his face.’
After a long time, Han Anbo walked to the doorway. He leaned against the frame, staring blankly into the distance, and said in a low voice, "Your name is Li Qingxian. But in a world like this, can one truly live a life of leisure?"
His voice was hoarser than usual.
Li Qingxian opened his mouth, but not a single word came out.
Han Anbo and Zheng Hui had known each other for ten years.
Zheng Hui had saved Han Anbo’s life at least three times, and Han Anbo had helped Zheng Hui out of many dangerous situations.
This time, they hadn’t made it through.
"Brother Zheng’s lifelong dream of reaching Ninth Grade... it’s hopeless now."
Han Anbo’s voice was exceptionally flat.
But what Li Qingxian heard was desolate despair.
’I want to do something, but with my own great enemy still at large, what could I possibly do?’
’The Demon Sect might be even more troublesome than my own enemy.’
Confucianism constantly sought to limit Imperial Authority, or rather, to contend with it for power.
The Daoist School competed when it could, and practiced non-action when it couldn’t.
The Evil Sects revered only gods, the Martial Arts World believed only in the fist, and the Underworld had its King Yama; none of them respected Imperial Authority.
But the Demon Sect and the Eunuchs actively attached themselves to Imperial Authority.
The previous Celestial Demon Sect Master, who was also the Demon Sect Alliance Master, once clamored for a "fair and square" duel with Emperor Taining. In the end, Emperor Taining personally led the Eunuchs and masters from the Imperial Army to the summit of Celestial Demon Mountain. He severely wounded the Celestial Demon Sect Master in just thirty-two moves and subjugated the entire Demon Sect.
Some even jeered that between the Eunuchs and the Demon Sect, one carried the Emperor’s chamber pot while the other wiped his ass.
The entire Human Race, and even the Demon Race, knew that the Demon Sect had been using living people to practice their Demonic Skills for years. Their three hundred Demon Prisons were scattered across the land, and their crimes were too numerous to count. But as long as they acted as Emperor Taining’s loyal dogs, who could do anything about it?
"You’ve always been sharp and resourceful. Is there any way to help Captain Zheng?" Li Qingxian asked.
Han Anbo slowly shook his head. "A dantian can’t be healed, and the Demon Sect can’t be provoked. There’s nothing we can do."
Li Qingxian felt as if a heavy stone was pressing on his heart, making his chest tight and uncomfortable.
"I’m going to the room to get them a change of clothes," Li Qingxian said, then left without looking back.
After leaving the infirmary, Li Qingxian let out a long sigh of relief and walked slowly toward Room A9.
The afternoon sun was venomous. Along the path, the flowers, plants, and leaves drooped listlessly.
As he neared Room A9, a vaguely familiar voice called out.
"Younger Brother Qingxian, what are you lost in thought about?"
Li Qingxian looked up and saw it was Ye Han, someone he had met not long ago. They had drunk together before, and he seemed to recall getting drunk and having Ye Han bring him back to the Government Office.
The man was tall and fair-skinned, handsome and dashing, and was said to be quite popular with the ladies.
"Brother Ye." Li Qingxian nodded. He remembered Zhou Chunfeng telling him to stay away from this man, so he said no more.
Ye Han straightened up, lightly tapping a paper fan in his right hand against his left palm. He smiled and said, "Your sixteenth birthday is coming up soon, isn’t it?"
"Yes," Li Qingxian replied.
"Back in my hometown, the custom is that one’s sixteenth year is the most important, as it marks a child’s transition into adulthood. So, those close to you must give a grand gift. For your gift, I went to a great deal of trouble and called in all my favors just to get my hands on a Jiao Dragon Transformation Pill."
As he spoke, Ye Han tucked the fan into his belt and took out a small, red cloth box the size of a sweet dumpling. He looked at the box, and the corner of his eye twitched slightly.
Li Qingxian said in astonishment, "I absolutely cannot accept this! A single Jiao Dragon Transformation Pill is worth at least ten thousand taels of silver. They are incredibly rare, and ordinary people can’t even buy one. It’s far too valuable!"
’Could Zhou Chunfeng have been wrong about him? Is Ye Han really such a good friend to me?’
’Even Zhou Chunfeng probably couldn’t produce a Jiao Dragon Transformation Pill, could he?’
’Or is there some ulterior motive?’
Ye Han stared down at the red cloth box and slowly held it out. "To be honest, I was originally saving this Jiao Dragon Transformation Pill for myself. However, I’m in good health, and a Great Fate Master once told me that this year, I am destined to soar to great heights and win the heart of a beautiful confidante. For me, this pill would just be the icing on the cake. You, on the other hand, Qingxian, are plagued by a serious illness. If you take this Jiao Dragon Transformation Pill now, your physical body will become comparable to that of a Ninth-Grade Martial Cultivator who has mastered Horizontal Training. Most importantly, you’ll be immune to heat and cold, impervious to mosquito bites, and resistant to minor poisons and illnesses. It’s enough to completely transform your body."
"Brother Ye, this gift is truly too precious. I can’t accept it." Li Qingxian knew that greed for small gains could lead to huge losses, and that a benefit of unknown origin was often a trap.
"We are brothers! You’re in trouble now. If I couldn’t even part with a Jiao Dragon Transformation Pill for you, what kind of man would I be? Don’t refuse. Take it!" Ye Han thrust the box into Li Qingxian’s hands.
He took one last look at the box, then turned and walked away quickly.
"Brother Ye..."
Ye Han didn’t say a word, just lowered his head and quickened his pace.
Just as Li Qingxian was feeling puzzled, a great roar suddenly echoed in his ears. The Celestial Destiny Instrument had actively sent him a message, seeming to say that this Ye Han was of great significance to him and that he ought to Observe his Fate and Qi, or there might be unforeseen consequences. However, Ye Han’s Fate Grid was too powerful; Observing his Qi would require consuming a wisp of Qi Fortune.
Already feeling uneasy, Li Qingxian immediately chose to use it.
A cool sensation flooded into his eyes, and the area ahead, with Ye Han at its center, burst into brilliant light.
Above Ye Han’s head floated a Xuan-black Emperor’s Crown with dangling curtains of golden beads—a crown with nine tassels.
White qi billowed around this Xuan-black Emperor’s Crown, the brim of the cap was tilted upward, and the beaded curtains glittered.
This was Crown and Sash, one of the four auspicious signs of the Twelve Longevity.
Crown and Sash signifies that, like a youth being capped at his coming-of-age ceremony, the grand momentum has been established and one’s wings are growing full.
If Crown and Sash produces white qi, it signifies ’vigor,’ taking one’s Qi Fortune to a higher level.
If the brim of Crown and Sash is tilted upward, it signifies ’head held high,’ a great advancement in Qi Fortune.
If Crown and Sash glitters, it signifies ’splendor,’ the peak of Qi Fortune, making one unstoppable.
Ye Han’s Crown and Sash possessed all three of these signs. It was even a nine-tasseled Emperor’s Crown, an extremely rare sight in Fate Skills. The ultimate form of an Emperor’s Crown was nothing more than the twelve-tasseled crown of an Emperor.