Chapter 12

Gong Er's fellow disciples didn't return to the inn until early the next morning.

The inn was not yet open, and the two seemed to have been drinking, as they were somewhat sluggish and tried to break down the door.

Fortunately, Gong Er reacted quickly and let them in in time.

"You two... don't let the others from the Casting Gate see you like this, or they'll really come and keep me company." Gong Er imitated them and made a pot of hangover soup from memory, which he then poured down their throats, but it didn't seem to have any effect.

He then realized, "You two didn't take hallucinogenic drugs, did you?"

Viktor was in slightly better shape than Kaipin and replied, "If we don't use it, we can't fool them."

After saying that, he took out a damp handkerchief from his pocket.

“…He’s a really honest guy.” Gong Er had no other choice but to shake Shen Yu and Qiu Chiyan up.

Shen Yu examined the two men and realized that the dosage used was much higher than what ordinary people would mistakenly consume. He then went back to his room to retrieve needles and inserted several needles into their heads and the back of their necks.

Before long, they became much more awake, though they felt a little nauseous.

When the handkerchief was soaked in water, it turned a faint blue color, making the medicinal liquid appear even clearer. Compared to the one brought by Zhao Ze, its purity seemed to be even higher.

They said that after using very little, they felt light and airy, as if floating on clouds, and that this feeling was quite wonderful.

And so they drifted off to sleep all night.

According to them, taking this kind of drug is much more expensive than having girls accompany you.

No wonder, when people from poor government offices go there, nobody pays them any attention.

Kepinwich recovered somewhat and began to recall the details of the Misty Rain Pavilion—

As soon as they entered last night, someone recognized them as disciples of the Casting Sect and treated them with great courtesy from the start.

Having heard of the Zhumen family's reputation, those people did not immediately rush up to provoke them. Instead, they put on an elegant air, first leading them into a private room, where they displayed various antiques and calligraphy, and then invited people to play the zither and perform sword dances.

Seeing that the two were not very interested, the waiters tried several times to probe them without success. Then they brought out a small cup, saying it was an elegant drink called "Falling Blossoms." After drinking it, one could see the wonderful sight of flowers blooming and falling, with petals scattered everywhere.

They didn't drink at first, but observed the outside from inside the room. Indeed, waiters were continuously bringing up wine from downstairs, but that was all they could see. Laughter and the sounds of string and wind instruments mingled together, filling the air with a hazy mist that seeped through the curtains, making it difficult to see anything else clearly.

Later on, it would be too suspicious to do nothing, so they drank the wine and fell into a deep sleep.

Kaiping rubbed his temples and said, "What's so good about this stuff? It makes me dizzy after drinking it... and it ruins everything."

"...But when I first drank it, I really felt like I was floating on air..." Vickery muttered softly.

"Hey!" Gong Er immediately shouted, "Don't get addicted!"

“This medicine won’t be addictive after one or two uses. But…” Qiu Chiyan looked to Shen Yu for help, “Can the remaining toxins in the body be removed?”

Shen Yu was putting away the needles, wiping them clean one by one, and replied calmly, "It's fine. They are both strong and healthy, there's no problem."

Upon hearing this, Gong Er felt somewhat relieved and then asked Qiu Chiyan, "Since we've confirmed the existence of hallucinogenic drugs, why not just have someone seal off the Misty Rain Pavilion and search for all the drugs?"

Qiu Chiyan rubbed his face in anguish as he spoke of this: "It definitely has to be stopped. But we've done the same thing in other places before. Once it's eradicated in one place, it just sprouts up in another. The harm of hallucinogenic drugs is like wildfire that can't be extinguished. The most important thing now is to find the source. And we can't do it in the next day or two, otherwise if they suspect that it was the two of them who did it, there will inevitably be trouble."

Gong Er nodded in agreement. Although the intention was to trick his junior brother, he shouldn't go so far.

He looked at his two junior brothers and found that they were grinning and glaring at Shen Yu in a very pathetic manner.

Acupuncture may be painful, but...

He sighed.

They're from the same school after all; you can tell just by looking at their eyes.

Yesterday, I witnessed Shen Yu's skill in breaking swords, and saw how easily such materials could be destroyed. Any swordsmith would be captivated by such a feat.

Almost every disciple of the Forging Sect dreams of creating an indestructible weapon, one that even those with profound inner strength cannot harm.

Although the martial arts world is full of masters, the Casting Sect has also produced so many renowned treasures, so naturally they have their pride. However, Shen Yu shattered that pride with a casual test.

For the swordsmith, this was both a humiliation and a thrill.

Judging from the looks of it, we can't get rid of them.

After a long and tidy morning, Gong Er cleaned the entire place thoroughly. When the store officially opened for business, he found Zhao Ze blocking the doorway as he entered.

Another uneasy day. He thought to himself, but didn't say it aloud.

Zhao Ze arrived today looking somewhat serious. He went straight to Qiu Chiyan, whispered something to him, and the two decided to go out together.

"Hey, where are you going?" Shen Yu grabbed Qiu Chiyan.

"There's been some activity at Huichuntang today. I'll go take a look; I might find something."

"Your injury hasn't fully healed yet, how many steps can you walk?"

Qiu Chiyan smiled, but remained resolute: "Don't worry, it's alright. I'll be right back and tell you when I get back."

The two left in a hurry, leaving Shen Yu and Gong Er alone in the inn, speechless.

Gong Er shrugged: "The people in their government office are indeed impatient."

But Qiu Chiyan, who said "quickly," did not return until evening.

While preparing dinner for their family at the inn, Zhao Ze shouted from outside the door: "Someone come and help! It's too heavy!"

Xu Dahe and Gong Er rushed out and half-carried Qiu Chiyan back in.

Before Qiu Chiyan could say anything, Zhao Ze plopped down on a stool, grabbed a chicken leg, and stuffed it into his mouth: "I'm exhausted. I haven't sat down all day. My legs are numb."

Shen Yu gently patted Qiu Chiyan's shoulder and asked softly, "Are you alright?"

Qiu Chiyan didn't look too good, but he still forced a half-smile and told everyone to eat first.

Gong Er, biting into a steamed bun, couldn't help but ask, "Didn't they say that Officer Qiu had to conceal his identity? Why did he rush over there so quickly today?"

"Don't even mention it. We caught a drug dealer red-handed today," Zhao Ze muttered, his mouth full.

"You made your move?"

"No, the drug dealer doesn't know martial arts. But you know what, our Chief Qiu is very meticulous. He noticed something unusual in the ledger, and he also dismantled the entire hidden layout of the pharmacy."

"So, about hallucinogenic drugs..." Xu Dahe mustered his courage and interrupted.

Zhao Ze said seriously, "When discussing this matter, we can't treat Xu Dahe as just a waiter at the inn: 'Today we confirmed that Huichuntang did indeed have a business of buying and selling hallucinogenic drugs, and we've sealed off the shop. But we'll have to wait for the interrogation results to find out the specifics. Don't worry, we might have news in the next day or two.'"

Gong Er patted Xu Dahe on the back. He couldn't say much, but he hoped that Xu Dahe's wishes would come true.

“But…” Yao Liuliu thought for a moment, biting her chopsticks, “You’ve made such a commotion at Huichuntang, wouldn’t everyone else hide if they heard the news? How are you going to investigate?”

"Therefore, we are deploying resources simultaneously in multiple locations today, mixing genuine and fake information, using the pharmacy incident as a pretext to search and warn those people."

"Ouch..." Gong Er felt tired just listening to it. He turned around and looked at Qiu Chiyan. "Are you falling apart?"

Qiu Chiyan remained silent, which was taken as tacit agreement.

Although he is a martial artist, it would be too much of a strain to go out and cause trouble after resting for so many days and not fully recovering.

I imagine that in the next few days, we'll be moving at a snail's pace again.

But today is quite lively.

He glanced around the table and saw that, besides the four people from the inn, there were also Zhao Ze and Gong Er's two junior brothers, making it a very crowded table.

Zhao Ze probably considered everyone as one of his own, and he treated today's events like a storyteller, even stepping onto a stool to gesture when he got excited.

The party didn't end until late at night.

Everyone got up and started tidying up, washing dishes and sweeping the floor; the division of labor was natural.

Shen Yu was in charge of Qiu Chiyan.

"You're quite good at enduring pain," Shen Yu said, shaking her head with admiration as she looked at the swollen area.

“…When you get busy, you forget about it.” His voice was low and hoarse, revealing a hint of fatigue.

"Let me give you a couple of acupuncture needles to remove the bruising. Take off your clothes."

Normally, he would have refused. But now, he wasn't going to make things difficult for himself and readily took it off.

He watched her intently as her fingers gently touched his shoulder, cool and restrained. That little bit of warmth seemed amplified.

He tilted his head slightly and said in a low voice, "Ordinary people specialize in one thing in their entire lives. How come you have mastered both martial arts and medicine?"

Shen Yu remained focused and did not look up: "My father practices martial arts and my mother practices medicine. They teach me anytime, anywhere."

"Then your mother's medical skills must be extraordinary."

"I really don't know, I just learn whatever I can." Shen Yu looked up and thought for a moment, but didn't seem to come up with anything. "My parents were childhood sweethearts. My mother said that people who practice martial arts are prone to injury, so she wanted to master medical knowledge so that if my father got beaten up one day, she could save him. But my father also said that he felt that studying medicine was too hard, requiring him to memorize a lot of things, so he also practiced hard, aiming to reach a point where he could protect himself and no one could hurt him. So it's hard to say exactly how good they are, we can only say that they complement each other, and neither of them needs the other's help."

"...You're too modest. If your parents had been willing to engage in worldly affairs, they would probably have already established themselves in the martial arts world."

"This thing is useless, you might as well just travel around and explore."

The needle tip trembled slightly, and a flash of silver light appeared.

Qiu Chiyan suddenly felt a tightness in his chest, unsure whether it was from the needle pricking him or from her voice.

He lowered his eyes, concealing a smile from the corner of his lips.

"You have so many scars..."

Shen Yu's hand touched Qiu Chiyan's back. Her fingertips lightly touched the winding scars, rough and cold.

"...young and impetuous, coupled with his constant investigations, it's inevitable..."

Qiu Chiyan's back muscles tensed slightly. Those subtle, thread-like sensations were more noticeable than needles.

“Mostly on the back…” Shen Yu seemed completely unaware, muttering to himself.

Qiu Chiyan's Adam's apple bobbed slightly.

"Sometimes we'll be surrounded by enemies..."

"You can't see what's behind you or hear what's happening; you need to practice your footwork and body movements."

The two spoke at the same time, their eyes met, and Qiu Chiyan was stunned for a moment, but in the end, he could not compare to her composure.

“…Ah, um…” He turned back sheepishly. “The shopkeeper is right…”

Shen Yu became serious, gesturing with her fingertips along his shoulder blade: "Look, when fighting someone, you need to be able to attack, defend, and dodge. If you just charge in recklessly and close the distance too much, how are you going to dodge?"

"…yes…"

"besides…"

"you're right."

"...I haven't said it yet!"

"Anyway, it's right."