Chapter 30: Trouble
The word "big" was always relative.
If what he had caught had been a fish, then yes—it was enormous. But if it was a person, then it wasn't all that large.
The worst part was that the person he'd hooked was actually wearing the uniform of the Demon Suppression Bureau.
Even though it was only the basic uniform of a bureau officer, anyone associated with that organization was bound to bring complications.
Chu Xingchen swept his divine sense over the man he had just fished out of the water.
Qi Refining, seventh layer—and still alive, surprisingly enough.
He had originally planned that if the man were dead, he'd simply toss him back into the river and pretend he'd seen nothing.
But since the man was still breathing, he couldn't exactly do that now.
With a helpless sigh, Chu Xingchen stepped forward and looked down at the half-drowned officer.
The man appeared young, his features still sharp despite his pallor. He wasn't bad-looking, though of course far inferior to Chu Xingchen himself.
Judging by his condition, he hadn't been in the water for long—his face was pale but not yet bloated.
His eyes were tightly shut, and faint crimson energy pulsed beneath the veins on his neck.
Chu Xingchen frowned slightly. "Poisoned?"
To be cautious, he pulled a silver needle from his belt and infused it with spiritual energy before pricking one of the man's veins.
The dark red current flowed, but the silver needle showed no reaction.
Not poison.
Relieved, Chu Xingchen used his divine sense to scan the man's meridians more carefully. What he found was a violent, chaotic energy rampaging through his body.
If left unchecked, the man would not survive for long.
Letting out a small sigh, Chu Xingchen swiftly inserted several silver needles into key acupoints, sealing the heart meridian to keep the energy from attacking his heart.
As for the rest of his meridians… there was no guarantee they wouldn't burst under the pressure.
Once the needles were in place, Chu Xingchen used a thread of spiritual power to lift the man and lay him gently onto his reclining fishing chair.
The entire process was done without direct contact.
He then grabbed one end of the chair and began dragging both the man and the chair toward Yuzhou City.
At the city gate, there were naturally guards stationed on duty.
A man hauling a reclining chair with an unconscious officer from the Demon Suppression Bureau on it was an unusual enough sight to draw immediate attention.
Before Chu Xingchen even reached the gate, two guards came running toward him.
Their eyes darted to the unconscious man—his face pale, his body soaked, several silver needles still embedded in him.
They froze for an instant before quickly checking for a pulse. Feeling a faint heartbeat, both let out a breath of relief.
One of the guards, clearly experienced with such incidents, shouted toward the gate, "We've got an injured Demon Suppression Bureau officer here! Send a rider—get someone from the Bureau, fast!"
Moments later, a horse galloped off toward the city.
It was the smarter move—better to summon the Bureau here than to drag the wounded man across the city.
The guard then glanced at the silver needles and spoke to Chu Xingchen in a calm tone. "Thanks for the help, brother. Please wait here a moment. Once the Bureau arrives, they'll see you properly rewarded."
Chu Xingchen sighed softly and nodded.
The reward was likely real—but so was the suspicion. If they decided he was the one who hurt the officer, he wouldn't be leaving anytime soon.
That was the trouble with saving people—it always came with strings attached.
Seeing his cooperative attitude, the two guards visibly relaxed.
Anyone capable of saving a member of the Demon Suppression Bureau was surely a cultivator, and since he showed no resistance, it seemed this was merely an accidental rescue.
At least things weren't too bad—after all, it was a rescue. The people from the Demon Suppression Bureau arrived quickly.
In fact, faster than the horse.
A small figure dressed in the same Bureau uniform came running toward the gate at remarkable speed.
Chu Xingchen looked up. It was a short girl who appeared rather young, her hair tied into two little braids that bounced as she ran.
The young physician carried a medicine box, her short legs moving swiftly.
Her cultivation seemed to be around the sixth or seventh layer of the Qi Refining Realm.
She quickly spotted Chu Xingchen and hurried over, her gaze immediately locking onto the unconscious young officer and the silver needles sealing his meridians.
She first checked his pulse. After confirming it was still there, her eyes shifted to the dark-red energy raging within his sealed meridians.
A faint light of spiritual energy glimmered around her hands as she reached out, testing the energy to discern its nature.
"What a fierce energy, eh!"
Her voice was soft and childlike, but her tone carried that distinct Sichuan-Chuan accent—clearly not a local of Yuzhou City.
Even when she spoke seriously, the faintly playful intonation made her sound oddly endearing.
"Did you place these needles?" she asked, lifting her head to look at Chu Xingchen.
"I did," he replied. "Is there a problem?"
"No problem, it's right. Without those needles, this lad probably wouldn't have lasted this long." She tilted her head slightly. "You're a healer too? Come give me a hand, will you?"
"I'm not a healer… but if it's simple, I can try to assist."
"Good, come on then. No time to wait for others. This kid won't last much longer, and those brutes around here are all clumsy as oxen. Just do what I tell you."
Though the silver needles had suppressed the energy for now, it was still corroding and tearing through the man's meridians. The situation remained dire.
Despite her age, the little physician acted with impressive confidence. Her large apricot eyes met Chu Xingchen's.
"Your spiritual power seems strong. When I say so, withdraw the needles and suppress the energy. I'll take over and guide it out."
Chu Xingchen nodded his agreement.
The girl then reached into her medicine box and pulled out a stalk of bellflower. She pried open the man's mouth and stuffed the herb down his throat, then uncorked a small gourd filled with liquid medicine.
"He's unconscious—can't swallow on his own. This trick works well," she explained casually.
Aligning the gourd's mouth with the herb, she poured a small amount of medicine down before pulling the stalk out. Her eyes flicked to Chu Xingchen.
"You can pull the needles now."
Chu Xingchen nodded lightly. Spiritual energy surged through his fingers as he withdrew the needles in a single motion.
The young physician's hands glowed with bright white light as she pressed on the acupoints, attempting to redirect the violent energy outward.
But within seconds, something felt horribly wrong.
On the surface, she had only sensed a faint trace of the energy—but in direct contact, the vicious aura revealed itself fully, carrying an overwhelming tide of blood qi.
It surged wildly, entangling itself with her spiritual energy as if devouring it.
As the blood qi seeped past the skin, Chu Xingchen's brow furrowed sharply.
This… it was almost identical to the blood qi within the Blood Qi Spirit Stones.
The girl's face tensed as the crimson aura began to bite into her spiritual energy and spread across her arm. She clenched her teeth and blurted instinctively,
"Trouble!"
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