Way of the Devil

“Teacher, if this was any other day, I’d gladly do as you say. But this time, you can’t save him.” Lu Sheng did not budge. He blocked Tu Jin’s way.

“Scram!” Tu Jin was growing agitated. His body was clearly extremely weak before this. However, he seemed to have a dying flash as his vigor surged and he grew stronger.

He was charging toward Lu Sheng and attempted to push his away.

“De Yun! Stop Master!” Lu Sheng gave a decisive order.

De Yun was initially intimidated by his teacher’s aura, but he did not want his teacher to treat a patient by giving up his life. After a slight moment’s hesitation, he decisively walked up and stopped Tu Jin.

“Mutiny! This is mutiny!” When Tu Jin was held back, he started to struggle violently.

The middle-aged man at the door kept looking on at the scene as he coldly uttered, “Young man, you should consider the consequences of your current actions.” When he saw Lu Sheng stopping his teacher from treating his ailing father, he could not help but utter another threat.

Lu Sheng flared up. He resisted the urge to kill this man with a single strike. Throughout all his years of living, he had never met such a good-for-nothing who was so eager to throw away his life.

“Little Yue, Chengche is an old acquaintance of mine. I cannot let him die without doing anything! I know I’m done for. If you have another way, please help me!” At this moment, Tu Jin remembered that this disciple of his probably had better medical skills that he did. He hastily pleaded for his help.

Lu Sheng managed to suppress his killing intent. In the edge of his sight, he saw Tu Jin with tears streaking down his face.

He sighed internally.

“Alright, I promise you. I’ll do my best!” he said in a low, earnest tone.

Tu Jin knew Lu Sheng. If he did not outright reject, it meant that there was still hope. He was immediately delighted.

“Don’t worry. If you can save Chengche this time, I’ll personally teach you the Three Limits!” he promised solemnly. “Also, I’ve inserted sufficient amounts of spirit-prompting threads into his body. It should be able to last for four hours. If you need help, please call me—”

“Teacher, you should go rest. If I can’t save him, I’ll take the responsibility,” Lu Sheng cut him short. Tu Jin’s estimation was wrong. The vigor converted from the meager amount of spirit-prompting threads he’d inserted could hardly last for an hour.

However, he did not want to say it out loud. He did not want to make Tu Jin worry.

Life and death were but natural processes in nature. Even now, Lu Sheng could not possibly reverse death. Whether the outcome of his current endeavor would be successful or not depended on Ling Chengche’s destiny as well.

The investigation on the source of his injuries and the poison cocktail could wait.

Lu Sheng started to inspect Ling Chengche’s condition quickly. He focused on saving the life of the person before him.

This was his first-ever experience of doing his best to save a person’s life ever since he’d become accomplished in his martial path.

The components of the poison cocktail were carefully isolated by his Devil Qi turned into threads. With his spirit-prompting threads, he triggered the regeneration of the damaged tissues and some of the organs.

Compared to Tu Jin, Lu Sheng’s greatest advantage was his terrifying amount of spirit-prompting threads. As long as there was a sliver of life, it was possible for him to pull the person back from the brink of death.

Lu Sheng isolated the poison cocktail, mended the damage in the organs, replenished Ling Chengche’s vitality and vigor, and healed part of his damaged spirit.

These were highly technical procedures that were as difficult for any doctor as climbing up to the heavens. Lu Sheng successfully carried out each and every one of them.

Although there were some slight hiccups in between, Ling Chengche’s condition was getting better in general.

Time passed. Eventually, the skies were brightly lit. After two hours, Lu Sheng walked out of the room slowly.

The group of people waiting outside the room all this while rushed forward when they saw him.

Tu Jin was there, De Yun was there, the middle-aged man was there, and Ling Chouhua was there. There was also a group of women supporting a white-haired old woman who was silently wiping away her tears.

“How is he?!” The middle-aged man was the first to speak up. He fixed his sharp gaze on Lu Sheng.

Lu Sheng looked at Tu Jin, nodding, and replied, “I can say that everything went smoothly.” He ignored the middle-aged man completely.

Tu Jin immediately sighed heavily with relief. He rushed into the room to check on his friend.

The others rushed into the bedroom as well.

Tu Jin was not the only one who rushed forward. There were other old men who looked like doctors following him into the room.

After their inspection, it was just as Lu Sheng said—everything had gone well. Ling Chengche’s condition was finally stabilized. He was even recovering.

“Teacher, are you satisfied now?” Lu Sheng said quickly. “Let’s go. We shouldn’t dally here any longer. We must return home immediately!”

There was something that Lu Sheng did not tell them. Throughout the process of his treatment, he caught traces of a firm and powerful gray aura in the old man’s body. He reckoned that this aura was certainly left behind by an elite who was at least a Divine Lord.

A Divine Lord-ranked elite was not a weakling in Libra City. He did not wish to get caught up in this quarrel without knowing anything.

He decided to bring Tu Jin and De Yun back before explaining things to them.

“Capture them!” There was a sudden shout.

“Shing!”

A dozen armed guards who gave off rolling auras instantly unsheathed their blades and stepped forward. They surrounded Tu Jin and his disciples.

“Before my father comes to, none of you are allowed to go anywhere. Besides, we might need the three of you to keep contributing your talents after this.” The middle-aged man wore a cold expression as he spoke while walking slowly out of the room.

“Take them away. Treat them properly.”

“You?!” Tu Jin was not a green shoot. He instantly understood what the man meant.

“Father! They—” Ling Chouhua looked shocked as well. She wanted to plead for them, but she was immediately stopped by a female guard.

“My daughter, it’s not that I’m being heartless, but this is related to the fate of our family. If these three doctors can undo the poison once, they can undo it another time. We might be needing them in the future. After all, I have already offended them, might as well go through with it and detain them forcefully.” The middle-aged man projected his voice softly to her in explanation.

“But…” Ling Chouhua still found this slightly unacceptable. Was her father not taking advantage of these people?

“It’s decided. You should head back and rest for now. I’ll look after your grandfather,” the middle-aged man persuaded gently.

Ling Chouhua wanted to say something else, but the middle-aged man no longer had his attention on her.

It was impossible for Tu Jin not to understand that he had been dragged into the Ling Family’s feud. He had heard rumors before this that the power struggle within the Ling Family was getting serious. However, he had not expected it to be this serious.

At the moment, the three of them were being watched by a group of white-clothed guards. For a time, Tu Jin could not think of any way to escape from this predicament.

“I have landed you two into trouble.” He wore a regretful expression. “But don’t worry, when Chengche wakes up, everything will be fine.” His decades’ worth of relationship with Chengche was not just for show. He was confident in their bond.

A group of guards surrounded the three of them. The entrances and exits around them were also starting to be filled with people. For a time, the entire round courtyard was packed with people.

“My life is yours, Teacher. Don’t worry about it!” De Yun smiled. He was surprisingly not anxious at a time like this.

Lu Sheng slowly wiped his hands clean with a wet towel. Then, he separated the scalpels and various vials into the black bag they’d brought.

He could sense the gray aura he’d felt before this. Its owner was swiftly getting closer. It was clear that the owner had realized his plot had been foiled.

He focused his attention, and said, “Teacher, we must leave this place as soon as possible.”

“I’d like to as well…” If he could help it, Tu Jin wanted to leave quickly as well. However, the white guards had rolling auras. The Spiritual Essence waves they emitted alone were on par with those of the martial path elites he had met before this.

Although he was not sure how profound their cultivation bases were, one thing was clear: they would not be able to break free from this easily.

“It’s alright. I’ll make the arrangements.” Lu Sheng did not intend to expose his strength. However, it was still possible for him to use his Tu Style Healing Art alone.

His spirit flickered and he flicked all 10 of his fingers.

“Pccht! Pccht! Pccht! Pccht!”

In an instant, formless spirit-prompting threads shot out from his fingertips. Then, they shot past the meridian points behind the necks of the surrounding guards silently.

“Fooh…”

It was as if a breeze had just swept past. The guards in the courtyard immediately stiffened.

“Clang!”

Someone’s blade fell to the ground and gave off a crisp sound.

This action frightened Tu Jin and De Yun. They had never imagined that the spirit-prompting threads could be used in such a way.

“Let’s go!”

Lu Sheng led the way and ran toward the courtyard’s door. Tu Jin and De Yun hastily followed behind him.

However, they’d barely taken a few steps when a thick layer of gray fog had already covered the ground.

Lu Sheng snorted. His spirit-prompting threads erupted and scattered in midair. He wrapped them around Tu Jin and De Yun, after which he flung them out of the door.

“Not bad. But I’d still insist that you stay. I never make empty promises,” said the middle-aged man coldly.

He was not affected by the spirit-prompting threads. Without anyone noticing, he had already produced an exquisite gray bell. He gave it a light shake.

“Ding…”

The gray gas swirled into tendrils and reached for the three of them.

The remaining guards in the courtyard recovered at the same time. They brandished their blades and charged toward Lu Sheng and the others.

“Father!” Ling Chouhua exclaimed. He was forcing her grandfather’s saviors to stay. This was not the father she knew. Her father would definitely not commit such dishonorable acts.

Lu Sheng ignored the gray gas tendrils. He brought his palm downward and his spirit-prompting threads spread out. They swiftly tangled around the ornamental trees faraway. The formless threads pulled on the three of them, evading the gray gas as they fled.

“These are spirit-prompting threads?!” Tu Jin instantly recognized the special thread Lu Sheng used. He did not know that Lu Sheng was capable of wielding the spirit-prompting threads at such a level.

“Elder Xu, get him.” The middle-aged man in the courtyard below wore a fixed expression. He put his bell away.

“Leave it to me.”

A sharp cry of a peacock erupted abruptly. A fish-shaped shadow suddenly appeared above the courtyard.

The black shadow instantly covered the three of them. In an instant, the spirit-prompting threads broke and melted away.

Lu Sheng’s expression went cold. He was about to switch to another method to run away.

“Hahahaha!”

Suddenly, a loud laugh came from the faraway heavens.

Two dark blue beams of light instantly reached them. The light beams hovered above them and morphed into two figures in blue robes.

Dark golden radiance spread out behind the two of them. It appeared as if some great formation that isolated the dimension was instantly activated.

Lu Sheng cursed silently. ‘Great. Thanks to that idiot stalling us, this guy has shown up.’

Lu Sheng had wanted to conceal his own strength and flee by using Tu Style Healing Art alone.

Alas…

“Stay!” One of the blue figures abruptly plunged and grabbed at Lu Sheng’s neck. The other figure dived toward the middle-aged man in the courtyard directly.

Lu Sheng spread his arms. Formless spirit-prompting threads shot out to block his attacker. He continued dragging Tu Jin and De Yun as they fled.

“Little friend, since you’re here, why’re you in such a hurry to leave?” An old voice came slowly from afar.

“Shut up…” Lu Sheng’s heart was filled with frustration.

“Little friend, since you were able to undo the poison inflicted by Hua Yu, I’m sure you can undo the Hundred Honor United Poison, right? I have several poisons without cure with me. I’d like to ask for your help, little friend…”

“Shut up…”

Lu Sheng felt his frustration building up.

“…I’ll pay you thrice of what Ling Sicheng has paid you. In addition to that, I’ll—”

“Shut up!”

Lu Sheng instantly swept his palm instinctively. The three black holes suddenly appeared before his chest.

Countless spirit-prompting threads surged wildly out of his body. They formed a giant hand which grabbed at the blue figures in the sky.

“Hiss!”

Blood and sweat splattered everywhere.