He pulled out the letter tube inside and his expression changed, showing a hint of hesitation. He then waved to the people around him.
"Let's go!"
The group responded and followed the leader away, leaving Chu Qingze and Xia Yunting, both looking rather bewildered.
"What's going on?"
"I don't know."
The two of them got up to examine their wounds and found that both had sustained quite a few injuries. Fortunately, Chu Qingze carried medicinal herbs with him and had applied simple treatment to himself and Xia Yunting.
About the time it takes to brew a cup of tea after applying the medicine, footsteps were suddenly heard from afar. The two became alert and were about to hide when they saw a group of people approaching. The torchlight illuminated a familiar face – it was Yun Heng.
"What happened? I just heard sounds of fighting here. Did you see the assassins?"
As she spoke, she glanced around.
Chu Qingze and Xia Yunting exchanged a knowing look. If she had truly heard the fighting, why would she have taken so long to arrive? Clearly, she had been waiting in hiding all along.
"There were assassins, but they've already left now."
Chu Qingze replied, a hint of dissatisfaction in his tone.
"You didn't mention they had so many people. Now we're both injured. If you had arrived any later, we would all be dead here."
Yun Heng's mouth twitched. She had indeed seen that the two of them were badly hurt and hadn't expected their abilities to be so poor.
It was indeed a sudden turn of events. Yun Heng had also received news that the yamen was being infiltrated by individuals with extraordinary skills, which was why everyone else had rushed to support the yamen, leaving these two behind. Fortunately, she had a backup plan.
"Since you are both injured, let's head back. Thank you for coming to help today."
"I should be thanking you." Chu Qingze shot her a glare and said to Xia Yunting, "Let's go."
As they were leaving, a strange sound suddenly came from deep within the forest. Yun Heng pointed in that direction and shouted to pursue, leading her group after it.
However, as soon as the group left the area, their footsteps scattered, and the sounds then disappeared.
The commotion was not great, but Xia Yunting had exceptionally good hearing. He knew they were hiding nearby and that there would likely be more tricks. He remained calm, parting the grass and walking forward with an unchanged expression.
As expected, less than fifteen minutes later, two people suddenly sprang out from the front, attacking without a word.
Chu Qingze and Xia Yunting each dealt with one opponent, and soon the fight was fierce and dazzling. During the combat, the two attackers intentionally drew Chu Qingze and Xia Yunting in separate directions. The two seemed oblivious and followed the assassins, separating themselves.
By the time they realized something was wrong, Chu Qingze could no longer see Xia Yunting's figure.
The person before him moved as swift as the wind. Chu Qingze, dragging his injured body, could only barely defend against the opponent's attacks. However, for some reason, the opponent suddenly exposed a flaw. Chu Qingze took the opportunity to kick him in the face, causing him to stumble and fall to the ground, completely unconscious.
Chu Qingze was dumbfounded.
This was too easy.
He felt something was amiss and kicked the person on the ground twice. There was no reaction. He boldly removed the mask from the person's face, and as expected, it was Xia Yunting's face.
Chu Qingze abruptly turned his head and found only the rustling of grass around him, yet he felt that someone must be hiding behind the bushes.
A test?
Without hesitation, Chu Qingze picked up the opponent's weapon and slit his throat. The other party didn't even have time to make a sound before dying.
On the other side, Xia Yunting's fight was more intense.
Although Xia Yunting was injured, the opponent's skills were clearly inferior, so he fought on equal footing.
Just as he kicked the opponent away, the opponent reached into his robe and pulled out something. Xia Yunting saw it but deliberately did not defend. The opponent suddenly threw the item over. A puff of white smoke drifted past. Xia Yunting recognized it as a paralytic powder. He deliberately coughed twice, then his body swayed, and he fell to the ground.
He closed his eyes and heard footsteps approaching. A hand touched his face, searching around. Xia Yunting did not even frown, allowing the other party to act.
After searching for a while, the opponent's movements paused, and he quickly darted into the bushes.
No anomalies were detected.
Xia Yunting couldn't help but secretly admire Rong Zhi's disguise skills, which were so good that they were indistinguishable from reality.
Not long after, another set of footsteps was heard, accompanied by anxious calls.
"Hey, how are you? Why have you fainted?"
Chu Qingze took out a bottle of medicinal liquid from his pocket and held it under Xia Yunting's nose for him to sniff. Xia Yunting "slowly" woke up and asked him, "What's wrong?"
"You fainted."
Chu Qingze glanced around and found that the feeling of being watched had disappeared.
"They've left. Let's hurry down the mountain!"
He helped Xia Yunting up and they headed straight down the mountain.
When they returned to the mass grave, the sky was already bright. Rong Zhi frowned as soon as she saw the two of them.
"Why are you so badly injured?"
"If we weren't so injured, how could we trick..."
Chu Qingze stopped mid-sentence, seeing Rong Zhi raise her index finger to her lips, making a shushing gesture. She then pointed outside. He immediately understood and changed his tone, "That assassin was too powerful, and as Yun Heng said, there were many decoys. We don't know which was real and which was fake. We were tricked, and there was nothing we could do."
As they spoke, they each entered their rooms. Rong Zhi paused her work and treated Xia Yunting's wounds, wrapping them with bandages. While tending to his injuries, she couldn't help but sigh.
"This body of yours is truly prone to misfortune. Your last injuries haven't healed completely, and now you have new ones."
Xia Yunting lowered his head and watched Rong Zhi's slender hands tending to him, wrapping bandages. Her hands were so small and delicate, her fingertips cool, making his own body appear even taller and more imposing. He couldn't help but straighten his back and say nonchalantly, "It's fine, my body is healthy."
"Indeed." This was undeniable. Martial artists were typically strong and healthy. From the way she treated Xia Yunting's seven-day poison previously, it was clear that this body could withstand a lot. In her previous life, she had practiced medicine for twenty to thirty years and had seen all sorts of people. Xia Yunting's body was robust, tall, and handsome. Whether as a doctor or an ordinary woman, it was hard not to admire him.
The extra glances she stole made Xia Yunting very satisfied. The corners of his lips curled up, and he pulled on her sleeve.
"My body is healthy, but the wounds still hurt."
Rong Zhi paused, inexplicably hearing a hint of coyness in his voice.
Her face flushed slightly. "Then... I have painkillers here. Have one."
"Okay." Xia Yunting was somewhat surprised; he had never heard of her having painkillers.
The next moment, a small hand suddenly appeared before him, holding a few candies.
Candies?
"Eat them. Don't you love eating them?" Rong Zhi pushed her hand forward again. Seeing that he didn't move, she directly put one in his mouth.
"Sweet food can make one happy, but don't eat too much, or you'll get a toothache."
She placed the remaining candies in Xia Yunting's palm, then tidied up the wound medicine and bandages. As she walked towards the door, she muttered, "I still need to check on Chu Qingze."
Xia Yunting looked at the candies in his hand. The warmth of Rong Zhi's fingertips still lingered on his lips. Xia Yunting suddenly frowned.
Why check on Chu Qingze? Wasn't he a doctor himself?
By the time Xia Yunting was dressed and arrived at Chu Qingze's door, he saw Chu Qingze defensively pressed into the corner of the wall, one hand clutching his clothes, the other holding a medicine bottle, looking like he was protecting his chastity.
"What are you doing? I'm not married yet, why do you keep barging into people's rooms? Have you no shame?"
Rong Zhi's voice was calm. "What are you thinking? As a doctor, I just want to check your wounds."
After speaking, she suddenly turned her head and beckoned to Xia Yunting, "Husband, you come in too."
Xia Yunting nodded, entered, and sat in Chu Qingze's previous position, looking at Rong Zhi questioningly.
Rong Zhi looked at Chu Qingze, then at Xia Yunting, her expression somewhat grave. "As expected."
"What?"
"Don't you think your wounds are very similar?"
The two were stunned. They looked at each other and realized that their wounds did indeed have several similarities. The trajectory of the wounds and the depth of the cuts were almost identical.
"What does this indicate?" Chu Qingze was somewhat puzzled. "It only shows that they are well-trained and use the same set of moves."
Xia Yunting was not surprised.
Chu Qingze didn't understand, but he was very clear. These moves were imitating him. During their encounter, he had felt that their moves were somewhat similar to his own, but their skills were so poor that they were like a dog trying to imitate a tiger. Therefore, he hadn't thought too deeply about it at the time.
Now it seemed that those people were deliberately imitating him to achieve a deceptive effect.
"...How do you think their skills were?" Rong Zhi started to say something, then stopped, and instead asked a seemingly insignificant question.
"Average." Chu Qingze replied truthfully. "However, it's not impossible that they deliberately hid their strength. When I was going down the mountain, someone ambushed us. I was injured and my strength was not good, yet the opponent deliberately exposed a weakness, so I'm not sure what their true strength is."
"Very poor," Xia Yunting added from the side.
So poor that even if they imitated his moves, it wouldn't be easily noticed.
"If they were deliberately probing, their strength must be greater than what they displayed. If you can remember their moves and devise countermeasures, you should be more composed the next time you encounter them."
"Mhm."
Chu Qingze nodded. He really should improve his skills. In the past, he had been devoted to medicine, so he hadn't spent much time practicing martial arts. This was a test, but if a real fight were to break out next time, they might not be so lucky.
Xia Yunting also responded, but his perfunctory attitude indicated that he hadn't taken the advice to heart at all. In the face of absolute strength, moves were irrelevant.
However... what was Xiao Mo trying to say just now?
In the evening, Xia Yunting asked Rong Zhi this question.
Rong Zhi sighed. "I was wondering whether to tell Chu Qingze your identity."
At this point, Rong Zhi felt that she could tell him, but this was Xia Yunting's matter after all. She felt that whether to tell him or not should be decided by Xia Yunting, so she stopped speaking halfway.
Speaking of which, Rong Zhi couldn't help but ask Xia Yunting, "This isn't your first time here, is it? Do you have any trusted confidants here? Have you investigated Chu Qingze?"
If Xia Yunting were willing to tell her the truth, she felt things would be much easier.
Unfortunately, Xia Yunting just shook his head.
Boring.
Rong Zhi rolled over to face the wall, deciding not to say anything if he didn't want to.
At this moment, a deep voice suddenly came from behind.
"They are all dead."
Rong Zhi was stunned. She turned to look and saw Xia Yunting lying flat beside her, gazing at the ceiling, seemingly lost in memory, with a look of hatred and resolve on his face.
Finally willing to say something, Rong Zhi couldn't help but feel a bit happy, but because of his expression, she dared not show her joy too overtly.
"Then what information did they obtain?"
"What they knew, we know now too."