When Su Muyu and Su Changhe returned to the medicine manor, Bai Hehuai had already gone back to bed and fallen into a deep sleep. Su Muyu looked toward Su Zhe, who gently shook his head and said, “Don’t worry. I know something about medicine as well. Hehuai is just sleeping.”

“That’s good.” Su Muyu let out a sigh of relief.

“Did you kill that young man?” Su Zhe asked.

Su Muyu shook his head. “Fearing complications, I spared his life but left a mark on him.”

Su Zhe smiled. “You’re still you—the most meticulous person of the Dark River generation. Everyone should get some rest. Tomorrow, we’ll have some troublesome matters to deal with.”

“Indeed.” Su Muyu sighed softly, patted Xiao Chaoyan’s shoulder as he stood by the door, and returned to his room.

The next morning, a horse’s neigh broke the tranquility of the Heyu Medicine Manor. Su Zhe opened the door to find a squad of armored soldiers surrounding the manor, with an ornately decorated carriage waiting behind them. A crane was embroidered on the carriage.

Su Zhe gripped the Buddhist staff at his side and chewed on his betel nut. “And who might our visitors be?”

“Kneel!” A commander in silver armor rode forward, looking down at Su Zhe from his mount.

Su Zhe lifted his head and suddenly laughed as if he’d heard an extremely funny joke, unable to stop himself.

“What’s so funny?” the commander frowned.

Su Zhe ignored him and continued laughing, even breaking into loud guffaws.

“How dare you!” The commander shouted, swinging his silver whip down at Su Zhe. Su Zhe’s Buddhist staff made a slight turn, directly meeting the whip. The whip wrapped around the staff, and the commander yanked hard upward, but Su Zhe didn’t move an inch. He looked at the commander and said with a smile, “Do you think you’re very strong?”

The commander gritted his teeth and used all his strength to pull the whip, but Su Zhe held the Buddhist staff steady as a mountain, completely unmovable. Moments later, the commander’s forehead was covered in sweat. He was a garrison commander in South Peace City, renowned for his natural strength, and had never met his match in terms of valor within the military. Yet here he was, suffering a great setback at the door of this small medicine manor. He grew anxious, wondering if the staff-wielding man had set up some mechanism. Just as he was hesitating whether to withdraw, Su Zhe suddenly pulled his staff hard, yanking the commander right off his horse.

The commander fell to the ground but immediately abandoned his whip and drew his sword, slashing at Su Zhe. Su Zhe’s lips curled into a slight smile as he raised his hand and grabbed the commander’s sword hilt. “Why so much killing intent?”

The sound of swords being drawn filled the air as all the soldiers who had accompanied him unsheathed their blades.

Su Zhe turned to look at the soldiers and sighed softly. “How troublesome.”

A gust of wind swept past them, and the commander realized that the person before him was no ordinary medicine manor owner but a hidden master of the martial world. Having witnessed the capabilities of such martial artists before, he immediately waved his hand and ordered, “Nobody moves! Wait for the Magistrate’s orders!”

In the carriage behind them, the Magistrate had remained silent throughout.

Inside the carriage, the Magistrate was drenched in cold sweat, constantly wiping his forehead with a handkerchief. Beside him sat a young man—Su Changhe—who habitually stroked his small mustache. The Magistrate had no idea how this man had entered; he had only felt a breeze lift the carriage curtain, and suddenly there was a man beside him.

“So you’re the Magistrate of South Peace City,” Su Changhe asked quietly.

The Magistrate nodded. “Y-yes…”

Su Changhe pondered. “Magistrate… is that a high position? What rank?”

The Magistrate wiped more sweat. “Fifth rank… proper fifth rank.”

“Oh.” Su Changhe pulled out a dagger from his robes and played with it idly. “I’m not very familiar with these things. In the Northern Li system, is the fifth rank considered high? What rank is Wang Xiao Ruofeng of Langya?”

The Magistrate was startled. How could they casually discuss Wang Xiao Ruofeng of Langya? Moreover, as the first power broker of Northern Li, why even ask about his rank? The Magistrate couldn’t understand this man’s intentions and dared not answer carelessly. But Su Changhe continued unprompted, “I once shared drinks with him in the tower pavilion of Tianqi City.”

The Magistrate’s legs went weak, nearly sliding off the carriage seat. He said in a low voice, “So you’re a friend of Lord Wang of Langya. My deepest apologies!”

“Hahahaha!” Su Changhe laughed heartily. “This medicine manor—I’m the owner behind the scenes. The one who rushed into your mansion with a sword last time was my good brother. I’m very sorry about the loss of your son. But there was no helping it; your son was already dead when my brother performed the last rites for him.”

The Magistrate’s heart jumped, and though he wanted to speak, seeing the cold glint of Su Changhe’s dagger, he held his tongue.

Su Changhe stroked the dagger’s edge. “My brother and I are people of the martial world. We jianghu folk tend to be very direct. Magistrate, go home today, take a hot bath, and arrange your son’s funeral properly. We’ll continue running our medicine manor, and you continue being a good official. From now on, we’ll have nothing to do with each other. How’s that?”

The Magistrate still hesitated. That son was his only child, whom he deeply loved. He had brought this large contingent of troops today solely to avenge his son, but before he could even face his enemy, he was being threatened. He thought about making a desperate dash out and calling for the soldiers to protect him. Surely so many men could overcome just one person!

Su Changhe seemed to read his thoughts and held his dagger horizontally. “If I wanted to kill you, it would take but an instant. Those people outside wouldn’t have time to save you.”

The Magistrate said gravely, “If you kill me, you won’t leave South Peace City alive. Moreover, killing an imperial official is a capital offense!”

“Haha, it wouldn’t be the first time,” Su Changhe waved his hand casually. “You could also choose to pretend to let us go, then return with several times more troops to raze our Heyu Medicine Manor. But rest assured, we’ll be fine, and I will come to kill you.”

The Magistrate stared at Su Changhe, and Su Changhe stared back. After a moment, the Magistrate sighed and asked, “That day… was my son dead?”

Su Changhe put away his dagger. “You should be thankful it was my brother who went there and not me. Had it been me, I might have killed everyone in that room. Rest assured, my brother is a good person. If your son hadn’t been dead, he wouldn’t have struck.”

The Magistrate pondered for a moment before calling out loudly to the soldiers outside the carriage: “Withdraw!”