Death… and me

"Yes!" Chu Yang said decisively, "And, much more!"

The law-enforcement master said lightly, "Go on."

Chu Yang laughed, saying, "Then I shall say one more thing. Your face looks a bit black and like the normal skin color. But, your skin color wasn't like this decades ago, am I right?"

The law-enforcement master continued to look at Chu Yang with sharp eyes and didn't speak.

"Normally, in the process of cultivating, a martial practitioner will improve his body fitness. After he reaches a Martial Saint, his complexion will remain. This is because all the filth in his body is cleaned and a heaven-earth bridge in the body is established. If he is willing, he could even maintain his complexion at an age of thirty or forty years old till the last moment of his life."

"After one breaks through the Saint level and reaches the Supreme level, he can even rejuvenate his body," Chu Yang smiled, "Of course, he can reform his body to his own will. And, normally, when one reaches above the Saint level, he won't have any great demands on his appearance."

"But from your facial looks, it's definitely not normal. Your face should have turned tender and white in the process of cultivating at the Saint level. And afterward, you suffered from a certain kind of injury, which has led to your face to turn a bit black."

Chu Yang gabbled on, "Although this injury, on the surface, only changes the color of your face, some parts of meridians in your body must also be blocked because of it!"

The law-enforcement master's face and eyes remained still and he continued to fix his eyes on Chu Yang.

But the spell of death in the air had already completely vanished. Only the oppressive atmosphere remained.

Chu Yang heaved a sigh of relief as he thought: The first stage was finally over. But the second stage was where he must reveal his true capabilities.

Sure enough, the law-enforcement master said heavily, "Sure enough, you have a bit of skill. With your pair of eyes, although saying that you are unmatched in the Nine Heavens is too exaggerated, you already can be considered a 'divine doctor'. But, these are still not enough!"

"I know these are insufficient for you. But, for me, it's already sufficient in getting a foothold in the Nine Heavens, or muddling along in the Flat Mountain Ridge or even the entire South-East region," Chu Yang said as he smiled lightly.

The law-enforcement master closed his eyes and responded, "But it's still not enough."

Chu Yang smiled politely and said, "If it's not enough, please extend your hand and allow me to feel your pulse."

The law-enforcement master looked at him for a moment and spoke heavily, "Do you know the consequences of this?"

Chu Yang said, unafraid, "If you came just to accuse me and kill me, then I really don't have that interest."

The law-enforcement master fixed his eyes, "Oh?"

Chu Yang laughed gladly and said, "The law-enforcement officers are of course dominant over the Nine Heavens and take charge of all the injustices in the world! But… with my sole expertise, I can muddle along wherever I like! The law-enforcement officers have nothing to do with me."

He smiled, saying, "But, I can't afford to bear the charge of sowing discord among the law-enforcement officers. So I can only try to clear up this charge with the little ability that I have. As for the truth, I dare not to say randomly."

The law-enforcement master revealed a slight smile in his eyes and said, "Oh? What do you mean?"

Chu Yang said straightforwardly, "As long as my medical skills are recognized… so what if there are discords in your organization? Even if all the law-enforcement officers die, what has this got to do with me?!"

Hearing these extremely unpleasant words, the law-enforcement master was actually startled. Then, he laughed aloud.

This sudden laughter caused Sha Xinliang and Qin Baoshan to be taken aback. Their bodies almost broke out with goose flesh!

The law-enforcement master took a carefree step forward and stood in front of Chu Yang, saying, "Come with me."

The three followed him and arrived at another small hall. The law-enforcement master smiled and said, "Sit, sit. Xinliang, get some tea."

His smile was as if the sunshine that followed a rain.

Sha Xinliang and Qin Baoshan were overjoyed.

But Chu Yang knew that his threat was far from over.

Although the law-enforcement master looked sincere now, this transition was too sudden and thus appeared to be ambivalent.

But Chu Yang still had something to count on. That was what Sha Xinliang had once said: 12 years ago, the law-enforcement master pursued a Monarch-level thief. After much difficulty, the thief was finally killed, but the law-enforcement master also suffered from heavy wounds and almost died!

There are many tales that can be made with this fact!

Monarch level experts have the cultivations sufficient for self-healing, and normal injuries could be recovered within a few days. Even if muscles or bones were hurt, there wouldn't be great harms.

If he was able to suffer from heavy wounds and face the threat of death… then that injury couldn't be cured even with the cultivations of a Martial Saint.

If the injury was so serious, then it would definitely hurt the fundamentals. Since it had hurt the fundamentals, how would there not be sequela?

For people who were the least vulnerable, once they suffered from injuries that couldn't be self-healed, the more serious the injuries were to their body!

Not for long, Sha Xinliang held up two cups of tea. As the fragrance of tea rose, the atmosphere instantly became warmer.

The law-enforcement master held up a teacup. Looking more cordial now, he said, "Divine Doctor Chu, please."

Chu Yang said, "I'll help myself." And he held up another cup.

The law-enforcement master sniffed the aroma of the tea a bit sentimentally, and said, "Good tea." He sipped a mouthful, then closed his eyes to enjoy the aftertaste, and said, "Divine Doctor Chu, you may not know my name. I'm called Han Xiaoran. This name sounds a bit gentle, so I don't mention it easily. But I'll never forget it because this name was given to me by my mother."

His face turned blurry temporarily in the steam.

Chu Yang said softly, "Your mother is definitely a talented woman."

Han Xiaoran smiled nostalgically, heaved a long sigh, and said with melancholy, "The gratitude towards one's parents are high as heaven, deep as earth… My mother has already left me… for more than 1300 years. But whenever I wrote my name on a piece of paper, I would always think of the moment when my mother held on to my hand to write my name. My heart would also suddenly soften down."

"So, as a law-enforcement officer for many years, although I am selfless, I'm always lenient towards people who commit crimes because of their filial towards their parents."

"Law is selfless, but… people are not!" Han Xiaoran sighed, adding, "Who doesn't have parents or wives? We law-enforcement officers aren't afraid of heavy blood debts, but our conscience must be clear! If there's one day that the Nine Heavens sank into unrest, don't repent when you're about to die."

As he said, he looked at Sha Xinliang. Obviously, there was some meaning of warnings in these words.

Deep veneration aroused in Chu Yang's heart. Chu Yang could hear that these words were said from deep down Han Xiaoran's heart. No wonder this guy had such a high prestige in the South-East region.

'Our conscience must be clear! If there's one day that the Nine Heavens sank into unrest, don't repent when you're about to die.'

These words had really spoken into Chu Yang's heart.

Sha Xinliang also shrugged. He stood up solemnly and said, "I'll definitely remember master's teachings!"

Han Xiaoran nodded mildly. He pressed down his palms to hint Sha Xinliang to sit down. Then he said a bit sadly, "Sadly, while the law-enforcement officers are getting more and more powerful these thousands of years, how many of them actually follow their conscience as they do their jobs? The current world now really reeks…"

He sighed deeply and said, "It's my duty to manage the South-East region. So I have to put in my utmost effort in building this region up. As for others… erm…"

He smiled and said, "We've gone too far in this topic. Erm, that Tong Wuxin… was recommended to me by the third old master of the Shi clan. Tong Wuxin's father died when Tong Wuxin was still a child. His widowed mother raised him up alone. Although Tong Wuxin himself doesn't have a good character, and he was once notorious for his 'poisonous hands', he's whole-hearted and very filial towards his mother. I took him into this region because he's filial and indeed has strong medical skills."

He looked at Chu Yang quietly, "Divine Doctor Chu, do you understand what I mean?"

Chu Yang thought for a while and said, "I'm slow-witted, and don't quite fully understand."

Han Xiaoran was very appreciative towards his frankness. He smiled and said, "We have our own doctors within our organization, and they're all the family members of the law-enforcement officers; They are selected by the headquarters and sent to study at the Medicine Valley. After they finished studying, they'll come back here and be distributed among the various regions. So, our Law Enforcement Hall doesn't invite external doctors."

Chu Yang was confused, "Why then? …"

Han Xiaoran smiled, "Back then, there was a mess in the South-East region, and the law-enforcement officers suffered heavy casualties. I had to battle against two Saint level experts and couldn't spare time to attend to anything else. Shi Potian recommended Tong Wuxin to me, and so I agreed. After I suffered from serious injuries, it was also Tong Wuxin who spared no effort in treating me… and… erm, so I kept him."

"On one hand, I also thought of whether… so I waited quietly and see what would happen next. On the other hand, I did so to deliberately owe Shi Potian a favor… Erm, but over so many years, these thoughts have already faded," Han Xiaoran looked at Chu Yang, asking, "Do you understand now?"

He said it very obscurely, but Chu Yang already understood what he meant.

The law-enforcement master wasn't without doubts towards Tong Wuxin, and, he wasn't without any precautions towards the Shi clan.

Chu Yang knew that the law-enforcement officer wasn't truly confiding with him, but exerting pressure on him. But he didn't know where did this pressure come from.

He only faintly felt that this Tong Wuxin wasn't that simple.

Han Xiaoran looked at Chu Yang indifferently. After some time, he extended his wrist and said, "Divine doctor, you can diagnose me now."

For some unknown reasons, Chu Yang's mood became heavy as he looked at Han Xiaoran's arm which was in front of him.

He took a deep breath and said, "If that's the case, I'll try my best."

He extended his fingers and lay them on Han Xiaoran's wrist. He closed his eyes and put on a grim look.

The sword spirit instantly went into Han Xiaoran's body and explored it.

Then, Chu Yang's face gradually became heavy and ghastly.

He didn't even expect himself to arrive at such a result in his diagnosis!

Han Xiaoran looked at him and smiled, "Divine Doctor Chu?"

Chu Yang gasped a breath and said, "Ingenious."

Han Xiaoran laughed, saying, "I'm good friends with the great elder in the Medicine Valley."

Chu Yang immediately understood. After being silent for some while, he said, "It turns out that you've already known about something."

…