Chapter 260 Chapter 260 – Healing at the Medical Hall
"Welcome back, Young Master Ken. There's a patient who said he wants you specifically to treat him and is not willing to accept the care of anybody else."
"Oh, that's interesting. Did he specify why he wants my treatment?"
"That's…"
"Yes?"
"Don't be angry, Young Master, I'm only passing his words. He said that he got injured to save your life, so the least you can do is to heal him yourself…" The healer said hesitantly. Ken was kind and patient during his visits to the Medical Hall, but he still didn't want to convey such offensive words to a direct descendant of the Sue clan.
"Don't worry, I will go and treat him," Ken said with a friendly smile. However, that smile was a complete fake, hiding a cold expression beneath it.
Jake and Max contorted their expression slightly from the offense to their master, but they just followed Ken silently as always.
'It seems like the fun is about to start today,' he mused.
"Are you the man who demanded my treatment?" Ken approached a man lying on a bed with his eyes closed in concentration and a gaping hole in his abdomen.
Ken was impressed by his situation; even as a powerful sixth-stage cultivator who forcibly kept his blood inside his body and guided his bloodstream and organs into normal activity, the man would die without treatment within two or three days.
The pain must have been excruciating, yet the man persisted in waiting for Ken, showing his resolve.
The man opened a slit in his eyes, looking at the newcomer. Seeing the young teenager in front of him, he recognized Ken immediately.
"Yes, Young Master Ken. Thank you for indulging my request and treating me personally."
"Of course. Here, take this healing pill and let me guide it in your bloodstream and body with my Alchemical Qi, your condition will stabilize before long."
The wounded man opened his mouth slightly, letting Ken insert the pill into his mouth. Ken placed his palm against the disciple's chest and closed his eyes in concentration as he spread the Qi across the man's body.
"How is it?" The man asked as he slowly let go of his blood and organs and let Ken take control.
"It's good, you will be fine. Refrain from speaking, I need to concentrate. The treatment would take around 10 more minutes before I'm done," The Medical Hall never healed his patients to perfect condition. It'd only help them to get out of danger before releasing them to heal naturally.
Those with resources would speed it up with some healing pills while those without would have no choice but to meditate for days or even weeks to completely heal.
"Relax your body and don't interrupt me. I'm going to treat your heart now, so I need my full concentration," Ken instructed and the main grunted in response.
While Ken treated the man with his eyes closed in concentration, the man, who already felt almost all his pain go away, summoned a thirty-centimeter-long dagger into his right hand, out of Ken's bodyguards' perception.
'Plunge this dagger straight to his heart. Even if a grandmaster alchemist is present, they won't be able to save him on time from the poison on the dagger if it touches his heart directly.'
The injured man, Toby, remembered the words of the black-wearing disciple who beat him up to this state a few hours ago.
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"Oh look, here we got Toby Foster."
Toby and his four friends stood in front of a small group of inner disciples from the Four Seasons Sect. It was the usual match-up; the Four Seasons Sect sent their disciples in groups of three while the Phoenix Feather Sect sent theirs in groups of five. This balance was achieved thanks to the numerical advantage of the latter by fighting in their own territory.
"Prepare to fight." The leader of Toby's group instructed, and everyone took a battle stance, ready to engage. They had already fought multiple fights by then. Some won, some lost, but they managed to get away without any fatalities on their side every time so far.
"Let's kill them quickly." The leader of the black-wearing disciples said and his two friends took out their weapons with malicious smiles.
The fight was incredibly short. In a single moment, the three launched their attacks. Two managed to keep four of their enemies at bay while the third executed the fifth, and within 2 minutes, Toby found himself running away in panic as the sole survivor of the encounter.
"Toby, friend, don't worry. We won't kill you, we have better plans for you."
One of the three laughed merrily while running alongside the escaping enemy. With a thrust of his spear, the man stabbed Toby's abdomen cruelly and created a nearly fatal hole.
"Argh!" Toby groaned in fear and pain and rolled on the ground. His Qi was concentrated on keeping his guts from spilling out of his body, and he watched the three surround him.
"What do you want from me?" Toby asked.
"Well, we want to give you some gifts." The leader said and threw three objects on the ground in front of Toby. A fancy emerald necklace and beautiful male robes meant for special occasions.
"Where did you get these? What have you done to my parents?!"
Toby's eyes opened widely in terror when he recognized the three items as gifts he had given his poor family after getting accepted to the most prestigious sect in the area. His mother received the necklace while the robes were meant for his father.
"They are still alive… for now. I heard you made sure to send money to them ever since you were accepted to your lousy sect, even going as far as visiting them multiple times every year to make sure they don't face any problems. They must be very precious to you…" The leader said while crouching down and lifting up one of the hairpins.
"They are." Toby gritted his teeth and admitted in a shaky voice.
"Well, that's good. Take this dagger, it's coated in seventh-grade poison. It's a bit of an overkill, but that should put down a fourth-stage cultivator instantly if you do it right."
The crouching man continued to explain to Toby the plan they came up with to deal with Ken during the chaos of the war. The war wasn't very favorable for them, and losing promising youths to a weaker sect because of the enforcement from the other top 5 sects wasn't worth it anymore.
Things have escalated beyond control for a mere fourth-stage cultivator. In their reluctance to lose face by giving up on their revenge, they agreed to another war after just finishing another. The continuous wars took their toll on their resource reserves and led to needless casualties.
Now, even if by an underhanded method, they wanted to put an end to the war without giving up on their original goal. At this point, if they backed down without killing Ken, they would become a joke of the cultivation world.
"Do you understand the plan? You have my word that your family will be safe. As long as you complete your task, if I don't take care of your family after your death, may my soul perish by the heavens," the leader took an oath, binding himself.
"I… I will do it," Toby clenched his teeth and agreed. The oath reassured him that the man was speaking the truth. He was willing to give up his life for his parents who had supported him wholeheartedly ever since he was born.
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While Ken treated the man with his eyes closed in concentration, Toby, who already felt almost all his pain go away, summoned a thirty-centimeter-long dagger into his right hand, out of Ken's bodyguards' perception.
'Plunge this dagger straight to his heart.' Toby remembered these words. He didn't think there was a grandmaster alchemist in the vicinity, which meant Ken wouldn't be saved even if the dagger just grazed him, but he wanted to increase his chances of success as much as possible.
Toby wasn't an idiot; he noticed that his blackmailer restricted the oath only to the successful scenario, which meant they wouldn't take care of his family if he failed. Even if they wouldn't bother to kill them, tossing them in a foreign place with no property would make life very hard for them.
A flash of hatred crossed his eyes as he looked at Ken sitting above him. Toby blamed him for this current peril. If Ken did not mess with a top 5 sect, nobody would be holding his family hostage right now. If Ken would have enough shame to hand himself over instead of letting his fellow disciples die in a war that was not theirs, Toby could be safe now.
He thrust the dagger at Ken in a sudden motion, ready to impale the little demon's heart in one strike as tears formed in his eyes, knowing that whether he succeeded or failed, his fate would be the same – death for treason. The dagger cut through the air swiftly, aiming at Ken's chest.
'Success! He isn't reacting!' This thought crossed Toby's mind as he saw Ken's eyes remaining closed while the dagger got closer and closer.
"W-what?"
The one surprised was none other than Toby; he saw a smirk adorning the beautiful teen's lips just a moment before the dagger met flesh. An expression that should never appear on the face of someone who's about to get stabbed in the heart.
'I can't channel my Qi!' Toby realized a moment before his strike connected.
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