The Martial Doctor

The Blood Soul Saber in his hand seemed to come to life, his cultivation soaring to the Great Perfection of Meridian Realm, even half a step into the Celestial Realm.

With one stroke, he knocked away the hidden weapon thrown by Chen Xiaodao, then fiercely slashed towards Iron Palm Zhou Qianren.

The blade was shrouded in a misty blood-red glow, dazzling and bright!

Zhou Qianren hastily raised his hand to block.

With a "crack" sound,

Zhou Qianren’s steel wrist guards shattered directly, followed by a scream as he flew backward, crashing into a series of corridor pillars.

The Handsome Judge on the rooftop, although a bit further away, immediately unfolded his fan and leapt down towards the Blood Evil after hearing Chen Xiaodao’s warning.

Blood Evil, having defeated Iron Palm Zhou Qianren with one strike, immediately bounced up, trying to escape. After all, it was three against one, and he just consumed a Carefree Elixir, the side effects of this thing are huge, especially in a fight. It’s easy to get ’high’ and lose control of your consciousness. Others only need to wait for him to exhaust his strength to easily capture him.

Thus, he must leave while he can still control his mind. A wise rabbit has three burrows; he’s got a couple of safe havens to retreat to past this tough time. With the vast world, no one could find him.

The Handsome Judge wasn’t a pushover either; his steel-boned fan wasn’t ordinary, though it couldn’t compare to the Blood Soul Saber in Blood Evil’s hand.

The fan formed a barrier around Blood Evil, an impenetrable blockade.

If Blood Evil wanted to leave, he’d first have to break through this barrier.

He swung another slash!

But there was another, Chen Xiaodao, who, after failing with one strike, quickly hurled three identical flying knives from his hand, aiming for the back of Blood Evil’s head, back, and right shoulder.

The back of the head and back were vital spots, only the right shoulder was to hinder his attacks.

If Blood Evil wanted to break the Handsome Judge’s fan screen, he couldn’t retract his strike. If he didn’t, he couldn’t fend off the attacks behind him.

With no choice, Blood Evil turned, his Blood Soul Saber swirling, shredding the three flying knives with blood-red blade light.

But he found himself trapped in the trio’s encirclement once more.

At this point, Iron Palm Zhou Qianren had already rushed out from the rubble, seizing the chance to swallow a healing pill.

This life-saving elixir, which cost him a fortune and had been carried unused for years, finally came in handy. Though even capturing Blood Evil would still be at a loss.

With a fierce gleam in his tiger eyes, Zhou Qianren had a look like he wanted to devour Blood Evil whole.

"Heaven and Earth Reversal!"

"Bone Piercing Nail!"

...

"This is the shortcut you mentioned?" Lin Miao nearly fainted from anger upon reaching a dog hole guided by the Fire Kirin.

This guy actually wanted them to crawl through a dog hole!

That dog hole was accessible, but as the dignified Mr. Lin, was he supposed to crawl through it like a dog?

He wouldn’t crawl through the hole. Jumping over the wall wouldn’t be an issue.

The place they chose wasn’t far from the courtyard where Blood Evil and Iron Palm were battling. The noise of their intense fight had long reached them.

"Remember, our mission is to save the captives, nothing else matters," Lin Miao reiterated their purpose after entering Xue Family Manor.

Blood Evil and his underlings weren’t their targets, and they weren’t here for the imperial bounty.

The main attackers of Xue Family Manor tonight could only be the Blade Catching Alliance.

"Got it, but this Marquis Lingyang’s Xue Family is no good; there’s possibly something valuable here. Since we’re here, shouldn’t we leave with something?" Yue Mei’er giggled.

"Mei’er, don’t act rashly, don’t mess up the important mission of our lord, sooner or later, this manor will be ours," warned Si Miaoxue.

"The manor won’t run away, but the stuff inside might. This manor was guarded by the Green Blade Sect before Blood Evil came, surely for some secret. If there’s treasure hidden indeed, then we hit the jackpot," Yue Mei’er added.

"Enough nonsense, focus on the mission!" Lin Miao snapped.

The group quickly headed towards the courtyard where captives were held.

The Blade Catching Alliance’s night raid naturally alarmed the Green Blade Sect members in the manor. They woke from their slumber and hurried with weapons to assist.

This left the captives’ courtyard significantly vulnerable.

Everyone with Lin Miao was at least in the Blood Fusion Realm, easily handling a few minor guards and promptly entered the area.

They opened the secret door to the underground dungeon.

Eliminating the guards inside, they were shocked by what they saw in the dungeon.

Besides the nuns from Heaven-Reaching Temple, over a hundred young women were detained, their injuries painting a grim picture of their experiences.

"Bring all the clothes we have and can gather, arrange for their evacuation, quick!" Lin Miao ordered with a grim face.

This Xue Family Manor was simply a hell on earth.

"Young Master, with so many unable to move, how can we quietly take them away?"

"First, get out of this manor."

"Otherwise, when Blade Catching Alliance breaches the manor, these people will be discovered and handed over to the authorities..."

"Pei Jian, that old fox, keeps his hands clean to avoid direct conflict with Marquis Lingyang. He’ll only step in if Blade Catching Alliance captures Blood Evil, providing him a pretext. I don’t know if he’ll make a deal with the Marquis’s Mansion, but if they ally, what happens to these women?" Lin Miao stated, willing to work with Pei Jian but never trusting him.

"So what do we do with all these people?"

"Those with families, send them back. Those without, we’ll arrange for them; there’s always someplace they can go," Lin Miao thought for a moment.

"Alright, we do need hands, these people could be of use."

"Lord, I’ll check what treasures are hidden in this manor..." Yue Mei’er chuckled and disappeared.

"Fei’er, follow her, don’t let her get into trouble." Lin Miao signaled to Ji Fei’Er, instructing her to follow Yue Mei’er.

"Which one of you is Master Jingyi..." 林淼 called out.

"Who are you?"

"We were sent by your master, Dingxian, to rescue you. Here’s her token and a personal letter for you to verify," Lin Miao said, finding Jingyi, the leading nun and Dingxian’s trusted disciple amongst the imprisoned nuns.

"These are Master’s Buddhist Beads and her letter!" Jingyi sobbed, her tears flowing upon recognizing the items.

"I’m not familiar with this place. I’ll give you a task—to distribute clothes to everyone here. We must leave immediately!"

"Alright, I’ll arrange it." Jingyi quickly secured the beads and letter, rallying her sisters and two senior nuns of the Ding lineage to swiftly act.

First, distribute clothes, then food. Though it was cold outside, warmer than the outside, it was better to eat first and wear thick clothes before going out, or they risked starvation or freezing.

After all, they had a journey to cover on their own.

"Quickly, quickly, wear clothes and move fast!"

...

Boom!

With a loud noise, the Handsome Judge was slammed by a bloody saber aura, shattering his steel folding fan, and sent flying onto the rooftop.

He crashed through the snow-covered rooftop, forming a man-shaped hole, and fell into the chaotic mess below.

"You won’t stop me!" Blood Evil was losing control over his consciousness, the Carefree Elixir he ingested was a spiked version, potent beyond ordinary, and naturally much more valuable.

Its effects were faster, and the hallucinogenic impact was stronger.

"Zhou, look at his eyes, he’s lost control, keep him busy!" The weakest among them, Chen Xiaodao, was panting heavily, almost out of hidden weapons.

The pale-faced Iron Palm Zhou Qianren covered his chest, having underestimated Blood Evil’s madness; backed into a corner, a drugged frenzy like his was a nightmare to face.

All three were injured, especially the Handsome Judge’s life uncertain. With just them, it seemed impossible to stop Blood Evil.