"Me?"
"Get out!"
The nurse lowered her head and left the emergency room, doing her best to avoid Li Banfeng as she scurried down the hallway.
In the emergency room, only Ma Wu and Cui Tiq remained.
Cui Tiq stared at Ma Wu for a moment, then nodded. "The presence of a fellow sect member is indeed different."
...
「Half an hour later.」
Cui Tiq walked out of the emergency room and nodded at Li Banfeng.
Li Banfeng entered the emergency room. He saw Ma Wu lying calmly on the bed; the man’s fever had subsided, his breathing was even, and he was sleeping soundly.
Cui Tiq said, "Let your friend rest here for a while; he can be discharged tomorrow."
Li Banfeng never let others work for free. "How should I repay you?"
Cui Tiq smiled. "Professionally, this is a hospital, and saving lives is my duty. Personally, you helped me at Hai Chi Ridge, so it’s only right that I help you too."
Cui Tiq had someone take Ma Wu to a ward, with Li Banfeng staying by his side to care for him.
...
Wan Jinxian had booked Yuelai Restaurant, just waiting for Li Qi to deliver himself there.
By seven o’clock in the evening, Li Qi hadn’t arrived, so Wan Jinxian contacted a spy from the Xiaoyao Lodge.
Wan Jinxian waited another half an hour, but there was still no sign of Li Qi.
He grew suspicious and decided to check the hospital.
Boundless Hospital. He had never heard of this hospital before. Wan Jinxian entered the lobby and asked the duty nurse, "In which ward is Ma Junyang?"
The nurse looked at Wan Jinxian and said, "Why are you looking for Ma Junyang? It’s not visiting hours now."
Wan Jinxian’s expression was gentle. "I’m his uncle. I heard my nephew was sick and came all this way. If you’d just let me peek in from the door, that would be enough."
"Can’t you understand plain language? Rules are rules! Why are you making so much trouble? Get out..." The nurse clutched her chest, suddenly struggling to breathe.
Wan Jinxian smiled. "I’ll ask you one more time: in which ward is Ma Junyang?"
The nurse pointed to Ward Six, tears in her eyes, begging Wan Jinxian to spare her.
"Girl, in your next life, learn to speak properly."
The nurse clutched her throat. Seconds later, she stopped breathing.
Wan Jinxian walked down the hallway, heading towards Ward Six.
The Silk-Pulling Earrings picked up the sound, and Li Banfeng readied himself for a fight.
Wan Jinxian had only taken a few steps when he heard someone behind him ask, "Why are you looking for Ma Junyang?"
Wan Jinxian turned and saw a blond, blue-eyed man standing not far away.
Wan Jinxian said, "I’m here to visit my nephew."
"Visiting hours are over. Come back tomorrow."
After a moment of silence, Wan Jinxian smiled. "Why bother? Today is a fine day. I initially didn’t want to kill anyone else."
Cui Tiq approached Wan Jinxian and asked seriously, "What do you mean by that?"
A muscle twitched by Wan Jinxian’s eye. Cui Tiq suddenly felt his nose itch.
He pulled down his mask and twitched his nose, unable to suppress the urge to sneeze.
Wan Jinxian smiled. "Just a sneeze, no need to hold it back. Letting it out will feel much better."
Cui Tiq inhaled sharply. Wan Jinxian waited, expecting to see his eyeballs pop out.
ACHOO!
The sneeze finished, but Cui Tiq’s eyes were still in their sockets.
Wan Jinxian was dumbstruck. He touched his cheek.
His face was covered in blood.
Not Cui Tiq’s blood, but his own.
That sneeze from Cui Tiq had sliced open a cut on Wan Jinxian’s face.
Wan Jinxian looked at Cui Tiq in surprise.
Cui Tiq stuck out his tongue, where a mass of pitch-black, sticky paste was wriggling.
"This is the disease focus you implanted, right?" Cui Tiq swallowed the sticky substance. "Delicious! The last time I tasted something this delectable was a year ago!"
"You’re a fellow sect member? Impossible..." Wan Jinxian paused, then wiped some of the blood from his face and flicked it at Cui Tiq.
Cui Tiq began to cough violently; he was reinfected with Wan Jinxian’s disease focus.
Wan Jinxian was about to seize the opportunity to attack when Cui Tiq suddenly spat out a glob of hard phlegm, hitting Wan Jinxian’s left shoulder.
The phlegm pierced through Wan Jinxian’s flesh and lodged in his shoulder blade.
Wan Jinxian, clutching his shoulder, staggered backward. He once again used his disease focus to plunge Cui Tiq into a high fever.
Cui Tiq burned fiery red, like a searing piece of iron.
This, in turn, prevented Wan Jinxian from getting close to Cui Tiq.
Cui Tiq rubbed his chest and let out a belch.
The belch carried flames that instantly ignited Wan Jinxian’s clothes.
Wan Jinxian grew flustered.
The two had entirely different combat approaches. Cui Tiq’s combat techniques were incomprehensible to Wan Jinxian.
Wan Jinxian tried to use diseases to put Cui Tiq at a disadvantage, then take him down in one blow. This was the correct combat method for Disease Cultivators; at least, that’s how Wan Jinxian’s master had taught him.
But Cui Tiq was leveraging his own afflictions.
Wan Jinxian dared not make any hasty moves now; every time he implanted a disease focus in Cui Tiq, it felt as if he were supplying the enemy.
"Which Taoist Sect are you from, exactly?" Wan Jinxian began to prepare a killing blow, which required some time.
Cui Tiq smiled. "Can’t you tell which Taoist Sect I’m from, Senior Brother? I’ve made it quite obvious."
Wan Jinxian shook his head. "There are no senior or junior brothers in my Taoist Sect; we are all sole inheritors. If one doesn’t kill their master, even I wouldn’t have been able to complete my apprenticeship. Where did you spring from? You’d better tell me the truth. This is Greenwater City, the domain of my Ancestral Master! By impersonating a disciple of my Taoist Sect, you disrespect the Ancestral Master. Watch out, or you’ll die without a complete corpse!"
Cui Tiq shook his head. "I have tremendous respect for the Ancestral Master, and this is not just lip service."
Having said that, Cui Tiq undid his shirt.
On his chest, five large characters were tattooed: "I love the Ancestral Master."
Wan Jinxian suddenly lunged at Cui Tiq; his skills were excellent, far better than Cui Tiq’s.
What he needed to do now was to scratch Cui Tiq’s body with his nails.
As long as the wound bled, Cui Tiq would be infected with the disease focus. He would become numb all over, quickly losing his ability to move, and could even die.
Wan Jinxian succeeded; his nails scratched Cui Tiq’s skin.
Cui Tiq’s skin broke, but no blood appeared.
Instead, green pus spurted out, splattering onto Wan Jinxian’s face.
Wan Jinxian felt his face tingle and itch as green pustules erupted on his skin.
Cui Tiq looked at Wan Jinxian and said earnestly, "I love the Ancestral Master. I truly love him with all my heart. What about you?"
PS: Why can’t Disease Cultivators tolerate fellow sect members?