"Steward Luo is in his room. Shall I announce you?"
At Northgate Clinic, Gu Tingche followed beside Lu Zhiyuan and asked quietly.
Ever since hearing that the clinic would receive a new deputy steward, he had watched for an opportunity. He had little standing at the clinic. Only a powerful patron could help him advance.
A newly arrived deputy steward would have much to learn. Offering help now could win his favor and eventually make Gu Tingche his trusted subordinate.
"No need. We can wait until Steward Luo has time."
Lu Zhiyuan shook his head. Luo Chenghou knew he would arrive today, yet had made no effort to appear. Clearly, he disliked this sudden appointment, or simply did not care.
Either possibility said enough about his attitude.
Lu Zhiyuan was unconcerned. He had not come to Northgate Clinic intending to gather evidence against Luo Chenghou. He only wanted to brew pills, earn money, and advance his cultivation.
He had no intention of pursuing the future rewards the Tao clan had dangled before him.
"What does Steward Luo like to do?" He turned to ask Gu Tingche after looking around the alchemy room.
"Steward Luo likes kicking people." Gu Tingche wore a strange expression.
"Kicking people?"
Lu Zhiyuan's expression shifted. What a peculiar hobby. Then he thought of himself. In other people's eyes, he was probably even stranger.
"Please spare me! I'll never do it again!"
A commotion arose ahead. Leaving the alchemy room, Lu Zhiyuan went to the rear courtyard and saw several household guards dragging a menial. The man's face was bruised and swollen, with blood at his mouth.
He knelt on the ground, repeatedly knocking his head against it, his eyes filled with terror.
"He was caught hiding medicinal herbs," Gu Tingche explained quietly when Lu Zhiyuan looked over.
Lu Zhiyuan frowned slightly. Under the clinic's rules, a menial who secretly kept medicinal herbs was to be crippled. In practice, that seldom happened. Usually, they were beaten and docked three months' wages as a lesson.
Actually crippling someone was rare. It generally happened only to repeat offenders.
"My child is ill. I had no choice! I'll never do it again. Please spare me!" Tears and mucus streamed down the menial's face.
"Steward Luo, I'll never do it again. Please!" The man knocked his head against the ground desperately. Soon, his forehead was bleeding.
"With me, you only ever get one chance."
Luo Chenghou smiled. The menial's eyes widened in terror. Before he could retreat, a foot came down on his hand.
"Ah!"
He screamed in pain. Unmoved, Luo Chenghou ground his foot down harder. Blood soon seeped out beneath it, soaking the earth.
"Please..."
Crack!
Before he could finish, Luo Chenghou kicked both his arms. Bones snapped at the impact. Before the man could react, he pitched forward.
Crack!
Another sharp sound. Luo Chenghou had moved behind him and stamped on his lower leg, crushing the bone and sending blood flying.
"Don't say I gave you no way to survive. I left you one leg."
He spoke casually. The menial had already fainted from the pain. A household guard immediately splashed water onto his face, waking him.
"Th-thank you, Steward Luo!" His lips trembled as he looked up at the man towering over him and spoke quietly.
The corner of Luo Chenghou's mouth twitched. He glanced at Lu Zhiyuan in the distance, then strolled back to his room.
Gu Tingche instinctively tucked in his chin. Luo Chenghou's gaze had been terrifying enough to send a chill through him.
Lu Zhiyuan said nothing. He looked at Luo Chenghou's retreating back, then at the menial on the ground.
This was the fate of servants in this world. They struggled to survive, yet could lose everything at any moment. The body's former owner had wanted to escape it. Lu Zhiyuan would certainly refuse such a fate now. Follow the newest chapters on NovelPing.
Only by becoming strong enough could he avoid that end.
He formally took up his position at Northgate Clinic, presenting himself as mild and harmless. He voiced no opinions about its existing arrangements and concentrated on brewing pills each day.
He kept increasing the number of Blood Vitality Pills he supplied for sale, hoping to save five hundred silver taels more quickly. He wanted Immortal Points the Way badly.
He also simplified his newly acquired Herbal Restoration Pill entry. Unexpectedly, brewing Blood Vitality Pills now increased his proficiency in brewing Herbal Restoration Pills.
He had assumed that such simplification required techniques to be fused first. Apparently, pill formulas from the same line could work this way as well.
Half the ingredients in Herbal Restoration Pills overlapped with those in Blood Vitality Pills. He guessed that was the reason.
No extra cooking was needed. Since he was already brewing Blood Vitality Pills, his proficiency in brewing Herbal Restoration Pills rose rapidly every day.
Meanwhile, he never stopped practicing his movement arts. On the fifth day after obtaining the manuals, he completed the fusion of all four and practiced the result to Perfected proficiency.
[Techniques: Rivercrossing Cloud (Perfected)]
His agility and speed had improved greatly. Comparing himself with martial artists at the Skin Tempering stage whom he had seen running, he found that his movement art already far surpassed theirs.
He could not yet judge exactly where he stood. Nor was Rivercrossing Cloud at its endpoint. He intended to keep fusing other movement arts into it.
That night, his face concealed by a cloth covering, he ran freely through Stillshade's streets and alleys. It felt so exhilarating that he almost wanted to throw back his head and howl. In the end, he forcibly restrained himself. If he really shouted, things would probably look rather different soon afterward.
"Hmm?"
As he ran into an alley, his ears picked up a sound. A faint smell of blood drifted through the air as well.
Instinctively, he looked up. A man had appeared atop the alley wall and was watching him with interest. Lu Zhiyuan narrowed his eyes. The man also wore a cloth face covering, along with dark clothes for moving at night, yet seemed strangely familiar.
"That bandit!"
Recognition struck him. Wasn't this the man he had encountered outside the city a while ago? Du Zheng had still not recovered from his injuries, and no one knew how fully he eventually would.
"Young man, why run around instead of sleeping properly at night?"
Shao Rong's eerie voice reached him. Like a startled deer, Lu Zhiyuan leaped backward.
The next instant, a flash crossed the spot where he had stood. With a dull thud, a throwing knife struck the ground and quivered there.