“You don’t need to look. I’m a cripple.”
Noticing Su Qingli’s gaze, the man’s tone became even colder.
“I can’t help you.”
“Really? Let me take a look.”
It would have been fine if he hadn’t said anything. But the moment he did, he triggered the deepest instincts in Su Qingli’s mind as a doctor.
She walked over on her own, grabbed his hands, which were still tied behind his back, and checked his pulse.
His pulse was irregular. Not only did he have severe external injuries, but he had also been poisoned.
Even both of his legs were paralyzed.
Tsk. How miserable.
No wonder he didn’t want to live anymore.
But…
“Your poison can be cured. Take a course of medicine for a few months, along with acupuncture, and you should be mostly fine.”
Su Qingli spoke to herself as she continued checking his pulse, completely unaware that the man’s body was becoming increasingly rigid.
“The legs are a little more troublesome, though. You’ve been paralyzed for too long. No matter what, it’ll take one or two years of treatment. You’ll also need to actively undergo rehabilitation for more than half a year before you can recover.”
After she finished speaking, the man remained frozen in place for a long time.
After a while, he raised his eyes.
“You said… my legs can still be cured?”
Su Qingli nodded.
“Other people might find it difficult, but for me, it’s a piece of cake.”
The man fell silent. It took him a long while to understand what she meant.
“Even the people from Medicine King Valley couldn’t cure my legs, yet you’re making such an outrageous claim…”
Su Qingli replied, “Oh. That’s because they’re incompetent.”
“Incompetent?”
“It means they’re quack doctors!”
The man raised his eyes and stared intently at Su Qingli, as if he wanted to find any trace of a lie on her face.
“What’s with that look?”
Su Qingli rolled her eyes and plopped herself down in front of him.
“You’re practically about to die. Why would I bother joking around with you?”
The man remained silent for a long time.
He seemed to be trying to digest everything she had said.
But clearly, he wasn’t very good at it.
He stared at her. There was finally a slight ripple in his previously dead, emotionless eyes.
“You… want to save me? Why?”
WTF?
Su Qingli tilted her head.
“I never said I wanted to save you. Didn’t you say you didn’t want me to?”
There was one thing she was good at, at least—she listened to instructions.
“Then what you just said…”
“Just because I said I can cure you doesn’t mean I want to.”
Su Qingli emphasized every word.
“Although you’re the patient and I’m the doctor, treating an illness still requires both sides to be willing.”
She became serious.
“Don’t worry. Since you don’t want me to save you, I definitely won’t!”
The man let out a soft laugh.
He had seen far too many people desperately trying to save him.
Some wanted money.
Some wanted power.
Some came willingly, while others had been ordered to do so.
And some did it for what they called righteousness.
But this was the first time he had ever heard someone say that they could simply choose not to save him.
Interesting.
It had been a long time since he had encountered someone this amusing.
Perhaps someone like her shouldn’t die here.
He raised his eyes.
“Untie the ropes for me.”
“What for?”
“To get you out of here.”
Su Qingli immediately jumped to her feet and began untying his ropes.
“You have a way to get us out?”
“With the condition I’m in, I won’t survive if I leave this place. But perhaps I can help you escape.”
The man moved his stiff wrists.
“However, I need you to retrieve something.”
“Brother, don’t be so pessimistic!”
Su Qingli immediately began spouting a string of bizarre encouragement.
“Don’t think you’ve reached the lowest point of your life just because you’re young. You have to believe there’s still plenty of room to fall.
“Wherever you fall, just sleep there for a while.
“If you keep living, maybe every day will bring you a brand-new blow!”
Su Qingli rambled on with her chaotic words of encouragement. Before the man’s bewildered expression could become any clearer, she quickly asked,
“Just tell me first. What do you need me to get?”
“…”
The man had no idea where this girl got all these strange ideas from.
After a pause, he said,
“A qin.”
“A qin?”
“Yes. It’s completely black, with a row of red gemstones embedded in it. It originally belonged to me, but the bandits stole it.”
“A qin? I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere…”
Su Qingli thought for a moment before suddenly slapping her thigh.
“Oh! I remember now! I think it’s in that old bastard’s room! I’ll go get it! You wait here!”
With that, Su Qingli turned around and walked out of the woodshed.
“Old… bastard?”
The man stared at the spot where she had disappeared, a trace of confusion appearing in his eyes.
He murmured to himself,
“What does that mean?”
The night was deep and dark, while the bandits’ torches flickered in the distance.
Su Qingli crouched down and quietly made her way to the room. She pushed open the door.
On the floor, someone was clutching his head and cursing.
“Damn it… That little wench really hit hard!”
It was the chief who had previously been knocked unconscious by Su Qingli.
Su Qingli was startled and was just about to retreat when the corner of her eye caught sight of a knife standing beside the bed.
She immediately rushed over and grabbed it.
The chief’s eyes widened. He then staggered as he tried to get up.
Su Qingli gave him no chance.
She gripped the knife handle tightly with both hands and swung it viciously toward the chief’s neck.
Slash!
Blood splattered across her face, warm and sticky.
The chief’s scream caught in his throat. His eyes remained wide open as he collapsed to the ground, and the smell of blood instantly filled the room.
Su Qingli stood there, breathing heavily, her hand holding the knife trembling slightly.
She was a doctor and was accustomed to the smell of blood.
But this time, the blade in her hand wasn’t a surgical knife used to save lives.
It was a knife used to kill.
This man was a bandit chief who had committed robbery, murder, arson, and all kinds of atrocities. Who knew how many innocent women he had harmed?
If she didn’t kill him, she would be the one who died.
Su Qingli took several deep breaths, calmly wiped the blood from her face, and quickly searched the room.
Soon, she found the qin the man had described inside a cabinet.
The body of the qin was pitch-black, with a row of dark red gemstones embedded in its head. It looked extremely valuable.
Although she had no idea what the man intended to do with it, at this point, she could only take things one step at a time.
Whatever happened, it was still better than sitting around waiting to die.
With that thought, Su Qingli didn’t dare waste any more time. She carried the knife and held the qin as she hurried back to the woodshed.
When the man saw the blood on her face, his eyes flickered slightly, but he didn’t ask any questions.
He simply took the qin from her and gently placed it on his legs.
“Next, I will play the qin. Your job is to find something to block the woodshed door. Don’t let the bandits get inside.”
Su Qingli bent down and picked up a bundle of firewood.
Then she was surprised to discover that this original body was extremely strong!
She easily carried all the firewood in the room and piled it against the door.
“Then what?”
The man didn’t answer.
After adjusting his posture, his expression suddenly changed.
His slender fingers rested on the strings of the qin and slowly plucked them.
Clang.
A clear qin note rang out and spread far into the night.
Su Qingli froze.
It wasn’t the melodious tune she had imagined.
Instead, it was a strange rhythm with a peculiar cadence, as if it were calling out to something.
Su Qingli inexplicably became nervous.
“What am I supposed to do? Do I need to applaud you?”
The man ignored her and continued playing.
“What was that sound?”
“It seems to be coming from inside the stronghold!”
“Hurry! Grab your weapons and go take a look!”
The bandits’ shouts came from the distance. The flickering torchlight swayed through the darkness as they gradually approached the woodshed.
Su Qingli looked through the crack in the door and swallowed nervously.
“They’re coming!”
The man remained silent, but the speed of his fingers plucking the strings grew faster and faster.
The melody suddenly became urgent, and even the air around them seemed to become restless.
The chaotic footsteps arrived in an instant.
Bang!
The wooden door was kicked violently.
“Who’s inside? Open the door!”
“Damn it! Are you tired of living?!”
The bandits cursed relentlessly as they took turns kicking the door.
“Big Brother, you attracted all these bandits just so we could listen to you show off your musical talents?”
Su Qingli tightly gripped the knife, her heart practically in her throat.
“When the King of Hell says you’re supposed to die at midnight, you go ahead and slit your own throat at ten? Are you trying to prove that your fate is in your own hands and not Heaven’s?”
The man listened to Su Qingli’s endless rambling. A trace of blood seeped from the corner of his lips, and he appeared to be in extreme pain.
Su Qingli froze.
She was just about to speak when she saw a bandit secretly trying to climb in through the window.
“You stinking wench! So this is where you’ve been hiding! You made us search everywhere for you…”
Before the bandit could finish speaking, Su Qingli’s blade slashed across his neck.
Slash!
His body tilted and fell to the ground.
“Damn it! How dare you kill our brother! Brothers, get her!”
The death of their companion completely unleashed the bandits’ ferocity.
They roared and frantically began climbing through the window.
Su Qingli didn’t know any proper knife techniques.
Whenever she saw one, she stabbed.
And every time, she went straight for the neck.
After several bandits died, the others clearly became wary. They no longer dared to climb through the window and instead began ramming the door.
Just then—
“The Second Chief is back!”
At the bandits’ excited cries, the sound of horse hooves approached from a distance.
It turned out that the group that had previously chased after her had returned.
Leading them was the Second Chief of the bandit stronghold, Zhao Ye.
Compared with the sleazy First Chief, Zhao Ye was tall and powerfully built. There was also a vicious-looking scar across his face, making him look like someone who was not to be trifled with.
“Second Chief, the First Chief is dead! It must have been that woman inside and that cripple who did it!”
Several bandits carried the First Chief’s corpse over, their faces filled with grief and anger.
“The First Chief is dead. I am the new First Chief!”
Zhao Ye glanced at the corpse on the ground and loudly ordered,
“Go. Bring several jars of strong liquor. Then set this house on fire!”
“Yes, Chief!”
Several bandits hurried off on his orders.
Before long, they returned carrying jars of strong liquor and poured it all along the corners of the woodshed.
“Those inside! Come out now, and I’ll at least let you die quickly. Otherwise, just wait to become roasted pigs!”
“Little wench, come out quickly! Serve our new chief well, and maybe you’ll even get to become the chief’s wife!”
“Better yet, give him several children and carry on his family line! Hahahaha!”
The bandits burst into laughter, their insults becoming more disgusting with every sentence.
Su Qingli fell silent.
Well, this is just great.
At first, she had simply been trapped with no way out.
Now, she had a dead end waiting for her too.