135: Chapter 135 A Glimmer of Hope Amidst Despair

With Elder Tianshu's departure and Zhao Qian's punishment, the turmoil at the Law Enforcement Hall had finally come to an end.

However, looking at Su Wan, who was barely breathing and covered in wounds in his arms, the anger in Ye Tian's heart had not yet dissipated.

At the same time, his heart was filled with guilt.

If not for him, Zhao Qian would not have attacked Su Wan so viciously; it was he who had implicated Su Wan.

He carefully carried Su Wan and returned to the Qingyun Court at top speed.

Worried, Liu Ruyan and Leng Feng followed along.

Inside the quiet room, Ye Tian gently laid Su Wan down on the bed where he usually sat to Cultivate.

At this moment, Su Wan's face was deathly pale, devoid of any color, her chapped lips tightly pressed together, and her eyelashes occasionally trembled slightly from the pain.

Her gray cloth robe was already soaked in dark red blood and torn in many places, revealing the mangled flesh beneath. Some wounds were so deep they reached the bone, their edges tinged with a black-purple hue—clearly whip wounds inflicted with poison.

Ye Tian's heart gave a sharp pang, and a wave of anger rose once more. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

Now was not the time for anger; saving Su Wan was the top priority!

He quickly retrieved several jade bottles from his qingxuan ring, which contained High Grade Golden Sore Ointment he had refined himself, highly effective muscle-regenerating powder, and Huiyuan Pills for nourishing the Meridians and consolidating her Foundation.

If taken to the market, each bottle of these Medicinal Pills would be worth a fortune, but he did not hesitate to use them at this moment.

"I must clean the wounds, apply the Medicinal Pills, and clear out the stagnant blood and residual poison as soon as possible. Otherwise, if the evil poison enters her body and damages her Meridians and Foundation, the consequences will be unimaginable!"

Ye Tian said in a low voice to Liu Ruyan and Leng Feng beside him.

He reached out, his fingers trembling slightly, and moved toward Su Wan's blood-stained collar, preparing to unfasten her clothes to treat the most severe wounds.

"Wait!"

Just then, Liu Ruyan's urgent voice rang out.

She stepped forward quickly and stopped Ye Tian.

Ye Tian's hand froze in mid-air, and he looked up in astonishment: "Senior Sister Liu, what is the meaning of this? Su Wan is severely injured; there is no time to lose!"

He was anxious and could not understand why Liu Ruyan would stop him at this moment.

Liu Ruyan's heart raced, her thoughts spinning in her mind.

When she had lifted Su Wan at the Law Enforcement Hall, the unexpectedly light weight, the faint, elegant scent she caught when they were close, and the way her fingertips had inadvertently brushed against the smooth skin of her neck…

All these signs confirmed her suspicions.

At this moment, she absolutely could not let Ye Tian undress Su Wan!

Otherwise, once the truth was revealed, given Ye Tian's temperament and the hidden reasons why Su Wan had deliberately concealed it, how would they handle the aftermath?

She suppressed the turmoil in her heart and tried to keep her voice calm: "Junior Brother Ye, I know you are anxious. But precisely because Junior Brother Su Wan is so severely injured, we need to be even more careful.

Look at these wounds; most are on her back, waist, and abdomen. Cleaning and applying medicine requires extreme care and patience.

You... you are a man, your methods are bound to be rough."

She paused, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks, "Although I am not familiar with Junior Brother Su, we are both Disciples of the Sect; how could I stand by and watch?

Besides, I learned some nursing methods from a physician in my family when I was young; perhaps I am more adept at treating wounds than you are.

Why don't... why don't I clean and apply the medicine for Junior Brother Su? You and Senior Brother Leng should wait outside for now, so as not to disturb the process."

With that, she gave Ye Tian no chance to argue or ask questions, pushing the bewildered Ye Tian and the silent, observing Leng Feng out of the quiet room, "inviting" them to leave.

Then, with a soft "click," she actually slid the bolt shut from the inside!

Ye Tian was left spinning by this sudden series of actions, standing outside the closed door with his eyebrows knitted together.

He reached up to rub his nose and muttered in a low voice: "What... what is wrong with Senior Sister Liu? Su Wan is a man, and I am a man; what is the inconvenience?

As people of the Jianghu, saving a life is paramount; why worry about such empty formalities?

Besides, she has no close relationship with Su Wan on ordinary days; why is she being so proactive today?

This... this is truly unreasonable..."

The more he thought about it, the more suspicious he felt. Liu Ruyan's eyes just now seemed somewhat urgent.

Leng Feng, arms crossed, leaned against a pillar under the corridor, merely shaking his head expressionlessly without saying a word.

He was always taciturn, devoted solely to pursuing the martial Dao, and never cared about other matters.

Inside the quiet room, after bolting the door, Liu Ruyan's tense heartstrings finally relaxed a little.

She leaned against the door panel and let out a soft breath.

Raising her hand to touch her flushed cheeks, she turned to look at the unconscious Su Wan on the bed, a helpless smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

She walked over to the bed, bent down, and chided playfully: "You little girl, you kept this hidden so well!

Do you know, it was almost... just almost! You almost let that blockhead, Big Brother Ye, undress you himself!

If it had really come to that, what would you have done? You probably would have wished you could crawl into a crack in the ground, right?"

Shaking her head, she did not delay any further.

Liu Ruyan brought a basin of warm water, soaked a soft cloth, and began to gently wipe the bloodstains from Su Wan's cheeks and neck.

As the warm cloth wiped across Su Wan's forehead and eyes, revealing features that, despite being pale and weak, appeared increasingly delicate and pretty, Liu Ruyan's suspicion was further confirmed.

These were definitely not the contours a man should have.

She took a deep breath and began to unfasten Su Wan's tattered, blood-soaked clothes.

She performed this process with extreme care, fearing she might disturb the wounds.

When the outer robe was removed, revealing the inner garment also soaked in blood, and the chest tightly bound with layers of cloth strips, Liu Ruyan's hand froze completely.

Although she had expected it, confirming it with her own eyes caused a huge wave of emotion to surge within her.

"As I thought..."

She murmured to herself, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

Why would a woman disguise herself as a man and struggle so hard in the mixed, chaotic Handyman Hall?

How much courage and perseverance must that have required? And how many unknown hardships must she have hidden?

Suppressing the shock in her heart, Liu Ruyan continued her work.

When she clearly saw the dense array of wounds on Su Wan's body, a strong wave of anger rose from the bottom of her heart.

Whip wounds, burns, bruises from club beatings... especially since even some private areas had not been spared, leaving shocking marks.

"Zhao Qian! You beast that is worse than a pig or dog! To a child... a girl at that... to inflict such vicious wounds! It is simply intolerable!"

Liu Ruyan bit her lower lip, her beautiful eyes burning with raging fury; she wished she could immediately go and beat that already-punished Zhao Qian again.

She tried hard to calm her agitated emotions, her movements becoming even gentler.

She first used warm water to clean every wound, washing away the filth, and then picked up the top-quality medicinal powder Ye Tian had left behind, applying it bit by bit onto the wounds.

Her fingertips contained gentle water-attribute True Qi, which could both help dissolve the medicinal power and slightly alleviate the pain.

When encountering wounds corroded by the poisonous whip where the flesh had turned black, she held her breath and focused, using the detoxifying techniques secretly passed down in the Liu family to carefully remove the necrotic flesh before applying the muscle-regenerating powder.

The entire process of cleaning, detoxifying, and applying medicine was extremely taxing on her mind and physical strength.

Beads of sweat had begun to appear on Liu Ruyan's forehead, and the clothes on her back were soaked with sweat.

But she remained fully focused, not daring to relax for even a moment.

Seeing Su Wan's furrowed brows gradually relax due to the effect of the medicine, and her breathing become a little steadier, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

About half an hour later, Liu Ruyan finally finished treating all the wounds.

She let out a long breath and wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve.

Then, she took out a set of neutral inner garments from her own storage bracelet—ones she had prepared for when she occasionally disguised herself as a man to travel—and changed Su Wan into them.

Covering her with a thin quilt, Liu Ruyan finally relaxed completely.

She stood by the bed, looking at Su Wan's eyebrows, which still held a hint of stubbornness even in sleep, and her heart was filled with pity and affection.

She would definitely keep this secret for Su Wan.

At least, until Su Wan was willing to reveal it herself, she would keep her mouth shut.

Adjusting her slightly disheveled clothes and hair, and confirming that her expression was normal, Liu Ruyan turned and walked to the door to unbolt it.

The door opened, and Ye Tian, who had been waiting outside, immediately came up, his face full of anxiety: "Senior Sister Liu, how is it? Su Wan... how are his injuries? Why did you just now..."

Looking at Ye Tian's handsome face, which was filled with pure worry, Liu Ruyan felt both exasperated and amused.

This Junior Brother Ye, who was terrifyingly strong in Cultivation and combat, was as dull as a rock when it came to discerning the thoughts of a young woman!

She gave Ye Tian an annoyed roll of her eyes, straightened her pretty face, and said: "Hmph! You men, all day long your minds are filled with nothing but Cultivation or fighting. Besides caring about your cultivation Realm, can't you... can't you be a bit more sensitive and care about other things?

Junior Brother Su Wan needs to rest quietly. I have already carefully cleaned his wounds and applied the medicine.

You must absolutely not go in and disturb him now. Let him have a good sleep; it's more effective than any Spirit Pill!"

After saying this, she didn't wait for Ye Tian to react, nodded slightly to the still-silent Leng Feng, and turned to leave the small courtyard directly.

Ye Tian was left stunned on the spot by Liu Ruyan's nonsensical words.

He reached up and scratched his head, feeling it was all inexplicable, and muttered to himself: "What... what is wrong with me? Care about other things? Am I not very concerned about Su Wan's injuries? And what does it mean to be a bit more sensitive?

Treating wounds and saving a life—isn't that important and sensitive enough?"

He completely failed to understand where Liu Ruyan's inexplicable anger came from.

Leng Feng walked up to him, looking at his friend's expression, which could only be described as that of a blockhead in matters of affection. In the end, he didn't point anything out, just reached out and patted Ye Tian's shoulder, left a remark to take good care of him, and turned to leave as well.

Ye Tian stood alone in the darkening courtyard, shook his head, and temporarily put aside these incomprehensible trivial matters.

What was most important now was Su Wan's safety.

He gently pushed open the door of the quiet room and walked in.

Su Wan was still sleeping quietly, her breathing much steadier, and a hint of color had returned to her face.

Liu Ruyan had handled it very properly; the wounds were all carefully bandaged.

Ye Tian brought over a meditation cushion, sat by the bed, and kept watch quietly.

Looking at Su Wan's quiet sleeping face, his heart was filled with guilt.

He gently took hold of Su Wan's hand, which was exposed outside the quilt, and whispered: "Su Wan, I'm sorry, this time I implicated you.

Rest well and recover, don't be afraid of anything.

From now on, as long as I, Ye Tian, have a breath left, I will certainly protect you!

I will never let anyone bully you again!

When you get better, I will go and beg Revered Master to see if you can be transferred away from the Handyman Hall and find a quiet and stable job..."