73: To swallow the world whole?

Ling Xian's movements stiffened. All his initial plans collapsed in an instant, followed by a bitter, mocking smile.

In the original plot, Wei Zhiruo was like a tool following a set routine, but in reality, she could feel fear and beg for mercy.

"As expected, I can't just project the original plot onto reality," Ling Xian thought to himself, slightly raising his right hand.

"I saw how arrogant you were at first. You even tried to play dirty with me! You've got quite the nerve, don't you?"

Hearing this, Wei Zhiruo trembled all over, her face turning deathly pale.

"It's all a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding! As a disciple of the Qingxin Sect, how could I just watch a fellow disciple fall into danger without helping?"

"Next time, I'll just pretend I didn't see anything."

Ling Xian sneered. If it weren't for the fact that he knew from the original plot that Wei Zhiruo had opened a small clinic in Jiangnan called Zhian Hall...

...and combined that with the intelligence capabilities of the Ling Family's Hidden Guards, he wouldn't have found her.

"It really wasn't easy finding you. You want to be a divine doctor in your heart, yet you're unwilling to enter the secular world to practice medicine and build a reputation.

Who would even know about you?"

Ling Xian paused, then added, "How about telling me the whereabouts of your junior brother, Su Ran?"

Feeling the pressure on her shoulder, Wei Zhiruo frowned slightly. She suddenly broke free, a burst of energy appearing in her palm as she threw some kind of powder at Ling Xian.

Ling Xian smiled helplessly, dispersing the powder with a wave of his hand. He sighed as he watched the direction Wei Zhiruo had fled, "Luckily, I prepared in advance. Tsk tsk... Why can't you just be honest?"

As he finished speaking...

Wei Zhiruo's figure came to a halt. She turned around and snapped angrily, "You can't play fair, can you?"

Shua shua shua!

Twelve dark shadows instantly emerged from the darkness around Zhian Hall, surrounding it so tightly that not even a drop of water could leak through.

Wei Zhiruo's face darkened. She was so frightened that her body tensed up, yet she didn't dare to make a move.

These twelve Hidden Guards were all Fifth-rank experts. She wasn't good at fighting to begin with, let alone against so many people.

Faced with a situation where there were wolves in front and tigers behind, Wei Zhiruo gritted her teeth and decided to just go all out.

*Screech!*

She slid onto her knees on the ground, clinging tightly to Ling Xian's leg and wailing, "Senior, I've been wronged! I really haven't done anything bad to you. Please, just spare me!"

With snot and tears streaming down her face, her words were heart-wrenching.

But having been fooled once, how could Ling Xian possibly believe her?

"Wuwuwu~ And my junior brother... he's at the Fang Family's place. Every debt has its debtor; don't come after me!"

Looking at the woman throwing a tantrum and selling out her junior brother, if Ling Xian hadn't read the plot, he wouldn't believe for the life of him that Wei Zhiruo was a daughter of destiny.

"The Fang Family?" Ling Xian paused his movements upon hearing this.

The plot hadn't veered off course this time, though the details were a bit different.

Ling Xian pulled away Wei Zhiruo's hands from his leg, used a tissue to wipe the tears and snot off his pant leg, and threw the crumpled tissue into the trash can with disgust.

"Unsanitary," Ling Xian muttered.

Hearing this, Wei Zhiruo immediately put on a flattering expression, her voice sickeningly sweet, "Senior, I'll definitely be sanitary. Please don't be mad~"

"What kind of medicine did you just throw?" Ling Xian asked.

Feeling the chill in Ling Xian's gaze, Wei Zhiruo shuddered and quickly explained, "Just an ordinary Knockout Drug that can temporarily knock out a Grandmaster."

"It's not an Aphrodisiac?" Ling Xian asked.

"No." Wei Zhiruo avoided Ling Xian's gaze.

After all, what kind of divine doctor carries Aphrodisiacs around? Don't tell him it's for fighting enemies.

If Wei Zhiruo really used Aphrodisiacs against her enemies... then Ling Xian could only say he was impressed and marvel at her bizarre way of thinking.

Using Aphrodisiacs as a combat tactic was truly a first for Ling Xian.

The original plot clearly wasn't like this.

At this thought, Ling Xian came up with something fun.

"Divine Doctor Wei, how about this: swallow that powder from earlier. If it's really a Hallucinogen, I'll let you go.

But if it's an Aphrodisiac, you can just die!"

Ling Xian revealed a gentle little smile, as if the sun had come out.

But in Wei Zhiruo's eyes, this was the hypocritical smile of a demon.

"Senior, I'm out of medicine."

"Then you can just go ahead and die."

"Wait, wait, wait! I have it, I'll take it right now," Wei Zhiruo said hurriedly, seeing Ling Xian raise his hand and thinking he was about to strike.

As she spoke, Wei Zhiruo frantically pulled out a packet of powder, her fingers trembling.

Looking up at Ling Xian's handsome face, a battle raged in her mind.

"My chastity! But then again... he's so handsome and young, and a Grandmaster to boot. It seems like I wouldn't be losing out?"

Wei Zhiruo's head was full of dirty thoughts; otherwise, she wouldn't have come up with the rotten idea of using Aphrodisiacs against enemies.

After some hesitation, she took a deep breath and dumped the powder into her mouth.

The next moment, her body went limp, and she fell unconscious on the spot.

Ling Xian looked and nodded in satisfaction. "It really was a Hallucinogen."

"Ling Wu, search Zhian Hall. See if there are one or two remnant scrolls of a martial technique."

That's right, this was Ling Xian's true goal: a remnant needle-based martial technique.

As for Wei Zhiruo, Ling Xian didn't plan to do anything to her yet. The time wasn't ripe; there would be plenty of time later.

Led by Ling Wu, the twelve Hidden Guards found many medical texts, but they just couldn't find the remnant martial technique from the original plot.

"Young Master, there's nothing!"

"Young Master, we didn't find it!"

"Young Master, is it this one?"

As Ling Wu and the others reported, Ling Xian also fell into doubt.

"That's not right. In the original plot, Su Ran obtained the Needle Technique from Wei Zhiruo. How could it not be here?

Could it be... I'm too early?"

Just as Ling Xian was wondering, the consultation table he was leaning on suddenly wobbled.

Looking down, he saw a crumpled ball of paper propping up one corner of the table.

But then he suddenly remembered that a Child of Destiny's opportunities are always found in inconspicuous places.

Ling Xian's heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but curse under his breath, "No way? Is she really that wasteful?"

He picked up the ball of paper and opened it. Most of the ancient characters were unclear, but combined with the aura of the paper...

...he could faintly make out the character for 'Whale'.

Alright, it's definitely the remnant of 'Whale Swallows the World'!

"This wasteful woman... she actually used such a world-shaking remnant martial technique to prop up a table leg?"

Ling Xian was fuming. He raised his foot and gave Wei Zhiruo's little bottom a light kick.

"I've got it. Let's go!"

"Young Master, what about Miss Wei?" Ling Wu reminded him, looking at Wei Zhiruo lying on the floor.

If they weren't going to kill her, were they really not going to touch her?

Ling Xian hesitated for a moment, then bent down and carried Wei Zhiruo to the small bed in the room. Feeling her soft body in his arms, he sighed.

"I didn't expect her figure to be this good."

After saying that, he turned and left with Ling Wu and the Hidden Guards... A long time later, Wei Zhiruo woke up on the bed, her head groggy and her eyes blurry.

Seeing that her clothes were intact, she checked under the covers and found she was still a virgin. Her mental defenses instantly collapsed.