Sword drawn from the constellations, poison as its edge.

Chapter 253 Outside Yanmen Pass
Jiang Mingzhe never expected that the person who cut open the wound along the scar and then carefully removed the scar tissue was actually Shi Qinglu!

Shi Qinglu's hands were indeed as Xue Muhua had described—slender and steady.

Jiang Mingzhe estimated that this woman's skill in tending to flowers and plants had probably reached an extremely high level. It is said that grafting plants sometimes requires breaking the cell wall. Judging from Shi Qinglu's knife skills, Jiang Mingzhe had no doubt that she had the ability to cut open cell walls.

After a large amount of scar tissue was removed, Xue Muhua took action again, as if kneading clay, to put Li Qiushui's bloodied face back into place. Then he instructed Shi Qinglu to use a jade hook to pull the silkworm silk, first suturing the blood vessels, then the flesh, and finally the skin, completing what is probably the first case of layered suturing in the history of human surgery.

Finally, the blood was wiped away little by little with a damp cloth, and a layer of Cold Jade Toad Ointment was applied, and the job was done.

After a while, Li Qiushui woke up. Azi smiled and presented her with a mirror. Li Qiushui looked at herself in the mirror. Although the stitched wounds were quite gruesome, her mouth and eyebrows had all returned to their former appearance. She was stunningly beautiful. If you only looked at her face shape and features, she was even more beautiful than Wang Yuyan by three points.

Li Qiushui blinked, and tears immediately welled up in her eyes.

Jiang Mingzhe reacted quickly and took a handkerchief to gently dab the scar, instructing her, "You must not cry or laugh. Your face has just been pieced back together. Remember to use your internal energy to regulate your meridians. Once the scar heals, it will leave a faint mark. Then, use a fine jade to slowly polish it. After a long time, the mark will probably be invisible."

Li Qiushui was filled with gratitude and said softly, "Okay, okay, if that day ever comes, I will teach you everything I know, whatever you want to learn!"

He then said to Xue Muhua and the others, "You are the same. However, your foundation is far less solid than Mingzhe's. You are too greedy and afraid of not being able to digest everything. Once you have memorized the Lesser Formless Skill, I will teach each of you another unique skill for self-defense and enemy defense!"

Xue Muhua and the others were overjoyed to hear this. Xue Muhua, however, was quick-witted and immediately said, "Thank you for your kindness, Junior Grandmaster Uncle. However, the most important thing for Junior Grandmaster Uncle right now is to recover from his injuries. It will not be too late to teach us disciples after Junior Grandmaster Uncle has recovered."

Li Qiushui nodded in agreement, and Xue Muhua then used clean strips of cloth to wrap her face layer by layer, leaving only her eyes, nostrils, and mouth exposed.

Li Qiushui asked in a low voice, "How long will it take to be completely healed?"

Xue Muhua considered carefully and said, "Seven days at most will be enough. Every day, I will boil some medicine to help the wound heal and send it to you. After seven days, I will use silver pliers to remove the silkworm silk, apply the medicine again, and let it rest for a few more days before it is fully healed."

Jiang Mingzhe secretly admired him. He remembered that in later generations, stitches on the face were removed after about seven days, just as Xue Muhua had said.

Li Qiushui said, "Alright, it won't be long. You can go now, let me rest by myself for a bit."

After everyone had finished tidying up, Jiang Mingzhe, not wanting to wait any longer, decided to take Duan Yu to find Xiao Feng.

Upon hearing this, Azhu's eyes darted around, and she jumped up, saying, "Can you take me with you too?"

Jiang Mingzhe said solemnly, "This trip is not for fun. Our elder brother is going to pay respects to his deceased mother. As sworn brothers, Duan Yu and I should be there. Besides, our elder brother is a Liao person. He may not return after leaving Yanmen Pass. As his brothers, we must see him off no matter what."

When A'Zhu heard that Xiao Feng had gone north and would not return, her expression immediately became gloomy. She bit her lip and said softly, "You are sworn brothers, so how can I be a stranger to him? Don't forget, we met in the restaurant because of me. Whether it was to pay respects to his mother or to send him back north, I should have gone. Do you think I'm just a little girl and not worthy to associate with great heroes like you?"

Azi was furious when she heard this. She jumped up and punched Jiang Mingzhe, and spoke up for Azhu, saying, "How dare he! You are my sister, so you are his sister. He can look down on anyone, but how could he look down on you? Don't worry, sister, I've made the decision. Not only that, I'll go with you myself."

Zhong Ling immediately said, "That's right. Our trip north was originally for Brother Xiao, so we should go and see him off to make it complete."

Azi retorted angrily, "What trouble are you causing?"

Mu Wanqing saw through Azi's meaning; she didn't intend to take her and Zhong Ling along. Unwilling to accept this, she coldly said, "We don't need you to take us. What do you mean by 'causing trouble'? Humph, I'll ride Black Rose myself." Jiang Mingzhe's earlier words to Azhu were meant to tease her, but they unexpectedly caused the girls to bicker. He said with a headache, "I misspoke. We'll all go together."

They then ordered the innkeeper to prepare several horses. During this time, Li Qingluo learned of this and, for some reason, suddenly became generous and allowed Wang Yuyan to go along as well. Thus, the Jiang and Duan brothers, along with six women and eight horses, left Dengzhou and traveled north, enduring wind and rain.

In two days, they crossed the Yellow River and entered Shanxi Province. After another seven or eight days of travel, they arrived in Daizhou.

It was noon, and the group entered the city, looking for a place to rest. As they were leading their horses, they suddenly heard someone calling from not far away, "Second brother, third brother!"

Jiang Mingzhe looked in the direction of the sound and saw a burly man standing in the second-floor window of a restaurant by the roadside, with a big smile on his face. It was Xiao Feng.

Jiang Mingzhe and Duan Yu were overjoyed and exclaimed, "Big Brother!"

They hurried over and had the waiter take the horses to feed them. The group rushed upstairs, where Xiao Feng stood at the top of the stairs to greet them. He first hugged Jiang Mingzhe, then hugged Duan Yu, laughing heartily and showing great affection.

He then looked behind the two of them and saw A'Zhu. His eyes lit up and he nodded, saying, "Miss A'Zhu, you've come too."

Abi chuckled mischievously, "It's fine if you don't recognize them, but you don't even recognize me? Tsk tsk, Sister Azhu was so eager to see you off, and you didn't even notice anyone else when you saw her. Really, really..."

Before he could finish speaking, Azhu pinched his beak into a duck's mouth: "Don't talk nonsense!"

Xiao Feng blushed and said shyly, "It was my fault, it was my fault, please forgive me, Miss Abi."

Azhu stamped her foot and said, "She's just talking nonsense on purpose, and you actually apologized to her."

Abi broke free and laughed, "Yes, Brother Xiao is too honest."

Just then, someone said, "Feng'er, why is there a woman's voice?"

Jiang Mingzhe looked over and saw Xiao Yuanshan smiling at him. He laughed loudly and said, "Uncle, my elder brother's confidante has arrived!"

Xiao Yuanshan's smile immediately widened: "Oh? This Feng'er, I haven't heard him mention him to me all these days!"

After saying that, he stood up. Just then, several girls came up the stairs. Xiao Yuanshan was surprised to see the six beautiful and charming women. He asked in surprise, "Feng'er, are these all your confidantes?"

Duan Yu quickly replied, "No, no, Uncle, you've misunderstood. Miss Abi is my confidante!"

After saying that, he pulled Abi to his side.

He and Abi had known each other for a long time and had even traveled together, but this was the first time they had ever made love. Abi blushed deeply and was completely at a loss for what to do.

(End of this chapter)