After being poisoned by mushrooms, all the strange creatures became fascinated by me.

It is clear that Jun Wenzhi is in cahoots with Steward Ouyang and others.

He lied to Han Zhou, saying that if "Sand" was going to kill the young master at midnight, he would not appear at Fengman Restaurant at midnight.

However, it didn't take long for "Sand" to make his move and then come to pick up his wife and children.

Jun Wenzhi's task was simply to stall Han Zhou at midnight, allowing him to linger in the tavern for a while longer. Afterward, he would run into "Sand," who had come all the way after assassinating the young sect leader.

As soon as "Sand" appeared, his wife and children died, and he blamed everything on Han Zhou. The two fought, and Jun Wenzhi and others took the opportunity to escape.

That was their plan.

"The young master of the Iron Calculation Sect cannot die," Han Zhou stated in a declarative sentence. "I must return to the sect before midnight to guard it."

Tang Li pointed out the flaws in his plan: "If you rush back now, what if Jun Wenzhi notices something is wrong and informs Steward Ouyang directly? What if he kills the mother and child and frames you for it?"

"So, I've been made a scapegoat for no reason?"

Tang Li, hands behind her back and chin held high with an air of demure elegance, swayed back and forth in front of Han Zhou: "So? Should I find them, mother and daughter, ahead of time?"

She spoke with every word and phrase seemingly considering Han Zhou's best interests, but the young man wasn't fooled. He simply raised an eyebrow, seeing through Tang Li's true intentions: "You want to save them?"

Instead of answering, Tang Li asked, "Don't you want 'Sand' to owe you a favor? I believe people in the martial arts world value integrity above all else."

Han Zhou said calmly, "Assassins are all treacherous and disloyal people."

Tang Li thought to herself, "You really don't seem like a good person." She simply urged Han Zhou to make a decision: "What do you say? Go find Jun Wenzhi and try to get information out of him, to find out where that mother and child are hiding?"

Han Zhou glanced at Tang Li and suddenly smiled.

This smile was different from before, and Tang Li felt a chill run down her spine.

Sometimes, I even find your innocent demeanor quite endearing.

He bent down, patted Tang Li's head, and sighed almost indulgently.

"Alright, there's still enough time. I'll take this opportunity to show you the skills of a qualified assassin."

So, he brazenly took Tang Li back to the private room.

In just a quarter of an hour.

The private room remained quiet throughout.

Tang Li had no choice but to watch all of this happen. She felt disgusted, nauseous, and her whole body went cold.

The naked man hanging upside down in front of King Zhou was no longer human.

No one could recognize that this was the same respectable young man who had dressed himself up like a scholar just moments before.

Blood was everywhere. Han Zhou had somehow managed to get an apron from the kitchen. His hands were covered in wet human blood, but his body was clean.

...This morning, King Zhou said he was skilled in torture, and he wasn't lying.

Under his influence, Jun Wenzhi confessed everything he knew, from who the elder was to what their schemes were and where they had hidden "Sand's" wife and children.

He only wanted to die quickly.

Tang Li thought to herself, thankfully they hadn't killed the mother and child yet.

"Have you remembered everything?" Han Zhou took off his apron, turned his head leisurely, and looked at Tang Li with one beautiful eye. "It's getting late, I have to go back to the sect."

"And you? As you wish, go and rescue his wife and children."

Han Zhou happened to be standing next to Jun Wenzhi's pile of clothes. He bent down, casually rummaged through them, and pulled out the latter's money pouch, which was pretentiously embroidered with several bamboo stalks. He then poured out a few pieces of silver, freshly stained with blood, and placed them in Tang Li's hand.

Tang Li's fingers twitched slightly; for the first time, she felt that these beautiful silver coins were a little too hot to handle.

Han Zhou ignored her sudden silence, took another token from his waist, and threw it into Tang Li's arms.

"After leaving the restaurant, make sure his wife and children are settled in first," Han Zhou instructed calmly. "Take the token and go to the inn with the balsam flower emblem on the signboard; that will ensure your safety."

"Once things settle down within the sect, I will come to fetch you," Han Zhou paused slightly, "but 'Sand' might arrive first."

"So, make it clear to that mother and child beforehand who saved them," he glanced at Tang Li, "I came all this way not to collect your corpse."

Han Zhou quickly gave his instructions, whistled, and once again, that graceful figure circled in the sky.

"Okay," Tang Li replied, gazing longingly at the beautiful golden eagle in the moonlight. "You don't have to come to pick me up."

Han Zhou shifted a step to the side, blocking her gaze: "Don't even think about it."

He paused slightly, as if remembering something, and then forced himself to speak, "Where's the medicine? Take it."

Tang Li exclaimed, "Ah!" and then asked, "Now?"

Based on some knowledge she gleaned from novels, one must first sit upright by a spring and wait for an auspicious time before consuming this elixir…

"eat."

"Oh." Tang Li pulled the small bottle from her bosom, which contained only a tiny, bright green pill the size of a broad bean. Tang Li carefully picked it up, put it in her mouth, and was about to taste it when…

It melts in your mouth with just a sip!

The texture is very similar to a soft milk jelly.

Tang Li moved her throat in a daze, only to feel a sweet, warm current slide down her throat and into her stomach.

Until now, she hadn't noticed anything unusual, but Han Zhou had already grabbed her wrist, pinched and twisted it with his thumb and forefinger, and a force several times stronger than the pill rushed into her pulse.

Tang Li's eyes widened.

"You still say you didn't pass on your skills—" Her first reaction wasn't surprise, but rather an angry shout.

Han Zhou thought to himself, "What kind of weirdo has he been teaching? He has neither talent nor diligence in the art of martial arts, and not only that, he keeps making noise!" He shouted, "Shut up!"

He took a deep breath, "Close your eyes, feel the flow of your meridians, experience the flow of internal energy, and then mobilize your own power..."

"What, what meridians?" The little girl looked up at him like a clueless goose repeating itself. "Oh, internal energy, I can feel it, I can feel it... No, no, no, don't go that fast, it's reached my shoulder, right? Ah, it's over... I haven't caught up yet..."

...This terrible talent.

"Fine," Coach Han said curtly, "just shut up."

He felt the veins on his forehead throbbing. He took another deep breath, and Han Zhou seemed like a hardworking and devoted grandmother, taking care of everything that Tang Li should have learned through hundreds and thousands of trials and errors.

When he told Tang Li yesterday that he "could not pass on his skills," he wasn't lying to her. With her meager talent and poor physical condition, even a little bit of external internal energy would be enough to make her bleed from all seven orifices and die.

Even now, with his physique forcibly altered by elixirs, the extra internal energy he inputted has reached the limit that his small body can withstand.

So it only took a moment.

Han Zhou released Tang Li's wrist: "Go get to work."

Then he turned around and left.

"Wait, wait a minute," Tang Li, usually so quick-witted, stammered for once. For a moment, she didn't know whether she should remind Han Zhou, "There's also..."

At this moment, King Zhou of Han had already reached the door.

No need to look back.

He casually flicked his wrist, and a silver leaf-like hidden weapon grazed Tang Li's cheek before piercing Jun Wenzhi's throat.

A trail of blood splattered out.

"You don't think I'd forget to nip it in the bud, do you?"

Han Zhou's voice was a half-smile, as if he had put on this show just to see if Tang Li could harden her heart.

Tang Li's gaze was still involuntarily following that fleeting silver light, but when she turned back to look at Han Zhou, he had already vanished without a trace.

Only she and a gruesome corpse remained in the room.