Chapter 167: Healing Wounds

Li Tan left the kitchen and headed straight to Qiu Jue’s residence, but after knocking on the door repeatedly, there was no response.

He then planned to find Xue Ying first, but that too ended in failure.

Xue Ying had been assigned the task of fetching water, while Qiu Jue was responsible for cleaning the mountain path.

Could they still be completing their tasks?

Thinking this, Li Tan walked toward the mountain path, hoping to meet the two of them. As he had expected, he encountered them there. However, both Qiu Jue and Xue Ying were sprawled on the ground, and fresh bloodstains stained the stone steps.

“What happened?”

Li Tan was startled, quickly rushing to their sides and carefully examining their injuries with his spiritual awareness.

“I’m fine,” Xue Ying had already fainted, while Qiu Jue remained conscious but clearly very weak.

“Five broken ribs in your chest?

You call that fine?”

Li Tan squatted beside Qiu Jue and carefully began treating his wounds.

Qiu Jue weakly turned his head slightly to the side, “It’s okay, I’m fine. How is Xue Ying?”

“She only has some minor injuries, nothing serious. Tell me, who did this to you?”

Li Tan’s voice was somewhat cold.

Qiu Jue and Xue Ying had just joined the sect and hadn’t had any chance to offend anyone. Yet now they had been beaten like this. If Li Tan couldn’t figure out what was going on, something was wrong. Even a fool could tell that whoever did this was targeting him but had chosen to attack those close to him out of fear of Zhang Chenghuan.

In other words, Qiu Jue and Xue Ying had been completely dragged into this because of him. How could he not care when someone had dared to go this far?

Qiu Jue thought carefully before replying, “It was a man, around twenty-two or twenty-three, probably our senior. He wasn’t as handsome as me and was pretty thin.”

“That’s too broad a description,” Li Tan said, troubled. “Any more specific details?”

Qiu Jue shook his head. “I can’t really describe him, but I can definitely recognize him if I see him again.”

“That’ll do. I’ll help you with your injuries first. Tomorrow, come with me and we’ll find that person.”

Li Tan tore his own clothes into strips to bandage the wounds.

Qiu Jue looked troubled. “Of course, but what about the minor competition in half a month?”

Li Tan shrugged indifferently. “It doesn’t really matter whether you participate or not.”

“No, Elder Su and you have a bet, and if I can’t participate—” Qiu Jue looked anxious.

Li Tan remained completely unfazed, showing no concern at all. “I’ll handle that myself. Don’t worry about it. Just climb the mountain first, and bring up any issues later.”

“But, uh—” Qiu Jue tried to sit up, excited, but a sharp pain in his chest forced him back down.

“With ribs broken like this, it’ll take some time to get you up the mountain.” Li Tan spent the rest of the morning taking both of them back to their quarters, instructed them to stay in bed and not move, and then returned to his own residence.

Approximately two hours later, Li Tan went to check on Qiu Jue and Xue Ying again, bringing with him some freshly concocted Qi-and-blood-replenishing pills. The effects were immediate. Xue Ying, whose injuries were lighter, was already energetic and lively again, while Qiu Jue could walk on his own.

When the two gathered with Li Tan again, they both insisted they would repay the cost of their treatment. However, Li Tan refused, saying it wasn’t necessary since the pills were just cheap ones.

“Brother Li, you’re actually a pill master!”

In his own room, Qiu Jue looked at Li Tan with admiration.

“Thank you, Brother Li, for saving us!”

Xue Ying also showed deep admiration, her expression filled with joy after narrowly escaping death.

Li Tan nodded slightly in response to the two of them, then said, “Your injuries are temporarily okay now. Let’s go out together and find the person who attacked you.”

“Um—” Qiu Jue looked worried. “What should we do once we find him? He’s a senior, and we’re no match for him at all.”

Li Tan looked at him and asked, “Do you think I’m not his match either?”

“Uh, not exactly. I don’t know.”

Qiu Jue’s words were unclear, probably because he was internally conflicted. On one hand, he believed Li Tan was powerful, but on the other, he deeply believed that seniors were inherently more formidable than newcomers like them.

Li Tan said, “Honestly, don’t think too much about it. Just lead the way, and leave the rest to me.”

Qiu Jue stiffly nodded, likely still struggling internally.

“Hey—” noticing his unusual behavior, Xue Ying patted his hand. “What are you worried about?”

Qiu Jue, lifting his previously lowered head, looked at the two of them with difficulty. He seemed to have made a big decision as he said, “I… I’m afraid of dragging Brother Li into more trouble.” So that was what he was worried about?

“You were the ones dragged into this,” Li Tan sighed. “I already told you not to worry about me.”

When it came to comforting or persuading others, Li Tan was genuinely terrible. He usually preferred to use “truth” to convince enemies.

However, once the target of persuasion shifted from enemies to “friends” or similar, “truth” was no longer effective.

Luckily, Xue Ying was much better at this than him.

“Senior Qiu, are you an idiot for worrying about this?”

Qiu Jue was stunned. “Huh, why are you scolding me? I was just worried about Brother Li!”

Xue Ying calmly replied, “The pill Brother Li gave us was still warm, right?” Qiu Jue frowned. Just as Xue Ying was about to call him a blockhead, he finally understood and exclaimed, “Right! The healing pill was made by Brother Li, so he must be a pill master!”

Exactly. A one-star pill master held a status between innate and acquired in the Jiuzhou region. With this identity, why should they fear the person who had attacked them?

But after a moment of surprise, Qiu Jue became puzzled again. “Brother Li, since you’re a pill master, why didn’t you say so? If you had, you could have gone to the outer sect, and quickly advanced to the inner sect.”

Another inconvenient question. For this, Li Tan used his tried-and-true response: “I have some matters to handle.”

The sun was steadily setting in the west as Li Tan, along with Qiu Jue and Xue Ying, left their quarters. They quickly attracted a crowd of curious onlookers.

It was obvious that Qiu Jue and Xue Ying had been injured. Li Tan’s presence clearly indicated he was looking for someone to settle the score. In other words, there would soon be a fight to watch. Moreover, it was Li Tan, who had always been labeled a “pretty boy,” who was taking the initiative to confront someone. From any perspective, the upcoming scene was sure to be quite spectacular.

For these disciples who were still ordinary mortals, the attraction of such a spectacle was immeasurably greater than cultivation.