Chapter 235: Strike Me with Your Palm

The moment they released him, Lu Shengzhong immediately thrust a hand into his mouth, trying to make himself vomit up whatever he had swallowed. Someone beside him seized his wrist and twisted his arm aside, preventing him.

Lu Shengzhong stared at the smiling Su Zhao in alarm. "What did you give me?"

Su Zhao smiled. "Something very good. Precious, too. Ordinary people don't get the chance to enjoy it. You got a bargain."

"What exactly did you give me?" Lu Shengzhong was visibly panicking. He could imagine that whatever it was, it was certainly nothing good.

Su Zhao did not answer the question. "The Eldest Young Master will not go back on his word. In an hour, whether you leave or stay will be entirely up to you."

Lu Shengzhong's expression became complicated, panic and fear mingling across his face... At dawn the next day, beneath the eaves of Lingbo Residence, Su Zhao gazed toward the first light breaking across the horizon.

"Still no movement over there?" she asked coolly. She had been waiting here all night.

The man beside her answered, "The waiter placed the secret message inside the shrine at a dyehouse, then returned to the restaurant. We have people watching both places. The waiter hasn't made another move, and the message is still in the shrine. No one has come to retrieve it."

Su Zhao's voice sank. "That isn't normal. If messages like this aren't handled promptly, wouldn't they delay important matters? There's no reason no one should have collected it by now. Has word of Lu Shengzhong's capture already leaked? Or did Lu Shengzhong play some trick?"

The man said, "Lu Shengzhong should know what would happen if he tried anything. Besides, after taking our medicine, we'll know soon enough whether he played tricks. I suspect someone leaked the news. There were only so many people at the scene. There shouldn't be any problem on our side. Could someone among the Eldest Young Master's people have let it slip? Or perhaps the Young Mistress?"

Su Zhao frowned. "I'll ask him later."

The man said, "There doesn't seem much point in waiting any longer. In my view, we should simply seize the waiter and interrogate him."

"Mm." Su Zhao had just nodded when a beastlike "Hrrgh... hrrgh..." sounded from the neighboring courtyard, accompanied by the crash of something being smashed.

"Heh." Su Zhao smiled faintly and strode quickly into the courtyard next door.

A room door had been knocked apart. In the courtyard, Lu Shengzhong rolled across the ground as though something were tearing at his heart and clawing through his lungs. His face was contorted in unbearable pain. From time to time he slammed his head against the ground. Blood already covered his forehead. The wounds where the flying mount had torn open his back were bleeding again as well, two dark-red patches spreading across him.

When he happened to see Su Zhao approaching, he rolled and crawled toward her, wrapped both arms around one of her legs, and howled in agony, "The antidote! The antidote! Give me the antidote!"

He had clearly guessed that this was caused by the pill he had swallowed the night before.

Looking down at him, Su Zhao said, "We investigated according to what you told us, but the message trail broke midway. No one came to make contact. What's going on?"

Lu Shengzhong shook his head violently. "I don't know."

"You don't know? Then take your time enjoying this." Su Zhao kicked him aside and turned as though to leave.

"No!" Lu Shengzhong screamed. He scrambled over again and clung to her leg, his voice trembling with pain. "I truly don't know!"

Su Zhao looked down at him. "Then we'll talk when you do know."

Lu Shengzhong stretched out one hand and begged through the agony, "The antidote... give it to me... give me..."

Su Zhao remained unmoved and let him endure it. Lu Shengzhong finally seemed unable to bear the torment. He suddenly began smashing his head against the ground again and again, each impact landing with a heavy thud. Then, without warning, he opened his mouth and lunged to bite Su Zhao's calf. Su Zhao kicked out and sent him flying.

"Ah..." Lu Shengzhong hit the ground and screamed miserably without pause. As he rolled, he suddenly bit down on his own arm, tore away a chunk of flesh with his teeth, and swallowed it alive. The sight was almost too gruesome to watch.

Only then did Su Zhao turn her fingers and produce a black pill between them. "He probably isn't lying. Give him the medicine."

The man beside her took the pill, flashed over, planted one foot on Lu Shengzhong's chest, pinched open his cheeks, and flicked the pill straight down his throat.

It took quite some time before Lu Shengzhong, who had seemed completely possessed, gradually quieted. He lay there gulping down air. Only then did the man remove his foot and walk back.

"Go handle your business," Su Zhao instructed.

The man cupped his hands, turned, and quickly left.

Lu Shengzhong slowly climbed to his feet, clutching the bleeding wound on his arm. He staggered over, his voice sounding as though even his soul were trembling. "What exactly did you make me take?"

"Knowing what it is won't help you, so why ask? You've already taken the antidote. It should suppress the attacks for three months."

"Three months? What happens after three months?"

"You take the antidote again, and it suppresses it for another three months. And so on." Su Zhao left the words behind indifferently and walked away at an unhurried pace.

Lu Shengzhong staggered and collapsed onto the ground. A miserable smile spread over his face, and he began laughing softly, unable to stop...

Inside the dungeon of the Provincial Provincial Inspector's Residence, Shao Sansheng once again arrived with Su Zhao concealed beneath a black cloak. Shao Pingbo turned to look from inside the cell. The door opened. The guards all withdrew to give them privacy.

"Is Liuer all right?" Su Zhao asked as she entered and pushed back her hood.

Shao Pingbo closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, he said, "Talk about your side first. Did you find anything?"

"No. The trail broke halfway..." Su Zhao gave him the general account.

Shao Pingbo frowned. "Did Lu Shengzhong tamper with something?"

"We've already ruled that out. There doesn't seem to be any problem with him." Su Zhao shook her head slightly.

"Then did someone leak the news that Lu Shengzhong had been captured? There couldn't be a problem with the people you brought, could there?"

"The people I took to the scene don't know Niu Youdao, and Niu Youdao doesn't know them. You know what our organization is like. How could there be a problem? I'm more suspicious of your side. That Song Shu and whatever the other one's name is... could either of them have a problem?"

"If they had a problem, I wouldn't have taken them in. I've already investigated them thoroughly. Their grievances with Niu Youdao are perfectly clear. Neither could possibly be one of his people."

"There were only so many people at the scene. Could Liuer have leaked it?"

From outside the cell, Shao Sansheng interjected, "After the Young Mistress returned yesterday, she was placed under strict watch. She's been sitting there in a daze the whole time, without taking so much as a sip of water or speaking a single word. Even when the Inspector went to question her, she wouldn't answer. There's no possibility that she leaked anything."

Su Zhao hesitated. "Then could it have been that Tan Yaoxian we released?"

Shao Sansheng quickly glanced at Shao Pingbo, then lowered his eyes again.

Shao Pingbo said calmly, "My people watched him board a boat and leave. There won't be any problem with him."

Su Zhao pondered. "Then that's strange."

Shao Pingbo said, "Before Lu Shengzhong left, he sent a message saying he was going to the State of Song and asking Niu Youdao to send people there to receive him. The people handling contacts here learned that Lu Shengzhong had left, so they withdrew... Thinking it through, if you're certain there is no problem with your people, that is the only explanation I can see."

Su Zhao slowly nodded. "It is possible."

After they spoke for a while longer, Su Zhao left the dungeon and returned to Lingbo Residence.

Not long after she reached the inner courtyard, the subordinate she had sent out returned and reported, "We captured the waiter and interrogated him. His family has lived in Beizhou for three generations. He's simply someone who took money to perform a task. He knows nothing else."

"Ah." Su Zhao sighed softly. She was not surprised. It was more or less what she had expected.

One look had been enough to tell that the waiter was only an errand runner. How could he possibly know anything secret? She had hoped to follow the vine to the melon, only to find the vine severed halfway. There was nowhere left to follow it. She had no idea how many people Niu Youdao had planted inside Beizhou Prefectural Capital, or who those people might be...

"Come on. Hit me!"

In a mountain valley beneath a cliff, Niu Youdao beckoned to Black Peony.

Black Peony stared at him speechlessly, wondering whether she had heard wrong. "Hit you?"

Niu Youdao smiled and nodded. "That's right. Strike me with your palm."

"Master Dao, aren't you making things difficult for me?"

"You're overthinking it. I'm cultivating."

"Cultivating?" Black Peony stared blankly, then tentatively said, "Then... I'll try one palm strike?"

"Stop dawdling. If I tell you to hit me, hit me. Hurry."

"All right. Master Dao, be careful." She warned him first, then suddenly struck out with her palm.

Niu Youdao flipped one hand up and met it with a palm of his own. Black Peony's eyes flashed. At the last instant, she swept her palm into empty air and twisted aside.

Niu Youdao's face darkened. "I told you to hit me. Why did you dodge?"

Black Peony smiled bitterly. "Master Dao, I've seen how tyrannical your palm force is on Lei Zongkang, and I've heard him talk about it too. Getting hit by one of your palms is miserable."

She remembered perfectly well what had happened when Lei Zongkang and Niu Youdao exchanged palms outside Star-Plucking City. Half of Lei Zongkang's body had been covered in frost, while the other half burned scorching hot. Just thinking about it made her uncomfortable. She had no desire to experience it herself.

Niu Youdao rolled his eyes. "I won't counterattack. I'll only defend. Hurry up and stop wasting time."

He had gained some insight into Qiankun Shift and had finally begun to grasp the threshold of the technique. He was eager to test it.

"Really?" Black Peony was still somewhat doubtful.

"Are you going to hit me or not?" Niu Youdao gave her his final warning.

Helpless, Black Peony called out first, "Here I come. Take my palm!" She flashed forward and struck.

Niu Youdao immediately met her with a palm.

Bang!

The instant their palms collided, Niu Youdao swept out his other sleeve. A violent blast of force surged away from him in every direction.

Black Peony froze for a moment. He really had only defended. No force had erupted from Master Dao's palm at all.

Niu Youdao frowned. "Too weak. You barely used any strength. Attack with all your spiritual power. Again!"

Black Peony did not dare strike him with killing force, but seeing his expression, she immediately launched another palm.

Bang!

Niu Youdao caught it again. This time, the blast that spilled from his sweeping hand ripped a broad swath of stones from the valley floor and sent them tumbling through the air.

Black Peony stared in surprise. That palm had not been weak at all. Master Dao had not counterattacked, yet he had taken the blow head-on without even moving. Was the gap between their cultivation really that great?

Niu Youdao was clearly still dissatisfied. "I told you to use everything you've got. Again!"

"Master Dao, be careful." Black Peony gave one last warning. This time she held nothing back and blasted out a ferocious palm.

Bang!

Niu Youdao received the strike. The powerful gale of force shaken loose from his other arm howled like a violent windstorm.

"Again!"

"Faster. Keep attacking!"

Black Peony's figure began flashing and wheeling around him as she unleashed palm strike after palm strike in rapid succession. Niu Youdao stood rooted in place, receiving each blow one after another.

The longer Black Peony attacked, the more alarmed she became. He was neither counterattacking nor even truly defending against her force. Her attacks were landing solidly on him, yet he could endure so many full-strength palm strikes while barely moving from where he stood.

She also sensed something strange. Every time her palm struck Master Dao, a fierce blast of force spilled out behind him. She simply could not understand what was happening.

As her two palms struck faster and faster and Niu Youdao continued tempering the technique under the repeated attacks, he seemed to grasp another thread of insight. He no longer needed to fling out his other arm. Both hands began meeting her attacks directly.

After they exchanged blows for quite some time, Niu Youdao suddenly flashed aside and raised a hand, signaling that they should stop. Black Peony halted, her expression full of bewildered uncertainty.

Niu Youdao, however, shook his head slightly, looking dissatisfied as he pondered what he had learned. His Qiankun Shift was still far from mature. He could not yet take a fully formed force delivered by another person and transfer it onward while preserving its form. What use was scattering it into a burst of chaotic wind? It meant his own body still presented far too much resistance to the incoming force. Against someone with profound cultivation, he would inevitably suffer badly.

[End of Chapter 235]