Chapter 41: The Black Tower

 

The husband and wife are childhood sweethearts and Whispering Willow sect disciples in the Min Empire. The husband, Song He is a talented martial artist who managed to break through to the first class of martial artists and wanted to marry his wife, Lai Ru. However, the sect core disciple had an eye for her, and his father is one of the sect elders.

 

After Lai Ru is forced to marry the elder son, both of them decide to elope into the Han empire. When the elder son finds out, he is furious and chases after them. However, during the fight, Song accidentally injured the elder son's private part.

 

After that, Song He and Lai Ru escaped and went to the martial alliance for help; however, since the Whispering Willow sect was one of its representatives, they couldn’t do anything.

 

Nonetheless, their pursuers are persistent, and they find out the Whispering Willow sect elder has hired an assassin from Black Tower to kill them. Because of that, while fighting, Song He damaged his meridian after overexerting his qi to kill the assassin.

 

Song He's strength gradually deteriorated each day; fortunately, Lai Ru is a second-class martial artist, and with her help, they managed to survive until now.

 

“Don’t worry, after we cross the border to the Bai Kingdom, we shall hide and can finally be free.” Song He smiles.

 

Lai Ru nodded and laid her head on his shoulder.

 

Inside a carriage, Zou Jie yawns. He is bored; there is nothing to do other than meditate. His past identity is confusing as to why he had various knowledge and who he is. He even suspected his past self was a librarian, but there were also hundreds of martial arts and medical arts in his mind.

 

He doesn’t care if he fails to recover his memory, because, with his strength and knowledge, he can survive anywhere on this continent. As long as he doesn’t offend anyone powerful.

 

Unfortunately, there is no knowledge to advance to a transcendent realm in his memory. If he became one, he wouldn’t even need to be afraid to fight an army.

 

“Sir Zou, we will arrive at a village soon.” The escort leader, riding a horse, moves beside the carriage. He is grateful; if not for Zou Jie, his nephew would have lost a leg, and he would have trouble explaining this to his older sister.

 

"Is there anything entertaining in that village?"

 

“Other than a few shops, there is nothing there, but if you want someone to warm your bed, as long as you have money, there are many women who are willing.” The escort leader grins.

 

Zou Jie says nothing; the escort agency that he hired, according to locals, had experience going to Bai Kingdom. Because of that, other merchants joined the caravan to be safe from bandits.

 

What he found interesting were the husband and wife. Gazing afar, he already knows that the man's meridian is damaged, and it's almost impossible to heal unless you go to see an imperial physician. Even that requires rare herbs and superb medical skills to be fully healed.

 

He is different in that he can use his healing abilities and has divine physician knowledge. Nonetheless, he is not a saint; there are many sick and injured people in this world. The reason he helps the escort remove the poison is because he wants the poisonous snake venom.

 

The caravan, when it arrives at the village, is welcomed by the village chief. Because there is no inn, they can choose to rent a room to stay in or set up camp.

 

Zou Jie decided to rent a room while also paying the village chief to find a mature woman to warm his bed tonight.

 

He never understands why the novel's main character, despite being reborn and becoming powerful, remains a virgin and obsessed with killing. What novel is he reading? He can't remember it clearly, and many of his memories are still hazy.

 

However, he has a feeling that the novel is not from this continent.

 

-

 

Black Tower is one of the top assassin organizations in the Min Empire. The Whispering Willow sect elder hired them to kill a sect fugitive who destroyed his son's private part; even the physician can’t do anything to heal it.

 

Since the fugitives are first- and second-class martial artists, they thought it was an easy mission. However, the first-class assassin had been careless and died. Furious, they send two of their top first-class assassins, No. 10 and 11, to kill them.

 

The two assassins, wearing martial artist clothes, were riding a horse and heading to the border.

 

"Bastard, how far are they going to flee?" No. 11 cursed; he was tired and had been following the eloped couple for a few months.

 

“Calm down; it’s useless to be mad.” No.10 advised. He is also tired, but they have no choice.

 

“How far are they?”

 

“They join an escort agency to go to Bai Kingdom; we just need to wait for them near the border.”

 

“Should we kill them all?"

 

“Yes, the reward is not enough.” With both of their strengths, wiping out everyone in the escort agency and merchant will not be a problem; it’s not unusual for them to kill someone and rob them.

 

-

 

The next morning, the caravan leaves the village and continues their journey to the border. Inside the carriage, Zou Jie gazes outside the window and sees a slim, mature woman with a rosy complexion waving her hand at him.

 

After her husband died, she became the sole provider for her children. Yesterday, the village chief came and saw her and offered to sleep with the merchant since she had nothing to lose, and she agreed. Last night, it was something that she never experienced, even with her deceased husband. Sir Zou's skill in bed and words put her in ecstasy.

 

Zou Jie smiled and waved his hand. With the money he gives her, she should have enough money to feed her children and start a small business. He doesn’t care for money because there are many corrupt officials and bad people that he can rob. When he can no longer see her, he closes his eyes and meditates.

 

Song He inside a wagon still looks pale, but as long as he doesn’t use qi, he should be fine. His strength had regressed, and he became a second-class martial artist again. However, without using qi, he is like a third-class martial artist.

 

Lai Ru watches him with concern. She decided to ask merchant Zou to check with his husband when they stopped later.

 

A few hours later, the caravan enters the woods. The escort agency watches the surroundings with vigilance because they are still far from the border, and it’s not surprising if there is a bandit. The border army's priority is to guard the border and will not bother the bandits unless the bandits attack the army supply line. Even then, it required the Han emperor's permission to mobilize the army.

 

Zou Jie, who had been meditating inside the carriage, opened his eyes. Because the caravan suddenly stops after that, there is a commotion. Going out of the carriage, he can see the escorts fighting with two martial artists. There are a few escorts already bleeding on the ground.

 

The two assassins from the Black Tower are calm even when they are surrounded.

 

“Who are you? Why are you attacking us?" The escort leader is a first-class martial artist who exchanges several clashes with their qi-imbued sword. He becomes cautious and realizes both of the attackers are first-class martial artists.

 

"Surrender, and we might spare your life.” No. 10 warns, and at the same time, he observes everyone's face. But he doesn’t see the target.

 

“Why are we wasting time just slaughtering them?" No. 11 is getting impatient.

 

Song He and Lai Ru, hiding inside the wagon, don’t recognize the two men. However, they had a feeling that they were coming for them.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

“Husband no.” Lai Ru grabs his arm.

 

“We can’t let innocent people die."

 

“If you use qi, you will be crippled.”

 

“It's fine.” Because of Song's potential, his master teaches him a secret technique in case his life is in danger. However, it can damage the body's meridian. He doesn’t know what happened to his master after he eloped. Although he feels guilty, he doesn’t want to see Lai Ru marry another man.

 

The escort leader is not sure what to do; other than him, none of the escorts can defend themselves against first-class martial artists. “What do you want? If we keep fighting, one of you will be injured or die together with me."

 

“How?” No. 11 asked; he never thought there would be another first-class martial artist; although they could win, one of them might be injured.

 

“We only want two people in your caravan; their names are Song He and Lai Ru; both of them are criminals who injured the Whispering Willow sect elder son. If you give them, we shall let you go.” The No. 10 plan is that after killing their target, they can focus on the escort elder.

 

The escort elder is in a dilemma because if he gives them what they want, His reputation will be ruined for abandoning their client. While he is thinking about what to do, a man and woman come out of the wagon and head his way.