I Only Stomp on Weaklings

Chen Ming quickly saw the appearance of the person inside the room and was surprised, "Why is it you?"

The person lying on the ground was dressed in a loose gray outfit, disguised as a man, so he didn’t recognize her at first. But when he saw her face, he identified her as Zhong Shuyu.

She was seriously injured, holding her shoulder with one hand, blood flowing all over the ground, her face pale as paper, her breath weak. Until he appeared, her lips moved slightly, her eyelids closed, and she fainted.

"Was she being hunted by her enemies?"

Chen Ming hesitated for two seconds, called Chunxiang and Xiaxiang in, and instructed them to carry her to the bed and clean up the bloodstains.

He closed the door, walked around outside the house, and erased the traces she left along with the fallen blood.

Just like that, he followed the traces she left, went outside the walls, dealt with everything thoroughly, then returned to the courtyard.

The whole process did not alarm anyone.

Chen Ming pushed the door open and entered the room, asking Chunxiang, "How is she?"

Chunxiang’s face was a bit pale but still calm. She said quietly, "Young Master, her shoulder has a wound, looks a bit blackened, I’m afraid she’s poisoned, we need to get a doctor."

He shook his head and said, "That’s not suitable. If she could go to a doctor, she would have gone to the clinic herself, wouldn’t have come here. So, you go to the pharmacy to find my brother, and say I have an urgent matter for him. Don’t mention anything about treating injuries, understand?"

"Understood."

Chunxiang hurried off.

Chen Ming then instructed Xiaxiang to keep watch outside and immediately notify him if anyone suspicious shows up.

...

Not half an hour later, Chen Rui hurriedly returned home, "Second Brother, what happened at home?"

Chen Ming pulled him into the house, pointed to the person on the bed, and said, "This is my friend, she got poisoned, can you see if you can cure her?"

Chen Rui saw a strange young girl lying on the bed, felt puzzled but didn’t ask much, stepped forward to examine the wound. On her shoulder was a sword wound, the area around it black and purple, swollen.

The girl was sweating profusely, her forehead was hot to the touch.

He managed a pharmacy from a young age, handled various medicinal herbs, and learned some medical books, able to treat minor illnesses and injuries.

He said with a serious expression, "The poison is quite potent. If it weren’t for her exceptional constitution, she certainly couldn’t have lasted this long. I’m not very confident, can only give it a try."

Chen Ming said, "Go ahead, whether she can recover depends on her fate."

Chen Rui stopped talking, rolled up his sleeves, took out a small knife, cut open the wound to release poisonous blood, then found a detoxification pill, crushed and applied it on the wound, and bandaged it.

Then he took out a bottle and said, "Feed her this, if the fever subsides by tomorrow morning, she’ll be fine."

"Okay."

...

"Young Master, outside there’s a group of Six Gates people, claiming they are pursuing a wanted criminal, want to come in and search..."

At that moment, the room had just been cleaned up, the blood-stained clothes and bedding all stuffed into the stove and burned. Xiaxiang ran over to report.

Six Gates?

Chen Ming was very surprised, originally thought she was being hunted by some enemies, causing such commotion and summoned Six Gates.

He hesitated for two seconds, made a decision, "Take her to the secret room."

If I don’t rescue her now, and hand her over, I’m implicated either way.

He was well aware of Six Gates’ way of doing things. They would go to any lengths for success. If met with someone like Wang Yangming, who is like a hunting dog, he wouldn’t be spared either, they would do whatever it takes to drag him into the mess.

"Yes."

Chunxiang and Xiaxiang hurriedly pushed the bed aside, lifted a stone slab, revealing the entrance to a basement. The two lifted Zhong Shuyu from the bed, placed her in the basement.

Then, after they came up, covered the stone slab again, pushed the bed back in place.

Just after they finished, two Black-robed Constables barged in from outside, accompanied by seven or eight government officials.

Chen Ming glanced at one of them, and his heart skipped a beat.

It was Zhuang Xiaotian!

However, Zhuang Xiaotian didn’t acknowledge him, remaining formal and procedural.

Naturally, he did not step forward to greet him.

Another Black-robed Constable started speaking, "Are you Chen Ming? Apologies for the intrusion, we are in pursuit of a fugitive. She disappeared after entering Xiushui Street. We’ve been instructed to search every household, hope you don’t mind."

He was quite polite, after all, Chen Ming was an eighth-grade Martial Artist, stronger than them.

Chen Ming seemed somewhat displeased, but replied, "Of course, you may proceed."

Therefore, the people from Six Gates scattered around, searching each residence thoroughly.

And Zhuang Xiaotian led the search in Chen Ming’s courtyard, casually glanced around, saw nothing where one could hide a person.

"Why does it smell of blood?"

"I sparred with Master Liu from Wu Martial Arts Hall today, got a minor injury, bled a little."

Chen Ming had prepared in advance, pointed to his shoulder.

"Is it serious?"

"Just a superficial wound, appreciate the concern."

After a brief exchange, the search was completed, naturally finding nothing.

Finally, more than half an hour later, Chen Ming sent these pesky gods out of the door.

...

At night, Zhuang Xiaotian returned, this time dressed in casual clothes, explained upon seeing Chen Ming, "During the day, it wasn’t convenient to acknowledge you, Chen brother. Otherwise, my colleague would definitely not let this place off easily."

Chen Ming was puzzled, "Do you have a grudge with him?"

He shook his head, "This time the situation escalated, alarming the cabinet, the court decided to send a Third-Grade Admiral to station in Qingfeng City. Naturally, they’d transfer a batch of people over, we newcomers haven’t settled on an official assignment yet. Lord Admiral has hinted, wanting to stay and observe everyone’s performance. So, everyone is giving their all, trying to outshine others."

"I see."

Six Gates seems so tense, even a spot to stay in Qingfeng City is fought over like this?

Chen Ming asked, "What about Brother Deng? Did he come?"

"He came, but we were not assigned together. These few days, busy pursuing those pirates, haven’t even seen him yet."

Chen Ming asked, "Does he know about his father’s death?"

Zhuang Xiaotian shook his head, "Before returning, he didn’t know. Those few brothers of his didn’t treat him like family at all."

This seemed quite excessive.

Chen Ming was momentarily speechless, knowing Deng Ziyang’s temperament, knowing his father had passed, he’d likely be deeply saddened.

In this world, Deng Ziyang probably wanted most to prove to his father that he’s much stronger than those brothers. Now his father has died, surely it’s a huge blow.

They silently drank a few sips of wine.

Chen Ming asked, "Who were you chasing today?"

Zhuang Xiaotian hesitated slightly, didn’t hide from him, spoke quietly, "It’s one of the Red Sea Monarch’s Sea General’s people. This was ordered by Captain Yu personally, must capture alive, or see the corpse."

Chen Ming was curious, "Isn’t the Red Sea Monarch allied with Six Gates?"

"That was then, this is now, besides..." Zhuang Xiaotian lowered his voice, "There’s news that the Sea General killed those two Jiao Kings, possibly obtained something from them... Captain Yu got her captured. She was on the scene, likely heard things she shouldn’t know. Or perhaps, that thing is on her body."

Chen Ming was even more curious, "That person could escape under Captain Yu’s watch? Her strength must be formidable, right?"

"Her strength is hardly worth mentioning, she’s just proficient in Turtle Breath Skill, even fooled Captain Yu. Alas, we’ve searched all of Xiushui Street today but found nothing, reporting back will be difficult."

After Zhuang Xiaotian finished, he added a reminder, "This is related to Captain Yu, don’t spread it around."

"Rest assured, my lips are sealed."