He opened the door, but there was no one outside.
Chen Ping'an looked bewildered, thinking to himself, "Could this be another courier from the game company?"
Instinctively, he glanced down.
There, huddled by the door, was a fuzzy black coal ball,
with eyes, nose, and ears barely visible.
It was a kitten.
"If I remember correctly, I'm staying in a chain hotel," Chen Ping'an mused, looking down the long corridor.
How did a cat get into a chain hotel?
He squatted down and poked the coal ball with his hand. The furry bundle didn't react, only shivering. So he picked up the kitten by the scruff of its neck, and now he could see clearly— the kitten had a white 'convex' mark on its face, commonly known as a 'muscle cat.' Its two hind legs were a bloody mess, and there were wounds on its back as well.
The room he was staying in was at the end of the corridor, next to a window, which was wide open at the moment.
He also noticed a small bloodstain on the door, a place the kitten could never reach, and there were a few raptor feathers by the window.
Something was off about this cat! Chen Ping'an narrowed his eyes, realizing that this was no ordinary situation.
He pondered carefully, and a flash of insight struck him:
"Well, mystery solved! A big bird must have crashed into the window and dropped its prey right on my doorstep. Then, the bird got scared and flew away, abandoning its catch."
What a sharp mind!
Chen Ping'an felt that cancer cells must have activated his potential.
"Young one, you and I are destined to meet."
Chen Ping'an carried the kitten into the room.
If he left the kitten alone, it would surely die.
As a hotel guest, even if he planned to stay here for a long time, he wasn't allowed to keep pets. But Chen Ping'an thought to himself, "I already have a terminal illness; who cares about so many rules?"
The kitten was temporarily placed in a shoebox.
It was impossible to go to a pet hospital at this hour.
Most pet hospitals would be closed by midnight, and since he was in a remote location, it would take an hour and a half to get to a 24-hour pet hospital in the city.
He felt the kitten wouldn't make it that long.
In the few seconds it took him to look up pet hospitals, blood had already seeped into the shoebox.
"Young one, since conventional methods will surely lead to your death, today I have no choice but to try my best to save you. If you are not meant to die, grow up strong in the future and avoid being caught by birds. If it is your destiny, don't blame me."
Chen Ping'an clasped his hands together and bowed to the kitten.
Then he took out a set of silver needles he had bought earlier.
He had originally planned to give himself one acupuncture session a day to see if it would help his leg heal faster, and would consider later whether to treat others. Today, with the kitten in front of him, it was the perfect opportunity to try.
Chen Ping'an pinched a silver needle, and the moment his gaze fell on the kitten, an acupuncture chart naturally appeared in his mind.
The acupuncture points of a cat are different from those of a human.
Chen Ping'an didn't know how he knew this.
Maybe this was his potential.
The main treatment of the 'Fengchun Needle' is to stop bleeding, promote blood clotting, activate blood circulation to remove blood stasis, and facilitate wound healing. The upgrade condition is to administer the needle 1,000 times or recharge for $998 to upgrade to 'Kaimai Needle' level 2.
He quickly inserted the needle according to the order of the points on the chart, all in one smooth motion.
Soon, there were encouraging changes on the kitten.
The most obvious was the hemostatic effect; the wounds were no longer bleeding. The back injury was the clearest; a layer of blood film had completely sealed the wound. This blood film hadn't been there before the needling.
"Whoa... the effect of acupuncture is pretty intense..."
Chen Ping'an stroked his chin, pondering.
He didn't understand traditional Chinese medicine but had always held it in high regard.
So now the question was, was it him or the acupuncture techniques learned from the game that was so powerful?
He couldn't quite tell.
For the kitten, that was all he could do for now; the rest was up to its will to survive.
He turned and went to take a shower in the bathroom.
However, when he entered the shower, he didn't notice a ferocious black dragon that had somehow appeared on his back. The dragon was like smoke and mist, flickering in and out of sight, as if it existed between being and nothingness. Only the majesty in its dragon eyes was profound and terrifying, chilling to the bone.
...
In the shoebox, the completely black kitten struggled to turn over.
Its mouth twitched slightly, making a 'creak, creak' sound, and a pale white joint appeared and disappeared in its mouth.
...
Song Jiaojiao was dead.
Mu Bai Shuang learned this from Song Jiaojiao's partner, Yang Botao.
"How did Song Jiaojiao die?"
Faced with Mu Bai Shuang's questioning, Yang Botao's face turned pale: "I don't know. I just asked her to kill that trash, Fang Qingzhi. She never came back after that. She had left a soul lamp here with me. I just went back to my cave to get some spirit stones and found the soul lamp had gone out."
Upon hearing this, Mu Bai Shuang was shocked inside, but she put on an expression of grief and anger: "What are you saying? Why did you ask Song Jiaojiao to kill Fang Qingzhi? Song Jiaojiao was my good friend, and Fang Qingzhi is my senior sister. Have you gone mad?"
"I... I did it for you," Yang Botao said with a pale face and trembling voice. "Bai Shuang, that trash, Fang Qingzhi, dared to hurt you. She also humiliated me before. I've always been annoyed by her. Didn't you tell Song Jiaojiao how much委屈you had suffered because of Fang Qingzhi? I was just helping you vent!"
"Call me Mu Bai Shuang. I'm not that familiar with you! What Song Jiaojiao and I talked about is between sisters. What does it have to do with you? Why do you need to help me vent?"
"I..."
Mu Bai Shuang's face was cold, but her mind was in turmoil.
Her original plan was to deliberately complain to Song Jiaojiao and then use the fact that Song Jiaojiao and Yang Botao were close to provoke Yang Botao. In this way, it would seem that Yang Botao, not her, had instigated Song Jiaojiao to kill Fang Qingzhi.
She had also brought Song Jiaojiao to the inner sect with Senior Brother Zhang Hanshao.
In this way, she could perfectly distance herself from the matter.
Her only issue was getting Zhang Hanshao to bring Song Jiaojiao to the inner sect, but that was nothing. According to the sect's rules, only Zhang Hanshao would be dealt with, let alone he was a senior brother and should take the blame for her.
Song Jiaojiao was at the ninth level of Qi Refining, while Fang Qingzhi was just a waste with a destroyed Dantian and extracted spiritual root.
Killing Fang Qingzhi was incredibly simple. Song Jiaojiao could even do it without leaving any trace, ensuring everyone's safety.
But she never expected that Fang Qingzhi didn't die, while Song Jiaojiao did!
Something must have happened.
The recovery of Fang Qingzhi's injuries had already seemed off, but she hadn't paid attention.
"Junior Sister Bai Shuang, I did all of this to make you happy!"
Yang Botao was panicking. Since Fang Qingzhi had been expelled from the sect, she was no longer related to Qingyun Sect. Moreover, with her Dantian and spiritual root destroyed, she was just an irrelevant ordinary person. But Qingyun Sect was a righteous sect. If a cultivator harmed an innocent ordinary person, other sects would laugh at them.
To maintain their dignity, he would surely be severely punished by the sect, and Song Jiaojiao's death would be blamed on him.
"No, I'm not happy. Yang Botao, you wait to face the sect's punishment!"
With one sentence, Mu Bai Shuang shifted all the blame onto Yang Botao.
Just at that moment, Senior Brother Lu Changtian from Chixiao Peak walked in.
Mu Bai Shuang naturally hid behind Lu Changtian.
"Yang Botao, this is Chixiao Peak, not your Xuanning Peak. What are you doing here?"
"Brother Changtian!" Mu Bai Shuang looked sorrowful, her tears like pear blossoms in the rain. She clung to Lu Changtian's arm and cried, "Yang Botao instigated Song Jiaojiao to assassinate Fang Qingzhi and caused her death. How could he do such a thing? One was my good friend, and the other is my senior sister! Waaah..."
"No, it's not like that, Senior Brother Lu," Yang Botao stammered, his face pale as he tried to explain.
But before he could utter another word, Senior Brother Lu, whose affection for the crying junior sister was evident, lashed out with a kick that sent Yang Botao sprawling on the ground.
"Yang Botao, you've got some nerve!" Senior Brother Lu's sword pointed accusingly at the trembling Yang Botao.
"Even if Fang Qingzhi has left Qingyun Sect, she was once part of our Chixiao Peak. When did it become your business to meddle in our affairs? Do you think killing Fang Qingzhi would earn you our respect? You instructed Song Jiaojiao to murder her, violating sect rules. Now, come with me to the Enforcement Hall to face your punishment!"
As Senior Brother Lu reached out to seize Yang Botao, Mu Bai Shuang tugged at his sleeve and whispered, "Brother Changtian... Senior Sister Qingran is not dead. It's Song Jiaojiao who's dead."
Senior Brother Lu's outstretched hand froze mid-air, his face etched with shock.
After a long moment, he turned to Mu Bai Shuang and demanded, "What did you say?!"