The killers made their move, and Long Xiao quickly followed, crouching by the edge of the ditch after they had descended.
Once the senior disciple had completely subdued Ye Xiao, Long Xiao decided to intervene, intending to eliminate the assassins and rescue the girl. He had no intention of extracting any intelligence from her; he simply felt pity for her, being targeted by her own master and pursued by her senior disciple.
Luo Tianshui had told him that the assassins trained at Hanshan Temple were orphans, devoid of attachments, making them ruthless and merciless in their actions.
"Take her away," the senior disciple said, raising his foot.
As several assassins prepared to escort Ye Xiao away, Long Xiao reached into his pocket and tossed a handful of soybeans into the ditch.
The soybeans drifted down slowly, as silent as raindrops falling in the midnight hour.
When the soybeans reached about waist-height, the assassins sensed something was wrong and looked up at Long Xiao.
Suddenly, the soybeans accelerated a hundredfold, striking the assassins like bullets.
At that distance and speed, evasion was impossible.
All the assassins were killed instantly, their heads exploding. Only the senior disciple was struck in the meridians of his shoulders and legs, causing him to fall to the ground uncontrollably.
Long Xiao descended into the ditch via the path and walked slowly towards the senior disciple, squatting down. "Tell me, who are you, and why do you want to kill me?"
The senior disciple looked at Long Xiao and sighed. "Kill me, then. It's the victor's prerogative, and I have no regrets in death."
"Why should I kill you? Give me a reason."
"Our assassination attempt on you is the best reason."
Long Xiao shook his head. "That's not a good reason. Just tell me who wants me dead, and I'll heal your severed meridians."
The senior disciple shook his head. "I truly don't know. We only accept orders and money for killing. The order came from my master. As for whether he knows who wants you dead, I have no idea."
Long Xiao pointed at Ye Xiao. "This girl is named Ye Xiao. Is she your junior sister?"
The senior disciple nodded but remained silent. Long Xiao continued, "If you don't want to talk, fine. I'll take her and try to save her. I'll ask her and see if she knows."
Long Xiao grabbed Ye Xiao's wrist and examined her internal condition.
Ye Xiao's spleen, lungs, and liver were damaged to varying degrees, several meridians were severed, she had eight broken ribs, two broken arm bones, and two bullet wounds on her shoulder.
Long Xiao took out silver needles, first stopping Ye Xiao's bleeding, then repairing her damaged internal organs, before extracting the bullets and setting her broken bones.
After feeding Ye Xiao a healing pill, Long Xiao curled her up and placed her in a cello case. He then carried the case up out of the ditch and left the woods.
Long Xiao did not kill the senior disciple. The senior disciple watched Long Xiao's retreating back, feeling a deep sense of unease. Perhaps his junior sister was right; their master lacked humanity, raising these orphans only to treat them as tools.
Ye Xiao was bleeding profusely, and Long Xiao couldn't take her back to the city. Arriving outside the walls of the villa district, he remembered his own villa, Mangshan No. 1.
He climbed over the wall with Ye Xiao and quickly reached Mangshan No. 1.
Without an access card or key, he had to scale the wall again and then break a window to get inside.
The house was unfurnished and empty. Long Xiao had no choice but to lay Ye Xiao on the floor.
He called Zhang Eryong and asked him to buy some bedding, women's clothing, and food, and deliver them to Mangshan No. 1.
Putting away his phone, Long Xiao sat opposite the girl, watching her and waiting for her to wake up.
Half an hour later, Ye Xiao slowly opened her eyes. Seeing Long Xiao watching her, she instinctively reached into her clothes to grab a gun. As her hand touched the grip, she remembered the gun was out of bullets.
She slowly withdrew her hand. Ye Xiao looked at Long Xiao and asked, "What do you intend to do with me?"
Long Xiao shook his head. "Rest and recover from your injuries."
"Once I've recovered, I will kill you."
Long Xiao shook his head again. "Our strengths are unequal. You can't kill me."
Ye Xiao had nearly been killed by her senior disciple and his men, while Long Xiao had easily dealt with them. Their strengths were indeed unequal.
However, the mission she had been given was to kill Long Xiao. As long as Long Xiao was alive, her mission would remain unfulfilled.
"Even if I can't kill you, I still have to try. This is my mission."
"Is the mission that important? Even if you kill me, can you still return to your master?"
Ye Xiao knew she had no way back. The senior disciple and his men were dead. Even if she completed her mission by killing Long Xiao, her master would not let her go.
Half an hour later, Zhang Eryong arrived with bedding, clothes, and food.
Watching Zhang Eryong place the items down, Long Xiao took a few healing pills from his pocket and threw them into Ye Xiao's lap. "These pills are enough for you. Heal yourself and leave."
Long Xiao left with Zhang Eryong. Ye Xiao, forcing herself to stand, walked to the window and watched their receding figures, filled with confusion. She couldn't understand why Long Xiao had saved her.
In Ye Xiao's eyes, everyone acted with a reason. There was no love without cause, nor hate without reason.
Long Xiao and Zhang Eryong returned directly to Xinglin Caotang. The Medical Association meeting was scheduled for the next day, and Long Xiao needed to discuss countermeasures with Mi Tianfu.
The Medical Association's convening of a meeting was clearly for a purpose, but their exact intentions remained unknown.
In the evening, Luan Jiping called first.
She informed Long Xiao that the purpose of the Donghai Medical Association's meeting was to integrate the entire Donghai pharmaceutical industry. All sectors related to medicine in Donghai were to be brought under the association's management, thereby expanding its influence nationwide.
Donghai was the most developed city in the pharmaceutical industry in the entire southern region of China. It boasted not only hundreds of pharmaceutical factories and drugstores but also a large number of medical equipment factories and dozens of hospitals of various sizes.
Thirty years prior, after the establishment of the Donghai Medical Association, similar associations were gradually formed in major cities across the country, eventually leading to the establishment of the China Medical Association.
The Donghai Medical Association predated the China Medical Association.
Although the Donghai Medical Association was subordinate to the China Medical Association, it possessed significant autonomy, and the China Medical Association generally did not interfere in Donghai's medical affairs.
Subsequently, Ji Dahai and Li Yizhen also called. Their findings regarding the Medical Association's objectives were largely the same.
Long Xiao then inquired about the internal affairs of the Medical Association.
Currently, the Medical Association was divided into two factions: one, represented by Li Yizhen, supported Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM); the other, led by the association's president Lei Tailai, advocated for the complete Westernization of medicine and the elimination of TCM.
Long Xiao and Mi Tianfu had studied TCM, and Li Yizhen was Long Xiao's disciple, so naturally, he supported TCM.
Long Xiao had intended to bring Mingyue with him, but unfortunately, each medical institution was limited to two delegates, forcing him to abandon the idea.
To prepare for any unforeseen events, Long Xiao called Lin Xuan, informing her he would be back late. He then refined another batch of pills for treating internal and external injuries.
With an increasing number of patients recently and frequent pill refinement, the consumption of medicinal ingredients was gradually rising.
Before leaving Xinglin Caotang, Long Xiao called Su Guoqiang in Nankou and ordered a batch of medicinal herbs.