What would you do if an unconscious, completely naked, beautiful girl were lying on the bed right in front of you?

And what would a lively, righteous, handsome young man do if he were sitting on the edge of the bed in front of her?

He would…

“Big brother, Sister’s looking worse and worse. Why aren’t you saving her? What are you thinking?” A little girl’s voice sounded beside him, jolting Jiuye out of his thoughts. He went stiff with embarrassment. He looked at the girl on the bed, her body covered by his cloak. Her complexion really had gotten worse.

Then he looked at the little girl beside him.

“Little miss, set your sister’s clothes aside for now. Go outside, and don’t let anyone in without my permission.”

The little girl shook her head, then immediately asked another question.

“Why?”

“…”

Uh… Jiuye froze. He’d always had a pretty strong bias against kids these days. Why did they all have to ask why?

“Well… If someone interrupts me, I might not be able to save your sister. Hurry along.”

Jiuye wasn’t about to explain the whole situation to a little girl, so he told a small lie.

A little girl was still a little girl. After hearing what Jiuye said, she didn’t think too much about it. She set the clothes aside, left, and closed the door behind her.

Once the little girl had closed the door, Jiuye hurried over and locked it from the inside. With a beautiful woman in the room, it was best to be careful.

Back at the bedside, Jiuye pulled a small bundle from his clothes and set it aside. Then he unfolded it like a scroll. As it opened, row after row of slender silver needles came into view.

Jiuye took out a needle. With a snap of his left hand, a faint flame appeared on his index finger. He held the silver needle in his right hand over the flame for a moment. His left hand flicked, and the flame vanished. The young man took the girl’s right hand, found the right spot, and gently inserted the needle into her wrist.

The young man kept hold of the girl’s right hand with his left. His expression grew more serious, and a green glow suddenly appeared on his fingers.

The green light slowly enveloped the girl. The purplish color on her face gradually faded, while countless purple patches appeared around her wrist. The dark-purple blotches seemed almost alive as they crawled toward the silver needle. Before long, the needle turned purple, then black.

The process looked simple, but it was anything but easy to perform.

The green light in Jiuye’s hand slowly faded. He removed the blackened needle, snapped his fingers again, and used the flame to dispose of it.

After putting his things away, the young man glanced at the girl on the bed. Her complexion had already begun to improve. Without a word, he quietly left the room.

The little girl and the innkeeper were waiting outside the door. After all, this had happened at his inn. He couldn’t help worrying when one of his guests was in trouble.

“Young man, how is that guest doing now?”

“She’s fine now. Don’t disturb her today. Let her rest for the night.”

Afterward, the innkeeper rearranged Jiuye’s lodging, switching the woman into his room and moving him into another one with a new key.

According to Jiuye’s original plan, he was going to eat beef all night, sit for a while to digest, then head back to his room and rest. But after what had happened, he lay on the bed unable to put his worries aside and truly relax.

“That kind of poison is rare. The magical beasts around Gran City are at most level 20, and none of them can produce a toxin like that. If that’s the case, could the person she fought have been the very target she came to Gran City to find? And could they be above level 20? If so, then this trip here won’t have been in vain. Heh!”

In the end, Jiuye didn’t know when he fell asleep. He only remembered that all the lights outside had gone out.

…

With some effort, the woman opened her eyes and looked around. Everything was unfamiliar. She realized she was in a room.

She glanced around and noticed that all her clothes had been set aside.

The woman froze. She looked down and realized she wasn’t wearing a thing. Beneath the thin quilt, the only thing covering her was an old, tattered cloak that smelled faintly of sweat.

She tried to recall what had happened the night before. She remembered fighting and getting poisoned. She’d planned to cure herself, but the poison was beyond her ability to neutralize, and then she’d passed out.

At that thought, the woman suddenly realized she felt completely refreshed. There wasn’t a trace of discomfort. Had someone saved her? Her expression darkened. She felt no gratitude for being rescued—only fury at the thought of someone seeing her naked. Her face practically screamed the word “RAGE.”

She snatched up the clothes that had been set aside and quickly got dressed. Then she looked around and realized her katana, which she always carried, was missing.

The woman sensed something was wrong and immediately went out the door. But the room she was in wasn’t the one she’d been in the night before.

She went to the room from the night before. The door was open, and the innkeeper was inside cleaning. The katana she’d left by the bed was still in its original spot.

She walked in, fixing her gaze on the innkeeper in front of her.

Was this middle-aged man the one who’d seen me naked last night?

At the thought, the woman instinctively shook her head. How could that be? No, no, no! How could an innkeeper like him have cured a deadly poison that even she couldn’t overcome? And that ragged cloak with its sweaty smell definitely didn’t belong to him.

The innkeeper, who’d been cleaning, noticed the woman come in. He stopped and looked at her.

“You’re finally awake, miss. How are you feeling?”

The woman hesitated. “Oh, I’m fine now. Um… could you tell me who saved me last night?”

The innkeeper chuckled.

“A young fellow. Quite handsome, too.”

The woman’s expression shifted slightly, and she asked, “Where is he now?”

“He checked out just a little while ago.”

At that, the woman went over and picked up the katana by the bed. She left a silver coin behind, said nothing, and walked straight out.

The innkeeper watched her hurry off and chuckled. Then he glanced at the cabinet nearby.

“Young man, she’s gone. You can come out now.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the cabinet door opened and someone jumped out. Who else could it be but Jiuye?

“Man, she came barging in just now and scared me to death. Girls these days are all little she-devils. I saw her naked—she would’ve hacked me to pieces! Thanks for covering for me, innkeeper.”

The innkeeper laughed heartily.

“I’ll go get my cloak back, then I’ll be on my way. You can keep the deposit as payment for the room.”

“You’re not staying here anymore?” the innkeeper asked.

Jiuye smiled.

“I wouldn’t dare. If that woman comes back to kill me, I won’t have anywhere to hide. I’ll be off, then, sir.”

Jiuye left the room and went back to the one from the night before to retrieve his cloak.

With the faint, maidenly scent still in his nose, he left the inn with a grin.

…