Medical and Martial God

It was 1:00 AM.

Hundred Flowers Valley was shrouded in darkness. The Long Family, Medicine King Valley, and all the people and animals within had long since fallen asleep.

Suddenly, over a hundred helicopters flew over Hundred Flowers Valley under the cover of night.

The noise startled everyone and every animal in Hundred Flowers Valley, waking them from their slumber. The people of the Long Family and Medicine King Valley, in particular, scrambled out of their houses without bothering to get dressed, their eyes fixed on the sky.

"What’s going on? Why are so many helicopters flying here in the middle of the night?" the Long Family Leader wondered aloud, his face filled with confusion as he watched the helicopters approach.

"Could it be... Huang Quan is coming to kill us?" a beautiful middle-aged woman speculated.

The Long Family Leader’s heart hammered in his chest. His body tensed instantly as a terrible dread spread through him. In a low, heavy voice, he said, "If it really is Huang Quan, the Long Family is finished!"

"Should we notify our clan to flee or prepare to fight?" the woman asked with a grave expression.

Just as the Leader was about to make a decision, he noticed that the hundreds of helicopters were not heading directly for the Long Family estate. Instead, they were dispersing, flying toward the surrounding area. Then, the Leader and the woman watched as the helicopters encircled the Long Family.

Figures began to leap from the helicopters, their parachutes deploying mid-air. In moments, the sky around the Long Family was filled with over two hundred white parachutes, an eerie spectacle in the pitch-black night.

"This is bad. Huang Quan is surrounding us to wipe everyone out in one fell swoop," the Leader’s face paled, and he stammered in panic, "Quick! Notify all clan members to gather here and face Huang Quan!"

"I think we should tell everyone to escape on their own," the woman suggested, lacking even the courage to confront Huang Quan.

"Escaping is futile. It will only allow Huang Quan’s people to pick us off one by one. It’s better to gather and fight them to the death," the Leader said grimly.

"Alright, I’ll go notify them now." The woman nodded, her figure flickering before she vanished into the darkness.

The Long Family Leader hurried back inside to retrieve his weapon and stood guard, tensely preparing for the battle to come.

***

Elsewhere, the people of Medicine King Valley were also staring at the helicopters in the sky, though their situation was different from that of the Long Family.

The Long Family could see hundreds of helicopters. Everyone in Medicine King Valley, however, could only see one.

After flying over Medicine King Valley, the lone helicopter dropped three burlap sacks and flew away.

"Quick, go see what was dropped from the helicopter," the Valley Master of Medicine King Valley ordered.

A few people immediately dragged the three sacks before the Valley Master, by which time everyone in the valley had gathered around him.

"How strange. A helicopter flies over in the dead of night, drops three sacks, and leaves. What on earth could be inside?" Jiang Yuan, the head of the reformist faction, wondered aloud. With a wave of his hand, a torrent of Sword Qi shredded the sacks to pieces.

The tattered remains revealed three bodies.

"It’s Jiao Fuping and the Fire-Water Judges!" someone exclaimed.

The faces of everyone from Medicine King Valley turned grim. As master healers and powerful cultivators, they could tell at a glance that the three men were dead and had been for some time.

"Jiang Yuan, what is the meaning of this?" the Valley Master demanded, glaring at him.

The others from Medicine King Valley also turned to look at Jiang Yuan. Jiao Fuping and the Fire-Water Judges were both part of the reformist faction. The Judges, in particular, answered only to Jiang Yuan; not even the Valley Master could command them. For their bodies to be delivered like this, Jiang Yuan must have sent them on a mission.

"Ye Liangchen killed them," Jiang Yuan said, his expression dark. He had sent the Fire-Water Judges to kill Ye Liangchen, and now their bodies had been sent back. It was obvious Ye Liangchen was the killer and the one who had sent them.

"Who is Ye Liangchen? And what exactly happened?" the Valley Master berated him.

Visibly irritated, Jiang Yuan reluctantly explained everything. He told them how Ye Liangchen had ruined Jiao Fuping and the Wankang Wellness Hall, sabotaging the reformist faction’s plans to emerge into the wider world. Because of this, he had sent the Fire-Water Judges to kill Ye Liangchen.

"Do you really think Ye Liangchen could kill the Fire-Water Judges?" the Valley Master asked skeptically.

Jiang Yuan paused, the realization dawning on him. While there were many people in the world stronger than the Fire-Water Judges, no one could stop them if they chose to flee. Yet, from their corpses, it was clear that both had an arm severed. This indicated the killer was not just stronger, but vastly stronger—so much so that the Judges didn’t even have a chance to escape.

That was something Ye Liangchen was definitely not capable of.

Furthermore, few people in the world knew the location of Medicine King Valley. It was impossible for Ye Liangchen to know.

"Who do you think killed them?" Jiang Yuan asked the Valley Master.

"Huang Quan," the Valley Master replied with absolute certainty.

"What’s your proof? The three Judicator Families and the Temple could also easily slay the Fire-Water Judges," Jiang Yuan retorted.

"Fool!" the Valley Master scoffed. "The time for the sixty-year pact has not yet arrived, so it’s impossible for the three Judicator Families to emerge from seclusion. As for the Temple, they haven’t been seen in over two thousand years. Why would they suddenly appear just to kill Jiao Fuping and the Fire-Water Judges?"

Jiang Yuan was speechless.

"This is trouble," the Valley Master said, his face twisting with worry. "Huang Quan doesn’t kill without reason. He must have done this because Jiao Fuping and the Fire-Water Judges offended him. By delivering their bodies in the dead of night, Huang Quan is essentially declaring war on Medicine King Valley."

At his words, panic spread through the crowd. Although they lived deep in the mountains with little contact with the outside world, they had all heard of Huang Quan’s fearsome reputation and his past deeds. They had even seen the recording of his battle with Ba Dao and knew just how terrifying he was.

Now that Huang Quan had set his sights on them, given his ruthless methods, it seemed Medicine King Valley was doomed.

"Let’s not be so quick to draw conclusions!" the leader of the conservative faction suddenly interjected. "Excluding the three Judicator Families and the Temple, it’s true that only Huang Quan could kill the Fire-Water Judges in a direct confrontation. However, if Ye Liangchen used underhanded methods, it’s possible he could have killed them."

The crowd was taken aback, realizing the conservative leader’s analysis made sense.

The Valley Master turned to Jiang Yuan. "Send someone to find Ye Liangchen and verify this at once. If it turns out he wasn’t the one who killed them, then our Medicine King Valley is truly finished."

Jiang Yuan, who was usually at odds with the Valley Master, was in no mood to argue. He turned to a girl beside him and said, "Linglong, you go. Find out for certain if it was Ye Liangchen who killed Jiao Fuping and the Fire-Water Judges."

The girl named Linglong nodded. "Understood. I’ll set out immediately."