Li Mochou's figure faded completely into the pitch-black night.
The suffocating murderous intent that hung over Lu Manor finally dissipated.
Only after a good while did half a face peek out from the crack of the main hall door.
An old servant looked left and right.
"Are... are they gone?"
They waited for a few more breaths.
Only then did the servants and guards from the rear courtyard, side rooms, and woodshed emerge one after another.
Some were still clutching kitchen knives, while others held wooden sticks.
Not a single one of them had dared to show their face moments ago, and their legs were still trembling.
"Master!"
"Madam!"
Several servants rushed forward, hurriedly helping Lu Liding and his wife into chairs.
The moment Lu Liding sat down, he struggled to stand back up again.
"Shuang'er..."
"Ah Ying..."
As soon as his feet touched the ground, his legs gave out, and he nearly collapsed to his knees.
"Master, be careful!" The servants hurriedly supported him.
Lu Liding's bloodshot eyes glared fixedly at the ruined wall Li Mochou had leaped over.
Filled with remorse, his hands continued to tremble:
"As a father..."
"I watched helplessly as my own daughter was abducted."
"I couldn't even take a single step to give chase."
He slammed his fist viciously into his leg.
Bang!
Once, then twice.
"What kind of father am I!"
Lu Erniang's tears trickled down continuously.
She didn't utter a single word of complaint, merely reaching out.
She tightly gripped her husband's fist and softly comforted him:
"Husband, stop hitting yourself."
"If you injure yourself further..."
"...what will we do when Shuang'er returns?"
Lu Liding froze, his lips trembling twice.
Lu Erniang wiped away her tears:
"If Li Mochou wanted to kill them, she wouldn't have carried them off."
"She must have moved with compassion upon seeing that embroidered handkerchief."
"As long as Shuang'er and Ah Ying are alive..."
"...there is always a way."
Though she said this...
...her own hands were trembling even harder than Lu Liding's.
The husband and wife had been entirely focused on the two children just now.
Neither of them had noticed that on the other side of the courtyard...
...Wu Sanniang had long since crawled slowly to Wu Santong's side.
After being struck by three Ice Soul Silver Needles...
...the madman had continued to act like a lunatic, giving no thought to suppressing the poison in time.
As his internal energy surged and his blood rushed...
At first, only his right arm had turned black, but before long, dark qi had climbed up to his shoulder, and he had passed out unconscious.
Yet at this moment, the dark poisonous patches on Wu Santong's swollen, gleaming arm had actually receded by more than half.
Lu Liding looked closely, his heart and courage shattering.
Wu Sanniang's lips were black as ink, and a pool of black blood lay vomited on the ground.
He instantly understood.
Taking advantage of the chaos earlier, Wu Sanniang had actually sucked the poison out of Wu Santong's arm, mouth by mouth!
Lu Liding hurriedly shouted to several servants, "Quickly, help me over there!"
Several servants supported Lu Liding and Lu Erniang, staggering up to them.
Lu Liding looked at Wu Sanniang: "Senior Wu, you..."
With poisonous blood oozing from the corners of her mouth, Wu Sanniang raised her hand with great effort and waved it gently:
"Manor Master Lu."
"Don't call me senior."
"I..."
"...don't deserve it."
As she spoke, she turned her head to glance at the unconscious Wu Santong.
Her gaze was a complex mix of emotions.
There was anger, resentment, and an inability to let go.
"Years ago, my husband caused an uproar at your elder brother's wedding feast."
"As his wife, I failed to stop him."
"Over the years since, he went mad for Ah Yuan's sake..."
"...causing your Lu family no end of trouble."
Lu Liding hurriedly shook his head:
"Senior Wu, please don't say that."
"If not for you and Great Hero Ke acting righteously today..."
"...my Lu family would likely already be..."
He couldn't bring himself to finish.
Wu Sanniang chuckled weakly:
"We owe your Lu family a great debt."
"I came on this trip intending to take my husband home, and to help you settle this calamity."
She looked at the black blood on her hands and continued:
"As it stands now..."
"...we overreached after all, and still let Li Mochou escape."
Lu Erniang's tears continued to fall:
"Madam Wu, please stop talking."
"We'll send for a doctor."
"There are fine physicians in Jiaxing City."
"Someone, come quickly!"
Wu Sanniang shook her head:
"There's no need. It's too late."
She knew in her heart that by sucking the poison out with her mouth, it had already penetrated her internal organs.
Besides, the poison of the Ice Soul Silver Needle...
...was not something an ordinary doctor could cure.
Right at that moment, Wu Santong, lying on the ground, suddenly stirred.
"Ugh..."
Frowning, he slowly opened his eyes.
With little poison remaining in his body, he gradually woke up, his muddled mind regaining some clarity.
Wu Santong sat up clutching his throbbing head, and froze when he caught sight of Wu Sanniang beside him with black lips:
"Sanniang, what happened to you? Why does your face look like that?"
Lu Liding's face darkened instantly.
He hadn't wanted to pry.
Yet hearing those words, he couldn't suppress his rage:
"You actually have the nerve to ask?"
Wu Santong was startled.
Lu Liding pointed at the black blood on the ground.
"You were struck by three of Li Mochou's poison needles."
"You pushed your internal energy like a madman."
"The poisonous qi nearly surged into your heart meridian."
"It was your wife who, mouth by mouth..."
"...sucked the poisonous blood out of your right arm."
Lu Liding glared at him, his tone filled with disdain:
"Your life is saved."
"But her life... is almost gone."
It felt as if a bolt from the blue had struck Wu Santong's brain, making every wild hair on his body stand on end:
"Sanniang! Sanniang, hold on!"
Scrambling on all fours, he lunged forward, throwing his arms open to embrace Wu Sanniang.
Wu Sanniang suddenly raised her palm.
Bang!
The strike had lost most of its force, yet it still pushed Wu Santong back half a step.
Wu Santong froze in place.
Wu Sanniang looked up at him, saying weakly:
"Wu Santong."
"As husband and wife..."
"...our destiny ends today."
Wu Santong shook his head:
"What are you saying?"
"Sanniang, don't talk nonsense!"
Wu Sanniang gave him no chance to interrupt:
"Back then, you were the commander of the Royal Guards of Dali Kingdom."
"I was merely a village girl."
"I had little schooling..."
"...and no family standing."
The corners of her mouth twitched in pain as she continued:
"You didn't look down on me."
"You married me."
"Back then, I thought how blessed I was."
Wu Santong's tears were already streaming down:
"Sanniang..."
"Stop talking."
Wu Sanniang didn't stop:
"Despite the vast disparity in our standing, you did not disdain my peasant origin and took me as your wife."
"Today, I sucked out the poisonous blood for you."
"Consider it repayment for the kindness you showed me back then."
"From now on, we owe each other nothing."
"We are linked no more."
Wu Santong wept with snot and tears smearing his face, still trying to press forward:
"Sanniang, I was wrong! I truly know I was wrong!"
"Don't leave me behind!"
Wu Sanniang spat up another mouthful of poisonous blood, reaching out her hand to hold Wu Santong back as he tried to come closer.
Propping herself up against the cold stone pavers, she turned her gaze toward the crooked tree:
"Great Hero Ke."
Ke Zhen'e's ears twitched. Clutching his heavy iron staff, he strode over with long steps:
"Madam Wu, what do you need of this old man?"
Wu Sanniang forced her body upright and knelt before Ke Zhen'e.
Seeing her teetering, Lu Liding waved for the servants to support her, but Wu Sanniang waved them off:
"No need!"
She raised her blood-stained forehead, staring intently at Ke Zhen'e before her, and said:
"I have long heard that the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan keep their word like gold."
"The world says the Eastern Heretic, Western Venom, Southern Emperor, and Northern Beggar—the Four Greats—possess martial arts that tower over all."
She gasped for breath with difficulty:
"Yet in my eyes..."
"...the word 'hero'..."
"...is never about whose martial arts are superior."
"Great Hero Ke's heroic spine and gentle heart are truly number one under heaven!"
"Therefore, I have one thing... I wish to entrust to you, Master Ke."
She violently spat out another mouthful of black blood.
Ke Zhen'e's grip on his iron staff tightened slowly:
"Madam Wu, whatever it is, speak freely."
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