"Come over, follow closely behind me and be careful."

Qinghu smiled as he led Lin Mengya into the small, dark room.

Spying Qinghu's smile on his face, Lin Mengya's curiosity was kindled.

What this suspense all about?

There was a movement in the courtyard the moment they entered the room.

"Who's that?"

Qinghu reacted quickly and pushed Lin Mengya into the dark room.

"How are you doing, Master of the dock?"

Lin Mengya's body tensed when she heard the words.

She supposed that no one in Peach Blossom Dock knew Qinghu to be alive.

"Who is this?"

Qinghu, who was usually cautious and vigilant, did not acknowledge nor deny being a member of the dock.

Nevertheless, his arms were stiff in preparation to kill whoever was in the courtyard.

"Don't be anxious. I'm just like you, having escaped from Peach Blossom Dock. Just I was not as lucky as you."

The voice was hoarse and not pleasant to the ear, making Lin Mengya uneasy.

"So it's you. Why don't you show yourself since you're already here."

Although Qinghu seemed to know the person's identity, he opened the door of the dark room and walked out, leaving Lin Mengya in there.

"Be careful."

Lin Mengya held on tightly to Qinghu's sleeves, refusing to let go of him.

"It's alright, lass, he's not my match."

With his usual warm smile, Qinghu slipped out in an instant and locked the door behind him.

"Yunzhu, if you're seeking my life, I welcome you to seek your death, but first tell me how you found this place."

Qinghu walked out carefully step by step. Under the moonlit sky, the queer smile on his unisex face was clearly visible.

"Seeking your life? Do you think I would be able to regain everything and be back to my old self by killing you? Qinghu, I had not persisted until now to seek death."

Suddenly, another shadowy figure in black floated down from the other corner of the courtyard.

However, that figure did not appear to be male. Being completely swaddled in a veil of black, the figure felt more like a malicious spirit.

"Since I've managed to track you down all the way here, isn't this the evidence that I've passed Moran's test? However, I'm really surprised to see many familiar faces in your Furong Restaurant."

Yunzhu must be an ex-killer in Peach Blossom Dock.

Lin Mengya could more or less deduce this fact. However, Qinghu sounded as if there were some kind of grievances between them.

Moran? Was he referring to that guy at Furong Restaurant?

"Did Moran send you here?"

This statement seemed to put Qinghu at ease, so that he started letting down his guard.

Yunzhu chuckled in his hoarse voice.

She stretched out her hand to lift off the black veil covering her head.

"What else is there for me to hold on to if I've already come to this state?"

Under the moonlight, Yunzhu's countenance could be seen clearly from where Lin Mengya was and she gasped at the sight of Yunzhu.

A girl's face was said to be her most important asset, but the face of the girl before her eyes was wrinkled with loose, droopy skin that resembled the bark of an old tree.

"Your face—"

Qinghu exclaimed, seemingly taken aback, but only for a second.

What kind of person had he not seen in Peach Blossom Dock?

At least this was only a wrinkled, gray-haired old lady.

"The poison in my body had been half-neutralized by a very able person. Unfortunately, my face is ruined and cannot be salvaged."

Yunzhu made herself sound so casual, nevertheless, Lin Mengya could hear the nostalgia in her voice.

It was not uncommon for people living in modern society to suffer premature aging.

However, this was not the case for Yunzhu. From what she said, it seemed that this aging was the side effect of some poison in her.

"You used to be the most famous and popular prostitute in the whole of the Capital City in those days. What a pity."

The poison in Qinghu's body had also been neutralized, but his countenance remained that of a twenty-year-old man.

Coupled with the fact that he had been spending so much time around Lin Mengya, Qinghu had gradually walked out of depression.

Someone without any background knowledge of Qinghu would never make any connection between this handsome young man and the cold-blooded killer in Peach Blossom Dock.

Lin Mengya peeked through the chink of the door, hoping desperately that these two lunatics would not get into a fight.

"The number one prostitute? Haha, who would know that I'm the number one prostitute as well as a tiptop killer in Peach Blossom Dock? Let's cut the crap for now. I heard from Moran that you broadcasted through them that you were able to detoxify all kinds of poison, is that true?"

Qinghu started frowning as he began to be wary of this woman before him.

"Yes, I did say that, but hasn't the poison in your body been neutralized?"

An almost undetectable look of misery flashed momentarily across Yunzhu's eyes.

"If only you could detoxify the poison in his body, I'm willing to be used by you any way you wish. Even if you poison me so that I would be under your control, I'll be willing."

Qinghu dazed for a moment. Did the woman not escape from Peach Blossom Dock in order to break free from other people's control?

Why would she—

"Let me out, damn fox!"

As the sudden frustrated voice of Lin Mengya sounded, Yunzhu was slightly taken aback.

Finally, the enigmatic look on Qinghu's face was gone.

Looking more like a child who had done something wrong, Qinghu opened the door behind him.

"You got carried away in your happy conversation that you've completely neglected my feelings! Luckily I'm not claustrophobic, otherwise, you'd have scared the shit out of me!"

Once outside the room, Lin Mengya's fists were clenched as she was about to give Qinghu a punch.

Qinghu, who did not manage to dodge Lin Mengya's attach on time, cried out in agony. He held on to his bruised chin and looked grudgingly at Lin Mengya.

Why on earth was this lass always so sassy?

The two were fighting and arguing when they at some point looked at each other and were suddenly aware of the woman's amused glare.

"My apologies for his lack of manners, which must have appeared ridiculous."

As Lin Mengya removed the hood of the cape from her hand, her gorgeous face was revealed under the moonlight.

"It's alright, but I've not been introduced. You are—"

"I'm his family. I might become your behind-the-scenes boss in future. You may call me Lin Mengya."

As she stretched out her arm, Yunzhu hesitated for a second, but eventually, a smile appeared on her wrinkled face.

"I'm surprised you're actually this young and pretty, just like me in those days."

What was even more surprising was that the most feared master in the Peach Blossom Dock back in those days had become so... obedient before this girl.

What was so extraordinary about this girl?

"Although the poison on your body had been neutralized, the poison on your face would not be so easy to get rid of. Perhaps, the method you used to get rid of the poison in your body had somehow forced and concentrated all of the poison onto your face."

After Lin Mengya held on to Yunzhu's hand, she could more or less accurately assess her condition.

Yunzhu looked at the girl before her eyes with amazement. How did she find this out before she even told her?

"You're right. I've stumbled upon this martial arts skill which after I mastered it, was able to force or concentrate the poison in my body to onto one part of my body. However, I had not expected that this part of the body turned out to be my face."

Yunzhu was narrating her story as if it was somebody else's experience, which was to be expected from a killer. A person capable of being a killer was unlikely to be compassionate and sympathetic.

"What you don't know is that although this method was able to preserve your life, one day there would be a counter effect. By that time, you'll be greatly tormented."

What she did was equivalent to compressing the poison in her body into a zip file.

Once it got extracted from the "compressed file", not even the gods could save her.

She would be struggling on whilst at death's door. It would be a matter of time that she passed on.

"So what? Anyways I neither look like a ghost nor a human. If you're able to neutralize the poison for me, I'll serve you faithfully. On the other hand, if you fail to do so, I will spread the news that Qinghu is still alive. Then, there will be a stream of killers going after your lives!"

When she was done talking, Yunzhu turned around and left.

"She's a lunatic, let's not bother about what she said, lass."

As Lin Mengya's eyes followed Yunzhu as she went away, her curiosity was aroused.

"Why did she leave Peach Blossom Dock?"

Qinghu pondered and then replied, "She did it for a man. At that time, her fame had spread far and wide in the Capital City. This man was one of many who visited her frequently, but I'm not clear what happened later on. Don't worry, I won't give her a chance to spread the news about me."

If Qinghua claimed to be the second most cruel person around, no one would dare to claim to be the first.

He had instructed Moran and Qingli to spread the information so Lin Mengya could start to recruit talents.

He was especially hoping to attract kungfu masters who had relocated to other villages when they got injured.

Qinghu had full confidence in Lin Mengya's skill in handling poison. He believed that she would be able to win the hearts of many by her talent.

"I agree, but have you gotten ready all the things I have asked you to help me prepare?"

Qinghu nodded, and thereafter, he dashed into the small, empty building.

Soon, he brought out a small box the size of a palm from within the building.

There was a lock on the box. Once he unlocked the box, one could see that there were two layers to the inside of the box.

Little compartments the size of fingernails was partitioned but tightly sealed using light wood.

Lin Mengya opened one of them and a pungent sweet smell came onto her in that instant.

"What a delicate little thing. However, how did you put this poisonous medicine here?"

Lin Mengya picked up the dark red pill the size of a soybean. It was an extremely poisonous medicine.

Its potency should not be underestimated because even such a small pill could poison and kill an entire village of people.

"Wow, you even sealed it with wax. Looks like you're getting better at this."

Lin Mengya placed the poisonous pill back into the box and realized that there were altogether 36 tiny compartments.

This would become something her survival kit which she would gradually fill it up with medicine useful to her.

This box was carefully and painstakingly sought out by Qinghu and no one except Lin Mengya would be able to open the box.

"I'm just trying it out."

Qinghu smiled. There was no way he would tell Lin Mengya that he had killed the entire household of the smith using this same poisonous pill after the smith gave him the box.

He would certainly be severely berated if the lass found out about this.