I became the tyrant's only belief.

Chapter 389 It’s too late to meet
"Heh, you don't actually think that Yin Lanci went through all this trouble for you guys, do you?"

Zheng Qianqian was speechless.

"Yin Lanci is a complete madman!" Tongniang slashed his arm again, making him see more clearly. "She has never treated you as human beings. You are just her tools for killing, her carefully crafted puppets!"

"No, no." Zheng Qianqian tried to close his eyes, but Tongniang forcibly opened them, staring at the slowly healing wound, staring at the evidence that he was a monster.

"Master is saving me, she won't hurt me, she won't!" Zheng Qianqian's voice grew louder and louder until he almost shouted it out.

[Huh~ Why are you shouting so loudly all of a sudden? Are Tong Niang's ears okay?]

Tongniang didn't care about her ears for the moment. She dragged Zheng Qianqian to the iron cage, pressed him against it, and made him open his eyes wide to take a good look.

"This is the result of your good master's actions. Hongying's fate is your fate too. You will eventually become a monster like her!"

“No, no… no…” Outside the tent, Zheng Qianqian slumped on the ground, his eyes a deep blue, but his gaze was unfocused. “No… Master wouldn’t do this to me.”

Feng Jing walked around him once, shook his head and sighed, then raised his hand and inserted a needle into the back of his neck.

Zheng Qianqian closed his eyes and collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Chu Liuzheng asked in confusion, "Why are you stabbing him?"

“He’s been too traumatized; he’ll go insane if this continues.” Feng Jing put away the silver needles and turned to ask Xiao Jingfan, “Your Majesty, it would be a loss if this man went insane. Let him rest for two hours before questioning him.”

Xiao Jingfan glanced at Zheng Qianqian's pale face and ordered his guards to take him away and keep him under close watch.

[Tsk, Yin Lanci really has a lot of bad influence on people. He's supposed to be a disciple, but I've never seen a master who would try to ruin his disciple like this.]

Chu Liuzheng watched as the guards carried Zheng Qianqian away.

[If my second junior brother could wake up and have a change of heart, abandoning darkness for light, that would greatly increase our chances of capturing Yin Lanci.]

Feng Jing walked over and handed her a jar.

Chu Liuzheng reached out to take it and asked, "What is this?"

"The seasoning for grilled fish," Feng Jing glanced at her sideways. "You haven't forgotten, have you?"

Chu Liuzheng: "..."

She really forgot.

The kind of forgetting that is completely forgotten.

"Of course I haven't forgotten, but..." She pointed to the tent, "After seeing this... do you still have an appetite for grilled fish?"

Anyway, she had no appetite at all.

Feng Jing asked in surprise, "I'm eating fish, not people, so why don't I have an appetite?"

If he lost his appetite just by looking at it, he would have starved to death long ago, given the methods his master used to teach his disciples.

Chu Liuzheng: "..."

That makes perfect sense.

Hearing their conversation, Xiao Jingfan asked her, "Do you want grilled fish?"

Chu Liuzheng nodded and said, "The fish caught from the stream are the perfect size to grill. However, you have a cough, so you can't eat them."

After seeing Hongying's miserable state, how could Xiao Jingfan possibly eat?
However, there is a big difference between not wanting to eat and not being able to eat.

His Majesty the Emperor was inexplicably displeased.

Having served the emperor for so long, Chu Liuzheng knew very well how to soothe him: "This servant will stew crucian carp soup for you, a one-of-a-kind dish."

Hearing the words "one of a kind," Xiao Jingfan was barely satisfied.

At this moment, Huang Xin arrived with his men, saying that a batch of urgent memorials had been sent from the capital and required the emperor's personal review.

Xiao Jingfan, who had originally planned to watch Chu Liuzheng grill fish, had no choice but to return to the main tent to work, and Zhou Yuande hurriedly followed to serve him.

Chu Liuzheng had already reported to the emperor, so he didn't go with him. Instead, he inquired about the situation in the fourth month with Feng Jing.

Feng Jing said, "The poison has been neutralized. Drink a few doses of herbal medicine and practice internal energy cultivation for a month, and you'll be fine."

Chu Liuzheng asked worriedly, "Why does it take so long to recuperate?" Tongniang only needed two or three days to recuperate. "Siyue's situation is different from Tongniang's," Feng Jing said, glancing at her. "Zheng Qianqian's palm strike was aimed at killing. You don't actually think he's that easy to deal with, do you?"

Chu Liuzheng: "..."

She wouldn't say anything about how Dr. Feng was so ruthless that it made her second junior brother seem too weak.

Feng Jing crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes: "The Poison Palm is domineering and targets the meridians. If it weren't for me, Siyue's martial arts would have been ruined."

Tong Niang, standing beside him, nodded in agreement, confirming that what he said was true.

"A miracle doctor!" Chu Liuzheng immediately gave Feng Jing a thumbs up and praised him, even using professional terms to praise the doctor, such as "miraculous healing" and "Hua Tuo reborn."

Feng Jing gave a light hum, indicating that the hardworking divine doctor deserved two grilled fish.

Chu Liuzheng asked doubtfully, "Can you even finish that?"

"Of course." Feng Jing rubbed his stomach. "The acupuncture treatment was too taxing; I need to replenish my energy."

Fine.

Before making the grilled fish, Chu Liuzheng went to visit Siyue.

Inside the tent, Siyue had just taken her medicine and fallen asleep, with Chenxing keeping watch beside her.

Seeing Chu Liuzheng and Feng Jing walk in one after the other, she quickly got up to greet them, smiling as she took Chu Liuzheng's arm and sweetly called her "sister."

Chu Liuzheng walked to the bedside and saw that Siyue was sleeping soundly, so he reached out and tucked the blanket around her.

She turned to Chenxing and instructed, "Siyue suffered internal injuries and needs to take medicine, which will be inconvenient. Please take care of her for a few days. Zhou Gonggong and I will take care of His Majesty."

"Okay." Chen Xing nodded obediently.

Chu Liuzheng then went to the kitchen with peace of mind, and Feng Jing, who was longing to eat grilled fish, quickly followed.

After a flurry of activity, Chu Liuzheng's grilled fish received unanimous praise.

Old Wu humbly sought advice from Chu Liuzheng.

The two sat on small stools by the stove, chatting about everything from grilled fish to braised pig's trotters, braised pork ribs, roast duck, and roast goose... They were like kindred spirits, wishing they had known each other for a long time.

Inside the main tent, Xiao Jingfan finished dealing with the urgent memorials and drank the fish soup, but the person who cooked the fish soup was nowhere to be seen.

Even without being told, Eunuch Zhou went to find people for His Majesty without any prompting.

Old Wu reluctantly let her leave, watching Chu Liuzheng's departing figure, and sighed, "This girl is born to be a chef. If only she could stay and be my apprentice, I would teach her all my secret techniques."

"Dream on." Tang Laosan spat out a fish bone and patted his shoulder. "Miss Chu is His Majesty's favorite. Serving His Majesty is much more promising than being a cook like you. With just one word from His Majesty, what can't she have?"

“That’s true.” Old Wu suddenly didn’t feel sorry for him anymore. He took off his apron and went to find Huang Xin, trying to lift the ban on cooking fish in the army.

He is now very confident in himself!
The salted egg yolk on the horizon rolled down the mountain, and the sky suddenly darkened.

The evening breeze is blowing.

The stars twinkled in the deep blue night sky.

After dinner, Dr. Feng planned to take his two newly acquired shadow-chasing insects out for some fresh air and a snack of insects.

To prevent the two little ones from escaping, he specifically went to find Tongniang to accompany him and have Han Qingjia supervise them.

Under the cover of night, two shadow-chasing insects flew ahead, while the Cold-Blue Armored Beast followed slowly behind, a harmonious scene.

Tongniang carried a glass bottle in her hand, collecting dewdrops from the grass leaves as she walked.

Feng Jing carried a small bamboo basket on his back and a small hoe in his hand. Whenever he came across a useful herb, he would dig it up and throw it into the bamboo basket.

The two chatted casually, with Feng Jing asking questions and Tong Niang answering.

Feng Jing was very curious about Yuecheng, so Tongniang told him only what she could tell him.

Feng Jing caught a centipede, intending to feed it to the Shadow Chaser Insect, but when he looked up, he exclaimed in surprise, "How come there's only one left?"

(End of this chapter)