Starting with a blind date with a female constable, you acquire the Nine Swords of Dugu.

Chapter 74 Different Kinds of True Qi

Time flies, and nearly half a month has passed.

During this period, Gu Guanqi has been making medicine at the clinic.

The Medicine King's Divine Manual is all-encompassing, containing many profound medicinal prescriptions. Gu Guanqi thought that since he had nothing else to do and it was rare to have such a complete set of medicinal materials, he decided to make more.

Lin Yourong would come to the clinic every day.

Even when she was dealing with things late at night, she would still come to the clinic to see Gu Guanqi. If Gu Guanqi had already returned to the inn, she would run to the inn to find him.

Many times, she would stay with Gu Guanqi from morning till night.

At first, she thought she could help Gu Guanqi, but later she realized that everyone has their own expertise and she really couldn't keep up with the medical skills. So she simply stopped bothering Gu Guanqi and just watched quietly from the side. Later, she suddenly had a bright idea and moved some tools to the corner to sew clothes.

At noon that day, the sun was shining brightly.

The autumn sunlight slanted in through the window, spreading a warm patch of light on the blue brick floor.

Gu Guanqi stood before the long table, holding a mortar and pestle, grinding the medicinal herbs stroke by stroke. Several white porcelain dishes were placed on the table, filled with various herbs.

Lin Yourong sat by the window, a piece of moon-white silk cloth spread on her lap, and scissors in her hand, carefully cutting along the drawn lines. Today she wore a light blue dress, her hair was tied in a bun, and an apron was tied around her waist, which made her look more gentle and domestic.

Her gaze would occasionally drift away from the fabric to steal a glance at Gu Guanqi.

Gu Guanqi, on the other hand, kept his head down, focused on pounding the medicine.

Lin Yourong watched for a while, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously curled up slightly. Just then, she finished sewing the dress in her hand, so she simply lay on the table, tilted her head, and quietly looked at Gu Guanqi.

Just then, a soft knock came from outside the courtyard gate.

"He knocked several times in succession, neither too loud nor too soft, with a hint of cautious probing."

Lin Yourong put down the scissors, got up and walked to the door.

Then they saw Lin Youcai standing at the gate of the courtyard.

He was dressed in a royal blue brocade robe today, and he was quite well-groomed, but the marks of the beating he received half a month ago were still faintly visible on his face.

Lin Youcai peeked inside cautiously and, seeing Gu Guanqi standing in front of the desk, lowered his voice and asked tentatively, "Sister, may I come in? I have something important to tell you!"

Lin Yourong nodded slightly.

Lin Youcai quickly stepped over the threshold and ran into the house in a few strides. Seeing Gu Guanqi pounding medicine in front of the counter, he called out with a grin, "Brother-in-law!"

Gu Guanqi looked up and was slightly taken aback.

He really didn't expect Lin Youcai to call him that. Ever since he saw Lin Youcai get a beating from Lin Yourong that day, the two of them hadn't seen each other. He really didn't know this guy was so unreliable.

Lin Yourong glared at Lin Youcai and said, "What are you yelling about?"

Lin Youcai shrank his neck, chuckled, and muttered, "Let's practice calling it first, so it'll sound smoother later!" He then raised an eyebrow at Gu Guanqi and said, "Right, brother-in-law!"

Gu Guanqi chuckled and said, "If you're not afraid of getting beaten up by your sister, then I don't care."

"You won't beat me up, right, sis?" Lin Youcai said with a grin.

Lin Yourong was too lazy to argue with him. She walked to the table, sat down, took a sip of her tea, and asked, "So, what brings you here?"

Lin Youcai came over, pulled up a chair and sat down, saying, "Sister, I really have important business to attend to today. I'm here on Grandpa's orders."

As he spoke, he pulled an invitation from his pocket and placed it on the table, saying solemnly, "Grandpa asked me to invite my brother-in-law to Lin Youfeng's engagement banquet in seven days." He then turned to look at Gu Guanqi and said, "Brother-in-law, I've left the invitation here!"

Gu Guanqi walked over, puzzled, and asked, "Who is Lin Youfeng?"

Lin Youcai said, "My second uncle's daughter thinks she and my sister are mortal enemies, but my sister has never taken her seriously, right, sister!"

Lin Yourong put down her teacup, her face full of doubt: "Lin Youfeng is engaged? I've never heard of that. When did it happen?"

With whom?

Lin Youcai poured himself a cup of tea and said, "You know this person? Zhou Zhiyao from the Zhou family of Qingshan County."

Lin Yourong frowned slightly, asking in confusion, "Zhou Zhiyao? When did they get together?"

Lin Youcai chuckled, pointed at Gu Guanqi, and said, "It's all because of our brother-in-law. He knew there was no chance for him, so he gave up pursuing you and started dating Lin Youfeng instead. After all, he's not young anymore, almost thirty. All these years, he's focused on martial arts and challenging masters to get on the Qilin Ranking. Now that he's on the Qilin Ranking, he's fulfilled his wish, and it's time for him to get married."

After saying that, Lin Youcai touched his nose and said, "However, this is what Zhou Zhiyao said herself, but I don't think that's the truth. Sis, something's not right with Zhou Zhiyao!"

Lin Yourong looked up at him: "What's wrong?"

Lin Youcai counted on his fingers and analyzed in a serious tone: "As you know, for the past few months, Zhou Zhiyao has been pursuing you, giving me benefits every day, and asking me to be his inside man."

However, I can say with certainty that although he is pursuing you, he doesn't actually like you. I can't sense any of the feelings he expresses for you.

"And now, you've just let go, and immediately you're engaged to Lin Youfeng. This doesn't seem normal at all."

Lin Yourong looked Lin Youcai up and down, her eyes full of surprise: "When did you get a brain?"

Lin Youcai rolled his eyes and said with dissatisfaction, "Sis, what are you saying? When have I ever lost my mind? I just lack ability, not stupidity."

"Then why do you keep giving Zhou Zhiyao advice every day?" Lin Yourong said.

Lin Youcai curled his lip and said, "That's because I know you won't agree to him. Besides, I only hang out with Zhou Zhiyao to swindle money from him. I pass him some trivial information, and that guy thinks I'm an idiot, but I think he's an idiot too!"

Lin Youcai crossed his legs and said, "Sis, you should investigate and see what Zhou Zhiyao's true intentions are."

"No need to investigate, I know his purpose."

Lin Yourong put down her teacup, her gaze falling out the window. After a moment of contemplation, she slowly spoke: "They just want to seize the Lin family's fortune through marriage."

Lin Youcai blinked, not quite understanding at first.

Lin Yourong continued, "Although the Zhou family's martial arts are thriving, they have only focused on developing martial arts in recent years, and their business has been declining day by day. Now they are already unable to make ends meet."

Zhou Zhiyao pursued me because I am the eldest daughter of the Lin family's eldest branch, and I control most of the Lin family's business. Marrying me would be equivalent to marrying most of the Lin family's assets, which could instantly solve the Zhou family's urgent problem.

Furthermore, the Zhou family could use their control over me to gain control over the Lin family. Our Lin family's martial arts are declining. If they come in, and Grandpa falls ill due to old age, it will be hard to say whether Jinxiu Manor will be owned by the Lin or the Zhou family.

Now that they see my approach is blocked, they've turned their attention to the second branch of the family. Although Lin Youfeng doesn't wield much power, the second branch does. They can slowly and steadily erode and infiltrate the Lin family.

After listening, Lin Youcai scratched his head and nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite. "Oh—I see. So, sister, are you going to do anything about it?"

Lin Yourong shook her head slightly: "I can't control them. The second branch of the family is not a peaceful bunch. They have been making trouble behind the scenes all these years. Now, they and the Zhou family are truly a match made in heaven. However, the second branch is short-sighted. They don't think about whether it will be easy to invite a god but difficult to send him away in the future."

Lin Youcai said "Oh," and then asked, "So we're just going to let the Zhou family devour our family?"

Lin Yourong said coldly, "Then let's each rely on our own methods. When has the Lin family ever lacked enemies?"

'

"Then I won't worry about it. Anyway, with you here, it's not my place to fret!"

Lin Youcai stood up, turned around and walked to Gu Guanqi. He resumed his playful demeanor, cupped his hands and said, "Brother-in-law, I'm telling you, you absolutely have to go! Grandpa specifically said he wanted to invite you. If you don't go, Grandpa will blame me for not being able to invite anyone."

"Is it appropriate for me to go?" Gu Guanqi asked.

Lin Youcai quickly said, "Brother-in-law, you and my sister spend every day together, everyone in the Lin family knows that. Actually, Grandpa and Grandma wanted to take this opportunity to meet you, their future grandson-in-law. Don't be shy!"

Gu Guanqi smiled slightly and said, "In that case, I will go ahead."

Lin Youcai grinned, glancing at the various pills displayed on the counter in front of Gu Guanqi. His gaze was finally drawn to a small, translucent pill in a small cauldron. The pills looked very appealing, and he immediately became interested, asking, "Brother-in-law, what kind of miraculous medicine is this?"

Gu Guanqi glanced in the direction Lin Youcai pointed and said, "This is a Hundred Herbs Pill. It's not exactly a miraculous medicine, but rather a relatively comprehensive pill for suppressing poison. It's quite useful when traveling the martial world. If you are poisoned, taking one pill can suppress most poisons in a short time."

"That's amazing! Could you give me a few?" Lin Youcai asked quickly.

"Take whatever you want!"

"Thank you, brother-in-law!" Lin Youcai immediately grabbed a few pills and stuffed them into his pocket. Then he waved, turned around, and left. At the door, he called out to Lin Yourong, "Sister, you and brother-in-law should have a good time together. I won't bother you anymore!"

'

Lin Yourong rolled her eyes and said, "You're still talking nonsense!"

Lin Youcai chuckled and quickly went out the door.

Lin Yourong turned to look at Gu Guanqi and smiled, "That's just my brother's personality, unreliable, don't take it to heart."

Gu Guanqi smiled and said, "Yes, I know."

Lin Yourong smiled and said, "Then don't completely ignore it."

"Huh?" Gu Guanqi was taken aback.

Lin Yourong walked up to Gu Guanqi and said softly, "Actually, I'm quite happy that he calls you brother-in-law!"

Gu Guanqi tactfully touched his nose and said, "Okay, I'll go grind the herbs."

"Wait a minute."

Lin Yourong called out to Gu Guanqi, picked up the newly sewn dress from the table, and said, "Perfect timing! The dress I've been rushing to make for you these past few days is finished. You can wear this to Jinxiu Manor, okay?"

Gu Guanqi looked at the clothes in Lin Yourong's hands and asked in surprise, "These were made for me?"

Lin Yourong nodded slightly and said, "I think from now on, all your clothes will have to be sewn by me personally." She handed the clothes to Gu Guanqi and said, "You can wear this one first. I'll make you a few more sets of clothes to change into during this time. You have to trust my aesthetic sense and craftsmanship; you definitely won't be able to buy clothes that suit your figure and temperament so well outside!"

Gu Guanqi chuckled lightly, "So confident?"

Lin Yourong tiptoed closer to Gu Guanqi's ear and whispered, "Because no tailor understands your beauty better than I do!"

Time flies, and two more days have passed.

That noon, Gu Guanqi and Lin Yourong were having lunch at Jinxiu Medical Clinic.

Someone came to the door; it was Hu Cao, the master tailor from Baoping Lane, who came to inform Gu Guanqi that the gold-threaded soft armor had been modified.

Afterwards, Gu Guanqi and Lin Yourong finished their meal and went to Baoping Lane together to retrieve the Golden Silk Armor.

Hu Cao's craftsmanship is indeed exquisite. Every seam is handled perfectly, forming a seamless whole. Not only is there no trace of splicing, but it is even more exquisite than the original.

Gu Guanqi immediately put it on, and it fit her body very well.

Afterwards, Gu Guanqi and Lin Yourong stayed at Tianyi Xiaozhu for a while before saying goodbye and leaving. Hu Cao saw them off at the door.

Just as I reached the door, I heard hurried footsteps coming from the alley. Then, a familiar voice called out from outside, tinged with panic: "Brother-in-law! Brother-in-law!"

Gu Guanqi and Lin Yourong looked over.

Lin Youcai came running in, panting and covered in sweat. He rushed over, not even bothering to greet Hu Cao and Lin Yourong, and asked urgently, "Brother-in-law, do you still have any Hundred Herbs Pills?"

Gu Guanqi asked in confusion, "Didn't you just take some a couple of days ago?"

"We're all out," Lin Youcai said urgently, wiping the sweat from his brow. "One of our martial arts teams was attacked while delivering goods. The cargo was burned, and all twelve of them were poisoned. The poison is strange and difficult to cure quickly. But it spreads rapidly. Luckily, I had a few Hundred Herbs Pills on me, so I tried them on them, and they actually suppressed the poison. However, I only had a few with me, not enough."

He swallowed hard, looked at Gu Guanqi, and said, "Brother-in-law, could you give me some more Hundred Herbs Pills?"

Gu Guanqi immediately took out a white porcelain bottle and handed it to Lin Youcai, saying, "Take this—hmm, I might as well go with you!"

Gu Guanqi didn't ask why those people weren't at Jinxiu Medical Clinic, because he already knew that the Lin family actually had their own private clinic, and Jinxiu Medical Clinic was just something Lin Yourong had temporarily set up to please him.

The three of them immediately rushed to the Lin family clinic.

Lin Youcai led Gu Guanqi and Lin Yourong to the innermost spacious room.

Several beds were placed against the wall in the room, on which lay several martial arts masters, their faces ashen and breathing rapidly. Nearby, a few others with slightly milder symptoms sat on stools, clutching their chests and looking pained.

An elderly doctor with graying hair and beard approached and hurriedly asked Lin Youcai, "Second Young Master, have you brought the elixir?"

Lin Youcai quickly took out the porcelain bottle and said, "Not only have I brought the pills, but I've also found the person who makes the medicine."

Lin Youcai hurriedly distributed the pills to the martial artists who hadn't received the Hundred Herbs Pills before. Then, he introduced Gu Guanqi, saying, "This is the famous Gu Guanqi, the tenth on the Qilin Ranking and the number one young talent in Qingzhou. He's the one who refined these Hundred Herbs Pills."

Everyone was somewhat surprised, but they didn't take it too seriously. After all, they were all poisoned, and even if the King of Heaven himself came, they wouldn't be very interested.

After Lin Youcai finished speaking, he quickly said, "Brother-in-law, why don't you take a look at them first!"

Gu Guanqi nodded slightly, said nothing more, walked to the nearest martial artist, reached out and put his hand on the man's pulse, and focused his attention on sensing it for a moment.

The poison in the martial artist's body wasn't too potent, but it was extremely cunning, a mixture of three different poisons that countered and stimulated each other, making it difficult to neutralize using ordinary methods.

Before meeting Lin Yourong, he really wouldn't have been able to cure the poison, but now that he has obtained the max-level Medicine King Divine Manual, there are very few poisons he can't cure.

Immediately, he took out silver needles and pierced several acupoints on the martial artist's body, channeling a wisp of purple qi into him to force the poison to one spot. Then, he used the silver needles to guide the poisoned blood out. Black poisoned blood slowly flowed from the needle holes, dripping into the copper basin with a hissing sound and emitting tiny wisps of white smoke.

The martial artist's ashen face regained a sliver of color at a visible speed, and his breathing gradually became steady.

Subsequently, Gu Guanqi administered acupuncture to detoxify each patient.

These people hadn't been poisoned for very long, and the toxicity hadn't penetrated their internal organs, so treatment wasn't too difficult. In less than half an hour, everyone was completely detoxified.

As soon as the last needle was removed, Lin Youcai immediately brought over an oil lamp. Gu Guanqi heated the silver needle for a long time before putting it back in the cloth bag.

Lin Yourong took out a silk handkerchief and gently wiped the sweat from Gu Guanqi's forehead, saying softly, "You've worked hard, Guanqi."

Gu Guanqi waved his hand and said, "I'll write another prescription later. After taking it for three or four days, the toxins will be completely eliminated."

All the martial arts masters bowed to Gu Guanqi in gratitude.

In the corner sat a young man on the bed, head bowed, his entire being like a withered tree, lifeless. His eyes were terrifyingly empty, as if he had lost his soul, staring at the ground, motionless.

This person is not only silent now, but he was also completely silent and motionless when Gu Guanqi gave him acupuncture to detoxify him.

Lin Youcai walked over and asked, "Brother Youhui, what happened? It's not that serious. It's good that you're alright. The goods are lost, but that's okay. We can just pay some compensation. Don't worry, no one will blame you!"

The young man remained silent.

Lin Youcai comforted her in a low voice from the side.

Lin Yourong whispered to Gu Guanqi, "That's my cousin, Lin Youhui, the eldest son of the second branch of our Lin family. Although my second uncle always goes against our eldest branch, Youhui is a practical person and never does anything reckless with my second uncle. So, he has a pretty good relationship with our eldest branch."

Gu Guanqi nodded slightly and said, "He seems to have suffered a heavy blow. Is the cargo he was transporting very valuable this time?"

"No, I don't think so," Lin Yourong said. "The Lin family hasn't sent any valuable goods out recently."

Just then, Lin Youhui finally spoke. He raised his head, his lips trembling slightly, and said, "Sister Yourong, you're so talented—my skills—are gone!"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked over, filled with doubt.

Lin Youcai quickly asked, "Brother Hui, what did you say? What do you mean by 'internal energy is gone'? What exactly happened back then?"

Lin Youhui's face was pale as he said, "I don't know the specifics of what happened. We were inexplicably poisoned, and then a group of men in black attacked. I fought with one of them, but he used a strange martial art, a kind of bizarre true energy, which directly neutralized my internal energy. It just completely neutralized it."

I have absolutely no internal energy left in my dantian, and it's even damaged; I don't even have the chance to repair it.

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

Gu Guanqi was also slightly taken aback, and subconsciously thought of a kind of evil technique that he knew that could also dissolve a person's internal energy - the Dissolving Power Technique.

Immediately, Gu Guanqi stepped forward and reached out to touch Lin Youhui's wrist.

The true energy of the purple clouds slowly flowed in, probing into the dantian along the meridians.

Gu Guanqi focused his attention and sensed for a moment.

Lin Youhui's dantian was indeed almost empty of internal energy, and it was in a state of imminent collapse.

When he was applying acupuncture earlier, he also sensed that Lin Youhui didn't have much internal energy. At the time, he thought that the other party simply had shallow internal energy and had consumed too much of it.

The next moment, Gu Guanqi's true energy suddenly detected an extremely faint trace in Lin Youhui's meridians—it was a true energy completely different from Lin Youhui's, completely suppressing Lin Youhui's remaining original internal strength.

"This is----"

Gu Guanqi frowned; he was very familiar with this true energy.

It was exactly the same as the strange true energy he had neutralized in Lin Yourong's body in Xiushan County a month ago.

Gu Guanqi loosened his fingers and said to Lin Yourong, "Yourong, there is a trace of another kind of true energy remaining in your cousin's body. That true energy—is the same kind as the one in your body that day."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yourong's pupils contracted slightly.

She was ambushed by the man in black that day. That strange true energy was extremely difficult to deal with. It lingered near her Juque acupoint, eroding her meridians and disrupting her qi and blood. She was unable to resolve it with her own internal energy. If Gu Guanqi hadn't intervened, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

She will never forget that surge of true energy.

She then grabbed Lin Youhui's wrist to examine it, her brow furrowed, and said, "It is indeed the same kind of true energy, but why wasn't my true energy neutralized?"

Gu Guanqi thought for a moment and said, "The true qi is the same kind of true qi, but the opponent was able to injure you and channel their true qi into your meridians, which means they have the ability to neutralize your internal energy. So, think about it the other way around: why didn't the opponent neutralize your internal energy?"

Lin Yourong frowned.

Lin Youhui raised his head, looked at Gu Guanqi, then at Lin Yourong, and said in a hoarse voice, "Sister Yourong, was the person who attacked you the same one I encountered? Then this is definitely not a random robbery, but a premeditated attack targeting our Lin family."

Lin Yourong nodded, not saying much, but patted his shoulder and said gently, "Youhui, don't panic, there's always a way. Although you've lost your inner strength, if you recover, you might be able to start cultivating again."

"You focus on recovering from your injury. I'll handle the rest."

Lin Youhui kept his head down and didn't say anything, but his shoulders were trembling slightly.

The atmosphere in the clinic remained somber and oppressive.

Although the poison of those martial arts masters had been cured and they all breathed a sigh of relief, the news that Lin Youhui's internal energy had been crippled made everyone unhappy.

Just then, before the oppressive atmosphere in the clinic could dissipate, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the door.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw a middle-aged couple hurriedly walking in with a young woman.

Leading the way was a man in his forties, with fair skin, delicate features, and a clean-shaven chin. He wore a dark green brocade robe, walked hurriedly, and looked anxious.

This person is Lin Yuanhu, the second master of the Lin family, who is also Lin Yourong's second uncle.

Following behind him was a woman dressed in a purple dress. Although her age was evident from her features, she still retained her charm and maintained her skin and figure very well. She looked haggard, clearly worried.

This was Liu Su, Lin Yourong's second aunt.

At the very back was a young woman of about twenty years old, who bore a resemblance to Liu Su. This woman was Lin Youfeng, the daughter of Lin Yuanhu, and the one who was about to be engaged to Zhou Zhiyao, the eldest son of the Zhou family.