Chapter 979: Medical Clinic

A group of shirtless men walked through a dim passage, emerging from the penal prison.

With the sun high in the sky and fierce sunlight bathing everything, the bone-chilling cold finally dissipated considerably, giving them a feeling of having narrowly escaped death.

The experience of this ordeal was destined to be remembered by many for a lifetime, and they would certainly keep a respectful distance from the dreaded penal prison.

Zhou Kui and Zhang Cheng quickly led their respective teams away. Before leaving, Zhou Kui did not forget to glare fiercely at Lu Ye.

"Yi Ye, this time I got you into trouble," Captain Geng said.

Lu Ye watched Zhou Kui walk away, slowly shaking his head. "We still don't know who got whom into trouble."

"What do you mean?" Captain Geng asked, puzzled.

"That Zhou Kui was probably coming for me. Two days ago, I went to his Zhou family and apprehended someone!" Lu Ye explained.

Originally, he had also thought the incident stemmed from Captain Geng's failure to control his temper, leading to a conflict between several teams. But when Lu Ye learned that the person he had fought against was named Zhou Kui, some previously unclear matters suddenly became clear.

When the conflict first broke out, Lu Ye rushed to help, and Zhou Kui immediately stopped him. At the time, Lu Ye felt something was amiss; it didn't make sense for a True Lake Ninth-layer body cultivator to target him directly. In that situation, he should have focused on Captain Geng.

However, if this person was indeed Zhou Kui, then everything made sense.

When he apprehended Zhou Wang at the Zhou family's estate, the Outer Affairs Elder, Zhou Ze, had mentioned Zhou Kui's name to him, likely hoping Lu Ye would show him some face and let Zhou Wang off the hook.

But how could Lu Ye know any Martial Kings? Not only did he refuse the valuables Zhou Ze sent, he even forcefully entered the Zhou family manor and, right under the eyes of the Zhou family cultivators, apprehended Zhou Wang.

The news must have reached Zhou Kui's ears, which was why today's incident occurred.

Perhaps their existing conflict with Team A8 was also a contributing factor, but Zhou Kui definitely wanted to seize this opportunity to teach Lu Ye a good lesson and vent his anger.

However, he hadn't expected Lu Ye to surpass him in physical prowess. As a result, he failed to teach Lu Ye a lesson and was taught one himself!

Captain Geng, unaware of these underlying complexities, grinned after hearing Lu Ye's explanation. "Anyway, it's already happened. No matter who got whom into trouble, we suffered together in the end. Come on, let's go to the medical hall to treat our injuries."

Enforcement Hall teams typically did not have medical cultivators because they were relatively few in number, making it impossible for every team to be assigned one.

Hence, the establishment of medical halls.

Cultivators traveling to and from Haotian City who sustained injuries could go to the medical hall for treatment. All expenses were borne by the State Guard, and medical cultivators, when treating the soldiers' injuries, could also receive battle merits as a reward.

Lu Ye, of course, knew about the medical hall but had never visited it. He heard that it was home to many beautiful medical cultivators from various sects across Bingzhou, and of course, there were also male medical cultivators...

The medical hall, as an institution, was under the Medical Affairs Department, which managed and allocated all medical cultivators within the entire State Guard. Medical cultivators stationed at various major frontier passes were, in a broad sense, directly under the jurisdiction of the Medical Affairs Department.

Under Captain Geng's lead, the group arrived at the medical hall.

There was a constant stream of cultivators entering and exiting. Cultivators frequently engaged in skirmishes outside, and injuries were commonplace. Even if injuries healed, some hidden ailments might remain.

Naturally, they often visited the medical hall, either for treatment or to regulate their hidden ailments.

The medical cultivators in the hall were accustomed to this. Upon entering the medical hall and presenting their guard tokens, someone would naturally come to escort them to individual small rooms to await treatment.

Lu Ye lay face down on the bed, exposing his bloodied and bruised back. Sister Lu sat beside him, concerned. "Captain, does it hurt?"

"Nonsense!" Lu Ye snapped, realizing for the first time that having female cultivators in the team wasn't necessarily a good thing; it meant he had to endure several more strikes of the Reverse Dragon Thorns.

Sister Lu stuck out her tongue. "Then next time, don't take the punishment for me. I can handle it myself." Lu Ye was too bothered to respond to her.

Qian Youdang was right there; how could he dare not take the punishment for Sister Lu? Besides, it was indeed improper for a woman to be punished in such a way. The men's backs were bruised and bloody from the whipping; if a woman had gone up there, with Old One-Eyed's ruthlessness, he generally wouldn't show any mercy.

As the two spoke, the door opened, and a female cultivator walked in. She gracefully bowed before Lu Ye. "Greetings, Senior Brother. Lin Yinxiu from the Medical Affairs Department has been ordered to treat your injuries."

Lu Ye slowly raised his head, his gaze shifting upward. A long-unseen face appeared in his vision.

"Eh?" The newcomer recognized Lu Ye's face and immediately showed a surprised expression. "Yu Xiaodie?"

"Junior Sister Yu!" Lu Ye also smiled. "It truly is a small world; I didn't expect to see you here."

The person introduced herself as Lin Yinxiu, and she was indeed the Lin Yinxiu whom Lu Ye knew. It had been several years since their parting at the Evil Moon Valley.

Back then, both of them had just been rescued by the Haotian Alliance. One had only opened one aperture, and the other two. Now, one was a True Lake Seventh-layer cultivator, and while the other wasn't in the True Lake realm, she had entered the Cloud River realm. As for which layer, Lu Ye couldn't tell at the moment.

Several years had passed, and the changes were immense.

Lin Yinxiu clearly hadn't expected the patient she was treating this time to be Lu Ye, looking quite surprised. "Yu Xiaodie, why are you in Haotian City?"

After asking, she realized her mistake. "They said that several teams in the Enforcement Hall had an internal conflict this time, and as a result, they were all dragged to the penal prison for punishment, and you, Yu Xiaodie, are also..."

"I am one of them," Lu Ye sighed to himself. Indeed, bad news travels fast. The medical hall had already heard about the incident, so the entire Haotian City must know.

"It must be those people's fault!" Lin Yinxiu said angrily. "But Lu Yelang, you're truly amazing! You've actually joined the Enforcement Hall! I heard people say it's very impressive to work there."

Lu Ye was torn between laughter and tears. Women's concerns were indeed somewhat different. He replied, "Impressive or not, what I do tends to offend people and easily incurs resentment."

"That's okay. If you get injured next time, just come to the medical hall to find me, and I'll treat you."

While they were chatting, Sister Lu, who had been watching the scene, suddenly spoke up. "This junior sister, if you don't treat Captain soon, he'll bleed dry."

Lin Yinxiu let out a surprised "Ah!" and apologized with a blush. "I'm sorry, Lu Yelang, I... I forgot."

Saying that, she quickly sat by the bed, took some healing supplies from her storage bag, and began treating Lu Ye.

"I remember Junior Sister joined the Hundred Flowers Valley?" Lu Ye asked casually.

Back in Evil Moon Valley, he had defied Pang Dahai's advice and chosen the Azure Blood Sect, while Lin Yinxiu chose the Hundred Flowers Valley. Both were accepted, thus embarking on their cultivation journey.

"That's right," Lin Yinxiu replied. "I've heard a lot about Yu Xiaodie's affairs over the past few years. Many senior and junior sisters in the valley admire Yu Xiaodie greatly. They all envy me knowing you, Lu Yelang."

"What you heard wasn't necessarily bad news," Lu Ye said with a slight smile.

"That's not right! All I heard was how amazing Yu Xiaodie is. Your great name is still circulating on the Spirit Creek Battlefield, and many of your deeds are spread on the Cloud River Battlefield." She paused. "Yu Xiaodie, you must have had a tough time these past few years, right?"

Others only saw the glory under Lu Ye's name, but it was hard for them to imagine the bitterness and hardships behind that glory. Lin Yinxiu's thoughts were clearly different from others. Listening to those inspiring stories, she could envision the harsh environments Lu Ye had been in at the time.

"It's alright," Lu Ye replied casually. There were indeed hardships, but overcoming them brought greater rewards.

Lin Yinxiu chatted casually with Lu Ye while treating his injuries, clearly in a very good mood.

Sister Lu sat quietly to the side, not interjecting.

Half an hour later, Lin Yinxiu said, "Yu Xiaodie, your physique is strong, and while the injuries look severe, they are not serious. Just come back in two days for another dressing."

Lu Ye got up and stretched his limbs, feeling refreshed. He praised, "Junior Sister, you have excellent skills."

Lin Yinxiu smiled sweetly. "Medical cultivators can only help you with this much. It's good that Yu Xiaodie doesn't mind." She paused, then continued, "However, for someone like Yu Xiaodie who constantly travels and fights, there might be some hidden internal injuries and lingering effects. If you have time someday, come to the medical hall to find me, and I'll introduce you to a True Lake Realm senior sister to help you regulate those hidden injuries."

"Okay," Lu Ye readily agreed, getting dressed.

A moment later, he led Sister Lu out. In the corridor outside, Third Senior Brother was waiting.

The three of them met up, bid farewell to Lin Yinxiu, and flew towards their courtyard.

As soon as they landed in the courtyard, they saw the Sect Master, and Amber and Yiyi were also waiting there.

Ever since Qian Youdang appeared, Amber had slipped away early. Qian Youdang just pretended not to see it; after all, he couldn't punish even a beast. Of all those involved in the brawl, only Amber escaped punishment.

The three immediately bowed.

The Sect Master looked at the two of them. "You didn't suffer any losses, did you?"

Lu Ye replied, "Third Senior Brother suffered a minor loss, but I got revenge for him."

The Sect Master nodded in satisfaction. "As long as you didn't suffer a loss. Now that you're injured, take good care of yourselves these next few days. Don't run around."

"Yes."

The Sect Master had only come to check on the two. Seeing that they were fine, he left.

Yiyi quickly came forward, asking with concern. Lu Ye naturally said he was fine, not wanting her to worry needlessly.

The next few days passed peacefully. Lu Ye's injuries recovered very quickly. After all, with the damaged origin of the Dragon Ascent Realm as a foundation, his vitality was vigorous. No matter how severe the injuries inflicted by the Reverse Dragon Thorns seemed, they were merely flesh wounds. Old One-Eyed, when administering the punishment, would never damage Lu Ye's bones and sinews.

During this period, Lu Ye went to the medical hall for a change of dressing. It is unknown if Lin Yinxiu spread his reputation, as many medical cultivators eagerly came to watch, showing great enthusiasm.

This month's stipend was issued, along with even more exploding fire spirit stones than last time. His dwindling battle merits were finally replenished.

Lu Ye immediately bought a tracking compass for backup, but he wasn't planning to use it for missions anymore. Using the tracking compass for missions like before was too expensive and not a long-term solution.