As he traveled while practicing medicine, Su Mu encountered several instances of being harassed by local powers, incidents that seemed to endlessly cycle through this world.
These matters reminded Su Mu of the person who ought to have died in the Land of Cyan Clouds.
"If I am a demon, then you are a monster... You and I are really the same kind..."
This phrase often echoed in Su Mu’s ear, which was one of the reasons why he chose to travel as a healer rather than buying a carriage to expedite his journey.
Su Mu wanted to see the world with his own eyes and chose to continue healing to temper his mindset, keeping his edge hidden in the sheath; hence, when faced with these situations, Su Mu would only choose to intimidate slightly, replenish his stock of herbs, and then leave with Li Lu.
The Wang Family was the only one to escalate matters even after such intimidation, thus it was no wonder Su Mu decided to abandon medicine for martial arts tonight.
Su Mu flicked a finger across the air, casually extinguishing the candle flame in the room in an instant and closing the window. His figure flickered where he stood and vanished from the room entirely.
"That, that fire is coming from within the clan."
"It’s bad, we need to get back quickly."
In the darkness, a few whispers were heard, and the Wang Family members, tasked with monitoring outside the inn, hurried away upon seeing the raging flames. Yet, shadows remained in the night to continue keeping a close watch on the guest room.
They were directly ordered by the patriarch Wang Qi, who instructed them to closely surveil the two people in the inn but to maintain distance without approaching.
"Is it necessary to make such a big fuss over two itinerant healers?"
"I heard it was Wang Qiang who reported this to the patriarch. This is really a disgrace!"
Among the remaining Wang Family members, Wang Chong’s face was somber, harboring a bit of resentment in his heart. Tonight, he should have been enjoying the warmth of a beauty’s company, but instead, the patriarch assigned him to monitor these traveling healer and apprentice, not even allowing entrance into the inn, forcing him to endure the wind and rain outside.
The next moment.
The candlelight in the guestroom extinguished, and the silhouettes outside the inn smirked, feeling even more dismissive.
"Exactly, I see nothing special about those two, Wang Qiang must be incompetent, fearing mere..."
The complaints from the Wang Family martial artists were interrupted mid-sentence by one among them.
Their expressions subtly shifted, quietly releasing a breath of relief,
Wang Chong felt a trace of doubt arise, turning his head, but before his neck fully turned, a hand appeared out of nowhere, landing on his neck.
"Answer my questions, or die!"
Wang Chong’s every hair stood on end at that moment, resembling a cat having its tail stepped on. His eyes suddenly contracted into pinholes, just moments ago witnessing the two blood-red glows that appeared in the dark night.
"How is this possible..."
Only now did Wang Chong understand why the patriarch issued such orders, preventing proximity to the duo. They were observing the duo standing by the window just moments earlier, yet in the next instant, the duo vanished from their sight and dealt with the other Wang Family members decisively.
The ones remaining outside the inn were far from ordinary, with the three being Seventh-Grade Martial Artists, considered strong within Shifeng Town.
"Speak, what did the Wang Family send you to do?"
Wang Chong’s pupils contracted again; he initially thought his interrogator would ask who sent him, but the question skipped right to his purpose.
"Please spare me, Elder Divine Doctor, it’s... it’s the patriarch who sent us to monitor the Divine Doctor, but my Wang family bears no malice..."
It was indeed the Wang Family; Su Mu’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"Who is the strongest in the Wang Family? What is their strength?"
"Including the patriarch, my Wang Family has four Sixth-Grade Martial Artists, and then there is..."
"What else?"
"And there’s a Tributor who arrived last year, Tributor Zhou is a Daoist cultivator, very mysterious, I don’t know the specific strength... But the patriarch is extremely respectful of Tributor Zhou."
Four Sixth-Grade Martial Artists, plus a mysterious Daoist Tributor, could elicit the respectful treatment from the Wang Family Master, a glint of solemnity flashed in Su Mu’s eyes.
If put in the Land of Cyan Clouds, the Wang Family’s power would be another Black Mountain Rebel Army aside from Vajra Temple, thoughts racing through Su Mu’s mind as he posed another question albeit with little hope.
"Does the Wang Family have an Alchemist?"
"Yes, my Wang family has nurtured two Eighth-Grade Alchemists themselves."
Upon mentioning Wang Family Alchemists, Wang Chong’s tone carried faint arrogance; hearing this, Su Mu’s eyes lit up. It was no wonder that a power in Shifeng Town had such foundations, it turned out the Wang Family itself had cultivated Alchemists.
"Developing family Alchemists, it seems the Wang Family is not simple."
Along the journey, Su Mu passed through several towns, some rivaling Shifeng Town in size, yet the major powers in those towns virtually lacked dedicated Alchemists, but this particular Wang Family possessed them.
"Elder Divine Doctor, I was helpless too, it was all the patriarch..."
Wang Chong tried to blame everything on the Wang Family, but Su Mu turned a deaf ear, exerting force slightly on Wang Chong’s neck, immediately causing a fine cracking sound. Before Wang Chong could utter a miserable cry, his neck was broken.
Having cleared the Wang Family out of the inn’s vicinity, Su Mu casually stored the corpses into the Sumeru Ring, then with the Small Faceless Transformation Technique concealed his aura swiftly, his deep eyes fixed on the direction of the blazing fire quickly rushed forth.
"Since someone has alarmed the Wang Family, let’s take advantage of the chaos to infiltrate the Wang Family."
Once Su Mu made up his mind, he would not easily waver, even upon learning the Wang family had a mysterious Zhou Tributor, his resolve did not falter, instead it grew stronger learning the Wang Family had cultivated Alchemists themselves.