"No curse, no poison, no ambush. What’s going on?"
Mo Xingjian anxiously scratched his head.
Yan Xiaohu couldn’t help but say, "Master, if this continues, Fourth Brother will really die."
Mo Xingjian was panicked at this mont. "Then what do you suggest we do?"
Yan Xiaohu furrowed his brow, suddenly thought of sothing, and abruptly pulled out a dagger, cutting Zhou Qing’s thumb.
Under Mo Xingjian’s puzzled gaze, blood imdiately flowed out.
But it was the normal kind of bleeding from a cut, not like now where the blood was spurting out.
It even soon coagulated, no longer flowing.
Yan Xiaohu was full of excitent. "I knew it! Looks like my guess was right. Master, look!"
Mo Xingjian took a closer look and seed to understand sothing.
He picked up the dagger and cut each of Zhou Qing’s other fingers in turn.
Each bled but soon stopped on its own.
"Master, it seems the problem is with this index finger. It must be poisoned with sothing unknown to us!"
Yan Xiaohu said confidently.
Mo Xingjian agreed and examined it carefully once more; nothing seed out of the ordinary.
"You an, we should cut off this finger?" Mo Xingjian looked at Yan Xiaohu.
Yan Xiaohu nodded repeatedly. "That’s right. To be safe, cut it off from the base."
"But if we do that, won’t Fourth Brother beco disabled?" Mo Xingjian hesitated as he handed the dagger back to Yan Xiaohu.
Yan Xiaohu urgently said, "Better a disabled person than a dead one. Losing a finger won’t affect his daily life drastically, right?"
Mo Xingjian pondered briefly, then nodded slightly.
"Alright, let’s begin!" Mo Xingjian stood up, making space.
Yan Xiaohu froze, looking at the dagger in his hand.
Wait, when did this end up with ?
"Master, how about you do it?" Yan Xiaohu hurriedly presented the dagger with both hands. "I’m squeamish about blood and too soft-hearted to make the cut."
Mo Xingjian sighed, taking a step back. "As his master, I’m like his father. Have you ever seen a father cut his son’s finger off?"
"But Master, if I do it, Fourth Brother will hate for life," Yan Xiaohu’s voice trembled.
Mo Xingjian said, "If not , who? Besides, you’re the one who discovered the problem and suggested cutting the finger off. Hurry, or Fourth Brother might really die."
Yan Xiaohu: "..."
"Ah, Master, I’m feeling faint from the blood!"
Suddenly, Yan Xiaohu stumbled, barely catching himself on the table.
The dagger fell to the ground with a clink.
"Master, my hands are really weak now. You handle it. I’ll boil this basin of blood for when he wakes up to replenish his strength. Call when you’re done."
Yan Xiaohu hastily carried the blood-filled basin and left.
Watching Yan Xiaohu flee, Mo Xingjian cursed under his breath, reluctantly picking up the dagger and approaching the bed.
Seeing Zhou Qing’s weakening state, he knew he couldn’t delay any longer.
He grabbed the problematic finger.
"Fourth Brother, forgive . This is the only way to save you now. Rember, it was your third senior brother’s idea; I’m just the executioner."
As Mo Xingjian took a deep breath, gritting his teeth to make the cut, he suddenly noticed the finger had stopped bleeding.
He quickly examined it again.
Oh, it really has stopped!
"Good, good! Seems my authoritative aura scared it into stopping. Wise choice!"
Mo Xingjian was elated, hurriedly bandaging the finger.
Seeing the other four cut fingers, he decided to bandage them all as well.
Then, he took out a vitalizing pill, gently opened Zhou Qing’s mouth, and placed it inside, finally breathing a sigh of relief.
"Master, are you done? Wow, you cut off the whole hand?"
When Yan Xiaohu sneaked back in, he was shocked to see Zhou Qing’s entire right hand bandaged.
Now, Fourth Brother really is disabled.
Mo Xingjian rolled his eyes. "Take good care of him. I’m going out to investigate."
Mo Xingjian spoke with a murderous aura.
He wanted to see who was behind all this.
Yan Xiaohu’s face changed. "Master, maybe I should take Junior Brother to your place. I’m worried soone might attack him again."
Mo Xingjian was speechless, lightly tapping his foot, disappearing instantly.
"Don’t worry, he won’t bla you!"
Mo Xingjian’s voice echoed from the sky.
Once he was sure Mo Xingjian was gone, Yan Xiaohu cursed at the sky.
......
Zhou Qing felt incredibly groggy, his eyelids heavy as lead. With great effort, he slowly opened a small slit.
Through blurry vision, he saw a familiar figure sitting by the bed, muttering sothing.
In his daze, the voice seed to be cursing, and very harshly.
Zhou Qing tried to move, but his body felt weak and crushed by a giant stone.
He barely parted his lips, managing a faint whisper, "Senior Brother..."
Hearing Zhou Qing’s voice, Yan Xiaohu imdiately turned, joy in his eyes. "Fourth Brother, you’re awake! You scared Third Senior Brother to death."
Zhou Qing wanted to smile to reassure his brother, but he couldn’t even manage that.
He said weakly, "Senior Brother, I’m fine... Sorry to worry you."
Yan Xiaohu’s expression suddenly turned unnatural, filled with guilt. He instinctively looked at Zhou Qing’s right hand.
Seeing his evasive gaze, Zhou Qing’s heart sank.
"What’s wrong?" Zhou Qing asked hurriedly.
Yan Xiaohu stamred, standing up quickly. "Fourth Brother, it’s not my fault. Master did it. The weapon is still here; I swear I didn’t participate."
Zhou Qing blinked rapidly, even biting his tongue to stay awake.
"W-what did he cut?" Zhou Qing had a bad feeling.
Yan Xiaohu said nothing, his eyes fixed on Zhou Qing’s right hand.
Zhou Qing bit his lip and lifted his hand slowly, seeing the large blood-stained bandage. He was montarily dumbfounded.
Yan Xiaohu quickly said, "Your finger wouldn’t stop bleeding. I suggested removing it. I didn’t expect Master to be so ruthless and cut off your whole hand..."
Zhou Qing’s pupils contracted sharply, his mind going blank.
He stared at the tightly wrapped hand, feeling the burning pain inside.
His face showed shock and disbelief, breathing rapidly, and his lips trembled.
Tears welled up in his eyes, and a heart-wrenching scream echoed through the room.
"Aaaaah—"
......
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