Ling Zhang was deeply shocked by Yuwen Tong. After browsing them carefully, he found that Yuwen Tong had drawn diagrams of three formations, which shocked him even further.

"I picked these three formation diagrams which are relatively suitable for them to begin with. I also offered some advice on their respective positions for your reference. You may have a try."

Ling Zhang resumed browsing quickly and did find more detailed diagrams, on which there were not only positions of all twelve security guards but also annotations.

"You..."

"Just ask if you have any questions."

Ling Zhang lost his tongue for quite a while in shock. He had thought that it would be amazing enough if Yuwen Tong was able to complete the formation diagram half of which was missing, and which he had only had a glimpse at, but remarkably, Yuwen Tong gave him three. He had thought that these three formation diagrams were all Yuwen Tong had managed to deduce, but Yuwen Tong said that these three were the ones he picked for him, which meant that he knew more than these. Now Yuwen Tong was fully acquainted with the security of his home, and there were even detailed positions of guards and annotations.

Was this man really only a human?

In shock, he even had a feeling that what he had known about Yuwen Tong so far was merely the tip of the iceberg.

"I... How come you know so well about the security of my home?"

"I can see everything people in the Guards' yard do from the rooftops of the Green Bamboo Mansion."

The expression on Ling Zhang's face instantly turned a little unnatural. So Yuwen Tong could see distinctly what he did in the Guards' yard if he wanted to?

Did he still have any privacy in front of Yuwen Tong?

"I heard that you'd got all required herbs ready. Start having medicated bath to unblock your meridians tonight. You'll surely feel the difference when you practice kung fu tomorrow."

Ling Zhang nodded faintly stiffly and said, "Okay."

Yuwen Tong's suggestions were more penetrating than the plan Ling Zhang had thought of by his own. The longer Ling Zhang read them, the more strongly he felt the gap between him and Yuwen Tong.

"I'll have them try these a few days later."

Judging by how detailed these things were, Yuwen Tong must have spent a lot of time on them. Though having known about the formations, Yuwen Tong could have kept it a secret from him, but he still chose to tell him and even offered him help. He owed Yuwen Tong yet another favor.

On that night, he was ready to unblock his meridians.

Before this day, Ling Zhang had already specially had his warm-room (A small room connected to a bigger one, where a stove is set to heat rooms.) converted into a bathroom. Since medicated bath required constant water temperature, he had some craftsmen build a bathing pool in the room, under which there was a stove chamber connected to the outside, so that servants could heat the bathing pool to ensure fixed water temperature.

Herbs were put into the bathing pool following the proportions given by Yuwen Tong. As he walked into the bathroom, he was greeted by a strong smell of medicinal materials as well as billows of warm steam.

"Should I take the medicated bath first or... "

"I'll use my internal energy to help unblock your meridians while you're soaking in the water."

Yuwen Tong followed him inside and started undressing.

Ling Zhang stood transfixed for quite a while.

"What are you waiting for? Don't waste the medicine. Hurry," Yuwen Tong urged him.

He didn't seem to have any indecent thoughts at all. Ling Zhang couldn't help feeling that he was being unduly timid, so he also took off his coat.

Yuwen Tong turned aside and flicked a glance at him. It seemed casual, but actually his eyes had already swept through Ling Zhang's whole body, and with his extraordinarily good memory, he had quickly memorized every detail.

"Take off some more clothes. To make it more convenient for my internal energy to run through your meridians and easier for you to absorb active constituent of the medicine, you should wear only underpants. It's best if you take off all your clothes."

Take off all clothes? Ling Zhang's fingers on his clothes froze. "I think I'll keep my pants on."

By comparison, keeping his pants on was more acceptable to him.

There was a disguised regretful look in the depths of Yuwen Tong's eyes, but he felt it was good enough to have Ling Zhang undress until he had only underpants left.

Ling Zhang clenched his teeth, trying hard to make himself look natural. When he had only underpants left, he quickly stepped into the bathing pool and sat down cross-legged. Billowing water vapor blocked his view, so his embarrassment partially abated.

But for Yuwen Tong, the vapor was no obstacle. He could still distinctly see Ling Zhang's lean but muscular body. Maybe because of his recent strenuous workout, 17-year-old Ling Zhang didn't look thin at all, his shoulders broad, his hip narrow, his skin white, and there was no flab in his arms or any other parts. He affected a calmness, but what he didn't know was that the blushes on his face had already betrayed him.

Even the look in Yuwen Tong's eyes changed. He also undressed himself and stepped into the bathing pool, wearing only a pair of underpants.

Concentrating on relaxing and making himself look natural, Ling Zhang didn't notice that Yuwen Tong, who didn't need to absorb the medicine, had also undressed and was wearing only underpants.

He didn't even turn his head back, so he missed the chance to see how good a figure Yuwen Tong had, which was quite a pity in Yuwen Tong's view.

After sitting down in the bathing pool, Ling Zhang was right before him. Yuwen Tong had always known that he had been growing fonder and fonder of Ling Zhang all along. This scene in front of him was an intense stimulation for him.

Though having always had excellent self-control, he also had to secretly give himself a warning to keep his cool.

As Ling Zhang sat down in the bathing pool, medicine contained in the slightly hot, chest-deep water began to seep into his body from all sides giving him an inexplicably pleasant feeling.

A palm was pressed against his back and Ling Zhang's heart lurched on this physical contact.

"Stay cool and concentrate your mind. You'll feel a little uncomfortable later on. Just hang in there."

After these words, Yuwen Tong became serious. He confirmed that Ling Zhang was ready, and then mobilized his internal energy and slowly sent it into Ling Zhang's body. His Qi started circulating in Ling Zhang's meridians bit by bit.

Ling Zhang began to feel numb, itchy and painful all over. When that mysterious stream of warmth went through some joints of meridians, the pain was so unbearable that he felt as if numerous ants were gnawing at his heart. Ling Zhang's face blushed scarlet and he gritted his teeth against the agony.

Those positions were probably those partially blocked acupoints in his meridians network that Yuwen Tong had mentioned. Yuwen Tong was using his internal energy to slowly expand them, which was definitely not an enjoyable process.

Ling Zhang was sweating buckets. As the stream of warmth circulated inside him, the medicine contained in the water began to permeate into his body again, which made the numbness, itch and pains intensify. Blue veins stood out on his forehead.

Yuwen Tong was also sweating profusely. He knew Ling Zhang was in anguish, but he didn't pause for a single instant.

Vapor in the bathroom was getting thicker and thicker. When it thickened to a certain degree, it suddenly began dissolving at a gentle pace. The medicine carried by the vapor was slowly absorbed by Ling Zhang worming its way into his body.

As time passed bit by bit, Ling Zhang's mouth was filled with taste of blood due to tightly gritted teeth. Fighting against agony had cost him so much mental strength that his consciousness began to blur. The only thing he could feel was the mixture of numbness, itch and pain.

The water was gradually becoming cleaner. When it became completely clean, Yuwen Tong finally stopped.

Ling Zhang's tense nerves abruptly relaxed and he blacked out falling backwards.

Yuwen Tong hurriedly stretched out his hand and caught him. Heedless of the fact that both of them were nearly naked, he held unconscious Ling Zhang in his arms, stood up from the bathing pool, and took a piece of soft thick cotton cloth to wrap him up before carrying him out of the warm-room.

The moment Xia Feng waiting outside saw Yuwen Tong, who was half naked and holding Ling Zhang in his arms, walk out, he immediately hurried over and asked in anxiety, "What happened to my childe?"

Yuwen Tong glanced at him and said, "The medicine was too potent for him to withstand and he passed out. Get him some clean clothes."

Xia Feng was unwilling to leave, since he didn't know Yuwen Tong well enough to place trust in him.

"Hurry," Yuwen Tong looked at him with piercing eyes.

Xia Feng felt a shiver from head to toe. Eventually, he still obeyed and went to look for clean clothes for Ling Zhang.

Yuwen Tong carried Ling Zhang into an inner room, put him down on the bed and wiped him dry with a piece of cloth.

When Xia Feng returned, he quickly covered Ling Zhang with a quilt and said with a sullen look on his face, "Put the clothes down and get out."

"My lord, please let me take care of my childe."

"Get lost."

Xia Feng had an intense feeling of pressure once again, which was even more intense than the one he had had a while before, and which nearly caused him to lose his footing. Gritting his teeth, he eventually chose to draw back step by step, but he stopped in the corridor between the inner room and the ante-room, silently standing there staring fixedly at the bed behind a curtain in the distance.

Naturally, Yuwen Tong had sensed that Xia Feng didn't really leave the room. But there was a distance between them as well as a curtain which made it impossible for him to have a clear view of the inner room, so he said no more.

He lifted the quilt, took off Ling Zhang's wet pants and after that he was briefly transfixed, unable to move his eyes.

After a while he took a piece of cotton cloth, wiped Ling Zhang dry, quickly clothed him in clean clothes and tucked him in.

He removed Ling Zhang's hair stick, reached out and felt his forehead as well as his pulse. After confirming that everything was steady, he stuffed Ling Zhang's hand back under the quilt, stood up and left the bedside.

When walking past Xia Feng, he said, "Keep a close eye on him tonight. If anything happens, come to the Green Bamboo Mansion to inform me immediately."

"Yes," Xia Feng slightly lowered his head and answered.

Yuwen Tong retrieved his clothes from the bathroom and left.

Xia Feng hastily walked to the bed and checked Ling Zhang. It was not until he confirmed that Ling Zhang was fine that he exhaled in relief and wiped the sweat off his brow.

Just now, the aura about that man was so horrifying that he could barely bear it. His young master would surely be angry with him the next day if he knew that he was so useless. Fortunately, he had eventually managed to withstand it.

Well aware that he couldn't afford to let anything go awry, Xia Feng stayed on the bed in the outer room keeping watch at night himself.

After returning to the Green Bamboo Mansion, Yuwen Tong took a bath, changed his clothes, picked up a document on the desk and started reading, sparing part of his attention for the room next door.

It was fairly cold at night. Yao Yi put a thick cape on him and said, "Marshal, let me keep watch here. I promise I'll inform you if anything happens to childe. Why don't you go and have some sleep?"

Xia Feng had just woken up when he heard Ling Zhang's voice. He was just about to go inside to check when a figure flashed past him and entered the room before him.

Watching Yuwen Tong who had abruptly shown up, he widened his mouth in shock.

Ling Zhang knitted his eyebrows as if in pain, and his limbs briefly twitched.

Yuwen Tong held him in his arms and started giving him a massage. The massage seemed to be very effective. Gradually, Ling Zhang's body relaxed and his eyebrows unknitted. Against Yuwen Tong's chest, he resumed his deep sleep.

"Officers, two officers, something bad happened!"

In a courier station in a small town in the south-west, before daybreak, a staff member yelled, "The prisoner died!"

"What!"

People went out of their rooms, hurried to the canopy of the courier station and immediately saw Jia Yuanling who had died in the prison wagon.

"What happened? Wasn't he fine yesterday?"

"You think he was fine? After leaving Tanyang, he'd been suffering from the climate all along, vomiting and having loose bowels constantly. I told you we should get him some medical treatment lest he die and bring us trouble. Now what do we do!"

"Suffering from the climate? Jia Yuanling was a young man. How was it possible that he died so easily of an unaccustomed climate?"

"Hey! What are you talking about, Old Four? Jia Yuanling was tortured in the yamen first, and then Zhang Chong gave him a hard kick and wounded his heart and lungs. He'd never recovered from the injury and had been having a bad cough all along."

The yamen staff member whose nickname was Old Four also had a deeply concerned look on his face. "No matter what, we have to find someone to perform an autopsy. Otherwise there will be consequences we'll have to face after returning."

"That's true. Jia Yuanling's death itself might be insignificant, but the Jia family surely won't let this go. We'd better have someone perform an autopsy."

"An autopsy it is. I don't want to be held responsible for this either. But first things first, everybody has to pay their share of the fee."

"Money is the only thing you can think about."

A crowd of residents gathered around the doorway of the courier station. Some people felt that this might bring them bad luck, so they left. Others were still looking on.

The post-mortem examiner of the town was soon invited to the station. After examining Jia Yuanling's body, he said, "This man's heart and lungs had been seriously injured. He went on a long tiring journey without recovering from the injury first, and he also had a weak constitution, which was why he died of a mere unaccustomed climate."

The four staff members of yamen exchanged glances. One of them said, "I told you by no means had he died of an unaccustomed climate. In the final analysis, it was that kick Zhang Chong gave him that was the fundamental cause."

"That's true. Accepting this task was such a stupid decision. How are we supposed to report this after going back?"

"We tell them the truth."

"I suppose that's the only thing we can do."

"Should we bury him or just.... " The four people kept silent for a while. The staff member whose nickname was Old Four said, "Let's put him in the mortuary temple first and then have someone in the courier station send a letter back to Tanyang as soon as possible. Then we wait for our lord's response."

"O–Okay, then. Let's do it your way."

"What an ominous matter."

The rest of the lookers-on also cleared off. Soon the body in the prison wagon was sent to the mortuary temple in the town.

Among the crowds clearing off, someone flicked a look in the direction of the prison wagon with a frown and then secretly followed.

...

When Ling Zhang woke up the next day, he felt his body was filled with warmth, as if he had inexhaustible strength. His spirits were also much better than before.

As he recalled the anguish he suffered the night before, his heart still fluttered with fear.

He remembered that he had eventually passed out, but he had no idea what had happened in the wake of that.

"Xia Feng."

On hearing Ling Zhang calling his name, Xia Feng immediately walked inside and said, "You woke up, childe."

"What happened after I fainted last night?"

"It was Lord Yu who carried you out of the room. He also helped you change your clothes. In the latter half of the night, you suddenly went into convulsions in misery. It was also Lord Yu who hurried here and gave you a massage. He stayed tending you until you fell into deep sleep after a certain amount of time."

Xia Feng told Ling Zhang what happened the night before. His wariness of Yuwen Tong had been greatly dissolved after what Yuwen Tong did the night before, and his tone of voice was more natural.

Ling Zhang's eyelids twitched as he heard the story. Yuwen Tong helped him get changed?

"It is said that the oil lamp was on all night in the Green Bamboo Mansion."

With a mixed expression on his face, Ling Zhang wondered whether Yuwen Tong had stayed up all night in case he needed help.

"I see."

He raised his hand, clenched his fist and threw a punch at the air with great force, which generated a gust of wind he could distinctly feel. Not only was he able to punch in a much more relaxed manner, but also his body was easier to control.

Surprisingly, Yuwen Tong's method was so effective.

After thinking for a while, Ling Zhang didn't directly go to his dwelling in the Guards' yard but took a detour to the Green Bamboo Mansion next door.

"Did your marshal wake up?" On entering the Green Bamboo Mansion, instead of going deeper inside, Ling Zhang stopped and asked the guard on duty.

The guard was just about to answer when Yao Yi walked out and said, "Childe Ling, our marshal has woken up. Would you like to come inside?"

"He didn't sleep last night?"

On the sight of Ling Zhang's expression, Yao Yi realized it had already come to Ling Zhang's knowledge that the marshal stayed up all night the night before, so he answered, "He didn't. The night before last, Marshal was writing something and didn't sleep until very late. And last night he stayed up all night. I tried to persuade him to get some sleep but he wouldn't listen."

The night before last night? It was the stack of paper full of formation diagrams and words that Yuwen Tong had given him. Having barely had any sleep for two days in a row, even Yuwen Tong must have been tired.

Ling Zhang briefly tightened his lips and said, "I'll go and check on him."

"This way please, childe." Yao Yi turned aside making way for Ling Zhang.

After watching Ling Zhang entering the room, Yao Yi gave a smile.

Standing beside him, the guard on duty said in an undertone, "Captain, our marshal's internal energy is excellent. Even if he doesn't sleep for seven days and seven nights in a row, he'll still be fine. Did you just say that on purpose?"

Yao Yi gave him a dirty look and said, "Don't be so talky."

The guard flinched, gave a giggle and with that the serious look reappeared on his face, leaving no trace of the fact that he was gossiping just a moment ago.

Ling Zhang walked across the courtyard onto the winding corridor. Standing there looking inside, he saw that Yuwen Tong was standing before a wall observing various maps on the wall and thinking about something.

"You came around. How are you feeling?"

Yuwen Tong didn't turn his head back but he seemed to have known that the visitor was Ling Zhang.