Chapter 157: Can't You Show Some Professionalism?

Wu Hongying also realized that Hua Ruyue was practically fuming with rage. Fortunately, she was currently unable to move; if she could raise her arms, she would probably grab a shard of ice and slit Song Kai's throat.

Wu Hongying gave Hua Ruyue a quick rinse, dried her off, and said, "My dear, let me tell you, that kid Song Kai isn't a bad person. He did it to save you, and his medical skills are actually quite good. Tang Ying knows—oh, by the way, Tang Ying is a doctor too."

Hua Ruyue kept her teeth tightly clenched, but she remained completely immobilized.

Tang Ying also walked over, dried Hua Ruyue off, and changed her into a clean, dry pair of pajamas.

"Such a pretty girl, why on earth would you want to be an assassin?" Tang Ying muttered to herself. "Why don't you become a doctor instead? You're already used to using blades anyway, so it would basically be your old line of work."

Wu Hongying scolded, "Tang Ying, what nonsense are you spouting? Saving lives and taking lives—can those ever be the same? I think becoming a police auxiliary officer would be quite nice. What do you think, little sister? That way, you'd be able to put what you've learned to good use."

Previously, Hua Ruyue had been grinding her teeth with hatred, but upon hearing Tang Ying and Wu Hongying's words, she suddenly closed her eyes, the corners of them growing slightly moist.

She hated this feeling. She was an assassin whom everyone feared! Not some fragile girl in need of care!

She didn't need this kind of warmth. She didn't need it!

Hua Ruyue bit her lip and stayed silent.

Listening from outside, Song Kai was somewhat speechless.

Seeing that Hua Ruyue was dressed in pajamas, Song Kai strode over, hoisted her up into the air, carried her back to his bedroom, and picked up a length of copper wire to begin binding her up once more.

"What are you doing?" Wu Hongying's jaw dropped.

"Tying her up, obviously," Song Kai replied.

Wu Hongying was momentarily lost for words.

Tang Ying, however, couldn't take it anymore. She marched right up, planted a kick squarely on Song Kai's backside, and snapped, "Song Kai, do you have even a shred of humanity left? She's injured this badly, and you're still tying her up?"

"Of course I have to tie her up!" Song Kai retorted. "Don't look at how badly hurt she is right now; the moment she recovers sixty or seventy percent of her strength, she'll be able to wipe me out. Naturally, I have to keep her restrained."

Tang Ying still wanted to argue, but Wu Hongying walked over, pulled her back, and said, "Tang Ying, Song Kai has his reasons for doing things. As long as we keep an eye on him and make sure his wild beast instincts don't take over and ruin the poor girl, let's just stay out of the rest of it. He knows what he's doing."

"But..." Tang Ying still felt unable to accept such cruelty.

Wu Hongying dragged Tang Ying away by the arm. "There are no 'buts'. Come on, let's go back to the bedroom and try on those new pajamas I bought. That ultra-transparent one probably can't be worn, though—not with this guy Song Kai hanging around the house..."

...

The two women retreated into the bedroom to discuss their nightgowns.

Song Kai meticulously finished tying up Hua Ruyue, then sat down at the edge of the bed and asked, "What is the story with you?"

Hua Ruyue glared at Song Kai with lingering malice, then said coldly, "Your two roommates... well, they're quite nice."

Song Kai blinked in surprise. "I didn't ask whether they were nice or not. I'm asking how you got poisoned. Was it caused by heat?"

Hua Ruyue lay there on the bed, her entire body bound tightly, leaving only her neck free to move.

After a moment of thought, Hua Ruyue sighed. "It's nothing to make a fuss over. Every operative in the Thieves' Guild is forced to ingest this poison before heading out on a mission. The poison is extremely potent and violent—I just didn't expect that you'd actually be able to neutralize it."

Song Kai frowned. "I wouldn't exactly say I neutralized it. I don't know what kind of poison is in your body, so there was no way to cure it completely. I only noticed that your pulse was powerful yet chaotic, and your tongue was bleeding with toxic heat—it was a case of toxic heat invading the bloodstream. While I couldn't eradicate it, emergency treatment was possible. I mainly used ice water to counter your blood heat, simultaneously pierced the Ten Xuan acupuncture points on your fingers to release the toxic blood, and coupled that with you coughing up that final pool of stagnant blood. It's only normal that you gained some temporary relief. However, there will likely be a next time."

Upon hearing this, Hua Ruyue let out an "oh" and remarked, "No wonder that woman said your medical skills were decent. To be able to resolve the toxicity of our Thieves' Guild's Fiend Dragon Powder in just a few moves—you're truly formidable."

Song Kai chuckled lightly. "Tell me, if I hadn't been around today, how would you have gone about curing this poison?"

Hua Ruyue didn't bother hiding it any longer. She explained, "We members of the Thieves' Guild are made to take this Fiend Dragon Powder whenever we go out on assignments. The poison flares up once every three days. However, prior to each flare-up, an emissary is dispatched to deliver the antidote. That's why the guild has always been well aware of my whereabouts. If you had killed me, it wouldn't take long for the guild's people to track you down here. I'm not trying to scare you; I'm simply warning you that if I die, you'd better pack up and move away as soon as possible."

Song Kai nodded thoughtfully. "So that's how it is. That means an emissary should have come to deliver your antidote today. What happens when that emissary can't find you?"

"The antidote will be left at my temporary hideout," Hua Ruyue answered.

Song Kai pondered for a moment. "Where is your hideout? I'll go retrieve the antidote first."

Hua Ruyue didn't conceal it and told Song Kai her temporary refuge—a civilian house located on the outskirts of the city.

Without hesitation, Song Kai realized he needed to stabilize the situation with the Thieves' Guild as quickly as possible.

Walking out of the bedroom, Song Kai grabbed Tang Ying's car keys, got into her car, and drove straight toward the hideout.

Sure enough, upon pushing open the door to Hua Ruyue's room, he spotted a box sitting on the table.

Song Kai opened the box and looked inside. It contained a white pill, its surface sealed with a layer of wax. This had to be the antidote.

Song Kai left the premises swiftly. Glancing left and right to ensure he wasn't being followed, he got back into Tang Ying's car and drove toward the residential complex.

As he arrived at the entrance of the complex, two people suddenly rushed out from the sides, wearing white funeral robes with white cloth strips tied around their heads, and threw themselves directly onto the hood of the car.

Song Kai slammed on the brakes, his brow furrowing deeply.

"Give me back my son's life! Give me back my son's life!" The two individuals began violently battering the front of the car.

At that exact moment, a dozen more people dressed in mourning clothes suddenly surged out from the surroundings, swarming the vehicle and raining blows upon it.

"Quack doctor, give us back our child's life!"

"We won't let this rest!"

"Drag him out of there!"

Someone smashed a rock against the car window, shattering it into pieces.

Song Kai parked the car properly and stepped out. He realized instantly that he had run into a mob of professional medical troublemakers.

The moment his feet hit the ground, two men closed in on him instantly, grabbing both of his arms in a tight left-and-right pincer grip.

However, no sooner had they grabbed his arms than the two men realized they had grabbed the wrong person. They immediately released their hold and began backing away.

Around them, the crowd continued to wail and weep in their mourning attire, banging relentlessly against Tang Ying's car with a deafening racket.

Song Kai cast a swift, piercing glance at those two men!

Their grappling techniques were far too professional! They were neither ordinary grieving family members nor run-of-the-mill professional medical agitators—they were kidnappers!

Kidnappers?!

Kidnappers mixed in with a crowd of staged medical protestors?

Damn it, things were getting ridiculously complicated.

Stepping forward, Song Kai demanded, "What are you people trying to pull?"

One of the men pointed at Song Kai and shouted, "You quack doctor! You killed my child, and now you're trying to deny it! We won't let you get away with this!" With that, the man lunged toward Song Kai.

A cold smirk crossed Song Kai's face, and he delivered a swift, powerful kick straight to the man's chest.

With a heavy thud, the man was sent flying backward. He spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and passed out cold on the spot.

"Ah! The doctor is beating people up!"

"Come look, everyone! A quack doctor killed a patient and now he's resorting to violence!"

"Don't let him get away!"

The crowd erupted into frantic shouting from all directions.

Song Kai narrowed his eyes, scanned the scene once more, and quickly locked onto a middle-aged man wearing glasses.

Walking over with a swift stride, Song Kai grabbed the middle-aged man by the collar, hoisted him up effortlessly, and hurled him heavily to the ground.

"You... you... what do you think you're doing?!" The middle-aged man was genuinely terrified.

Song Kai smirked coldly, pressing a foot down directly onto the man's face. "You idiots, haven't you figured it out yet? I'm not a doctor at all! I just borrowed Dr. Tang's car! You couldn't even figure out whether the doctor was a man or a woman before claiming she killed your son. Heh, professional troublemakers have zero standards these days. At least figure out the doctor's gender first."

Hearing this, the middle-aged man turned pale with fright.

With a sharp *crack*, Song Kai applied pressure with his foot, instantly dislocating the man's jaw and causing a row of false teeth to clatter out from his mouth.

The middle-aged man let out a shrieking howl of agony.

Squatting down beside him, Song Kai said smoothly, "Tell me the truth about what's really going on, or else your arms and legs are going to be dislocated next..."