Chapter 1201: It’s My Loss This Time

“Did you find out anything?” The young man asked.

“No. As you say, these garbage are useless,” the old woman replied slowly.

“He’s still alive, ma’am. You’re going to freeze his black heart with those cruel words.”

The young man shot the Ghost Doctor a playful look. “Or are the people of Westwind just cold-blooded by nature?”

𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

“Westwind?”

They’re killers from Westwind Inn?”

“Is the Ghost Doctor a killer of Westwind Inn as well?”

The crowd exchanges shocked, doubtful looks with each other. The only silver lining regarding this revelation was that they had so many frights in such a short span of time that their nerves were numb at this point. No one’s expression changed overly much.

“I’m just stating facts,” The old woman said indifferently. She did not seem angry or surprised even though the young man had exposed her identity. “I’m curious. How did you know about us?”

The young man smiled. “Oh, that’s not all I know. I know that you are the one they call the God Medium. I also know that you’re the incense acolyte of the Goddess Queen Houtu Temple and the Shopkeeper of Westwind Inn. As for Ghost Doctor, he’s the Accountant, isn’t he?”

For the first time, the old woman’s pupils—a.k.a the God Medium—contracted into pins. A hint of solemnity had entered her face as well.

Generally speaking, all killers of Westwind Inn possessed two identities: their usual identity, and their hidden identity. Their usual identity could be anything. They could be a waiter, a trader, a carpenter, a wealthy merchant, so on and so forth. The God Medium was an incense acolyte of a Goddess Queen Houtu Temple in the area, whereas the Ghost Doctor was the Ghost Doctor.

It was only when they received a mission or a summon that they appeared as a killer of Westwind.

In descending order, the killers of Westwind were categorized as Boss, Shopkeeper, Accountant, Cook, and Waiter. There was only one Boss, and that was the leader of Westwind himself.

Beneath him were thirty six Shopkeepers. Each Shopkeeper was responsible for a Westwind Inn, and their jurisdiction could span across a city or a land. They could be seen as the number two of the Westwind Inn.

The Accountants came after the Shopkeepers, followed by the Cooks and the Waiters. They were all killers of Westwind Inn and responsible for carrying out assassination missions.

The God Medium was the Shopkeeper of the Westwind Inn overseeing the surrounding regions of Snowview City. One could say that she was the overseer of all the bounty requests in this area. The Ghost Doctor was one of her two Accountants and her absolute number two.

They came today not as a killer of Westwind Inn nor as their usual selves. Instead, they donned a disguise. Well, to a certain point.

The God Medium wasn’t surprised that the Ghost Doctor got what he deserved. Not only did his deviant nature demanded that he betrayed his own identity, the bastard was even wearing an identifier that marked him as a killer of Westwind Inn. it was very possible that the young man had found out who he and she really were through it.

But she was different. She had disguised herself from head to toe. Even if the young man figured out that she was a killer of Westwind Inn, there was no way he could have known that she was the Shopkeeper of Westwind Inn, much less figure out her overt identity.

So, how did he do it?

Her first reaction was that someone had betrayed her. That someone might even be Ghost Doctor himself.

She immediately rejected this assumption though[1]. Westwind Inn were absolutely ruthless against traitors. To enforce total and absolute loyalty, each and every killer of Westwind Inn was implanted with a gu insect, and the Shopkeeper was entrusted with the mother gu. Not only that, the Shopkeeper knew a huge number of weaknesses or information regagrding to each killer. It was no exaggeration that anyone who betrayed the Westwind Inn would suffer a fate worse than death.

Therefore, the God Medium was certain that none of her underlings had betrayed her. It was simply unthinkable.

What about soul searching?

According to their intel, the young man was a body-tempering Great Grandmaster. She could see that the intel was true from the way he fought earlier. Generally speaking, Great Grandmasters possessed a weaker mind and were not adept in mental arts, not to mention that she had implanted various restrictions inside his mind. There was little chance he could search his soul and discover the truth in so short a time.

So, she was back to square one: how on earth did he find out about her identity?

For a time, the God Medium was mired in hesitation and doubt.

“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you talking?”

The young man observed the silent God Medium for a moment before chuckling. “If you’re not talking, does that mean you’re going to attack me?”

The God Medium remained silent. She did not try to attack him either.

“You’re neither talking nor attacking me...”

The young man continued leisurely, “Ah, I know! You’re waiting for the poison to take effect!”

“I know you’ve poisoned my wine and my food with thirteen types of poison. These four bastards were implanted with twenty one types of poison as well. This Ghost Doctor is the most impressive one though. Eighty one poisons! He’s practically a walking plague!”

“Every single one of these poisons can kill the flesh, eat the bone, burn the guts, end the soul, or wipe the mind. Not only that, they can blend together and form an even deadlier poison. The best part though is that they are colorless and odorless, making it very difficult to detect by normal means.”

“I’ve drank the wine, eaten the food, and made contact with those four. So, you must be waiting for the poison to take effect, right?”

The God Medium shook a little and curled her fingers. The reaction was mild, but it was a clear sign that she was rattled.

It was impossible to say if it was because the young man had seen through her ploy, or because he had exposed it.

It was exactly as he said. Part of the preparations they made to take out the young man was to poison the food, drink, and even the Four Renegades. The Ghost Doctor had researched these poisons his whole life, and every single one of them could kill someone in no time at all. If dozens of them were blended together, then the result could threaten even a Trueman or a Grandmaster.

Once, Ghost Doctor had employed this exact method to kill a Great Trueman. It was his greatest achievement.

This time, they repeated the same trick but mixed a dozen more deadly poisons that the Ghost Doctor had researched recently. They were confident that these poisons could give even a Half-Sage a run for their money.

However, it would seem that their ploy had ended in total failure.

“If that is what you were waiting for, then you should stop. I’m immune to poison, you see. They’re no different from water[2] to me,” the young man continued.

“You’re strong. We underestimated you.”

A moment of silence later, the God Medium finally spoke up, “We did not think that you would recover to full strength just two days after you fought Zhao Changming, the Brocade Shirt Marquis. We definitely did not think that you are immune to the Ghost Doctor’s poisons as well.”

“It’s my loss—this time.”

She admitted it. It was a total and complete defeat.

Yes, the young man before her was none other than Ye Qing.

The Earthly Sovereign Bell was like a delicious slice of pork, and everyone wanted a piece of it. Westwind was no exception.

As soon as they learned that Zhao Changming was killed, and the bearer of the Earthly Sovereign Bell had escaped, she had immediately ordered every killer of Westwind Inn and intelligence personnel of Westwind Restaurant to track down the man.

Ye Qing had surprised her, however. Never in her wildest imagination did she imagine that the bearer of the Earthly Sovereign Bell would show up in the Westwind Restaurant of his own accord.

After confirming that it was not a trick, the God Medium and the Ghost Doctor immediately set up this trap.

They did not think they would fail. After all, they were the knives in the dark, and he the unsuspecting victim in the open.

First, they poisoned his food and drink. Of course, they were aware that these poisons weren’t enough to kill a Great Grandmaster. So, their next step was to have the Ghost Doctor control the Four Renegades with his Thirteen Needles of the Gates of Hell and attack him.

1. There’s a meme among the Chinese community that goes something like this, “First, we exclude the correct answer.” ☜

2. That fruit he ate is seriously priceless. It’s been functioning since chapter 50 and it has never failed him. ☜