The reason Deacon Zhikong was thriving here was none other than his backer, Elder Sushui.
Originally, Zhikong wouldn’t have had much chance to interact with Elder Sushui, but by a stroke of luck, Zhikong discovered that Sushui was secretly a lecherous old man!
This gave Zhikong an instant epiphany, he could tailor his approach perfectly, especially since he had plenty of dual cultivation resources at his disposal.
Thus, Elder Sushui and Deacon Zhikong, birds of a feather, hit it off and started colluding together.
From then on, Sushui became Zhikong’s patron, and the two deceived those above and hid things from those below, living quite the prosperous little life.
According to Zhikong, Elder Sushui was currently his greatest reliance!
After hearing Zhikong out, Xu Fei didn’t respond immediately.
He deliberately put on a thoughtful pose, rubbing his chin and waiting for a long moment before finally speaking.
“Since you’re so desperate to live, I’ll reluctantly agree.”
Before Zhikong could even rejoice, Xu Fei continued.
“But don’t get too excited just yet, for someone as fickle as you, I need a way to keep you in check, who knows if you’ll betray me behind my back again!”
Despite Zhikong frantically shaking his head and waving his hands, Xu Fei wasn’t buying it.
With a flick of his hand, a silver needle appeared in Xu Fei’s palm, his yang energy surging forth to envelop the entire needle.
Then, with another push, the needle shot into Zhikong’s body in an instant.
“This needle is like a landmine, if you dare use your tainted true qi again, it’ll rupture your meridians from the inside, causing your qi to reverse and kill you! Got it?”
Xu Fei truly had no foolproof way to stop Zhikong from badmouthing him behind his back or confessing to Elder Sushui.
So he flipped the script, opting to threaten Zhikong’s life with the needle instead.
After all, as a cultivator, it was nearly impossible for Zhikong to avoid using his true qi in the future.
The moment he did, the yang-energy-wrapped needle would react, stirring into action.
Xu Fei was confident that once Zhikong felt the pain, he’d immediately recall Xu Fei’s warning and wouldn’t dare betray him lightly.
After finishing this, Xu Fei waved his hand, letting Zhikong go.
At the same time, to keep up the act and avoid suspicion from the Red Buddha Society, Xu Fei didn’t take back the antique paintings and calligraphy Yao Yuanzhou had brought from the Yao family head.
He believed that as long as Zhikong had something to show for his efforts upon returning, it wouldn’t raise anyone’s doubts.
Creak, the door swung open again, and Yao Yuanzhou appeared at the threshold, holding Yao Yunxi’s hand.
“Yunxi姐, this is Divine Doctor Xu, he’s the one who saved us!”
Hearing Yao Yuanzhou’s words, Yao Yunxi snapped to attention and immediately tried to kneel in gratitude, but Xu Fei quickly reached out to stop her.
“What era are we in now? There’s no need for such grand gestures, besides, as a doctor, saving patients is my duty, no need to be so formal!”
