Su Mo was probably the only one who could get Nishimura Koishi to apologize in person. He immediately acted flattered: “Nishimura Leader, you flatter me…”
Uesugi Fumikazu seized the opportunity and said, “Nishimura Leader shows no mercy when it comes to talented people. If it weren’t for Chiba’s clear sense of duty, our organization would have lost a key player.”
After saying this, he looked at Su Mo with a smile. “Keiko recommended you to me before, but because that guy Nishimura Koishi kept blocking it, I never got the chance to officially recruit you. Now that everything is cleared up, how about…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Su Mo suddenly tilted her head and fainted.
Sakurai Mei muttered, “You two leaders are only focused on fighting over her, completely ignoring whether she lives or dies. Now she’s fainted…”
Nishimura Koishi and Uesugi Fumikazu exchanged a glance.
“Chiba is my subordinate. It’s only right that I heal her.”
“Keiko is my disciple, and she’s Keiko’s sister. That makes me practically her master too. I should do it.”
“You’re already taking advantage of your own disciple. Who knows if you’re not trying to take advantage of Chiba too?”
“Nonsense! My wife only said that because she was jealous of Keiko’s beauty…”
The two started arguing again, trading barbs.
Seeing how unreliable they were, Sakurai Mei decided to channel her spiritual energy into Su Mo’s body herself. “You two can keep arguing. I’ll save her.”
Only then did they stop quarreling. Uesugi Fumikazu suggested, “Considering that both Yang Jie and Long Tianyu had to work together to treat her, this backlash must be no easy thing to solve. How about we take turns?”
Nishimura Koishi thought that if he did it alone, the spiritual energy consumption would be enormous, possibly even damaging his foundation. So he reluctantly agreed. “Fine, I’ll give you this chance.”
Uesugi Fumikazu: (￢_￢)
I’m the one putting in the effort to heal her, so why does it sound like I’m the one getting the advantage?
‘Giving me a chance,’ my foot!
Sakurai Mei hadn’t broken through to B-class very long ago, so her cultivation base was still relatively weak. After a short while, she was already struggling to keep going.
“Mei, you should rest. Let me take over!” Nishimura Koishi continued the treatment. But halfway through, he suddenly noticed a black liquid beginning to seep out. He quickly pretended to be exhausted: “Uesugi Leader, your turn.”
Uesugi Fumikazu shot him a look of disdain. “You’re already spent after such a short time?”
“If you’re so capable, you do it! It’s incredibly draining on spiritual energy. If you can last longer than me, then you’re something!”
Being told “you’re something” is the highest honor in a guy’s world, regardless of nationality or age. Uesugi Fumikazu immediately perked up, his competitive spirit ignited. “Hah, I’ll easily last twice as long as you!”
He walked over and took over from Nishimura Koishi.
At first, nothing seemed abnormal. But after a while, he suddenly sensed something was wrong. What was this black liquid!?
The dark flames burned slowly in a flowing state. Before they even reached him, an eerie, cold aura sent chills down his spine.
Turning his head, he caught Nishimura Koishi staring right at him. Uesugi Fumikazu immediately put on a facade of having everything under control, acting as if it was no big deal.
But the dark flames kept spreading, eventually igniting his clothes. Only then did Uesugi Fumikazu’s eyes fly wide open in shock. “This is Black Yin Fire! How is it leaking out???”
Nishimura Koishi quickly took a step back, pretending to be concerned. “Get away quickly! This stuff is extremely dangerous!”
The more Nishimura Koishi said that, the more determined Uesugi Fumikazu became to successfully heal Su Mo.
With a fierce roar, he increased the flow of his spiritual energy.
Sure enough, the black liquid stopped spreading and began to recede.
Uesugi Fumikazu felt a surge of joy and pushed even harder.
Finally, just as Uesugi Fumikazu was about to reach his limit, the Yin Fire completely retreated back into Su Mo’s body.
She suddenly coughed up a mouthful of black blood and slowly began to regain consciousness. “Thank you, both Leaders. Thank you, Sister Mei.”
Sakurai Mei was quicker than Uesugi Fumikazu, reaching out to support Su Mo’s shoulders and letting her lean against her.
Uesugi Fumikazu awkwardly withdrew the hand he had extended. To avoid the embarrassment, he quickly changed the subject. “Chiba, have you considered what I mentioned earlier? If you come work with me, I guarantee…”
“Chiba, Uesugi Leader really put in a huge effort this time. Once you’re better, you absolutely must thank him properly.” Nishimura Koishi suddenly interjected, giving Su Mo this instruction, then patted Uesugi Fumikazu on the shoulder. “Uesugi Leader must be tired too. Allow me to personally escort you back to rest.”
Uesugi Fumikazu’s face was darker than the sole of a shoe. He forcefully shook off Nishimura Koishi’s hand. “I can walk by myself!”
With that, he turned and left, stumbling slightly as he went down the steps, clearly drained.
Nishimura Koishi remarked with feeling, “Uesugi Leader is such a good person…”
Sakurai Mei blinked, said nothing, and hoisted the “weak” Su Mo onto her back.
Feeling the vast amount of spiritual energy in his body, nearly half of which came from Uesugi Fumikazu, Su Mo thought to himself: Uesugi Leader really is a good person, sending me such a generous gift.
“Mei, take Chiba back to rest for now. You look after her during this time. Her family is busy taking care of Chiba Keiko anyway.” After giving this order to Sakurai Mei, Nishimura Koishi also left.
Su Mo rested his head on Sakurai Mei’s back, his voice weak. “How is Sister Keiko?”
“Don’t worry. With Uesugi Leader’s special medicine, she’ll wake up soon enough.”
“That’s good…”
“Alright, I’m taking you to my place now. Let me show you my cooking skills.” Sakurai Mei smiled sweetly.
Su Mo initially wanted to refuse, but remembering that Chiba Sankai and the others were indeed very busy and wouldn’t have time for him, a fake patient, he had no choice but to agree.
He slowly closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep, but his mind was replaying the earlier argument between “himself,” “Ye Qingyi,” and the others.
He hadn’t expected his sister’s acting to be so natural and brilliant. Qingyi, however, hadn’t quite kept up. He’d have to give her some proper coaching when he got the chance.
He had to admit, the scene they caused today was brilliant. It not only earned him Nishimura Koishi’s complete trust but also provided a perfect explanation for many of the suspicious things about him.
From now on, so many things wouldn’t have to be hidden anymore. He could use them freely and confidently. Even if the Yin Fire leaked out accidentally, he wouldn’t have to worry about being suspected.
But that wasn’t even the best part. The main thing was that from now on, he could regularly siphon off spiritual energy from the Master of the Samurai Sect on a regular basis…
It felt incredibly satisfying!
…
After leaving the island nation, Ye Qingyu immediately used the Bagua Mirror to remove their disguises. “This mirror is really amazing. I didn’t expect it could disguise multiple people at once. I’m almost tempted to keep it for myself.”
“No way, it’s Su Mo’s!” Ye Qingyi looked at her sister nervously.
Ye Qingyu’s face showed a hint of jealousy. “Alright, alright. You’re not even married to him yet, and you’re already defending his stuff like this. If you two do end up together, I’m afraid your big sister here could be lying dead in some field, and no one would even bother to bury me.”
Ye Qingyi pouted. “Sister~”
“Don’t try that with me. Right now, you’re still in Su Mo’s form. Your cute act doesn’t work on me.”
Ye Qingyi: (○｀ε´○) っ