Realm of Myths and Legends

Qiao Xiaoqing lay unconscious on one of the beds, barely left intact in the wake of the destruction caused by the Mad Dogs.

The room was a mess with broken objects, torn fabrics, and several holes that looked as if someone had slammed a metal pole through the walls. Sadly, this room was in the best condition compared to the other choices on the second floor.

'Her pulse is now fully stabilized. Her wounds are also closing. Without the use of medicinal herbs, even if the wounds manage to heal, she will become permanently scarred. It's unfortunate that my spiritual essence is still too insufficient.'

As Jin examined Qiao Xiaoqing by carefully circulating his spiritual essence throughout her body, he thought back to the brief conversation he had with Meng Wu, the second in command of the Mad Dogs.

After Jin threw him clear across the room, Meng Wu immediately lost consciousness. However, Jin forcibly jolted him awake and questioned him.

At first, Meng Wu was not cooperative and feigned ignorance. But with a bit of "convincing", it did not take long for Meng Wu to happily answer every question Jin asked.

From the timing and based on what he knew, Jin already determined that the one behind the Mad Dogs attack on the orphanage was, in fact, Wendell. But, Meng Wu's answers served to verify his suspicions.

In addition, Jin learned that Bloodhound and the Mad Dogs were initially tasked with just breaking a few things, intimidating Qiao Xiaoqing and the children of the orphanage, and taking Qiao Xiaoqing to Wendell.

Meng Wu also informed him that Qiao Xiaoqing was supposed to be unharmed but that their leader, Bloodhound, did whatever he wanted.

Of course, Jin could care less about the reasons. Whether or not Wendell requested Qiao Xiaoqing be left unharmed made no difference to him.

In the end, if Wendell never sent the Mad Dogs to the orphanage, then none of this would have happened.

Although it was too early for Jin to kill Wendell directly, it did not mean that he would just sit back and watch things unfold before his eyes.

Since Wendell dared to lay a hand on one of his people, then he would make sure the price was paid in full with interest--sooner rather than later.

...

Several moments later, Fang Qiu delivered a neatly wrapped package to Jin.

The package contained the medicinal herbs Jin requested; however, Fang Qiu was unsure what Jin planned to do with those ingredients.

Since she was going to be employed by Jin, naturally, Fang Qiu decided to look into his past to ensure he was not involved in any shady business. From that, Fang Qiu knew that Jin possessed no history of formal or informal medical training.

As for the children on the first floor, after failing with her guide search, Fang Qiu called a professional caretaker to look after them.

By the time the caretaker arrived, Fang Qiu was exhausted and mentally drained.

There were times when she stayed awake for days trying to finalize a large project with no time for rest. However, never before had she endured anything as exhausting as watching those sixteen children and trying to get them to calm down until the caretaker arrived.

"The cleanup crew has finished removing the trash you left out back. I will need to make temporary living arrangements for the residents here while renovations are underway. Also, they are in need of various living essentials. And, after seeing the state of this place, the professional caretaker I hired is willing to stick around for as long as she's needed." Fang Qiu explained as her eyes landed on Qiao Xiaoqing.

When Fang Qiu first saw Qiao Xiaoqing, she could not help but grow angry thinking about what the Mad Dogs did to her. It caused Fang Qiu's stomach to twist into a knot, especially after learning about the events of Qiao Xiaoqing's life.

If Fang Qiu was placed in Qiao Xiaoqing's shoes, she was uncertain if she would have had the willpower to continue living, let alone spend her life looking after others.

To bear so much from a young age and still have the will to shoulder the burdens of others--although the two had never spoken to one another, Fang Qiu held a great deal of respect for Qiao Xiaoqing. She even felt somewhat bad that she tried to convince Jin not to purchase the orphanage, despite just doing her job as his financial advisor.

"There is a medical facility that specializes in bodily reconstruction. The waitlist is usually quite long, but their skills are second to none in the world. I may have some trouble making the arrangements, but I'm sure they would not refuse a request from the second young miss of the Zi family." Fang Qiu commented.

"It's fine. I may not look like it to Advisor Fang Qiu, but I am quite skilled when it comes to traditional medicine. For this matter--I must depend on myself. I'm sure you understand what I mean by those words, Advisor Fang Qiu." Jin responded calmly.

Fang Qiu lightly sighed. Indeed, she knew precisely what Jin meant.

If he went crawling to Zi Jiaxiu every time he faced a problem or needed some type of quick fix, what kind of person would that make him in the eyes of others?

It would seem as if the only way Jin could face any difficulties he came across was not by depending on himself but rather the power of others.

Jin did not doubt that with one phone call to Zi Jiaxiu, he could also have the companies owned by Wendell's father completely eradicated, thereby rendering any miniscule influence Wendell had ineffective.

But, how could the hatred carved into his body ever be satisfied with such an outcome? If he wanted to rid himself of it and keep the promise he made, then it was something Jin knew had to be done with his own hands.

"Alright, I won't bring it up again. But, if you change your mind, let me know." Fang Qiu stated.

She then continued, "The renovation company should be arriving any second now, so I'll need to greet them and go over what needs to be done, as well as settle the contracts. I will inform them this room is off-limits for now. If you need anything else, you know how to reach me."

The next moment, Fang Qiu left the room and closed the door on her way out, leaving Jin alone with Qiao Xiaoqing.

Once Fang Qiu was gone, Jin opened the package and thoroughly inspected the medicinal herbs.

'The overall quality of these medicinal herbs is at least two times greater than the standard. To gather something like this in such a short period of time... As expected of Advisor Fang Qiu.'

After confirming that every medicinal herb was present, Jin laid out the ingredients on the edge of the bed.

Jin closed his eyes as he held the palm of his hand a few centimeters above Qiao Xiaoqing's head.

He deeply inhaled before slowly exhaling to clear his mind.

At the same time, a thin veil of spiritual essence encompassed each of the ingredients laid out on the bed.

'Let's begin.'

Jin's eyes shot open as the medicinal herbs started to disintegrate and crumble apart. However, instead of scattering in every direction, the spiritual essence surrounding the medicinal herbs flowed to the palm of Jin's hand hovered over Qiao Xiaoqing.

Jin controlled his breathing as beads of sweat could be seen forming on the side of his face.

'As I thought, extracting the essence without the use of a cauldron is challenging with my current level of strength. Still, it's not entirely impossible. And, that's enough.'

...

Approximately five minutes later...

Jin was covered in sweat, and his face had turned slightly pale. However, this was merely a form of physical fatigue due to the stress placed upon his body.

In the end, using his meager amount of spiritual essence to extract the essence from the medicinal herbs was a tall task.

He would require an hour or two of rest to recover, but it was nowhere near as bad as the time Jin broke off a piece of his soul off.

'It's done.'

Jin released a long sigh. It had been a while since he felt this tired. But, his efforts were not in vain, and he was more than satisfied with the results.

When he first started, Qiao Xiaoqing's face was riddled with cuts and bruises. But now, no one would have ever thought that she had just undergone an arduous encounter.

There was not a single scratch or scar to be found!

In fact, Qiao Xiaoqing appeared to be reinvigorated and in an overall healthier state than she previously was.

Jin's treatment was a great success!

'She should awaken soon.'

Not too long after Jin had that thought, Qiao Xiaoqing's eyelids started to flutter rapidly.

The next moment, her eyes began to gradually open as she regained consciousness.