Hearing the weak voice, Xu Mu's brows furrowed tightly.
Jiang Huihui was already at the Mystic Art Realm—who could have possibly hurt her?
Even if she encountered a strong opponent, she should've at least been able to retreat safely.
"Who was it?" he asked in a low voice.
"It should be… the Immortal Life Research Institute," Jiang Huihui said weakly.
"Wait for me."
Xu Mu ended the call, turned to Nangong Ping, and said, "Senior, if it's about business, talk to my old man. I've got something urgent—I'll be going first."
"Alright, go ahead," Nangong Ping nodded.
Xu Mu didn't even explain to Xu Shou or the others. He went straight down the mountain from another path.
From Jiang Huihui's call, he already knew her rough location, so he spread out his perception to search.
Finally, halfway down the mountain, he saw her—curled up behind a rock.
"Huihui!"
Xu Mu jogged over and knelt beside her.
Blood streaked down her chin, and her eyelids drooped as if she could no longer open her eyes.
He grabbed her wrist and checked her pulse carefully.
"What happened? You're poisoned," he frowned.
"I saw several black-robed figures and chased them," she said faintly.
"That's when I realized… they were people from the Immortal Life Research Institute."
"You might not know what that organization—"
"Save your breath. I know them."
Xu Mu stripped off her jacket and tore open her black short-sleeved shirt beneath.
Jiang Huihui instinctively caught his wrist.
"I know a bit of medicine. But if you don't want treatment, that's fine. I only slightly know what I'm doing," he said, meeting her eyes calmly.
After a moment's hesitation, Jiang Huihui released his wrist. Xu Mu wasn't an ordinary man.
Just by checking her pulse, he had known she was poisoned—he clearly understood medicine.
[Favorability +10]
Xu Mu tore the shirt wider, revealing her fair skin—and the white bandages binding her body.
The fabric was already soaked through with blackened blood.
He loosened the bindings, and two "things" bounced lightly into view before his eyes.
Jiang Huihui's face flushed crimson, her breathing quickened, and she squeezed her eyes shut.
"Relax. I'm not interested in those things. Frankly speaking, they're just lumps of fat," Xu Mu said with a completely serious face.
According to his professional assessment, she was about a B-cup realm.
Perfectly normal—after all, among Dragon Nation's lingerie sales, B-size made up over forty percent.
On her left side, two claw marks marred her skin—not deep, but the blood seeping out was dark red, almost black.
"The one who hurt me… was a woman. She had a sword tassel on her ear," Jiang Huihui murmured.
"Her?" Xu Mu's expression darkened, thinking of Liang Yi—the captain-ranked operative of the Institute.
He dabbed the blood with his fingers and sniffed it.
"This isn't natural poison—it's a synthetic compound," he said.
Opening his storage space, Xu Mu took out a case of silver needles. He quickly inserted them into specific acupoints to block the spread of toxins.
"What do we do now? Am I going to die?" Jiang Huihui's voice trembled. Her head buzzed as if she were drunk.
"You'll be fine. I'll draw the poison out," Xu Mu said calmly and began to work.
His Pharmaceutical Mastery allowed him to identify toxins by scent alone.
That's why he often placed pills in his mouth during analysis.
Jiang Huihui felt even dizzier.
She repeated to herself—This is treatment. He's saving me.
Pfft!
Xu Mu spat out the blackened blood. "As expected of the Immortal Life Research Institute."
From taste and scent, he had already analyzed the toxin—
a combination of two poisonous spirit herbs mixed with artificial chemical venom.
There was also a faint trace of milk aroma—but that wasn't part of the poison.
No wonder just one small wound could nearly incapacitate someone at the Mystic Art Realm.
Still, now that he understood the poison's nature, he could craft a countermeasure.
"Wait here."
From his storage, he pulled out several spirit herbs.
No time for refining pills, so he crushed them on the spot, squeezing out the juices.
He dripped the liquid into her wound, then packed the rest to seal it.
A little remained—he popped that into his own mouth as a safeguard.
Using her own torn inner garment, he bandaged the wound, then helped her put the jacket back on.
"Let's go," he said.
He lifted her in a princess carry—the wound's position made it unsuitable to carry her on his back.
[Favorability +10]
Jiang Huihui kept her eyes tightly shut, face still flushed, unable to face him.
But the treatment was clearly working—the burning pain in her wound had faded.
"Xu Mu… thank you," she whispered.
"No need. We're on the same side," Xu Mu said with a smile. "You're my employee, remember? If you're down, who's going to work for me?"
"If my grandfather really holds a martial-tournament marriage, I hope you'll come," Jiang Huihui murmured, still with eyes closed.
"Like before? If I win, we have a fake marriage again?" Xu Mu teased, glancing at her delicate face.
She didn't reply—just stayed quietly in his arms.
Xu Mu didn't return to the mountaintop. Instead, he took Jiang Huihui to his car, letting her rest in the backseat.
He'd planned to go back up, but then got a message from Meng Wanyue saying the banquet had ended and everyone was heading down.
So he waited.
About ten minutes later, Xu Shou and the others appeared in his perception.
He stepped out of the car to meet them.
Xu Shou was smiling broadly, and Dai Xingluo beside him also looked pleased.
By contrast, Xu Ningbing and Meng Wanyue didn't look as happy.
Chen Xuan was carrying two plastic bags of food. Seeing Xu Mu from afar, he called out, "Brother Mu!"
Xu Mu smiled and nodded. Chen Xuan really had come just for the food this time—
he'd planned to test his strength, but things had changed after Zhang Que showed up and helped him.
"Kid, we owe you this time. If you didn't know that expert, we'd be in real trouble," Xu Shou said, patting his shoulder and winking. "Keep it up—win her over."
Xu Mu scratched his head awkwardly.
At this rate, even the offhand "sect" he made up was being taken seriously.
Now, any hidden clan thinking of targeting him would have to think twice.
Xu Shou and Xu Ningbing left first.
Dai Xingluo waited until they were gone, then hooked her arm around Xu Mu's. "Brother, I think Uncle really likes me."
Meng Wanyue clenched her fists beside them.
Sometimes, she genuinely envied Dai Xingluo's shamelessness—because she herself could never act like that.
"Xingluo, thanks for today. Go back and wait for my call," Xu Mu said with a smile, pulling his arm free.
"Alright, then I'll go."
Dai Xingluo turned toward her car, smiling all the while.
She hadn't expected Xu Mu to be a sect disciple too—and not just any disciple.
He had given her a Qi Sea Pill and even an Earth-Grade technique, proof that he definitely wasn't just an outer disciple.