Huang Qiuhua clutched her chest, stumbling as she fled the square, with the corners of her mouth still stained with the blood she had vomited moments ago.
The palm strike she had just exchanged with Mu Jinyu appeared as if she had only retreated a few steps and spat out a mouthful of blood, but the risk involved was much greater than that.
She had been directly inflicted with an internal injury by Mu Jinyu!
And as she knew she was powerless to resist and immediately fled, if it weren't for two women entangling Mu Jinyu, she estimated she wouldn't have escaped with her life from Mu Jinyu's hands.
"Pu!!"
Having run a few more steps, the dark energy Mu Jinyu left in her body suddenly erupted, causing her complexion to change, and she staggered to a halt, leaning on a roadside telephone pole, her throat rolled a few times, and she spewed out another mouthful of fresh blood.
Passersby, seeing her state, hurriedly walked away, while a few more compassionate ones came over to ask what was wrong with her and took out their phones, ready to call an ambulance.
"Get lost!"
Barely suppressing her injury, Huang Qiuhua glared at them, daring not to linger, and quickly stumbled forward to continue her escape.
"What's with that person, really!"
"Tch, kindness taken for granted, just leave her be."
"..."
Good Samaritans were inexplicably scolded, shook their heads slightly, and cursed under their breath; seeing that Huang Qiuhua could still run, they decided to leave her alone.
Huang Qiuhua didn't dare let them call an ambulance to take her to the hospital for emergency treatment. If she did, with Mei Yinxue's formidable influence in River City, she would definitely be found by Mei Yinxue almost immediately and then be eliminated!
Her only option was to run to her own stronghold, have her subordinates escort her, and leave River City under the cover of night. Then she would have to spend a hefty sum to find a martial arts expert to help her resolve the dark energy Mu Jinyu had left in her body, or else she would be slowly ground to death by it!
Soon, Huang Qiuhua was running until her vision blurred and darkened, knowing she couldn't hold on much longer.
Fortunately, her covert location in River City, a small tea house, was just ahead.
Huang Qiuhua stumbled into the tea house, tripped over a wooden stool, and fell to the ground with a thud, vomiting yet another mouthful of fresh blood, staining the front of her clothing red.
This commotion immediately drew the attention of a few idle waiters in the tea house. As they saw Huang Qiuhua's miserable state, their expressions changed, and they exclaimed:
"Big Sister, what's happened to you?!"
"Big Sister, are you alright? Don't scare us!"
"Quick! Go, close the door of the shop!"
"..."
As people helped her up, Huang Qiuhua mustered her strength. She looked at her worried subordinates, her pale lips trembling, and weakly said, "Change of plans... a Martial Arts Grandmaster has intervened... hurry up... get me out of River City, find a martial arts expert to... resolve... the dark energy in my body..."
After speaking intermittently, Huang Qiuhua could no longer hold on, her vision went dark, her consciousness collapsed, and she completely lost consciousness.
"Big Sister... Big Sister..."
As Huang Qiuhua fell unconscious, the onlookers turned pale, shouting out loud in alarm.
At this moment, a man dressed as a foreman spoke up, "Stop shouting, we need to quickly get Big Sister out of River City!"
Upon hearing this, everyone's frantic hearts steadied, and they suddenly remembered Huang Qiuhua's earlier instructions, "Yes, yes, we need to quickly get Big Sister out of River City."
Yet, someone worriedly asked, "Big Sister is seriously injured at the moment; if we take her out of River City now to find a Martial Arts Expert to treat her, will there be enough time?"
At these words, everyone hesitated.
Indeed, Big Sister looked to be extremely injured. If they didn't rescue her immediately but instead left River City to find a Martial Arts Expert, could they be wasting precious rescue time?!
"That's right!" Just as everyone was at a loss, suddenly, someone had a stroke of inspiration and excitedly said, "Didn't Big Sister originally plan to find Doctor Mu? Given the sudden situation, and we don't know who ambushed her, we could try asking Doctor Mu to give it a try for Big Sister?"
Because Huang Qiuhua hadn't revealed that the person who injured her was Mu Jinyu, the group assumed that her attacker was a passing Martial Arts Grandmaster.
Unaware of these details and desperate to cure Huang Qiuhua, they thought of seeking treatment from Mu Jinyu.
After hearing this suggestion, some people were tempted, feeling it was a feasible plan.
"That makes some sense. I'll go right now and bring Doctor Mu here to treat Big Sister!" said one impatient person, and after speaking, he was ready to go look for Mu Jinyu.
But a more rational person immediately threw cold water on the idea, "Go where? Big Sister's injury is caused by dark energy; what can an ordinary doctor do about it?!"
"You make a good point too," the other person responded, scratching his head and halting his steps.
That person continued to analyze calmly, "Besides, Big Sister just told us to quickly get her out of River City; certainly, her actions just now have exposed her whereabouts and likely compromised our base here as well. That's why she told us to leave in a hurry..."
After a pause, he went on to say, "So our current situation is definitely very dangerous, we can't stay in River City for long. We should follow Big Sister's instructions and first take her out of River City. If, by then, the Martial Arts Expert we find can't resolve the dark energy in Big Sister's body, we'll return to River City and kidnap that Divine Doctor."
"Hmm!" The man dressed as a foreman, after listening to these words, also showed a look of approval and said, "You're right, our top priority now is to quickly take Big Sister out of River City to find a Martial Arts Expert to help dispel the dark energy inside her. We shouldn't be rashly seeking help from any random 'Divine Doctor.' Alright, let's set out now, and inform the brothers from other branches to withdraw from River City as well..."
"Yes!"
The group, anxious and uneasy, then rapidly left River City with Huang Qiuhua.
...
After Mu Jinyu helped Gu Xiyan treat her sprained ankle and had said goodbye to the two women, he thought of Huang Qiuhua, and his brows slightly furrowed. He then took out his phone and made a call to Mei Yinxue.
"Hello..."
Mei Yinxue answered the phone, her tone was somewhat tired but still held a hint of excitement upon hearing that it was Mu Jinyu.
Mu Jinyu said, "Just now, I met a woman named Huang Qiuhua, who offered to let me run things with her, promising me half of the territory in Jiangnan..."
"Huang Qiuhua?!" Mei Yinxue's tone shifted slightly when she heard Mu Jinyu's words, interrupting him, "She came looking for you? Did... did you agree to her proposal?"
The last question was laden with deep concern and fear.
The thought of Mu Jinyu accepting Huang Qiuhua's offer and severing ties with her filled Mei Yinxue with a wave of dread and reluctance.
Mu Jinyu didn't pick up on the affection in her voice, thinking she was just nervous, and explained, "No, she's too ugly. Even if she promised me wealth and beauties, I wouldn't be interested. But there's something really odd about her; we were talking normally, and then she suddenly attacked me!"