The scene froze.
A tiny girl kicked open the nanmu door, a metal behemoth slung over her shoulder.
Everyone in the Imperial Uncle’s residence stared in stunned silence.
And behind her stood a man in black, his face murderous, his gaze haughty enough to look down on the world.
Su Zhen stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at the crowd of charlatans inside.
The Red-Robed Deacon, who had been forcing the First Madam to sign a contract selling herself into servitude, was the first to snap out of it.
He looked at the door, kicked to splinters, then at Su Yaoyao.
Someone had just snatched the prize right out of his grasp. How could he let that stand?
“Where did this little brat come from? How dare you barge into the Imperial Uncle’s residence!”
The Red-Robed Deacon stamped about in fury, clutching a staff strung with skulls and thumping it against the ground.
He recognized Su Yaoyao at a glance. She was the sworn enemy of the Science Cultivation Hall across the street!
“Well, well! I haven’t even gone to settle the score with you yet, and here you are, delivering yourselves right to my door!”
“You dare make a scene at a ceremony summoning the Netherworld God? This is an outrage against the divine!”
Pointing at Su Yaoyao’s nose, the Red-Robed Deacon cursed her out, spittle flying.
“You demoness! You’re clearly in league with the evil spirit possessing the Imperial Uncle!”
“Guards! Seize these two blasphemers!”
“Throw them in the death cells and await divine punishment!”
At the Red-Robed Deacon’s command, the seven or eight charlatans who had been performing their ritual inside stopped what they were doing.
They tossed aside their spirit-summoning banners and drew gleaming curved blades from their waists.
These people weren’t religious officiants at all. They were enforcers kept by the Netherworld God Cult.
With vicious looks and bared teeth, they charged at Su Yaoyao and Su Zhen.
The First Madam let out a terrified scream. The servants backed away, afraid of getting splattered with blood.
Faced with this pack of ravenous brutes, Su Yaoyao didn’t even lift an eyelid.
She couldn’t be bothered to take the medical pod off her shoulder.
She didn’t need to lift a finger.
“Hmph. You’re asking for it.”
A bone-chilling scoff cracked through the air.
Su Zhen moved.
He didn’t draw the Longquan sword at his waist.
Drawing his sword against this trash would be an insult to the blade.
Su Zhen casually raised his right hand, still holding the scabbard.
He didn’t take a single step back. He simply flicked his wrist and swatted at the air.
The movement was as slow as an old man practicing tai chi in the park.
But that seemingly weightless swat carried a terrifying force that crushed all hope.
“Smack!”
A sharp crack rang out.
The first few charlatans didn’t even reach Su Zhen’s clothes.
An invisible, terrifying wave of force sent them flying!
The blast of energy from Su Zhen’s scabbard swept the charlatans away, then slammed into the Red-Robed Deacon’s face.
The Red-Robed Deacon, who moments ago had been swaggering around like he owned the place, didn’t even have time to scream.
Like a worn-out sack, he was ripped off the ground by an irresistible force.
He traced a miserable arc through the air.
“Boom!”
His body slammed into the sturdy load-bearing wall.
The impact left a human-shaped dent in the hard stone.
Dust sifted down from above.
The Red-Robed Deacon was embedded in the wall, limbs spread in a perfect, seamless starfish shape.
His staff had snapped in two. His hands and feet twitched feebly in the cracks of the wall.
He tried to struggle free, only to find himself wedged in so tightly that he could not even pry himself loose.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and his haughty old face was swollen into a purple pig’s head.
The entire courtyard fell silent.
Silent.
Deathly silent.
Throughout the vast residence of the Imperial Uncle, only the sounds of sharp intakes of breath and chattering teeth remained.
The charlatans who had been knocked to the ground stared at their superior, embedded in the wall so firmly he could not be pulled out. They were scared out of their wits.
One after another, they threw down their blades and dropped to their knees, frantically kowtowing. None of them dared utter another word.
The household servants and the First Madam of the Imperial Uncle’s residence were dumbstruck.
What kind of monster was this?!
Su Zhen clapped his hands in distaste, as though brushing away a speck of dust.
He cast a cold glance at the Red-Robed Deacon on the wall.
“You dared point at my daughter’s nose and curse her? What do you think you are? Who gave you the right?”
Su Zhen’s voice carried the majesty of an emperor, making everyone’s eardrums ache.
With those charlatans no longer in the way, the room was finally quiet.
Carrying the metal pod over her shoulder, Su Yaoyao swaggered across the threshold and headed straight for the Imperial Uncle’s bedside.
With a loud bang, she set the heavy silver metal pod on the floor.
She leaned closer to inspect the Imperial Uncle, who was still convulsing and foaming at the mouth on the bed.
His face was ashen, and his belly was swollen like a balloon.
Su Yaoyao reached out directly.
She pressed hard on his lower right abdomen, where the appendix was located.
Then she quickly released her hand.
“AAARGH!!!”
The Imperial Uncle, who had been half-unconscious only moments before, let out a piercing scream at the rebound pain.
His body jerked upright like a shrimp, cold sweat pouring from him.
Su Yaoyao withdrew her hand and rolled her eyes. She had her diagnosis.
A familiar voice echoed in Tyrant Dad’s mind:
[Here I thought it was some terminal illness, making everyone run around like headless chickens.]
[It’s just acute appendicitis! Where I come from, it wouldn’t even need surgery—a single pill would clear it up in ten minutes.]
[Those idiot charlatans actually forced three huge bowls of ash-and-mud water down his throat.]
[It was only inflammation at first, but after all their meddling, it turned into a severe intestinal infection. His appendix is about to rupture!]
Listening to his daughter’s internal grumbling, the corners of Su Zhen’s lips curled upward.
This was in the bag.
As long as his daughter was confident, this big deal was as good as theirs.
Su Yaoyao turned to the trembling First Madam and cleared her throat.
“First Madam, your husband isn’t possessed by an evil ghost.”
“There’s something bad growing in his belly, and then that quack made him drink filthy water. It’s about to burst.”
At this, tears streamed down the First Madam’s face again. She looked at Su Yaoyao as though clutching at a lifeline.
“Little Immortal! You can tell what illness my husband has, so you must know how to save him, don’t you?”
“If you can save him, the Imperial Uncle’s residence will reward you handsomely!”
“Easy enough. We take payment to solve problems—we’re a legitimate medical clinic.”
Su Yaoyao dusted off her hands, then turned and pressed the switch on the silver metal pod on the floor.
Hiss.
A faint rush of air sounded.
The metal pod’s hatch slowly slid open.
This was the most advanced portable minimally invasive surgical pod in her personal space.
To make it fit the style of ancient times, she had even pasted several yellow talisman papers over the outside and drawn a few Taiji symbols surrounded by the Eight Trigrams.
“See this? It’s the supreme magical treasure passed down to me by my master, Lord Lao—the improved version of Lord Lao’s alchemy furnace!”
Su Yaoyao spouted nonsense with a perfectly straight face as she made her preoperative preparations.
The medical pod powered on.
A soft, sterile blue light illuminated the inside of the pod.
Precise minimally invasive robotic arms slowly extended from the ceiling.
At the same time, the pod’s vital-sign monitor began emitting a steady electronic beep—beep—beep.
The eerie blue glow and strange, rhythmic beeping left the members of the Duke’s household staring in stunned confusion.
In an era when they had never even seen a flashlight, how could they possibly have imagined such a fully automated surgical device?
The First Madam stared at the metal contraption that glowed and made bizarre noises.
Her heart pounded wildly, and terror nearly made her soul leave her body.
The hope that had just flickered to life transformed into fear.
Gripping the edge of the bed, she stared at Su Yaoyao with a deathly pale face.
“W-What are you going to do to my husband?”
The First Madam’s voice trembled. She was terrified that this strange furnace would roast her husband alive.
Su Yaoyao paid no attention to the First Madam’s panic.
Unhurriedly, she pulled a pair of transparent sterile medical gloves from her pocket and slowly slipped them on.
The blue light cast an otherworldly, professional glow over her delicate, rosy face.
Su Yaoyao turned to the terrified First Madam, the corners of her lips lifting slightly.
She revealed an exceptionally sweet smile.
“Don’t worry, Madam. I’m just removing a few unnecessary parts. It’ll be over in three minutes.”
