Chapter Seventy-Nine: The Weighty Gift

Wang Fugui hurriedly led his lord to the Security Squad headquarters. Without even having time to announce their arrival, the town mayor Wang Fugui took the lead, and the group forced their way inside.

From a distance, before they had even entered the room, Li Jiahao and his companions could already hear Zhou Tian’s “confession.” As they burst in with grim expressions, they saw that several members of the Security Squad were preparing to torture Zhou Tian.

Given Zhou Tian’s status, Li Jiahao would never believe that Zhou Tian was actually being coerced into confessing by these security officers. Even if Zhou Tian wasn’t particularly strong himself, Li Jiahao didn’t believe he would give in so easily. The problem now was that, regardless of whether Zhou Tian was acting on purpose, things had developed to this point, and what was already a significant incident had just become much more serious.

“Stop!” Li Jiahao quickly shouted, halting the actions of the security officers. He shot a dark look at everyone in the room, then hurried over to “rescue” Zhou Tian, apologizing, “Bishop Zhou, you have been wronged.”

“Bi… Bishop!” The moment Li Jiahao spoke, everyone present was struck dumb.

A bishop—even if just of a small church—was not someone Wang Fugui and his people could afford to offend. Not to mention, just by the location where Zhou Tian was detained, anyone could guess which church he belonged to. Given Zhou Tian’s identity, both Wang Fugui and the security officers knew all too well what consequences their actions might bring.

“Please… spare us!”

“Your Excellency, we didn’t mean to arrest you, please forgive us!”

“I deserve to die, I deserve to die…”

As soon as Li Jiahao revealed Zhou Tian’s identity, chaos erupted in the room. Regardless of whether their pleas would help, and without considering what impression their behavior might leave on Zhou Tian, the security officers all knelt down before him.

Zhou Tian glanced at them with contempt, but he didn’t bother responding. Instead, he reached out and shook Li Jiahao’s hand in a perfunctory gesture.

“It’s truly troublesome for you, Duke.”

“Please, Bishop Zhou, what are you saying? For something like this to happen on my land is my failure!” Though the words were polite, there was a hint of genuine resentment in Li Jiahao’s tone.

Zhou Tian understood perfectly well why Li Jiahao sounded resentful. Even Zhou Tian himself felt his own performance wasn’t convincing. Would a man like Li Jiahao really not see through Zhou Tian’s act? Whatever the outcome, no matter how much the situation was downplayed, this incident would never be a good thing for a lord like Li Jiahao. To be set up by Zhou Tian for no reason and still manage a smile—Li Jiahao was already being remarkably gracious.

Zhou Tian offered no explanation, knowing nothing he said would dispel Li Jiahao’s displeasure. Instead, picking up on Li Jiahao’s annoyance, Zhou Tian asked, “May I ask, Duke, if you have any old injuries from the past?”

“Yes, from resisting a magic beast riot years ago. But how did you know, Bishop Zhou?”

“Would you believe me if I said I guessed?” Zhou Tian replied lightly, then continued, “It so happens that I have a miraculous healing elixir on hand, effective for all sorts of wounds. I can’t guarantee it will completely cure your old injury, but I believe it should help.”

Many people had made similar claims before, so Li Jiahao was not as enthusiastic as he might once have been. Still, out of courtesy for Zhou Tian’s status, he replied, “Thank you for your concern, Bishop, but I know my own wounds. I even sought help from your church’s Pope, and your medicines are rare and precious. There’s no need to waste one on me.”

Clearly, Li Jiahao was directly declining Zhou Tian’s offer. If even the Pope of the Church of Light could not heal him, how could a bishop do better? Moreover, Zhou Tian’s attempt to curry favor was too blatant, and Li Jiahao couldn’t even be bothered to try the medicine this time and rejected him outright.

“How will you know my medicine is useless if you don’t try?” Zhou Tian showed no anger at the refusal, but smiled and assured him, “How about this: you take the pill, Duke, and if it doesn’t work, just pretend I never said anything.” With that, Zhou Tian extended his right hand, revealing a pill exuding a rich medicinal fragrance.

Had it been any well-known healing elixir, Li Jiahao would have refused. But Zhou Tian’s pill was entirely unfamiliar to him—even the scent alone seemed to ease the pain of his injury. Heart pounding, Li Jiahao reached for the pill.

Just as his fingers touched it, Li Jiahao paused, glanced at Zhou Tian, hesitated for a moment, then snatched the pill from Zhou Tian’s hand.

Given Zhou Tian’s status, Li Jiahao had no reason to suspect foul play. He tossed the pill into his mouth without a second thought.

As soon as the pill was swallowed, Zhou Tian smiled.

Of course, the pill Zhou Tian gave was no ordinary medicine. Having recently come into some wealth, Zhou Tian had used his spiritual energy to purchase items from the system. While Li Jiahao’s wounds might be considered intractable by the priests of this world, to the system, even the dead could be revived with enough spiritual energy—a minor old injury was nothing.

Without even glancing at the name, Zhou Tian had casually exchanged some spiritual energy for a pill specifically for internal injuries and tricked Li Jiahao into taking it.

Though Zhou Tian’s attitude was casual, the medicine from the system was no counterfeit. After swallowing the pill, Li Jiahao’s expression first showed surprise, then joy.

“It really works!” he exclaimed, and, losing his composure, unleashed his battle aura.

Incredible! As Li Jiahao’s true strength burst forth, that was the only word Zhou Tian could think of. Even being near him, Zhou Tian was pushed back several steps by the force of Li Jiahao’s aura, and the kneeling security officers fared even worse, flattened to the ground despite not being the target.

Amid the cries of pain from the men on the floor, Li Jiahao finally came to his senses.

He quickly suppressed his aura and apologized to Zhou Tian, “I’m so sorry, Bishop Zhou—I got carried away… Are you all right?” Compared to earlier, Li Jiahao’s attitude had completely transformed.

Seeing this change, Zhou Tian knew his pill had worked. Whether or not Li Jiahao’s old wound was fully healed, if he had suffered with it for decades, then now that Zhou Tian had given him hope, he needn’t worry about Li Jiahao currying favor with him.

Sure enough, even before Zhou Tian could say another word, Li Jiahao took the initiative to offer a lavish gift.

“Oh, look at me—I nearly forgot something important.” As if truly remembering a critical matter, Li Jiahao slapped his forehead, requested a contract from his attendant, filled it out, and handed it to Zhou Tian. “While the church never intervenes in our empire’s internal affairs, most bishops of your standing do hold some territory here. I can’t help much in other ways, but as the lord here, I can at least grant you some land.” He handed the contract to Zhou Tian.

“You’re giving me this border town?” Reading the contract, Zhou Tian was stunned. All for handing over a single pill and giving Li Jiahao hope of a cure, Li Jiahao had given him an entire border town—an astonishing gesture.

But after gifting the town, Li Jiahao seemed entirely unconcerned. Smiling, he said, “With your status, Bishop Zhou, you ought to have such a domain for your ministry. Now that you’ve eased my injury, I may need your help again in the future. Consider this border town my greeting gift to you.”

Anyone else might hesitate before accepting such a grand gift, but Zhou Tian, after hearing Li Jiahao’s words, simply picked up the pen and signed his name without a second thought.