Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Chen Jiagui had blood at the corner of his mouth. He had blood and dirt on his body. He was naked and had a blade in his shoulder. He kept bleeding. His eyes looked scary, stunned, and red. They were no longer humanâs eyes.
The man who was attacked by Chen Jiagui covered his wound. The old man held the child.
âLetâs go to the hospital, stop beating him!â the old man shouted.
âOK.â The man immediately ran off.
âSis, whatâs wrong with him?â Chen Zhou asked as he was looking at Chen Jiagui.
âI donât know. Heâs dangerous. Donât go anywhere close to him,â Chen Ying said.
Anyone could see Chen Jiagui was not normal.
âHeâs gone mad. Donât go close to him,â the injured man said.
âWhere are you going?â the old man anxiously asked.
âLetâs go to Yaoâs clinic first,â the injured man said.
âYou donât wanna go to the hospital?â asked the old man.
âThe hospital is too far,â said the injured man.
Most of the villagers reckoned Wang Yao was a good doctor nowadays. They had faith in him. Some people would go to see Wang Yao for any illness. As a traditional Chinese pharmacist, he could basically cure any illnesses.
The injured man carried his son and ran into Wang Yaoâs clinic without paying any attention to the bleeding wound on his neck. He didnât even knock on the door.
âYao! Can you please take a look at my son!â the injured man shouted.
âSure, what happened?â Wang Yao saw the blood on the injured manâs neck.
âIâve been bitten by a mad dog,â the injured man said.
âA mad dog?â Wang Yao asked.
âIâll tell you about it later. Take a look at my son first. Someone threw him to the ground. Can you check if he is alright?â the injured man asked.
âOK, donât worry,â Wang Yao said. He then took a good look at the child.
âHeâs fine. Just a concussion. I guess he was just terrified,â Wang Yao said. âWhat about you? What happened to your neck?â
He had sharp eyes. He could tell whether the wound was caused by a dog or a person. He didnât think the wound was caused by a dog.
âLet me stop the bleeding first,â Wang Yao said. âIt will hurt a bit.â
Wang Yao cleared the wound for the injured man. He took some herbs that could stop bleeding and ground them into powder. He applied the powder on the wound and pressed a few surrounding acupoints to stop the bleeding. He then wrapped the wound with gauze.
âWhat exactly happened?â Wang Yao asked.
âWell, donât even mention it. That crazy bastard Chen Jiagui attacked me,â the injured man said.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
âChen Jiagui?â Wang Yao knew the notorious old bachelor and scumbag. âDid he bite you?â
âYes.â The injured man told Wang Yao what had happened. âDo you think heâs gone crazy? He didnât even duck when I attacked him with a blade. He didnât seem to be in pain.â
Wang Yao kept silent for a while. He had never come across anyone as mad as Chen Jiagui. He thought even mad people should feel pain.
Meanwhile, Chen Zhou and Chen Ying were still are on the street.
âSis, should we leave?â Chen Zhou asked in low voice.
They had looked into Chen Jiaguiâs eyes for a while. The more Chen Zhou looked into Chen Jiaguiâs eyes, the more spooky he felt.
âLetâs wait for a moment,â Chen Ying calmly said.
âMaybe heâll continue attacking people,â Chen Zhou said.
âThatâs why we should wait,â Chen Ying said.
Chen Jiagui moved first. He turned around and walked off.
âHe walked away. Heâs not mad anymore?â Chen Zhou asked.
âLetâs go and follow him,â Chen Ying said.
âWhy?â Chen Zhou asked.
âWhat if he attacks people again?â Chen Ying asked.
Chen Jiagui kept walking. His shoulder kept bleeding.
âSis, do you think heâs gonna bleed to death?â Chen Zhou said.
âProbably,â Chen Ying said.
Wang Yao had cleaned and wrapped the wounds on the injured man and his son.
âWhere is Chen Jiagui now?â Wang Yao asked.
âHe should still be there. By the way, the sister and brother who recently moved to the village were there. I hope nothing will happen to them,â the injured man said.
âIâll take a look. If you feel anything abnormal, such as fever or pain, come back here immediately,â Wang Yao said.
âOK,â the injured man said.
Wang Yao charged the injured man a minimal fee. They then left the clinic together. The injured man took Wang Yao to the place where the incident happened. No one was there.
âThey were just here,â the injured man said.
âThere is blood on the ground,â Wang Yao said.
He followed the trace of blood rapidly until he reached a small courtyard.
âDr. Wang,â Chen Ying said.
âYou guys are here, too,â Wang Yao said.
âYes, there is a mad man here,â Chen Ying said. She told Wang Yao what had happened.
âHeâs inside?â Wang Yao asked.
âYes,â Chen Ying said.
âIâll go inside to take a look. You guys wait here,â Wang Yao said.
âOK,â Chen Ying said.
The old wooden door was left open. Wang Yao entered the courtyard. He didnât enter the house immediately. Instead, he walked around the courtyard, which was messy. There were wine bottles, rubbish, sheep skin, and bones strewn about. He stopped in front of the sheep skin and squatted down.
The bones were broken. A broken tooth was found next to the bones. It was a human tooth.
Wang Yao thought, He took a bite of the bones here.
He walked around the courtyard again before heading toward the house.
âBe careful, Dr. Wang!â Chen Zhou shouted from outside.
âI will,â Wang Yao said with a smile.
The house was extremely shabby and messy. Rubbish bags were everywhere. Hardened buns were left on the table. Wang Yao could see how lazy Chen Jiagui was.
Wang Yao followed the trace of blood in the house. He found Chen Jiagui naked and lying on the bed. The blade was still inside his shoulder. He was still bleeding.
Heâs very short of breath!
Wang Yao noticed Chen Jiaguiâs broken mouth, teeth, and tongue.
He canât feel the pain. What is this?
He noticed the a number of enlarged blood vessels in Chen Jiaguiâs chest. He then checked Chen Jiaguiâs pulse.
Wang Yao looked serious. This is really bad!
Chen Jiaguiâs organs had all be severely damaged. His Qi and blood flow appeared to be vigorous. Actually, it was like he was being fried in hot oil. Extreme vigor could lead to extreme weakness. Chen Jiagui was poisoned. The toxin was fierce. It was actually caused by a type of toxic insect.
Wang Yao patted on Chen Jiaguiâs body several times to make sure Chen Jiagui couldnât stand up. He then immediately left the room.
âDr. Wang, how is he?â Chen Ying asked.
âI need a favor from you guys,â Wang Yao said.
âNot a problem,â Chen Ying said.
âFind some quicklime to clean all the blood here,â Wang Yao said. He was worried the disease could travel through blood.
âOK,â Chen Ying said.
âYou can buy some quicklime from the production team in the village,â Wang Yao said.
âI see,â Chen Ying said.
âWait! Did you guys have any body contact with that mad guy?â Wang Yao asked.
âNo,â Chen Ying said.
âGood, off you go,â Wang Yao said.
After Chen Ying and her brother left, Wang Yao locked the door of Chen Jiaguiâs house to prevent anyone from entering.
Woof! A local dog came into the courtyard and sniffed the ground.
âGo away!â Chen Ying threw a stone at the dog.
âSis, you go find the quicklime. Iâll wait here and watch,â Chen Zhou said.
âOK, be careful,â Chen Ying said.
She soon came back with quicklime. She worked with Chen Zhou to apply the quicklime onto the blood trace. The dry blood quickly reacted to the quicklime and became black.
Meanwhile, Wang Yao went to visit Li Zucai, the man who was attacked by Chen Jiagui.
âYao, what brings you here?â Li Zucai asked.
His face had turned red. He was short of breath, and his eyes looked bloodshot. Wang Yao observed him closely. He didnât see those features before.
âLet me take a another look at you. Do you feel uncomfortable at all?â Wang Yao asked.
âNot really,â Li Zucai said. He didnât notice that his breath had heated up.
âHas anyone else been attacked by Chen Jiagui apart from you?â Wang Yao asked.
âNo,â Li Zucai said.
âWhat about the child?â Wang Yao asked.
âHaoze is sleeping.â Haozeâs grandpa came along.
âCan I see him?â Wang Yao asked.
âSure,â Li Zucai said.
Wang Yao went inside the room to take a look at the child, who was in a deep sleep. He was relieved after making sure the child was fine.
âYou need to come with me to the clinic,â Wang Yao said.
âOK,â Li Zucai said.
âYao, whatâs going on?â Haozeâs grandpa anxiously asked.
âIâm afraid Chen Jiaguiâs condition is contagious,â Wang Yao said.
âWhat? Contagious? What will happen to Zucai?â the old man asked.
âIâll see what I can do,â Wang Yao said.
âOK, thank you,â the old man said.
Li Zucaiâs face turned pale. He had witnessed Chen Jiaguiâs craziness. Chen Jiagui didnât appear to recognize anyone. He didnât want to turn into a crazy man.
âYao, please help me!â Li Zucai begged.
âDonât worry, Iâll do my best,â Wang Yao said.
They went back to Wang Yaoâs clinic.
âSit still. You might feel a bit uncomfortable.â Wang Yao quickly patted on Li Zucaiâs body.
âWhat are you doing?â Li Zucai asked.
He wanted to stand up, but he couldnât. He had lost control of his legs.