Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
âIs really that amazing?â the woman asked.
âItâs said that heâs really that amazing,â her husband replied.
...
In a courtyard in the middle of Jing, a woman angrily paced back and forth.
âWhat divine doctor?â she asked. âThe supposed divine doctor canât cure Shidaâs disease, and heâs just returned from abroad. He had to go abroad to learn traditional Chinese medicine. Tell me, isnât that a trickster?â
âMom, calm down,â her son said.
âHow can I calm down?â the woman asked. âShida is still lying in bed now. Youâve seen how much agony heâs in. Where did you find such a quack doctor?â
The woman was furious. She was still fuming when a servant came.
âMadam, thereâs a visitor,â the servant said.
âWho?â the woman asked.
âGuo Zhenghe,â the servant replied.
âWhatâs he doing here?â The woman was surprised. âLet him in.â
Shortly after, a young man came in. âHello, Auntie.â
The woman quickly restored her normal demeanor and politely said, âZhenghe, come sit down and talk.â
The anger she just had was gathered up and pressed down in her heart. At this time, she was just a typical and good elder.
Guo Zhenghe courteously greeted her son. âBrother Shixing.â
âWhen did you come back?â the woman asked.
âI just got back,â Guo Zhenghe replied. âTomorrow is my motherâs birthday.â
âOh, yes, you have to be home for that,â the woman said.
âAuntie, I just heard that Shida is ill,â Guo Zhenghe said.
âYes, heâs sick,â she said. âHeâs still in the hospital.â
âI heard that you are very worried about this matter,â Guo Zhenghe said.
Jing was big, but their circle was not. The person before him had used quite a few of her connections for her son. Naturally, the other prestigious families knew about it.
âYes, why are you asking about it, Zhenghe?â she asked.
âWell, Auntie, you know that I work in the south,â Guo Zhenghe said. âIn the south, particularly in the Miaojiang area, there is a man Wu San. He is known as the King Pharmacist. He is quite skilled in medicine. He is said to be able to cure even terminal illnesses, but his temperament is quite strange. You could go and check him out.â
âAnother strange-tempered one?â the woman asked.
âOh, another one? What do you mean?â Guo Zhenghe asked.
âA few days ago, I took Shida to Qi Province to see a doctor,â the woman replied. âHis rules were quite strange too.â
âAh, are you talking about Wang Yao?â Guo Zhenghe asked.
âYes, that is him,â the woman said. âHeâs young. Iâm not sure how skilled he is, but his rules were strange. Heâs quite bad-tempered as well!â
âHis medical skills are quite high,â Guo Zhenghe said. âI was so sick back then, and the experts in the province were all helpless. He managed to save me with some medicine.â
The womanâs brows raised slightly. âDoes that mean heâs unwilling to treat Shida?â
âI donât know about that,â Guo Zhenghe said. âHe must have his own ideas.â
After sitting and chatting for a while, Guo Zhenghe said goodbye and left.
The woman looked out of the window, thinking how strange the young man was. Did he come to visit just for this matter to forge a good relationship or for other motives?
âShixing, what do you think about this King Pharmacist?â she asked.
âAsk a few people first,â he replied. âMaybe itâs true.â
Since the matter concerned her sonâs health, she decided to trust Guo Zhenghe rather than dismiss the opportunity. She arranged for someone to go there to inquire about him.
...
In Dao, thousands of miles away...
Sun Yunsheng was somewhat puzzled. In Dao, there were few things that the Sun family couldnât find out. Now, there was a situation like that. More importantly, the victim was the young master of the Hou family, Hou Shida. Originally, the relationship between the two families was not as serious as complete enemies but treading on thin ice. A slight carelessness could result in direct confrontation. At times like these, they tried to be as careful and vigilant as possible. Neither family wanted to make the situation irreversibly bad. It would be best if they could each take a step back, allowing things to become calm and peaceful again. Unfortunately, something like this popped up at a precarious time.
âHow is Hou Shidaâs condition?â Sun Yunsheng asked.
âItâs not good,â A Hao said. âThe doctors in Jing all tried to treat him, but the effect was not ideal. I heard that heâs better off dead now.â
As soon as Sun Yunsheng heard that, he felt a headache coming. âTsk, this spells trouble!â
He knew about the Hou family situation. Everything could be easily settled except for the mother. She was very fond of her sons, especially the younger one.
âI heard they went to the mountain village the other day to look for Dr. Wang,â A Hao said.
âOh, really?â Sun Yunsheng was a bit surprised.
âYes, but he didnât treat him,â A Hao replied.
âWhy is that?â Sun Yunsheng asked.
âIâm not sure about that,â A Hao replied.
âAlright, arrange for me to go to the mountain village,â Sun Yunsheng said.
...
In the mountain village...
Good times always passed quickly. It seemed like a day passed by in the blink of an eye.
Su Xiaoxue laid quietly in bed. Her eyes were open, and she had a happy smile. She was thinking of her day with Wang Yao. If only it were always like this!
On Nanshan Hill, Wang Yao also was awake. He was very happy to have spent the entire day with Su Xiaoxue. Additionally, he now had the enjoyable task of laying out the courtyard where she lived.
The night passed in silence. The next morning, the sun rose early. The weather continued to be hot.
Wang Yao did not open the clinic. Instead, he and Su Xiaoxue sat on Nanshan Hill drinking tea and chatting. The dog laid quietly at their feet wagging his tail.
âWhy is Sanxian getting bigger?â Su Xiaoxue tentatively patted the dogâs head. Upon seeing that it was very obedient, she silently heaved a sigh of relief. The dog was imposing because it was so big. It looked more like a lion than a dog. âHe has to be more than 110 pounds, right?â
âI havenât weighed him before, but I estimate he probably weighs around 170 pounds,â Wang Yao replied with a smile as he touched Sanxianâs big head.
The two of them were talking when the phone rang.
âHello, Yunsheng,â Wang Yao said. âYes, Iâm on the hill. Is that so? OK, give me a moment. Iâll be down in a bit.â
âWhatâs the matter? Is there a patient?â Su Xiaoxue asked.
âItâs not a patient; itâs a friend,â Wang Yao said. âDo you want to stay on the hill or go down with me?â
âIâll go down with you,â Su Xiaoxue replied.
The two of them went down the hill and soon arrived at the clinic. Sun Yunsheng had been waiting for some time. When he saw Wang Yao approaching from afar, he walked toward him.
âIâve disturbed you,â he said.
âItâs fine,â Wang Yao said.
âHello, Miss Su,â Sun Yunsheng said.
âHello.â Su Xiaoxue courteously greeted him.
Sun Yunsheng thought, So, he was spending some alone time with this person. Ah, I really havenât come at the right time!
âCome in and take a seat,â Wang Yao said as he opened the clinic doors.
âAh, sir, Iâm here to ask you something,â Sun Yunsheng said.
âGo ahead,â Wang Yao said.
âA few days ago, was there a patient named Hou Shida from Jing who came to see you?â Sun Yunsheng asked.
âYes. He came, but I didnât treat him,â Wang Yao said. âWhy are you asking about that?â
âAh, I canât clarify it in just a few sentences,â Sun Yunsheng said. âDo you know the cause of his illness?â
âYes, of course I know,â Wang Yao said with a laugh.
âWhat is the reason?â Sun Yunsheng asked.
âBecause of me,â Wang Yao honestly replied.
Sun Yunsheng was stunned.
Wang Yao briefly told him about what happened in Dao that day. For the sake of the Sun family, he omitted the starting point.
Sun Yunsheng didnât think it was coincidental. He stretched out his hand and scratched his head. âOh, this is troublesome!
âWhatâs wrong?â Wang Yao asked.
âAh, well, the Sun familyâs relationship with the Hou family is not very good,â Sun Yunsheng said. âSince Hou Shidaâs accident happened in Dao, they suspected that we were behind it and asked us to give them an explanation.â
âSince the relationship is not good, why do you have to explain?â Wang Yao asked.
âWe donât want to make the relationship any worse,â Sun Yunsheng said. âSince we know the cause of the incident, itâll be easy to settle.â
He would not be so foolish as to blame Wang Yao for the matter. As had just been said, the relationship was already bad, so what else needed to be explained? It wasnât like the Sun family couldnât afford to fight. Now that things were clear, the next step was to go back and have a discussion with his father about how to deal with the crisis.
âI wonât disturb you any further,â Sun Yunsheng said.
âThereâs no rush. Hereâs a little gift for you.â Wang Yao took out a small wooden card from his pocket and handed it to him.
âWhat is this?â Sun Yunsheng took the small wooden card, which gave off a unique medicinal fragrance.
âPharmacistâs order. If you have this, I can do my best once to help you cure a person,â Wang Yao said with a laugh.
Sun Yunshengâs body unconsciously shuddered. This gift was very precious.
âThank you, sir,â Sun Yunsheng said.
âYouâre welcome,â Wang Yao said.
After Sun Yunsheng left, Su Xiaoxue asked in a whisper, âPharmacistâs order?â
âYes, itâs this.â Wang Yao took out one and handed it to her.
Su Xiaoxue took it and looked at it carefully. âItâs so delicate.â
âI got someone to make it especially for me,â Wang Yao said.
There were highly skilled people among normal citizens, including in the village. His wooden cards were small, so they demanded high skills. The mountain carvings were exquisite. Wang Yao had offered a lot of money for them, so the person naturally made it with all their heart.
âWhat is the medicinal fragrance?â Su Xiaoxue asked.
âI soaked them with special medicinal ingredients for several days, and the medicinal powers went straight inside of the wood,â Wang Yao said. âWith this card, no insects will go near you.â
âItâs that impressive?â Su Xiaoxue asked.
âIf you donât believe it, we can test it,â Wang Yao said.
He casually took out a glass bottle containing terrible poisonous insects, opened the lid, and placed the wooden cards at the mouth of the bottle. The insects became very agitated and hit against the walls of the bottle desperately trying to escape, but they did not dare approach the mouth of the bottle. This demonstrated that they feared the odor emitted by the small wooden card.
âWonderful!â Su Xiaoxue was amazed.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âHaha, that is the effect of counteracting against each other,â Wang Yao said.
When he soaked the Pharmacistâs orders, he mainly used Jatropha, which was able to kill poisonous insects. This kind of primrose was a natural counteractive agent and deterrent for these insects.
âHere you go,â Wang Yao smiled and said. âThis is for you.â
âThank you.â Su Xiaoxue carefully kept the wooden card.
...
In a small courtyard in the mountain village...
âHow long are you going to lock me up for?â Jia Zizai asked as he weakly leaned on the wall.
This instantaneous feeling of powerlessness was extremely uncomfortable. He couldnât lift his hands or move his legs. Even eating and chewing felt laborious. He would feel like an old man in his 60s just going to the bathroom. He couldnât urinate smoothly, and his stool was stuck in his intestines. He couldnât expel waste no matter what.
âYouâll have to ask Master about that,â Zhong Liuchuan said as he lit him a cigarette.
âHey, what did your Master teach you? Why do you respect him so much?â Jia Zizai asked.
âHe has taught me a lot,â Zhong Liuchuan said.
âYou have to think about your sister even if you donât think about yourself,â Jia Zizai said.
âYou donât have to threaten me anymore,â Zhong Liuchuan replied. âAn Xin is fine now.â
âThis is just a small county,â Jia Zizai said. âShe could be taken away by anyone who comes to find her.â
Zhong Liuchuan was silent for a moment before saying, âPreviously, I thought it would become calm and peaceful if I just took a step back, so I did. I chose to go into seclusion, or shall I say forbearance. Instead of getting a peaceful ending and tranquility, you wanted a mile after I gave you an inch. I couldnât do anything because I was weak, so I could only escape. Itâs different now. Master has allowed me to see a door that I once longed for but could never touch. If I succeed in opening it, my strength will improve even more. If you threaten me with my sister, itâs no big deal. Weâll just stay here and wait until I open that door and let your blood flow like a river.â