Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
If he really did have magical powers, the first thing Divine Doctor Sun would do would be to rejuvenate his hair until it was flourishing again. But now he could only carefully cultivate a small bun of hair, exhale impatiently, and complain that there were too many difficult diseases in the world.
Red Bat felt a bit embarrassed and apologetically said, âJust forget it if you canât cure me. I didnât know much kung fu before anyway.â
âJust forget it?â Doctor Sun scolded caustically, thinking that the patient was really unreasonable. âThen how could I keep my title of âdivine doctorâ? How am I gonna wander through Jianghu in the future?â
He looked up and happened to see the Dragon King walk in. Doctor Sun sighed and wanted to spit in annoyance but stopped himself after thinking twice. âWhat bad luck. You always appear whenever I canât cure the disease. Are you coming here again to ruin my reputation on purpose?â
âItâs gratifying to see that the divine doctor is as elegant as always.â Gu Shenwei cupped his hands slightly to show his respect. This doctor was well known for his bad temper, but the last time he had seen him, in front of Waning Moon Hall disciples, the other side had chosen his words very carefully, not even daring to breathe heavily.
Doctor Sun also probably remembered that experience and sighed again. âWhat a rubbish âdivine doctorâ I am. I canât even cure the most common diseases, and Iâve been exiled to this strange land like a stray dog.â
Red Bat playfully stuck her tongue out at Shangguan Ru, not daring to say that her âillnessâ wasnât common at all. She had been drugged by the most powerful Indra Fragrance in all of the Land of Fragrance.
Staring at the doctor, Gu Shenwei didnât let his guard down. âHowâs Lotus?â
Doctor Sun shivered. âHave the Tenth Gongzi tell you. I donât want to talk about those women.â
Shangguan Ru recounted his âhistory of humiliationâ.
Doctor Sun hadnât actually been forced to join the Waning Moon Hall. At first, he was attracted by their numerous intriguing secret arts and pills. He did benefit a lot from their knowledge, but the Waning Moon Hallâs purpose in drawing him over was not just to save some people.
Gradually, he was tasked to modify certain pills to remove unnecessary ingredients or simplify their refining processes, which he was very good at and had done well in. But their next demands went too far.
He was asked to create some stronger and subtle poisons, which went against his dream of practicing medicine in order to help people. And the way in which the Waning Moon Hall experimented and tested their drugs was unacceptable to him.
Doctor Sun interrupted Shangguan Ru and explained, âThey simply didnât treat people like people. They would go to Southern Jade City and catch one or two beggars or wandering sabermen and then force me to watch the procedure from beginning to end. Alas, I still have nightmares of those days even now.â
When the Khan invited all the famous doctors in the world, Doctor Sun had also received the invitation several times. But he didnât answer the imperial edict, thinking that he wasnât capable of curing a monarch. The order of the Master Commander Lotus, however, had forced him to obediently appear in the Royal Court.
How could a mundane doctor compete with the âimmortalsâ? Between the competition from the monks, Taoist priests, and the disciples of the Essence Pavilion, he quickly fell into disfavor with the Khan just like all the other famous doctors.
However, the Waning Moon Hall didnât send him back to the Western Regions. Jade City was the territory of Golden Roc Castle and no matter how bold they were, they had to conceal their whereabouts when testing their poisons. But they didnât have to worry about that at all in the Royal Court. The Khan had plenty of slaves and was willing to share some of them.
Doctor Sun had spent several dark months in the Royal Court. Lotus and the Dragon Kingâs arrival didnât make his life better either. At that point, Waning Moon Hall gave him another difficult and cruel task which was to have a young girl tell him how to make a female Gu.
Shangguan Shaomin wasnât properly kept safe, and Doctor Sun couldnât make it as a result. The testing and trials of the poisons were all managed by the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall, which made a convenient excuse for him, but the second attempt at making the female Gu still had to be done by him.
After procrastinating for a few days, Doctor Sun ran away.
On the night of the Khanâs murder and the start of the scuffle between all the kings of the Royal Court, the disciples of Waning Moon Hall had all been sent out to carry out different missions, and this gap had finally given Doctor Sun a chance to escape.
This was Doctor Sunâs story. Shangguan Ru narrated it roughly and carefully avoided blaming Lotus. In the end, she even defended her by saying, âLotus might not have known about these things. She hasnât been in Jade City for a long time and the disciples of Waning Moon Hall might have acted on their own.â
âWhat about Shangguan Shaomin?â Gu Shenwei asked. He had handed over the granddaughter of the Unique King to Lotus but that had almost caused her to become a trial run for Doctor Sun.
Shangguan Ru couldnât explain this discrepancy. Fortunately for her, Doctor Sun opened his mouth. âIâve been told that healing people is a good deed that counts towards the healerâs credit in the next world, but Iâve lost all my credit in the past two years.â
Gu Shenwei wasnât satisfied with the story, and continued to press for more with his questions. âThe Waning Moon Hall didnât use any drugs to control you?â
âIs the Dragon King referring to the Blood Coagulation Pill? I secretly created an antidote a long time ago. Well, that isnât something very difficult for me. â
âAnd then? Where have you been hiding?â
âWhere else can I hide? I have no family in the Royal Court and have killed more people than Iâve saved. So I could only go to Tenth Gongzi. Thank Heaven, she still remembered this lousy old man and I have also to thank you for injuring the Master Commander. The Waning Moon Hall was thrown into confusion for two days and they didnât have any time to look for me.â
The Dragon King had still been in a coma at that time. Shangguan Ru felt that it was not safe to hide Doctor Sun in her camp so she had secretly delivered him to the camp of the Court Attendants Army and then moved him twice more after that. They had finally came here last night.â
âIs he what Wild Horse is trying to woo you for?â asked Gu Shenwei. This was not quite the situation he had expected. After being influenced by Han Fen, he had thought that Wild Horseâs purpose was to win over the Court Attendants Army.
ââAn innocent man gets into trouble because of his wealth.â I wanted to forget about everything related to the Waning Moon Hall but some people think that poison is a treasure,â Doctor Sun said as he grabbed his remaining small hair bun and then loosened his hand. Upon seeing that he had lost two more hair strands, he could not help but sigh.
Wild Horse sent someone to the Court Attendants Army to spy and gather information and accidentally discovered the traces of Doctor Sun. Shangguan Ru then moved him to another place. Wild Horse knew that the doctorâs protector was Shangguan Ru and therefore, met and showed goodwill to her.
âIt seems that Wild Horse didnât tell Waning Moon Hall about my whereabouts. A man really canât ally with a woman. Oh, Iâm not talking about you two.â Doctor Sun hastily corrected himself.
Shangguan Fei now understood everything. He was firmly on the side of the Dragon King now, so he took a step forward and said, âSo the divine doctor has become a noxious bug. You are really ungrateful, asking my sister to save your life while forcing her to keep it a secret from the Dragon King. Donât you know that my sister⦠never keeps secrets from the Dragon King?â
Doctor Sun looked at the Dragon King with a rare look of embarrassment. âItâs not that Iâm paranoid. You are the Dragon King and a ruler, so I was afraidâ¦â
âYou are afraid that Iâd be interested in the poison of Waning Moon Hall like Wild Horse.â
Doctor Sun chuckled. That was exactly why he had not wanted to ask the Dragon King for help. âBut Tenth Gongzi repeatedly assured me that you wouldnât force me to do anything, and that you wouldnât be interested in poison.â
âSheâs wrong. Of course Iâm interested in the poison of Waning Moon Hall.â
As soon as this remark was made, Doctor Sun and Shangguan Ru were shocked but Shangguan Fei nodded admiringly.
âWhen you were with Lotus, you clearly had a chanceâ¦â Shangguan Ru blushed.
Gu Shenwei interrupted her brusquely. âThe Waning Moon Hall is good at using poison and so of course Iâm interested in their poison. Doctor Sun, you are unwilling to kill but are you willing to save people?â
Doctor Sun let out a long breath. âNo problem. Iâm going to regain my lost credit. As long as the people who were poisoned by Waning Moon Hall are not dead, I can heal them.â
Shangguan Fei curled his mouth contemptuously. âYou canât even cure Red Bat. Whatâs there to brag about?â
Doctor Sunâs sore point was touched and his face also turned red. âDifferent, itâs different. The poison in herâ¦â
Red Bat immediately defended him, âI was actually drugged by the knockout drugs of the Land of Fragrance. The divine doctor hasnât seen them before, but he said that he would figure out a way sooner or later.â
âOf course thereâs a way.â Doctor Sun proudly smoothed his remaining sparse hair. âThe dao of poison is actually a branch of medicine. The methods used may vary, but the principle is the same. Iâm sure that I can think of a way.â
âCongratulations, Red Bat. When you have children and grandchildren, you might have your internal energy back again.â Shangguan Fei had no ill feelings towards Doctor Sun but he had been heavily influenced by Old Man Mu these past days and had developed a habit of finding arguments and hurting othersâ feelings whenever he could.
The few of them argued back and forth, but Shangguan Ru didnât speak up. She stared at the Dragon King, silently questioning why he had embarrassed her in public.
Not to be outdone, Gu Shenwei stared right back. It might not matter to other people if Shangguan Ru kept a secret from them, but to him, it was a taboo. A small punishment could already be considered a special favor.
The two silently stared at each other.
Tired of explaining his skills to Shangguan Fei, Doctor Sun swung his hand angrily, suddenly walked up to the Dragon King, and reached out to grab his arm.
Gu Shenwei casually waved his hand and knocked Doctor Sun, who was not weak in martial arts, several steps away, nearly knocking down the simple tent in the process.
âYou, youâ¦â Astounded, Doctor Sun pointed at the Dragon King and almost forgot to get up.
Shangguan Fei pulled him up. âOld Sun, youâve really have some nerves. Can the Dragon King be touched casually? You are lucky he didnât kill you. Why donât you show your gratitude?â
Doctor Sun was confused for a moment as he did not understand who the strange name âOld Sunâ was referring to.
Gu Shenwei expressed his apology first, âI was overreacting. Please do not mind, Doctor Sun. And if you feel a chill in your body, do not fight it. Just protect your heart meridian, and it will disappear soon enough.â
Doctor Sun looked at the Dragon King in amazement and forgot all about his own embarrassed appearance. âIt doesnât matter. The Dragon King should remain vigilant. I canât sleep at all at the thought of Waning Moon Hall. In fact, I wanted to feel the pulse of the Dragon King. To tell you the truth, Iâm a little surprised that you are still so alive and well.â
The truth was that Gu Shenwei didnât fully trusted Doctor Sun yet, but he still stuck out his left arm. âPlease.â
Doctor Sun tried to put his finger on the Dragon Kingâs wrist and gradually forgot about the threat of the Waning Moon Hall, but his brow quickly furrowed. After a while, he checked the pulse of the Dragon Kingâs right wrist and finally patted the other sideâs chest several times.
âWhat the hell? You are using your body as a battlefield, arenât you?â At the mention of his illness, Doctor Sunâs old temper returned. âYou used to only have two different internal energy: one yin, and the other yang. But now itâs a complete mess. Not only do you practice two completely different internal energy cultivation methods, but you also forcefully combined the two. Besides, you developed an evil Qi in your body and let it rampage in your body.â
âIs it dangerous?â asked Shangguan Ru with concern, forgetting about her discontent for the time being.
âI donât know.â Doctor Sun spread out his hands. âThe Dragon King is here to embarrass me. I clearly remember that the last two times I saw you, your illness was tricky but still within my grasp. But now, I canât make heads or tails of it at all.â
Gu Shenwei didnât care. He hadnât expected Doctor Sun to heal his internal injury in the first place. âItâs good news to be unable to make a judgment,â he said.
Doctor Sun shook his head. âDo not get excited yet. Thereâs something that I havenât said yetâ¦â
Long Fanyun who had been guarding outside came in, interrupting the divine doctorâs âbad news.â âSomeoneâs coming.â
Doctor Sun shivered and first looked Shangguan Ru in horror and then turned his eyes to the Dragon King.