Mo Ruo stumbled in with his wine jar, his eyes barely open as if he were about to fall over at any time. It looked like he had treated this as his personal wine cellar!
Mo Ruo walked over to Jing Rong, pulling out a round pill for him to consume. “If you die, don’t tell anyone it was me who treated you.” Don’t you dare try to ruin my reputation and embarrass me!
This pill was indeed magical; as soon as it passed down his throat, Jing Rong’s wounds began to clot. His pain subsided and he felt stronger. After a beat, Jing Rong asked, “How did you come here?”
Mo Ruo shrugged his shoulders. “I said I was looking for you and these people let me in after thinking about it. I think they wanted to kill me as well, so they let me in for us to be buried together.” He was not particularly bothered at all.
Jing Rong swallowed, unsure how to react.
Mo Ruo then placed his wine jar aside, whispering, “The jar’s full of sulphur powder – use it at the right time.”
Jing Rong smirked, “You’re quite alert today.”
He raised his eyebrows. “I’m always sharp.”
Jing Rong did not reply him. Mo Ruo got up and walked towards Ji Yunshu, shaking his head regretfully. “I didn’t expect you to recognize the Illness of Scattered Spirit. You were right – if he doesn’t get treated, it would be such a pity.”
Pah! What llness of Scattered Spirit- such a roundabout description; isn’t it just dissociative identity disorder? Ji Yunshu had just been wondering why this fellow here along with Jing Rong. So he wanted to be the finale act…
She jerked her chin towards the unconscious Zhao Qing. “Can he be treated?”
“It depends.” He walked over and squatted beside Zhao Qing, turning his arm over to read his pulse.
Zhao Qing tried to keep a straight face to hide his alarm and suspicion. “Who are you?”
“Mo Hua is my father.”
Mo Hua? Zhao Huai was shocked but let down his guard immediately. “You’re the famed physician’s son?”
“What’s so surprising about this? Who doesn’t have a son?” He finished the pulse reading, then pried Zhao Huai’s eyes open to examine his pupils. Next, he pressed on his cheeks to open his jaw and look at his tongue. Finally satisfied, he drawled, “It’s lucky – his illness is not too serious. With the right treatment, he can still recover fully.”
Zhao Huai was delighted. “Really?”
“Naturally.”
“But the famed physician then said that this was incurable.”
He was not happy to hear that. “Whatever illness that old man can treat, I can treat. Whatever he can’t treat, I can also treat.” Mo Ruo radiated confidence from every pore. He stood up and dusted his sleeves, laying out his conditions. “I can help you treat this person, but you must release everyone.”
“Let them go?” Zhao Huai clenched his teeth. “You’ve killed so many of our brothers, and even painted the gold taels with sulphur powder. You’re obviously trying to destroy our Gaoshan Village. How could I just let you go?”
“Then I won’t treat this illness. Other than me, there is no one in the world who can treat this illness.”
“You…”
“You won’t lose out.”
Rubbish – it’s not a fair deal! Zhao Huai was still hesitant.
Jing Rong propped open his leaden eyelids and pushed himself upright strenuously, walking towards Zhao Huai with heavy steps. Even with his injuries, his princely aura was not at all affected. He spoke to Zhao Huai. “Why struggle? I’ll admit – Gaoshan Village is littered with traps; it’s difficult to enter and difficult to leave. But your men are akin to a plate of loose sand – even if you have the advantage in numbers, your unskilled men are no match for this Prince’s subordinates. In the past, we easily killed those thirty to forty brothers of yours; we can as easily exterminate your thousands of men here. This Prince has three thousand troops that are about to arrive at the village. Once I give the order, they will launch their attack against the mountain. In the end, both sides would be wounded, and your Gaoshan Village would be razed to the ground leaving nothing more than ruins. If this Prince were you, I would retreat before the situation becomes too dire.” He did not mince his words.
Zhao Huai knew that the three thousand troops were not easy to deal with; he had already predicted something like this would happen, but his own stubbornness and loyalty prevented him from admitting it to himself. So many of his brothers had died – how could he just let it go? He wavered again as he swept a look across the remaining brothers gathered, and finally announced his decision with gritted teeth. “Fine. If you can treat Zhao Qing, you may all leave safely.” Next, he ordered his men to carry Zhao Qing into the residence.
He steeled his heart and told Mo Ruo, “You must first treat Zhao Qing’s illness before you can leave. Otherwise, I won’t care even if both sides die.”
Mo Ruo was alarmed and worried. “This illness isn’t something that can be treated overnight. Did you really want us to remain here for six months to a year?”
“Then five days. As long as Zhao Qing’s condition improves within five days and you can guarantee that he can continue to get better in your absence, I’ll let you leave.”
Five days? Are you kidding me? Mo Ruo could not accept these terms, but Jing Rong called out, “Five days will be fine!”
Mo Ruo narrowed his eyes and jumped up. “How could it be possible in five days?”
“Aren’t you the almighty physician?”
“I’m the almighty physician, but not a magician that can heal with a single needle.” Brother, stop messing around with me.
Jing Rong’s mind was set. He purposely lowered his voice and whispered into Mo Ruo’s ear, “How confident are you?”
“It’s not difficult to alleviate his symptoms, but time is the issue. To cure his illness, you’ll need at least six months to a year.”
“I didn’t ask you to cure him in five days.” Jing Rong said sternly. “Mo Ruo, my original plans have already been disrupted. Even worse, I’m hurt. We can’t escape with only the might of you and Shi Ziran. The three thousand troops in Jingzhou have not received my order and are not here yet, so we can’t barge our way through this. You should agree first – I can take some time to recover here, then we’ll come up with a new plan.”
Mo Ruo sighed and agreed to Zhao Huai’s terms.
Thus, Jing Rong and his men remained temporarily in the village. Fulfilling his obligations as the ‘host’, Zhao Huai kindly prepared a room and some medicinal herbs for Jing Rong.
With no time to lose, Mo Ruo began his treatment immediately, reading Zhao Qing’s pulse again. Mo Ruo’s furrowed brows relaxed after a while, asking for a packet of silver needles and a glass lamp. He commanded, “Take off his clothes.”
Ba Hu was startled for a moment, before undoing Zhao Huai’s clothes as instructed. Mo Ruo picked out a thin, long needle from the bag and put it to a flame, then pressed it into Zhao Qing’s temple. He retrieved several more needles, repeating the same process and inserting them into other acupoints on his head.
Just as Mo Ruo was about to insert a needle into the left side of Zhao Qing’s throat, he discovered a thin scar on his neck. It resembled a scar left behind by a wound from a knife. at Seeing where Mo Ruo’s gaze landed, Zhao Huai suddenly became hypervigilant, secretly clenching his fists.