Chapter 194: I Would Hate to Disappoint You

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The child eagerly leads them to his house all while his mother tries to stop them as politely as possible. She tells them that her father is okay. That he has just come down with a cold and that it will heal soon. She tells them her house is a humble one and not fit to receive people like them. She tells them to ignore her child’s plea, that they need not bother themselves with them.

Liu Jin tells her it is no bother at all, but that does nothing to calm her down. The opposite, really. The woman’s eyes become increasingly desperate as all her attempts fail. It is hard to blame her. Liu Jin may have helped her son, but that could simply have been a ploy to get her to lower her guard. She is waiting for the moment when they reveal themselves to be bandits or worse, and she’s hardly the only one. Some villagers follow them discreetly, most likely to try to ensure the safety of the woman and her child.

It is a useless gesture. Liu Jin and Ni Cai are not planning on doing anything wrong, and if they were, the villagers wouldn’t be able to stop them. Still, Liu Jin approves of the solidarity they’re showing.

He supposes it is necessary to survive in a place like this.

“It’s here!” The child says as he opens the door and hurries in. “Grandpa! We brought a doctor! He’s really good! I was coughing again, and he stopped it!”

The house is all one room and not a large room either. To the left, there are shoddily made pots and a fireplace. To the right, there are two beds.

One of the beds has an old man resting on it. He is awake but does not get up upon seeing two strangers enter his house. Liu Jin doubts he has the strength to do so. The old man’s head is completely bald, and his body so small one can barely make it out under all the covers he has on him.

“What… what are you talking about, Little San?” The old man asks in between weak coughs. He is barely audible. Most likely, he has coughed so much and for so long that he barely has a voice left.

“It’s okay, grandfather!” The child says with the wide-eyed brightness only a child is capable of, completely untouched by the gloomy darkness of his own house. “The doctor made my cough stop so he can make your cough stop too.”

“Oh, child,” the old man says. He turns his head to look at them, and even that seems to tire him. “Good sirs… I am old. This… is what age does to those… not blessed by the Heavens. It will pass. Or I will pass. That’s… how it goes.”

“Then I just have to make sure it is not you who passes today, sir,” Liu Jin says. He turns towards the mother. “How long have the coughs been going?”

“Two months!” The child replies instead, raising two fingers for them to see. “Maybe three.”

Liu Jin nods.

“And how long has it been since the disease struck the town?”

“What?” The mother looks shocked. “How did you…?”

“I am a doctor,” Liu Jin replies as though it should be obvious. “When I examined your child, I was able to discern his condition. I am fairly sure if I were to examine your father, it would be the same illness.”

“You only touched him for a second…” the woman whispers to herself. Liu Jin hears her all the same.

“I am a good doctor.”

Ni Cai snorts behind him. Liu Jin pays him no mind.

“Ma’am, I truly mean you no harm. I know it is not easy to trust strangers, and unfortunately, I cannot put on a puppet show to set your heart at ease. I can only ask you to let me treat your father and child.”

He bows before her, his whole body bending at a ninety degree angle.

“Brother Qing!” yells a scandalized Ni Cai.

“Please,” Liu Jin says. “You will not regret it. I promise you.”

The mother staggers back into her bed and looks helplessly at him. “Good sir, if you ask like that, how can I say no?”

It is exactly because he knows she cannot say no that he does it.

It is unfair of him. He admits it.

“Thank you,” Liu Jin tells her. He walks over to the old man’s bed and kneels beside it.

“As your grandson said, I am a doctor, and I would like your permission to treat you,” Liu Jin says.

“He’s really good, grandfather!” The child says, running next to him. “He put his hand on me, and whoosh! The cough was gone.”

The old man does not say anything. He merely looks at him and nods. Perhaps he believes him. Perhaps he’s just humoring his grandson. It does not matter. Liu Jin places a hand over the old man’s chest and sends some of his Qi into him.

Liu Jin only got a brief glimpse when examining the child, but a close look into the old man’s lungs confirms it. They are definitely suffering from some sort of lung disease, though the old man’s case is far more advanced. It is unsurprising. The old man’s body is too old and weak to properly fight off the disease.

“I see.” Liu Jin says as he starts stimulating the old man’s lungs. Lung tissue is meant to expand and contract easily, but the old man’s lungs are so damaged that the tissue there has become stiff and lost its flexibility. It makes even something as simple as breathing take effort. There is less oxygen in the body, and so, there is less oxygen in the blood. A very dangerous thing for someone who is merely in the Inner Realm.

“Don’t worry. You won’t feel a thing,” Liu Jin says as he takes out three needles and stabs the old man’s acupoints. “This will help stimulate the flow of your Qi.”

By focusing the flow of the old man’s Qi into certain areas, his Qi will work towards healing the damaged tissue. While he does that, Liu Jin also starts repairing the damage to the old man’s throat.

“That… that feels better,” The old man says after a while. His voice is less of a whisper now.

“It does?” His daughter asks in shock.

“Of course it does!” Ni Cai scoffs and crosses his arms. “Did you think a mere provincial disease would be beyond Brother Qing’s ability to heal?”

The daughter does not reply. She merely lowers her head. Liu Jin gives Ni Cai a warning glance.

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“See, grandpa? I told you he’s a good doctor,” the child says.

And yet, this much won’t be enough. Much like he did with the child, Liu Jin is only treating the symptoms, not the illness. He’ll need to prepare a remedy. Already his mind is compiling a list of ingredients.

“How many people have been affected by the disease?” Liu Jin asks the mother.

“What?” She looks a little startled at suddenly being addressed. “Maybe twenty people? I am not exactly sure.”

“That seems accurate.” Liu Jin nods. “The real number is definitely higher, but the early symptoms should be so mild most probably won’t notice it.”

“Higher?”

“Of course, it is airborne, after all. That means it is in the air,” Liu Jin explains. As the woman’s face pales, he adds, “Don’t worry. In most cases, the disease won’t do much. It’s only the young and old that are susceptible to it.”

The young ones are too weak in cultivation, and the old are too weak in body.

“I just wanted to have an idea of how much medicine I will be making.”

“How much… medicine?” The woman blinks. “You’re… you’re going to make medicine for everyone?”

“Naturally.”