Chapter 4: The Incomparable

The task of gathering herbs has been abandoned. There will be plenty of time for that later. Right now, Liu Jin and Xiao Nan have an old man to help.

Since they still do not understand the old man’s condition, the two are taking him to Liu Jin’s house. After all, there is no better doctor in the city than Liu Jin’s father. Even the Xiao Sect’s medical experts cannot compare to Liu Jianguo. That is an indisputable fact.

Xiao Nan carries the old man as the two make their way back to the city. It is a slow trip, but they cannot afford to move too fast out of fear of harming the old man. Once they enter the city, the two draw some stares due to the unconscious man they are carrying, but the people soon lose interest. They know Liu Jin’s father is a doctor. It is not rare for him to lead people to his father’s clinic.

“The doctor is not here,” Xiao Nan notes when they arrive at the clinic.

“Father is probably visiting a patient,” Liu Jin says. Many of his father’s patients are quite old. As such, they are not always capable of making the trip to the clinic. In those cases, his father is the one who goes to them. “He should be back soon.”

“I see,” Xiao Nan says. “Where shall I put the old man?”

“Over here, please.” Liu Jin motions to one of the beds. The entire first floor of the house serves as his father’s clinic. As such, there are beds for the patients to lie down while his father examines them. Of course, father and son make sure to clean those beds every single day. When it comes to cleanliness at least, their home will not lose even to the Xiao Sect’s luxurious compound.

“Thank you for your help, Elder Brother,” Liu Jin says after Xiao Nan places the old man on one of the beds. Liu Jin puts a wet cloth over the old man’s forehead. His body temperature has cooled considerably since receiving the medicine, but it is still abnormally high. “Will you be returning to the Xiao Sect’s compound now?”

After all, Xiao Nan no longer has any need to stay. Liu Jin will not be gathering herbs anytime soon, and the old man is not his problem now that he is in the clinic. There is no reason for Xiao Nan to keep inconveniencing himself.

“I think not, Little Brother,” Xiao Nan says, shaking his head. “I better stay until the old man wakes up. Who knows what his mental state will be when that happens? People can do dangerous things when disoriented. To themselves and others.”

Liu Jin tilts his head to the side and looks at the old man. “You think he might be dangerous?’

He certainly does not seem so.

“Everyone can be dangerous, Little Brother,” Xiao Nan says, raising a finger to underscore his point. “Never forget that. It is only a matter of finding the right circumstances. Why, I have made plenty of people dangerous on numerous occasions, usually with the danger aimed at my person. They were learning experiences, I assure you.”

A mischievous grin appears on Xiao Nan’s face as he says this.

“Besides,” he adds. “It is no good to judge people based on their appearance. Someone who has lived as long as this man has, without a doubt, reached a higher level of cultivation than you. It does not pay to take an old man lightly, no matter how sick he might be.”

Xiao Nan is not wrong. Someone who does not break past the Inner Realm over the course of his life is extremely rare. That lack of talent is simply not something that can be called natural. Even someone who is not serious about cultivation will usually manage it before seeing twenty springs.

“Well, in this old man’s case, he is so sick even sensing his Qi is hard,” Xiao Nan admits. “I tried to check it while I was carrying him here but couldn’t. I figure most of it is trying to fight his ailment.”

Liu Jin blinks. “Is that possible?”

“Of course, it is,” Xiao Nan replies. “A strong enough cultivator can expunge all impurities from his body. Of course, the ability to do so depends on the strength of the cultivator and the strength of the ailment. Uncle is the strongest cultivator in the city. Even so, he would have died many years ago without your father’s aid. His ailment was that strong. In the old man’s case, I figure-“

Xiao Nan does not finish the sentence. Instead, he trails off, his eyes widening. Liu Jin is about to ask him why when he feels it too. No, he does not just feel it. He sees it.

The old man is awake.

His eyes are open, and their color is strikingly blue. Somehow, without them realizing it, he had woken up and moved to a sitting position. Liu Jin wants to tell him it is not good for him to force himself. He wants to tell the old man that he should stay in bed and rest. Yes, he definitely wants to say those words.

He cannot.

He is not sure why but his mouth is not working properly.

Xiao Nan suddenly falls to his knees next to him, and Liu Jin does not understand why that happens. He does not understand why he cannot go over to where Xiao Nan is and help him.

He does not understand why he is already on the floor.

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“Ho, it seems I am still alive,” the old man speaks for the first time. He has a clever voice. That’s the first thing Liu Jin can think of. It is a voice that makes Liu Jin become aware of his own foolishness and shortcomings just by listening to it. The feeling it evokes is not unlike listening to his father talk about medicine but nowhere near as warm or comforting.

“Someone figured out how to make the antidote? Curious. How very curious,” the old man says, speaking to himself. He does not bother to acknowledge either of the two youths kneeling on the floor, paralyzed by his very presence. The old man takes a single whiff of the air and strokes his beard in thought. “Medical herbs. So there was a doctor of this caliber in a place like this.”

Finally, his gaze turns to the two immobile youths. “You two, answer me. Where is the doctor who healed this Old Jiang?”

The two are unable to reply. The old man frowns. “Is this the state of the youth nowadays? No legs to stand on? No mouth to speak? How pitiful. Very well, let it never be said this Old Jiang is not merciful. I will allow you to speak in my presence.”

Just like that, Liu Jin feels his tongue once more. However, it is Xiao Nan who speaks first.

“Em-Emp-” His eyes are wide. His face is pale. His body trembles. Anyone who knows him would be shocked beyond belief to see him like this. Indeed, Liu Jin can scarcely believe this is the Xiao Nan he knows so well. However, the reason for that fear soon comes out of Xiao Nan’s mouth. The reason is a word, just a single word heavy with meaning,

“Emperor!”

Liu Jin’s eyes go as wide as they have ever been. The moment Xiao Nan says it he understands. He understands why he cannot even stand or talk without this man’s permission. It is the old man’s sheer presence that kept him from doing those things, and that phenomenon is only possible because this old man’s Qi is realms apart from his. Even if it sounds ridiculous, he has no choice but to accept it.