Interlude: The Father’s Tale Part VI

~~~

It had been a full day after the incident when the guards came down to Liu Jianguo’s new cell.

“Follow us,” a guard said, his voice and face stern.

Wordlessly, Liu Jianguo did as ordered. He caught Li’s worried look as he was taken away by the guards and gave him a reassuring nod. Night had fallen once more, so there weren’t many people outside, though Liu Jianguo did catch one or two disciples peeking at them from the shadows.

No one talked. Liu Jianguo asked no questions, and the guards offered no information. Only the sound of their footsteps against the cobblestones broke the silence of the night.

Liu Jianguo remained silent even as the guards took him into the main house. He remained silent even as he was brought before Xiao Zheng’s room where the two Elders from the other day waited.

“This is far enough,” Elder Gang said. His gaze was far less hostile than it had been when they first met. By contrast, the expression on Elder Hui’s face was impossibly neutral. “Leave him here.”

After bowing and paying their respects, the guards did as instructed, leaving Liu Jianguo alone with two people who could surely kill him a hundred times over in less time than it took for a hummingbird to flap its wings.

“Enter,” Elder Gang said, pushing the door to Xiao Zheng’s room open. “The Patriarch wishes to speak to you.”

Liu Jianguo looked from one Elder to another and bowed his head before going into the room. As soon as he was inside, the door closed behind him.

Xiao Zheng’s room was as large and luxurious as it had been last time, yet now there was something undeniably intimidating about it. Well, it would have been intimidating if he were any other person. Alas, Liu Jianguo had seen too many monsters and horrors to feel fear.

The only thing Liu Jianguo feared was leaving his son alone for too long.

Whether he was in front of Xiao Zheng or the weakest disciple of the Xiao Sect made no difference to him.

They could both kill him just as easily.

“I see you are doing well.”

Xiao Zheng’s voice carried across the room with ease. This time, there was nothing weak about it. Though still pale, his face had regained some color, and he did not look as tired as he had the other day. He was also not wearing his sleeping clothes but was dressed in blues and golds instead.

“Honored Patriarch Xiao Zheng,” Liu Jianguo said, kneeling before the man. “This one is doing quite well and is pleased to see the same can be said of you.”

Xiao Zheng’s lips quirked up.

“You do not seem surprised to see me like this.”

“It is only natural for Patriarch Xiao Zheng to look as healthy as he does,” Liu Jianguo replied, keeping his gaze on the floor. “The medicine I made could have produced no other result.”

Xiao Zheng stood up.

Showing no signs of physical illness, the large man rose from his bed and walked towards Liu Jianguo.

“That is quite a bold claim,” he said, coming to a stop just three steps away from the doctor. “How can you be so sure it is thanks to your work that I am restored?”

“Whether it is thanks to the medicine I made or not that Patriarch Xiao Zheng is now restored, I imagine no one knows the answer better than Patriarch Xiao Zheng. However, if Patriarch Xiao Zheng asks me for proof, then I imagine seeing the parasite leaving your body after taking the pill this one made should have been more than enough.”

Liu Jianguo looked up.

“I apologize for not warning you in advance of the discomfort it would cause, but there was no time to do so. Your guards did not give this one time to explain.”

There hadn’t been much time for anything, really. It was a good thing Xiao Nan had grabbed the pill right away. Otherwise, they probably wouldn’t be having this conversation.

Xiao Zheng snorted. “You are quite bold for a doctor.”

“It is because I trust Patriarch Xiao Zheng is an honorable man that I allow my tongue to be honest. I cannot imagine Patriarch Xiao Zheng to be someone who’d harm the one who restored him.”

The Patriarch of the Xiao Zheng crossed his arms. The expression on his face was torn between amusement and disbelief.

“Just who are you?”

“A simple doctor. Nothing more. Nothing less.”

Xiao Zheng held Liu Jianguo’s gaze for over a minute, searching for any signs of deceit. He found none.

“Very well then,” he said, turning away. “I’ll do you the honor of believing you. It would reflect poorly on me if I decided to torture you for information.”

“I am thankful for your kindness.”

“However, I still have another question for you. You are a knowledgeable man. That much is obvious now. How common is the condition that afflicted me? The parasite?”

An unexpected question. No, it wasn’t wrong for a man to want to know more about that which almost killed him. Liu Jianguo thinned his lips as he thought about it.

“The Soul Draining Parasite is not quite what I’d call obscure knowledge. Any of the greater doctors in the capital should have been able to diagnose your condition. The same can be said for any healer at the service of one of the four major sects.”

In that sense, Xiao Nan wasn’t wrong in saying that asking help from an outside Sect could have solved Xiao Zheng’s problem. However, there was no telling what the price of such help would have been.

“And what of someone like Doctor Wu?” Xiao Zheng asked with a serious look on his face. “I trust you are at least familiar with the name.”

“I am,” Liu Jianguo replied, nodding. “I have heard he is a great doctor, the best in Eastern Port City. However, I do not know enough to answer your question with any degree of certainty. What I can say, however, is that if he is as good as everyone claims, he should have noticed the problem lied in your dantian. That much, at least, he should have known.”

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Xiao Zheng frowned.

“My best doctors said the problem may lie in my lower dantian,” he said thoughtfully, a hand on his chin. “However, Doctor Wu told me they were wrong.”

There was a moment of silence in the room. For at least three minutes, no one spoke. Liu Jianguo waited for Xiao Zheng’s inevitable explosion.

It never came.

Instead, the silence was broken by a soft laugh.

“I see. I see. So that’s how it is. Ah, to think this Xiao Zheng was almost made a fool of. No, that cannot stand. That will not stand.”

At that moment, the smile on Xiao Zheng’s face was a terrible thing to behold.

“However, such matters are best left for later,” Xiao Zheng said, his expression returning to normal at an unnatural speed. “I suppose you’ll want your reward now. Name it.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Xiao Zheng frowned.

“You would reject my kindness?”

“Do not misunderstand this one, Patriarch Xiao Zheng,” Liu Jianguo said, shaking his head. “It is not that I wish to reject your kindness. It is that your kindness would be too much of a burden for someone like me.”

“Explain.”

“I’m a cripple,” Liu Jianguo said. “I cannot defend what is mine. If I were rewarded by the Xiao Sect, I would surely draw the envy and jealousy of others. Such a thing would spell doom for my son and I. The greatest kindness Patriarch Xiao Zheng can do for this one is to leave him as he was before.”

“That is all you want? Truly?”

Liu Jianguo nodded. “To live with my son in peace for the rest of my days. That is all I want.”