“Doctor Yu!”

  Yuan Xia awoke to Deng QiuShi’s frantic shouting. Once again in her arms, he y weak, the lingering memories thudding in his mind.

  A surge of people pushed Deng QiuShi forwards. They gathered before a run-down shack, worn with the years, and stood without knocking. The door didn’t budge a peek.

  Running his eyes over the crowd, then remembering what Deng QiuShi had called out earlier, Yuan Xia’s small body tensed. Another fshback of Thousand Festival Vilge rushed at him, much calmer in comparison yet still surprising.

  A family of Doctors had lived in a very simir shack back then. The bloodline had the inherent ability to learn spiritual medicines, but no compatibility in medical cultivation. So, different from the medics who healed physical injuries, the lineage dealt with cultivators’ qi.

  But a majority of that bloodline had perished in the fire. Yuan Xia wouldn’t trust his eyes again if the man who walked out from the shut door had the bloodline’s unique characteristics of vender purple hair and white medical robes.

  Just as Yuan Xia finished his thought, the heads around him snapped up, followed by the slow creaking of a door. The surrounding bustle fell to a murmur.

  Out from the shack came a little old man. He had lic-coloured hair, fading grey at its tips from old age, and his half-lidded irises shimmered columbine blue. They stared straight at Yuan Xia, who managed to perceive his instant, penetrating gaze.

  No way…. Yuan Xia fiercely rubbed his eyes, of which he could no longer trust.

  “The Doctor opened the door!” A crowd-dweller yelled. “This is the first appearance within the st two years!”

  “Apparently, he chooses his own patients. I wonder who he’ll bring inside today.” Another person whispered.

  If the Doctor’s appearance was so rare, Yuan Xia deadpanned, why are all of you gathered outside like clumps of sticky rice?

  The old man raised a finger, and like a cult, the crowd followed it. His hand drew a thin circle through the waves of people, soon nding on Deng QiuShi.

  “You.”

  Deng QiuShi froze for a beat, then sprang into action as she offered Yuan Xia. “Doctor, please take a look at my son.”

  —

  Compared to the flimsy exterior of the small shack, the interior had quite a charming atmosphere. Shelves of herbs carried a soothing scent, and instead of a firepce, a smart construction of electricity heated the floors. Which… was a good thing, since upon hearing the crackling of fmes, Yuan Xia would have bolted no matter the circumstance.

  Sitting on a white cot, Yuan Xia felt the Doctor press around his wrist for a pulse.

  “A steady heartbeat. Nothing like the dead thing you brought to me nearly twelve years ago.” The Doctor had a rather sarcastic voice. “I remember it clearly—you were only thirteen yourself. A dirty child holding a half-rotted baby. What a sight.”

  In one fluid move, the Doctor changed out Yuan Xia’s rags for a white robe. The musky scent of medicine enveloped him, and he couldn’t help but cough.

  From behind the corner of one of the rooms, a tiny tuft of purple hair peeked out. Following it, a little girl, only about twelve, bolted to Yuan Xia and handed him a bowl of water before scurrying back to her room.

  The Doctor’s eyes followed her, and he let out a scoff.

  “That’s Gu, my second child. She won’t be a bother.” His breath hitched for a second, as if seeing her had reminded him of something, but he quickly shook his head and turned back to Deng QiuShi. “What’s wrong with your child this time?”

  “Well, he’s much better now…!” Deng QiuShi hesitated. “His soul returned. He started communicating with me!”

  “So you want me to perform a soul-examination.” With a small grunt, the Doctor stood from the cot and shuffled away.

  Soul-examination? But the Doctors from Yuan Xia’s era couldn’t do such advanced methodology. Could Yuan Xia have been mistaken?

  “He can tell me his condition himself.” The Doctor stood up, returning ter with a cup of yuja tea. Its sweet fragrance filled the warm room. “Go on, boy. Talk.”

  A dilemma.

  Yuan Xia shook his head and made a series of exaggerated gestures, showing that he understood but couldn’t speak. After the incident at the Thousand Festival Vilge, he’d gone mute. Only the Demon Queen’s citrine earring could let him speak again.

  For a second, Hua ChunMing’s face twinkled in Yuan Xia’s thoughts. He wondered if, after he threw himself off of Snow Valley, the Righteous Leader had picked his earring up, or left it to fracture in the frost.

  Yuan Xia reminded himself that a century had passed since his ‘death’. Hua ChunMing could have died too, for all he knew. And that citrine earring… if it hadn’t rotted on Snow Valley, it would have sold at an auction for billions already.

  “Ah, your child cannot speak?” The Doctor turned to Deng QiuShi. “Or, rather, he does not wish to. What a stubborn child.”

  Yuan Xia perked up. An inkling of annoyance welled in his chest. If he could speak, he would have! The sheet of paper underneath him crinkled as he balled his fists.

  Ignoring Yuan Xia’s rising rage, the Doctor doubled down on his diagnosis.

  “Yes… your child seems healthy and well. If his speech impediment is not physiological, then it must be mental.”

  “What can I do?” Deng QiuShi looked the most worried, stepping towards the shelves of medicine as she looked for anything that would help.

  “A change of scenery would be nice.” Thinking, the old man wrapped a cord around his ears and pressed the end to Yuan Xia’s chest. A cold metal seeped through the white fabric, bringing with it a slight shiver.

  “His spirit….”

  All of a sudden, the Doctor gasped. So much so that Yuan Xia wondered if the old man had given himself a heart attack.

  “Ooh, he has quite the rare constitution.” Contrary to his shaking hands, the Doctor’s voice remained calm like a creek. “Send this child up to Heaven’s Law Sect.”

  This time, it was Yuan Xia’s turn to gasp.

  “Heaven’s Law Sect? What?” Deng QiuShi froze in her tracks. Then, she stormed over to Yuan Xia and hugged him tightly. “Why would you suggest such a pce? That drunkard, bastard Righteous Leader…. While the world was burning, he kept himself holed up in seclusion for one-hundred-and-twenty years!”

  Yuan Xia startled. His wide eyes dimmed, and his shoulders defted.

  Hua ChunMing , a drunkard, a bastard? Impossible.

  Righteous Leaders kept their roles until death. To Yuan Xia, that could only mean one thing.

  A knot formed in his stomach, threatening to rise.

  After the battle at Snow Valley, had Hua ChunMing really perished?

  “Ai, are you stupid? Do you not know how powerful the Righteous Leader is? He’s the strongest cultivator in the world!” The Doctor threw a barrage of ridicule, snapping Yuan Xia out of his twisted thoughts and leaving Deng QiuShi no time to counter. “Woman, can’t you tell? Your child has a Pure Heavenly Cultivation Root, the rarest foundation for cultivators all across the JiangHu!”

  Only when he raised his cane, forcing Deng QiuShi to back into a corner, did the Doctor become pcated. Jars of gss clinked against each other as Deng QiuShi stomped, trying to find a retort. Sitting back down, the Doctor pulled a poster out from his drawer, handing it to Yuan Xia.

  Throughout this exchange, Yuan Xia remained perched on the cot, stunned. Not only did this old man manage to notice his mental barricade, but he also directly exposed his rare cultivation root. Only two people in this universe knew about Yuan Xia’s special constitution: the Demon Queen and Hua ChunMing.

  Yuan Xia corrected himself. Only one person, the Demon Queen, knew.

  Ah, Hua ChunMing. Why did he have to go and die?

  “Read this poster.” The Doctor tapped a colourful blotch on the paper. Then he coughed, remembering that Yuan Xia couldn’t see. “Nevermind then, just listen.”

  “Just a couple of days ago, Heaven’s Lightning itself rained down upon Heaven’s Law Sect.” The Doctor continued. “Do you know what this means?”

  Although the Doctor and Deng QiuShi had a habit of bickering back and forth, when Deng QiuShi heard his words, she couldn’t help but suck in a silent breath. Simirly, Yuan Xia’s dejected posture snapped upright.

  Only one cultivator possessed Heaven’s Lightning. No one else, whether in the past or even in the future, could ever harness such vicious thunderbolts.

  Only him.

  “That’s right. The Righteous Leader, Hua ChunMing, has awoken from his inebriation.”

  Like a heavy strike of thunder, the news stabbed into Yuan Xia. Letting out a sigh of relief, he closed his eyes and fell backwards onto the cot.

  “Ai, Righteous Leader Hua has been drunk on osmanthus wine since my great-great-great-grandpa took over the infirmary. After finally coming out from his hermitage, how could the JiangHu not be ecstatic? I can’t believe you, Deng QiuShi, how could you not know?”

  Connecting the threads, Yuan Xia’s eyes fshed open again in disbelief. Hua ChunMing, that crybaby, went into seclusion to drink for 120 years?!

  Immersed in his storytelling, the Doctor continued. “Hua ChunMing announced a mass-recruiting just yesterday. No one knows why, but Deng QiuShi, if you have any brain left in you, you should bring your child and go apply.”

  “But….” Deng QiuShi frowned. “I don’t know if Yuan Xia will feel safe there. He….”

  “It doesn't matter if he’s blind and mute, or a waste. You don’t want to bring him; if his future is ruined, that’s your fault.” The Doctor chastised. “Ask your own son—boy, do you want to go?”

  Without hesitation, Yuan Xia nodded. He tugged on Deng QiuShi’s sleeves, and the woman hesitantly turned her head away.

  “Alright.” She turned, having understood her child’s wish. “We’ll go, then.”

  “Wait.” As Deng QiuShi scooped Yuan Xia into her arms and beelined towards the exit, the Doctor called out to them.

  Only Yuan Xia turned, facing the lonely silhouette of the old man. Besides him, a smaller figure appeared—Gu. She tugged on her father’s medical robes and gazed at Yuan Xia, her cerulean irises shimmering wide with admiration.

  “At Heaven’s Law Sect, you’ll meet a boy who looks just like Gu there. His name is Yu Shui. You’ll know when you see him.” A smile lifted the corners of the Doctor’s wrinkled face. “Let him know his old man still remembers him.”

  Before Deng QiuShi took her final step out of the shack, Yuan Xia gave a near imperceptible nod.

  As the door creaked shut, he heard a sigh of relief.