Chapter 5
The child guiding us was terribly anxious, but he did not dare hurry us. Cheng Lin frightened him, so he could only stare imploringly at me.
I quickened my pace.
“Is it urgent?” Cheng Lin asked.
The child hesitated, then nodded.
Cheng Lin unfurled a cloak and swept the two of us up in it like a gust of wind. In the blink of an eye, we reached our destination.
When we landed, the child was dizzy and my face had gone deathly pale. For the first time in my life, I discovered I might be afraid of heights.
The patient was the child’s grandmother. Her son and daughter-in-law had both died, and endless labor and tears had damaged her eyes.
Ordinary herbs could only ease her symptoms. A snake’s gallbladder might cure her.
The moment I finished speaking, Taxue looked at Ah She.
Xunmei looked at Ah She.
Cheng Lin also looked at Ah She.
Ah She froze. Then he hissed furiously and wriggled into Cheng Lin’s robes, burrowing against him as though sobbing.
What an injustice. What an unbearable injustice.
The old woman laughed. “Oh, how could we use your spirit snake, Healer? We can catch a rat snake ourselves. There are plenty in the fields. Thank you for coming such a long way, Healer Li.”
I prepared her medicine and explained how to brew it and use the snake gallbladder.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cheng Lin conjure a snake gallbladder as if by magic and hand it to the child.
We stayed in Peach Blossom Ridge for three days and treated every patient who came to see me.
We took our time on the journey home.
We gathered medicinal herbs and treated people along the road. Though we ate and slept in the open, the days and months never felt long.
Three months passed this way before I returned.
As I reached home, the neighboring door suddenly opened and Zhao Yunzhi stepped out. “Where did you go?” he asked softly. “Why were you gone so long?”
He spoke as if we knew each other well.
I ignored him.
Cheng Lin folded his arms and leaned against the doorframe, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“What business is it of yours when we return?”
“Have you forgotten that the first time you met Susu, you tried to kill her cat, dog, and snake? Then you expected her to help you pass your trial of love without paying a single coin.”
“Your junior sect sister kicked Susu’s door to pieces and held a sword to her throat. Calling you her enemy would hardly be unfair.”
“How do you still have the nerve to wait here and greet her? If I were you, I’d be too ashamed ever to show my face before Susu again. I’d sooner rot into the earth than trouble her.”
Oh my. His fur was truly standing on end.
But he was young, and still far too kind.
I tugged at his sleeve.
“Why tell him so much? Wouldn’t it be better to let him remain ignorant? Why teach him?”
Cheng Lin looked as though lightning had struck him.
That night, he tossed and turned, occasionally thumping the wall and groaning.
“Why did I have to run my mouth? Fox spirits are cunning. He’ll probably remember the first half and forget the rest.”
I could not help laughing.
Treating so many patients over the past few months had sharpened my skills. But what I knew was no longer enough to solve some of the difficult illnesses I encountered.
Where could I possibly find a more advanced medical text?