Li Yunsheng remained silent; he did not recognize this Sixth Master He.
He Yunxi called out again to the onlookers, "Everyone here is willing to give me this face, right?"
Sixth Master He?
Who was that?
None of the onlookers recognized him.
Did this man have nothing better to do? Why was he sticking his nose into this?
Yet for reasons none could explain, everyone in the crowd wanted to see just how this Sixth Master He would judge the matter.
The crowd grew larger, and He Yunxi's confidence swelled. Having sorted out the whole story from start to finish, he said to Li Yunsheng, "Doctor, him walking up and calling you a charlatan right off the bat was certainly out of line.
"Still, truth be told, I've seen plenty of folks in your Zhuyou branch. Most are swindlers. I truly haven't seen more than a handful of Zhuyou healers who can actually cure illnesses.
"And what this young brother said isn't wrong either—if you're a doctor, you have to be able to treat illnesses. If you can't, you can't be out here swindling people.
"Then again, what you said makes sense as well: since there were no patients, you had no chance to treat anyone, so no one can just say you're a fraud.
"It just so happens I arrived at the right time today, and I happen to have a sick man right beside me. Xiao Yang, come over here."
A young man stepped forward clutching his face, his right cheek swollen high.
He Yunxi drew the young fellow forward and explained the ailment to Li Yunsheng first: "This is my friend Xiao Yang. He's had a tooth ailment that's been hurting for days. He can't eat, can't sleep, and is practically at his wit's end. Take a look and see if you can cure it."
Li Yunsheng had Xiao Yang sit down and open his mouth so he could inspect it.
The gums were swollen, bearing a lump the size of a quail egg. Its surface was pale, seemingly filled with pus, though nothing appeared wrong with the teeth themselves.
"Have you seen other doctors for this?"
Xiao Yang nodded. "I saw itinerant healers, went to medical clinics, and even visited the foreigners' hospital—none of them could cure it!"
Li Yunsheng pricked the swelling with a silver needle. Blood came out, but no pus.
The pain made Xiao Yang's cheek tremble violently. "Don't prick it anymore! It's useless—there's nothing inside. The foreigners' hospital even cut the lump open, but they couldn't squeeze anything out. It hurts just as much as before."
Beside them, Sixth Master He chimed in, "If you don't know how to cure it, speak up now. My friend has already suffered plenty—he can't take you botching it again."
Li Yunsheng stared at Xiao Yang for quite a while, then asked, "Are you a night watchman?"
Xiao Yang was taken aback. "How did you know?"
"You carry the chill of night dew on you. An ordinary person wouldn't carry such a heavy dampness; it's obvious you work at night. And looking at your legs and feet, they're sturdy and strong, meaning you must do a great deal of walking."
Xiao Yang nodded. "Spot on. I am a night watchman!"
Li Yunsheng followed up, "Did you go to the eastern entrance of Lanhua Street last month?"
"Of course I did! Lanhua Street is on my beat. Every time I'm on duty, I have to go there!"
A faint look of satisfaction appeared on Li Yunsheng's face—he had found the root of the ailment. "In the ash pit at the eastern entrance, there was a corpse. Did you see it?"
Xiao Yang nodded repeatedly. "I saw it! The corpse was already crawling with maggots. I was on duty that night, and seeing that body scared the wits out of me. I was the one who reported it to the police station."
Li Yunsheng gave a slight nod. "Then that explains it."
Sixth Master He waved his folding fan. "What explains it? Why are you asking so many questions? Can you cure him or not? Give us a straight answer!"
Li Yunsheng smiled. "Sixth Master, don't be in such a rush. No matter the branch of medicine, a doctor must fully understand the condition before treating it."
Sixth Master He folded his fan, took out his pipe, and drew a puff. "Are you done asking? If you've figured it out, hurry up and cure him! None of us are idle folk; who has the time to sit here listening to you ramble?"
Li Yunsheng truly set to work. He picked up a sheet of talisman paper and moistened it with a bit of water.
Zhang Laifu looked at the characters and drawings on the talisman. Though he couldn't understand them, every stroke seemed exquisitely rendered.
Holding the talisman paper in his right hand, Li Yunsheng rolled it around his left index finger into a small cylinder and had Xiao Yang bite down on it.
Xiao Yang felt nervous. "I'm scared to bite it. It hurts."
Li Yunsheng pressed him, "If you want to be cured, bite down. Bite right where it hurts—the worse the pain, the tighter you have to bite!"
Xiao Yang clamped down on the paper roll. Li Yunsheng then used water to stick another talisman to a nearby willow tree and began chanting:
"Grudges in life, grievances after death, Heaven's law sees clear each breath!
His hands are clean of your demise; out of kindness he closed your eyes!
Be you a hero or gallant soul, heed my good counsel and make yourself whole!
Take your grievance to the underworld court; let King Yama judge and give retort!
Heed my counsel and cling no more; spurn my words and face my lore!
Once this talisman burns to dust, scattered will be your soul and ghost!
"Brother, depart at once! Seeing that you suffered a bitter fate, I have no wish to strike you. Do not trouble this young brother any longer."
The talisman paper on the tree shuddered three times, but did not fall.
The onlookers craned their necks to watch, unsure whether the ailment had been cured or not.
Li Yunsheng ran his fingers over the talisman on the tree and murmured softly, "Brother, quit while you're ahead. I've shown you plenty of leeway!"
The talisman remained motionless on the tree trunk. Li Yunsheng struck a match and said to the talisman, "If you remain obstinate, your soul truly shall be scattered to the winds!"
As if responding, the talisman trembled several times before fluttering to the ground.
Picking the talisman up from the ground, Li Yunsheng smiled and said, "In a little while, I'll send plenty of spirit money, incense, and candles your way. Meeting like this is fate—Li thanks you here and now."
The moment the words left his mouth, Xiao Yang retched.
After retching, instead of feeling sick, Xiao Yang felt a wave of profound relief.
The talisman roll in his mouth had vanished, and the swelling on his gum had burst. Out crawled a fat cluster of maggots, which Xiao Yang spat onto the ground, squirming and writhing continuously.
Li Yunsheng asked Xiao Yang, "Still hurt?"
Xiao Yang licked his gums, felt his cheek, and stared at Li Yunsheng in shock.
The pain was gone.
More and more people gathered, completely dumbfounded by the sight.
Li Yunsheng called out to the crowd, "Everyone, take a good look—is Li a charlatan or not?"
Sixth Master He had Xiao Yang open his mouth and inspected it carefully.
Whether he truly knew what to look for or not, after examining it, his face filled with suspicion. "Xiao Yang, your tooth really doesn't hurt anymore?"
Xiao Yang answered cleanly, "Not at all! Good as new!"
"You're not a shill, are you?"
"What shill?" Xiao Yang shook his head vigorously. "I've never even laid eyes on this man before."
Li Yunsheng said, "Sixth Master He, you're the one who brought him here. To call him a shill isn't very fair of you. Xiao Yang's tooth has stopped hurting—could he really be lying to you?"
He Yunxi pondered for a moment and still shook his head. "His tooth might have stopped hurting because you gave him an anesthetic."
"When would I have administered an anesthetic?"
"You had him bite down on a talisman paper—there could have been an anesthetic inside it. And those worms he spat out? They might be fakes hidden inside that very paper!"
He Yunxi seemed to be nitpicking and looking for trouble, but Li Yunsheng was not the least bit annoyed. He could tell that the man was speaking on his behalf, intending to help Li Yunsheng clear up suspicions in person.
This was a good man.
Were there people this decent in Wansheng Prefecture?
Li Yunsheng couldn't figure out the man's motive, but for now, he had to protect his own reputation.
He picked up the maggots from the ground and handed them to Sixth Master He. "Look closely. These are maggots from a corpse. If you think they're fake, feed them directly to your bird and see if it eats them. If the bird eats them, that proves they're real!"
Sixth Master He actually went and fed a maggot to his bird. The bird pinned the bug with one foot, pecked twice, and swallowed it down.
He Yunxi was still a little concerned. "My bird won't get sick from eating this, will it?"
Li Yunsheng waved his fan. "These maggots could harm a person only because they were tainted by the corpse's resentment. Xiao Yang must have touched the body that night, and the resentful energy latched onto him along with the maggots, burrowing into his flesh and causing his suffering."
At this, Xiao Yang's face flushed crimson. Li Yunsheng was right.
Xiao Yang truly had touched the corpse—he had searched it for a bit of money.
Li Yunsheng didn't press Xiao Yang further, but continued to He Yunxi, "Now that the resentment has been dispelled, the maggots have lost their spiritual power. Powerless worms can harm neither man nor bird.
"If you still have your doubts, I set up my stall here every morning. If anything happens to your bird, come find me and I'll compensate you tenfold its value.
"As for brother Xiao Yang and what you said about anesthetics—the effect of any anesthetic wears off eventually. If I truly used an anesthetic, brother Xiao Yang's ailment will surely flare up again before long. When that happens, bring him back to me. Not only will I repay the money, but I'll tear down my own sign with my own two hands!"
He spoke with utter conviction. Sixth Master He snapped his folding fan shut and exclaimed in admiration, "Superb skill! Everyone, take a good look—this Zhuyou doctor has true craft! He's no charlatan!"
Sixth Master He walked over to Lao Zheng and sighed. "What skill. This Zhuyou doctor is the real deal. You folks wronged him just now."
Lao Zheng shook his head repeatedly. "I was only watching the excitement; I never wronged him. This Zhuyou doctor truly is extraordinary..."
Mid-sentence, Lao Zheng froze.
He had been so engrossed in watching the spectacle that he had forgotten what he was there for.
Zhang Laifu was gone!
Chapter 13