He Haiqin detested foreigners just as He Jiaqing detested the international students at his school; in this respect, father and son were startlingly alike.
He Yuxiu gripped He Haiqin's hand and pleaded, "Brother, listen to your sister just this once. This doctor truly has skill. Xiao Zhenggong had him sent over—just let him try."
"Get out!" He Haiqin shoved his sister away.
He Yuxiu looked toward Yan Yulin. "Sister-in-law, say something, would you!"
Yan Yulin took a deep breath and summoned her courage. "Master, I've listened to you my entire life, but just this once, let me make the decision! Sister, please invite the doctor in!"
He Yuxiu rose to fetch the doctor. He Haiqin was beside himself with rage, but lacked the strength to stop her.
Before long, Doctor Critick—blond-haired, blue-eyed, and high-bridged of nose—approached the window. Seeing He Haiqin covered in blisters, Critick was taken aback.
Yan Yulin hastily explained, "Doctor, please don't be afraid. These blisters aren't contagious. Our family has cared for him for two years, and not one person has ever caught it."
"Damn foreign devil!" He Haiqin glared at Critick, then turned to Yan Yulin. "Why waste your breath on useless nonsense? Can this damn foreign devil even understand you?"
"I can understand!" Critick replied in crisp, flawless pronunciation. "Not all foreign devils are bad people. I'm a good foreign devil. I love Puluo Province."
He Haiqin forced a strained laugh. "You're pretty damn glib, aren't you?"
"It isn't just glib talk." Critick unbuttoned his coat, exposing a hairy chest that bore a five-character tattoo: *I Love Puluo Province*.
Yan Yulin covered her eyes.
He Yuxiu chimed in from the side, "Look at that, just look! The man is sincere—he had it tattooed right over his heart."
He Haiqin turned his head away, refusing to look at Critick. "My home doesn't have any of your foreign contraptions. Leave."
Critick shook his head and smiled. "Honored Master, have no fear. I don't use foreign equipment. I am a Medicine Cultivator and practice the ancient healing arts of Puluo Province. First, allow me to check your pulse."
Critick attentively took He Haiqin's pulse, while He Haiqin swallowed his disgust, refusing to spare him a glance.
After several minutes, Critick seemed to reach a conclusion regarding the affliction. Reaching for his bag, he produced a silver needle, sterilized it over a candle flame, and gently pierced one of He Haiqin's blisters.
Thick green fluid oozed out. Critick dipped his finger into the liquid, brought it to his nose, and took a whiff.
Then he licked the fluid from his finger to taste it.
Yan Yulin had just insisted that the blisters weren't contagious.
Even so, seeing Critick put that liquid into his mouth made Yan Yulin gag and heave.
Not only did she feel sick to her stomach, even the blisters' host, He Haiqin, felt the urge to vomit.
He Yuxiu possessed a stronger stomach. Her cheeks twitched for a moment before she said to her brother, "Look at how dedicated Doctor Critick is! He tasted it with his own tongue, and he's still savoring the flavor right now!"
"Urgh—" He Haiqin vomited.
Food Cultivators could not vomit lightly; to them, it was the utmost disrespect to food.
Yet He Haiqin truly couldn't hold it in.
Critick's tongue continued to swirl, carefully relishing the flavor of the pustule.
A few minutes later, Critick nodded. "I believe I know the source of this disease."
He Yuxiu was taken aback. "Tell us, then!"
Critick said, "This disease was never meant to belong to this world. Someone created it."
Hearing this, He Haiqin turned his face back, staring at Critick in astonishment. "You know who harmed me?"
He had always suspected the Lu family was behind this foul play.
He Yuxiu's eyes went wide as well. "Was it those bastards from the Lu family?!"
Critick shook his head. "I don't know who it was, but I can find a cure. Honored Master, please grant me a private room so I may prepare the medicine for you."
He Haiqin frowned slightly. He had no desire to ingest medicine of unknown origin.
Critick knew what troubled He Haiqin. "Honored Master, please rest assured. I will remain in your manor until you have fully recovered. Should anything go wrong during this time, you may take my life at any moment."
He Haiqin exchanged a glance with Yan Yulin. Yan Yulin gave the steward a meaningful look, arranging a private room for Critick.
In less than half an hour, Critick emerged from the room holding a test tube filled with white powder.
"Honored Master, please swallow this medicine. Your illness will soon be cured."
Looking at the white powder, He Haiqin's cheeks twitched repeatedly.
He didn't want to take it; he didn't trust foreigners.
Yet in his current condition, even without taking the medicine, he wouldn't last more than a few hours.
Yan Yulin took the test tube. After a brief hesitation, He Haiqin nodded.
Yan Yulin fed the powder into He Haiqin's mouth.
He Haiqin's throat was choked with blisters, causing severe difficulty in swallowing, which was why he had been unable to eat.
Strange to say, even without water, he managed to choke down the dry powder.
Critick stood respectfully by the bed, signaling that he would not leave.
After about an hour of waiting, the once-prostrate He Haiqin slowly sat up from the sickbed.
He was sweating profusely, and a faint flush of color had returned to his blister-ridden skin.
Yan Yulin beamed with joy.
He Yuxiu showered him with praise. "Brother, just look at how brilliant Doctor Critick is! A single dose, and you're already turning the corner!"
Critick offered a slight smile. "Honored Master, do you believe me now?"
He Haiqin snorted cold disdain. "Foreign devils' medicine is always like this—treating the symptoms, not the root cause!"
Critick shook his head. "I will stay in your manor until you are completely well."
He Haiqin cut his eyes toward Critick. "How much did Xiao Zhenggong pay you?"
Critick held out his hands palms up. "That is something I cannot tell you. It is a matter of professional ethics. Sect Master Xiao insisted that I cure you at all costs; he said money was not an issue."
He Haiqin frowned. "Just how much? Stop damn well dancing around it!"
Critick gave a helpless sigh. "Sect Master Xiao gave me ten thousand silver dollars."
He Haiqin nodded and told the steward, "Give him ten thousand silver dollars and show him to a guest room to rest."
Critick shook his head. "You need not pay me. Sect Master Xiao has already..."
"This is my reward to you! Now go!" He Haiqin admired Critick's medical skills, but that did nothing to change his disdain for foreigners.
Once Critick had left, He Haiqin said to his wife, "Yulin, bring paper and pen. I'm drafting my will."
"Master, why are you doing this!" Yan Yulin wished she could stop his mouth. "You're already recovering, yet you speak of such inauspicious things!"
"I don't trust that foreign devil. For all we know, this is just a final burst of vitality before death. Fetch paper and pen at once. I'll dictate, you write. Eldest Sister, you will bear witness."
He Haiqin was stubborn, and no one dared cross him. Once paper and brush were readied, the first matter He Haiqin laid out was entrusting the He family to He Jiaqing.
He Yuxiu spoke up from the side, "Brother, let me remind you, Jiaqing is still lying bedridden. Whether he'll ever wake up is anyone's guess."
He Haiqin shook his head. "Third Brother told me that Jiaqing isn't in serious danger."
He Yuxiu scoffed. "Only you would trust Old Third! Do you even know what he's scheming? If anything happens to you and Jiaqing, Sister-in-law and I won't stand a chance against him. The He family will fall right into his hands. For all we know, he's the one who put Jiaqing in this state to begin with!"
"Sister, you... you... you..." He Haiqin suddenly began wheezing violently, the blisters across his body bursting one after another.
Yan Yulin rushed to support He Haiqin.
"Haiqin, your sister was just speaking off the cuff—don't scare me like this!" He Yuxiu was about to run for Critick when He Haiqin called out to stop her.
"Sister... I'm hungry. Get me something to eat..."
Hungry?
He Haiqin was hungry!
If a Food Cultivator could eat, it meant they had survived this trial.
He Yuxiu was overjoyed. "This Doctor Critick truly works miracles! Just one dose of his medicine, and you pulled through!"
Medicine?
Had it worked?
Not at all. It hadn't done a single thing!
That white powder was no different from dirt on the ground!
Sitting in the guest room, Critick stuck out his tongue before the mirror.
Upon his tongue sat a green blister the size of a pea.
What had cured He Haiqin wasn't medicine—it was Critick transferring every trace of the affliction from He Haiqin onto himself.
From the moment he had first licked the blister's fluid, the disease had already passed into him.
From that very moment, He Haiqin had begun to heal, which was why he had been able to swallow the powder in the first place.
Critick was no Medicine Cultivator. He was one of the rarest cultivators in this world—a Disease Cultivator!
Staring at his tongue, a smile spread across his face.
What a magnificent blister!
Who created this?
It seems someone else in my Daoist path is still alive.
I must find him.
And kill him!
"Hehehehehe!" Critick let out a shrill, sinister laugh.
*Cough, cough, cough—*
He laughed so hard that the blister on his tongue burst.
The thick green fluid choked him into a fit of coughing.
Once the coughing subsided, he smacked his lips.
With a slurp, he swallowed every drop of the fluid and uttered a heartfelt sigh of admiration:
"Utterly delicious!"
...
Puluo Province, Kudaikan, out upon the wilderness.
Train 1160 remained stationary.
Fierce shouting and brawling erupted outside the carriage from time to time.
Li Banfeng unzipped his backpack, counting the remaining food item by item.
Chapter 12