Chapter 144 Unexpected
This disease doesn't require examination; the facial characteristics of Down syndrome are quite recognizable.
So Liu Qingyan just took one look and helplessly said to the old lady, "Old lady, your child's dullness was carried from the womb, inherently congenital, and cannot be cured in later life.
"Even you can't help?" the old lady asked with a frown, "People say you're the best doctor in the surrounding villages, your medical skills are brilliant, please take a look at my little Shuanzai. He's only fourteen, hasn't even married yet!"
Liu Qingyan shook her head, "Old lady, Little Shuanzai's illness can't be cured by medicine, but it's not impossible for him to get a little better."
"What is it?" The old lady was suddenly invigorated.
"It's simply talking to him more, teaching him more, over and over again. Eventually, he will learn to do some simple tasks himself."
"Simple tasks?"
Liu Qingyan nodded and explained, "Such as eating, changing clothes, using the toilet, washing up, etc."
"I see..."
After a moment of explanation, the old lady left looking both disappointed and slightly hopeful.
The next patient was another seemingly dull man.
Liu Qingyan was also feeling helpless, "The old man is getting old, and this dullness comes along with it. Unless there are Heavenly and Earthly Treasures to reverse his vitality, there's no cure for the old man's dullness either."
Though the problem is obvious, it's not as certain as the Down syndrome child, so out of professional responsibility, Liu Qingyan still checked the old man's pulse.
Liu Qingyan frowned, "The old man's body is extremely weak, your father has dullness, why do you still make him work hard?"
The man was also helpless, "My old father has worked hard all his life, even in his dullness, he can't be idle, I can't stop him either!"
Liu Qingyan shook her head, "Go home and let the old man rest more, don't make him too tired, ensure he's well-fed and well-clothed, and show some filial respect."
"Alright!"
The man seemed to have consulted many doctors before, so Liu Qingyan's answer was as he expected; he then turned to support his old father, carrying him on his back as he walked out.
Immediately after, the last woman stepped forward and sat opposite Liu Qingyan.
Reaching out to check the pulse, briefly changing hands, Liu Qingyan breathed a sigh of relief, finally encountering something she could treat.
"Sister caught a chill in recent days, leading to menstrual irregularity. I'll prescribe a remedy, and you can be cured within five days by following the prescription."
"That's great, thank you, Doctor Liu."
The woman looked at Liu Qingyan, smiling, with a touch of gratitude in her eyes.
The expression was spot-on, but Lu Zheng always felt a lack of sincerity.
Only... people are unique; if one can maintain decorum on the surface, what more can one ask?
Liu Qingyan smiled, picked up a piece of paper, and grasping a pen, dabbed it in ink, casually wrote out a prescription.
"Follow the prescription, three times a day."
"Thank you, Doctor!"
The woman took the prescription, went to the side pharmacy counter to get the medicine, and then left slowly with the medicine bagged by the assistant.
"Phew—"
Liu Qingyan gracefully stood up, seemingly quite tired after sitting for long, gently raised her hands, and stretched.
Graceful and curvy, upright and poised.
"Lu Lang~"
Seemingly feeling Lu Zheng's gaze, Liu Qingyan lowered her half-raised hands with a tender complaint.
"Huh? What's up?" Lu Zheng looked clueless.
Liu Qingyan, blushing and shy, couldn't conceal the redness on her face and the smile at the corners of her mouth.
Hence, she could only fill the silence, "Lu Lang was summoned by constables from the County Government Office early today, was there any issue?"
"Nothing at all!" Lu Zheng waved his hand with grandeur, "Just a timid ground mouse not daring to show its head, can't cause any waves. If it dares appear before me, I'd take it to the authorities with a backhand for a reward."
…
After staying in Renxin Hall for half a day, Lu Zheng returned home, consumed five strands of the Light of Fortune, and continued meditating and cultivating.
Up till now, the Light of Fortune obtained by killing Ghost Soldiers and the Ye Lan King has been used up, with only slightly over a hundred strands remaining, soon to drop below triple digits.
Of course, in return, his power greatly improved once again.
Lu Zheng sat cross-legged on the bed, recalling the scenes at Renxin Hall this morning, always feeling something was amiss.
"Am I being paranoid?"
"Because I listened to Duan Changzai, and obtained those four portraits of the Southern Border Wizard?"
Lu Zheng frowned, shaking his head, "No, that's not it."
It's a kind of instinctive alert, where although he hasn't consciously noticed anything, the brain has already received unusual visual signals, sending him a warning.
Similar to the legendary sixth sense, intuition, etc., the higher one's cultivation, the stronger the certainty.
And Lu Zheng, with over a hundred years of Dao practice by now, even if he hasn't discovered anything, such feelings are certainly correct.
"Could it be the Southern Border Wizard?"
"Why?"
"Is it for... Qingyan?"
Lu Zheng's eyes sharpened, suddenly recalling the aim of the Southern Border Wizard's visit this time.
A benevolent, virtuous woman!
Liu Qingyan, compassionate and saving lives, has countless merits. If she were to cultivate, merit alone could let her progress smoothly in the early stages.
Such a person fits perfectly with the target mentioned by the Little Deer Demon.
"Damn it!"
Lu Zheng leaped up; the other party might have set their sights on Liu Qingyan!
"Notify the Anomaly Suppression Bureau?"
Lu Zheng frowned, but he currently had no evidence and wasn't even sure himself. If it turned out to be a false alarm, it would be hard to explain.
"First, go to the sect!"
Lu Zheng looked at the sky; it was only mid-1 PM, enough time to make a round trip.
So Lu Zheng left the house, and only after exiting the city did he rush all the way to the White Cloud Temple.
...
"The master isn't here?" Lu Zheng was dumbfounded. How could it be such a coincidence?
"The master and the uncle-master went to attend the scripture lecture conference at the Jade Sun Temple. Now, Senior Brother Yuan Jing is hosting the affairs at the temple," Yuan Ning said.
"Junior Brother, what brings you to the temple today, and at this hour?"
Yuan Jing's voice reached him, and then his figure emerged from the Three Pure Ones Hall, walking towards Lu Zheng, "Did something happen?"
"Greetings, Senior Brother!" Lu Zheng bowed and then said solemnly, "I feel something is not right, so I came to the mountain for help."
Lu Zheng then recounted his encounter earlier that morning at the Renxin Hall.
Yuan Jing pondered, "You suspect that one of those three people is the Southern Border Wizard?"
Lu Zheng nodded, "I was cultivating at home this afternoon and felt uneasy, but couldn't figure out what was wrong. It was inconvenient to seek the Anomaly Suppression Bureau, so I came here."
"If so, this person is very likely to act tonight." Yuan Jing's eyes shone, "I'll help you!"
Lu Zheng glanced at Yuan Ning, "Can you leave?"
Yuan Jing waved his hand, "What's there to leave? Does anyone really dare to attack the White Cloud Temple? Yuan Ning, you host tonight's evening lesson, I'll take a trip to the city."
Without waiting for Yuan Ning's response, he turned and went into the disciples' living quarters in the backyard.
...
At 5:00 PM, Lu Zheng and Yuan Jing hurried back home.
After eating the dinner prepared by Aunt Liu, Yuan Jing went into the side room in the backyard. Lu Zheng, after equipping himself fully, sat on the stone bench in the backyard, carefully sensing the movements next door.
...
At 7:00 PM, the residential area was completely silent, with only the sound of the wind howling, occasionally interrupted by night watchmen passing by, causing sporadic dog barks.
At 9:00 PM, the oil lamps in the Lu Family courtyard had long been extinguished. In the backyard, Lu Zheng and Yuan Jing each performed the Breath Concealment Technique, sitting silently under the persimmon tree.
...
"Rustle——"
"Swish——Swish——"
Scaling walls, the night crows startled into the air. In the ears of Lu Zheng and Yuan Jing, at least seven or eight people flipped into the Liu family's courtyard from the front yard.
Lu Zheng, "..."
Yuan Jing, "..."
The two glanced at each other, full of curiosity.
Yuan Jing blinked, "This Southern Border wizard, quite a following they have..."
Lu Zheng touched the handle of his knife, "Did I really get this wrong?"
The two of them leaped onto the persimmon tree in Lu Zheng's backyard. This persimmon tree had been watered by Lu Zheng with some stalactite spring water, growing a bit taller over the past few months. From the tree, they could clearly see the next yard.
A total of eight people, none carrying swords or knives. One person quietly approached the veranda in the front yard and took a small tube from their pocket, piercing through the paper window of the front yard room.
"Seductive fragrance?" Lu Zheng frowned, glancing at a silhouette slowly approaching the backyard.
It was the same woman with the irregular menstrual cycle who had come to see the doctor at Renxin Hall that morning.
Lu Zheng was speechless, looking at the other seven men, unable to help but remark sarcastically, "Living such a disorderly life, reversing day and night; who else but you needs adjustment?"
"Whoosh——"
A gentle blow, the mist enters the house.
They took down the two old servants in the front yard, and the eight intruders silently entered the backyard.
"Wild Donkey, go and seduce the people inside the master bedroom. The rest follow me, let's take these sisters away together!" The leader, a burly man, instructed, then led the others towards the southern wing.
"So it was my mistake." Lu Zheng frowned slightly, whispering to himself, then prepared to take action.
However, Yuan Jing held him back, "No, there's someone else!"
Lu Zheng's eyes narrowed as he saw a dark figure quietly standing still in the corner of the backyard, without making a sound.
"Damn? There's another person! A master?"
To appear silently in the Liu family backyard, even escaping Lu Zheng's senses, they definitely weren't an ordinary person.
And when the leader was about to approach Liu Qingyan's room, the figure crouched, leaning on a cane, slowly stepped forward, "These two flowers can't be taken away by you; they must stay for old lady, she still hopes they'll marry my grandson and give birth to a chubby boy."
"It's you!" the woman from the morning gasped.
Lu Zheng cracked a smile; it turned out to be the old lady with the daft grandson from that morning.
Unbelievable, he was still wondering who it might be, but in reality, two out of the three people had issues. Completely unexpected!
At this time, the man called Wild Donkey had already sent the seductive mist into the master bedroom. Seeing the situation turn strange, he instantly leaped back to the main group, watching the old woman with vigilance.
The leading man watched the other side cautiously, asking in a low voice, "Abnormal Person?"
The old woman grinned, tapped her cane, and a bizarre aura diffused, spreading through the Liu family's backyard.
"An Abnormal Person, indeed." The leading man's eyes narrowed but showed no fear, "The rules of the martial world: finders keepers!"
As he finished speaking, he shook his form, and blood qi exuded from his body, revealing himself as a martial artist who had cultivated blood qi.