Función clerical

Capítulo 40

The doctor angrily retorted, "Then what did you say...?"

Shen Zhili interrupted, speaking with righteous indignation: "But I have knowledge!"

Gu King Palace.

The man in black robes bowed respectfully: "The woman has left the hall."

Gechui, still staring at the newly made Gu worm, said, "Oh."

The man in black robes asked, "Do you need someone to accompany you?"

The expressionless singer said, "Why should I follow her? She has my Gu on her, and she can't escape."

Chapters Three and Four

"Does this remedy really work?"

Shen Zhili slightly raised her chin, her tone calm but inexplicably conveying a convincing certainty: "If it doesn't work, come find me again, next."

The long queue shifted slightly. Shen Zhili twisted her aching back, and the setting sun on the horizon was already fading into the last rays of sunlight.

Looking at the gradually accumulating silver in his hand, Shen Zhili felt a sense of satisfaction.

The saying "knowledge is money" is truly a profound truth.

Shen Zhili used the bell at her waist as collateral, borrowed a broken wooden table and stool from a nearby stall, and set up a stall opposite the clinic. After much agonizing thought, she wrote down a line: "Consultation, one tael per visit."

Many people came to watch, but no one sought medical treatment.

Shen Zhili sat there calmly, his thick skin concealing his true feelings, while the woman who was holding the girl seemed somewhat uneasy.

Amid the commotion, someone advised, "Young lady, you should set up your stall somewhere else. Nobody will come here."

Shen Zhili calmly and stubbornly said, "Thank you, but I just want to set up here. I can treat any illness that the clinic can treat, and I can treat the ones that it can't."

The man looked at Shen Zhili as if she were an idiot, sighed, shook his head, and left.

After a long time, the first patient arrived. The patient had a crooked neck and one hand was trembling, looking extremely miserable.

Upon seeing Shen Zhili, she burst into tears and began to complain. Shen Zhili simply pushed her with her hand, checked her over, and then pressed several acupoints with her fingers. Finally, she twisted her neck and pushed her wrists as if her bones and tendons were being dislocated.

With a "creak," the man's neck stopped tilting and his hands stopped trembling.

The man stretched his limbs a few times, then laughed loudly.

Then she suddenly knelt down, hugged Shen Zhili's legs, and spoke with a respectful and worshipful tone, as if she had seen Guanyin descend to earth: "Doctor, you are truly my great benefactor! This illness has plagued me for months, and I don't know how many medicines I've taken, but I haven't gotten better. Now I'm really... Oh, by the way, the consultation fee, the consultation fee..."

Shen Zhili helped him up and said in a mysterious tone, "It was nothing. You are my first patient, so let's forget about the consultation fee."

Seeing this, some people were disdainful, while others were eager to try it.

The second patient was treated even faster. Shen Zhili barely glanced at the patient before quickly writing a prescription, filling the medicine on the spot, and administering it. The effect was immediate, and soon there were a third and a fourth...

Shen Zhili's consultation fee was lower than that of the clinic, and in addition, she was incredibly fast at seeing patients, and her prescriptions were concise and mostly made with inexpensive medicines. No matter what the illness was, it seemed to be just a minor ailment in her hands. Her demeanor was truly convincing, and the number of patients kept increasing.

As darkness fell, Shen Zhili wrote out several more prescriptions, then erased the words and said, "That concludes today's consultation."

The crowd dispersed with regret. Shen Zhili returned the table and chairs, counted the silver, and, with great remorse, took half of it and put it in the woman's hand. He then handed her a prescription and forced a smile, saying, "Go buy the medicine."

Clutching the silver, tears welling in her eyes, the woman, with her child in tow, prepared to kneel before Shen Zhili: "I am deeply grateful for your immense kindness..."

Shen Zhili helped her up, and was about to speak when someone patted her shoulder, "Um, miss, the money..."

Turning around expressionlessly, Shen Zhili stuffed the counted silver coins into his hand.

The man quickly stuffed the silver into his pocket, carefully looked around, and reached out his hand, saying, "Miss, I just performed so hard, and you've earned so much, won't you give me more?"

Shen Zhili replied decisively, "No more."

The man persisted, his face contorted with grief: "I have elderly parents to support, young children to raise, and over a dozen family members to care for. Please give me some as a gesture of goodwill..."

After the man left, cursing, Liu Se exclaimed in surprise, "Aren't you the one from just now, the one with the crooked neck and shaking hands..." She covered her mouth and looked at Shen Zhili.

Shen Zhili nodded: "Yes, I found him."

Liu Se: "Aren't you... lying to me?"

Shen Zhili asked curiously, "Why are you so surprised? Otherwise, why would anyone come to my door for treatment? My medical skills are really not bad. These are just some... uh, little tricks to attract patients."

She learned about these kinds of swindling and deception from her senior brother. One year, her senior brother tricked her out of the valley to play. The two lost some silver on the way and were unwilling to go back. So they simply set up a small stall at the entrance of town to provide medical treatment.

She was skeptical at the time, because the two of them, at their age, didn't inspire any trust whatsoever. The senior brother, with a slight tilt of his chin, gave her a calm, wicked smile...

Of course, besides those who were instigated, there was also a bunch of married women and widows who came for the senior's good looks...

My senior brother's sinister face is more useful than anything else...

******************************************************************************

The bright moon hangs in the sky, and the night is shrouded in mist.

As the crowds dispersed, the night in southern Xinjiang was not much different from that in the Central Plains. There were still vendors hawking their wares, and all sorts of pedestrians thronged the streets. Even the moon was just as bright and clear.

With money in his pocket, Shen Zhili felt much more confident. He ordered two bowls of rice noodles he had been craving at the stall and said generously, "It's on me."

Liu Se: "...Thank you."

The little girl in her arms, whose pain had subsided, glanced at it and pouted, saying, "You stingy little thing!"

Before Shen Zhili could speak, Liu Se grabbed the girl and said angrily, "What are you saying? Quickly apologize to your benefactor." She then said apologetically, "It's all because I spoiled her in the past, so it's inevitable... Please don't take it to heart, benefactor."

Liu Se was refined in speech and had a good temperament, unlike a country girl. Shen Zhili guessed that her family had fallen on hard times, and said politely, "It's alright. It's not easy for you to raise your daughter alone. Your daughter is still so innocent and naive. Your husband would be gratified if he knew this in the afterlife."

Liu Se coughed and said, "...My husband is not dead."

Shen Zhili was stunned for a moment, then slammed her hand on the table and roared, "This bastard isn't dead yet, and he lets his wife and daughter be bullied like this! What kind of man is he!"

The rice noodles were served, and the waiter glanced at her, warning, "Don't slam the table, or you'll have to pay for it!"

Liu Se held the large bowl in her hands, her long eyelashes drooping to cover her eyes, making it impossible to tell whether she was shy, bitter, or angry. Finally, she sighed and said, "I haven't seen my husband for a long time. He... he has lost his memory."

...So it was amnesia.

...Amnesia!!!

The first thing that popped into Shen Zhili's mind was that handsome face that was both annoying and innocent.

No, Shen Zhili forced herself to calm down and think normally. Even if that guy was a womanizer, it wouldn't be to the point of ending up in the Southern Frontier... Don't immediately think of him whenever you encounter amnesia or women, even though this guy does seem to have no morals...

“Ah…” Liu Se suddenly stood up, uttered a syllable, and then slumped back down.

Shen Zhili followed her gaze with surprise, and upon seeing her, she suddenly stood up, muttering uncertainly, "Senior Brother..."

In the dim light, a dark figure vanished swiftly, as if it had never appeared.

Although they look alike, it's ultimately just a fleeting glimpse of their profile.

Just as Shen Zhili was feeling lost and dejected, she heard Liu Se sigh and say, "That person just now looked like my husband..."

"Ah ha..." Shen Zhili opened her mouth wide, feeling as if her jaw had dropped.

What?!

It must be because she's not doing things right! It must be!

Calm down, your senior isn't that kind of person, but amnesia and all that...

Lifting her chin, she asked tremulously, "May I ask your husband's surname, madam?"

Liu Se didn't notice Shen Zhili's unusual expression and was still immersed in a melancholy mood: "Hua, my husband's surname is Hua." She tightened her grip on the girl in her arms, "My daughter's name is Hua Guduo."

Before she could even ponder the quirky name "flower bud," Shen Zhili felt as if fireworks were exploding in her mind, and countless donkeys were galloping across the wasteland of her heart.

On one hand, I feel angry at the woman in front of me, and on the other hand...

That bastard wanted to sleep with me the moment we met, and he even said he didn't know how long he would live and needed to quickly have an heir or something... Plus, he acted so pitiful, it was all fake!

Looking at the little girl in Liu Se's arms now, with her slender, slightly upturned eyebrows, thin lips, and pointed chin, although she hadn't fully grown into a bewitching beauty, she was already showing signs of it. She really looked just like Hua Jiuye!

And the girl looked only two or three years old...

Two or three years ago was exactly after Hua Jiuye left Huichun Valley, and in terms of age, it matches up perfectly!

Each one is a coincidence, but they all match up. Where do so many coincidences come from?

Shen Zhili originally only intended to give some money to settle the matter and had no intention of getting involved.

But now, they even have a child! And he's not taking responsibility at all!

Holding Liu Se's hand, Shen Zhili solemnly said, "Don't worry, I will definitely help you find that heartless man and make him take responsibility!"

Liu Se: "How come..."

Shen Zhili: "Even amnesia cannot cover up the fact that he betrayed me!"

Liu Se lowered her eyes: "Actually, I don't blame him. It's that I'm not good enough for him. A man like him deserves a much better woman..."

Shen Zhili: "So what if someone is like that! We all have two legs and one head, no one is more noble than anyone else, I'm just..."

Suddenly, a commotion broke out on the street. Someone shouted, "It seems like the Gu King's Palace has collapsed!"

"How could that be!" someone exclaimed, "The Gu King's Palace has the Gu King himself..."

As if to echo his words, before he had even finished speaking, an even more violent collapse sound came.

Gu King Palace!

Shen Zhili's mind raced. She had been in the Gu King's Palace for quite some time without anything happening, so how could this suddenly...? A figure that looked remarkably like Hua Jiuye flashed before her eyes, and her heart skipped a beat. The direction he went was indeed towards the Gu King's Palace. Could it be such a coincidence...?

No, it should be that Hua Jiuye wouldn't be that stupid! To single-handedly storm into the Gu King's Palace...

That's too fierce!

Despite saying it, he couldn't help but run towards the Gu King's Palace.

Shen Zhili pursed her lips tightly; no matter what, she didn't want to see anything happen to Hua Jiuye.

Inside the Gu King's Palace.

Ge Chui calmly held the insect flute, standing amidst a collapsed ruin, his clothes fluttering in the wind.

Hua Jiuye was surrounded by tense-looking men in black robes, with a giant python coiled around his feet, its bright red tongue flicking in and out.

The two looked at each other, speechless for a long time.

Finally, Gechui broke the silence. His strange, cold tone seemed to contain something else: "You've come."

Hua Jiuye hummed in response, looking at him with disdain. A flash of red light appeared in her hand, and something flew out at lightning speed.