La pluie écarlate submerge la ville

Chapitre 30

He didn't struggle at all, letting me push him out of the palace gate, and calmly asked, "Where did you get the human skin mask, young lady?"

The Medicine King is indeed the Medicine King; he knows everything.

I casually replied, "It was a gift from a friend." Then I added, "I would like to ask the Medicine King to help me save someone. If you do, I will release you immediately and will absolutely not harm you."

"That person..." He didn't respond at all, but asked me directly, "Was the person who gave the girl the human skin mask named Shen Qing?"

Oh my? We know each other?

I thought about it for a moment and decided to be cautious before figuring out who was friend or foe, so I asked in return, "You know him? You and he are..."

Friend? Enemy?

He smiled slightly, and said with a hint of helplessness, "I am his senior brother..."

Shen Qing, that sharp-tongued guy, actually has such a gentle senior brother! No wonder they both came up with such a wicked idea as a heart transplant! But were they really trained by the same master? One became the Medicine King, and the other became the Demonic Sect's Pharmacist—the difference is just too huge…

I was a little excited and emotional, and without hesitation I said, "Senior brother, Shen Qing and I are actually very good friends! We can be considered sworn brothers! So... could you please do me a favor for Shen Qing's sake?"

"Is he alright?" Did my senior brother not hear the rest of my sentence? Or did he simply ignore it? He just asked me with a smile, "It seems he went to the Demonic Sect? Sigh, it's all my fault. As his senior brother, I didn't take good care of him, which led him astray..."

My senior brother seemed to have no intention of talking to me at all. Instead, he smiled and fell into his memories, as if he were about to recount his story with Shen Qing from the very beginning...

I quickly interrupted, "Senior brother, this is a matter of life and death. Could you please save the person first, and then we can slowly reminisce about the past?"

My senior brother then noticed the dagger I was pressing against his throat and exclaimed in surprise, "The person you're trying to save, could it be that demonic priest the Queen captured?"

Such delayed surprise...

I grinned and said, "Please help me lead the way, senior brother." Since the Queen herself arrested him, it's definitely not easy to see him. But the Medicine King is different. He must have special privileges. He can definitely bring his patients out for examination and diagnosis.

The senior brother hesitated for a moment, "Does the young lady think she can save him?"

"As long as you help me get Yan Shu out, everything will be alright." I nudged him around the waist. "You'll definitely help me, right?" I deliberately used more force.

He tilted his head slightly and said, "I can indeed bring Yan Shu out, but the guards will definitely report to the Queen. At that time, both the girl and Yan Shu will be arrested before they even leave the palace."

“Of course you don’t need to worry about these things, Senior Brother.” I pushed him forward. “Just help me bring Yan Shu out.”

The Queen has already left the palace to pick up her little prince, Baoze. If I'm not mistaken, she should go directly to Ruan Bicheng to pick him up. Just thinking about Ruan Bicheng being inexplicably blocked by the Queen makes me excited. They are both hypocritical beasts. I wonder if they will fight.

It's a pity I can't see the battle between those two beasts in person, and I don't know if Changhuan and the others have hidden themselves well.

I reckon Baoze should still be sleeping in that inn by this time tomorrow. I was worried the medicine wouldn't be effective, so I added extra to knock him out quickly. I even booked a few more private rooms for a few days.

Now I just hope that the Medicine King's miraculous healing skills won't cause any mishaps.

He walked very quietly and showed no sign of resistance, which made me very uneasy.

As he turned onto the path, he suddenly asked, "What is your relationship to Priest Yan Shu, young lady?"

I thought for a moment and said, "We're enemies, aren't we..."

"My nemesis?" He smiled slightly. "Why did that girl risk her life to save him?"

"Why?" I thought about it carefully. Did I owe him something? Or was there something else? I couldn't figure it out, so I just laughed and said, "Actually, I'm a member of the Demonic Sect. I've committed many evil deeds in my life, so I occasionally accumulate some good karma to avoid having no offspring if I have a son in the future..."

My senior brother chuckled, and after walking for a while, he asked me again, his thoughts jumping around, "Do you know why the Queen arrested him?"

Here we go again… I said frankly, “I know, I know very well.”

He grunted and asked me, "Do you know, young lady, that if you rescue Priest Yan Shu, Prince Bao Ze won't live much longer?" After waiting for a long time without my answer, he continued, "The Queen loves her son dearly. Even without Priest Yan Shu's heart, she will search the world for a suitable one... Do you know how many people will die if you save just one person, Yan Shu?"

I still didn't answer, and he continued calmly, "I'm a doctor, and no one knows better than me that sacrificing Priest Yan Shu, while not guaranteeing to save Prince Baoze, at least prevents any more sacrifices..." He waited for me for a long time before finally calling out impatiently, "Miss? Are you listening to me?"

I responded from behind, and he asked me, "Does that girl still want to save the person?"

I couldn't help but say, "According to the Medicine King, some people deserve to be sacrificed, and if they don't obey fate and die, then the innocent are harmed?"

I laughed. "Why is it that some people deserve to have a worthless life, even though they are all human lives?"

The skilled healer sighed earlier, "That's just how things are. It's much better for one person to die than two..."

"What's it to me?" I laughed. "I just want to save the people I'm willing to save. It's none of my business if one or two people die."

He was about to speak again when I abruptly stopped him, saying, "Don't try to reason with me. I'm not well-educated and don't understand."

He paused, speechless, then sighed heavily and said, "Human nature is inherently good, so why do evil..."

I'm starting to understand why Shen Qing went astray.

Text 35

The side hall where Yan Shu was imprisoned was indeed heavily guarded, with a large number of soldiers stationed at the entrance alone.

I stood close behind Miao Shou, pressed the dagger against his waist, and said, "Please lead me inside, Senior Brother."

The skilled healer sighed, "Are you really sure you want to save him? Are you willing to save him no matter the consequences? Don't you need to think it over carefully..."

I pushed the dagger away, and he was startled by the cold, sharp blade, letting out a cry and shutting his mouth. As he walked forward, he said, "Actually, you are Junior Brother Shen's good friend, which is also my good friend. There's no need for such formalities between friends... Please put away your weapon, and I will help you save people."

I smiled apologetically and said, "I'm really sorry, senior brother. The word 'trust' has cast a deep shadow on me. I've been burned before, so I'm afraid to trust people easily anymore. Please forgive me, senior brother."

He sighed again, "At such a young age, where did he get such deep cunning?"

I ignored him and followed his back all the way to the side hall, where a guard blocked our way with his sword drawn. "Who are you? Stop!"

Miaoshou cupped his hands and smiled, "Brother, it's me."

The guard carefully examined the skilled hand, then quickly sheathed his sword and said, "So it's the Medicine King, the Skilled Hand. May I ask why you've come here so late at night?"

Miaoshou nodded and said, "The treatment of Prince Baoze will begin in a few days. I'm worried, so I came to check on the priest to see if there's anything I've overlooked."

“This…” The guard hesitated.

I said calmly, "If you don't believe me, you can ask the Queen."

The Queen isn't here, so go ahead!

The guard glanced at me and asked, "And who are you?"

I pressed the dagger in my hand, and Miao Shou hurriedly said, "She's a medicine apprentice who came to help me, a medicine apprentice..."

The guard looked me up and down again, and I, taking advantage of his power, said, "If you don't move aside and delay the Medicine King's affairs, and we can't save Prince Baoze, how many heads do you have to bear the consequences!"

The guard's face darkened, and he shouted at me, "How dare a mere medicine boy be so arrogant!"

The skilled hand quickly stepped in to smooth things over, smiling gently, "If you're in a difficult position, I'll ask the Queen for permission tomorrow and then come back." He turned to leave.

Just as I was pondering what to do, the guard panicked first, cupping his hands and saying, "Miraculous Healer, please forgive me. You have the Queen's privileges, how could I dare to stop you?" He stepped aside and said, "Please, sir."

Miao Shou's resentful gaze fell directly on Jun Wei's face, and she said with a wry smile, "Thank you for your trouble."

I gave him a gentle push from behind and said with a smile, "Sir, aren't you going to hurry up?"

The guards ordered the palace doors to be opened. The moment I followed Miaoshou inside, I was overwhelmed by the strong smell of medicine, which made me dizzy. I pushed Miaoshou in and covered my nose, saying, "Is this a pharmacy?"

It was a fairly large hall, with various herbs and tools displayed outside. Inside, a large stove could be vaguely seen, its flames crackling as it burned, shimmering in the light, covered by a tarnished curtain.

The heavy curtains blocked out the daylight, preventing any outside light from penetrating. Once the palace door behind them closed, the only things in the dim light besides the flickering fire in the stove were the pervasive smell of medicine.

Miao Shou explained, "The Queen arranged this specially so that I could focus on treating Prince Baoze."

I responded, but Yan Shu was nowhere to be seen in the dim light. I pushed him inside, asking as I went, "Where is he? You didn't already refine him into an elixir, did you?"

Miao Shou smiled gently, "You jest, young lady. I need his beating heart, why would I touch him?" He pointed into the tent and said, "There he is."

Through the ash-gray curtains, I could vaguely make out a figure in a large wooden tub beside the fireplace. I urged him onward and reached out to lift the curtains. "Priest..."

Tuotuo wanted to speak, but the moment she saw Yan Shu, she couldn't bring herself to call out.

He was as if he were dead.

A pale face, turned to the side, eyes tightly closed, naked, soaking in a wooden tub filled with a bluish-green broth, her loose black hair bobbing up and down like a water snake.

There was no breath. Something was emerging from the green wooden tub. I looked down and was horrified by the tub full of half-dead black scorpions. "What...what is this?!"

Miao Shou reached out and examined Yan Shu's eyelids, exclaiming in surprise, "It's been so many days, and he still has his own consciousness."

My grip on the dagger tightened, and I plunged it into his clothes. "What's this?"

He gasped, "This is... a medicine man. He has to be the catalyst before the heart transplant... Hey! Don't get angry... Put away your weapon..."

"Yan Shu!" I called his name as I stepped forward, but he remained as silent as death. Just as I was about to reach out and touch him, Miao Shou grabbed my hand.

"Don't touch it!" He let go, brushed aside the black hair behind Yan Shu's neck, and saw that the dense, hair-like silver needles on Yan Shu's bluish-purple skin made my pores bleed.

I took a deep breath, gave Miaoshou a push, and said, "Release him."

Miao Shou hesitated as he bumped into the wooden barrel, "This isn't right..."

"Hurry up!" I said, slicing his belt with my dagger with a clang. "Put your clothes on him."

Miao Shou glanced at the severed belt, swallowed his unfinished words, reached out and supported Yan Shu's arm, and with great effort dragged him out of the medicine tub. He supported the back of Yan Shu's neck with one hand and took off his clothes to wrap him up with the other.

I crouched down and swatted away the scorpion that had bitten Yan Shu. I couldn't bear to look at the countless tiny holes on his body, from which bluish-purple pus oozed. He looked like a corpse on the verge of decay. I looked up at his eyes and suddenly froze. "His face..."

A fist-sized burn scar on the left side of his forehead had become infected and blistered, with greenish pus seeping out little by little from his forehead and the area around his eyebrow.

"He was already like this when I saw him." Miao Shou clicked her tongue and said, "What a pity, such a handsome face..."

I kept my head down, not looking at him, and while I was tying his belt, I called out to him, "Yan Shu, can you hear me? You... you'll be alright, you're so flamboyant, you'll definitely find a way to get better..."

“He can’t hear,” the skilled hand reminded him from the side. “I sealed his acupoints with silver needles, and he should be unconscious by now.”

I grabbed Miaoshou's collar, pulling him so hard he stumbled and fell to the ground, and said, "Pull out all those silver needles."

"Absolutely not!" He suddenly refused with a serious expression, saying firmly, "Do you know what the consequences will be if those silver needles are removed?" He looked at me, his brows furrowed, "He is now an unfinished medicine man, and he has lost his own consciousness. If his acupoints are not sealed and he is allowed to regain his mobility, he will be like a mad beast."

The fire crackled and popped, the warm flames casting a faint red glow on Yan Shu's pale face. I swiftly drew my dagger and asked, "To pull it out or not?"

"You..." The skilled healer's face darkened with anger, "Stubborn and unrepentant! You will not only kill yourself, but also many more people!"

I pressed down hard with my finger, and a bright red welt appeared on his neck. "I'm only asking you whether you're going to pull it out or not?"

He stared at me with annoyed eyes for a long time, then sighed, flicked his sleeve, turned Yan Shu's head away, brushed aside his black hair, and said, "You'll bear the consequences! Don't blame me for not warning you to suffer the bitter fruit!"

I sheathed my dagger and remained silent. The hall suddenly became eerily quiet. The fire in the stove was burning, and I could almost hear the scorpions bobbing up and down in the wooden tub and the sound of silver needles falling to the ground.

I don't know if this is good or bad. He wasn't injured, but he was like a living dead. He was alive, but his appearance was completely ruined. He was such a flamboyant and vain person...

I still remember him messing with me, combing my hair, and asking me if I looked pretty... What would happen to such a shameless person without his face?

The air was thick with a pungent medicinal scent, so strong it wouldn't dissipate.

It felt uncomfortable, as if I were being weighed down by something heavy, like being rolled in a pot of medicine on a stove.

The skilled hands meticulously removed the needles one by one, beads of sweat forming on their foreheads. I reached out and brushed aside Yan Shu's loose hair when I suddenly heard a commotion of footsteps outside the hall. Someone called out in a panic, "Your Majesty!"