During their conversation, Yi Qinglan learned that the young woman’s name was Lu’e.
Lu’e had been abducted and thrown into the dungeon half a year ago, back when she wasn’t as thin and frail as she was now.
“I have no idea what kind of shady business they were running. All I know is that they gave us all that delicious food just so they could bleed us. That’s why I didn’t dare to eat any meat. I was terrified they’d slaughter me once I was fattened up… and that’s how I ended up looking like this.”
“Heroine, you are my great savior! I must repay you!”
“Where are you heading next? I know this area very well, would you like me to lead the way?”
It was only now that Yi Qinglan realized Lu’e’s true personality was entirely different from how she acted in the prison. She chattered away incessantly the entire way, looking incredibly excited.
Yi Qinglan rubbed her ears and asked, “What is this place?”
“You don’t know where this is? Were you kidnapped from out of town?” Lu’e asked in surprise. “This is Duliang City, the capital of the Muzhi Kingdom!”
The Muzhi Kingdom, Duliang City…
Yi Qinglan searched her memory and found these two names. Her master had once told them that the Muzhi Kingdom was a small nation in the southwest, where the climate, vegetation, customs, and culture were vastly different from their own country.
The Muzhi Kingdom was nearly a thousand miles away from Nanzhou City. Had she really been brought all the way here?
“Heroine, from how you looked earlier, are you injured?” Lu’e noticed something significant, unable to hide her burgeoning excitement. “The medical skills of our Muzhi Kingdom are world-renowned! The best doctors in the world are right here, and they specialize in treating rare and complicated illnesses!”
“Let me take you to the best medical clinic around here! Follow me!”
Yi Qinglan shook her head inwardly. No matter how exquisite a mortal doctor’s medical skills were, of what use would they be for the ailments of a cultivator?
However, seeing Lu’e’s excited expression and realizing she currently had nowhere else to go, Yi Qinglan decided to follow her and take a look.
After twisting and turning through the streets and crossing a small river, Lu’e pointed ahead. “We’re here!”
A grand and imposing storefront stood before them. A plaque bearing four large characters, “Hongchen Medical Clinic,” hung above, glittering in the sunlight.
Looking at the dense crowd packed in front of the clinic, Yi Qinglan couldn’t help but gasp.
The front doors were overcrowded, with people lining up in two long, dragon like queues. The sheer bustling noise of the place rivaled, if not surpassed, a lantern festival and this was supposed to be a local clinic?
Lu’e rushed forward excitedly, running quite a few paces before realizing she had almost forgotten Yi Qinglan, and immediately turned back to pull her along.
Just as they approached the clinic, a smiling face reached out to stop them. Judging by his attire, he seemed to be an attendant of the clinic.
With a highly amiable air, he held up two fingers toward the pair.
“Two questions. First, May I ask how old the two of you are?”
Yi Qinglan was completely bewildered, but a flash of awkwardness and timidity crossed Lu’e’s face as she answered honestly, “Twenty-five.”
Yi Qinglan did not want to reveal her identity in front of mortals, so she also answered twenty-five.
The attendant’s smile widened. “Second question: May I ask if the two of you have ever visited this clinic before, and if so, how many times?”
Lu’e lost even more of her confidence and whispered, “We have never been here before.”
“Very well, this way please.” The man pointed toward the longest queue. The end of the line was nowhere in sight, it had likely stretched onto another street entirely.
Lu’e crestfallenly led Yi Qinglan toward the direction the man had pointed, muttering complaints as she walked.
Yi Qinglan looked around and noticed that everyone waiting in line was a woman. If she hadn’t seen men on the streets on her way here, she would have thought she had stumbled into a Kingdom of Women.
In the noticeably shorter queue, the women possessed extraordinary looks and sophisticated attire. Each one looked as fresh and beautiful as a flower bud covered in morning dew. Some had female attendants holding umbrellas for them, while others even sat on embroidered stools.
Meanwhile, in the exceptionally long queue, most of the women wore simple clothes and had very ordinary appearances.
Were all these women here to see a doctor?
Yi Qinglan felt that this place was becoming stranger by the minute.
Although Lu’e was lined up with Yi Qinglan at the very end of the long queue, she remained quite happy. She couldn’t help but whisper to Yi Qinglan, “Come to think of it, this is actually my first time coming to Hongchen Medical Clinic!”
“Truth be told, when I was locked up, I secretly hid some silver and money, and managed to keep them from searching it out!” Lu’e wore a look of lingering fear. “Otherwise, how could I afford to come here today?”
Yi Qinglan asked, “Are you really here to see a doctor?”
“Hehe,” Lu’e smirked. “Of course not! Do I look sick to you?”
Yi Qinglan glanced at her sparse hair and sallow complexion, remaining noncommittal.
“Even if I am sick, it’s just the sickness of being poor!” Lu’e grew excited again, pointing at the shorter queue. “Look at the people in that line. You can tell they’ve been here several times. Even if they get sick, they just throw money at it, and the illness vanishes as soon as the silver leaves their hands!”
Yi Qinglan asked again, “How do you know they are wealthy?”
“By looking at their faces!” Lu’e looked at Yi Qinglan’s bewildered expression with a face full of exasperation. “Come, come, look,” she pointed at a woman wearing clothes embroidered with peonies, “That woman looks young, but she must have been here at least three times.” Then she pointed at another woman, “That one looks even younger, she might have been here five times. If you don’t have money, who could afford to come to this place so many times?”
Only then did Yi Qinglan understand that this so-called medical clinic was actually running a beauty and skincare business.
Every single woman in line was radiant and beautiful, could this really be the doing of this medical clinic?
“It’s not your fault you don’t know, since you aren’t a local,” Lu’e said. “The customs of our Muzhi Kingdom are different from other places. Here, women are considered beautiful if their faces look youthful and tender, while men are considered… ahem, beautiful if they look older and mature.”
“Tonight is the night of the full moon. The Hongchen Medical Clinic only receives clients with these specific needs on this day of the month. On ordinary days, they just give regular consultations like any other clinic,” Lu’e said in a low voice. “Fortunately, we happened to catch it today! Otherwise, we would have had to wait until next month.”
Yi Qinglan thought to herself that it was no wonder the women here loved beauty to such an extent, and why Lu’e was so eager to come here right after regaining her freedom, with herself merely being dragged along for the ride.
“Is this the only medical clinic that can make people beautiful?”
“Of course, only the doctors of Hongchen Medical Clinic have such capability.”
“So, your purpose in coming to this clinic today is solely to become beautiful?”
“Yes, and no,” Lu’e said with a smile. “When a woman is beautiful, someone will appreciate her. When someone appreciates her, she gets money. When she has money, she has everything, and she can become even more beautiful. So, who wouldn’t want to become beautiful?”
So that’s how it is, Yi Qinglan thought. The social atmosphere of the Muzhi Kingdom was truly unique.
“I got here first!” “Clearly, I was here first!” The two women lined up in front of Yi Qinglan and Lu’e suddenly began to argue.
A nearby clinic attendant hurriedly came over to intervene and maintain order in the queue. Unfortunately, the more he tried to help, the messier it got. The two women bickered wildly, creating an absolute uproar.
Seeing this, Lu’e seized the opportunity. While the two women and the onlookers were distracted, she quietly slipped past them.
Before Yi Qinglan could pull her back, Lu’e had already slithered ahead like a nimble mudfish. Unexpectedly, she was immediately spotted by a sharp eyed woman at the front, instantly making Lu’e the target of everyone’s scorn.
“Bah! You, you, you actually dare to cut the line!” In her anger, the woman gave Lu’e a hard push.
Caught off guard, Lu’e’s body tilted to the side. She was about to crash straight into a nearby rock, a fall that would surely scrape her skin raw. Yi Qinglan quickly channeled her spiritual energy, catching and supporting her out of thin air.
Once Lu’e stabilized her footing, she timidly and rapidly ran back to hide behind Yi Qinglan. The woman who had pushed her was still seething and shouted a few more curses.
This sudden turn of events greatly surprised Yi Qinglan. What was going on? She could use her spiritual energy again? Her current physical condition was like a century-old spiritual artifact, working at times and failing at others, which was truly vexing.
Turning her head casually, Yi Qinglan’s eyes locked with the clinic attendant’s.
The smile on the attendant’s face hadn’t faded, but he had witnessed Yi Qinglan’s action clear as day. Once the dispute settled down, the attendant left, only to return hurriedly a short moment later, walking straight toward the two of them.
Politely, he said to Yi Qinglan and Lu’e, “Ladies, our Doctor Cui requests your presence.”
Lu’e’s eyes lit up with pleasant surprise. She repeatedly nudged Yi Qinglan forward, “Wonderful, let’s go quickly!” She turned back to roll her eyes at the woman who had pushed her earlier, leaving the woman panting with rage.
The main hall of the clinic was packed with women waiting for consultations, but there weren’t many doctors around. They practiced the traditional methods of looking, listening, questioning, and feeling the pulse, appearing just like any ordinary medical clinic. A white cloth curtain covered the entrance to the inner chamber. The attendant lifted the curtain and led Yi Qinglan inside.
To her surprise, the inner chamber was much more spacious than the outside. It was an elegant room, with a censer emitting wafts of medicinal fragrance. Behind a clean desk to the side sat a refined young man.
“Doctor Cui?” Yi Qinglan spoke up.
The man smiled and nodded.
The attendant on the side spoke up composedly, “This must be the lady’s first time here. Our Doctor Cui possesses miraculous healing hands and already has sixty years of medical experience.”
Sixty? Yi Qinglan looked at the person before her in no small amount of shock. He wore wide robes with large sleeves, carrying an elegant and otherworldly aura, and looked to be a youth of only sixteen or seventeen. If he had sixty years of medical experience, wouldn’t he be at least eighty years old by now?
Cui Kechang waved his hand, and the attendant respectfully withdrew.
Cui Kechang said gently, “What brings you to my Hongchen Medical Clinic today, milady? Where do you feel unwell?”
Yi Qinglan was still considering whether she should state her physical condition truthfully. Seeing her hesitation, Cui Kechang stopped pressing and simply gestured for her to place her hand on the pulse pillow on the desk.
Yi Qinglan complied. Separated by a layer of silk fabric, Cui Kechang placed two fingers against her pulse, his brow furrowing slightly.
After a moment, Cui Kechang withdrew his hand. “You are a cultivator, milady, yet right now there are two opposing forces, one righteous and one evil, clashing within your body like two fighters locked in combat, without a single moment of peace. If left unattended for too long, I’m afraid it will ultimately cause severe damage to your body.”
“You… you can actually diagnose that?!” Yi Qinglan’s eyes widened.
Cui Kechang smiled. “You flatter me, milady. Although I am merely a mortal, I have practiced medicine for many years and have encountered all sorts of people, which is why I can diagnose it.”
“Just now, I observed that the spiritual energy inside your body is abundant and even has a surplus. However, a malicious, evil fire is running rampant, invading your spiritual energy. This is highly perilous, and I’m afraid you must prepare yourself early.”
An evil fire? Could it be…
Yi Qinglan recalled the time she was trapped by the Ruin Fire in the Muyin Mountains. She hadn’t been very conscious back then, only remembering the Ruin Fire burning furiously, as if trying to merge into one with her body.
Could this so-called evil fire be the Ruin Fire?
Yi Qinglan asked, “May I ask, Doctor Cui, is there any way to expel this evil fire?”
Cui Kechang gave a helpless smile. “I am but a mere mortal and possess no method to eradicate the evil fire. However, there is one thing. ” He stood up and took a small box from a nearby cabinet, opening it in front of Yi Qinglan. Inside were several vermilion pills. “This is a medicine crafted from my family’s secret recipe. It has the effect of clearing the heart, purging fire, supporting the righteous qi, and expelling evil. When the evil fire flares up and torments you, you may consume one of these pills, and the effect will be instantaneous.”
Curious, Yi Qinglan picked one up. The pill was as vividly red as blood and exquisitely crafted. She asked, “What herbs are used to make this pill?”
“Milady, this is my family’s unique and secret medicine. I am afraid it is inconvenient for me to disclose it.”
“Thank you,” Yi Qinglan said. “Then may I ask how much this medicine costs?”
Cui Kechang smiled. “The Muzhi Kingdom is a small nation without any immortal sects or factions. I rarely see cultivators in this place. Since you and I share a fated encounter, I shall waive the consultation and medicine fees. I only ask that you promise me one thing.”
“Oh? What is it?” Yi Qinglan raised her eyebrows.
“It is very simple.” Cui Kechang leaned forward slightly, his expression revealing a trace of intrigue. “I have never seen your particular ailment before, so I wish to observe and study it. Once you take this medicine, please record the effects in detail so that I can make further improvements later. If you run out of pills, you can just come back and collect a new box.”
Holding the medicine box in her hand, Yi Qinglan was just about to answer when a faint, low voice suddenly echoed from the corner.
“Waiving the queue and charging no medical fees… isn’t this offering uncalled for kindness out of hidden motives?”
What a familiar voice. Yi Qinglan’s heart stirred. Before she could even turn around, a sound echoed beside her. A chair slid across the floor on its own from afar, coming to a halt right next to the one Yi Qinglan was sitting on. The two chairs collided with a sharp click.
The newcomer’s movements were unseen, but with a sweep of long sleeves, he gracefully sat down upon the chair.
“Are you called… Doctor Cui?” Feng Hanyu’s face was cold, carrying a faint touch of mockery.
“How about you take my pulse as well?”