Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Wu Heng let out a soft chuckle, unsure what prompted Mrs. He to say such a thing. He replied, "I am Wu Heng. How did you find me?"

Mrs. He's phone was on speaker, and the whole family was gathered around, looking quite tense.

Mr. He, sitting to the side, quickly responded upon hearing Wu Heng's question, "Dr. Wu, please don't take offense. I have a minor partnership with the Shark Short Video platform, so I got your backup landline number from your registration. The guy there provided me with your mobile number."

The He family was a well-known name in the capital city, and Mr. He had never spoken so humbly to anyone before.

Grandpa had gone up the mountain to collect herbs, and the registered phone number was unreachable. The backup number must have been the landline at the medical hall. Eugene probably answered since he hadn't closed the shop yet, and after some back-and-forth, they managed to get Wu Heng's phone number.

The He family was on edge, unsure of Wu Heng's thoughts.

Mr. He had just taken a moment to watch the viral clip of Wu Heng's live-streamed consultation online and was a bit annoyed that his wife had been too frugal.

Mrs. He felt wronged, "The most expensive gift on their platform is only worth three thousand yuan. How can you blame me?"

As the family waited anxiously, a boy's scream suddenly came from the other end, "Ah—!"

Zhou Yi tugged on Wu Heng's sleeve, pointing at the white snake on the gravel path ahead in terror, "Wu Heng, a snake, it's that snake again!"

The little white snake stood upright, tilting its head and scrutinizing Wu Heng as if trying to confirm something.

"What should we do? There's no rooster here. Should I go back to the Lai family and fetch the big rooster from earlier?" Zhou Yi asked, his face pale.

Wu Heng shook his head, "Leave it be. Do you want to come back to the medical hall with me, or go home and study? Your mom's been on your case about studying."

Zhou Yi was practically glued to Wu Heng, nodding frantically, "I'll go to your medical hall, study... I'll study. Later, I'll have my mom bring my books to your place so I can study there."

The He family listened to their conversation without interrupting, nodding to themselves. It seemed that Dr. Wu Heng indeed ran a medical hall, but unlike regular clinics, he was a shaman, practicing some witchcraft that other doctors didn't know.

The two walked in the direction of Chengde Medical Hall, with the little white snake trailing behind them.

Mr. He first offered some effusive compliments, then quickly got to the point, anxiously asking, "Dr. Wu, how should we treat my son? The consultation fee is not an issue."

"Dr. Wu, could you give us the location of your medical hall? We'll bring Yunxiao over for a consultation."

Online consultations weren't as effective as in-person ones; it was best to meet Wu Heng in person.

Businesspeople, to some degree, believed in feng shui. Many of Mr. He's friends in the business circle had consulted fortune-tellers or shamans. Mr. He's business was large, and he had vaguely heard that the past couple of years had been quite turbulent, making it easy to fall ill from unclean things. Knowing a capable shaman was invaluable.

Wu Heng said, "My home is in the deep mountains, quite remote."

Many areas in the village didn't even have full 5G coverage yet.

Mrs. He quickly interjected, "It's fine, we don't mind the distance."

Zhou Yi whispered from the side, "Our Nan Nuo Village is really far. It's a small border village in the southwestern mountains. The high-speed rail won't be operational until next year. Right now, you'd have to take a bus from the provincial capital, traveling on the national highway for at least seven or eight hours to get here."

"It's the rainy season in summer, and the national highway is blocked by mudslides and landslides. You can't get in."

To get rich, build roads first. The high-speed rail will be operational next year, and Village Chief Zhou Dagui is working with the government to promote Nan Nuo Village's tourism economy in advance.

According to Zhou Dagui's vision, it would be best to have something that attracts tourists to travel all the way to Nan Nuo Village.

The He family's hearts sank upon hearing this, but they quickly rallied.

Where there's a will, there's a way. If there are difficulties, they must face them head-on. In this day and age, money can solve most problems.

Mr. He was already considering spending a fortune to hire a sedan chair to carry He Yunxiao into Nan Nuo Village. Soon, he had another idea: "How about we arrange a helicopter transfer? That would be faster."

Zhou Yi was still marveling at how rich folks always have more options when Dr. Wu spoke up: "He cannot be moved easily now. The stress of travel could disturb the pregnancy, and he must deliver within three days. He needs to stay in bed and rest."

Deliver again?

One was enough to drive the whole family crazy, and now another?

Mrs. He had thought about possibly having grandchildren in ten years, but she never imagined having snake descendants!

According to Dr. Wu's words, they were stuck between a rock and a hard place.

The national highway was blocked, Dr. Wu couldn't come out, and they couldn't get in. Even taking a helicopter was not advisable due to the risk of moving He Yunxiao.

He Yunxiao had no paternal feelings for the little snake in the blanket or the snake fetus in his belly. He asked with a bitter face: "Can... can we do a remote abortion?"

As a man, suggesting an abortion is totally scummy behavior, but he was talking about aborting his own fetus—I'm being a jerk to myself!

He Yunxiao felt like the world had gone crazy. He still couldn't quite accept the fact that he was carrying a snake fetus.

Mrs. He quickly chimed in: "Yes, yes, Dr. Wu, just like your live stream this morning, can't we do it remotely?"

Dr. Wu had the means to treat people over the internet, so couldn't they just replicate that?

Dr. Wu explained: "This morning's injection worked because they were unaware and unprepared. Trying to abort like this morning would put the pregnant man's life at risk."

The He family was almost in tears hearing this. If this doesn't work and that doesn't work, do they really have to go through with the birth?

They hadn't done anything wrong, so why were they encountering such a thing?

Everything had been fine all these years, and although they'd heard about weird stuff happening all the time at the neighboring Shi family, it shouldn't have affected their family.

Dr. Wu thought for a moment and said: "Don't worry, I will find time to come over."

Dr. Wu asked for the He family's address, and they immediately provided the location coordinates.

"Dr. Wu, how about you pack up, and we'll send a private jet to get you?"

Since Dr. Wu said He Yunxiao couldn't be moved easily, the He family naturally assumed that Dr. Wu would have to come in person.

Traveling from a remote village in the southwest to the capital city, now that the road was blocked, they would arrange a helicopter to pick him up and then transfer to a private jet. It would still be a rough trip, but after all, Dr. Wu wasn't like Yunxiao who couldn't move.

Dr. Wu: "No need."

The He family, hearing this, didn't insist on arranging for Dr. Wu, only planning to offer generous gifts once he cured Yunxiao.

The He family was super grateful but kinda worried, unsure if Dr. Wu could make it to the capital city within three days.

After Dr. Wu hung up the phone, Zhou Yi spoke up: "Little Heng, you're really going to the capital? Over three thousand kilometers, Eugene's not gonna go for that."

Before the old Dr. Wu went to gather herbs, he left Wu Heng in the care of his grandpa Zhou Dagui, the Village Chief, who would never let Wu Heng leave the village.

Although Wu Heng's father, Wu Su, worked as a butler for some rich folks in the capital city, Wu Heng had never left Nan Nuo Village in his seventeen years. He didn't know squat about the outside world, and Zhou Yi was worried about Wu Heng.

Wu Heng didn't answer and walked into Chengde Medical Hall with Zhou Yi, where Eugene was cleaning up the place, preparing to close.

"Just now, someone with a capital city accent phoned in asking for your number, Little Heng. I gave it out. That cool?"

Wu Heng just shook his head and said, "No problem."

After Eugene finished tidying up the main hall of Chengde Medical Hall, he pulled the wooden door shut while giving instructions to Wu Heng and Zhou Yi: "You two, be careful living here at the medical hall. If you need to pee at night, go to the toilet or use a urinal, and also..."

Several sets of urgent footsteps were heard, and a few burly men in mourning clothes rushed in, stepping into the night, sneezing non-stop.

The leader of the group rubbed his goosebump-covered arms and hurriedly said, "It's so cold, we're freezing. Can you hook us up with some cold medicine?"

These men were clearly the pallbearers for Lai Wazi from the Lai family, probably having just buried him.

They were all cold, thinking it was the water seeping from the coffin that soaked them when they went out. Taking some medicine wouldn't hurt.

Eugene had no clue what had gone down at the Lai family that night and was somewhat surprised to see them shivering like that.

Eugene went to get the thermometer from the consultation table for them to take their temperature. Five minutes later, he retrieved the mercury thermometer from under their armpits, "36.5°C, normal body temperature."

How could he prescribe medicine for that?

But these burly men were shivering from the cold, sitting in the hall, continuously drinking hot water, not even allowing the fan to be turned on.

Zhou Yi came over and whispered to Wu Heng, "Is it because the water leaking from the coffin is... something nasty?" So ordinary thermometers couldn't detect it.

Wu Heng nodded, went into the pharmacy at Chengde Medical Hall, took out a square piece of yellow paper used for wrapping medicine, and picked up a brush with bristles to write on the yellow paper.

Eugene was practically foaming at the mouth trying to convince them, repeatedly saying, "Your body temperature is normal, I can't prescribe cold medicine... Hey, hey, don't make it hard for me, I'm just a rookie apprentice here at the medical hall."

Chengde Medical Hall was the only clinic in Nan Nuo Village, and online shopping wasn't an option. Villagers with headaches or fevers could only seek help at Chengde Medical Hall.

At this moment, Wu Heng came out of the pharmacy with several boxes of cold-clearing granules and a package of yellow paper medicine, handing them over respectively, "I've got some medicine and Chinese patent medicine for you."

The pallbearers also thought that even if they couldn't get prescription drugs, they should take some Chinese patent medicine. They couldn't help but glance at Wu Heng a few more times, saying, "Dr. Wu's grandson is sharp and knows how to bend the rules. Eugene, you're too rigid."

With that, the group took the medicine and left. Whether it was a psychological effect or not, the yellow paper medicine package felt like holding a hand warmer in their hands, gradually dispelling the chill from their bodies.

The group of men held the thin yellow paper medicine packages and looked at the box of Chinese patent cold medicine, feeling that the medicine package was the truly effective thing.

"It's amazing, really amazing."

Inside the medical hall, Eugene was so freaked out he nearly jumped out of his skin: "Chinese patent medicine is fine and all, but Wu Heng, what do you know about prescribing medicine?! What prescription did you give? What if someone dies from it?"

Wu Heng didn't take it to heart, saying, "I didn't prescribe any medicine. I just scribbled a character on the yellow paper to trick them."

Hearing this, Eugene breathed a sigh of relief, just a character? That's acceptable.

But...

Eugene then became so happy he started dancing: "Our Wu Heng can write now? Did you learn from Zhou Yi? When the master returns, I'll have him set you up for high school, and later, like Zhou Yi, take the college entrance exam. Then you'll bring honor to our ancestors."

Wu Heng and Zhou Yi knew Eugene loved to talk and didn't engage much, quickly heading upstairs.

Zhou Yi looked at Wu Heng and stammered, "The character you just wrote... I can't make heads or tails of it."

Wu Heng was about to explain that it was a secret character from the Zhuyou technique, but Zhou Yi hesitated and said, "It looks like some kind of ghostly scribble."

Zhou Yi scratched his head and then quickly tried to reassure himself, muttering, "I'm probably overthinking it, it was all just a fluke before. How could there be ghosts in the world? I did well in politics..."

Wu Heng calmly shattered the illusion of wishful thinking: "Remove the 'looks like'."

Zhou Yi: "???"

Woo——!