Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Shi Xuan calmed himself, then said, "...Not yet."

Upon hearing this, Wu Heng grabbed Xi Xi, who was thrashing about in the well water, and wrapped the small gray snake around his left arm. With his feet against the slippery, moss-covered walls of the well, he effortlessly flipped out of the well in a few swift movements.

Wu Heng, ignoring his wet, messy hair, stared intently at the owner of this dilapidated courtyard.

Ghosts might catch the wrong person, but as the greatest shaman in the world, he had never misjudged a person's death date. When he first saw this person, he was surrounded by an aura of death, with only a day or two left to live. That's why he didn't bother explaining and just jumped back into the well. But now, this person was still alive! It was like a single bar of battery life clinging on, and yet this family hadn't even held a funeral.

Wu Heng belatedly realized that he might have frightened this guy. He wondered if the guy's mental health was still intact after these past two days. After some thought, Wu Heng said, "If you don't mind, give me your left hand."

Shi Xuan's eyes glimmered slightly. At school, people usually shook hands with their right hands when they greeted each other. He didn't quite understand, but he obediently extended his left hand.

Wu Heng accurately took Shi Xuan's pulse. The skin under his fingertips was freezing cold, and if it weren't for the lively pulse, Wu Heng would have thought he was already dead.

What a peculiar person.

Wu Heng took a few more glances. He couldn't see through this person, as if he were enveloped in a cold mist. Perhaps it was because he had just arrived in this world and his powers weren't fully developed yet.

Wu Heng didn't like dealing with people he couldn't comprehend or see clearly. He withdrew his hand and said, "Your body is quite healthy, no significant issues. Just get more sunlight. I have urgent matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now."

After saying this, Wu Heng tucked the small gray snake into his arm and quickly dashed out of the courtyard's back gate, heading straight for the He Family.

Xi Xi, still coiled around his arm, hissed continuously. Wu Heng frowned and said, "Did you catch the scent of the bell? Forget it, let it go."

He had initially thought this ancient well in the rundown courtyard was a good spot, but now it seemed he'd have to find another well to use in the future.

Shi Xuan watched Wu Heng's departing figure intently, then lowered his gaze to his left hand. The warmth of Wu Heng's touch seemed to remain on his wrist.

Get more sunlight?

It was the height of summer, and the heat was unbearable. He Yunxiao had been lounging at home, enjoying his "maternity leave," indulging in fruits and ice cream, living the high life.

The butler hurried in from outside and said, "Young master, Dr. Wu Heng is here. He seems to be in a rush, as if something urgent has come up."

He Yunxiao sat up abruptly, secretly pleased. If Dr. Wu Heng thought of the He Family first when he had urgent matters, what did that mean?

Their relationship had grown closer! He couldn't wait to flaunt it in Li Hao and his gang's faces.

As soon as Wu Heng entered, he tossed Xi Xi to He Yunxiao and asked, "Can you arrange a car for me? Quick, quick, quick!"

He Yunxiao fumbled to catch his "snake daughter," then rushed up to Wu Heng and saluted, saying, "No problem! Dr. Wu, what's the emergency? I'll go through hell and high water for you."

He Yunxiao glanced at Wu Heng and then at his "snake child." With a determined heart, he grabbed Wu Heng and dragged him into a Maybach parked at the entrance.

During the ride, He Yunxiao noticed Wu Heng frequently looking out the car window, which made him a bit nervous. Was Dr. Wu going on a house call? Could something supernatural be happening?

Suddenly, Wu Heng spotted a large sign and said, "Stop."

The He Family driver, confused, hit the brakes. Wu Heng immediately got out of the car. As He Yunxiao hesitated whether to follow, he saw Wu Heng walk straight into a KFC.

He Yunxiao: "?"

KFC?

He Yunxiao was utterly baffled. He quickly caught up and asked, "Dr. Wu, is your emergency... eating KFC? Or is there a patient waiting for us at KFC?"

Wu Heng nodded, "Yes, my friend said KFC is only crazy on Thursdays. I came here specifically to see how crazy it is."

He came here specifically for the chicken.

"..." He Yunxiao was speechless. He was the one going crazy now!

Well, eating KFC beats running into ghosts any day.

He Yunxiao helped Wu Heng find a corner seat, then turned around to order at the counter, even adding an extra children's meal.

When He Yunxiao returned with a tray full of fast food, he noticed an extra tall figure sitting at their table. With just a glance, he recognized the person as his neighbor, Shi Xuan.

What are the odds of running into him here?

They had been neighbors for so many years, yet the chances of running into each other were few and far between. And now, here they were?

Shi Xuan said, "Just out catching some rays. What a coincidence."

Wu Heng felt a pang of trouble. He had initially used Shi Xuan's well to dodge potential surveillance at other ancient wells in the capital city. Who would've thought this guy, who looked like he was knocking on death's door, just wouldn't kick the bucket?

He Yunxiao's face said it all: "I knew you two had something going on," as he placed the tray on the table. The aroma of fast food quickly snapped Wu Heng back to reality.

Wu Heng grabbed a chicken leg, dusted it with chili powder, and took a bite. His eyes lit up, and he couldn't stop raving, "Who do you reckon came up with these fried chicken legs?"

Wu Heng kept chewing, marveling, "So damn good!"

He had endured such a tough life back in ancient times. Wu Heng even thought that being able to eat something like this made not charging for his medical services worth it!

The small gray snake, just like Wu Heng, had never seen such fancy stuff. Its eyes were glued to the chicken as it chomped on an Orleans chicken wing. He Yunxiao thought his snake daughter looked pretty cute too.

Shi Xuan couldn't take his eyes off Wu Heng, who was clearly loving the chicken. His pale cheeks were puffed up like a hamster hoarding food. He was as lively as he was during that night's shamanic dance. Shi Xuan had never met anyone so full of life before.

He Yunxiao never would've imagined sitting at the same table as Shi Xuan one day! He didn't seem as scary as he had thought.

"There's 5G here. Quick, connect. Help me start a live stream to check in for today," Wu Heng said, wiping his fingers and grabbing another chicken wing, casually bossing He Yunxiao around.

-

Li Hao and the others were on the verge of puking. Taking a private flight to C Province was easy, but the hardest part was driving through the winding mountain roads on the national highway. In the end, because the road was unfinished, they had to hire porters to carry them in on sedan chairs. They had been struggling since early morning until dusk.

By the time they entered Nan Nuo Village, the sky was already darkening. They randomly grabbed a villager and asked for directions to Chengde Medical Hall.

Li Hao and the others squinted at the medical hall's plaque ahead. "To show our sincerity, we'll get down 20 meters away from the medical hall."

Just as You Jin stepped out for some fresh air, he saw three young men crying and shouting, crawling on the ground, inching their way toward Chengde Medical Hall, wailing, "Miracle doctor! Save our miserable lives!"

When You Jin walked out, he saw four or five men with capital city accents kneeling on the ground, begging him to save them. You Jin looked down at his slightly trembling hands in disbelief, muttering softly, "Could it be... could it be that my medical skills have improved so much?!"

You Jin's eyes turned red with excitement. He knew it—he had a rare talent in medicine!

Seeing them crawling around, unable to get up, You Jin's passion for medicine made him determined to take a bold step. He eagerly asked, "How about I give you a few acupuncture treatments?"

Li Hao and the others had been crying and wailing for a long time without seeing Wu Heng. They didn't dare let a junior apprentice perform acupuncture on them, so they stubbornly refused to leave the medical hall. After confirming from You Jin that Wu Heng was the grandson of the old village doctor, they weren't in a hurry. Wu Heng would have to return to the village eventually, right?

Until Wang Dong tugged at their sleeves, "Wait, Hao Ge, Ah Fei, Wu Heng's IP on Shark Video Platform is... in the capital city?"

But the medical hall apprentice had just said that Wu Heng had left to get some food!

When they saw the group photo He Yunxiao posted on his social media, Li Hao and Wang Dong's world collapsed. They had worked so hard to come to Nan Nuo Village in person, only to find out that Wu Heng was actually in the capital city!

He Yunxiao was eating fries when he saw the video Li Hao sent on WeChat. The guys were crying, wiping their noses, and slapping each other, competing to see who could slap harder, all while apologizing through tears.

He Yunxiao silently watched as Shi Xuan went to the counter to buy another family bucket and pushed it in front of Wu Heng. He was sure Wu Heng was giving Li Hao and the others a hard time just to stick up for Shi Xuan!

If these two weren’t an item, he’d eat his hat—or better yet, give birth to a snake fetus with 108 babies!

"Doctor Wu Heng, are you into a different kind of chicken game? I'm awesome at chicken games; let me show you the ropes!"

Li Hao cried while recording a video and sent it to He Yunxiao: "The internet here sucks; I can't even get into the live stream. I'll talk to the Village Chief ASAP to get a 5G base station up in the village, and I promise it'll be done in a month!"

Wu Heng couldn’t even imagine how thrilled Grandpa Zhou Yi would be if he found out. Seeing that these people had suffered enough, he chuckled: "Tell them to wait for me at my family's clinic."

As You Jin was serving tea to these Beijing big shots, he turned around and saw several young men hugging each other, crying tears of joy: "We finally heard it! We'll wait forever if we have to—we'll wait for you to come back!"

You Jin hesitantly pointed to his head and asked: "You sure you don't need a shot or something?"

Li Hao and the others: "..."

Pfft, if you knew what really happened, you'd think they hit the jackpot, not lost their minds!

*

"Streamer's live~ No patient calls today? Wait, is this KFC?"

"The guy next to you is the snake fetus patient, but who's the other dude? Holy crap, he's hot!"

"I'm still skeptical. The metaphysics blogger I follow said Huang Qiang's thing was actually a weasel spirit on the mountain pulling strings for a porcupine—nothing to do with the streamer."

"The streamer's at KFC too? OMG, I totally forgot it's Crazy Thursday! I'm heading there now!"

Since there were no connected netizens, all the fans in the chat were still normally discussing Wu Heng's KFC, until another group of people flooded into the chat.

"Doctor Wu Heng, can you please take Tu Tu's call? It's an emergency!"

"+1. Tu Tu just asked in our fan group how to reach you—sounds like it's serious."

...

Turns out, a bunch of Tu Tu's fans showed up, and they looked seriously worried. Wu Heng thought the internet here was indeed good, so he accepted Tu Tu's request to connect.

The second the camera went live, everyone in the chat was floored!

If He Yunxiao's big belly and Huang Zhigang's swollen throat were obvious and not shocking, now they were sure their eyes were messing with them!

That girl, famous for her silky hair, now had her head literally blooming—like, flowers and all.