Chapter 5 A Hero Saves the Beauty!

Chapter 5: The Hero Rescues the Beauty!

Cui Nanshan's ancestors belonged to a branch of the Qinghe Cui clan. By his generation, although they were not a family of great wealth, they possessed a solid estate. Cui Nanshan was a ger—a man capable of bearing children—but his family nonetheless hired a tutor to teach him and his elder sister. Consequently, Cui Nanshan was not only well-versed in literature but also capable of composing poetry. True to the saying that "knowledge in one's heart reveals itself in one's elegance," his talent gave him a gentle, dignified, and scholarly air.

He was only sixteen when he first met Lei Xun. That year, Lei Xun was twenty and had stayed at an inn while traveling to the capital for the imperial examinations. It happened to be the Mid-Spring Festival, and while Lei Xun was visiting a temple to admire the flowers with several fellow disciples, he encountered Cui Nanshan, who had also come for a spring outing. The two composed matching verses, and affection gradually blossomed between them. Lei Xun failed the imperial examination, and the Cui family initially disapproved of the marriage. In the end, Cui Nanshan took matters into his own hands and insisted on marrying Lei Xun; his parents could not sway him and eventually relented. Lei Xun's family had practiced medicine for generations, so after this examination, he abandoned the path of seeking an official career. He brought Cui Nanshan to settle in Yongning City, taught him medical skills, and together they treated patients and saved lives. In the second year of their marriage, Cui Nanshan gave birth to Lei Ding. A few years later, the clinic was appointed as an official physician's office. The family lived in harmony, and their story remained a beautiful tale within Yongning City.

Now, although Cui Nanshan had long passed his fortieth year, he remained as gentle and kind as he was in his youth. When he was younger, the children from the neighboring families liked him very much and would often mistakenly call him "Papa." At this moment, Cui Nanshan had prepared hot water to wipe Wu Qiu's face clean and helped him comb his hair again, while simultaneously calling for Lei Ding to go to his room and fetch a set of clean clothes for Wu Qiu to change into.

He paused and added, "Just now, I even sent Yue Er out to ask; patients with urgent illnesses can come in for a consultation first. You had probably already left by then and just happened to miss it."

Wu Qiu remained silent. He seemed to always lack a bit of luck, such as yesterday's free clinic or today's situation. But on second thought, it seemed that at the final moment, he would always receive a bit of pity from heaven, so as not to truly be driven to a dead end.

He didn't have time to think much more; Lei Ding had already prepared everything. To make it easier for the patient to rest, he drove a carriage out from the backyard and called for him. Wu Qiu thanked him a thousand times before getting into the carriage. He was afraid that his body was dirty and would soil the carriage, so for the first part of the journey, he only sat carefully on the edge of the seat's soft cushion. But he was truly exhausted, and as they traveled, he eventually fell into a deep, groggy sleep, leaning against a soft pillow despite the bumps on the road.

This sleep was not easy; he seemed to struggle between being half-awake and half-asleep, which was exhausting. A soft "tap-tap" sound, accompanied by the faint sound of someone speaking, tore a hole in this restless sleep. Wu Qiu woke up with a start and saw that the carriage had stopped. Lei Ding lifted the curtain with one hand and tapped on the carriage wall with the other, calling him "Mr. Wu." Seeing him open his eyes, he spoke: "We have already reached the entrance of Dayou Village. Please point the way, sir."

It was now near sunset, and the worst-case scenario was that Yang Shu had been unconscious for nearly a day. Wu Qiu wished he could fly back to that ruined temple in one step. He hurriedly came out of the carriage and sat beside Lei Ding to avoid fumbling with the curtain, and pointed the way for him. Although Lei Ding was busy driving the horse and carriage, as the two were close now, he caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of his eye and saw that he was both anxious and tired, clearly already ill himself. He feared that once the tension in his heart relaxed, his whole person would collapse. He also feared that Wu Qiu's body was weak and could not withstand such toil, so he secretly reached out his other hand behind Wu Qiu's back and grasped the wooden frame at the front of the carriage, effectively protecting Wu Qiu for fear he would fall off.

Fortunately, it was already late, and there were no idle people gathered on the village road, so no one blocked Lei Ding's carriage. After entering the village, they quickly reached the place Wu Qiu pointed out. Wu Qiu shouted several times, but there was no movement in the ruined temple. He did not wait for Lei Ding to help him; as soon as the carriage stopped, he jumped down and ran inside, calling for his mother. Lei Ding's heart tightened at his shouts; he drove the carriage to the Earth God Temple, parked it, and immediately gathered his things and went inside.

The ruined temple was pitch black, and Lei Ding had to stand still for a moment to adjust his eyes before he could see his surroundings. He had no time to admire the broken walls and tiles around him and went straight to Wu Qiu, who was kneeling on the ground holding someone and crying.

Wu Qiu was shaking all over, looking at Lei Ding at his wits' end, having already lost his composure, only murmuring "mother" under his breath. When Lei Ding went over to take Yang Shu's pulse, he even held his breath, only hearing the slight sound of his teeth chattering because of his trembling.

Lei Ding nodded: "We arrived in time; she can still be saved."

These words also seemed to save Wu Qiu. He could finally breathe deeply and asked hurriedly, "What can I do?"

Yang Shu's condition was critical, and it was inconvenient to take her to travel and seek lodging at this moment, so she could only be treated on the spot. Lei Ding asked Wu Qiu to start a fire and boil water, and gave him some medicinal herbs to help simmer the medicine. This was done firstly to have an extra person help and save some time, and secondly to give Wu Qiu something to do, lest he relax and also fall ill at this critical juncture.

While Wu Qiu was brewing the medicine, he watched Lei Ding perform emergency treatment on Yang Shu. He didn't know if anyone had ever seen Lei Ding flustered or helpless; at least he found it hard to imagine such a scene. Seeing Lei Ding methodically apply acupuncture and help Yang Shu adjust her lying position, his movements were crisp, neat, steady, and made Wu Qiu feel his heart finally settle back into his chest.

Drowsiness did not surge like a tide, but rather like a continuous summer rain, a trace of dampness slowly penetrating into his bones. Wu Qiu wrapped the robe tightly around himself; this was the clean clothing Cui Nanshan had given him, dry and tidy, but it could not warm his body. He clenched his teeth, forcing himself to focus all his attention on the medicine in the small pot.

After enduring for a long time, until the sky outside was completely dark, Lei Ding finally walked over and sat beside him, comforting him: "She is stabilized now, you can rest assured. It's late today, the city gates have already been bolted, and the patient needs rest, so it's not convenient to travel on the road immediately. Tomorrow, we can take your mother back to the clinic. This was not a major illness originally, but her body is too weak; with two months of careful recuperation, she will be fully recovered."

Wu Qiu's eyes were filled with tears, and he prostrated himself before Lei Ding to kowtow in gratitude. Strangely enough, as a physician, Lei Ding was accustomed to seeing life and death. It wasn't that he was cold-hearted; for instance, if an ordinary patient had a tragic past, he would certainly sympathize and do his best to help, but it would not affect his own state of mind. At this moment, he hurriedly helped Wu Qiu sit up. By the light of the fire, he saw Wu Qiu's pale lips trembling slightly and teardrops falling from his thin cheeks. His heart felt as if it had been pierced by a knife, and after a long silence, he spoke: "You don't need to worry, just stay at the clinic."

Wu Qiu nodded and was about to say something more when he suddenly heard a neigh from the horse outside.

Wu Qiu was startled and was about to stand up. Lei Ding knew that the clinic's horse was remarkably intuitive and would never make such a fuss for no reason. He immediately placed his hand gently on his shoulder to stop his movement: "Don't be afraid, I'll go out and see."

As the saying goes, a martial artist should have eyes and ears in all directions. Although Lei Ding was not a soldier who fought on the battlefield, he had used his leisure time over the years to cultivate himself, making him more alert than others. Just as he was about to step out of the temple door, he suddenly heard the sound of hurried footsteps mixed in the evening breeze. He stopped, turned back, and made a gesture to Wu Qiu, signaling him to hide in a safe place.

Wu Qiu immediately understood and crawled over to throw himself onto Yang Shu. The wind passed through the earthen walls of the ruined temple, and this sound, accompanied by the horse's neighing and the barking of dogs from distant houses, took on a somewhat eerie quality in the deep night of the mountain village. Wu Qiu had been groggy, but now he was quite awake.

He suddenly remembered—it was the fire!

In the past few days, in order to avoid those wicked bandits in the village, he had not dared to light a fire or a lamp at night for fear of being discovered. Additionally, those people were not as rampant as they were now and had shown some restraint. Furthermore, this Earth God Temple was truly too dilapidated and its location too remote, so it had fortunately been overlooked. But today, for the sake of simmering medicine for Yang Shu, and with Lei Ding by his side, he had put this matter out of his mind. Now, someone must have seen the firelight and found their way here!

The temple was too dilapidated, and the door had no bolt, only a stone slab propped against it. Lei Ding stood in the shadows by the door and looked out. Seeing no one show their face, he moved the stone slab aside, still keeping his body clear, and only used his toe to hook the edge of the temple door, opening a small crack.

The outside was quiet for a moment, and then someone suddenly kicked the temple door. The broken door could not withstand the kick and crashed to the ground with a series of loud bangs. Wu Qiu was so frightened he almost screamed, but the sound caught in his throat and he could not make another sound.

He saw clearly who had come—it was Zhao Wen and Zhao Wu, who had robbed him at the village entrance several times and later met him on a narrow path in the sorghum field.

Zhao Wu was a crude man and didn't even see that there was someone else in the room. He blundered inside, his mouth full of foul language, saying lewd things to Wu Qiu. Lei Ding moved swiftly, his foot sweeping across Zhao Wu's legs, tripping him into a sprawl, and shouted, "Who goes there!"

Zhao Wu had not been in Dayou Village for long and only knew that Lei Ding was a doctor from Yongning City, but did not know his background. When he came in and saw someone else besides Wu Qiu, he was startled at first, but after seeing it was Lei Ding, he relaxed and did not take him seriously. He considered himself a strong man and had been on the battlefield, so why would he fear a doctor? Therefore, although he had taken a fall because he was off guard, he didn't care much and stood up, swinging his fist at Lei Ding.

Lei Ding gave a cold laugh, disdaining to struggle with him. He dodged Zhao Wu's punch, reached out to grab his wrist, and applied force with his fingertips directly to his pulse point. Using his opponent's momentum against him, he first pulled him toward his chest and then pushed him outward, saying, "Go!" Zhao Wu was thrown ten feet away and landed flat on his back on the ground with a thud.

Zhao Wen had originally followed him, and his legs went weak when he saw Lei Ding, but he still thought Zhao Wu might be able to beat him. As a result, Zhao Wu was beaten to the ground in a single encounter, clutching his arm and wrist and unable to get up. Zhao Wen was dumbfounded, and just then Lei Ding turned his head slightly and glanced at him. He was immediately scared out of his wits and didn't dare steal another glance at Wu Qiu, turning around and stumbling away.

Wu Qiu was stunned. These two men and the group of local ruffians they led were like a lingering nightmare, a dark cloud hanging over his head. Now, this dark cloud had been shattered by a clap of thunder; not only could it not drop a single raindrop, but it also revealed the bright moonlight that had been hidden.

Zhao Wen had fled, and Zhao Wu was still struggling on the ground. Lei Ding leaned over and grabbed his collar with one hand, lifting him from the ground. He didn't bother to waste words with him and threw him out the door. Zhao Wu was also a bully who preyed on the weak but cowered before the strong; he dared not say another word and hurriedly fled as well. Lei Ding knew that the government was powerless to control these villains, and since he was present today and the matter had not escalated, reporting it to the authorities would likely be useless. Furthermore, Wu Qiu and Yang Shu were both ill and could not withstand a commotion in the middle of the night. So he just stood at the door and did not pursue them, watching the two flee in panic.

The temple door had completely turned into a piece of waste wood. It was too late, so Lei Ding had to prop it up first, leaning it against the door frame and still using the stone slab to hold it. When he looked back, he saw Wu Qiu kneeling in the corner staring at him blankly. Thinking he must be terrified, he hurried forward and crouched down in front of him, calling softly, "Qiu Geer? It's all right now, don't be afraid."

Wu Qiu suddenly grabbed his arm, his voice trembling: "Are you—are you injured? Did you—did you get hurt..."

Lei Ding's heart stirred, and he shook his head with a smile. Wu Qiu breathed a sigh of relief, and a few tears that had been suppressed for a long time finally welled up in his eyes. He felt embarrassed to cry bitterly in front of Lei Ding, so he forced back the tears, sobbing as he thanked Lei Ding, while taking a bowl to serve the medicine and feeding it to Yang Shu spoonful by spoonful.

While he was serving the medicine to Yang Shu, he briefly recounted how he had crossed paths with Zhao Wen and the others, though he didn't give many details or mention the incident in the sorghum field that day. Lei Ding sat to one side, and the more he listened, the deeper his brow furrowed.

Wu Qiu lowered his head: "This matter all started because of me. I already owe you several life-saving debts, so how could I dare let you get into a feud with these people for my sake..."

Lei Ding did not answer, causing Wu Qiu to look up at him, only to have their eyes meet unexpectedly.

For a moment, Wu Qiu forgot to turn his head away and forgot to blink.

The author has something to say:

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Lei Ding is heartbroken; he's not far from falling completely in love (