Chapter 568: Wuxin

“After the treatment, she really has begun to improve. He says she should be able to get out of bed in three days.” Li Wuhua hurriedly explained, then immediately caught hold of the maidservant following behind and carefully repeated the physician's instructions.

She's already improving?

Everyone looked at one another and inwardly sighed in admiration.

As expected of someone from Ghost Doctor.

Niu Youdao noticed the tear marks still visible on Li Wuhua's face.

Once Li Wuhua finished instructing the maidservant, Situ Yao asked again, “What exactly is the relationship between the man inside and Ghost Doctor?”

At once, Li Wuhua's expression turned solemn. “He is Ghost Doctor's disciple.”

Ghost Doctor's disciple?

The whole group immediately regarded the matter with even greater respect.

A subordinate of Ghost Doctor and a disciple of Ghost Doctor were entirely different things. For all these years, the cultivation world had never heard of Ghost Doctor having any disciple at all. That claim had existed only because this side had once fabricated one.

Now a genuine disciple of Ghost Doctor had formally appeared for the first time, and they had seen him with their own eyes.

Niu Youdao rested one hand on his sword and rubbed his chin with the other.

He had once sent someone to impersonate Ghost Doctor's disciple. He had not expected to encounter the real thing this time.

Before long, the unconscious infant was brought over.

Li Wuhua ignored everyone else and hurried back into the kitchen with him.

The door closed again...

Inside, the man carefully examined the swaddled infant from head to toe. His expression grew slightly grave.

“Another two days and I'm afraid he would have been gone.”

“With Sir's miraculous hands, he will surely be safe.” Li Wuhua immediately offered the compliment, watching him with desperate expectation.

The man at once began ordering the people in the kitchen to prepare.

There was no need for three stoves this time. One would be enough.

But once the treatment began, the man was obviously far more cautious than he had been with Hai Ruyue.

The infant had only just been born and was simply too delicate.

The child remained unconscious throughout. By now, even without anyone restraining him, he no longer had the strength to cry...

Outside, some of those waiting dispersed to handle proper business. Others paced around the courtyard. Some stood, some sat, and all waited.

They waited a very long time.

The treatment clearly took far longer than Hai Ruyue's had, and everyone inevitably began worrying for Li Wuhua.

They all knew how much he treasured this son. If something happened to the child, Li Wuhua would probably have great difficulty facing it.

Not until darkness had fallen and the Provincial Inspector's Residence was already brilliant with lamplight did the kitchen door finally open.

A maidservant emerged carrying the infant bundled tightly in swaddling clothes, with two more maidservants carefully attending her on either side.

Judging from how exhausted yet happy the women looked, the result was probably good.

Only then did Situ Yao lead the others into the kitchen. Now that the treatment was finished, entering should no longer count as a disturbance.

The man was visibly tired. His clothes seemed soaked through with sweat, and he was wiping himself down with a towel.

Treating the infant had truly consumed no small amount of his energy.

It came back to the same point: the child was simply too young. He had needed to be careful, then more careful, then more careful still.

Li Wuhua stood nearby, ingratiating himself with extreme caution.

The man had said there should be no major problem, but who knew whether there might still be a relapse? If anything went wrong, they would have to beg him again. How could Li Wuhua dare put on airs and offend him? At this point, he practically had to worship the man like an ancestor.

Situ Yao cupped his hands. “Sir has worked hard. It is already late, and we have had wine and food prepared—”

Before he could finish, the man interrupted casually. “Prepare some clean hot water. I want to wash.”

“Yes, yes, yes. Right away!” Li Wuhua answered repeatedly and hurriedly waved for a servant to arrange it.

Situ Yao was speechless.

Once again, he had been ignored in public.

Offering a warm face only to have it pressed against a cold backside was not a pleasant feeling.

The man, however, thought nothing of it. He packed the instruments he had washed in medicinal liquid back into the bamboo basket and lifted it.

Li Wuhua reached out, intending to carry it for him.

The man raised one hand to stop him, slung his own belongings onto his back, and walked toward the cluster of people at the doorway.

Everyone—including Situ Yao and Niu Youdao—obediently stepped aside and opened a path, watching eagerly as he left the kitchen.

Li Wuhua followed close behind like an attendant. Once outside, he hurried ahead again and respectfully led the way.

His wife had been stripped naked before the man, yet he was still acting like a grandson?

Situ Yao's expression became strange.

Had this bastard Li Wuhua perhaps gone a little too far?

Even when their master had still been alive, Situ Yao had never seen him behave this respectfully.

Inside the kitchen, everyone looked at one another in complete silence.

The only sound came from two servants extinguishing the fires beneath the stoves.

Mixed among them, Guan Fangyi clicked her tongue inwardly.

What did it mean to be truly formidable?

This was what formidable looked like.

Without using power or status to pressure anyone, the man could still make people obey him completely.

Today had truly broadened her horizons.

Niu Youdao suddenly gave a dry chuckle. “Normally, no one goes looking for a physician without reason. But once something happens and you do need one, people generally have very little dignity left in front of him. Get used to it.”

There was truth in that.

Situ Yao smiled bitterly, shook his head, and led the way out.

The others filed after him...

After checking on Hai Ruyue, Li Wuhua went to his son's room and crouched beside the cradle to examine the child's body again.

The decline of the child's blood and vitality had indeed been stopped and was slowly reversing.

He slept soundly inside the swaddling clothes.

Li Wuhua confirmed that he was sleeping, not unconscious.

Clearly, the infant had finally escaped the torment.

Li Wuhua released a heavy breath and reminded the disciples nearby to feed the child on time.

After leaving the room, he hurried to the quarters temporarily arranged for Ghost Doctor's disciple.

The guards outside told him the man was still bathing inside.

So Li Wuhua waited outside, pacing back and forth.

When the door finally opened and Ghost Doctor's disciple emerged again, he had recovered that elegant, scholarly bearing.

Only now he had changed into blue-green robes.

Someone immediately went inside to tidy the room.

Li Wuhua stepped forward, saluted, and tentatively said, “We have prepared wine and food for Sir. Our Sect Leader wishes to accompany you personally.”

“No need,” the man replied. “I don't like crowds or social formalities.”

So be it.

Li Wuhua could only agree.

He was about to guide the man to the meal when a servant came out carrying the clothes the man had just changed out of.

“My clothes?” The man caught sight of them and asked.

Li Wuhua hurriedly explained, “The servants will wash them clean for Sir.”

The man raised his head and looked at the lantern hanging beneath the eaves. “Lend me the lamplight.”

Li Wuhua did not understand, but he still personally leapt up and removed the lantern.

The man took his clothes from the servant and walked down the steps.

Li Wuhua followed with the lantern, confusion written across his face.

Right there in the courtyard, the man tossed the clothes onto the ground and reached for the lantern.

He removed the oil lamp from inside, splashed the lamp oil over the garments, then threw the lamp down onto them as well.

Whoomph!

Flames leapt up and caught the clothing.

Li Wuhua stared. “Sir, what are you doing?”

“I won't wear white again.”

The man crouched and personally pushed the loose pieces of cloth into the center of the flames, burning his own clothes with his own hands.

Li Wuhua grew suspicious.

Did this man have some obsession with cleanliness?

But then he saw the man's eyes.

Those eyes, normally calm as still water, stared into the burning clothing.

In the glow of the flames, emotion finally appeared within them.

There seemed to be confusion.

There seemed to be remembrance.

There seemed to be farewell directed toward those white robes.

His gaze was complicated in a way difficult to describe.

Very quickly, his eyes returned to normal.

He rose and handed the lantern frame back to Li Wuhua.

The flames burned fiercely for a while, then rapidly weakened.

The man turned away decisively.

Illuminated from behind by the fading firelight, his figure gradually disappeared into the darkness without ever looking back...

In the dining room, the man wanted neither bustle nor servants waiting on him.

Only Li Wuhua sat with him.

Though Situ Yao had repeatedly offered a warm face only to receive a cold shoulder, he remained incorrigible.

He held no resentment at all and still wanted to establish some connection with Ghost Doctor.

Unfortunately, the man still had no interest in him.

Situ Yao's wish to accompany the guest at dinner failed once again.

He could not even lose his temper.

It was not this man he feared, but Ghost Doctor behind him.

During the meal, Li Wuhua finally could not resist asking, “I still do not know Sir's honored name. Might you tell me? Of course, I know Ghost Doctor has never sought publicity. If Sir likewise wishes to remain unknown, then pretend I never asked. We will also keep today's treatment strictly secret and not reveal a word of it to outsiders.”

The man's chopsticks paused.

He silently chewed the food already in his mouth and swallowed it slowly before speaking.

“My master and I are different. My master is renowned beneath Heaven and does not seek fame. I have only just entered the world. I still need a name to accompany me. It will save me some trouble.”

Li Wuhua had become thoroughly accommodating. He nodded at once. “Sir is right.”

“Wuxin.”

Li Wuhua froze, not understanding. “What?”

“Wu as in having nothing. Xin...” The man placed one hand over his heart. “My name.”

“Oh!” Li Wuhua suddenly understood. “I see. Sir's name is Wuxin.”

Privately, he found it odd.

It sounded more like a Dharma name.

Who gave a person a name like that?

Wuxin said, “Tomorrow, make today's treatment public for me.”

“...” Li Wuhua froze again. He cautiously asked, “You want us to publicize it ourselves?”

Wuxin nodded without speaking.

He lowered his head, lifted his chopsticks, and continued eating at his own unhurried pace...

...

Behind a desk, Niu Youdao sat upright, a charcoal stick whispering rapidly across a sheet of paper.

Guan Fangyi knocked and entered. As she shut the door behind her, she said, “You were right not to force your way over there. He refused company at dinner. Situ Yao got brushed off again.”

Niu Youdao chuckled. “How are mother and son?”

“They really are recovering. And you know what? A random disciple of Ghost Doctor is enough to make the whole of Myriad Caves Heavenly Mansion feel ashamed.” Her eyes brightened as she approached the desk. “Oh? You're drawing. Who are you drawing?”

She discovered that he was once again sketching with charcoal and hurried around to his side, lifting her skirts with the delighted manner of a young girl.

“Nothing to be ashamed of. Every art has its own specialty.” Niu Youdao happened to finish. He tossed the charcoal aside, dusted off his hands, and leaned back in the chair.

Guan Fangyi looked closely.

It was a portrait.

The face was none other than Ghost Doctor's disciple.

She picked up the sheet and muttered, “Wuxin? Why are you drawing him?”

“Wuxin?” Niu Youdao turned his head toward her.

Guan Fangyi explained, “Li Wuhua finally got his name out of him. Wuxin. Wu as in having nothing, xin as in the heart.”

“Wuxin... that name...” Niu Youdao murmured and pondered it for a while.

“He's behaving a little strangely too. I heard he burned his own clothes and said he would never wear white again. He also told Li Wuhua to publicize the fact that he treated and neutralized the poison...” Guan Fangyi went on, relating everything she had learned.

Niu Youdao had specifically asked her to keep an eye on the man.

“Won't wear white anymore...” Niu Youdao leaned back and stroked his chin in thought.

For someone like him, anything out of the ordinary could easily trigger an instinctive reaction.

That was simply how wide his thoughts habitually spread.

“Whenever I ask you to draw me, you drag your feet, yet here you are drawing him. You still haven't told me why.” Guan Fangyi held the portrait and looked thoroughly displeased.

The portrait he had once drawn of her was something she had carefully treasured.

She had even felt a strange regret that she had been born before him.

Had she met Niu Youdao much earlier, perhaps she could have preserved forever the way she looked in the flower of her youth.

[End of Chapter 568]