[Tang San, Herniated Disc]

Bibi Dong had nothing to do.

Then she happened to notice something.

Cao Mengde had actually raised the hand that had touched her foot to his nose?

Was he sniffing it?

Was he a pervert?

Bibi Dong could only think so, and her face grew angry.

She was just about to erupt.

But then she saw Cao Mengde looking bewildered.

His eyes were wide, a puzzled look in them.

"Your Holiness, why did you call me a pervert?"

"My nose itched, so I rubbed it a few times. Is that not allowed?"

As he spoke,

he kept moving his hand, gently rubbing the tip of his nose as he breathed in, inhaling every last trace of the fragrance lingering on his fingertips.

Hearing his explanation,

Bibi Dong's heart skipped a beat.

So she had misunderstood Cao Mengde. She couldn't help feeling ashamed.

"I'm sorry."

"I wrongly accused you."

Cao Mengde, however, refused to let it go, determined to smash the clay pot and question him to the bottom of it.

"No, Your Holiness, I'm curious. Why did you call me a pervert just now? What was your basis for it?"

"You wouldn't just insult someone for no reason, would you?"

If it had been an ordinary question,

Bibi Dong could have simply answered.

But if she told him the truth,

it would only make Cao Mengde think her mind was filthy, deepening the misunderstanding.

"It was nothing."

"I was just thinking of something that made me angry. I wasn't calling you a pervert."

Good grief.

Cao Mengde had heard her loud and clear just now. Bibi Dong had called him a pervert by name.

And now she was refusing to admit it?

How could Cao Mengde let such a sensitive subject pass?

He immediately exclaimed,

"Oh!"

"I understand now, Your Holiness. Were you saying I was..."

Before he could finish,

Bibi Dong's heart leaped, and a blush spread across her face.

"Shut up."

"What do you mean, you understand? Don't say it..."

Yes.

Even if he understood, he had better not say it aloud.

Bibi Dong was already mortified.

"Are you finished with the treatment yet?" Bibi Dong pressed.

Cao Mengde took Bibi Dong's jade feet in both hands again. "Almost. Just the last two and a half minutes..."

All told,

under the pretext of treating her illness,

Cao Mengde had spent a full two hours fondling Bibi Dong's silk-stockinged jade feet, thoroughly indulging himself.

"Your Holiness, your illness has been completely cured."

Hearing that,

Bibi Dong quickly got up and climbed off the sickbed.

Because the part being treated was so intimate, a member of the opposite sex had been touching her feet the entire time.

During those two hours, she had been beside herself with anxiety, and now she couldn't wait to leave.

"How much is the consultation fee?"

Bibi Dong intended to pay and leave immediately.

The prolonged intimate contact with Cao Mengde had already left her uneasy, and for some inexplicable reason, a feeling she couldn't describe had arisen in her.

Cao Mengde smiled.

"Your Holiness gave me a consultation fee of a hundred thousand last time. That's enough to last me a lifetime."

"From now on, whenever I, Cao Mengde, treat Your Holiness, I won't charge a single cent."

Bibi Dong looked displeased.

She glared at Cao Mengde.

"Can't you wish me well for once?"

"Do you think I'll be sick every day?"

With those words, Bibi Dong left Rejuvenation Hall.

Cao Mengde was left shrugging his shoulders.

Wasn't it up to him whether Bibi Dong would be sick every day?

The Soul Master finals were just around the corner.

For now, he would leave Bibi Dong alone and focus on the Shrek Seven Devils, stopping them from taking the championship.

Earlier, he had placed a curse on Tang San, giving him a herniated disc.

And Zhu Zhuqing's peaks had swollen.

Cao Mengde returned to the bed.

The bed in this examination room had always been reserved for women. Men used the beds in the main hall.

Thus,

Cao Mengde didn't mind it at all, savoring the lingering fragrance Bibi Dong had left behind.

He also began looking forward to treating Zhu Zhuqing.

"Ow..."

"My back..."

In the dead of night,

the cries did not come from Cao Mengde.

They were cries of pain from Tang San, a student of Shrek.

"Brother, Xiao Wu will get you a fresh hot towel for your back."

It was already late at night at Shrek Academy's resting quarters, but the place was brightly lit.

Yu Xiaogang, Xiao Wu, and the others stood in Tang San's bedroom, their faces full of worry.

At daybreak,

the Soul Master finals would begin.

Tang San was their backbone, yet his lower back had suddenly started hurting. What were they to do?

"Hiss..."

"Hoo..."

The pain in his lower back wasn't as intense as the stomachache he had suffered last time.

But that piercing pain felt as though bone were stabbing into flesh, keeping Tang San from sleeping and leaving him able only to lie face down on the bed.

"Brother, is it any better?" Xiao Wu placed a freshly changed hot towel on Tang San's lower back.

The pain in his back far outweighed the heat of the water.

Tang San didn't feel any warmth at all.

Instead, he gritted his teeth and said,

"Teacher, Xiao Wu, everyone, go get some rest. The competition starts tomorrow."

Yu Xiaogang frowned. "Little San, how can I rest easy with you in this condition?"

Xiao Wu thought it over again and again.

Finally, she spoke up once more. "Brother, we should go to Rejuvenation Hall and ask Divine Hand Douluo to take a look at you."

At the mention of Cao Mengde,

Tang San's expression changed.

Xiao Wu had suggested it more than once, and he had refused more than once.

"Xiao Wu, I'm fine. I can endure it."

"Even if I have to compete tomorrow, it won't affect me."

There were two reasons

Tang San was unwilling to seek out Cao Mengde.

First,

his father might already have killed Cao Mengde.

Second,

even if Cao Mengde was still alive,

he was unwilling to seek treatment from him. From the first time he had seen Cao Mengde, an indelible jealousy had been etched into his bones, along with the hostility born of that jealousy.

Fortunately, this time it was only back pain.

Unlike last time, it wasn't something that had to be treated.

No matter what, Tang San intended to tough it out. He simply would not go to Cao Mengde.

Looking at the extremely stubborn Tang San,

Xiao Wu's eyes were full of worry.

"Brother, even the healing-type Soul Master from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect couldn't do anything, and he's a Soul Douluo. Right now, Cao Mengde is the only one who might have a solution. Let's give it a try?"

"Otherwise, how can Shrek Academy win without you competing?"

Even so,

Tang San was still unwilling to compromise.

"Xiao Wu, go check on Zhu Zhuqing instead. I'm fine."

That was right.

Tang San wasn't the only one who was ill.

Zhu Zhuqing was ill too.

She was leaning against the headboard now, her deathly still face utterly cold.

Damn it.

How had she come down with such a strange illness?

Out of nowhere,

that part of her had swollen terribly. The feeling of fullness was as if it might burst, and there was a faint ache as well.

"Zhu Zhuqing..."

"Are you feeling any better?"

Dai Mubai came in through the door.

Zhu Zhuqing was already distraught, and the place where the strange illness had appeared had put her in a terrible mood.

"Get out."

Dai Mubai stopped in his tracks, looking equally glum.

The finals were just around the corner,

yet his companions were falling ill one after another, including his fiancée.

Ning Rongrong, who was sitting by the bed tending to Zhu Zhuqing, spoke gently.

"Zhu Zhuqing, Mubai came to see you out of kindness. Don't blame him."

At that point,

Ning Rongrong continued,

"Xiao Wu said Cao Mengde of Rejuvenation Hall has medical skills that reach the heavens. It's not that I'm thinking of treatment for the competition; of course I want you to be healthy. After all, a strange illness like this has never appeared in the Soul Master World."

Whether for the sake of competing

or for her own health,

Zhu Zhuqing was not as stubborn as Tang San, nor did she harbor any hostility toward Cao Mengde.

She let out a solemn breath.

"All right."

Hearing that Zhu Zhuqing was willing to seek treatment,

Dai Mubai was overjoyed and couldn't wait to take her to Rejuvenation Hall to see Cao Mengde, the Gynecology Divine Hand.

"Zhu Zhuqing, I'll take you."