You Tell Me If It Worked

After spending the whole night catching fireflies, Lu Zeming felt not the slightest bit tired. In fact, he felt more refreshed than ever.

His injuries had not fully healed, but he could get up and move around without trouble.

He looked around but saw no sign of Rin. Her wooden clogs were still by the door, so she probably had not gone out.

Lu Zeming searched the house. Only when he opened the bedroom door did he find Rin curled up in her mother's cold embrace, sleeping quietly.

Her tiny body looked like a wounded lamb. Traces of tears still clung to her trembling eyelashes.

What a rotten world. Lu Zeming sighed, gently closed the door, and stepped away.

By the time Rin woke, the sun had climbed above the mountain.

Her young body still felt exhausted, but she reminded herself that her brother needed looking after. She had to get up and make breakfast.

When she opened the door, though, she found her brother boiling a pot of wild taro.

Rin pressed her lips together and obediently crouched across from him, watching the taro tumble in the pot.

"We have to bury the bodies soon. It's summer!"

Lu Zeming broke the silence first.

Rin stared up at him for a long moment before asking timidly, "You're not really my brother, are you?"

Lu Zeming froze, then managed a smile.

"Can I still be your brother?"

Rin said nothing. Lu Zeming took a palm-sized wooden carving from behind his back and handed it to her.

The carving was rough, but on closer inspection, it looked a little like her late mother.

"Live well. Mom will always be with you, just in a different way."

Rin took the carving and stroked it carefully, as though it were a priceless treasure.

Lu Zeming looked up at the sky, hoping his mother in the other world would stay healthy and live a long life.

That morning, Rin took Lu Zeming to see their family's rice paddy. The original body's father had cared for it well. The rice was already waist-high and would probably ripen in a little over a month.

On their way back at noon, they ran into their neighbor, Aunt Akiko.

Worry was written all over Aunt Akiko's face, but she still forced a smile when she saw them and handed over a small packet of brown rice mixed with husks.

"You poor children. You must be starving without your parents. Those murderers deserve to die. This is some brown rice we had hidden away. It isn't much, but it should tide you both over!"

Lu Zeming was both delighted and surprised.

The gift was small, but the kindness behind it was immense. At a time like this, such generosity meant even more.

Wanting to return the favor, Lu Zeming asked, "Aunt Akiko, was Uncle Kisuke hurt yesterday too? I found some herbs in the mountains that can treat injuries!"

Aunt Akiko gave him a puzzled look. Had the boy lost his senses? She had never heard of him knowing anything about herbs.

Rin seemed to notice Akiko's doubts. She quickly pointed to the nearly healed wound on Lu Zeming's forehead. "My brother's medicine is amazing! Look at his forehead. That wound was huge yesterday, and after just one night, it's almost healed!"

She lifted her chin as she finished, looking impossibly proud.

And so, with Rin singing his praises, Lu Zeming began his medical career in the village.

"An external wound? Easy. Peel and wash some Sichuan Lovage, mash it with Dandelion, and apply the paste to the wound."

"What? The wound healed, but now hair's growing where you applied it, and it itches? That shouldn't happen. Ahem. That's a minor issue. Just tell me, did the wound heal or not?"

"You've caught a cold? Boil Peony, add Licorice, ginger, and dates near the end, then drink it warm for three days!"

"Mm, your cold's gone, but now you're having trouble in bed after taking the medicine? What's that got to do with me? Just tell me, is your cold better or not?"

"Diarrhea? Nothing serious. Brew Patchouli, Perilla, Angelica Dahurica, and Coptis together. Take it after meals!"

"What? The diarrhea stopped, but you keep feeling nauseous? You'll have to register for another consultation. I'm not being unreasonable. Just tell me, do you still have diarrhea or not?"

Conversations like these happened often. At first, plenty of people came to Lu Zeming for treatment, but gradually their numbers dwindled. Lu Zeming never once thought he might be the problem.

"Tsk, my medical skills really are something. There are fewer sick people in the village now! Side effects? The herbs in this world must have different properties. That has nothing to do with my medical skills!"

Though fewer people came for treatment, the fees he had earned had greatly improved life for the two of them. They had more than enough to last until the rice ripened.

With their neighbors' help, they buried the bodies of their parents on the hill behind the village. Whenever Lu Zeming had time, he went into the mountains to gather herbs and set hunting traps.

With better food, both of them grew stronger. Rin filled out a little too, showing the first hints of the beauty she would become.

Of course, Lu Zeming entered the Inner Landscape to cultivate every night. After a dozen or so days, his strength and physical condition had far surpassed those of an adult man.

Never mind smashing rocks with his bare hands. Lu Zeming had brought down a wild boar weighing over a hundred pounds with nothing but the rusty old hatchet from their house.

When he carried the boar into the village, everyone was stunned.

They all gave Lu Zeming a thumbs-up. Even the village chief, who had been eyeing the siblings' farmland, abandoned the idea of taking it.

The bonfire burned bright that night. The meat smelled delicious, and Rin's eyes shone.

She looked up at Lu Zeming. "Can you always be my brother?"

"Of course. I'll always be your brother. Forever!"

"Pinky promise."

"Pinky promise."

Their little fingers hooked together, their promise innocent yet firm...

If circumstances allowed, Lu Zeming would not have minded living this peaceful life forever.

Over the past few days, explosions had echoed through the surrounding mountains and forests, along with occasional faint screams.

Lu Zeming knew that with Kannabi Bridge destroyed and Iwagakure's supply line cut off, its defeat was only a matter of time. But Iwagakure would surely make one final counterattack before it fell, and that would be the most dangerous time for ordinary people.

Lu Zeming had not dared to go into the mountains for herbs these past two days. The villagers stayed inside too, afraid of getting caught in the fighting.

After roughly another week of living on edge, two ninja suddenly arrived in the village.

"Lord Kusakage has been merciful enough to give you people a chance. Bring out your children. If they truly have talent, they can return to Kusagakure with us and become ninja."

"A ninja can earn more from a single mission than you could in a lifetime. And if there's a ninja in the family, the whole household is exempt from taxes!"

The long-faced ninja named Takeda Kenichi stood in the middle of the crowd and called out loudly.

The villagers were eager to try, their eyes gleaming at the prospect.

Life was brutally hard for commoners at the bottom. Becoming a ninja really did seem like a good way out.

Ninja also enjoyed high social standing. The way the village chief fawned over the two of them, bowing so low his waist almost touched the ground, said it all.

Lu Zeming watched from the crowd and shook his head inwardly. Commoners who became ninja were nothing but cannon fodder on the battlefield. Only someone in a hurry to die would sign up.

He also doubted the two men's identities. Neither wore a forehead protector.

To a ninja, a forehead protector was practically an identity card. For these two to leave on a mission without theirs, something was definitely wrong.

While Lu Zeming was thinking, Rin was unexpectedly picked from the crowd.

He hurriedly squeezed forward to pull her back, only to hear an angry shout.

"How dare you!"

The other ninja, a square-faced man named Hiranaka Shun, was still standing five meters away. Yet his fist was already hurtling toward Lu Zeming's face.

Every hair on Lu Zeming's body stood on end. For the first time since arriving in this world, he felt death closing in.