The Healing Art of Zhu You (Monthly Votes, Please)

Zhang Laifu knew the bandits would come. He just hadn't expected Old Zheng so soon.

His first instinct was to run for his life, but he quickly calmed down.

After spending three full days with Old Song, Old Zheng, and Old Yu, Zhang Laifu knew one thing for certain: he couldn't simply run away from these bandits.

But if he didn't run, wouldn't he be waiting to die?

First, he had to find out where Zheng the Pipa was.

Zhang Laifu looked around, following the sound of the Pingtan. He couldn't spot Old Zheng, but his feet began moving against his will, carrying him slowly toward the side of the street.

Wrong approach.

I can't focus on the Pingtan, or Old Zheng will lead me by the nose.

He's hiding somewhere instead of attacking me outright. Why is he trying to lure me toward the side of the street?

He's a bandit. He can't show his face!

He's cautious, unlike Old Song and Old Yu.

In broad daylight, on a busy street, he won't make a move lightly.

The more people there are, the less he'll dare to act.

Zhang Laifu formed a plan and suddenly shouted at a vendor beside him, "What are you selling?"

The vendor jumped. "Sweet rice balls!"

"Rice balls have fillings too, so why don't you sell steamed buns?"

The rice-ball seller thought for a good while, then tapped the strainer in his hand. "Why should I sell steamed buns? What's wrong with you?"

Their shouting drew the attention of passersby. Amid the hubbub of voices, the Pingtan faded considerably.

Zhang Laifu fought to control his feet and made it to the next stall. "Do you sell steamed buns?"

"I sell chilled noodles."

"It's all made from flour. Why don't you sell steamed buns?"

The chilled-noodle seller rolled up his sleeves and glared at Zhang Laifu.

Zhang Laifu moved on to another stall. "Do you sell steamed buns?"

"I sell pig's-head meat!"

"Can't you make steamed buns with pig's-head meat?"

"I could, depending on how many you want..."

"Then why don't you sell steamed buns? Don't you know how to do business?"

"What the hell are you after?" The meat seller picked up his cleaver.

Straight to the knife? Why is this pig's-head seller so hot-tempered?

The whole street was staring at Zhang Laifu.

The rice-dumpling seller asked, "Where'd this fool come from?"

The tofu seller was annoyed too. "Can't he recognize a steamed-bun stall? Why's he asking everyone here?"

The sugarcane seller grumbled, "He came asking me for steamed buns, and I sell sugarcane!"

The lamb skewer seller looked wary. "Watch yourselves, everyone. That kid looks like trouble."

The pig's-head seller gritted his teeth. "Who taught him he could behave like this? Touch my stall and I'll break his legs!"

Old Zheng frowned and put some distance between himself and Zhang Laifu.

Zhang Laifu had been right. Old Zheng didn't want to attack him in broad daylight.

The Pingtan grew fainter, and Zhang Laifu broke free of most of its hold. But his strength was nearly spent.

He came to a table and asked, "Do you sell steamed buns?"

A man sat behind it. He looked about twenty-five or twenty-six, with a lean build and a blue-gray gown. Its fabric and tailoring were nothing special, but he had kept it spotless.

He was handsome enough, with even features, clear eyes beneath his brows, and a steady gaze sharpened by something keen, as though he could see through a person's thoughts.

"Sir, I don't sell steamed buns." The man pointed to the hanging sign behind him. It read: Li Yunsheng, Master of Zhu You Healing.

Zhang Laifu read it carefully. "Your name is Li Yunsheng?"

Li Yunsheng nodded and made a point of adding, "I'm a doctor."

Judging by his clothes, he was probably a local doctor. Zhang Laifu held out his wrist. "Take my pulse."

Li Yunsheng pointed to the words "Zhu You" on the sign. "I don't take pulses."

Zhang Laifu said, "How can you be a doctor if you can't take a pulse?"

Li Yunsheng paused. "Sir, where have you come from?"

Zhang Laifu asked instead, "First tell me where this is."

Li Yunsheng studied him for a moment and seemed to grasp something. "Sir, this is Wansheng Province. A thousand people, a thousand faces; ten thousand lives, ten thousand changes. You've come to a wonderful place rarely found in this world!"

Zhang Laifu raised his voice. "What's so wonderful about Wansheng Province? What makes this place so good? Go on, tell me!"

Li Yunsheng looked at him and asked calmly, "Did you come here just to pick a fight?"

The surrounding vendors, diners, and passersby all gathered to watch.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Looks like something's seriously wrong."

Old Zheng was in the crowd too. He was still waiting for a chance to strike, but a chance was hard to find with everyone's eyes fixed on Zhang Laifu.

Zhang Laifu caught his breath and looked at Li Yunsheng. "You heard them. They all say there's something wrong with me, and there is. Aren't you a doctor? Treat me!"

Li Yunsheng looked him up and down. "What ails you? Tell me first."

Zhang Laifu pointed at his chest. "My chest is tight, and I'm short of breath. Can't you tell?"

Li Yunsheng shook his head slightly. "You're not sick. You're exhausted. Rest a while and you'll be fine."

Zhang Laifu refused to let it go. "You haven't taken my pulse or examined me, yet you're saying I'm not sick? Isn't that a swindle?"

Doctors of the Zhu You Practice were one of the three hundred and sixty trades.

They were a special kind of doctor. They treated illness without needles or stones, herbs, surgery, or Western medicine. They relied on Incantation and Talisman Paper.

They usually set up on the street. When a patient came, they didn't take a pulse or prescribe medicine. After asking about the illness, they drew talismans and chanted spells on the spot to drive out evil and cure disease.

Zhang Laifu knew nothing of the trade and kept making a nuisance of himself, which began to irritate Li Yunsheng. "Friend, we've never met. Why are you trying to ruin my business?"

"I'm not ruining your business. I came for treatment!" Zhang Laifu sounded entirely justified. He hadn't touched Li Yunsheng's hanging sign.

Someone in the crowd heckled, "Go see someone else! The Zhu You Practice doctors are all swindlers!"

Li Yunsheng looked up at the speaker. "Sir, if someone else cheated you, that has nothing to do with me. I have real skill."

"Stop spouting nonsense!" someone else shouted. "What skill could a Zhu You Practice doctor have?"

"He hangs up a shabby banner and comes here to cheat people, and we're not allowed to say so? Tear his sign down!"

The crowd kept growing. Zheng the Pipa was squeezed among them, his position growing more awkward by the moment. He didn't dare sing Pingtan, speak, or even raise his head.

Zhang Laifu felt the time was right and rose to leave, but Li Yunsheng reached out and grabbed him. "Friend, you came here to make trouble. We need to settle this.

"You say I'm a swindler. Who have I cheated? How did I cheat them? If you can tell me what happened and produce solid proof, I'll quit this business, leave Heishakou, pack up my stall right now, and get out of here before your eyes.

"But if you can't give me a proper account, you'll stand here and apologize to me!"

Zhang Laifu thought that was fair. "You say you're not a swindler? Then cure someone and show us! If you do, I'll apologize in front of everyone!"

Li Yunsheng looked around. He wanted badly to demonstrate his skill, but he had no opportunity just then. "There are no patients here. We'll have to wait until one comes."

Zhang Laifu said, "When will a patient come? Can you say for certain?"

Li Yunsheng couldn't answer that either. "I can't say when one will come. I haven't had any patients today. Everyone, please wait a while."

Zhang Laifu did want to wait. He wanted to see how long Old Zheng could keep this up. "If you don't get a patient all day, I'll wait all day. If you don't get one all year, I'll wait here all year!"

Li Yunsheng, Zhang Laifu, and Zheng the Pipa—two in plain sight and one hidden—were locked in a standoff.

A man in his early forties emerged from the crowd. He wore a small round cap, had a plaster stuck above his left eyebrow, and carried a birdcage. He ambled over to stand between Zhang Laifu and Li Yunsheng.

Zhang Laifu started. Wasn't that the man with the plaster?

The man with the plaster looked at Zhang Laifu first. "Little brother, I sent you to buy steamed buns. What are you doing here causing trouble?"

Zhang Laifu had no way to explain. Li Yunsheng turned to the man with the plaster. "Did you come with him? Are you both here to ruin my business?"

The man with the plaster smiled. "Let's talk sense if there's a point to make, and deal with the matter at hand. We're all grown men. Shouting at each other in the street isn't very dignified."

Fanning himself, Li Yunsheng looked at the man. "Who are you?"

The man with the plaster also pulled a folding fan from the back of his collar and gave it a few flicks. "My name is He Yunxi. I'm the sixth son in my family, so the neighbors call me Sixth Master He. How about I hear both sides and judge who's right? Will you two do me that courtesy?"

P.S. The Zhu You Practice has a founding master too!

One more chapter is coming shortly.