All Fell Silent? (1/2)

Master had expected Doctor Qi's snide remarks.

He asked, "I've heard the bad news. What's the good news?"

Doctor Qi said, "The good news? Didn't I just tell you? The snakes might turn out to be ordinary ones."

Master remained calm. "Then how should we guard against these venomous snakes?"

Doctor Qi shook his Medicine Bell. He was about to prescribe a remedy.

After shaking it several times, he said, "One rooster and some realgar. Gather Puellia, Willow, Pine, and Cypress, then burn them to make smoke.

"And don't kill or burn the rooster. The same goes for the realgar.

"Once the smoke rises, the rest depends on your luck.

"If your fate is good, you'll live. If it's bad, you'll die."

He took out paper and a brush, wrote it all down, and handed the prescription to Master.

Master did not take it yet. "What do you want as payment this time?"

Doctor Qi said, "Not much. Tonight doesn't count. The next time you stitch a corpse after tonight, give me the first thing your apprentice touches after he finishes. How does that sound?"

"Agreed," Master said.

Xu Feng listened from the side. Dusk was falling, but he could still see everything clearly. As for Doctor Qi's demand, if nothing disastrous happened tonight, then after tonight...

The next corpse he stitched would be either Grandmaster's or the one brought from Li Family Village.

That meant the thing Doctor Qi wanted could be valuable beyond measure, whichever corpse it came from.

Xu Feng did not know what lay in Li Family Village, but anything that had surprised Old Owl was unlikely to be ordinary.

Master took the prescription from Doctor Qi and said to Xu Feng, "Let's go."

Then he said to Doctor Qi, "Come collect the bodies early tonight!"