She Stirred My Heart

Everyone was in high spirits after the first performance.

The farmers hurried home excitedly to tell the villagers everything they had seen that night in the "Land of Wonders."

The servants, maids, and guards were chattering among themselves too.

Lin Ke, of course, returned to Azan Castle with a wistful-looking John.

Nix had spent the afternoon and evening studying and exploring the [Doctor] system Lin Ke had described, so he had not come to watch the performance.

Antova, Furon, and Steward Billy were all occupied with their own affairs in the castle, whether enjoying themselves, longing for someone, or managing the household.

Meanwhile, in the study.

"Teacher, what did you think of today's performance?"

Sitting in the chair at his desk, Lin Ke asked with a smile.

"Very entertaining... I think those nobles would gladly pay a silver coin... no, a gold coin to watch it."

Ove sat beside him, still savoring the experience. "That maid's singing stirred my heart... better than those [Bards] and their wretched poems. In all these hundreds of years, hers was the second voice that could stir my heart..."

Oh?

A voice that stirred his heart?

Lin Ke immediately leaned closer, his face full of curiosity. "Was the first your wife?"

So his teacher wasn't quite that socially anxious after all!

After all, Ove's social anxiety had seemed nothing like the homebody type Lin Ke understood, who simply disliked pointless socializing. It had seemed more like a clinical anxiety disorder.

But now there was apparently a wife? Could a breakup have caused his social anxiety?

At Lin Ke's question, Ove's face remained nostalgic as he said softly:

"The last voice that gripped my heart belonged to a level-fifteen Eagle-Faced man I encountered on the Haiding Plane. He was a powerful tribal chief, and his penetrating voice nearly made my heart explode..."

That certainly counted as stirring his heart... Lin Ke fell silent.

Forget it. There was no fun in chatting with a socially anxious, hopelessly literal old bachelor who was hundreds of years old.

"Teacher, right now this stage is just a stage, but I plan to take on all kinds of advertising here later. We can also hold product launches and use it as a filming location."

To avoid discussing something that did not exist, Lin Ke slowly laid out his ideas instead.

Advertising was not important. It was only a teensy billion or so in revenue.

What mattered was the product launches. After all, someone had to use the products he invented in the future. The more people used them, the more money he might earn, and the more feedback he could receive.

As for a filming location, that was purely because things like the Image Recording Stone existed. Otherwise, Lin Ke would never have considered making television series and films this early.

But that string of terms left Ove completely baffled, unable to process them all at once. "Hmm... could you say that again? I mean, I may not have understood the precise meanings of some of those terms."

Research and learning had occupied most of Ove's life.

"Well, these are all terms I invented... How about this, Teacher? Just watch what I do later."

Lin Ke did not explain further. After all, some things would take more than three days and nights to explain.

For instance, money could make even ghosts do your bidding, cultural exports and cultural invasion, promoting values, the money-making power of entertainment systems, and so on.

It might even involve knowledge of sociology, economics, and finance.

Saying too much would not be wise. Everything Lin Ke had done so far had a plausible explanation and could be brushed off as "precociousness."

But displaying knowledge far beyond "precociousness" clearly would not do.

"Hmm... remember to meditate too. With your talent, it shouldn't take long to reach level one. Once your Bloodline becomes self-sustaining, you'll be able to use magic."

As his teacher, Ove offered Lin Ke a few reminders.

Naturally, Lin Ke nodded in agreement.

At present, his "Knowledge" Bloodline could only grow through feeding, and it did not even have enough energy to cast level-one magic.

Generally, only a level-two Mage could cast level-one magic.

At level one, they usually only had things like the Dust-Raising Spell-magic that did not really count as magic.

"I'm going to meditate. See you tomorrow."

After so many days together, Ove had great faith in Lin Ke's self-discipline. With a flicker, he turned into a streak of purple lightning and vanished.

"See you tomorrow, Teacher." Lin Ke stood and bowed, then went out too.

When he returned to his bedroom, Steward Billy, Nix, and John were all waiting for him.

"Young master, your bath is ready. We've added milk from Gula Cattle, as well as lucky flowers to help you sleep peacefully."

Billy bowed, his manner gentle and courteous.

"All right. I'll go in a bit."

Lin Ke looked at Nix. "How did it go, Nix? How much did you collect? Did you write it all down in the common tongue?"

That afternoon and evening, Lin Ke had asked Nix to gather everyone in the castle's knowledge of medicinal herbs.

For example, which herbs to eat for a headache, which to apply to a bleeding wound, which to take for a cold, and so on.

This was one of the traits Lin Ke believed a [Doctor] possessed-"medication."

The other trait was "diagnosis."

Two simple traits, yet their complexity was anything but simple.

First came "diagnosis." Nix had to determine the cause and location of a patient's illness from their description, which required accumulated experience and knowledge.

Then he had to prescribe the appropriate medicine for the patient's illness or illnesses and treat them.

The simple tasks of "diagnosis" and "medication" alone would give Nix more than enough to handle.

If these two traits could not combine into a class, Lin Ke would also consider traits such as "surgery," "stopping bleeding," and "disinfection."

In short, the task Lin Ke had given Nix was to truly understand how to be a [Doctor], rather than a [Witch Doctor] who could only stimulate vitality.

This was Nix's most important task. After all, every time Lin Ke created a class, he gained another trusted aide who would never betray him.

However... Nix's performance made Lin Ke frown.

"Mr. Lin Ke... I asked a lot of people, but I only managed to record uses for three medicinal herbs..."

After saying this, Nix saw Lin Ke's frown and was overcome with panic and guilt. Tears instantly spilled down his face.

Lin Ke took the notes and looked at them. Three lines were written on the page.

Flying sky grass: chew it up and apply it to stop bleeding.

Little yellow flower: eat it raw to treat diarrhea.

Black tree bark: boil it in water to treat bruises and injuries.

That was roughly what the three lines meant.

Lin Ke sank into thought.

Beside him, Nix's face was full of guilt, tears streaming down his cheeks.

John felt a little sorry for him, but said nothing.

Steward Billy kept smiling, his attention entirely on Lin Ke, as though everyone else was merely another person in his eyes.

"I was wrong."

After pondering for a while, Lin Ke suddenly raised his head and looked at Nix, his voice full of apology. "The approach was wrong."

Hearing this, Nix's tears flowed even more fiercely, though he made no sobbing sounds. It seemed more like an instantaneous torrent produced by tear glands that possessed the same "Exceptional Potential" as his Bloodline talent.

John froze at Lin Ke's words. The young master was wrong? How was that possible? Ever since I started serving him, he's never been wrong.

Steward Billy, meanwhile, immediately replied:

"Wise and brilliant young master, your decisions have always shone like the stars. If an error has occurred now, it must be because we did something wrong." As he spoke, Billy bowed.

Beside him, John looked at Billy with admiration.

When it came to flattery... no, managing a household, I still had so much to learn from Steward Billy!

But Lin Ke shook his head at Billy's words. "I'm not a god. I make mistakes too. Being infallible, omniscient, and omnipotent would be unscientific... Actually, even legends make mistakes. That's perfectly normal, let alone gods."

At these words, the admiration in Billy's eyes grew stronger, John's face filled with reverence, and Nix was even more moved.

P.S. It's the first day of the new year! Please send monthly votes and recommendation votes!!

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