The weather was terrible that night. The wind howled for no reason, and the thatched roof struggled to hold.
Chen Xu had only just woken up and could not fall asleep again for the time being.
Through the window propped open by the bed, he could see the cloud-shrouded night sky. It reminded him of Hong Kong, where the skies had been gloomy for two weeks.
Hong Kong's rainy season came early, around March or April every year. The rain would last half a month, sometimes even a whole month.
But it was already August, and there was no typhoon. Experts said global warming had melted icebergs, disrupting ocean currents and causing abnormal weather.
The same old story.
As his thoughts wandered, a bald head poked through the window, wearing something between a smile and a smirk. Pitch-black eyes stared straight at Chen Xu.
Its bloody maw stretched to its ears, wide enough to swallow a child's head whole. Row upon row of jagged teeth made it look even more hideous than a shark's mouth.
Gaunter O'Dimm, that bastard who just would not leave him alone!
Drool dripped onto his forehead. Chen Xu jolted and rolled off the bed.
Only then did he realize it was broad daylight, with dazzling sunlight streaming through the window.
Still shaken, he glanced outside, afraid he was trapped in a dream within a dream.
It took quite a while for the dream's effects to fade completely. He realized he was drenched in sweat, his limbs weak;
An unbearable prickling itch and pain came from his back. He drew Gram and reached it behind him. In the blade's reflection, he saw that his left shoulder, where the drowner had clawed him, was red and swollen, with disgusting pus-like discharge constantly seeping out.
He was sick.
He was only mortal, after all. Who knew how filthy the claws of a carrion-eating drowner were? Witchers could be immune, but that did not mean he was.
The weakness throughout his body sounded an alarm for Chen Xu: this was an extremely real world. If he was killed here, he might truly die.
Infections were not much of a problem in modern times, long since conquered by various antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs. In ancient times, however, they became life-threatening illnesses.
Many people could only rely on their bodies to endure them, ultimately developing sepsis and dying without a cure.
He did know the simplest method of producing penicillin, but time was tight. He would also have to forge medical instruments and cultivate bacterial strains. If he wanted to inject himself, it would be best to conduct clinical trials first. It was too complicated.
His constitution had already reached 5 points, and his immunity was nearly twice what it had been. He might defeat the illness just by toughing it out.
But actually doing that would be far too stupid. Abusing his immune cells like that would shorten his life.
Pocketing his money pouch, he decided to find a local doctor in this world.
White Orchard's herbalist lived near the forest outside the village. Worried about running into wolves or wild dogs, Chen Xu slung both his swords over his healthy right shoulder.
The scabbards Willis had made were exceptionally comfortable to carry. Smoothly polished iron plates had been fitted along the sides to improve durability and prevent the blades from cutting through the leather. The sword hilts had also been carefully wrapped in waxed thread for grip.
A squad of Nilfgaardian soldiers passed him, going from house to house to question people and put up notices.
Once they had passed, Chen Xu stopped to read:
"Wanted: White Orchard fugitives"
The sorceress Penny Burns and the elf Sethis Lodakhar escaped from prison last night after ambushing their guards. They are now wanted throughout all territories under Nilfgaardian rule.
Bounty: 200 crowns. Anyone providing reliable information will receive 20 crowns. Capture alive: 200 crowns each!
Beneath the text were two portraits with ninety-percent likenesses.
Those two veteran Chosen really were something. They had escaped from prison already?
But those two could no longer stay in White Orchard, this starter village. Not only was the army hunting them, but with such a generous bounty, the other Chosen would presumably not let them go either.
"Wanted: spies & suspicious witchers"
Characteristics: suspicious behavior, likes asking questions about everything, bothers others, unusually enthusiastic about all matters.
Anyone providing reliable information will receive 40 crowns. Capture alive: 400 crowns!"
Were they looking for spies? They were clearly looking for Chosen!
Someone in a position of great power was suppressing the development of the other Chosen. Most likely, Nilfgaard's emperor, Emhyr, had been possessed.
Chen Xu was now extremely grateful for his civilian identity.
Roles like a city's king or a witcher were not only rare but also had very obvious outward characteristics. They were in far greater danger than he was.
Passing the tavern, he saw Vesemir's horse still tethered in the same spot. Chen Xu went inside and found the old man eating breakfast.
"Good morning, Master Vesemir."
The two had become acquainted over drinks yesterday. Chen Xu greeted him, ordered some food from the landlady, and sat down opposite the old witcher.
"Hey." Vesemir nodded in response. Seeing that he looked rather unwell, he hesitated before asking:
"What's wrong, lad? Overexert yourself last night?"
This damned old man... Faced with the teasing, Chen Xu simply revealed his festering wound. "A drowner clawed me a couple of times."
"Hey! Hey! I'm eating!" The old man felt his appetite suffer.
Witchers were immune to disease and ordinary toxins, so infections were unfamiliar to them. But Vesemir had lived for nearly three hundred years and knew what an infected wound meant for an ordinary person:
"Go find a herbalist or a witch doctor right away. You can't put off treating a festering wound."
Chen Xu nodded and began eating the breakfast Elsa brought him.
As the old witcher slurped his oatmeal, he asked about a potential job. "You have far too many drowners here. Why not pool some money and let me deal with them? I can get revenge for you while I'm at it. How about it?"
The opportunity had come. Chen Xu took the two swords off his back and laid them on the table.
"I already got revenge myself."
A silver sword and a steel sword?
Vesemir's feline pupils narrowed. He picked them up and examined them carefully. Both were exceptionally fine swords.
He could not help feeling tempted. "You won't have to pay me. I'll kill the drowners in this river for you, plus give you three... four hundred crowns. Sell me these two swords?"
When Chen Xu shook his head, regret filled his face. Fine swords like these were truly wasted in the hands of an ordinary person as helpless as a child.
He slid the swords back into their scabbards, returned them, and warned:
"Stay away from the water from now on. There'll be more of these carrion-eating monsters after the war. You were lucky enough to kill one this time, but remember, luck won't always be on your side."
"Not one. Six." Chen Xu stuffed the remaining bread into his mouth and began putting on an act. "At the floating bridge beside the mill. I needed their brain tissue to quench my swords."
"You're making that up!" Vesemir's first reaction was disbelief. But seeing the wounds of all sizes covering him, along with those two sharp weapons, he was already beginning to suspect he had misjudged him.
An ordinary person, still young, without even a decent suit of armor. Taking on a group of drowners at once-that level of fighting ability was already close to an ordinary witcher's.
Of course, witchers could also make bombs and blade oils, as well as potions with miraculous effects.
He remembered the first time he had seen the lad, when drowners had also been chasing and attacking him. Even then, his rolls had been extremely professional, just like a witcher who had trained for years.
And from what the lad had said, he had actually forged that sword himself?
"Are your parents mages?" Vesemir could not help asking. He was worried that another Vilgefortz had appeared in the world.
"No. Not as far as I know, at least." Chen Xu really did give it some thought on instinct. Mom and Dad were both working stiffs... surely they couldn't have hidden something that well?
"Would you be interested in learning from me..." Vesemir opened his mouth, then swallowed the rest of his words.
Learning what? Witchers were already in decline, unwelcome wherever they went, and they barely earned any money.
Besides, the lad had not even undergone the Trial of the Grasses.
Teaching someone to live on a knife's edge-he could no longer bring himself to make that offer.
"Would you be willing to teach me swordsmanship?" Chen Xu had been planning this for a long time. If he did not take the initiative now, it would be like a peacock spreading its tail for a blind man.