Long Qianming walked slowly into the shop and looked around. He found that the interior was quite nicely furnished, and all the basic things a shop needed were here. So why had no one come to ask about the price?
Could someone have died in this shop, the sort whose departed soul had yet to disperse?
Just as his imagination ran wild, guessing at every possibility, Xu Han, a somewhat pale, frail man, staggered out of the courtyard at the back of the shop and said gently,
"Child, what brings you to my shop? Where are your parents?"
"Uncle, I'm here to rent this shop. It's in such a good location, so why can't you rent it out?"
At this, Xu Han slowly turned away. He dismissed the idea of this child renting the place, but since someone had brought it up, he would not hide it.
"Child, three people died in this shop, and all of them were powerful Soul Masters. Their wronged souls haunt the entire house. Every night at the third watch, they come out to suck away people's Soul Power."
"Look at me. This is what those wronged souls did to me."
He looked at Long Qianming with a grin. Such exaggeration ought to give the child a fright, adding another amusing incident to his limited remaining life!
After all, no one had visited this shop in a long time, and now this little brat wanted to rent it. It would sound rather funny if he told anyone.
Long Qianming did not believe him at all. How could ghosts exist in a perfectly ordinary Soul Master World? Still, his guess had been right: someone really had died in this house.
As the saying went, never open a shop in a dead man's room or make your home in a dead man's tomb. Such an ill-omened place would be shunned in any world.
As for the shopkeeper's symptoms, Long Qianming did not even need to take his pulse. One look at his face and unfocused expression told him what was wrong.
He probably worked too hard normally, and with a harmonious married life on top of that, he had squeezed his vitality completely dry. How could he not be weak?
"Uncle, spare me all that empty talk. Just tell me how much the rent is."
Hearing this, Xu Han turned back around. He looked Long Qianming up and down and said slowly,
"All right, ten Gold Soul Coins a month. That's the lowest price. If you don't have the money, bring your parents here."
"Ten? Could you make it a little cheaper? After renting your place, I'll still need to buy supplies. That'll be a considerable expense too."
Long Qianming was quite helpless about this. His current wealth was pitifully small, and he had to stretch every Gold Soul Coin as though splitting it in two. He needed to rent a place, open a shop, and cover his basic living expenses.
Hard. Far too hard!
Still, Long Qianming frowned, looked at Xu Han before him, and said,
"Boss, I see that your complexion is poor and you look listless. I happen to know a little medicine. If I can cure you, could you rent it to me for two Gold Soul Coins a month?"
"Huh? You?"
At this, the shopkeeper looked at Long Qianming in astonishment.
"Do you know that even a healing-type Soul Master can only ease my illness a little, not cure it completely? You're a child who hasn't even grown all his hair yet, and you think you can cure me?"
"If you really can cure me, forget two Gold Soul Coins a month. I could even let you stay here rent-free for half a year."
"Good, it's a deal. Boss, don't go back on your word."
Hearing this, Long Qianming realized his preliminary diagnosis appeared to be mistaken. If even a healing-type Soul Master could not cure it, this was not a simple case of depleted vitality. He needed to investigate further.
Long Qianming took out the medicine pouch hidden inside his clothes. Once all his preparations were complete, he lifted Xu Han's hand, taking his pulse while observing changes in his body and asking about the symptoms he experienced in daily life.
Only after going through all four methods of traditional Chinese diagnosis-inspection, listening and smelling, inquiry, and palpation-did he find the cause.
"Child, all this poking and prodding has worn me out. If you can't diagnose my illness, you'll have to compensate me-"
Xu Han wanted to say more, but when he saw Long Qianming's tightly knitted brows and extremely solemn expression, he immediately felt that something was terribly wrong. He had only ever seen such a grave, helpless look on healing-type Soul Masters.
Could this child before him really know medicine? He hesitated briefly, then asked with a worried expression,
"Child, can my illness be treated?"
"Kidney yin deficiency, kidney yang deficiency, insufficient kidney Qi, and insufficient kidney essence. You have all four. It's already an enormous stroke of luck that your kidneys haven't failed."
Long Qianming was greatly surprised as well. The man had all four major forms of kidney deficiency described in traditional Chinese medicine, and his heart and lung function had also been affected to varying degrees. If he had not regularly taken tonics and received help from healing-type Soul Masters, he would have died long ago.
Although Xu Han did not quite understand the symptoms Long Qianming described, he clearly understood the look on a doctor's face. This was an omen of grave misfortune.
Thud-
Xu Han suddenly dropped to his knees, pleading through tears,
"Doctor, I don't want to die! I haven't lived enough yet! Please save me!"
"If you can cure my illness, you can rent this shop for free for as long as you want. And take these ten Gold Soul Coins as your consultation fee."
As he spoke, Xu Han took a money pouch from his waist and stuffed it into Long Qianming's hand.
"When entrusted with a task, I must see it through faithfully. Besides, you're my future landlord. How could I not save you?"
Long Qianming accepted the consultation fee and helped him up, a sense of difficulty rising in his heart.
"However, your condition is very difficult for me to handle too. Only an Immortal Herb from the heavens could cure your illness. Though I'm not confident I can cure you completely, I can still treat you, and you might even slowly recover to how you were before."
"Thank you, Doctor. What should I do now?"
Xu Han no longer looked down on Long Qianming. His illness had now reached the point of spilled water that could not be gathered back. A healing-type Soul Master had told him that without the help of a Nine Heart Flowering Apple Soul Master, he had at most seven years left to live.
As a commoner, he could not possibly secure the services of a Nine Heart Flowering Apple Soul Master. Even if they were willing to help, their consultation fee would be extremely high, far beyond what he could afford.
Soul Masters and commoners were ultimately two different kinds of people!
Now that someone resembling a miracle doctor had appeared, he could only treat a dead horse as though it were still alive and stake everything on one desperate attempt.
"Sit properly and straighten your back. I'll give you acupuncture first to stimulate your meridians and ease the depletion of kidney Qi in your body."
Even as he spoke, Long Qianming had already taken eight silver needles in hand. Using his unique technique, he inserted them one by one into Shenshu, Guanyuan, Taixi, and other acupoints through which kidney Qi flowed, supplementing this with acupoint massage to work on the other meridians.
At first, Xu Han felt no effect, but after three minutes, a warm Qi inexplicably arose within his body, continually battering the large amount of yin Qi accumulated inside.
In an instant, Xu Han felt an unprecedented sense of relief. It was entirely different from the feeling of incomplete treatment he got from healing-type Soul Masters. This pleasure arose naturally from his muscles, blood, and every part of his body.
"A miracle doctor! You're a miracle doctor! Child, with your help, there's hope for my illness!"
"Don't talk during acupuncture, or I won't save you."
What Long Qianming hated most in this life was people who spoke whenever they pleased during treatment. Traditional Chinese medicine placed great importance on Qi, and speaking casually during treatment meant losing Qi. That was absolutely forbidden.