May Your Road Ahead Bloom Like Brocade, Your Future Full of Promise

Over the next three years, Chen Xun began accompanying Ning Si on house calls, traveling among the common folk and treating all manner of difficult and complicated illnesses. Sometimes, when minor trouble arose, he would inadvertently reveal his Eight-pack abs.

Chen Xun carried a little booklet with him at all times, filled with countless questions. Ning Si was exceptionally patient as well, answering Chen Xun's questions without pause. A disciple so eager to learn was truly rare.

But once, when they went to a wealthy landowner's home for a consultation, Chen Xun accidentally exposed a Mountain-Splitting Axe at his waist. Everyone was struck dumb with horror. Was this damned fellow really a doctor?!

Chen Xun had merely smiled sheepishly at the time. When traveling outside, it was perfectly normal to carry a Mountain-Splitting Axe, wasn't it?

Unhurried, he adjusted his robes to conceal the Mountain-Splitting Axe—only to accidentally reveal two more. All the servants immediately faced him as though confronting a great enemy, long staffs in hand. This youth was definitely no good man.

Chen Xun wore a kindly smile as he kept explaining that, when roaming the martial world, it was understandable to carry an extra couple of weapons. Had Ning Si not been beside him, a great battle might have erupted at any moment.

While Ning Si examined the patient, everyone in the landowner's household broke out in a faint sweat. If they encountered an incurable disease, wouldn't this youth simply split the patient in half with an axe? Then the illness would be solved...

Chen Xun looked at their expressions in confusion, smiling and nodding repeatedly to reassure them.

They hurriedly returned his smile, nodding like chicks pecking at grain as cold sweat streamed from them drop by drop.

At Pingtai Medical Clinic, the sun shone brightly today, and spring was radiant.

Chen Xun had now changed into a doctor's robe. Which passing clerk would not respectfully call him Doctor Chen?

"Doctor Chen, save him!"

A commoner supported a man with a blackened face into the clinic, his own face full of anxiety.

Chen Xun's eyes narrowed. Judging from the man's complexion at a glance, the poison had already seeped deep into his blood. Had he arrived any later, it would have been an Omen of the Feast.

"Snake venom?"

Chen Xun laid the man down on a nearby bed. There were two tiny wounds on his hand, clearly the marks left by venomous fangs.

"No, Doctor Chen. He ate poisonous mushrooms."

"Huh?"

Startled, Chen Xun began taking his pulse. His expression shifted several times before he turned to the commoner. "After eating poisonous mushrooms, he was bitten by a venomous snake too..."

Thump.

The commoner dropped straight to his knees and cried out through tears, "Doctor, please save him!"

"I'll prescribe a remedy. Go get the medicine first. He should still be salvageable."

Chen Xun took out a sheet of paper and began writing and sketching on it before handing it to the commoner. The man's expression changed upon seeing it. He did not have enough money for the medicine.

"It's fine. I'll cover the cost for you first. Pay me back when you have the money," Chen Xun said calmly. Helping where he could was enough. Over the past year, he had earned quite a bit treating wealthy households.

"Thank you, Doctor! Thank you, Doctor!" The commoner was overjoyed, tears and snot streaming down his face.

Chen Xun nodded. In this world, if a man fell, his entire family fell with him. Helping within the limits of one's ability did no harm.

But gradually, he discovered that he had been wrong...

Chen Xun's reputation for kindness and virtue slowly spread. The doctors in the clinic all had families to support; naturally, they could not be as unburdened as Chen Xun, spending their own money to aid poor patients.

He was lifted completely onto a pedestal. Everywhere, people proclaimed him the World-Saving Miraculous Doctor. He treated patients for free, and those who sought Miraculous Doctor Chen could even buy medicine on credit. The only thing missing was a banner of praise.

Countless impoverished commoners swarmed in. Chen Xun's purse gradually ran dry, but he would not trouble others or use morality to force the people of the clinic into doing the same good deeds as him.

And among all those commoners who owed money, only a pitiful few came back to the clinic to repay it. He truly had no money left.

Then the wind changed. Some commoners cursed him for standing by and watching people die, calling him falsely benevolent and hypocritical. Some of the people he had once helped came to the clinic and looked at him with nothing but disgust.

Some commoners who had come from afar after hearing of him, upon learning that Chen Xun no longer offered credit, even spat before the clinic, cursing the wasted time it had taken them to travel so far.

Good deeds never left the door, but bad news traveled a thousand miles. Everyone said that Pingtai Medical Clinic had produced a doctor of poor character, one who carried three Mountain-Splitting Axes on him all year round. One look told you he was no good person.

In the rear courtyard of Pingtai Medical Clinic, Chen Xun no longer dared to see patients in the main hall.

"Well, damn. The clown was me all along."

Chen Xun laughed loudly, but there was bleakness in his laughter. Even the clerks and doctors looked at him differently now.

Didn't you love putting on an act? Why don't you keep acting now? Quite a few people in the clinic secretly mocked him. Back then, Chen Xun had stolen far too much of their spotlight.

"Moo moo! Moo!"

Big Black Ox pressed its head against Chen Xun's face. It had learned of the matter recently too; the rumors were everywhere.

"Old Ox, see? Didn't I tell you back then that we only needed to help the friends around us? Now you understand what I meant, right?"

"Moo moo!"

Big Black Ox looked at Chen Xun with heartache. It had never seen him so dejected. In its eyes, Chen Xun had always been an optimistic, happy person.

"You underestimate me too much. I expected all of this. I only wanted to show you what that saying meant."

Chen Xun forced a smile, wrapping one arm tightly around Big Black Ox's head as their faces pressed close together.

"Moo~~" Big Black Ox rubbed against Chen Xun, its spirits exceptionally low, though deep within its heart, rage was already boiling over.

"Old Ox, let's leave. This place isn't right for us. I'll go bid Teacher Ning farewell."

Chen Xun patted Big Black Ox. He had already severely affected the clinic's business here, and he did not want to hold anyone back.

"Moo!"

Big Black Ox sprang up. It did not want to stay here either, and hurried off to pack their pots, bowls, and utensils.

Watching its busy back, warmth filled Chen Xun's heart, and a faint smile touched his lips.

Ning Si's residence.

Chen Xun had changed back into the blue robes he had worn before, no longer dressed in the clinic's long doctor's robes.

"I already know about this matter, and I understand your difficulties."

Ning Si sat in the seat of honor, weariness of years in his eyes as he slowly said, "Human Nature is inherently evil. That is the conclusion I reached after many years of practicing medicine. I hope it will help you on the road ahead."

"I will never dare forget Teacher Ning's teachings." Chen Xun solemnly cupped his fist in salute. Over these ten years, he had learned far too much.

Ning Si picked up an untitled book from the table and explained, "This contains my accumulated experience over many years. I will give it to you."

"Huh?"

Chen Xun was startled. Taking one long step forward, he hastily caught the book. "Teacher Ning, this is far too embarrassing."

Ning Si gave a light tug, and his expression changed. It would not budge. The book he had written seemed to be clamped tightly in an iron vise.

"Hehe, it's nothing. Take it."

"Thank you, Teacher Ning!"

Chen Xun flashed away, and the book instantly appeared at his waist. The speed was so fast that Ning Si's pupils widened slightly.

"Go. Come back and visit when you have time."

"Teacher Ning, thank you for taking me in. If anything happens to the Ning Family, even if I must cross ten thousand miles, I will certainly return."

Chen Xun's expression turned grave as he bowed solemnly.

Ning Si nodded again and again with feeling. "For those years, I had been observing you. You possess great wisdom that looks like foolishness; you are no creature destined to remain in a shallow pond. Just hold fast to your True Heart."

Chen Xun slowly raised his head, gave Ning Si one final look, then turned and left.

Watching Chen Xun's departing back, Ning Si smiled faintly. "Xun Kid, may your road ahead bloom like brocade, and may your future be full of promise."