No!
This is disgusting.
And although I, as the Sect Leader, am no saint, I certainly can't take advantage of someone in distress!
I thought for a moment, then pulled a root from the ginseng. I placed one side of it in Xu Xiaoling's mouth.
Then, I put the Chengying Sword in her hand.
Just then, two voices, arguing, pushed open the door.
A younger voice said, "Old Chen, I don't mean to disrespect traditional Chinese medicine, but according to the test results, the patient is indeed showing early signs of HIV."
"Nonsense!"
A strong, older voice retorted, "Based on her pulse, it's clear her body is in a state of severe imbalance—excessive yin and insufficient yang, causing weakness. This is not HIV, it's simply that her internal energy is disturbed. Young man, traditional Chinese medicine has been passed down for thousands of years, and our understanding of the human body far surpasses that of Western medicine.
Wait… is that a century-old ginseng?"
The elder, about sixty years old, but still vigorous with energy, stepped forward, his eyes lighting up as he studied the ginseng root in my hand. Slowly, he continued, "Although it's not the best quality, this ginseng is over five hundred years old!
It's an extraordinary medicinal treasure!
Young man, are you selling this ginseng? I'll offer you 800,000!"
800,000?!
I've been eating ginseng like it's nothing, each root worth 800,000? Since meeting the female warrior, I've probably consumed over a hundred ginseng roots by now!
Where on earth did she get so many high-quality ginseng? If it's worth so much, wouldn't selling a few be enough to pay off my debts?
It suddenly dawned on me—this was her plan all along.
She wanted to put pressure on me, forcing me to earn money to pay back my debts. Only in adversity will a person grow stronger. I've been pushed to my limits every day, and with her constant beatings, I've grown more energized. It seems it's all thanks to the ginseng!
In that case, I couldn't let her down.
So, I shook my head. "I'm not selling it. This ginseng is for healing."
The young doctor, in his late twenties, wearing glasses and looking refined, glanced at the ginseng root in Xu Xiaoling's mouth and said, "Don't feed patients random things."
He moved to take the ginseng from her mouth.
"Don't touch her!"
Both the elder and I shouted in unison.
The elder looked at the young doctor and said, "Xiao Lu, I'll take responsibility for this patient. I'll speak to the director later. You go ahead and do your work."
The young doctor knew the elder had strong connections with the director, so he reluctantly left.
The elder looked at me again, his gaze sharp. "Young man, who asked you to use this precious ginseng to treat her?"
I stayed silent.
The elder continued, "This girl is suffering from excess yin and a lack of yang. Using ginseng to restore her yang is a good method. But with so much yin, we also need to clear it. I've practiced traditional Chinese medicine my whole life, and I'm skilled with acupuncture. If I can clear her meridians and then use the ginseng, the effect will be twice as good. By the way, you seem to have a yang deficiency as well. Do you want me to give you some acupuncture?"
I was surprised. This old man knew his stuff!
Not only had he explained Xu Xiaoling's imbalance, but he had also noticed my yang deficiency.
(That's because I've had the fire on my shoulders extinguished. Of course, I'm low on yang!)
"No," I said firmly. "My master is not here. I can't make that decision. You should come back this afternoon."
I was asking him to leave.
Although this old doctor seemed to know what he was doing, who knew if he could handle the yin energy?
The elder understood my hint. He glanced at my ginseng again and said, "Hmm, I'd like to meet your master. By the way, don't give the girl any more ginseng. It could backfire."
With that, the elder left.
It seemed that, as the elder said, the ginseng in my hand was extraordinary. Just a small root had stabilized the yang energy in Xu Xiaoling's body. Plus, with the midday sun shining on her, I tried using the Yang Talisman to ignite the yang fire on her shoulders, and it worked immediately!
I carefully lifted Xu Xiaoling in a princess carry, standing by the window and letting the sunlight bathe her.
This would help expel the excess yin from her body, a technique I learned from the Niu Men Chronicles of Exorcisms.
After about three minutes, Xu Xiaoling slowly woke up, then screamed when she saw me, but relaxed once she recognized me.
I gently set her down, grabbed a stool, and placed it in front of the window. With a serious expression, I asked, "What happened after I left last night?"
Xu Xiaoling looked terrified, as if the sunlight itself couldn't warm her. She shivered as she spoke, "About half an hour after you left, a woman dressed in ancient palace attire suddenly appeared. Her left face was mangled, with a huge hole where her left eye should have been. I tried to scream, but no sound came out. Then, my body moved on its own, sitting in front of the vanity, while the terrifying woman combed my hair with a wooden comb. She kept licking my head with her tongue... after that, I blacked out."
She broke down in tears as she spoke.
No surprise. After experiencing such a terrifying scene, I'd probably cry too!
After a long while, Xu Xiaoling sobbed, "That wooden comb... and the vanity set were matched. I clearly remember putting the comb back into the vanity box after using it this morning. But why did you take the vanity box, and the comb came back?"
Ah, so it was the comb! That explained why there was only a faint trace of yin energy on the vanity box—it had been tainted by the comb, which carried the ghost's energy!
That comb must have hidden the ghost's presence. According to Xu Xiaoling's description, there was a ghost inside it—a female ghost with powerful spiritual abilities!
But the new question was, if this ghost was so powerful, why didn't she just kill Xu Xiaoling directly? Looks like I need to visit Xu Xiaoling's home and deal with this ghost before the sun's energy fades.
I turned to Xu Xiaoling and said, "We need to go back to your place now. While the sun is still strong, we must burn that comb! If I'm right, the comb and the ghost are one. If we destroy the comb, the ghost will dissipate."
"No, I can't go back there. Take the key. You burn it for me. Once I leave the hospital, I'm moving."
"It's not about the house," I said.
"I just don't want to stay there anymore," she insisted, pulling the red string from her neck, where a key was tied.
Time was tight—we had to reach her place before noon, between eleven and one!
I took the key from her and said, "Stay by the window, in the sunlight."
Then, I sealed the door with three yang talismans, grabbed my black bag, and left.