6 Chapter 5: Doctor Rong

"What do you mean!"

"Hu-hu-hu-hu…"

Zhu Dong awoke, screaming. Sweat poured from his forehead and neck, his skin completely coated in the salty liquid as he panted heavily.

"Finally awake, hm?" A voice spoke from the corner of the room.

Zhu Dong quickly looked around, following the voice. He was in a white shirt and shorts, in a light blue linin bed.

The room was bright, well lit. Candles surrounded him, hanging from small chandeliers on the ceiling.

Next to him on an old wooden stool was the old man, his robes still as bright and white as from before and his smile just as wide.

"You!" Zhu Dong pointed at him, his arm feeling heavy as he extended his finger.

"You're the… the Yellow Alchemist!" Zhu Dong accused him, shaking his head, still feeling delirious.

"Oh, haha. Even when in such a state you're so perceptive… fascinating." The bearded man chuckled heartily, holding up an ornate hand mirror to Zhu Dong's face.

"Wha –" Zhu Dong was speechless, putting his hands up to his face, touching it all over, confirming the mirror's truth.

Within the jewel ridden mirror, there was a face. It was disgusting, bloated and contorted!

His eyebrow slanted to the right, unevenly. There was a chunk of his nose-bone veering out to the left. He was missing half an ear and his left cheek it… it had completely collapsed.

His words choked in his throat, unable to say a thing. He'd never been an attractive lad, even if he wasn't emaciated, he didn't have a strong jawline or a masculine face… but it couldn't be said he was ugly… but now he was beyond that.

Repulsive, that was what his face was… This was the face a wounded warrior could wear with pride, but a young boy, it was just disfigurement.

Seeing his reaction, the Old Man sighed, "Don't look too distraught, I did what I could… but the damage. It was substantial, to say the least. That vicious boy, Chang Fang… he was not merciful at all. Had I not stopped him, you would not be laying here, but in a coffin."

"He… he tried to kill me?" Zhu Dong said shock filled him to the brim. Sure, the Chang Clan had always humiliated him, the younger generations had always spat on him and treated him like an animal they could beat, but to kill him?!

He'd never thought they'd go that far.

"Yes, to be honest, even though I'm a doctor… I'm surprised you lived. You seem to be remarkably resistant, especially seeing the degradation of your anatomy…" the Doctor sighed with great regret.

"The degradation of my anatomy? Doctor, what do you mean?" Zhu Dong looked up, his eyes confused and distraught.

"Cough, there's really no easy way to say this…" the Old Man mumbled.

"Just tell me then, Senior." Zhu Dong felt a lump in his throat.

"Well… your internal organs. They don't function correctly. Your breath is incredibly weak, your eyes look constantly fatigued. You're malnourished… and you seem to be suffering from a horrid disease that's deep within your blood, I can't even identify it." The Doctor said each word was more solemn than the last.

"Doctor, what's your name." Zhu Dong's voice sounded; it was wavering. Cold, yet that cold was barely managing to freeze the cap of a mighty volcano, ready and eager to erupt.

"My name is Doctor Rong, otherwise known around these parts as the Harmony Handed Sage. An honour to meet a young man as resilient as you." Doctor Rong cupped his hands, smiling with great pain.

"Doctor Rong, how long have I got left?" Zhu Dong's voice suddenly became a lot colder, his own mortality had faded from his mind. His black eyes stripped of their humanity, only looking upon Doctor Rong.

The moment Doctor Rong saw the eyes he felt as if he were in a frozen wasteland, unable to escape, "That depends."

"On?"

"If you can cultivate." He said to Zhu Dong, his heart troubled for him.

"And if I can't?"

"Two years, maximum."

Zhu Dong's heart thumped, his hands started to have a storm of pins within, sharp cutting pains appeared along the sides of his head.

"And if I can?"

"Well, I'm already over half a millennium old, and I've seen boys and girls in as worse states make it to a few hundred years." Doctor Rong's brows relaxed as if he believed in the child.

The two went silent for a long time, Zhu Dong sighed, twisting himself in his bed. His feet hanging off the side. He took a deep breath and forced himself upwards, trying to stand, grunting all the while.

Doctor Rong hurried over, trying to take Zhu Dong by the arm. Yet when he arrived, there was a resounding yet straightforward answer – "No!"

Zhu Dong grunted from the depths of his heart, pushing Doctor Rong away. Forcing himself to his feet all the while, "I'm fine. I'm not an invalid." Were his words as he rose to his feet, standing tall and proud.

Doctor Rong took two steps back and gave a proud nod.

As he managed to balance himself on his feet Zhu Dong bucked up, pushing his jaw out and giving out a light snarl, "Seems I'm going to need to train harder then, now, if you'll excuse me, I have places to be."

A look of determination and undying pride emerged between the brows of Zhu Dong, one that Doctor Rong couldn't help but feel some admiration for.

"You mean to cultivate? Do you even have a technique that you mean to use?" Doctor Rong stood in front of Zhu Dong, blocking his path, both his arms stretched out so that the hobbling Zhu Dong couldn't pass.

The disfigured Zhu Dong looked up towards the white-robed Doctor's bright blue eyes, "My Zhu Clan. The ruins, there's sure to be a cultivation technique in the old family vault. That old bastard Chang Chu has been sending people to guard and crack it day and night since I was a child…" Zhu Dong said with some certainty, a great and furious bubbling of ambition arose in his heart.

"Zhu Dong, you forget yourself. Even if you were able to get past the guards, even if you were to get the vault open, what would you do then? Do you think that the Chang Clan would dare to let you go? And saying there's a cultivation technique, what guarantee do you have it's right? What if it's one that can help you to reach Qi Sea from Qi Condensation Realm?" Doctor Rong spoked thousands of holes within a few seconds into his cupful of ambition.

Suddenly the will and determination in Zhu Dong's eyes started to waver, wanting to vanish and run at that very moment.

"Zhu Dong, have you ever considered the medical path?" Doctor Rong's question rung through Zhu Dong's ears, shivers went up his spine.

"The medical path?" Zhu Dong had a confused look on his face.

"Yes, to become a doctor, such as I!" Doctor Rong had a proud look on his face.

"What would that entail, Senior?" Zhu Dong had a confused look on his face, but there was a glint in his eye, one of deep intrigue and fasciation.

"What would it entail? Very simply, you would shadow me every day. Follow me around the City, attend me and watch. When we are free, I'll teach you of the human anatomy, the secrets that lie within the flesh and soul. I'll show you how to become an alchemist, an art intrinsically tied to Doctoring and finally, I'll grant you two techniques."

"The first technique is the Stone-Heart Body Refining Scroll. It shall guide you in your efforts to reach the ninth level of Body Refining Realm, and it'll even guide you into opening your Dantian."

"After this, I'll lend you the Holy-Hands Technique. It's an intrinsic mix of a healing and cultivation technique. It purifies the Qi into holy energy, allowing one to heal others. It's an immense help, to all those that aspire to become a doctor. It is even how I earned the name – Divine Doctor of the Eastern Dawn!" Doctor Rong said with a righteous voice!

"Divine Doctor of the Eastern Dawn!" Zhu Dong spat out!

How could he not have heard this name! The Divine Doctor of the Eastern Dawn was a legendary figure, one of two remaining decedents of the Sacred Dawn Sect!

The Almighty Alchemist of the Western Dawn and her brother, Divine Doctor of the Eastern Dawn! These were two names that could shake the very Zong Province to its core!

Seeing his surprise, Doctor Rong let out a soft smirk, "Are you willing to become my apprentice then, Xiao-Dong?"