Chapter 5 (1)

Two phosphorescent green lights flickered in the darkness, resembling will-o'-the-wisps. A dark gray wolf pounced directly at him.

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The setting sun cast a blood-red glow, and white smoke rose from the kitchen stove. A knock at the door was followed by several men carrying a bed and bedding inside. Yanzi also arrived, bringing food and supplies for Fang Ji. In the blink of an eye, the main room was almost covered with items.

Fang Ji looked at the red marks on her palms from carrying the bags and quickly took them from her. "Why did you bring so much all by yourself?"

Yanzi smiled. "It's a bit far from the village here, so I brought more since I rarely get the chance to come. If you need anything else, just let me know, and I'll bring it next time!"

"No need! Don't bring anything next time!" Fang Ji quickly invited her to sit down and offered her some water.

Yanzi waved her hand. "No need to drink! I have to hurry back to bring Lin Lang's father his meal."

"Lin Lang's father?" Fang Ji was taken aback and lowered his voice to ask, "Isn't he living with Lin Lang?"

"His father has another room in the village. No one cooks for him..." Yanzi looked out the window and saw that it was getting dark. Her expression changed slightly. "Oh no! I'm running out of time. I need to hurry!"

She rushed to leave, and Fang Ji, seeing her in a hurry, didn't detain her any longer. He turned to start tidying up the bed.

A tattered rush mat was spread in the corner of the room, without a blanket. A crumpled old piece of clothing served as a makeshift pillow. After looking for a moment, Fang Ji pushed the new bed to a spot beside the mat.

Footsteps sounded from behind, and Fang Ji turned around to see Lin Lang standing at the door, holding dishes and looking at the mess in the room. For a moment, Fang Ji didn't know where to step.

"Sorry! I'll tidy up right away!" Fang Ji quickly moved the items to the yard. When he returned to the room, Lin Lang had placed the meal on the table. It consisted of a few vegetable dishes and a very small chicken leg.

Lin Lang picked up an empty bowl, scooped some of the food into it, and added the small chicken leg. He then knocked on the door to the inner room and brought the food inside for A Shui.

Fang Ji took an empty chair and sat down, placing his hands on his knees as he waited. When Lin Lang walked over, Fang Ji looked up, thinking that Lin Lang was going to say something. He prepared a smile on his face.

However, the next moment, Lin Lang shifted his gaze away, pulled a chair to the farthest spot from Fang Ji, and sat down.

Seeing that Lin Lang was merely confirming his position and didn't seem interested to start a conversation, Fang Ji chuckled awkwardly and said, "Lin Lang, right?"

Lin Lang kept his head down and silently continued to eat his meal, treating Fang Ji as if he was invisible.

Fang Ji cautiously looked at his expression and asked, "I'm sorry, moving in like this, are you angry?"

Still without looking up, Lin Lang managed to say in between bites, "No."

"Look, the new bed is for you, and I can use the rush mat. I'll go sleep in the yard, is that okay?"

Lin Lang's brows slightly furrowed. "No need."

Seeing that Lin Lang clearly didn't want to engage with him, Fang Ji held back his words. For a while, the only sound in the room was the clinking of dishes and chopsticks.

After a few more bites, Lin Lang finished his meal, stood up, and prepared to leave. Fang Ji quickly grabbed his arm and said, "Don't move, I'll wash the dishes later!"

Lin Lang didn't even glance at him, pulled his arm away, and walked out the door.

As Fang Ji watched Lin Lang's figure disappear behind the door, he let out a sigh and cleared away the remaining food on the table. Just as he was about to go to the kitchen to wash the dishes, he looked out the window and saw Lin Lang sitting alone in the courtyard.

The breeze of the spring night still held a hint of chill. Lin Lang sat on the edge of the steps in the moonlight, wearing a slightly worn white T-shirt that faintly revealed the lines of his muscles. The distant sound of the wind resembled the sound of the tide, further accentuating the silence around. Lin Lang closed his eyes, feeling a drowsiness creep over him.

In his half-asleep state, he noticed a change in the sound of the wind. He abruptly opened his eyes and saw a dark shadow silently advancing toward him from behind. A hand extended from the shadow, aiming for his neck. Lin Lang's expression changed, and he swiftly grabbed the person's wrist with one hand and secured their throat with the other. Just as he was about to throw them to the ground, the shadow suddenly let out a startled cry. Lin Lang hesitated, realizing that the intruder was Fang Ji. He loosened his grip on Fang Ji's wrist and lifted his leg to support him.

Fang Ji's stomach was hit hard by Lin Lang's knee, and he nearly vomited his dinner. Lin Lang extended a hand to help him up, exclaiming, "What are you doing?!"

Fang Ji could hardly stand straight. He coughed a few times while holding onto Lin Lang's arm and then managed to straighten himself, looking somewhat embarrassed. He said, "S-sorry, I thought you might be cold, so I wanted to get you a coat..."

Lin Lang hesitated for a moment, then noticed that Fang Ji's jacket was lying on the ground. His tense nerves finally relaxed a bit.

"I thought you had fallen asleep just now, so..." Fang Ji explained, but suddenly he gasped and inhaled sharply. He raised a hand to his neck, and when he opened his palm in the moonlight, his face turned pale.

"I'm bleeding from my neck!" Fang Ji's voice trembled.

Lin Lang was taken aback and quickly tilted Fang Ji's chin up to examine the wound. He saw a bloodstain on Fang Ji's neck.

"Don't move!"

Lin Lang said this sternly. Fang Ji kept his head tilted back, not moving. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lin Lang bend down and come closer. Then, he felt a warm and sticky sensation on his neck.

Fang Ji shivered all over, and he pushed Lin Lang away with his hand, exclaiming, "What are you doing?!"

Lin Lang's lips still had a trace of blood, and his eyes showed confusion. He pointed to his own neck and explained, "You can't reach that spot to lick it, so..."

Seeing his serious explanation, Fang Ji couldn't help but burst into laughter.

There was a brief moment of silence in the air. Lin Lang cleared his throat, his expression turning serious again, and was about to turn away.

Fang Ji quickly held onto him and chuckled, "Trying to run away after hurting someone?"

"Right, right, you have to circle from the inside out... hiss! Be gentle!"

Lin Lang held an iodine cotton swab and finally applied the medicine as Fang Ji instructed. He put a band-aid on the wound as well, and the bleeding stopped. Seeing that there wasn't any major issue, he finally let out a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to stand up, Fang Ji grabbed his wrist. Lin Lang glanced down and saw Fang Ji carefully examining the frostbite on the back of his hand.

Furrowing his brows, Lin Lang tried to pull his hand away, saying, "Let go!"

"Just wait for a moment, alright?"

Fang Ji lowered his gaze, and his eyes followed the path of Lin Lang's fingertips as they traced over his hand. The tips of Lin Lang's fingers looked a bit deformed, with the direction of the nails appearing slightly skewed. Although he had intentionally trimmed them into a crescent shape, it was still evident that they were different from those of an ordinary person.

Holding Lin Lang's hand, Fang Ji discreetly moved his gaze away and took out a tube of ointment from his bag. He squeezed out a bit onto his palm, warmed the ointment with the heat of his hand, then dipped his fingertip into it and gently spread it over Lin Lang's dry and reddened hand back.

"Has anyone ever told you that your hands look very attractive?" Fang Ji suddenly said.

"...I'm not attractive."

"Who said that?"

Lin Lang remained silent for a moment before saying, "...my father."

"Well, I think they're very attractive," Fang Ji paused, as if recalling something. "By the way, does your father also live here? If I'm staying at your place, should I let him know?"

Lin Lang lowered his gaze and said, "No need, he doesn't live here."

Fang Ji nodded, finishing up the frostbite ointment. He let go of Lin Lang's hand and said, "I'll apply some for you every day from now on. It will gradually improve. Avoid cold water these days; changing seasons makes it more likely to recur. If you need to wash clothes or dishes, just let me know, okay?"

Lin Lang looked down and saw the smooth layer of ointment on his hand back. The slight pain and itchiness lingered on his skin like an electric current, leaving him slightly bewildered.

Seeing that his expression had eased a bit, Fang Ji pointed to the worn-out reed mat on the ground and asked, "By the way, Lin Lang, did you used to sleep on the bed where A Shui is now? Because of her, you're staying here instead?"

Lin Lang made a sound of agreement. Fang Ji lowered his gaze and asked again, "But she's the daughter-in-law of the Guo family. If she doesn't live with the Guos, how come she's staying here with you while she's pregnant?"

Lin Lang lifted his head, glanced at Fang Ji, but didn't answer.

The next day, before dawn, Feng Bao Nan rushed in, sweating profusely.

The previous night, the son of the Ma family had been suffering from severe abdominal pain and a high fever. He had been vomiting and experiencing diarrhea all night long, until he couldn't vomit anything else and was only retching up sour liquid. (Stomach acid)

Fang Ji quickly put on his clothes and got off the bed. He leaned over the bed to look, but Lin Lang was already gone. Lin Lang had insisted on sleeping on the reed mat the previous night, and Fang Ji didn't force him.

The sky had just started to brighten with a pale light, and cries that could tear one's heart apart rang out in the village, frightening even the roosters at the village entrance into silence.

People rubbed their bleary eyes, pushed open their doors, and craned their necks to listen and look for the source of the commotion.

"Get lost! All of you, get lost!"

The source was found in front of the Ma family's courtyard. A woman sat on the doorstep, disheveled hair, her dry wrinkled face streaked with tear tracks. She had one leg stretched across the adjacent doorstep to act as a barrier, and in her hand was a shovel. She shouted, "How did that Sun family's son die under the care of some dogshit doctor?! Everyone else might not know, but Feng Bao Nan, don't you know?!"

With that, she hoisted the shovel and gestured toward Feng Bao Nan outside.

Feng Bao Nan quickly grabbed the shovel, his anger flaring, "Zhang Xiuhua! Are you out of your damn mind?!"

"You're the one who's gone crazy!" Zhang Xiuhua's eyes were bloodshot as she fixed her gaze on him. "You handed my son over to some worthless doctor?! If anyone dares to harm my son even a little bit, I'll bash my head to death right here today! None of us will have it easy!"

Saying that, she stood up and kicked Feng Bao Nan in the chest. He hadn't expected her sudden attack, and he took a fierce blow to the chest, stumbling back a few steps.

Zhang Xiuhua sneered, stepped forward, and stood right in front of her door. Tilting her head, she locked her gaze onto Fang Ji's face, then grabbed the shovel and charged toward him.

Fang Ji's face turned pale in an instant. He trembled as if he were paralyzed by fear, and he remained frozen in place. In the blink of an eye, Zhang Xiuhua had rushed to Fang Ji's side, hoisting the shovel to strike him on the head. Just then, Feng Bao Nan interposed himself between the two, grabbing hold of the shovel's handle. Zhang Xiuhua cursed and exerted all her strength to push down, causing the shovel to veer off course. It sliced across Feng Bao Nan's face, leaving a bloodied gash.

Gasps echoed all around as the sight unfolded. Zhang Xiuhua's hand shook, and Feng Bao Nan wrested the shovel away from her. With many pairs of eyes watching, her face grew hot in an instant. She sat down on the ground with her mouth agape, pointing a trembling finger at the center of Fang Ji's forehead, wailing, "It's all because of you! You've brought disaster upon us! Such a disaster!"

"That's enough!" Feng Bao Nan's face, still stained with blood, barely wiped clean, locked onto Zhang Xiuhua's eyes. He scolded, "I heard about your son's condition in the middle of the night, and I had someone rush here in the dark! If you keep making a scene, I'll kick you the hell out of Shangyang Village!"

"You're the one who said an outsider's doctor killed someone! I'd rather my son live for whatever few days he can than have an outsider's doctor touch him!" She covered her face, murmuring, "My husband died early, and now everyone's bullying the two of us!"

With a sound like her heart shattering, she collapsed onto the ground, pounding her fists against the dirt, sending up a cloud of dust.

Amidst the chaos, a figure pushed through the crowd. The person took a few steps toward her, his eyes widening in shock as he stared at Zhang Xiuhua. He exclaimed, "Xiuhua? What are you doing?!"

Zhang Xiuhua trembled at the noise. She slowly lifted her head, tears blurring her vision as she saw a familiar face. She stared at him in bewilderment, her lips trembling. It took her a moment before she finally managed to utter, "Brother...?"

Zhang Guangquan's face turned pale. He quickly crouched down, trembling hands helping her to her feet. He let out a long sigh, supporting her as she leaned against him. Then he turned his gaze to Fang Ji, his face tinged with shame. "Dr. Xiao Fang, I apologize for such an unsightly scene."

Zhang Xiuhua's gaze remained vacant. Zhang Guangquan wiped the tears from her face with a trembling hand and said, "If it weren't for him saving my life, you wouldn't have seen me again."

Zhang Xiuhua blinked, her eyes widening suddenly.

"I offered him money, but he wouldn't accept it! I've been wanting to tell you these past few days, but I've been busy with spring planting. Who could have predicted..."

Fang Ji approached the two of them and rested his hand on Zhang Guangquan's shoulder. "Uncle Zhang, don't get angry. When it comes to being parents, all our concerns are concentrated on our children. Being cautious is never a mistake."

Fang Ji looked at Zhang Xiuhua and smiled gently. "Aunt Zhang, I've heard about your son's condition from village head Feng. As long as he takes this medicine, his life can be saved." He reached into his pocket and took out a neatly folded paper packet, opening it and laying it flat in his palm. "I won't take your money, nor do I intend to harm your child. Choose one pill from inside, and I'll take it in front of you. If I truly intended harm to your child, there'd be no need for me to jeopardize my own life. Don't you think?"

As Fang Ji finished speaking, a commotion erupted behind him. Whispers and discussions spread like wildfire, and countless eyes were fixated on his back.

Zhang Guangquan's expression changed, and he quickly restrained Fang Ji's wrist. He said, "Dr. Fang, you can't do this! After all, those are medicines. How can you take them without being sick?"

Fang Ji smiled and gently moved Uncle Zhang's hand aside, holding his palm out flat in front of Zhang Xiuhua, patiently awaiting her reaction.

Zhang Xiuhua stared blankly at him, her trembling hand pointing at one of the pills.

Fang Ji placed the pill in his mouth without using water and swallowed it. He opened his mouth, inviting her to inspect.

The crowd behind them fell silent. Zhang Guangquan's face was full of concern. He gently linked his arm with Fang Ji's and closely observed his face. "Dr. Xiao Fang, are you okay? Please come inside and rest!"

Fang Ji shook his head, while Zhang Xiuhua gazed at him, her mouth agape. She lowered her head, her hands hanging helplessly by her side, momentarily speechless.

Just then, Fang Ji suddenly grabbed her arm and said, "Don't move!"

Startled, Zhang Xiuhua felt a sharp pain in her hand. She lowered her head to see a small twig embedded in her palm. In the midst of her emotional turmoil earlier, she hadn't even noticed it. Now, she felt a searing pain.

Fang Ji held her hand and shifted from crouching to kneeling. With two fingers, he pressed on both sides of the wound, while his other hand pulled out tweezers from his bag. He clamped onto the twig and gently pulled it out. Zhang Xiuhua was momentarily bewildered, only now realizing the pain. Then, a surge of warmth radiated from the wound as it became wet. She shivered and saw that Fang Ji was on his knees in front of her, using his mouth to suck at the wound and spit out the dirty blood.

Kneeling before her, Fang Ji spat the dirty blood into a tissue, repeating the process a few times. He then took out saline solution and erythromycin, cleaned the wound, and bandaged it with gauze.

Fang Ji raised his head and told Zhang Xiuhua, "Luckily, the wound isn't deep, so we don't need to worry about tetanus for now. Avoid getting the wound wet in the coming days, and I'll change the dressing for you daily."

Zhang Xiuhua lowered her head, gently running her fingertip over the pristine white gauze on her hand. Her face held an expression of guilt as she looked at Fang Ji. After hesitating for a moment, she managed to squeeze out, "Thank you..."

With the tension defused, the spectators gradually dispersed, now that the commotion had died down.

The son of the Ma family recovered from his illness.

Fang Ji looked at him one last time, then left and walked along the riverbank towards the Feng family's residence. A few villagers working in the fields noticed him from a distance and greeted him, "Good morning, Dr. Fang!"

Fang Ji paused, turned towards the source of the voice, and tried to recall the names of those people. He hadn't interacted with most of them much, at most just a casual encounter in the village. He nodded politely in acknowledgment.

By midday, Fang Ji arrived at the Feng family's house. Yanzi welcomed him in and then hurried off to the kitchen to cook. A Huang, the dog, lay in the shadow against the wall, burying its head under its tail and curling up.

Feng Bao Nan's face was slightly flushed with alcohol. Upon seeing Fang Ji, he invited him to drink, "Xiao Fang, the guesthouse has been prepared. If you don't mind, you can stay there anytime."

Fang Ji smiled and replied, "No need to trouble yourself. I'll stay in the guesthouse as planned. Besides, if I take up the guesthouse, where will other visitors stay?" (Tn: He means the place where he is taking care of A Shui)

Feng Bao Nan's expression darkened, and he sneered, "Who's coming? No one is coming here!" He tilted his head back and downed a cup of alcohol, then continued, "If you're comfortable staying with Lin Lang, that's fine. He's a bit eccentric in his temperament. If he provokes you, don't clash with him. Just come and tell me. I have a way to deal with him!"

"He's fine. We haven't spoken much, but we're getting along well enough." Fang Ji paused for a moment and seemed to recall something, "By the way, Village head Feng, most of the villagers now know that I'm staying here. People with minor illnesses are coming to me for treatment. But there are too many visitors, and I'm having trouble keeping up. Would it be possible for you to help me create a list of names? Include their ages and their medical conditions. I can then prioritize them according to urgency. For instance, someone with a heart problem should be treated sooner than someone with a leg issue."

Feng Bao Nan was taken aback, "A list?"

"Yes, list the names of the villagers, their ages, and their medical conditions. I can use that list to attend to their needs more effectively. Someone with a serious condition like a heart problem should receive treatment sooner."

"Sure!" Feng Bao Nan slapped his thigh, "You're right! I'll have Feng You take care of that!"

After finishing their meal, the two of them idly chatted for the rest of the afternoon as the sky gradually darkened.

The sun had set, casting the mountains into a deep black. The surroundings grew silent.

Leaving the Feng family's house, Fang Ji walked into the woods behind it.

Dark clouds obscured the moon, leaving only a faint glimmer of light. Everything was shrouded in darkness, and in the absence of moonlight, it was difficult to discern the shapes of objects around.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, causing Fang Ji to stop in his tracks. He looked up at the sky, where a heavy mass of black clouds hung overhead. He had entered deep into the forest.

After walking for a while, he stopped by a white wax tree. He pushed aside the wild grass growing near its roots, squatted down, and ran his hand along the root for a moment. Pausing, he looked down to see a new, diagonal, pale scar on the root's surface. The direction of the scar originated from the base of the tree and pointed towards the west side of the forest.

He stood up and headed west. Another gust of wind blew through the branches, causing the leaves to rustle softly. Suddenly, there was a 'snap' sound from behind, as if a branch had broken. Fang Ji's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately crouched down, hiding in the shadows of the trees. He glanced around, but there was nothing to be seen. He pressed his back against the tree trunk, held his breath, and waited in silence until the wind subsided and the surroundings returned to a deathly quiet.

Fang Ji slightly exhaled and stood up slowly. He advanced several dozen meters to the west until he found another white wax tree. Crouching down, he was about to reach out towards the tree's roots when suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps sounded behind him. In the blink of an eye, they were approaching rapidly from behind. Fang Ji's face changed, and he turned his head to look, only to see two phosphorescent green lights flicker in the darkness. In an instant, a dark gray wolf lunged directly at him.