14 Saving Someone

He had no visitors in the past few days. Li Nianfan's life resumed its peace like before. 

After filling up his stomach, he went out to the backyard with a fishing rod. The tortoise was laying on a giant stone by the pond, squinting at the sunlight. Watching the seemingly relaxed tortoise, it was apparent that there was no monster in the pond. So where did all the fish go? 

Li Nianfan did not give in yet. He was about to give it another try while observing the tortoise. The tortoise was a young one, only half as old as Li Nianfan himself. It opened its eyes slightly, looking up at him before lazily shutting them again. 

Li Nianfan smiled and cast his line into the pond.

Smack! 

The rod bent into a perfect curve in the air before it landed in the center of the pond precisely. The surface of the pond rippled with waves while the rod sank deeper. The water in the pond was clear like glass. However, if one was inside the pond, one would realize right away that there was not a single fish in there. Even the krill he had just put in had all disappeared. Beneath the water, a huge phantom gradually opened its eyes and glanced at the fish hook floating in front of it. It wiggled its tail before swimming toward the deeper end of the pond, leaving a trail of gold murk along its way.

Half an hour later, Li Nianfan took the fishing rod out of the water. Looking at the empty hook, he seemed unperturbed. He expected this to happen anyway. 

"Strange, this is so strange," Li Nianfan shook his head and mumbled to himself as he looked at the tortoise. "Old tortoise, if only you could speak and tell me what's going on inside the pond."

Unfortunately, the tortoise was asleep. It did not even flinch. 

Hopelessly, Li Nianfan dusted off the dirt from his pants and left the pond. He had already made up his mind by then. He would never fish from this pond again. If he ever wanted to eat fish, he might as well buy it from the Fallen Immortal Town.

He placed the fishing rod back where it belonged and closed the door. "Blackie, let's go to town."

The Fallen Immortal Town was busy as usual. Auntie Zhang was walking around holding Nanan in her hand. She called out when she saw Li Nianfan, "Nanan, Mr. Li is here. Hurry up and thank him for saving you."

A girl with braided pigtails turned around and looked at Li Nianfan blankly. She did not speak as if she had lost her soul.

Li Nianfan was shocked. "Auntie Zhang, Nanan…"

"Sigh, after being caught by the monster the other day, she's been behaving like this ever since she woke up. She must have been too terrified that she lost her soul," Auntie Zhang sighed. 

Li Nianfan frowned. He felt a knot in his chest when he recalled the cheerful look that was once on Nanan's face. 

"Auntie Zhang, is there a way to help her?" Li Nianfan asked.

"I've asked a few traveling cultivators, but all they said was to accompany and talk to her more. There's still hope in getting her soul back." Auntie Zhang hesitated for a while before she pleaded, "Mr. Li, you're an intellectual. Could you spend some time accompanying Nanan? It might help!"

"I will," Li Nianfan nodded solemnly. He was determined to help her out.

Auntie Zhang had a basket of eggs in her arm. "Mr. Li, you went away too soon the other day. I wasn't able to thank you. Please, keep this."

Li Nianfan shook his head bitterly. "Auntie Zhang, I can't take this. I really didn't do much the other day."

"Mr. Li, you're too humble. Even the three cultivators spoke highly of you. Since they're cultivators, they probably won't appreciate these eggs, but I hope you don't mind." With that, Auntie Zhang pushed the basket to him and insisted Li Nianfan keep them.

Li Nianfan had no other choice but to keep them with a bitter smile. After saying farewell to Auntie Zhang and Nanan, he made his way to the fish stall again.

"Sir, can I have two big carps?"

"Hey, Mr. Li," the owner greeted enthusiastically. "Not buying more krill?"

Li Nianfan shook his head. "I don't know what's wrong with the pond. All the krill went in and never came out."

"What about the tortoise?" the stall owner frowned. 

"The tortoise is fine. It comes out every day for sunlight," Li Nianfan answered.

"That's strange," the owner said, sounding confused. 

The tortoise was fine, but where did the krill go?

Li Nianfan said nonchalantly, "I'm not going to grow the fish anymore. I'll just buy fish from you in the future."

"Mr. Li, you're right to have come here. I get up early every morning to go fishing at the lake. I can assure you that all my fish here are fresh and delicious!" the owner laughed. "Even the officers from the Immortal Dynasty come here to fight for my fish!"

Li Nianfan was in awe. "Really?"

"Why would I lie to you! Yesterday, the Princess came shopping when she passed by my stall. She said she loves eating fish. The sons of the Prime Minister and Nation Master almost fought in the street because of my fish! All because they were trying to impress the Princess," the owner said with pride. "They're all cultivators, yet they like my fish!"

Li Nianfan paused. He knew that Luo Shiyu did that on purpose. No wonder she had not visited him for a while. It seemed that the plan had begun. He was just impressed by how quickly she managed to control the situation. The sons of the Nation Master and Prime Minister seemed rather weak!

Li Nianfan smiled and left the stall. On his way back, he saw that the door to a house that was usually shut was suddenly wide open. A row of maids came out. The sound of someone wailing came from inside the house and everyone had a somber look on their faces. Not long after, the sound of suona was heard on the other side of the road as a horse-cart pulled up. A few men rushed into the house with a coffin. Everyone helped to carry a woman out of the house. She was about to be put into the coffin. 

"It seems that Chen Yuanwai's wife didn't make it."

"A body and two lives! So tragic."

"Chen Yuanwai and his wife are good people. What a pity."

The crowd shook their heads with sighs. Things like this happened way too frequently. The healthcare standards in the Immortal Realm was not too far off from those in Ancient times, especially during labor. Unless a cultivator was helping out, it was very likely for the labor process to go wrong.

Li Nianfan watched them with a solemn heart. He saw that the woman had her eyes shut. She was barely breathing but she was still perspiring. 

Just one look, he could tell that the woman was not dead. She had only fainted. 

"Wait up! She's not dead!" Seeing that they were about to shut the coffin, he rushed forward.

A middle-aged man with a hoarse voice looked at him with his reddened eyes. "Mr. Li, what're you doing?"

It was a tragic event. If it were not for Li Nianfan's good reputation, he would have turned his back on him.

"Your wife and son are not dead yet. I can save them!" Li Nianfan said.

"Mr. Li, are you kidding?" the middle-aged man asked.

The midwife beside him looked at Li Nianfan in disbelief, too. 

"I'm very sure!" Li Nianfan urged. "Disperse the crowd and find someone to prepare a gauze and oil lamp. I'll save them now. Time's running out."

Due to the critical timing, he had to operate on her while she was still inside the coffin.