THE MEDICINE MAN

Wu Qi grimaced in pain. He was holding his hand - a big, red swelling emerged there.

"I'm fine... that... I'm just tough it out..."

"It swells so big!" It would take a long time to look for medicinal herbs in this unfamiliar area. Zhu Su thought fast. He called the young waitress again. "Sis, please come here!"

Soon the girl had been standing beside their table. "Do you call me, Sir?"

"Do you know a good physician here?"

"Physician?..." The girl thought for a while. "No physician here..."

"What? So, how do you get treatment if someone falls sick?"

"We go to medicine man."

"Medicine man?" Zhu Su furrowed. "You still believe such kind of healing?"

"We never go to the physician since nobody masters medical science here."

"What?! My goodness, you are so pitiful..."

"But this medicine man is so powerful. He can cure various diseases, even the most severe ones. Although we have no physician, we can still recover from illness. This entire village believe in him."

The girl's eyes sparkled, she seemed confident of what she said. Zhu Su pulled his gaze back at Wu Qi, who kept moaning in pain. He sighed. If he returned to the haunted forest to look for medicinal herbs, it would be very difficult since it was nighttime and they could not watch everything correctly, they might even get lost once again and if this time they were unlucky, they would not get out of the forest. And it would take a long time to go back to Kaifeng. Soon, he made up this decision.

"This entire village believe in this medicine man?"

The girl nodded in certain.

"Can you show me where he is? And, how do I get treatment for him?"

***

The small room was getting narrower as more people crammed in line, waiting for the door towards the healing room to open and let them enter. They were willing to be jammed and wait for a long time, just to be healed by the witchdoctor. This small room was lit only by a single candle - and the color of the candle was white, not red. The light was very minimal in the silence of the pitch-dark night.

The door opened. A woman holding her child said thanks many times. "Thank you very much, Master! My child gets cured, thank you very much!"

"Alright!" The middle-aged doorman interrupted rudely."Next!"

"Wait a minute! Don't let him in!"

A lame old man who was just about to enter stopped in surprise at the shout behind the door. So did the doorman. He looked inside, "What's wrong, Master?"

"Wait a minute. An important guest will come soon."

The doorman looked confused. But he paid great respect for the Master. If the Master said such, and instructed such, then it was surely very important. He cleared his throat and talked to the old man. "Come back to your seat!"

Just when the old man sat down, Zhu Su, Hu Nayin, and Wu Qi arrived at the doorway.

Zhu Su and Hu Nayin looked at each other. "Wow, so crowded here! We have to wait in such a long queue?" Hu Nayin muttered.

"We've no choice." Zhu Su sighed. He immediately approached the doorman. "Sir, we want to treat this gentleman. Please give us the queue number."

The doorman blinked. Could it be that these are the Important Guests the Master mentioned?!

"Yes, it's them. Just take them inside," The voice from inside called out once more.

The doorman gasped. "Ah... alright, Master!" He nodded to Zhu Su in a respectful manner. "Sir... since you are Master's Important Guests, you get a special dispensation to enter right now."

"Really?!"

The doorman nodded again. "Please."

With dozens of interesting eyes staring at them, the three of them entered the room. The door soon closed.

A sharp scent greeted them. If the waiting room was poorly lit, then the inside was the opposite - full of light from dozens of candles brighting in every corner. Also, it was much bigger than the waiting room, and had a unique setting. The room was filled only with few items, and it was all the items closely related to rituals, such as talisman papers, incense sticks, candle holders, and so on. Instead of paying attention to those objects, the three of them focused on a young man in a cross-legged seated position on a chair. An altar stood behind him, there was a statue of a wise man with a long white beard sitting on its top.

"Welcome, Sirs and Madam. It's a great delight to accept your arrival here. Please sit down, and may I apologize by accepting you in such a humble place." Pointing at the three pedestals in front of him, the young man smiling friendly. The candlelight illuminating his face somehow gave a mysterious impression.

They immediately sat down. Zhu Su noticed, he was still young, his age must be only mid-twenties at most. He is very young, is this boy the Master trusted by the entire village? Really?...

"Good evening... Master..." Zhu Su replied. His tone sounded hesitating as he called the young man "Master". "Thank you for letting us enter by cutting in line... But would you please tell us the reason?"

The young man's smile widened. "Because you are indeed my important guests. Very important. You are not just anyone. Especially you... The Honorable." He nodded at Zhu Su.

The three of them were startled. "How do you know?" Surprise let Wu Qi forget the pain for a moment.

"Mei Hua Yi Shu (Plum Blossoms Divination) tells me," The young man replied softly. He looked back at Zhu Su. "Am I correct, Your Honor? Would you please introduce who you are?"

"I am Zhou Wang from Kaifeng," Zhu Su answered.

The young man's smiled widened. "Wow... you are even greater than I thought. Then I should pay more respect to you." He changed his position from sitting to prostrating, he even touched his forehead to the floor.

"You are so great. still young, but you have become a trusted Master, you can even give such great foreseen," Zhu Su praised.

"You flatter me. The Wang Fei is even more powerful as she has the power to heal people even from the age younger than mine."

Once again, the three of them glared in surprise.

"You also get the foreseen from Mei Hua Yi Shu?" Hu Nayin asked, bewildered and amazed as the young Master could notice her power, while only a few Kaifeng officials knew about that.

The young man shook his head. "This time, it is your Aura that informs me. As a person who shares the same supernatural powers, you have the same vibration energy as I have." He was silent for a moment. "But... your Energy vibration doesn't flow very smoothly. Sometimes it appears... sometimes it vanishes. You never use them for a long time?"

"Yes," admitted Hu Nayin. "Now I'd rather be more focused on scientific matters than supernatural powers..."

"You should keep using it. Otherwise, your power will disappear."

Hu Nayin curved a little smile. "Thank you very much for your advice."

The young Master looked back at Zhu Su. "So, how may I assist you?"