"You are... the one at the river just now?" Then it's not just a mirage?!...
On the other hand, the old man immediately turned around, entered his house, and closed the door.
"Mr. Gao! Please help us! Don't ignore us, Mr. Gao!" The kind man continued to knock on the door, but it was useless. The door remained tightly closed.
Tired of calling, the man sighed, then said, "As we have said... he is somewhat weird... you must be patient..."
"What do you say?! You call me weird?! If you know nothing, then don't accuse me as you want!"
The shout came from inside. Zhu Su, Zhu Youdun, Hu Nayin, and the man looked at each other. The shout implying immense hatred confirmed the villagers' opinion, that the Old Man Gao was indeed a weirdo.
"Mr. Gao, please, help my son!" Zhu Su decided to call out. He even made his voice sounded as pitiful as possible to let this arrogant and weird old man be touched and willing to help him. "My son gets injured because of being hit by rocks, he cannot raise his hand, so painful... so I beg you..."
"That is your own business, not mine!"
This scream quickly ignited their anger. This time, the one who yelled was Hu Nayin. "Hey, Sir, why do you hate us so much?! As a physician, how can you have the heart not to give help when you see someone suffers?!"
"Humph, why not?! A man indeed can have the heart to see his enemy die miserably with great satisfaction like a hell demon!"
Hu Nayin was just about to reply when Zhu Su held her back. He whispered softly, "Never mind. This old guy seems to be a little crazy. If he doesn't want to help us, then let him be. Don't make a fuss with him. We understand medicine after all. I just think, we are severely injured and it'd be much better if a physician is willing to treat us, but looks like we have to solve this problem by ourselves."
Hu Nayin nodded enthusiastically. "That's right. We are also healers. We can search for the medicinal plants in this forest and have it concocted to be our own medicines, so we will be able to heal His High..."
"Sshhh!" Zhu Su hissed instantly. "Don't use that address here! That will provoke others' curiosity, and if our identities get well-known, the soldiers will know our whereabouts!"
"Uh oh... y... yes!..."
Hu Nayin's overly excited voice was loud and clearly heard it aroused an angry reply from the house. "Don't you dare mess with this forest! I warn you, if you dare to do it, I'll make you regret it!"
All of them were gawking, unbelievable with what they had just heard.
"Hey, Graybeard! Who are you, can prohibit us as you please?! Is this forest yours? You are a powerful person so you can dominate this forest just for yourself?!" No longer able to hold back the anger he had been holding up for a long time, Zhu Youdun finally roared furiously.
Gao Qing laughed in disdain. "I live here, of course, I have the right to forbid you all. Besides, only you who are not allowed to mess around here. The others are still allowed!"
"Mr. Gao, why the heck do you hate us so much?!" Shouting angrily, Zhu Su could no longer hold back his anger, as well as his curiosity. "It's our first time meeting, we don't know each other, then how can we do wrong to you so that you may treat us so cruelly?!"
"You and your son are indeed blameless. The guilty evil is your father!"
"This old man is the real psycho! Not only freak, but he also blames Grandfather!" Zhu Youdun burst out in anger.
"Grandsire, you don't even recognize me, moreover my father! And I tell you, he has died!"
"So you think, a dead person can't do anything wrong?!" They could hear that he was spitting and snotting, making such disgusting sound. "Then remember how your father behaved while he was alive! Can it be called humane?!"
"Hey Graybeard, don't be so insolent! You don't recognize my father, then how can you say such?!"
"Huh, absolutely I know him! Your father is the ruler of the Great Ming, a leader who is worshipped all over the country and if he dislikes someone, he can kill him as easily as killing a fly, the whole Ming should know him very well whereas he doesn't need to know all of his people!"
Zhu Su suddenly felt his heart stopped pumping for a second. He was just about to hide his identity, but had been quickly dismantled by this insane old man. After all, how could an insane old man in a remote jungle at Mogaung figure out that he was the son of the Ming Emperor?
Right now their guide man even peered at him. Worried about the risk of his identity being revealed, Zhu Su quickly walked away, said. "He is the real weird old man! If my father is the leader of a country, then how can we end up in trouble like this? We even don't need to beg a strange isolated old man in a foreign forest, because plenty of great physicians are queueing to cure us!" His eyebrows rose as he asked, "Is that so, Sir?"
"Ah, yes, you are right... Now I am positive that Gao Qing is damn right insane," The man giggled. What Zhu Su said indeed made sense, it successfully convinced the man. Zhu Su let out a relieved breath.
"But now it is hard for us to look for the medicinal plants," Hu Nayin murmured in disgust as they had been in the village at this moment and stayed away from the crowd. Her eyes stared at a group of people who were farming in the field. "Actually, I can feel the plants in that forest are very useful and we can use them to treat Shi Zi."
"No need to worry, Nayin. The forest doesn't belong to him. He is no more than a crazy old man. No need to be afraid of him," Zhu Su said confidently. "Nothing can prevent me from seeking medicine to heal our wounds."