THE HEX 2

Although his team only consisted of three people (five people if Zhu Su and Wu Qi were included), they must act in a rush, could not wait any longer, to forbid more victims suffered and died.

Beside Li Heng, the other two members were Guo Songmi, a young man of Zhu Su's age who was Li Heng's disciple, and Hu Nayin, a Miao ethnic teenage girl in late teens who, despite being the youngest member of the team, yet was outstanding in healing people. It was said that Hu Nayin possessed a peculiar ability that had emerged since her childhood. Just by holding a part of someone's body, Hu Nayin would get a peculiar hunch of finding suitable herbs to heal that person. Hu Nayin's miraculous ability quickly spread all around. Therefore, when Zhu Su announced to create Team of Wellbeing, the government officials agreed to take Hu Nayin as a team member.

"Actually it'll be better to find those who are the master of medicine, rather than choosing this witchdoctor," Zhu Su expressed his opinion.

"Here the main type of healing practice is indeed shamanic healing, Your Highness. Yunnan culture is different from ours," Li Heng explained. "However, there's a saying that medicine and magic comes from the same source. Doesn't the myth say that Bian Que has got a kind of miracle medicine before he became a famous physician? That myth is indeed based on a mystical concept."

Zhu Su nodded, he was forced to agree anyway. After all, what else could he do? Better than nothing!

However, despite the members were few, Zhu Su's Team of Wellbeing worked with great professionalism and dedication. Li Heng and Guo Songmi were basically the masters of medicine. Hu Nayin, on the other hand, had a "hunch" whispering to her that, by being Team of Wellbeing's member, she then became a part of the great team who would open the new era of medical history. She was very proud of being selected to be a member of the team led directly by the Ming Prince. This made that young girl work very hard, sometimes even harder than her peers.

Now Hu Nayin was holding her twentieth patient's hand, a middle-aged woman. Actually, she was starving because it was already three o'clock in the afternoon and she had not had even a spoon for lunch. However, her passion to make Team of Wellbeing accomplish their mission made her capable to withstand the hunger.

"Madam, you have to consume Gancao (licorice) leaf and forest bee honey." That was how Hu Nayin concluded her brief diagnosis.

"Hmm, how do you know that this ma'am only needs Gancao and bee honey?"

Coincidentally Zhu Su passed nearby. Hu Nayin and the woman bowed their heads.

"My greetings to Your Highness!... Well, when I hold her hand, I feel "emptiness". And what can fill the "emptiness" is the aura originating from Gancao and forest bee honey..." Hu Nayin said, her halting Chinese mixed with heavy Miao accent.

Since Zhu Su did not believe in Hu Nayin's mystical diagnose, he also held the woman's hand. To be more precise to say, taking pulse on her wrist * .

This woman indeed has a weak pulse... He then observed her face, as well as her half-closed eyelids. Qi Deficiency * . Gancao and the forest bee honey indeed can boost Qi in our body. But... how can this girl know? She isn't an expert in medicine. Don't tell me... it's true that she has supernatural powers?!...

Zhu Su was now staring very close at Hu Nayin. Not expecting Zhu Su would look at her that way, Hu Nayin automatically bowed down, face reddened in shyness.

"Can you tell me about how you get this magical ability?" Zhu Su asked Hu Nayin. They were walking along a rural footpath. Now the dusk sun was preparing to disappear behind the mountains, and they had stopped all activities since the day had already turned darker.

"Well... I have no clue... it's been a long time ago when I was a child, it just happened all that way. If someone gets ill, I can always get the urge to hold their hands. This premonition will also pull me to approach plants. My house is near to a small wild forest. The plants seem likely they are inserting "Aura" in my body, I am informed by the "Aura" about what the sick people need. That's why I can choose the suitable plants to heal them," Hu Nayin explained.

"Wow... sounds very interesting." Zhu Su pushed up his bangs which was blown by the dusk wind, then extended his hand to Hu Nayin. "Hold my hand, and tell me what kind of "Aura" I lack."

"A... as you wish." Getting a bit nervous as it was out of her expectation Zhu Su would ask her that way, Hu Nayin bowed first, then held Zhu Su's hand.

...

* pulse diagnosis = a special kind of diagnosis only exists in Chinese Medicine. The patient stretches out his/her wrists or lays them on a small cushion on the table. The physician will use three fingers to take the patient's pulse at three positions on each wrist, using first gentle then stronger pressure to feel in depth.

* Qi Deficiency = There is not a word in Western medicine that translates directly to a body's Qi, but it is similar to one's energy. So, the translation of Qi Deficiency is loosely a lack of energy.