"Today I finally saw what it means to be a doctor with a caring heart."
Lu Liangsheng sighed, stood up and walked towards the courtyard gate, his figure gradually disappeared under the eaves, he bowed to the two ghost messengers standing in the shadows of the alley, went straight back to the inn, knocked on the door of Wang Banxia, who was eating fried beans, drinking tea and listening to storytelling, and the toad lying on the table.
"Go to Yancheng."
"You're not going to protect your ghost friend anymore?"
Back in the room on the second floor, Toad Taoist went down to the ground, opened the small door of the bookshelf, walked in, and tied the rope. Over there, the scholar who was tidying up the bedding replied, "No need."
He threw the bookshelf out of the window, and the frightened Toad supported himself on the compartment and screamed: "Ahh~~". The moment he landed on the ground, he was pulled by magic power and landed safely on the ground.
"Master! Master!"
Wang Banxia led the old donkey out and fumbled around on the bookshelf. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"
"Get out of here!"
In the compartment, Toad climbed up and slammed the small door shut.
Soon, the bookshelf was put on the donkey's buttocks. Lu Liangsheng paid the bill and came out. He walked across the street holding the reins and went straight out of the west gate. He walked through the merchants and pedestrians coming in and out. A short and fat Taoist with a Taoist bun walked into the city and looked around.
"It should be here."
He calculated with his chubby fingers, and then asked a vendor nearby: "Do you know how to get to Renxin Pharmacy?"
"Go, go away."
The vendor waved his hand impatiently to send the other person away, and swept the silk and linen on the stall with a towel.
"I want to get some information, but I don't know if I can buy anything."
The fat Taoist spat at the vendor from a distance, snorted, turned around and continued walking forward. Even the prefect of Yancheng was respectful to me. It's really a small city with many unruly people, and they look down on people.
After wandering around two or three streets, he finally found out where the pharmacy was. Looking at the many people coming in and out to see a doctor, he narrowed his eyes and squatted on the street waiting until it gradually darkened.
"Don't blame me, if you want to blame someone, just blame you for being a ghost."
In the darkness of night, a short and fat figure flashed into the small courtyard and alley behind the shop. He took out two talismans from his sleeve, dipped them in saliva, and pasted them on the gate of the courtyard, probably to block the ghost's retreat.
"If I catch you, I will be rich. Who told you to be so honest even as a ghost? Let the governor's people see you. Hehe, don't worry. I caught you for your own good..."
Ding ding dong —
Suddenly, the sound of iron chains came from the alley, and a cold wind seemed to blow across the back of my neck.
"Um?"
The Taoist tilted his head to glance at the dark alley and frowned, as if he sensed some evil spirit.
"Could it be that I didn't act carefully enough and the ghost noticed me? That's perfect, I'll catch the ghost right here..."
Bang!
He was thinking of this in his mind, holding a talisman paper between his fingers, and was about to cast a spell when the fat Taoist's shoulders suddenly sank. He glanced sideways and saw a black hand with five extremely long fingers pressing on his shoulder, with the index finger tapping lightly up and down.
A deep voice sounded from behind.
"You want to catch ghosts?"
Hearing this cold and low voice, the fat Taoist shuddered all over, and the yellow talisman between his fingers could not be held steadily, and floated to the ground. Tremblingly, he turned his head sideways and looked in the direction of the black palm. His eyes suddenly narrowed. It was a Yin messenger in a black official robe with a red collar, and a tall hat on his head. His face was dark blue and stained with a layer of death.
“You… you…”
Before he could finish his stuttering words, another ghost came out of the alley dragging an iron chain. He stared at the fat Taoist with white eyes, opened his mouth, and a visible Yin energy overflowed from the corner of his mouth.
"You're trying to rob a ghost in front of my two brothers and ruin our mission?"
"No, no, I don't have it, really not!"
The fat Taoist stuttered something, suddenly used his Taoist magic, broke free from the ghost's hands, and rushed towards the alley. Behind him, a ghost raised his arm, and his originally unusually long fingers instantly grew and extended. He chased after the Taoist, grabbed his shoulder, and pulled him back.
"You offended my brother and you still want to run away!"
The ghost reached out his other hand, grabbed the fat Taoist's neck and lifted him up into the air against the wall of the alley. Another ghost came forward, dragged the iron chain with a rattling sound, and started to whip the Taoist.
After a while, shrill screams rang out in the alleys late at night, attracting the lights in every household and the barking of dogs.
In the courtyard separated by a wall, the lights were still on in the window frames. In the swaying dim light, the figure sitting at the desk had no shadow.
The woman turned a deaf ear to the noise outside and sat by the bed, crying, watching her husband holding a pen and writing on paper non-stop, recording all the medical skills and herbal medicine experiences he had learned from his many years of practicing medicine, from being an apprentice to practicing medicine.
The sound of rustling footsteps passed by, and the woman moved a stool to sit next to him. The writing brush stopped for a moment, and Li Yishu forced a smile with his dry lips and looked at his wife.
"You should go to bed. You don't have to wait for me."
"I will stay with you, stay with you..." The woman wiped her tears and moved closer to him. She knew in her heart that her husband would only have one day left by her side. Thinking of this, she couldn't hold back and burst into tears again.
"Why is God so unfair? You have done so many good things, why does he want you to die?"
Li Yishu put down his pen, reached out to take the hand that was wiping tears, clenched it on his leg, and smiled with pursed lips.
"God has to take care of so many people, so he might be careless sometimes. Maybe he dozed off before. Qinglian, it's okay. The last few patients will be well soon. I will prescribe some medicine for them tomorrow. But you will suffer in the future. You can marry someone else after I leave."
Feeling the coldness from her husband's hands, tears dripped from the corners of the woman's eyes onto her legs, wetting them all. She shook her loose hair and choked with sobs, unable to speak.
Li Yishu pulled his hand away, pulled her in, and gently patted the woman's thin back, coaxing her as if she were still alive.
"I can live for another seven days. I will be very satisfied if I can accompany you, see the remaining patients, and see the medical books finished. The laws of nature cannot be changed. Since you are a ghost, you must leave. Qinglian, be obedient. When I am no longer around, you must live well and don't let me go without worry."
"I know."
The only response was the woman's extremely suppressed voice.
"Well, this is my good wife, Li Yishu." Li Yishu stroked her hair and took a deep sniff of the fragrance on her hair. Unfortunately, he could not smell anything.
The wind squeezed in through the cracks in the window lattice, and the slightly swaying light shone on the couple who were snuggling together, turning into a warm yellow and exuding warmth.
Passing through this warm yellow light, along the dark night sky, the steep mountains and forests stretch like a giant beast lying in the darkness with its teeth bared. Occasionally, the chirping of night birds can be heard, and the sound of copper bells can be heard coming from afar, moving towards the northwest.
Ding ding dong —
The copper bell was swinging under the old donkey's neck. Lu Liangsheng was riding on the donkey with Wang Banxia. They had already traveled more than a hundred miles. According to the painting in "Boundless Mountains and Seas", they were almost far from the mountain range called Qingcheng Mountain.
However, before leaving, he had to go to Yancheng to do some business first. When it was light in the morning, he led the old donkey and Wang Banxia into the city, asked where the government office was, and went straight there.