Wrong Doctor
On Wuli Mountain outside Huangjia Village, Zhou Hanzhang followed the hunter on a steep mountain road, followed by Shi'an and several guards.
Everyone walked extremely carefully, fearing that they would slip and fall, dragging everyone around them to the ground and causing injury.
Zhou Hanzhang was holding a thick branch in his hand. The thick branches and leaves on it had been cut off by a dagger. The surface was not smooth, but it would not hurt his hand.
This time, he came out to inspect the lives of the people in various villages and towns, but in fact he was investigating the hiding place of the black witch.
Not long ago, he received a letter from the capital, which contained news that his grandfather was critically ill and also mentioned that the Black Witch was restless and secretly contacting the deposed crown prince.
He didn't tell Shi Yanqing about this matter for the time being, not because he was afraid that she would tell others after knowing it, but because the empress ordered that she should not be involved.
Zhou Hanzhang didn't want to hide this matter, but he had to obey the emperor's order, so he had to reveal some clues secretly and let her guess it herself.
There are many herbs and insects deep in Wuli Mountain, and it was once one of the gathering places for witch doctors.
After the crown prince was deposed five years ago, all the witch doctors here left here in hiding, and all the houses in the mountains were abandoned and deserted.
The hunter who led the way was a villager from Huangjia Village. He was very familiar with Wuli Mountain and had been to the witch doctor gathering place several times before.
This time when Zhou Hanzhang went into the mountains, he asked Huang Dashan to help lead the way under the pretext of looking for medicine to cure his grandfather's illness.
Huang Dashan was a little hesitant at first, but he agreed for the sake of the money.
He is almost thirty years old this year, but he still hasn't married or had children. The only reason is that he has no money.
If he had money, he wouldn't have to worry about not being able to find a wife, nor would he have to live alone.
Huang Dashan was leading the way. He held a sickle in his hand and swung it left and right, cutting down the grass and trees growing on the mountain road and clearing a smooth path.
"We'll be there in another quarter of an hour."
Huang Dashan stopped, stood up and took a deep breath. His skin was dark and there were faint red cracks on the back of his hands, which were the marks left by scratches when clearing grass and trees.
Zhou Hanzhang had sharp eyes and saw it immediately.
But he didn't say anything. After he had a good rest, he continued to move forward with Huang Dashan.
After walking for a quarter of an hour, the surrounding terrain became lower and a valley appeared in front of them. The road down was paved with stone slabs and was wide and safe.
Zhou Hanzhang lowered his eyes to look at the houses below. Many eaves were covered with white spider webs, and the weeds on the roadside were almost as tall as a man.
Looking at it this way, it does seem a bit depressing.
After going down, Huang Dashan found a big rock to sit down. He took out the water bag from his waist, tilted his head back and took a big gulp to relieve the restlessness in his throat.
"Mr. Zhou, I've already brought you here. Go find the herbs if you want. I'll be going down the mountain in two hours. If you haven't returned by then, I won't wait for you. I'll leave first."
Zhou Hanzhang nodded when he heard this, not feeling the slightest bit unhappy. After all, these words had been agreed upon before they set out. It was not safe in the mountains at night, as there were many wild animals and poisonous insects.
"Shi'an, take two people and search the north and east. The rest will follow me to the south and west. We must return here in an hour and a half."
He didn't want them to stay in the mountains overnight.
Shi'an: "Yes, I understand."
After Shi'an and his men left, Zhou Hanzhang turned his gaze to Huang Dashan, who was sitting there eating a mixed noodle pancake. He smiled and said, "Brother Huang, please wait for us here. We will be back as soon as we find the herbs."
Huang Dashan waved his hand, urging them to leave quickly to avoid wasting time. "Be careful when you look for it. It's not safe here."
Zhou Hanzhang's smile deepened: "Thank you, Brother Huang, for the reminder. We will be careful."
After saying that, Zhou Hanzhang led the remaining three people south to search for clues about the black witch.
The houses here are arranged in no regular pattern, and certainly do not follow the rule of sitting north and facing south.
Like weeds, growing randomly.
Zhou Hanzhang asked the three people behind him to put on masks, then pushed a wooden door covered with spider webs and walked in.
There were no windows in the room, and the light inside was very dim. In addition, the whole room was empty, making it look a bit weird and scary.
At this moment, the wooden door suddenly creaked, startling the three guards and Zhou Hanzhang.
Something is wrong here, Zhou Hanzhang thought.
He made a prompt decision and asked everyone to leave.
When the four of them returned to the sunlight, the dark and cold atmosphere around them was dispelled by the warm sun on their bodies.
Although Zhou Hanzhang's courage is not great, it is not small either.
He has always had a normal attitude towards the concepts of ghosts and gods, but just now in that room, he felt ghosts running around him, as if all his senses were confused.
"Be careful next time!" Zhou Hanzhang warned in a deep voice.
The three guards calmed down at this moment and nodded in agreement.
Fortunately, the next houses they entered did not have special effects like the first one.
Zhou Hanzhang picked up the booklet on the table and gently turned the pages with his gloved fingers. The paper was yellowed and many of the words on it were blurred.
[The elixir is in...hidden...its name is Purple Spirit...its color...cannot be disclosed to others]
[From ancient times to the present... the witch doctor clan... has been divided into black and white... and cannot... cooperate...]
These were the only few words he could see clearly; Zhou Hanzhang couldn't recognize the rest.
He thought silently in his heart, although the handwriting was unclear, from the recognizable words, this booklet should record a lot of the witch doctor's past and secrets.
"Sir, we found a wooden sign here." The guard stood up and handed the wooden sign, which was half the size of his palm, to Zhou Hanzhang.
Zhou Hanzhang took it and wiped off the dust on it. The back of the wooden sign was smooth and without any scratches, while the front was engraved with many insects. Two words were engraved in the center - Wu Cuo.
Wucuo, is this a person's name?
Zhou Hanzhang put the wooden sign and booklet into his pocket and took the three of them to the next room to search for clues.
It was already noon and the villagers were returning home one after another for lunch.
Dan Ye pushed the door open and looked outside for a few seconds. Seeing that there was no one outside, he turned around and closed the door.
"Ma'am, there's no one outside."
Shi Yanqing washed his hands with the well water that Qingping had brought. He stood up while wiping his hands and said, "Let's go. We'll go back and eat too."
As the three of them were walking back, they passed by a villager's yard. Before they left, they heard a noise coming from the yard.
"Why can't I go out? Doctor Shi is doing free clinics, and she doesn't charge for her treatments. Why can't I go?"
The voice sounds familiar, it's Huang Erhe's.
Shi Yanqing paused, but continued walking forward.
"Look at you now. You're embarrassing us if you go out. Because of you, your second sister's marriage was canceled. Your eldest sister also has to look after others in her husband's family."
"Everyone says that there is an evil spirit in our family, and you are doing something evil that's why you are acting so weird." Grandma Huang kept yelling and cursing, and her words were heart-wrenching.
"I'm sick! I'm sick!" Huang Erhe collapsed and yelled, "It's all that quack's fault that I'm like this now. The doctors in the city said it could be cured, but you refused to spend the money and instead hired a quack to treat me."
"I could have..."
"Who gave you the guts to talk to your grandma like that!" A loud slap was heard, and an old voice followed behind.
"Go back to your room. Standing outside is embarrassing."
Shi Yanqing frowned and turned around to talk to Dan Ye, but she saw that several families around her had their heads standing on the fences, watching the fun openly.
"Let's move faster."
Upon hearing this, Danye and Qingping both quickened their pace.
The three of them quickly left this bustling place.
"Madam, whatever you want to eat, I will make it for you right away." Dan Ye pushed open the courtyard door, tied up her sleeves and walked towards the kitchen, ready to show off her skills.
Shi Yanqing is not picky about food, but he has been busy until now and it is past mealtime, so he has no appetite.
She thought about it and decided to have some appetizers. If she didn't eat more, she would definitely be hungry in the afternoon.
"Just stir-fry some sour cabbage vermicelli and stir-fried pork with chili peppers, and a seaweed egg soup. It's just the three of us, so three dishes are enough."
Shi Yanqing was not raised in the Shi Mansion since she was a child. She lived with her master when she was young, and her meals and other things were very casual. She didn't care much about some of the rules of wealthy families.
For example, she doesn’t mind that the master and servant cannot sit at the same table.
Of course, she still follows the rules on certain occasions.
After getting the exact name of the dish, Dan Ye quickly walked to the kitchen, cooked the rice first, and then prepared to stir-fry the dishes.
"Qingping, come and help me wash the vegetables." Dan Ye leaned half of his body out and said to Qingping who was sweeping the floor in the yard.
When Shi Yanqing saw the two preparing lunch, he went to the room where the herbs were stored to count the remaining herbs, and also picked up the medicine according to the prescription he had written for people in the morning.
About two quarters of an hour later, the rice was cooked.
Dan Ye poured the soup in the pot into a large bowl, put a cloth under the bowl, and took it out to place on the table in the main room.
"Qingping, go and bring out the rice. I'll go call my wife out to eat."
Qingping nodded silently. He was a dull person who spoke little, but he was practical, serious and careful in his work, so Zhou Hanzhang took him with him on this trip.
"Come and eat quickly," Shi Yanqing came out and saw Qingping still standing aside without eating, so he gently asked him to sit down.
Dan Ye had already sat down with Shi Yanqing. She turned her head and saw Qingping not daring to move, and smiled.
"Madam, he is a bit reserved and would definitely not dare to sit down. Why not let him take his bowl and eat at the door? Maybe he can eat more."
Shi Yanqing didn't force Qingping to sit down. She nodded and said, "It's all right."
Upon hearing this, Qingping ran to the kitchen to get bowls and chopsticks to prepare the food, then sat at the doorstep with the bowl in hand to eat.
Shi Yanqing's gaze fell on Dan Ye's smiling face, and some guesses arose in his mind, but he quickly stopped thinking about it and concentrated on eating.
"Dan Ye, while I'm providing free medical treatment to the villagers this afternoon, ask Qing Ping about Huang Er He and the wrong doctor who treated him."
After finishing his meal, Shi Yanqing thought about what happened in the morning and gave instructions to Dan Ye.
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