Ultimate Village Doctor

After a while, Shen Yuerong finished looking through the documents. She rubbed her head and said wearily to Long Xiaoshan, "I've kept you waiting for a long time."

"It's alright, Sister Shen. I didn't expect you to still be the village head, our very own parental official, busy with a myriad of chores every day," Long Xiaoshan replied.

"What parental official," Shen Yuerong laughed. "A mere village head is nothing much. Actually, I wanted to find you for a job after we parted last time, but I've been so busy lately and my memory has been quite poor; I don't know how I just forgot about it."

Long Xiaoshan said seriously, "Your condition is indeed not good."

"What condition? Am I ill?" Shen Yuerong, seeing the expression on Long Xiaoshan's face, also felt a jolt of concern.

"Let me take your pulse first!" Long Xiaoshan said.

Shen Yuerong quickly extended her hand.

Long Xiaoshan held Shen Yuerong's wrist, which was as smooth as mutton-fat jade and felt even finer than Chun Tao's skin. Shen Yuerong was older than Chun Tao and it was evident that she took meticulous care of herself.

As Long Xiaoshan felt her wrist and observed, Shen Yuerong's heartbeat was rapid, irregular, and weak, and her pulse ice-cold, clearly indicating the signs of a yin spirit invasion.

However, Long Xiaoshan also noticed that there seemed to be something inside Shen Yuerong's chest resisting the yin spirit; otherwise, she would have already collapsed.

After releasing Shen Yuerong's wrist, Long Xiaoshan did not speak.

Seeing this, Shen Yuerong, with some bad premonition, said, "Xiaoshan, if you have something to say, just tell me straight. Don't hide anything; I can take it."

"Sister Shen, do you believe me?"

"What kind of question is that? If I didn't believe you, why would I ask for your help? Just tell me."

"Alright then, I'll be frank," Long Xiaoshan said, puffing up his chest and speaking earnestly, "I can treat the illness in your body, that's not a big problem, but there is one issue, if the root cause isn't removed, you will suffer from it again."

"What's the root cause?"

"You've encountered a fierce ghost; it's entwined with your spirit. Unless we drive the ghost away, your body will keep having problems."

"What?"

Shen Yuerong's complexion changed, but contrary to Long Xiaoshan's expectations, she didn't stand up and call him mad like most people would; instead, she forced a smile and asked, "Are you joking?"

Seeing that Shen Yuerong didn't send him away, Long Xiaoshan was already surprised and quickly said, "I'm not joking. Sister Shen, if you don't believe me, I can prove it to you."

By then, Shen Yuerong had also shown a hint of curiosity and asked, "How do you prove it?"

"First, let me ask if you're wearing any high-quality jade or something that has been consecrated," Long Xiaoshan said.

Shen Yuerong touched her chest and said, "I do have a piece of jade. It was given to me by my mother, and she said it was blessed by a temple."

"Take it out and have a look, your jade must have a problem now."

Hearing Long Xiaoshan's words, Shen Yuerong took out the jade piece. It was a Jade Buddha, very clear, of the pure glass type. Long Xiaoshan had once met a jade merchant in prison and learned a lot from him, immediately recognizing that the jade was extremely valuable. Could a village head afford such a piece of jade?

Looking closely, Shen Yuerong exclaimed in surprise, "Why is my Jade Buddha cracked?"

Long Xiaoshan took it and saw that there were indeed some very fine cracks on the Jade Buddha.

He felt a sudden thump in his heart, considering the Buddha's high-quality material and the fact that it had been consecrated—already a minor magical tool by that account—according to online sayings, with such an item on one's person, ordinary spirits shouldn't be able to enter the body at all; could it be that the ghost entangling Shen Yuerong was exceptionally powerful?

His heart thumped, for he had no experience in this area.

But he couldn't show weakness in front of Shen Yuerong and so said, "Sister Shen, do you believe me now?"

Shen Yuerong shook her head, "This can't just mean I've encountered a ghost; it could have been damaged accidentally."

"Since Sister Shen doesn't believe me, there's another method, but I'm afraid you might not want to use it." Long Xiaoshan took out his backpack and pulled out a bottle of red substance from it.

"What is this?"

"This is cock's blood. Sister Shen, you have two handprints on your neck right now left by ghosts. Cock's blood suppresses these; just apply it, and there will be a reaction," Long Xiaoshan said.

Shen Yuerong showed an expression of disgust. She liked cleanliness, and the sight of cock's blood was nauseating, let alone the thought of applying it to her body.

"Sister Shen, if you don't believe me, then forget it. I'll just prescribe some medicine to improve your health and leave," Long Xiaoshan said as he stood up.

Shen Yuerong thought about her recent condition, which, if it continued, would make her unable to carry on as the village leader; she would have to return to that family in Yanjing.

Her aim in coming out was to achieve something on her own, to prove she could succeed without her family's help. Now, going back in failure, what would that mean?

Grinding her teeth, she said, "Xiaoshan, wait a moment, let's give it a try."

There was a mirror in the office.

Shen Yuerong stood in front of the mirror, and Long Xiaoshan opened the bottle of cock's blood, dipped his finger into it, and began to smear it on Shen Yuerong's slender, fair neck.

Shen Yuerong endured the stench of blood, holding her breath.

Soon, Long Xiaoshan had smeared quite an amount of blood on Shen Yuerong's neck, and looking at it, streaks of black started to congeal on the blood, looking almost like two black clawed hands gripping her neck.

Ah!

Shen Yuerong let out a piercing scream and threw herself into Long Xiaoshan's arms.

Even with her composure and experience with various scenarios.

Such horror was too much for a woman to bear.

That Shen Yuerong didn't faint on the spot meant she was quite brave.

However, her face turned as pale as paper, her body trembling uncontrollably, clearly in extreme shock.

"Sister Shen, don't be afraid, don't be afraid," Long Xiaoshan quickly supported her.

She felt a chill all over her body, and thoughts of the nightmares she'd been having at night resurfaced. Could it be that the fierce ghost from her dreams was real? She became even more terrified, feeling safe only when close to Long Xiaoshan, whose masculine presence offered her some comfort.

"Xiaoshan, what should I do, what should I do, you have to save me."

Shen Yuerong was trembling immensely, utterly helpless.

For such a normally strong woman, who was even the village leader, to display such fear made Long Xiaoshan feel a strong urge to protect her. Although he had been somewhat uncertain himself, he now said resolutely, "Sister Shen, don't worry, no matter what ghost it is, I won't let it hurt you."

Long Xiaoshan helped Shen Yuerong to a window where sunlight streamed in.

He poured her a cup of hot water and brought her a warm towel to wipe the blood from her neck.

Drinking the hot water brought some color back to her face.

Shen Yuerong was, after all, no ordinary woman; she regained a lot of her composure, though her eyes still showed immense fear.

She looked at Long Xiaoshan and asked, "Xiaoshan, what do we do now?"

"Sister Shen, where do you stay at night?" Long Xiaoshan inquired.

"I stay just behind here, in that building. The village arranged it for me. I'm from out of town and didn't look for another house," Shen Yuerong explained.

"Alright, ghosts won't appear during the broad daylight. I guess they will come out at night to find you. I will come over then, and if it shows up, I will help you eradicate it."