Zhuang Qian rushed into Zhuang Hao's training room. Zhuang Hao looked at the impetuous Zhuang Qian and said, "What's the matter with you! You're always acting so rashly."
"Big Brother, Big Brother… The Ghost Doctor is back," said Zhuang Qian.
Zhuang Hao's eyes widened and he suddenly stood up, "It's been so long since I've last heard news about him. He's reappeared?"
Zhuang Qian nodded and said with some excitement: "Chen Yuan invited the Ghost Doctor back. Brother, a large group of the twin scaled horses at the Royal Racecourse have fallen ill. The Chen family invited over a lot of light priests, but none of them could do anything about it! They could only ask the Ghost Doctor for help. "
Zhuang Hao narrowed his eyes and said, "Since when has Chen Yuan been able to command this much respect [1]?"
Zhuang Qian smiled awkwardly and said carefully, "It's not that Chen Yuan is very esteemed, but Chen Yuan requested Qi Shaorong to contact the Ghost Doctor."
Zhuang Hao's face turned slightly gloomy and he said, "So it's like that!"
"Brother, don't be angry." Zhuang Qian said.
Zhuang Hao glanced at Zhuang Qian and said, "Don't worry, I'm fine."
Zhuang Qian looked at Zhuang Hao's ugly expression, rubbed his nose, and said, "Brother, are you really all right?"
Zhuang Hao gave Zhuang Qian a side-eyed glance and didn't speak.
"I'll go over to the Royal Racecourse to take a look." Zhuang Hao said.
Zhuang Qian rolled his eyes and followed Zhuang Hao, saying, "I'll go too."
Tianlan College.
"Teacher Zhuang Ling, did you know of the matter regarding the Ghost Doctor returning to the Imperial Capital?" Sun Lin looked at Zhuang Ling with bright, piercing eyes.
Zhuang Ling froze and said, "What? When?!"
"Just today! He was asked by the Chen Family to go to the Royal Racecourse to see the war horses for their illness. Teacher Zhuang Ling, the reason why my daughter's illness improved was all thanks to the Ghost Doctor. Do you think that I should go thank him?!" Sun Lin said, pondering over it.
"So the Ghost Doctor went to the Royal Racecourse. What about Qi Shaorong?" Zhuang Ling asked.
"Qi Shaorong seemed to have spent most of the past few days at the library, so he's probably at the library now." Sun Lin said.
"He went to the library?"
Sun Lin nodded and said, "Yes! He should have gone to the special area of the library. How enviable! The special area of Tianlan College's library isn't open to the public, but Qi Shaorong has made a great contribution, it's only right that he's given access to it. "
Zhuang Ling lowered her head, "The Ghost Doctor went to treat the war horses for their illness. Is Qi Shaorong still in the college's library?"
Sun Lin nodded and said, "He should be."
"I'm going to the library." Zhuang Ling stood up.
Sun Lin said, "At this time?"
Zhuang Ling nodded and hurriedly walked away.
Sun Lin watched Zhuang Ling leave, and there was some doubt in her heart.
There was an instructor guarding the door to the special library area of Tianlan College, "This instructor, is Student Qi inside?"
The instructor who was in charge of guarding the special area nodded and said, "He's inside. That kid is very diligent, he comes here everyday."
"Instructor, could the person inside possibly not be Qi Shaorong?"
"If it's not Qi Shaorong then who could it be? There are only a few people who can enter the special area," said the supervising instructor irritatedly.
The surveillance for the special area of Tianlan College was very strict. Anyone who's permitted to enter has to leave a ray of their own spiritual light within the magic beads by the third floor entrance. When entering, in addition to the entry card that must be given by the Principal, the spiritual light waves also need to match.
Therefore, even if Qi Shaorong were to give his card to someone else, they wouldn't be able to use it [2].
Zhuang Ling frowned and left the special area.
Yi Fan, who was wearing Qi Shaorong's face, stood in the special area on the top floor of the library. He watched Zhuang Ling leave from the bottom of the building, evoking a faint smile on his face. Teacher Zhuang Ling really did come here. Those who can enter the special area of the college weren't many, and it just so happened that Yi Fan was one of them.
Qi Shaorong was wearing his mask as he followed behind Chen Yuan. When he saw the large group of war horses that had fallen over, Qi Shaorong could not help but feel some tingling sensations on his scalp.
The blue-green grassland seemed to stretch out as far as the eye could see. Qi Shaorong had followed Chen Yuan for a long time, but what he saw of the Royal Racecourse could only be considered as the tip of the iceberg. Qi Shaorong couldn't help but lament at the strength of the Royal Family.
The scale of the Royal Racecourse was really spectacular!
Those twin scaled horses were big too! They'd be the size of five or six horses on Earth.
Chen Yuan looked at Qi Shaorong and said gratefully, "I am very thankful to the Ghost Doctor for working hard to come here."
Qi Shaorong waved his hand and said, "You're welcome. I didn't come here for the sake of giving you face, I did it for Qi Shaorong."
Chen Yuan: "…Of course, of course, in the end it's all because of Young Master Qi's reputation."
"Ghost Doctor, do you have a solution?
Qi Shaorong shook his head and said, "I don't know, if so many of these war horses die, just how great the loss will be!"
Chen Yuan was flustered and said, "If the Ghost Doctor has a way to cure these war horses, the monarch will give a reward of a million gold coins."
"A million sounds like a lot, but I've recently earned a large amount, so I really don't care much about this money …"
Chen Yuan smiled dryly and said, "There's also a title of nobility…"
"Senior Ghost Doctor [3]."
Chen Yuan turned his head and looked at the travel-worn Zhuang Hao [4], thinking secretly: Zhuang Hao really came. There were rumours that this guy has been keeping himself at home since the competition ended. Now that he's heard about the Ghost Doctor coming here, he's finally shown himself.
Qi Shaorong looked at Zhuang Hao and smiled, saying, "I haven't seen you for some time now, Young Master Zhuang has become more handsome."
Zhuang Qian poked his head out from behind Zhuang Hao and said, "Ghost Doctor, my Elder Brother is handsome, right, much more handsome than Qi Shaorong. What's so good about Qi Shaorong that fierce guy, my Elder Brother is much better than him."
Qi Shaorong: "…" Zhuang Qian this guy really has a loose tongue
"Ghost Doctor, I haven't seen you for a long time. I don't know where Senior Ghost Doctor has been the past few days."
"I went out for a walk."
Zhuang Qian looked at the Ghost Doctor and said, "Senior Ghost Doctor, too bad you missed seeing my brother in the competition. My brother scored first place in the individual rankings."
Qi Shaorong, with a smile on his face but not in his heart, said, "I know, because of your brother, I lost millions of gold coins."
Zhuang Qian, "… Why? My brother, how did he cause you to lose millions?"
"I lent Shaorong gold coins for him to use to place bets. Of the money that Shaorong won from the bets, some were given to the college and to Qian Mian, and I was given half of the money. In addition to betting one million on Tianlan College winning first place, Shaorong also bet 100 000 on your Elder Brother coming out with zero points. The odds for your elder brother earning zero points was very high, it was one to one hundred." Qi Shaorong said regretfully.
Zhuang Qian: "…"
Qi Shaorong stretched out his hand and pinched Zhuang Hao's cheek, "Young Master Zhuang, I really didn't expect that although you look so decent, you would actually lie. You really can't judge a book by its cover."
Zhuang Qian: "…"
Chen Yuan watched the Ghost Doctor pinch Zhuang Hao's face, and squeezed out a cold sweat in his heart for the Ghost Doctor. Zhuang Hao paid great attention to his face, and he wouldn't easily let his face be touched. Chen Yuan was over here worrying about the Ghost Doctor, but then he found that out his worries were superfluous. Zhuang Hao remained motionless and allowed the Ghost Doctor to pinch his face, and he even… blushed.
"I'm sorry," Zhuang Hao said.
Qi Shaorong shrugged and said, "Forget it."
Chen Yuan looked at Qi Shaorong and Zhuang Hao chit-chatting and couldn't help but say, "Senior Ghost Doctor, how about we go see the horses first!"
Qi Shaorong nodded and said, "Okay!"
Qi Shaorong inspected a sick horse and said, "Did these horses fall sick all at once?"
"No, that didn't happen. There were dozens of horses who fell sick first, and it didn't take long before they all became sick." Chen Yuan said.
"Who's the manager of this racecourse! When the horses are sick, you should isolate the sick horses first! If you isolate the sick horses first, then it wouldn't have become this serious." Qi Shaorong said .
Chen Yuan smiled awkwardly and said, "It's already too late to go investigate the manager of the racecourse now. In fact, the manager of the racecourse has already been executed."
Chen Yuan shook his head. The manager of the racecourse was originally an uncle from his family, who had relied on nepotism to get this position.
That old guy's ability to pick up girls was pretty good, but his management skills weren't all that great. When something first went wrong with the war horses, the old guy felt that it was of little importance and didn't take it seriously. As a result, the matter expanded to the point where it became difficult to deal with. The monarch was furious that he had neglected his duties, and had him executed.
Although that old guy's death ended some of the problems, unfortunately, the problem with war horses must also be resolved. If it couldn't be resolved within the amount of time that had been given, then he's afraid that the Chen Family would land in serious trouble.
Qi Shaorong: "…"
Zhuang Hao looked at Qi Shaorong and said, "Ghost Doctor, what do you think of this situation!"
Qi Shaorong narrowed his eyes and said, "I'm not sure yet. I'll try a few medicines first and see how they work."
Zhuang Hao nodded and said, "Ghost Doctor, don't worry about it too much. Even if you aren't able to cure them, there are still the people from the Chen Family to blame, it has nothing to do with you."
Chen Yuan: "…" What kind of things is Zhuang Hao saying!
Zhuang Qian moved close to Qi Shaorong's side and said, "Ghost Doctor, do you already have an idea? I know that even if those light priests can't do anything about this, you can still do it."
"I can only try, but I don't know if it will succeed." The monster beasts in this world were still different from the ones in his previous world, and the differences between the herbs in this world and the previous one were even greater. He could only prescribe some medicine to try it out and see.
Chen Yuan looked at the lazy attitude of the Ghost Doctor, and said somewhat uneasily, "Senior Ghost Doctor, the matter with war horses can't wait! Please hurry up."
Qi Shaorong nodded and said, "Relax, this won't delay things too much. When you pay me later you should hurry up with that as well."
Chen Yuan: "…"
Zhuang Qian moved beside Qi Shaorong and said with some curiosity, "Senior Ghost Doctor, Qi Shaorong is so fierce and violent, why do you like him so much?"
Chen Yuan saw Zhuang Qian start talking and really wanted to kick Zhuang Qian out. At this time, the sick horses must be prioritized, alright?
"Like attracts like! It's probably because I'm also very fierce." Qi Shaorong said.
Zhuang Qian blinked and said, "Senior Ghost Doctor, you really know how to joke. You're a gentle person."
"Me? Gentle?"
Zhuang Qian nodded and said, "Yeah!"
Qi Shaorong, "This is the first time someone has evaluated me like that. I really want to soak Young Master Qian in a potion that will never decay and turn you into a perfectly preserved specimen. You should know that in this world, a youth as innocent and cute as Young Master Qian can only be met by chance and never found on purpose."
Zhuang Qian: "…"
Zhuang Hao frowned, and said, "Senior Ghost Doctor, you don't need to joke around anymore, your joke is too deep, A-Qian won't understand."
Qi Shaorong: "…"
Footnotes:
Command this much respect: Originally it was "Chen Yuan has a large face", "face" meaning reputation, honor, prestige, and to have "face" would mean to enjoy due respect or to be in high esteem. It doesn't make much sense when it's translated literally into English, so if you see anything about "respect", "esteem", "reputation" in this chapter, then most likely the literal translation is "face.��
They wouldn't be able to use it: So in case you're confused (at least I was at first lol), I think that basically anyone who's allowed to enter the special area has to put their spiritual light into the magic beads, but the magic beads are all there together, so if Yi Fan wears Qi Shaorong's face and takes Qi Shaorong's entry card with him, he can enter because of the entry card and also because his (Yi Fan's) spiritual light is there along with the real Qi Shaorong's. Either that, or he entered as himself (Yi Fan) and no one saw him, and once he got inside he put on Qi Shaorong's face.
Senior: I think one of the earlier translators kept this as the original Chinese words "qianbei", which is what you'd use to address a senior or an elder. Would you prefer for me to translate this as "Senior Ghost Doctor" or "Ghost Doctor-qianbei"?
Travel-worn: "Covered in dust", meaning it probably looked like Zhuang Hao had gone through a lot of trouble in order to get there (to see the Ghost Doctor). Oh, the things that people do for love…