The servants followed closely behind, but before they could reach the main hall, they were blocked by a group of people who had rushed out upon hearing the news.
Among them was a woman in her late forties, dressed in silk and satin, adorned with gold, silver, and jade jewelry. Her heavy makeup made her look like a female demon I had once tamed.
When the noblewoman saw the appearance of the "mad young master," her thick eyebrows furrowed in anger, and she opened her blood-red lips and said sharply, "Take the young master inside, and you, go and fetch Doctor Wu."
"Yes, madam." The servant ordered to fetch the doctor did not dare to delay and hurriedly ran towards the door.
The "mad young master" glared at his mother and shouted, "Give it back to me, my face..."
Upon seeing her son's appearance, the noblewoman was both heartbroken and angry.
The people present all stiffened at these words, but wisely made way for the servants carrying the young master, fearing to provoke the noblewoman's anger.
The servants led the way, followed by the crowd, passing through the beautifully arranged garden and winding corridors until they finally arrived at the young master's room.
The men and women behind the noblewoman dared not even breathe loudly, all keeping their heads low and silently following behind. But the expressions on their faces were different from their actions. Some sneered, some ridiculed, some were afraid, and others were indifferent, seemingly not showing any concern for the young master's plight. It seems that this "mad young master" did not have a good reputation.
The servant placed the young master on his soft bed and stepped aside. The noblewoman approached her son, her heart aching for him.
"My child, it's your mother. Can't you recognize your own mother?" The noblewoman burst into tears as she spoke, trembling as she reached out to touch her son's injured face. She thought, "This must be so painful!"
But her insane son bit at her hand as soon as she got close. Fortunately, she was far enough away that he did not bite off half her hand.
The noblewoman withdrew her hand in pain, glaring angrily and turning around to slap the most beautiful woman in the room.
"Is this how you take care of your husband?" the noblewoman asked fiercely.
The woman who was slapped was the "mad young master's" wife, but she did not even dare to cry out in pain. She covered her swollen face and knelt down.
"Mother, it's all my fault. I didn't take good care of my husband," the woman said, crying with her head lowered, feeling wronged.
As soon as she started crying, the madam became even angrier and kicked her again. "Why are you crying like a bereaved person? Your husband is not dead yet!"
The woman was kicked back and hit the wall hard, but she endured the pain and tears, and knelt down again.
No one dared to step forward to persuade them. Luckily, the servant who had gone to fetch the doctor hurriedly brought Doctor Wu back, and he saved the woman's life.
Seeing Doctor Wu, the madam stopped scolding her daughter-in-law and led him to the bedside. "Doctor Wu, please come and see my son."
But Doctor Wu looked distressed and said, "Madam Qian, I have already told you that I cannot cure your son's illness."
Hearing this, Madam Qian became anxious and begged Doctor Wu, pulling on his sleeve. "Doctor Wu, how can you say that? You are a doctor. My son is counting on you!"
Looking at the crazy young master on the bed who kept shouting "Give me back my face," Doctor Wu shook his head and said, "Madam, your son is not sick. You should find a Taoist or a monk to drive away the evil spirit."
When Madam Qian heard Doctor Wu mention driving away evil spirits, she felt frustrated. She had begged every temple and monastery in the area, and had invited Taoists, shamans, witches, and witch doctors to come to the house, but her son's condition showed no signs of improvement.
She had also posted a reward for half a month, and people had come to the door in an endless stream, but they were all frauds who only wanted free food and drink. The house was filled with the smell of chicken blood, dog blood, and children's urine, but it was all for nothing.
"I'll treat his external injuries first," Doctor Wu said. He was not a cruel person, but he really couldn't cure Qian's illness. However, he could still heal his external injuries.
Unexpectedly, Madam Qian said, "Let his external injuries be. It doesn't matter."
Doctor Wu looked at Madam Qian in confusion, but she waved her hand weakly and said, "Take Doctor Wu home."
After his visit, Doctor Wu had done nothing and was now being sent back home.
Madam Qian knew that her son was not suffering from an ordinary illness, but rather a strange one. Despite his face being covered in wounds now, tomorrow morning he would wake up with a completely different, unblemished face that was not his own.
Exhausted, Madam Qian sat by her son's bedside, watching him sleep. "You all may leave," she said to the others in the room.
The people in the room looked at each other and then bowed before leaving, one by one.
Only her daughter-in-law remained on her knees, staring blankly at the ground with red, teary eyes.
I sat down in a chair in the room, propping my head up with my hand, and looked towards the bed, waiting for tomorrow to come.
Madam Qian stayed by her son's bedside the entire night, and by the next morning she looked even more haggard. Even her heavy makeup looked more terrifying than the night before.
As for her daughter-in-law, she had remained on her knees all night, never once standing up. I couldn't imagine what she had been thinking about all night.
Just as dawn was breaking, a blurry halo appeared above the mad young master's head. Gradually, it became clearer, and I saw that it was a face.
The halo descended onto the young master's head, and the next moment he woke up screaming, "Give me back my face! Give it back to me!"
Madam Qian had been watching her son closely, and when she saw him wake up and start to go crazy without even opening his eyes, she covered her head in agony, not knowing what sin she had committed to deserve this.
The kneeling daughter-in-law was startled by the call of her husband and looked up at him with a look of bitterness and a cold smile on her lips.
"It's really a demon at work," I said as I stood up and stretched my body. It seemed that I hadn't stayed up all night for nothing.
I walked out of the Qian mansion and into a small alley, taking out the "Soul-Condensing Stone" from my pocket. The core of the underworld flower would merge together before the flower withered, eventually condensing into a stone. This was the origin of the Soul-Condensing Stone.
The Soul-Condensing Stone could solidify a soul into a physical body, although the effect was short-lived. However, my Soul-Condensing Stone was a ring made from thousands of them, allowing me to maintain a physical form for up to a month.