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"I bet you! I just want to see what kind of trouble you can stir up. If you can cure Mao'er, I'll let you do whatever you want with me. But?" At this point, Rascal Chen rubbed his chin and chuckled, his eyes greedily fixating on Bai Lian's petite figure, much like a sly fox eyeing a hen, eager yet unable to pounce.
He had long set his sights on Bai Lian; if it weren't for that dead husband's constant attempts to stop him, this little beauty would have already been his.
"But what?" Bai Lian looked at Rascal Chen with disdain. His gaze made her feel utterly disgusted. With a woman's intuition, she knew this had been premeditated for a long time. A fox needs skills to eat a hen. Besides, with Liu Hun here, she believed he would definitely cure her son and not let Rascal Chen succeed.
"But if Liu Hun fails to cure him, I can treat your son. However, the reward isn't small change. I'd need you to come to my house, cook a dinner for my mother and me, and stay for the night, hehe." Rascal Chen chuckled, wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth.
"Disgusting!" Bai Lian spat lightly. "Just you wait and see!"
"Everyone heard it, this bet is on! Since Bai Lian has already made a bet with me, let's have you all as witnesses. If Liu Hun can't cure Mao'er, Bai Lian has to come to my house, and cook a dinner for my mother and me! But rest assured, I, Rascal Chen, am a righteous man and won't do anything against my conscience."
To reassure the villagers, Rascal Chen deliberately raised his voice. Most villagers loved gossip; he didn't want to become their topic of conversation. However, having a pretty girl come to his house to cook, and then stay the night, wouldn't that be delightful? If it really happened, life after that would be quite carefree.
Liu Hun saw through Rascal Chen's words and couldn't help but laugh coldly at the villagers' eager eyes. He knew exactly what was wrong with Mao'er. He wouldn't disturb Mao'er with supernatural forces like Rascal Chen. The house was already filled with chaos; he couldn't understand how these ignorant villagers thought.
"Rascal Chen, what if I actually cure Mao'er?" Just as Bai Lian was about to speak, Liu Hun appeared from behind her, holding Mao'er.
"If you can actually cure him, I'll let you do whatever you want!" Rascal Chen laughed.
He didn't believe Liu Hun had the ability. Treating minor ailments was one thing, but this time, he was in over his head! Mao'er's illness wasn't something an ordinary doctor could cure. In the town, he would have to stay for seven or eight days.
"Whatever I want?" Liu Hun smiled slightly.
"Yes, whatever you want! If you can really cure him, I'll listen to you. But first, cure him; otherwise, you kneel down, bow three times, and call me 'Grandfather' three times! How about that?" Rascal Chen sneered, his mind calculating, unaware no one else thought it possible.
"You said it. If I cure Mao'er, you get out of here and follow all my orders from then on! Don't bother Bai Lian anymore or make plans for her; if you dare disobey, I guarantee you won't be able to stay in this village!" Liu Hun pointed at Rascal Chen.
"Fine! I agree! But if you fail, you'll regret it!" Rascal Chen laughed angrily, crossing his arms, curious how Liu Hun planned to cure Mao'er. If things went awry, he had himself to rely on. This little beauty wouldn't escape his grasp today.
"Alright, whatever you say! Stop wasting my time, get on with it! Don't you know time is life?" Rascal Chen urged, watching Liu Hun with an expectant eye, eager to see how he would treat Mao'er, and let out a cold laugh.
Liu Hun placed Mao'er on a simple table, slowly sliding his hand from Mao'er's forehead to his belly. Where his fingertips passed, he clearly felt the cold in Mao'er's body hadn't penetrated the organs and was still treatable. However, he wasn't sure about the herbal tricks; overuse could save Mao'er but might leave a lingering illness.
"Can this boy do it? Mao'er's illness isn't just some cold..."
"Exactly, I also took a look. Mao'er's disease is really hard to treat."
"Stop talking nonsense, look at Liu Hun, his brows are almost knitted together."
Ignoring the villagers, Liu Hun focused intently on Mao'er's complexion. In medicine, observation was crucial. A seasoned doctor didn't need a pulse or instruments; just by looking, conclusions could be drawn. During his observation, Liu Hun's peripheral vision caught something behind him.
Several villagers craned their necks, eager to see how Liu Hun would treat Mao'er. Following normal procedures, Liu Hun placed Mao'er on a wooden board, then moved to a table beside him, where he piled up herbs and ground them into a powder.
Once the herbs were completely ground, Liu Hun stopped. He added the powder to boiling water, stirring carefully.
Success wholly depended on whether this remedy would work in his favor.
"In the air there is emptiness, my Dao revitalizes each day." A voice as ancient as a bell resounded in his mind: "Doctor, energy condensed in the Dantian, absorbing the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth, gathering the essence of sun and moon to form True Qi. Qi is like a vortex, condensing in herbs, curing minor ailments..."
What was this? Liu Hun was dumbfounded, staring slowly at his left hand. In his left palm, a small vortex suddenly spun, from which energy drifted into the soaking herbal water, its blue light vanishing instantly.
Almost instantly, Liu Hun hadn't fully understood what had happened, when the bowl turned colorless again, with only a few herbal particles floating inside.
Holding the bowl, Liu Hun moved to Mao'er, gently lifting him to feed him the solution.
Suddenly, a chill rose from Mao'er's forehead like white smoke.
The crowd erupted.
Mao'er opened his eyes, hadn't seen Liu Hun before bursting into tears, "Mom!"
"Wow, he's really cured..." Aunt Qiu barely finished her sentence when Mao'er started retching onto the ground.
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