Time's up. I suppose kicking it is.
***
A Call for Help
Winter turns to spring, and then to summer. As autumn draws to a close and the winds begin to bring a hint of the coming cold, you find yourself on the outskirts of Xuchang, the latest city where Master Yao’s wanderings have taken you. A well-off merchant by the name of Gu Zhan had taken sick and heard of the famed Killer Physician’s presence in the city. Living up to his reputation, Master Yao had healed the man with some efficacious herbal brews. Then, he advised the man rather loudly that he should purchase some of these herbs for his mistress, who must have transmitted the clap to him.
That did not go well. It took all of your charm and patience - not much of the latter, you’ll admit - to negotiate safe exit from the merchant’s manor. You didn’t even get paid.
“Master,” you sigh loudly, “did you do that on purpose? I have told you many times to mind your bedside manners. Perhaps it would be better if you concentrated on the healing and left the talking to me.”
Yao snorts loudly as he lights up the book of alchemy he had brought along to read and tosses it to the roadside with utter disregard for fire safety. “If his mistress is not kept well enough that she attracts stray flies like rotting meat, that is not my fault. I gave him a proper warning, like a physician should do. Rubbish. Utter rubbish, this book is.”
“Subtlety, Master.” You know you are not the best person to talk about subtlety, but the time you have spent with Yao and Cao’er has been very enlightening.
“Subtlety, eh?” Master Yao suddenly grins slyly. “When did you do it?”
“You have sharp eyes, my master,” you say, as you open up your palm to show a little pouch. “You were making a big fuss and crying bloody murder as they tried to beat your head in. In all that ruckus, no one was looking at the box. It was the best choice I could have made, considering the circumstances. I’m not going without dinner tonight; we didn't even have enough money to buy this chicken when we walked into the city." You shake the bag containing your dinner in his face. "The two of you have been spending a lot of taels on buying books and then burning them after reading.”
“I made that fuss on purpose, stupid disciple of mine,” says Yao, ignoring your concerns over finances and book burning. “You still have much to learn about the ways of the world, but it is good that you no longer hesitate to procure what should be rightfully ours.”
You open the pouch and count the coins within. “Slightly more than what is rightfully ours, it seems.” At that, Yao frowns. “You know what to do, Jing.”
You nod. “I’ll pass the surplus coins to one of Gu’s servants. If it makes it back to him, good. If it doesn’t, he was paying his servants too little anyway. You know, they’re starting to call you the Thieving Physician.”
“And yet they ask for me anyway. How can they complain?” laughs your master. He does have a point. Despite his unorthodox, eccentric reputation, the Killer Physician Yao Shunshi is in high demand. This is not because his prices are cheap. Indeed, they are frequently exorbitant and fluctuate wildly depending on how much he likes his patients. It is rare for him to like his patients.
Master Yao is sought after because of two traits of his.
Firstly, he will never refuse a call for help. No matter how minor, how major, or how dangerous the situation is, he will heed the call. Back during the summer, he led you and Cao’er right into the middle of a turf war between two gangs over a peasant’s fever. You had to kick your way out of several excitingly dangerous events that temporarily quenched your thirst for reckless adventure.
Secondly, you have never seen him fail, not even once. His reputation is such that no one has ever found an illness he could not treat. Master Yao once boasted that if death was an ailment instead of the natural end of life, he could cure it.
These two traits combined meant that if you called for him in time, he would come, and he would heal you.
As the two of you approach the abandoned hut outside Xuchang that serves as your temporary - and more importantly, free - lodgings while you are in the area, you spot a pillar of smoke rising towards the heavens. That is probably the last of the books that they bought. Yao and Cao’er have a remarkable memory. The both of them are able to memorize pages and pages with just a single glance. Every year, they would spend a considerable amount of money to purchase all of the updated manuals, and memorize them. Then, they would burn the books. When you asked why, Yao just said that it was an offering, and nothing more.
You see Cao’er fanning the flames of the fire. When she spots you and Master Yao approaching, she gives a slight nod of the head before turning her undivided attention back to the flames… though you can still spot her stealing glances at you out of the side of her eyes. Your master goes back into the hut, grumbling as usual, while you go over to his senior apprentice. Despite being two years younger than you are, she is far, far better than you can ever be in the arts of healing. She can concoct a good batch of qi-suppressing pills and temporary antidotes for you within hours, while it would take you perhaps a full day of trial and error. However, her excellent memory and enormous skill at medicine is not the only reason why Master Yao took her in - Cao’er had been born with what your master calls Immortal’s Eyes. She is able to perceive the meridians and the flow of qi with just her eyes alone, and he often brags that she will grow up to become an even more famous physician than he is. But for now...
You sniff the air. As expected, she hasn’t been keeping up her bathing regimen. The girl just seems to hate water in general. Earlier on you had taken it upon yourself to scrub her clean personally, but, well… girls grow, as they always do.
You blanch at the memory of Master Yao sniggering and pushing the responsibility of explaining a girl’s flowering to a fourteen year old boy. Thankfully she had already learnt of such things from all that reading she does.
You place a firm hand on her greasy, tangled hair, causing the girl to freeze up and turn red. “...yes?” As always, her voice is meek and hoarse from disuse. She always sounds like a dying frog when she speaks, which is not often.
“Did you follow my instructions?”
Head-shake.
“Why didn’t you?”
“...forgot.”
“Go do it now, or the only thing they’ll be calling you in the future is the Stinky Physician,” you order with a laugh. Cao’er bows to you and runs off, keeping her eyes glued to the ground all the while. You had been an only child while with your real parents, and with Shun it was like having a brother your age. This is the first time you’ve had something akin to a younger sibling. It’s a strange feeling - you’re not sure that you enjoy herding her around, but you’re not sure that you dislike it either.
Of course, Master Yao isn’t anything like a parent. More like a grumpy, troublesome uncle with a malicious streak.
***
The roasting chicken fills the air with a pleasant aroma. As you turn it over the fire, Cao’er returns from her bath. Her hair is no longer greasy, though it is as messy as ever. She has swapped into the other bundle of thick rags that she wears - you’ve put that out to dry. Prior to your arrival Cao’er had taken care of the daily chores, but you soon discovered that she did it rather absent-mindedly. You are unsure how someone so well-versed at the art of brewing potions can be so bad at cooking. Thankfully, you had spent some time with the maids in the kitchen and picked up a thing or two.
My dear brother Shun, if only you could see me now. I am not sure if you would laugh or cry, you think as you split up the chicken like a good wife. A big portion for the growing girl, a middling one for the growing boy, and the chicken’s posterior for the old master. He raises his white eyebrows as you serve the hindquarters to him. “We need the nutrition, master,” you say.
He gives a big, dramatic shrug in return and tucks in, muttering about cocky kids. You’ve learnt Yao’s boundaries as a master - he may be harsh and demanding when it came to professional skills, but in daily living he is as carefree as a bird and eats like one. As long as you performed his tasks and did it without complaint, he would be satisfied.
After dinner had been put away, Master Yao beckons with a finger, summoning the both of you to sit in front of him. Clearing his throat, he begins.
“We have received two important requests. I never turn down any request, but these are important even by my demanding standards. The first is a request from an old acquaintance of mine in the Beggars’ Sect. One of their brethren is awaiting trial for murder in Kaifeng, and they claim he has been falsely accused. My acquaintance asks for my assistance in obtaining a second opinion regarding the state of the corpse so that they may clear the beggar’s name. The second request comes from the Songfeng Sword School, south of here near Tuzhonglin. The head of the school has suddenly fallen ill and is in critical condition. If I do not save him, he will die. They are aware of my price and are prepared to pay it.”
Your master smiles thinly. “As you can see, I cannot be in two places at once. Cao’er, you will take my place for one of these requests. I think it is time for you to become more independent. You are definitely up to the task of handling any of these requests.”
The girl shrinks back, pulling her head into the mass of rags that she calls her clothes. “...but…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll send Xu Jing with you,” replies Yao with a nasty grin, cutting off any thoughts you might have had about having a few days off from dealing with the two of them. You do not hate them, but they do aggravate you at times, even with your new and improved patience. Cao'er, on her part, seems visibly relieved, the tension draining from her posture.
“Very well, master,” you answer tentatively, “but a question, if I may. Which request would you prefer to handle?”
“A wise question,” snorts Yao, though you do not know if he is being sarcastic. “I would rather handle the Songfeng case. I have little interest in looking at those that are already dead. What do you think, clever apprentice of mine?”
***
A. You would prefer to take the Beggars’ Sect request. Despite her shyness Cao’er is rather good at investigating corpses, as you have seen firsthand for yourself a number of times, and this should be something she can handle easily. Furthermore, the Beggars’ Sect are a major sect with an unparalleled information network, and making friends with them would be extremely useful to you - the beggars are noted for their loyalty to their allies.
B. You would prefer to go to Songfeng Sword School. It may not be a big sect, but it is rather reputable in the orthodox world and known to be honourable. More importantly, Master Yao will follow through with his ‘save one, kill one’ principle in this case. Cao’er is not bound by those principles, and if she saves the head of the school you could be walking away with money or techniques instead of taking another person’s life.
There, all better?
? They seem like it. Also, how loyal are they to their friends?