Chapter 971: Special Treatment |
After finalizing the plans to track Bai Liang, Liu Xing and the others began to eat and drink.
To be honest, Wang Haiyang's Shudu dishes were indeed very authentic.
So, Liu Xing couldn't help but ask, "By the way, Wang Haiyang, where exactly did your family live in Shudu before? I'm from Rongcheng."
Wang Haiyang wiped his mouth, shook his head, and said, "I left Shudu to come to Morio Town when I was very young, I think I had just started first grade in elementary school. Then, due to an accident, I fell seriously ill. When I recovered, I was already in Morio Town and awakened my current ability. But I can be sure my hometown was in a small town."
At this moment, Dio interjected, "That's right, Wang Haiyang came to Morio Town over ten years ago. At that time, Wang Haiyang was still in a coma. I and several others worked for several days to wake him up."
Wang Haiyang rolled his eyes and said helplessly, "Dio, tell me honestly, did you really contribute anything to saving me? I heard you planned to use a special method to turn me into a Ghoul."
Dio felt somewhat embarrassed and started eating his meal silently.
"To be honest, Wang Haiyang, your situation was really problematic at that time. If Huang Yaoshi hadn't decided to take a gamble in the end, you might have already become a Ghoul," Bai Xing showed a reminiscing expression.
However, Liu Xing and the others looked surprised because Bai Xing had just mentioned "Huang Yaoshi."
Of course, it might just be a Huang with the surname Huang, a pharmacist...
Wang Haiyang nodded and smiled, saying, "By the way, a couple of days ago, Huang Yaoshi talked to me about something. In short, he wants me to become his apprentice after graduating from high school. But I have a feeling he just wants a free hand to use as labor."
At this point, Dio said, "Be confident, drop the 'always feel.' That guy Huang Yaoshi just wants you to work for him as a slave. That old bastard owes me a bottle of red wine for over ten years and hasn't paid me back yet!"
"Exactly, Huang Yaoshi is great in every way except that he loves taking advantage of others too much. Once, my father sent me some specialty pastries, and Huang Yaoshi saw them while passing by and forcibly took half for himself," Mai Yuqiang couldn't help but complain.
As for Bai Xing, he said somewhat embarrassed, "Sigh, how should I explain this? Huang Yaoshi was really a bit unfortunate in his childhood because his father was a gambler ghost, so he sold him to someone named Yazi (a person, probably). Then Yazi took him to another place to sell him to a pharmacy as an assistant. But 'assistant' really meant he did all kinds of hard labor. Fortunately, he was very smart and diligent, and eventually, he managed to stand out... Unfortunately, the good times didn't last long. His town was suddenly attacked by snake men, destroying his family and forcing him to live as a beggar in County Town for several years. So he was really destitute."
"Snake men?"
Liu Xing said, surprised, "If I'm not mistaken, snake men are probably the most low-profile mythical creatures, right? Most snake men live underground and don't usually interact with humans. Moreover, from what I know, many snake men haven't attacked human villages for a long time."
Bai Xing sighed and nodded, "Yes, compared to other mythical creatures, snake men generally keep to themselves and don't interact with humans because humans serve no purpose to them. So, after we learned about Huang Yaoshi's situation, we started to suspect that Swollen Woman was the real culprit behind all this. She arranged for snake men to attack Huang Yaoshi's town. Moreover, Huang Yaoshi's journey from China to Island Nation was filled with coincidences."
"Wait, from what you're saying, Huang Yaoshi should just be an ordinary doctor. Why would Swollen Woman force him to come to Morio Town?" Li Hanxing asked curiously.
"To make him treat us," Dio said seriously. "Although Huang Yaoshi is just an ordinary person, his master somehow obtained a strange medical book. This book records many odd diseases and their treatments, essentially about treating various magic spell-induced injuries caused by mythical creatures, as well as situations like Wang Haiyang's loss of self-control due to innate abilities. Unfortunately, Huang Yaoshi's master saw the book as gibberish, so Huang Yaoshi only read it once or twice. The book was then used by his master to boil herbs for fire."
Dio looked at Wang Haiyang and continued, "I think Huang Yaoshi wanted you to become his apprentice and inherit his medical skills because our Morio Town Protection Association only has Huang Yaoshi as an official doctor. If he's gone, we'd be in trouble. Although he might mess things up sometimes, most of the time, he can quickly and effectively help us handle injuries."
"Yes, Huang Yaoshi is now over eighty years old, and he has developed many ailments from his years of hardship. So, he probably feels he doesn't have much time left, hence the urgency for you, Wang Haiyang, to become his apprentice. After all, you're the only one in Morio Town who can be his apprentice unless we want to drag another ordinary person into it..."
At this point, Liu Xing could see regret in Bai Xing's eyes.
Dio, sitting beside Liu Xing, began to clarify, "Here's how it happened. A few years ago, a child from an ordinary family showed incredible talent. Someone saw this and wanted to take the child as an apprentice. This caused an internal debate within the Morio Town Protection Association, and the final vote was cast by Bai Xing. Although he voted abstention, the number of affirmative votes exceeded the negative ones by one. As a result, the child was absorbed into the Morio Town Protection Association, and many members who wanted to be masters taught their skills to him."
"At first, the child indeed showed outstanding talent. By sixteen, he could already spar with Mai Yuqiang. So, we all had high hopes for his future, believing he could become the future star of the Morio Town Protection Association... But not long after, Swollen Woman sent an assassin. The child was the first to spot the assassin. As you can imagine, the aspiring hero child and the assassin perished together in front of everyone's eyes, falling into the sea with no trace. Then his parents left Morio Town, the sorrowful place, and reportedly got divorced later. Bai Xing has always felt it's his fault, thinking he should have voted against it."
Liu Xing nodded; indeed, it was a sad story.
At this point, Wang Haiyang sighed and nodded, saying, "Alright, I'll go talk to Huang Yaoshi properly. If he's willing to pay me a salary, I'll become his apprentice."
Just as Wang Haiyang finished speaking, a middle-aged woman’s voice came from outside the door, "Wang Haiyang, your homeroom teacher is waiting for you at the door."
"Got it, Mom," Wang Haiyang patted his head and said helplessly, "Looks like my skipping class has been discovered... You guys keep eating, I'll be right there... Never mind, I guess I won't be back within ten minutes."
As Wang Haiyang left the private room, the three of Mai Yuqiang's group simultaneously showed expressions of glee, as if their plan had succeeded.
"Haha, my acting was good enough, right? I'll take half of Huang Yaoshi's payment," Dio gestured a "five" sign.
Bai Xing shook his head and affirmed, "That's impossible. We have to distribute the payment according to the previously agreed proportion—each person gets thirty-three percent, and the remaining one percent is for us to drink."
Upon hearing this, Liu Xing knew that Wang Haiyang had been "sold" by the three of Mai Yuqiang.
"Let it be. We'll let the remaining one percent go to Liu Xing and the others as hush money," Mai Yuqiang smiled and said, "Here's the thing: Huang Yaoshi needs one apprentice to inherit his skills, and currently, the best, or rather, the only candidate is Wang Haiyang. Unfortunately, Wang Haiyang doesn't like studying, so we have no other choice but to take this step."
"So, the story about that child you mentioned is also made up, right?" Sun Huiwen frowned and asked.
Mai Yuqiang shook his head, somewhat helpless, "No, no, no. The child's story has only been slightly modified. The earlier part is entirely true. The kid, after gaining power, started to become arrogant, stopped treating himself as human, went to Nagoya to become part of a gang, caused trouble, and was finally taken down by us when he returned to Morio Town. Then he disappeared without a trace."
Upon hearing this, Liu Xing suddenly had a premonition that he might encounter this "former gangster" when he reached Nagoya later.
This could very well be a side quest.
But speaking of side quests, Liu Xing thought that there was a good side quest right in front of him—Huang Yaoshi recruiting apprentices.
If nothing unexpected happened, the three of them could go to Huang Yaoshi to become apprentices. Although they probably wouldn't receive one-on-one detailed guidance like Wang Haiyang, they could still observe.
As long as the three performed well, they might learn a special healing skill, which would be divine for Liu Xing and the others, as it would fall under the "specialist" category.
In the Cthulhu RPG Game, while healing skills are effective in most situations, their effectiveness is greatly reduced or even nullified against some special injuries.
So, special healing skills are needed in such times.
Thinking of this, Liu Xing considered finding an opportunity to meet Huang Yaoshi.
Before he could fall asleep, someone brought a pillow. Dio suddenly said, "By the way, Liu Xing, I remember you studied medicine, right?"
Liu Xing quickly nodded and replied, "Yes, I graduated from Rongcheng Traditional Chinese Medicine University. So, Dio, could you help me get introduced to Huang Yaoshi? I'm very interested in his medical skills."
As soon as Liu Xing finished speaking, Mai Yuqiang said seriously, "Then this afternoon, I'll take you to meet Huang Yaoshi. I believe Huang Yaoshi would be very willing to discuss medical skills with you."
Upon hearing Mai Yuqiang say this, Dio became unhappy, "Hey, hey, hey, Mai Yuqiang, that's a bit underhanded. Liu Xing asked me first. Why are you stepping in and trying to steal my business?"
It seems that Huang Yaoshi was paying Mai Yuqiang and his group based on headcount.
"Then I'll add another vote. You know I have the ability to get you another vote. Even if I leave Morio Town in the future, this vote will still go to you," Mai Yuqiang said seriously.
Although Dio wanted to refuse, he ultimately chose to compromise, "Alright, since you've said so, then you take Liu Xing to meet Huang Yaoshi."
"What about us? The two of us have also learned some basic medicine and nursing knowledge. If it doesn't work, we can start learning from scratch," Li Hanxing asked eagerly.
Mai Yuqiang shook his head and smiled, "Forget it. Even if you go to Huang Yaoshi, he would only use you as pure labor. First, you don't understand Traditional Chinese Medicine, and second, you're too old now."
Li Hanxing and the other two looked at each other without words.
After finishing their meal, Mai Yuqiang didn't take Liu Xing as promised to meet Huang Yaoshi because he had just called Huang Yaoshi and couldn't reach him.
"It seems Huang Yaoshi must have gone to take a nap. He's so old and lacks energy, loves taking big naps, and Huang Yaoshi sleeps for an afternoon six days a week. So, we'll go to see him tomorrow morning instead," Mai Yuqiang said, holding his mobile phone.
Since there was no way to meet Huang Yaoshi, Liu Xing, along with Li Hanxing and Sun Huiwen, went to scout the neighborhood where Bai Liang lived in advance.
Thus, Dio called his broker friend, drove Liu Xing and the others to the high-end neighborhood, while the promised car was sent for repainting and re-licensing.
Soon, Liu Xing and the three of them arrived at the high-end neighborhood where Bai Liang lived.
Although called a high-end neighborhood, it was more of a villa area or Japanese estate district built into the mountains. Apart from a few high-rise buildings at the bottom, the other estates were built according to the mountain's contours.
The estate that Liu Xing and his group bought, along with the one where Bai Liang lived, were both located halfway up the mountain, consisting of small-sized units covering an area of about three to four hundred square meters.
As Dio's friend, the broker likely knew some inside information. So, after opening the small estate's door, he returned to the car and waited.
Upon entering the estate, Li Hanxing took out a pair of binoculars from his pocket.
[Thanks for reading at Patreon.com/maxnkoga , if you supporting this novel, a heartfelt thankyou, enjoy the content!]
Chapter 972: Ancient OneSirius