Under the large locust tree at the entrance of Yaoxi Village, a boy lay.
He looked to be ten years old at most, and his body was covered in blood as he hovered on the brink of death.
This was the boy the villagers called “Xiao Zhuzi.”
He lived up to his name; his frame was as thin as a bamboo stalk, looking as if he had never once eaten a full meal.
The villagers gathered around Xiao Zhuzi, filled with anxiety.
They stared at him with eyes full of heartache, fearing he might draw his last breath the moment they looked away.
“Zhuzi, Zhuzi!!”
At that moment, a young man came running over in a panic, shouting Xiao Zhuzi’s name as he ran.
When he reached Xiao Zhuzi and saw the boy’s miserable state, he became both furious and frantic.
He shouted loudly, “They’ve gone too far… This is simply too much! I’m going to get revenge!!!”
This man was named Xu Tianlong.
Although he was not blood-related to Xiao Zhuzi, he had taken on the responsibility of caring for him ever since the boy’s parents were murdered by bandits on the way to the capital.
Whether they were going to the city for work or returning to the village, the two were basically inseparable.
Xu Tianlong did manual labor in the city, while Xiao Zhuzi served as a page for a sect called the “Xincheng Sect.”
Due to some unavoidable circumstances, Xu Tianlong occasionally could not return to the village with Xiao Zhuzi.
Although the boy was young, he was very mature and sensible; he would tell Xu Tianlong not to wait for him and would carefully make his way back to the village alone.
Xiao Zhuzi did exactly that, but several times when he returned to the village alone, he was more or less covered in injuries.
Xu Tianlong had asked for the reason, but Xiao Zhuzi only said he had fallen on the road.
However, those wounds were clearly lashed out by a Vine Whip; how could they have possibly been from a fall?
The villagers knew the truth in their hearts.
Xiao Zhuzi was surely being bullied by the people from the Xincheng Sect.
But they were just a group of villagers who could barely sustain their own lives; how could they contend with a local power like the Xincheng Sect?
With just a word from the Xincheng Sect, no one from Yaoxi Village would be able to find work in the city again.
That was equivalent to cutting off everyone’s livelihood.
Xiao Zhuzi was also well aware of this, so he had always swallowed his resentment and never complained.
The others felt both gratitude and admiration for this strong child, but mostly, they felt pity.
However, this time, Xiao Zhuzi had been beaten into such a state that Xu Tianlong finally reached his breaking point.
“Those dogs from the Xincheng Sect, they all deserve to die!!!!”
Disregarding the villagers’ attempts to stop him, Xu Tianlong grabbed a cleaver used for chopping wood and prepared to rush toward the city.
Just then, a voice that sounded somewhat lazy yet exceptionally serious rang out from not far away.
“Don’t be so noisy, don’t be so noisy. Whatever it is, wait until the injured person is treated before speaking.”
Everyone turned their gaze toward the source of the voice.
They saw Ye Qingluan approaching, her green hair longer than her entire body as it trailed on the ground.
She wore only a single thin garment, and it seemed as though she were wearing nothing else underneath, revealing her two bare legs and bare feet.
Beneath Ye Qingluan’s smooth, bare feet, wild flowers and grass sprouted from the earth, carrying her forward at a steady pace.
She had descended to the ground, but not quite; she still did not have to walk on her own.
Seeing Ye Qingluan arrive, the villagers all breathed a sigh of relief.
Xu Tianlong also suppressed the fury in his heart and bowed deeply to her.
“Physician Ye… I must trouble you again!”
Ye Qingluan’s demeanor gave off a lazy feeling.
Although her face was very cute, her style of dress and unkempt appearance always gave people an unreliable impression.
That was exactly what the villagers of Yaoxi Village thought when they first met her.
‘How could such a strange girl be a Physician with superb medical skills?’
However, once they witnessed her capabilities for the first time, they were instantly won over.
Now, seeing her again, everyone showed nothing but the utmost respect.
Ye Qingluan slowly approached Xiao Zhuzi, leaned down, and looked him up and down before saying, “The people who did this were truly cruel.”
“Physician Ye, Xiao Zhuzi’s injuries…”
“Ordinary herbs would be slow to heal this. I’ll have to use some real skill,” Ye Qingluan said.
Then, Zhenqi surged, blowing her long green hair upward.
Next, a large expanse of green branches and leaves grew from the ground beneath Xiao Zhuzi, wrapping his entire body within.
After a flash of dim green light, the foliage withered instantly as if it had lost its vitality.
Xiao Zhuzi, however, looked completely refreshed, the wounds on his body having vanished without a trace.
“My goodness… Physician Ye’s ability can truly be called a divine technique!”
“No matter how many times I see it, it’s still so shocking!”
“As expected of Physician Ye!!”
Amidst the crowd’s exclamations, Xiao Zhuzi slowly woke up.
He was surprised to find that the pain was gone, and when he saw Ye Qingluan standing before him, he quickly understood what had happened.
“Thank you, Physician Ye, for saving my life!”
Xiao Zhuzi hurriedly knelt before Ye Qingluan and kowtowed several times.
Ye Qingluan never charged the villagers for her treatments.
Aside from crashing at various houses for meals, she was willing to accept this kind of thanks from Xiao Zhuzi.
“Don’t go back to that place anymore,” Ye Qingluan instructed him.
“I’m leaving in a few days. Do you want to come with me then?”
Ye Qingluan never stayed in one place for too long because there were still many people in this world who needed her help.
She would usually choose to leave quietly once the local people were able to stand on their own feet.
Xiao Zhuzi was an exception; it was the first time Ye Qingluan had thought about taking someone with her.
“Physician Ye… are you leaving?”
Xiao Zhuzi said with some reluctance.
After all, this was his Homeland.
“If you’re reluctant to leave, then stay in the village and help everyone with chores. No one will force you to go work in the city; that’s something for adults to do,” Ye Qingluan said.
“But…”
Seeing Xiao Zhuzi’s hesitation, Ye Qingluan sighed.
She manipulated a Vine Whip to pick up a piece of wood from the side.
Then, several Wooden Flying Swords materialized around her.
The wooden swords darted back and forth across the timber, and in the blink of an eye, the ordinary piece of wood transformed into a lifelike Small Wooden Figure.
“Xiao Zhuzi, take this.”
Ye Qingluan controlled the Vine Whip to coil around the Small Wooden Figure and handed it to the boy.
“Wow! It’s so beautiful!”
After taking the Small Wooden Figure, Xiao Zhuzi laughed with excitement and joy.
Looking at his pure smile, a faint smile couldn’t help but appear on Ye Qingluan’s lazy face.
‘This is the kind of expression a child of this age should have on his face,’ she thought to herself.
She had been pushing Xiao Zhuzi to make a choice just now.
He was only a child, yet he was forced to knit his brows like an adult to make a decision.
Ye Qingluan did not like that and felt she had made a mistake, which was why she carved the small figure as an apology.
“Physician Ye, this doll seems to be the same as the previous ones. Who exactly is she?”
Xiao Zhuzi asked with a face full of curiosity.
“You can call her… Fairy Caiyun.”
After a moment of deep thought, a look of longing appeared in Ye Qingluan’s eyes.
“She is someone I respect and love deeply.”
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