Book 2: Chapter 17: The Healer (4)
Sen made a point to put on a show of cooking for a few days. Somehow, he always managed to cook at least three times as much as he needed. Although, for Sen, it was only mostly a show. He did have a vested interest in making sure that Luo Ping got the things that her body needed to heal. Of course, the greater part of it was simply so everyone could pretend that he hadn’t bought them a truly absurd amount of food. He did make a point to store the meat in his storage ring, though. After all, there was no benefit to buying a bunch of food if it would just spoil. On days he didn’t cook, he made sure that some meat would appear near the stove when it was getting to be around the time for the evening meal. Sure, it was all a big piece of fiction, but one that left everyone’s dignity intact.
What Sen hadn’t expected was for people to start showing up at the farm looking for him. He’d been deeply wary the first time it happened. He’d assumed that the frothy pond sect had finally caught up with him. Except, it wasn’t them. It was a man in his middle years. When Sen approached, the man offered him a deep bow. Then, he launched into a detailed explanation of his medical problem. It took Sen’s stunned brain a few seconds to catch up with what was happening. It wasn’t the prelude to some devious attack. It was just a man looking to get some help. Once Sen realized that he wasn’t going to have to fight anyone, he really started listening to the man’s problem. After hearing the man out and examining him with his qi, Sen wondered why the man had come to him. It was a simple enough problem that any doctor should have been able to help with it.
“Have you seen a doctor about this?” Sen asked, mostly out of curiosity.
“What doctor? We might get one through here once, maybe twice a year, always on their way to somewhere else. Sometimes they see people, sometimes they don’t.”
The man didn’t even sound bitter about it, just resigned.
“What do you do when you have illnesses or injuries?”
The man shrugged. “Take care of it ourselves. People who can afford it to go see a doctor in the city. The Widow Ang knows a little bit. She can stitch people up. Maybe give them some kind of herbal brew.”
Sen nodded along. He’d asked Luo Ping and Luo Min about it, and everything the man was saying was consistent with what they’d told him.
“I see. Well, yes, I can help you. It won’t taste good, though.”
The man blinked at Sen owlishly before he said, “You can?”
“I think so. I’m not sure I can resolve it completely, but I can certainly make it better.”
Sen did think he could resolve it completely, but better to set expectations low. He could be wrong, after all. An hour later, the man left with a stoppered bottle in hand and a smile. Sen was left with some money. He’d just picked a number out of the air that he thought sounded reasonable. The man had seemed happy enough to pay, which made Sen wonder if he’d grossly undercharged for it. Sen resolved then and there to visit the village and learn what things cost. After a few moments of thought, he decided that there was no time like the present. He told Luo Min where he was going and caught up with the recently departed, well, customer. With a potential solution to his medical problem in hand, the older man was happy to chat with Sen about mundane things like the price of rice and where Sen might find some medicinal herbs for sale.
The trip to town was an eye-opening experience for Sen. He’d been dramatically overestimating the cost of things like food. Yet, his sense of what medicinal herbs were worth was far too low. What little there was available in the village, most of it of only so-so quality, was selling for far more than Sen would have paid for it. Still, it did give him a better idea of how much he should be charging if ever decided to sell his alchemical services again. Which he did three times the next day. After the last person left, he found himself frowning into the distance.
“How do all of these people know about me?” he asked the open air.
“That may be my fault,” said Luo Min from behind him.
He kept his distance and hid his presence. He might be wrong, after all. There were bound to be people in the world he simply didn’t like who were still basically decent. Except, he wasn’t wrong this time. When the pair were far enough from the hut that any screams might go unheard, the young man grabbed at her robes and yanked. That was as far as he got. Sen had very nearly killed the young man on the spot, but he thought better of it at the last second. There was no need for Luo Min to witness that. He contented himself with grabbing the young man’s wrist and squeezing. Somewhere in the middle of the bones shattering and the screaming, the young man let go of Luo Min’s robes.
Sen’s opinion of the woman went up then. While she’d clearly been frightened by what had just happened, she was made of stern stuff. She drove her foot between the man’s legs hard enough that she could have broken a thick tree limb with the strike. It wasn’t artful, thought Sen, but, on reflection, it didn’t really need to be. The man lost consciousness at that point, which Sen felt was probably more mercy than he deserved. Sen gave Luo Min a nod and, to his surprise, she threw her arms around him. It was brief, just a few seconds, before she released him. Sen remembered when he’d craved a moment of comfort on the mountain. He couldn’t really fault her for taking one.
She glared down at the young man. “What will you do with him?”
Sen gave her half a smile. “Only what he deserves. You should head back now. I’m sure your mother needs your help with something.”
Sen considered what to do with the young man for several minutes. There were a number of possibilities, but most of them involved doing things to the young man that Sen simply preferred not to do. In the end, he decided to go with a balanced approach. Sen was leaning against a tree when the young man finally came around. He almost immediately started bellowing in pain. The appearance of a spearhead mere inches from his throat cut that down to groans.
“You like to stalk and ambush people. Well, consider yourself blessed. Today, you’ll get to see true masters of your craft at work. There are many beasts in this forest that like to do the same thing.”
The young man looked around with wild eyes. As understanding of where he truly was dawned on the young man, he started begging. “You can’t leave me out here! Not like this!”
Sen let the silence drag out before he spoke. “I suppose you’re right.”
Before the relief could even register on the young man’s face, Sen continued.
“I shouldn’t risk the slim possibility that you might reach safety.”
With a swift, smooth motion, Sen drove the spearhead through the young man’s calf. It didn’t quite sever the muscle, but there was a spray of blood when Sen pulled the weapon free. Sen ignored the howling and the curses laid on his house.
“You bastard!”
“You may be right about that,” said Sen. “I really don’t know.”
“This is murder. You’re murdering me! What kind of healer are you?”
“I’m not a healer. I’m a cultivator,” said Sen. “By the way, I’d start hobbling away now if I were you. All that blood is drawing some attention.”
