Just to the right of Akebaqu City stretched a vast expanse of gobi desert, rolling endlessly, crisscrossed with gravel hills running east to west. Within this landscape lay a stretch of sand dense with camel thorn bushes, and hidden beneath the dense tangle of thorny scrub, one could faintly make out what appeared to be a door built into the gravel hills.
This was, in fact, a house constructed directly into the gravel hillside itself—its materials, colors, and shape all blending perfectly with the surrounding terrain, and combined with the camouflage of camel thorn bushes, anyone unfamiliar with its existence could walk right past it without ever realizing a dwelling stood there at all.
Baili Weisheng reined in his horse, coming to a gradual stop before the door. He glanced at the sky, noting it hadn’t yet fully brightened toward dawn, then, after mentally calculating something for a moment, finally dismounted and knocked on the door. “Knock knock knock!”
Soon, lantern light flickered to life on the rooftop above, yet the door itself remained closed. Instead, a low, gravelly voice called out from within, “There’s already a guest here. You should leave.”
This place was, in fact, the very residence people throughout the realm had long dismissed as existing only in ancient legend—the Divine Physician’s Retreat, home to none other than the legendary Sha Qiuzi.
This elderly physician was, in truth, even more renowned than the very legend of the Divine Physician’s Retreat itself. According to the tales, no ailment, however incurable, could stump him.
Yet, like the physician’s residence itself, he too remained purely a figure of legend to most people—the vast majority didn’t even believe he truly existed at all.
Already a guest?
Sha Qiuzi had always maintained a strict policy of treating only one patient at a time.
Baili Weisheng found this rather suspicious—anyone seeking Sha Qiuzi’s help would necessarily be suffering from some grave illness or severe injury, and surely such cases capable of finding their way to Sha Qiuzi were rare indeed in this world—what were the odds he’d stumble upon exactly such a coincidence?
He knocked three more times, calling out, “Old Sha, it’s me, Baili Weisheng.”
He shared a certain rapport with this elderly physician, having collaborated on a number of thorny problems together in the past.
He had no intention of bringing this troublesome patient, Xuanyuan Lige, directly into Akebaqu City with him—far better to leave him here for now, and while he was at it, request that this venerable physician take a look at Xuanyuan Lige’s peculiar shortened-lifespan affliction as well.
Baili Weisheng’s name still carried some weight, it seemed, as the door swung open at once, revealing a grimy, wrinkled old man with a full white beard, his weathered face streaked with dirt, dressed in tattered, threadbare clothing—the very picture of an old beggar!
Yet this was none other than the divine physician Sha Qiuzi himself.
He looked over Baili Weisheng, who was grinning cheerfully at him, then immediately glanced past him toward the carriage behind. “What good stuff have you brought me this time?”
“The finest, most exquisite poison in all the world…” Baili Weisheng said, deliberately mysterious, dangling the bait.
Sha Qiuzi’s eyes lit up with something bordering on madness, torn between eagerness and hesitation, stepping forward eagerly before retreating again. “What, what is it? Tell me quickly!”
Baili Weisheng smiled, deliberately dragging out his words. “A person…”
“You’re lying to me!” Sha Qiuzi immediately grew displeased. “Go, go, go, I’m full up on guests already.”
With that, he turned to close the door.
“Hey, I’m in a hurry to get into the city. I just need to leave him here with you—no need to treat him at all!” Baili Weisheng hastily pursued, grabbing hold of Sha Qiuzi’s hand. “Just a few days—three at most. Give him something to eat, that’s all. He’s very easy to care for.”
“I’ve got no shortage of mouths to feed around here!” Sha Qiuzi remained utterly unmoved, and with that, he moved to shut the door. Baili Weisheng hastily wedged his foot in, jamming the door open. “Then don’t feed him anything at all—he won’t starve to death in three days. But if you happen to have some free time, take a look at why he can’t live past thirty.”
The moment these words left his mouth, exactly as Baili Weisheng had anticipated, Sha Qiuzi’s grip loosened at once. “What did you say? What’s this about thirty years?”
For a physician, achieving true mastery required first becoming utterly obsessed with medicine itself!
It was clear now—Sha Qiuzi had grown genuinely interested in Xuanyuan Lige’s condition.
“He can only live to thirty. It’s a curse laid upon the Dongqin royal house—he shouldn’t have survived past ten, and yet he did, but he’ll never make it past thirty. So, are you interested or not…”
Before Baili Weisheng could even finish speaking, Sha Qiuzi had already thrown the door wide open, gesturing eagerly for Baili Weisheng to bring the patient inside.
Xuanyuan Lige had not only been struck by Baili Weisheng at several major acupoints, but his mute point had been sealed as well—furious as he was, utterly at their mercy, he had no choice but to let himself be dragged bodily into the house.
The interior was extraordinarily dim, rivaling even Nanzhao’s Poison Den in its darkness. The main hall beyond the entrance connected directly into the mountain itself—no one could say exactly how vast, how deep, this legendary physician’s retreat truly extended.
After hauling Xuanyuan Lige inside, Baili Weisheng immediately began peering around curiously in every direction, trying to spot Sha Qiuzi’s other patient, yet found no trace of them anywhere.
“Where’s the patient? Where are they? Let me have a look at what’s wrong.” Baili Weisheng said with easy familiarity, striding forward as though he owned the place. Yet at that moment, Sha Qiuzi abruptly blocked his path. “Put him down. You can leave now.”
“Hey, come on, good stuff shouldn’t be hoarded all to yourself. Fine, I won’t look—just tell me what the problem is, let me learn a thing or two.” Baili Weisheng said cheerfully, entirely undeterred.
Yet Sha Qiuzi said nothing at all, simply pointing toward the door, ushering him out.
Baili Weisheng knew this old fellow’s temperament well enough not to press the matter further—he’d only been curious, after all, and this wasn’t anything urgent. His real priority was making it into the city before the weather turned too cold!
Though Akebaqu was called the “Imperial City,” it was, in essence, simply the imperial palace itself—one couldn’t simply come and go as one pleased, especially not at this particular moment, with the Sand Worship Ceremony set to begin at noon today!
Baili Weisheng glanced over at Xuanyuan Lige, who was watching him with resentful, pleading eyes off to the side, and said with a smile, “Don’t worry, he’s an old friend of mine—he might just be able to save you!”
With that, ignoring Sha Qiuzi’s continued indifference, he strode off without another word.
Sha Qiuzi glanced briefly at Xuanyuan Lige, his expression impossible to read beneath that thick, white beard. He studied him for a moment, then, showing none of the eager interest he’d displayed earlier over the “won’t live past thirty” remark, simply turned and headed off into the deep darkness beyond.
This passage stretched on for a considerable distance, seemingly cutting straight through an entire mountain. Before long, a foul, putrid stench of corpse-poison began wafting out from the deeper darkness ahead.
Sha Qiuzi stopped abruptly, his expression turning strange—part shock, part delight. He stood frozen for a long moment before suddenly snapping back to himself, letting out a sharp cry of “Ah!” and dashing straight into the room ahead.
Inside, lying on the bed, was none other than Ziqing herself, who had just coughed up a mouthful of bloody fluid, a young medicine boy busily wiping her mouth clean while she remained, as ever, deeply unconscious.
Sha Qiuzi didn’t spare Ziqing so much as a glance, rushing forward in a single stride, nearly stumbling directly into the bloody fluid himself. He dropped to the floor, scooping up the bloody liquid like a madman and sniffing at it frantically—and the moment he did, he let out an exultant shout. “It’s out! Hahaha! The corpse-poison has finally been fully expelled! She’ll wake up soon!”
Hearing this, the medicine boy was equally overjoyed. “Master, this disciple will go inform Prince Yao at once!”
Prince Yao had come by a few days earlier to entrust this “ugly monster” to his master’s care, saying nothing about her identity except leaving behind a single warning: if she didn’t wake, he would kill the master himself!
The world was vast, yet his master seemed to fear only this one man, Prince Yao—perhaps the only true old friend his master had left in this world! There was no question he would give this his absolute all!
Sha Qiuzi had just nodded in agreement when he immediately changed his mind. “No need. Keep tending to her carefully—this humble teacher will write the letter himself!”
With that, he rushed off once more with great urgency—yet just as he lifted his brush to write, he suddenly paused, glancing toward Xuanyuan Lige instead, murmuring to himself, “Perhaps I should check this fellow’s pulse first.”
…