Outside, wind and rain raged violently. Since there was a ready physician at hand, there was no need to seek far when help was near.

The servant went downstairs and said to the wandering physician eating noodles: “My guest is ill. Please, doctor, come upstairs and take a look.”

The wandering physician picked up the vinegar bottle and poured vinegar into his noodle bowl. Who would have thought this vinegar bottle was like a man with prostate problems—it dripped two drops and then nothing more.

“Waiter! Add some vinegar!” After solving the vinegar problem, the wandering physician said to the servant: “I’ve been on a boat for several days and feel dizzy from all the swaying. I just want to eat a bowl of noodles and rest in my room. Please find someone more capable.”

The servant replied: “The nearest pharmacy is at least two li away, and with this heavy rain and cold winter weather, the pharmacy doctor probably won’t make house calls. I hope the doctor will be accommodating and take a look at my guest.”

During their conversation, the waiter filled the vinegar bottle. The wandering physician poured vinegar into the noodle bowl as if it cost nothing—glug, glug, glug—filling the air with a sour aroma. “I’m really not feeling well today and fear I might misdiagnose. You should ask the innkeeper—there should be other wandering physicians around.”

The wandering physician continued eating noodles. The servant, rejected once again, had no choice but to ask the innkeeper about nearby doctors.

The innkeeper said there were none—today he had only seen this noodle-eating wandering physician check into the inn.

The servant had to swallow his pride and return. He took out his money pouch and threw it on the dining table with a loud thud, startling the noodle-eating physician so much he nearly dropped his chopsticks.

“How much do you want? Name your price,” the servant said.

As soon as he finished speaking, the servant felt a chill on the back of his neck, and a voice came from behind: “Are you inviting a doctor or threatening one?”

The servant dared not turn around. “Of… of course I’m inviting. The innkeeper says you’re the only doctor here—no other physicians have checked in. My guest is very ill. When we boarded the ship, he was full of life, but now he can’t even get out of bed.”

The innkeeper quickly came over to mediate: “This is all true, don’t misunderstand, don’t fight. Small business can’t withstand such troubles.”

With the sound of swords returning to sheaths, the chill on his neck disappeared. The servant mustered courage to turn around and saw a rather handsome wandering knight who had been sitting at the table next to the wandering physician—someone who drew his sword to help when witnessing injustice.

This was Lu Ying. The wandering physician was Wei Caiwei, who still called herself “Doctor He.”

Their destination was Mount Wudang in Hubei, but they too had been trapped by wind and rain at this Jiangxi port.

The servant quickly bowed in apology to Wei Caiwei: “I’m sorry, I was too anxious just now and threw money at you. That was disrespectful. I was wrong.”

Exhausted from travel, Wei Caiwei had a poor appetite. Even after adding vinegar to make the noodles heavy-flavored, she only managed a few chopsticks before setting them down. She said: “Consultation costs twenty wen upfront. Prescriptions, acupuncture, and massage are charged separately. My spirits are poor today, so I’ll say this clearly beforehand—if I misdiagnose, I take no responsibility.”

Wei Caiwei didn’t want to make money, but hearing the servant’s urgency, her physician’s compassionate heart moved her—she could save whoever she could.

The servant gave her half a string of coins—fifty wen total. She only took twenty wen and followed the servant upstairs.

To save money, the inn rooms had only one dim oil lamp with a wick as small as a grain of rice—truly like a bean-sized flame. In the dim light, aside from shadows, nothing could be seen clearly.

Wei Caiwei could only see someone lying sideways on the bed, disheveled hair, thin build. Under the blanket, the body was flat without any rise—a thin, tall man.

The man faced outward, but his scattered hair covered most of his face, making his features unclear. She could hear his breathing was heavy, mixed with phlegm and trembling sounds—indeed seriously ill.

The patient was very tall; the inn’s blanket couldn’t even cover him properly. Running a fever, the patient was now in a comatose state. Survival instinct still made him unconsciously curl his body, trying to wrap himself in the blanket, but it was too small. He had one big foot and half a calf exposed.

The calf was quite pale, brighter than the oil lamp.

Wei Caiwei said to the servant: “Go ask the innkeeper for two more blankets. The blanket’s too small—even a healthy person would get sick from the cold.”

The servant hurried downstairs.

Wei Caiwei first checked the patient’s pulse. The wrist she grasped felt like a piece of burning charcoal, with a chaotic and rapid pulse—her initial diagnosis was wind-cold syndrome.

Taking the pulse was the first step; she also needed to examine the tongue and pupils. But the inn’s oil lamp was practically blind—nothing could be seen clearly. Wei Caiwei took out a candle stub from her medicine bag and lit it. The room immediately brightened—clearly someone with experience traveling the jianghu.

Wei Caiwei held the candle in one hand and used the other to brush away the hair covering the patient’s face. At one look, she was startled! Her body swayed, and candle wax dripped onto the patient’s face!

The patient’s facial features resembled Wang Daxia. Although the beard on his chin had grown as long as fingernails—short, hard, and bristling like hedgehog skin—and neither Eunuch Wang from her previous life nor the spirited young man of this life had ever grown a beard, after years of sharing the same bed and pillow, Wei Caiwei could still recognize the outline by candlelight.

But Wang Daxia was supposed to be on the southeastern coast searching for the Japanese pirates who attacked Wang Qianhu last year. How did he end up in Jiangxi?

Wei Caiwei shook the patient: “Wake up quickly!”

The patient remained unconscious. To confirm his identity, Wei Caiwei took out a sharp small knife and began shaving the patient’s beard. Halfway through, Lu Ying knocked on the door and urged: “Still not finished examining? You should go rest.”

Wei Caiwei said: “Come in quickly and see who this is!”

Lu Ying pushed the door open and saw the man with half his beard shaved: “This… looks like Wang Daxia. But he should be on the southeastern coast. Could this just be someone who looks similar?”

Wei Caiwei quickly finished shaving with a few more strokes. The resemblance grew stronger. She then lifted the blanket and reached to untie the patient’s clothing.

Lu Ying: “What are you doing?”

Wei Caiwei said: “I know the shape of Wang Daxia’s scars. He has a red mole at his Shanzhong acupoint and a palm-sized blue birthmark at his Weilu acupoint. Whether it’s Wang Daxia or not, we’ll know once we remove his clothes and look.”

Although Lu Ying didn’t understand medicine, she practiced martial arts and knew basic acupoint locations. The Shanzhong acupoint was right between the two breasts, and the Weilu acupoint was between the lower back dimple and the anus—these were intimate areas that not just anyone could see.

Unless…

Lu Ying didn’t dare ask directly! She could only say: “What if those two places don’t have a red mole and birthmark?”

Wei Caiwei deftly undid the clothing ties: “Anyway, he’s unconscious and won’t know… I’ll refund the consultation fee and treat him for free.”

Wei Caiwei pulled open the clothes and indeed saw the familiar red mole at the Shanzhong acupoint!

Wei Caiwei beckoned to Lu Ying: “Come help me turn him over so I can see his Weilu acupoint.”

To see this Weilu acupoint, the pants had to be pulled down to the hip tips.

Propriety dictated looking away. Lu Ying covered her eyes with a cloth strip. The two women worked together to turn the unconscious man over. Wei Caiwei pulled down the pants, and the blue palm-shaped birthmark was clearly visible.

Wei Caiwei often used peacock feathers to tickle this palm print—this move was even more effective than nibbling earlobes. With just a light tickle, Wang Daxia would become like a cat dozing by a warm stove, obediently lying in place enjoying it, his toes sometimes curling, sometimes relaxing.

Bang! The door opened. The servant returning with two blankets saw this scene and immediately shouted: “Let go of my guest! You two perverts! Taking advantage of someone in distress—shameless!”

The servant’s outcry alarmed the waiters and neighboring guests, who all came to witness the perverts.

Wei Caiwei reacted quickly, grabbing a silver needle: “Don’t think wrongly—I’m a doctor giving him acupuncture treatment.”

The servant was half-convinced, pointing at Lu Ying: “What about him? What’s a wandering knight doing in my guest’s room?”

Wei Caiwei said: “I asked her to come in because—” She pointed to the half-burned candle by the bedside, “The oil lamp in the room was too dim to see clearly. I was afraid of inserting needles in the wrong acupoints, so I asked her to lend me a candle for light.”

Lu Ying sighed: “A dog bites Lü Dongbin—not recognizing a good person’s heart.”

The servant realized he had misunderstood and quickly placed the blankets on the bed, bowing in apology once again.

After confirming the body, this was indeed her fiancé. Wei Caiwei placed a piece of ginseng under her tongue, forcing herself to maintain energy as she treated Wang Daxia and wrote a prescription.

Lu Ying braved the cold winter wind and rain to go to the pharmacy two li away to fetch medicine.

Wei Caiwei personally brewed the medicine, and she and Lu Ying worked together to pour the medicinal liquid down his throat. They were busy until dawn.

By noon, Wang Daxia’s fever had broken and he finally opened his eyes. Wei Caiwei had remained fully clothed by his side, lying down without undressing.

Wang Daxia thought he was dreaming and quickly closed his eyes to let the beautiful dream continue.

But with his eyes closed, he couldn’t see his fiancée. He opened his eyes again. All his strength seemed drained away. He struggled to extend his hand, his rough palm gently caressing her face.

The touch was soft and warm; he could even feel her breath on his palm, like a gentle spring breeze.

This dream was too real. Wang Daxia wished to sleep forever and never wake up. Once awake, he would have to face those troublesome matters, sad affairs, and the enormous pressure of revenge.

He hoped this dream would last longer, much longer. All troubles could be temporarily left in the real world. Here there were only the two of them, lying face to face, feeling her breathing and heartbeat.

Moreover, in dreams, he could do things impossible in the real world.

He kissed her.

After his high fever, Wang Daxia’s lips were dry and cracked like sandpaper. The sleeping Wei Caiwei felt something rough against her forehead and frowned.

This expression was very familiar to Wang Daxia—it meant disgust. He felt like shrinking his mouth back.

Voices came from outside:

“The wind and rain have lessened. We can depart.”

“This is the boat fare. Your guest is an old acquaintance of ours. He’ll come with us.”

This dream was too realistic—even Lu Ying’s voice was so clear!

“No way. I need to go in and ask the guest first. The guest asked me to take him to Yuanzhou—we haven’t arrived yet.”

The servant knocked on the door: “Guest! Are you awake! Will you go with us or with your friends?”

The knocking woke both Wei Caiwei and Wang Daxia. She opened her eyes and saw Wang Daxia staring straight at her with wide-awake eyes: “Huh? How can I still see you when I’m awake? Could this be a dream within a dream?”

Wei Caiwei touched her forehead to his, confirming he no longer had a fever. What he’d just said wasn’t delirium—it was just too sudden, and he momentarily couldn’t distinguish between dream and reality.

After the fever, Wang Daxia’s eyes were bright and sparkling like stars. Wei Caiwei couldn’t look at them enough. She tightly embraced him: “Never leave me for so long again. No matter what happens, we’ll bear it together.”

Author’s Note: The two Xias unite—applause and scattered flowers!