Chapter 520 - 518: You Think You Can Bribe Me with Just a Piece of Gold?

Chapter 520: Chapter 518: You Think You Can Bribe Me with Just a Piece of Gold?

Another year passed uneventfully.

Su Qing’s ordinary mortal body had changed.

Though the changes were subtle, they seemed to be telling the world that he was growing older.

"Master Su, I wonder how the mother and child are doing?"

"Eat more good food. Things like meat would be best."

"Keep your diet light. Mother and child should be safe and sound."

...

Su Qing finished another consultation.

Su Qing’s changes were noticed by quite a few people.

He was, after all, just an ordinary person—albeit one with excellent medical skills.

He was also an oddball. He wouldn’t take a wife and didn’t visit brothels. He just seemed too strange.

Wouldn’t any normal man indulge in some questionable pleasures?

He seemed to have no such inclinations, and rumors quietly began to spread that Su Qing was a natural-born eunuch.

The gossip eventually reached Su Qing’s ears.

He didn’t care at all.

That is, until an actual natural-born eunuch was cured by Su Qing.

After that, such slanderous rumors vanished completely.

Many powerful and influential men began to secretly seek out Su Qing for treatment.

And Su Qing fleeced almost every single one of them for a large sum.

’I have to fleece them.’

Who told these people to treat money as if it were water?

With the silver he earned, Su Qing established a relief shelter nearby.

Anyone in genuine need could get a bowl of congee or a meal there. ℯⅇ𝙡.

However, as a rule, no one could stay for more than a week.

This was relief.

It wasn’t a place for people to freeload indefinitely.

...

’My Cultivation speed has increased, and my Immortal Domain Body seems to have grown a little stronger.’

’As expected, it all comes down to one’s constitution.’

’A good constitution allows me to process poisons faster.’

Of course.

As for Su Qing occasionally eating the leaves of Standardization to enhance his Comprehension...

Eating them for a few years hadn’t produced a significant change, because Su Qing didn’t eat them constantly.

The rate of his improvement had slowed even further.

—

Host: Su Qing

Realm: Dao Fruit Realm [Great Dao Cultivation Method: Dao Fruit (189,214/360,000)]

’There’s still some time. Right now, I can increase it by about ten thousand a year.’

’My current progress is equivalent to about eighteen years of work.’

Su Qing made a quick calculation.

That was the normal rate, but his aptitude and Physique would continue to grow.

Therefore, his speed in reaching Dao Fruit Perfection would be a little faster.

"Doctor Su, the Prefect is gravely ill! Please come with me to the Governor’s Mansion at once to treat him!"

"How is that possible? He was perfectly healthy just a short while ago."

"Injuries aren’t my specialty," Su Qing said, finding it a bit strange.

He had seen the man just one or two weeks ago at most.

It was impossible for him to suddenly become so ill, unless he was invaded by some external malady or demon.

"Alright, I’ll go with you and take a look."

Su Qing grabbed his medical kit from the side and set off.

The Governor’s Mansion.

Su Qing arrived.

There, he also met a junior.

Though called a junior, the man looked older than Su Qing.

But his medical skills were inferior to Su Qing’s.

Hence, a junior.

"Master Su, you’re here too? It seems I won’t be needed then."

"No, no. Every doctor has a different perspective. I can’t treat every illness."

"Come and take a look with me. Don’t be in such a hurry to leave."

Su Qing smiled, grasped the man’s shoulder, and led him into the Governor’s Mansion.

After winding through several corridors, they arrived at a bedroom.

"Doctor Su, please, take a look! My husband has been asleep for two days!"

"He won’t eat or drink," a woman wept from the side. She appeared to be the Prefect’s wife.

"Let me take a look first. If you would please step aside, Madam."

As he spoke, Su Qing took one of the Prefect’s hands to check his pulse.

The pulse was normal. He was simply in an unhealthy state overall from not having eaten.

Su Qing frowned.

He looked at the Prefect.

"Zhang Liusheng, you go take a look."

"I need to think for a moment," Su Qing said, stepping aside.

He already knew what had happened.

Thus, he decided to test Zhang Liusheng.

"Yes, Master Su."

...

"Doctor Su, how is his condition?"

The Prefect’s wife grew even more worried. Usually, Su Qing would diagnose the illness in a single breath after taking the pulse, but now he needed to think.

It was clear the matter was serious.

"The situation is urgent. Are there any experts with special abilities in the city?"

"I suspect the Prefect’s soul has been taken, which is why he remains comatose," Su Qing said with a frown.

His soul had indeed been taken.

But Su Qing didn’t know who had done it.

Nor would he trouble his true self to find out where a mortal’s soul had been taken.

"What? My husband’s soul has been taken?"

"Madam Song, it is only a suspicion," Su Qing said. "As for the specifics... I am merely a student of medicine, I cannot make a definitive statement. Lord Song shows no other abnormalities."

"Master Su is right. The Yang Qi in his heart and lungs seems to have diminished, yet they continue to function without stopping."

Zhang Liusheng also frowned; it was the first time he had encountered such a pulse.

"Madam, in this situation, I can only prescribe some remedies to replenish his Yang Qi, or use acupuncture to help it recover."

"But as you know, my judgment is rarely wrong."

Madam Song quickly said, "Then I must trouble Doctor Su to try acupuncture."

"Very well."

Su Qing took a Silver Needle from his medical kit and began the treatment.

He wouldn’t use any of his supernatural power.

The color returned to the Prefect’s face, but he still did not wake.

After some time passed.

Madam Song took the initiative to grasp the back of Su Qing’s hand, but he quickly pulled it away.

He looked at Madam Song, his expression one of confusion.

He saw her gazing at him with a profound, lingering look.

"Madam Song, Lord Song requires the help of someone with extraordinary abilities. I will not impose any longer."

As he spoke, Su Qing removed the needles and packed his medical kit.

"Let me see you out, Doctor."

"There’s no need. Madam Song should stay and look after Lord Song."

Su Qing said hastily, not even daring to crack a smile.

’This Madam Song... actually trying to seduce me while her husband is incapacitated.’

Su Qing quickly shied away.

’How terrifying.’

He wanted nothing to do with such relationships.

...

...

Back at the clinic.

On top of a counter at Su Qing’s clinic was a box, with a letter placed under it.

Su Qing opened the box.

A large bar of gold appeared before his eyes.

He quickly closed the lid.

He pulled out the letter.

He opened it and read the contents.

"We hope Doctor Su, having received the gift, will refrain from meddling in affairs that don’t concern him..."

’Well now,’ Su Qing could only think.

’Looks like a power struggle.’

Su Qing had no desire to get involved in such struggles.

"Using the Dao Path against an ordinary official... truly impressive," Su Qing mused as he put the box away.

He knew there were eyes watching him.

By doing this, he was signaling that he would not return to the Governor’s Mansion to continue treatment.

It also saved him a lot of trouble.

Factional disputes always brought endless trouble.

Su Qing wanted no part in it.

He was just a humble doctor now.

He didn’t want to handle so many complicated matters.

’A measly bar of gold,’ Su Qing suddenly wanted to laugh.

He could feel a smile wanting to break out on his face.

’How ridiculous.’

’Since when could I be bribed with a piece of gold?’

This was a first for Su Qing.

So, Su Qing couldn’t help but mock himself a little.

If you accept one bit of trouble, more will inevitably follow.

Su Qing didn’t want that.

Nor did he want to disrupt the karmic web at play.

He didn’t want his minor actions to disrupt the grand tide of events.

To avoid being crushed by that tide, one must have the strength to resist it.

But the problem was...

If Su Qing revealed his strength, he might as well just go to some uninhabited Star and focus on his Cultivation.

’This is a trial.’

’I can’t just use my power to solve every problem simply because I have it,’ Su Qing silently reminded himself.

He was a civilized man.

...

...

「Three months later.」

Su Qing’s days were relatively peaceful.

He hadn’t picked a side.

The power structure in the County City had undergone a major shift.

The Zhou Family was gone.

The Wang Family and Li Family were still around, and the Prefect was still alive. That said it all.

The Zhou Family was gone, but the Governor’s Mansion was largely unchanged.

This meant that the force behind the Zhou Family was the one with the means to absorb the Prefect’s soul.

’There’s actually a technique for Soul Traction? What kind of Dao Path would that belong to?’ Su Qing wondered.

...