Chapter 3: Chapter 3

The sun was already high in the sky when they walked out of the inn, though autumn foliage from trees planted along the streets provided some cover. They did not walk for long before they arrived in front of a store. When they came to a full stop, however, Shu Cailing waited in confusion before he realized the issue.

There were stairs leading up to the raised platform of the store, but it would be hard for the wheelchair to go up it. But before he could comment or ask, Xu Boyan stepped back and detached a rather large thing from the back of the wheelchair. It looked to be a sturdy, flat wooden plank. With a pronounced clack he popped something from its back, then with another knock pushed the thing back, before setting it down. It laid on the ground as a sturdy slope— a ramp, Shu Cailing realized. With only the faintest grunt, Xu Boyan pushed He Zhecheng up. Though Xu Boyan was tall, Shu Cailing hadn't expected him to be quite so strong based on silhouette alone.

The man in question turned to him with a smile. "Junyao?"

"Ah, right!" Shu Cailing turned to Hongshi. "Shige, let's go."

The store had beautifully carved wooden decorations and painted screens, and a pleasant fragrance greeted them as they stepped inside. Curious, Shu Cailing looked around. A large, detailed painting of a lush mountain with birds in flight took up the wall near the doorway, while further inside, vases and other decorations sat on shelves. A middle-aged man was standing behind a desk, cleaning a small statue with a piece of cloth, and he perked up upon seeing them.

“Welcome, welcome! How may I help you?”

“We’d like to sell some pearls…?” Shu Cailing glanced at Hongshi in askance.

Without blinking, Hongshi pulled out a small, dark silk bag and opened it. He took out two round things, both around the size of a quail egg, and showed it atop his palm. It gleamed with the luster of a pearl, textured with natural imperfections, but the words that followed made people quiet. "Luminescent pearls."

Silence. Just as Hongshi opened his mouth after it stretched on for too long, He Zhecheng said, "Are you for real? Someone, cover the windows for a bit, I want to see."

Someone outside scurried to cover the windows and closed the door, plunging the room into relative darkness. Even then, the pearls were already glowing brighter than a candle, casting a gentle silver light upon their faces.

Hongshi kept an eye on their expressions.

"That's…" Xu Boyan trailed off.

The shopkeeper, too, took some time to snap out of his stupor. Turning his eager gaze to Hongshi, he rushed, “This… Young Master, how about 10 taels for one?”

Pearls were somewhat common back home, what with the dozens of jiaoren living within the seaside caverns lining the cliff sides, but luminescent pearls were a rare sight for Shu Cailing. He had seen them in his shifu's study before, but he didn't realize Hongshi had some too.

It made him wonder how these came to be. Most pearls on the island were not for trading. A tree yao could happily and freely give away their fruits, but pearls came from a jiaoren's tears. The bigger they were, the greater the sorrow— not only would it be in bad taste for obvious reasons, those pearls also carried negative emotions within them. The pearls people dared to trade were on the small side, mostly from physiological tears of a belly-clutching laughter, or something menial like a sad story of separated lovers.

“May I speak privately with my guest here for a moment?” Xu Boyan said, glancing at the shopkeeper. It took the man a moment, but he finally realized what was being asked of him, and disappeared into the backroom. If he seemed a bit flustered and jittery, nobody commented, though Shu Cailing watched him until he was out of sight.

As soon as he was gone, He Zhecheng didn't hold back. "Don't you have something less ridiculous? I thought you'd be more reasonable than your didi Junyao over here."

Hongshi didn’t deign that with an answer.

"What you just tried to sell was something worthy of an imperial tribute," Xu Boyan explained in a low voice. "Do reconsider. This town is not very big nor rich. Ten taels is enough money to live off of for two months in most towns, but it absolutely is nowhere near the pearl’s true value."

"It is valuable," Hongshi agreed. "But it's not so important I'm unwilling to part with it for less than its worth."

In fact, night-luminescent pearls were rarely ever pearls. They were almost always gemstones polished to a perfect sphere, and glowed a greenish light in the dark. They could be massive, too, as tall as a person at times. But they would not be pearls.

What Hongshi had was something unseen even to Xu Boyan. But he had heard of it before, from history books— back during the Wei dynasty roughly five centuries prior, the last emperor of the kingdom was given a tribute of a true luminescent pearl. It was said to be the tear of a jiaoren who wept because of beauty— where their tears of sadness produced regular pearls, those shed because they were touched by feelings of the world would glow like the grace that had prompted it.

That pearl was only spoken of in records, but they were convincing enough records. The succeeding Teng kingdom had been a rebelling splinter of the Wei's royal court, and some of its founding ministers were familiar with the contents of the Wei's treasury, especially with how special that tribute was. However, the pearl was forever lost, because the last imperial city of the Wei dynasty had been smoldering since its fall.

"A true tyrant, you are," He Zhecheng said dryly. "Far be it for me to stop you from losing money, but you're not far from a city where you can sell it off for much better prices. Dongyang is not that far away. Why don't you just sell some herbs like a normal person, and hold off on selling family heirlooms until you reach an auction house, like normal people would?"

"Zhecheng," Xu Boyan helplessly called out.

He Zhecheng rolled his eyes, smacking the armrest of his wheelchair in annoyance. "That thing should easily get you a full six months' worth of travel expenses if you're not going around on expensive carriages. If you're really parting with it for a couple taels or a few week's worth of rice and jars of preserves, though, be my guest. I think you could count the excess value as merit, because that pawnshop owner could probably bribe his way into becoming governor with that pearl. He and three generations after him would be grateful, I'm sure."

"You're helping Xu Boyan accumulate merit in this lifetime with this personality of yours, I'm sure," Hongshi said in return. Putting back most of the pearls into its pouch, he played the last one between his fingers. “I’ll sell one.”

“Very well,” Xu Boyan said with a nod. “It is your decision to make. Though if you are satisfied with ten taels, I have another offer to make that does not involve those pearls. Would you hear it?”

He Zhecheng suddenly stretched his hand up and back, and after a moment’s pause, Xu Boyan put his hand atop his palm. After a firm squeeze that sounded like it could crack some bones on Xu Boyan's palm, he let go, relaxing back into his seat. Xu Boyan turned to Shu Cailing and Hongshi as he rested his limp palm against the handle of the wheelchair.

“Let me guess,” Hongshi said. “Diagnose him?”

Xu Boyan let out a helpless chuckle. “Yes. Of course, I’m not asking for it at this very moment. Allow us to treat you to a meal, so that we could discuss this further.”

Shu Cailing personally had no qualms with the idea of helping the two— if anything, He Zhecheng would be his first human patient, and finally his training could have some use. Xu Boyan and He Zhecheng also didn't strike him as bad people, so he had no reason not to.

But there was one thing. "I don't think I should accept payment for diagnosing and healing patients, nevermind ten taels. That is a lot of money."

While Shu Cailing didn’t know what exactly that was worth, he knew that it was a price offered for a valuable pearl, and he knew his skills were not worth that much.

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“You don’t have to.” Hongshi’s tone was indifferent. “I’ll be selling a pearl anyway. If we need more money, just sell another.”

“But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to help!” Shu Cailing cut in, looking at Xu Boyan with apology in his gaze.

Xu Boyan let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head. “Don’t worry, I understand. Far be it for me to stop you when you’ve made your decision. I will let you do as you originally intended, Tao-xiongtai, we’ll wait outside. Let’s discuss this later.”

It didn't take long for Hongshi to get his ten taels and come out. Walking away from the shade under a tree across the street, Xu Boyan smiled and led them to a restaurant. Interestingly, unlike the shop, this restaurant had a ramp from the start, and Xu Boyan didn't need to take one out to lay down himself. It became less surprising, though, when the server greeted him with casual familiarity and immediately led them to a private room.

The restaurant was large, and rather well-decorated, with paintings of peonies bringing spots of red on the walls. The sounds of people in the main area ordering and eating their lunches followed them too until they reached the private room, which was partitioned with a silk curtain. Xu Boyan gestured at Shu Cailing to sit down while he himself wheeled He Zhecheng first. As he sat down, the server came over as well.

"It's autumn now, and the chef here makes wonderful mushroom dumplings. I really suggest you give it a try," Xu Boyan said lightly.

"Oh, that would be great," Shu Cailing said, nodding. "Shige eats anything vegetarian, really, but especially mushrooms."

The reasoning behind Hongshi’s preference was something that he somewhat wished he could forget, but failed to for years now— "it's easier for me to process mushrooms for their nutrients, it's somewhat like fertilizer." It gave such a strange mental image. A correct one, but a disconcerting one too.

Xu Boyan smiled. "What a coincidence— Zhecheng also eats mostly vegetarian food. Very well, then." He ordered a generous number of dishes, chatting a bit about the chef's specialty like he had hired the man himself. On the other hand, He Zhecheng wasn't looking at him, instead staring at the wall with a frown. Hongshi's face betrayed no emotions.

After the entire spread of dishes arrived, the four of them started to eat. It was a quiet, polite affair; Shu Cailing honestly missed chatting with his shifu at the table. But he truly was hungry, so in what felt like no time, Xu Boyan had someone clear the emptied plates and returned to business. They came back with a tea set even without being ordered, and Xu Boyan peered at the leaves in the bowl before thanking them.

As he warmed the tea cups and started brewing, he asked, "So, to my understanding, the two of you are seeking to sell something for lodging and food? May I ask if the two of you are planning to travel, or settle in this town?"

"We're looking for someone," Shu Cailing answered. Which, now that he thought about it, might need more than six months' worth of funds. The divine lands were so big, and they couldn't fly. Neither of them had planned where to go either. He had no idea where they would start looking, but he'd let Hongshi take care of that. Perhaps he knew someone who could help. "It might take several months, I suppose."

Xu Boyan nodded in understanding. “It might take a long time if you’re not sure where they’d gone, and if they were not stationary. I do recommend auctioning off your pearls later on. For the time being, though, my offer is ten silver taels to give Zhecheng a check-up. If you have any prescriptions, I will also happily buy them off you.”

Considering his generous offers, Shu Cailing couldn't help but wonder about both their identities and relationship. Xu Boyan was definitely not subordinate to his supposed good friend— not only did his behavior not imply such differences in status, but his clothes seemed more valuable than He Zhecheng’s, given they had faint patterns sewn in beautiful, lustrous threads. And having known both tree yaos who rarely cared for fine clothing, and jiaoren who valued their silkweaving abilities, Shu Cailing could say that Xu Boyan's robes would please the latter's sense of aesthetics. At the same time, he seemed so deferential to whatever He Zhecheng wanted. He also showed interest primarily towards medicine, and this offer made it clear that it was all for He Zhecheng.

Maybe they were family. Distant cousins perhaps? Or perhaps they were lovers, though they introduced themselves as friends. But no matter.

“I don’t mind giving him a check-up, but… Does He-xiong not have a personal doctor yet? I don’t want to mess things up in case my prescription clashes with his and causes adverse effects instead.”

“Zhecheng is only prescribed a specific diet and exercise regimen. Any medication he takes is for acute flare-ups.”

“All right then,” Shu Cailing said, nodding. “Well, if it’s something common, I don’t mind just giving them to you, you know. Herbs are only valuable as herbs if they are used to cure, otherwise they're just the common grass. But if the prescription is something Shige has, I’ll let him set the price. Is that all right?”

As if wondering how anything he brought would have medicinal use, Xu Boyan glanced at Hongshi. Still, his reply was, “Of course.”

He relented his seat to Shu Cailing before standing off to the side, while Shu Cailing held out his hand.

“He-xiong, if you would.”

Without much vitality, He Zhecheng raised his arm. His gaze, however, was still fixed to the ground. Shu Cailing didn't take it to heart, slipping his hand under the cuff of his sleeve.

He Zhecheng actually had firm arm muscles, with strong wrists and scarred, callused hands. He did have an imposing silhouette, despite being in a wheelchair, and his narrow sleeves did hint at this. He must have exercised often. When Shu Cailing grasped his wrist and closed his eyes to focus, though, a frown gradually deepened on his face.

“There are no herbs that could cure him,” Shu Cailing said as he opened his eyes, turning his gaze to Xu Boyan. “What did the previous doctors diagnose him with?”

“They…” Xu Boyan looked a bit shaken, but quickly regained his composure. “They said that he was afflicted with an unknown poison that continues to disrupt the flow of his qi and especially damage his liver and heart. Zhecheng has been adhering to diet restrictions, to a degree, for over a decade. He took prescription for several years after the incident, but they had more side-effects than they helped, so he stopped. Nothing so far seems to be long-term relief, much less a solution.”

Unknown poison. Shu Cailing couldn’t offer anything on that front; his knowledge of poison was essentially zero. But he could tell that the situation in He Zhecheng’s body could not be reversed through addressing the symptoms, because something was continually affecting his qi flow regardless of what he did to strengthen his organs. Upon a closer inspection, it seemed like this disruptive energy was concentrated on his left leg, though something was also wrong with his right ankle. Still, the damage was widespread, and its severity made him wonder what kind of saint He Zhecheng would have been without this ever-present agony.

Suddenly he understood why Xu Boyan was so meticulous and patient with him.

Shu Cailing straightened up a bit, letting go of He Zhecheng’s wrist. “There’s no medicine that I know of that can heal him, though it would help fight back against the effects. But what’s in his body might not be poison. I think it’s resentment.”

"Re…senment?"

He Zhecheng tore his eyes away from the floor with a scowl, narrowed gaze full of scrutiny. "What's that supposed to imply?"

Shu Cailing leaned down to gently touch his left calf before tapping his right ankle. He Zhecheng flinched, almost kneeing him in the face, but he moved away without as much as a blink.

"Something took root in the bones of your legs. Were they broken before? The resentment it releases inhibits the flow of your qi and blood, resulting in all of this stagnation.” He gestured at his seated figure, lingering on the leg area. “You can exercise to the best of your abilities to improve circulation and prevent deterioration of your physique, but no medicine can disperse evil energy."