The Rural Doctor of the Mountain Spirit

  That day, when we finished catching fish and returned home, Wu Xianyi said a strange sentence to me.

  "Do you still remember your grandfather?" I was carrying a bamboo basket and had not yet entered the door when Wu Xianyi's voice came from behind the house.

  The door was closed, but through the crack of the door, I saw Wu Xianyi standing motionless in the room. I was startled by him: "Wu Xianyi, what are you doing standing behind the door?"

  Inside the house, Wu Xianyi's voice came back: "Answer me."

  At that moment, memories of my grandfather flooded back to me. Melancholy, incomprehensible, and sorrowful emotions burst forth instantly. I stared at the door, my voice trembling, the bamboo basket in my hand almost falling to the ground: "I remember."

  "It's fine as long as you remember, it's fine as long as you remember." After saying this, Wu Xianyong gently opened the door.

  But when Wu Xianyi's face gradually appeared in front of me, I was stunned. All I saw was that Wu Xianyi's face had somehow become covered with wrinkles at some point, and his hair had turned white by more than half.

  I just stared at him in silence, a long silence.

  Wu Xian took the bamboo basket from my hands: "Don't be silly, go inside and cook."

  I walked into the house in a daze, cooking and preparing dishes. At this time, I heard Wu Xianyi muttering to himself on the side. His voice was very small, almost imperceptible.

  I tiptoed up behind him and crouched down, listening carefully.

  "You've been here for a while now, why don't you understand yet?"

  This sentence was indeed spoken by Wu Xianyi, he was muttering to himself, but it seemed more like a conversation with someone. I felt that he seemed to be talking to me. But it was too strange, because he had his back to me and his voice was very low.

  I didn't answer him and continued listening.

  "Your grandfather was no ordinary person, and his death wasn't simple either. To figure out why your grandfather died, you'll have to rely on yourself. But before that, you need to have some skills first. I'm letting you take the human skin drum, taking you out to practice medicine, leaving you alone at home - all of this is helping you."

  Wu Xianyi was talking to himself, but after I heard his words, I felt more and more that something was off. He wasn't talking to himself, he was clearly saying it for me to hear.

  I just felt a chill on my back, with a feeling of being peeped at, and then my feet unconsciously retreated backwards.

  After finishing dinner, I sat opposite Wu Xianyi at the dining table. Wu Xianyi was still the same as before, only caring about eating himself. In a short while, the dishes on the table were eaten clean by him, and he threw down his bowl and chopsticks and left.

  I stared at his back, and found that apart from getting older, Wu Xianyi's back was also slightly hunched.

  That night, I lay in bed carefully recalling every word Wu Xian had said, echoing non-stop by my ear.

  My grandfather died under mysterious circumstances, my parents sent me to Wu Xianyi's place, wanting me to learn a skill and then go back to investigate the truth about Grandfather's death. No one can help me, I can only rely on myself.

  This is roughly what Wu Xian meant by "medical Huazhong".

  The words kept echoing in my mind: "Your grandfather died under unusual circumstances. To figure out why he died, you must rely on yourself."

  That's right, I can only rely on myself.

  I recall again when my grandfather passed away, the faces of those big trees in the village appeared. Those images, along with Dr. Wu Xian's aged face, have been entwined and tangled in my mind.

  Finally, I had a nightmare tonight.

  The next day, I woke up very early. It wasn't a natural wake-up, but rather like being startled awake by some sound.

  I opened my eyes to find that it was still not completely bright outside. I walked around the house and found that the door was actually open. I clearly remembered that the door was closed when I went to sleep last night, so who opened it?

  I turned around and entered the house, rushing straight to Wu Xianyi's room. At this moment, I had a bad premonition in my heart. I felt that something was disappearing from my world.

  When I arrived at Wu Xianyi's door, I saw that the door was slightly ajar. At this moment, the bad premonition in my heart became even stronger.

  I knocked on the door and shouted: "Dr. Wu Xian, are you inside?"

  However, there was no response from inside the house. I stretched out my hand to touch the door, and it opened with a creak. The room was very dark, and nothing could be seen. I called out Wu Xianyi's name again into the darkness, but what responded was an eerie silence.

  I felt a bit panicked and lit the kerosene lamp and rushed in.

  The room was indeed empty, with no Wu Xianyi or anyone else. Wu Xianyi's bed had its quilt neatly folded, as if he hadn't slept in it at all the night before.

  Perhaps I was too panicked, and my movements suddenly became extremely stiff.

  Wu Xianyi used to go out frequently in the past, but somehow, at this moment when I came into his room and saw that there was no one inside. I had a feeling that Wu Xianyi would never come back this time.

  I walked silently in the house, trying to find anything that would contradict my guess. But there was nothing, absolutely nothing.

  At this time, I found a letter on Wu Xianyi's pillow. I was anxious and rushed over to open the letter and read it. When I finished reading the letter, I fell powerlessly onto the chair and couldn't move anymore.

  "Xiao Sen, what I said last night was directed at you, and you heard it. You must become stronger. The truth is, your grandfather died because of your family. If you don't want his death to be in vain, then you need to become stronger and uncover the truth."

  Wu Xianyi is gone, it's clearly stated in the letter.

  "Xiao Sen, you've seen my face already. I've aged, overnight I've aged twenty years. After a while, I'll age even faster, soon I'll become a ninety-year-old old man. Not long after that, I'll die of old age. It's all because of that lantern-hitting person from the other day, he poisoned me."

  "I'm leaving, and I'll be gone for a while. The only way to remove the poison from my body is to find the heavenly treasures, which are extremely rare and difficult to find in this world. I may not necessarily be able to find them, which means I may not necessarily be able to survive. But I have confidence, and I will definitely survive."

  As I read this, my eyes involuntarily welled up with tears. It turned out that Wu Xianyi had become old because he was poisoned. And he had been enduring it all along, without telling anyone about it. Last night, he quietly left alone, leaving behind only this letter.

  I choked back tears and continued reading on.

  "In five years, I will use the next five years to detoxify my body. I left you a book, which is the book that has been passed down through generations of our Ghost Doctor Sect. Promise me, within these five years, you must become stronger. Five years later, I will return and take you with me to settle all the grudges, okay?"

  The letter ended here. I looked down and found a book under the letter. The book had turned yellow, with four words written on it: "Ghost Doctor's Art".

  I picked up the book and took a casual glance. The book recorded many medicinal materials, as well as some mysterious medical techniques. Of course, since it's called "Ghost Doctor", it wasn't just simple medicine, but also mixed with some Taoist magic.

  I clutched the book tightly in my hand, folded the letter and stuffed it into my pocket. Then I gritted my teeth and stared out of the window.

  "Wu Xianyi, I absolutely won't let you down. In five years, in five years I will definitely become stronger."

  Wu Xianyi left, and I stared blankly in the direction of the door until noon. My stomach was hungry, so I got up to make something to eat, and continued staring blankly.

  I don't know what I'm thinking about either, it's a very strange feeling. In short, it feels like there's a complete blank in my mind.

  In the afternoon, I sat at the door of the house. The scorching sun shone on me and I started sweating. I finally came to my senses.

  In these few hours, I actually didn't think of anything. But when I came to at this moment, I made a decision in an instant.

  Wu Xianyi has left, and he left so suddenly. I think, I should also leave the village, go out to the outside world to make a name for myself. After all, this village, there's nothing worth my nostalgia anymore.

  Although the people in the village are very nice, I couldn't find a sense of belonging here and can't get stronger.

  After entering the house, I made my last meal and ate it. Then I started packing things up. Wu Xian's medical room was also cleaned up by me, with everything including blankets put away in the cabinet. Then, when it was almost completely dark that day, I found Er Gou and Niu Dan.

  "You two, don't cause trouble again in the future."

  Two dogs and a cow stared at me uncomprehendingly: "Xiao Sen, are you okay?"

  I said: "I will often think of you, when you miss me, just look at the moon, at that time I will also look at the moon."

  I was really looking at the moon, half an hour later, I left the village and came to a very far away small hill, raised my head and stared at the moon.

  I don't know when I can come back.