Otherworldly Merchant

“Pang Juan felt deep regret. Afterwards, he returned to continue his studies with his teacher Gui Guzi. Several years later, Sun Bin contracted a strange illness and he had to recruit great doctors everywhere to find a treatment. However, he didn’t get better. It was his last wish to go and see his teacher Gui Guzi. At that time, Pang Juan’s medicinal skills had become outstanding. He applied an acupuncture treatment for Sun Bin. Eventually, Sun Bin was saved. The two then joined hands and perfected their skills, finally creating today’s glory of the ghost doctor profession…

“Think about it. If Sun Bin hadn’t spared Pang Juan’s life that year, when he was terribly sick, who would have saved him? Returning good for evil is a beautiful virtue of the Chinese people. And, moreover, it’s to leave a blessing for yourself.

“Being a ghost doctor, not only did you inherit Sun Bin’s medicinal skills, you must have also inherited Sun Bin’s heart, which knows how to forgive!”

I didn’t even know why I was that much into it, talking it at such length.

The old shaman frowned, casting a sidelong glance to the young widow.

The young widow turned her head to one side. “Mother, I’ll listen to you. I will do what you tell me to do.”

The old shaman sighed. She poured some water into the clay jar and squeezed several flaming-red worms, mixing them in the jar. She told me to feed the water to the villagers to detoxify the poison.

I said, “Now they are like the walking dead. I’m afraid I can’t do that! And, there’s just a little water in the jar. It’s not enough to cure them all.”

The old shaman smiled, glancing at the young widow. “Go help him.”

Although the young widow was enraged, she didn’t dare to go against the shaman. Eventually, she followed me outside.

The moment I found the villagers, my head buzzed in great fear.

Many of them had walked into the river. In the next second, the river water would be over their heads.

Flustered, I turned to the widow, asking her to help.

She took out a bell and jingled it with some rhythm. The jingling sounds of the bell spread fast and far through the air.

As soon as the strange sound arose, I saw the villagers regaining their consciousness. They didn’t move forward but looked around in confusion. Later on, as their physical strength was drained, they slumped.

Around five minutes later, everybody had finally gotten a hold of themselves. They didn’t know why they were there. Then, they were inundated with endless fright, crying and calling their parents while heading toward the village.

While comforting them, I ran to the river to pull all the people struggling there to the shore.

Eventually, people calmed down after I had comforted them. Then, I arranged for them to take the antidote.

Despite drinking the antidote, their symptoms weren’t eased.

Niu Dazhuang looked at me in rage. “You swindler! You told me you could solve the issue with that otherworldly item today. But what have you done? You’ve almost killed the entire village! I want to chop you into pieces!”

“Yeah, kill him! Kill him! He harmed us! Now the Lord of the Soil has his fury on us. He wants to take our lives!”

Helplessly, I sent those folks a glance, then said, “All right, quiet! From now on, your illness will get better, thanks to the shaman! The Lord of Soil has talked to her in her dreams. He doesn’t want you to touch that mountain, and he instructed the shaman to give you the antidote. The shaman agreed, and your Lord of the Soil has told her how to make the elixir. What you have just drunk is the antidote. You’re safe now…”

Everybody wore a questioning face. I didn’t have any evidence to prove it, so I had to tell them that I wouldn’t leave before they recovered.

They finally believed me. I hurried to notify their families to go there and take the men back home.

It seemed those women were being controlled, sleeping all the time. They couldn’t wake up no matter how loud the commotion was. Eventually, the young widow woke them up with her flute.

Actually, the women in the village had also been poisoned, but the symptoms weren’t visible like the men’s. I thought of two possibilities. First, those female farmers weren’t the ones behind the mountain exploitation event. Second, it was the way the shaman and the young widow protected themselves. If the entire village was poisoned aside from them, it would appear very suspicious.

When we came back to the village, Li Mazi and I were locked in the Earth Temple one more time. I was helpless but I finally understood why the shaman and the widow had to treat the villagers that way…

Had I been in their shoes, I would have also tried to kill them.

However, I wasn’t angry and decided to return good for evil. I advised them to pay attention to their wounds. It would help them recover faster if they used some hydrogen peroxide to clean them.

I strongly believed that when I repaid evil with good, I would be rewarded in return. However, I didn’t expect it would come that fast.

Early next morning, Niu Dazhuang excitedly charged into the temple. He didn’t use his staff but ran on his own. Although he still limped, he looked better than the days before.

Niu Dazhuang happily said, “All the wounds have now dried up. They are neither painful nor itchy, and my skin is able to feel now.”

I heaved a sigh of relief. It was good that they recovered their sense of touch. My biggest concern was their knees losing their sense of touch.

Niu Dazhuang’s situation wasn’t serious from the start. It was reasonable that he was the first to recover.

For the other villagers, although they hadn’t recovered as fast as Niu Dazhuang, their symptoms had gotten better. At the same time, Li Mazi and I had become their ‘life-saviors’.

The shaman and the young widow were given the same treatment as us. I had told the villagers that the old shaman and the young widow were the reason why they could be treated. As a result, they were deeply indebted to them. Ultimately, the shaman and the widow were the ones who made the antidote.

The old shaman and the young widow had received a lot of rice, noodles and dried meat, which had packed their houses during those two days.

The shaman went to thank me in person. “If it weren’t for you, we would have made a great mistake.”

A week later, all the villagers were healed. Li Mazi’s situation was gradually improved.

When I told Li Mazi the truth, he sighed continuously.

Reluctantly, I asked him, “Why are you sighing? Everything has been solved, right?”

Li Mazi turned to me, looking a little sad. “I wanted to develop a relationship with the young widow. But now, it seems she just wanted to harm me after that night.”

I smiled. “How do you know that she doesn’t have any feelings for you? From the way she looks at you, I feel like you have a chance. Why don’t you give it a try? I’ll help you pull the trigger.”

Under my encouragement, Li Mazi started his frenzy attack on the young widow. He bought many things for her, helped her with her farming, and even went to renovate her house.

And, it worked. The young widow actively started talking to Li Mazi. She asked him to take her to the big city, to see the world out there.

Everybody knew where that was going. Li Mazi was so happy he couldn’t sleep that night. As soon as the morning came, he took the young widow and left the Baisha Village.

Sometimes, hate and resentment were like gasoline. If you add more to a burning barrel, it could end up exploding.

Instead, when you used a forgiving heart to treat heartless people, you may be able to produce unimaginable results.

May everybody have a heart as good as Sun Bin’s! The world would be much better if it were so!