Chapter 131: Meeting Hua Ming Again
Faced with the stranger's kindness, Kuang Bowen for the first time gave up his resistance, grasped the warm hand, and allowed the lady to help him up.
“Brother, let's take you to the medical hall. Every time I get sick, my mother takes me to the medical hall. Although I have to take very bitter medicine, the pain will soon be gone!”
The child also reached out to help him on the other side, imitating his mother.
Although this small body didn't have much strength, Kuang Bowen inexplicably felt his body lighten a bit.
The mother and son sent him onto a cloud sedan, and the lady finally urged, “You must go to the medical hall to see a doctor. Maybe there's still hope. I know someone who lost an arm, but after treatment, it grew back.”
Kuang Bowen knew in his heart that these were wounds caused by weird objects, deeply corroded. At most, the surface Guai Qi could be removed and the wounds healed, but for them to grow back, hope was slim.
But he said nothing, merely waved goodbye to the mother and son.
After lying in the medical hall for two or three days, the Guai Qi in the severed area was mostly eliminated, so he no longer tossed and turned at night, tormented by the pain of ants gnawing at his bones.
But he still often couldn't sleep, staying awake with open eyes until dawn.
“It won't do for you to sleep poorly. Your condition precisely requires good sleep and rest for your spirit. Didn't you take the Tranquilizing Pill?” The old doctor raised an eyebrow in suspicion, seeing his mental state.
Kuang Bowen smiled bitterly. His insomnia, with its mild tranquilizing effects, could not be controlled by the Tranquilizing Pill.
A heart ailment requires a heart medicine.
“However, fortunately you sought medical attention in time. If it had been any later, the Guai Qi in your wound would not only hinder healing but even invade your bone marrow and spread upwards. In a better case, you'd be paralyzed on one side; in a worse case, your brain would be corroded, and you'd lose yourself entirely.”
The old doctor sternly warned him while inserting needles.
“If you had come earlier, perhaps I could have completely cured your leg,” he said, looking at Kuang Bowen's severed leg and sighing.
Kuang Bowen could only remain silent. Not long ago, he was still in the Weird Domain, so how could he have come earlier?
“You young people, always rushing forward, not caring about your own bodies…” The old doctor, seeing Kuang Bowen's noncommittal expression, blew his beard and glared even more unhappily.
“That girl over there, too. So young, with a great future ahead of her, yet she almost drove herself mad,” the old doctor said, pointing to a young girl who had just walked out of a side room not far away.
“Killing weird objects is a good thing, but it's still important to preserve your own life.”
The old doctor spoke these heartfelt words, then lowered his head to retrieve the golden needles one by one into his needle pouch, unaware that Kuang Bowen wasn't listening intently at all, his gaze fixed on the young girl.
“Doctor, can I leave now?” Kuang Bowen asked the old doctor, seeing the girl walk out of the medical hall.
“Yes, come back in three days for more needles. Remember to take the pills I prescribed, three pills daily at regular times.”
Kuang Bowen picked up a newly purchased crutch nearby and propped himself up.
He had gradually adapted to his physical disability now, and using the crutch was much more comfortable than it had been the past two days.
It was just that he still couldn't walk quickly.
So he could only trail far behind the young girl, barely managing to follow her figure with his eyes, then dragging his only foot little by little.
Originally, he had no particular thoughts, just curious that the young girl also had such severe after-effects, and according to the big-mouthed old doctor, the problem was not small.
As a result, he saw an unexpected figure.
“They didn't seem to be familiar in the Weird Domain, but now it seems their relationship is unusual.”
Kuang Bowen sat at a tea stall on the street, able to see the two people drinking tea and chatting in a wine shop by the river with its curtains rolled up.
“What else did they trade?” Kuang Bowen squinted, watching for a long time, seeing one person take out a Storage Pouch and the other pull out a large handful of Lingtual for them.
After sitting for a while, he felt the tea stall owner's gaze like daggers in his back, so he still ordered a pot of tea.
A pot of hot tea in a coarse porcelain pot was heavily placed on the table.
Kuang Bowen poured a cup and drank it, finding it tasteless.
He took another sip, and a tea leaf stem got stuck in his throat, neither up nor down, making him cough for a long time.
The tea shop owner lay lazily in a bamboo chair, not even glancing over.
After selling the tea, he just ignored him—so mercenary!
As he coughed, he suddenly felt a hand pat him hard twice on the back.
The tea leaf stem was dislodged with the forceful pats.
“Cough, cough, thank you.” Kuang Bowen coughed, his face flushed, and thanked him breathlessly.
If it weren't for this person, he really would have choked to death on the tea leaf stem by the roadside.
He had to see what his savior looked like.
So he turned his head to look, then was so startled that he started coughing violently again.
…
Liu Sheng looked at Kuang Bowen with considerable confusion, then patted him a few more times.
Perhaps it wasn't strong enough, which was why he started coughing again?
So she increased her strength.
“Stop… stop, stop!” Kuang Bowen quickly interjected.
Liu Sheng stopped.
Kuang Bowen caught his breath: “You almost patted me to meet my great-grandmother.”
“Who told you to be so sneaky?” Liu Sheng said, displeased.
“I…” Kuang Bowen truly couldn't explain his actions.
“Brother Kuang, why are you here?” Song Ru's voice rang out.
Following the sound, the Song Ru at this moment was not quite the same as the one he had seen in the Late Stage of the Weird Domain.
Before, she was too far away to see clearly, but now that she was closer, he could tell.
The resentment and gloom between her brows had dissipated considerably, and she seemed to be gradually returning to the shy, innocent girl he had first met.
“I, I saw you in the medical hall and wanted to say hello.”
“Oh…” Song Ru's mind was exceptionally simple now; she absolutely wouldn't overthink things she didn't need to, and she accepted Kuang Bowen's explanation with an open mind.
Liu Sheng, however, glanced at him with a hint of suspicion.
But Kuang Bowen didn't have any ill intentions; it was just that in this world, he had suffered such a great misfortune, and he probably wouldn't be able to be a Hunter of the Strange anymore.
Although it wasn't her fault, Liu Sheng still felt a slight sense of apology about it.
“Have you been receiving treatment at the medical hall these past few days? Are you much better?” Liu Sheng guessed immediately upon hearing this, then asked with concern.
“Yes, the Guai Qi in the wound has mostly been removed.”
“That’s good, Brother Kuang, you must take good care of yourself,” Song Ru said sincerely, “Perhaps someday we can still hunt weird objects together.”
Kuang Bowen’s face stiffened, and he forced out, “Okay.”
Liu Sheng noticed Kuang Bowen's expression and sighed inwardly.
So she sat down and poured a cup of coarse tea for Kuang Bowen.
“So what are your plans next?”
“I don't know yet. In any case, I'll take it one step at a time,” Kuang Bowen smiled. “Maybe I'll go back to my hometown and learn some needlework to help my family.”
“I heard Wen… um… Liu Weiwei say that you used to be in the Tiangong Department?” Liu Sheng suddenly remembered this.
Kuang Bowen felt a bit embarrassed hearing Liu Sheng mention this, after all, he had given up on Sky Craftsman because of this person in front of him.
But he still answered yes.
“And your skills weren't bad?” Liu Sheng asked again.
Kuang Bowen was even more displeased. Could a defeated opponent say his skills weren't bad?
“I wouldn't say very good, but back in the academy, I was still considered one of the best,” he tried to control himself, but a hint of self-satisfaction still showed.
However, this self-satisfaction was quickly overwhelmed by inferiority.
As a result, Liu Sheng didn't know what she thought of, clapped her hands, and smiled so widely her mouth almost reached her ears.
“What's so funny?” Kuang Bowen was already feeling a bit stifled, and he became even more displeased, downing the tea Liu Sheng had poured for him in one gulp, feeling annoyed.
“I was just thinking, would you like to work with me?”
“I have a shop that needs a skilled Artifact Refiner.”
And so, violent coughing sounds rang out once more.