Chapter Fifty-Six: Secrets of Western Hunan

After saying this, Dr. Wang immediately turned around to leave, but Master didn’t give him a chance. He pressed down on Dr. Wang’s shoulder. Dr. Wang froze, turned back, and shouted, “What are you doing? Hey, hey, hey, everyone look, this man is trying to hit me! Just try it! It’s the age of the internet now, you know.”

The people around us started pointing and whispering. Master simply smiled and said, “You want the money, right? Fine, I’ll have someone transfer it to me. Wait here a moment.”

Dr. Wang broke free from Master’s grip and dusted off his shoulder. “Fine, as long as you pay, there’s no problem. Make your call quickly, I’ve got surgery to do—don’t waste my time.”

Master stared at him, fished out his phone from his pocket, dialed a number, and after a moment said, “Hello, bring me some money to the first floor of the Children’s Hospital. You’ll see me when you arrive. Hurry up!”

After he hung up, Dr. Wang stood opposite us, his face full of disdain. Master stood with his hands behind his back, silent. I quietly stepped aside and made a call as well. When I returned, the only sounds left were the noisy background chatter—no one else spoke.

After a while, I saw a doctor in a white coat hurrying through the crowd toward us. Dr. Wang’s expression changed drastically when he saw him and exclaimed, “Director? Why are you here?”

But the director ignored him and turned to Master instead. “Brother Tan, what brings you here?”

Master, still with hands behind his back, glanced at the breathless director and said, “What brings me here? Something big, actually. Why don’t you ask him?”

He nodded at Dr. Wang, who looked even more confused. The director turned to Dr. Wang and asked, “Xiao Wang, what happened?”

Dr. Wang glanced at Master and replied, “Director, this man received treatment and used medication, but now wants to leave without paying. I stopped him. But Director, why trouble yourself with such a small matter? I can handle it. Rest assured.”

No sooner had Dr. Wang finished speaking than the director, flushed with anger, almost exploded but, seeing the crowd, forced himself to calm down. He leaned in and hissed, “What are you doing? Do you know who this is? Even I wouldn’t dare offend him. Who do you think you are? If you don’t want to work here, get out!”

Dr. Wang was instantly deflated, unable to utter a word, his face so pale it was almost comical. The director turned back to Master and apologized, “Brother Tan, I’m truly sorry for the trouble.”

Master waved it off. “No need. I suppose he hasn’t told you the full story? I’ll spare you the embarrassment and keep it brief for the crowd’s sake.”

He leaned in closer to the director and said, “Wang Neng, as a medical professional, cares nothing for the lives of the people, only money. He tried to extort an outrageous sum from a poor family. I could let that pass. But he even said the child should be left to fend for himself. How do you expect me to tolerate that?”

As Master spoke, the director’s expression transformed again and again. He glanced at the flustered Dr. Wang and said, “Is this true?”

Master said nothing, his eyes as cold as ice as he stared at Dr. Wang. The director went on, “I must have been blind to keep such an irresponsible doctor in my hospital. Brother Tan, how do you want to handle this? I’ll defer to you.”

Master nodded, just about to answer, when sirens wailed outside the main entrance. Moments later, more than a dozen police officers entered, led by Lin Fang himself. The officers quickly cleared a path through the crowd. Lin Fang approached me and said softly, “Patriarch.”

I nodded. The onlookers, including the director, realized how serious the situation had become. Yet Master remained calm. Noticing Lin Fang, he smiled at me, and I quickly recounted what had happened.

Lin Fang’s brow furrowed. He asked, “Patriarch, how would you like this man dealt with?”

“However you see fit. He’s yours now—keep him as long as you like,” I replied.

“Understood.” Lin Fang nodded and gave a signal to the officers. Immediately, they moved to Dr. Wang, twisted his arms behind his back, and snapped on the handcuffs. Dr. Wang panicked, protesting, “Officers, why are you arresting me? I haven’t broken any law! This is unlawful detention! You’re abusing your power!”

But the officers ignored him, escorting him behind Lin Fang. Lin Fang then announced to the crowd, “Ladies and gentlemen, this man has embezzled funds, disregarded the safety of patients, and imposed exorbitant medical fees—he has broken numerous laws and deserves society’s condemnation.”

After his speech, Lin Fang nodded to his colleagues, who promptly took the ashen-faced Dr. Wang out. Lin Fang turned to me with a smile. “Patriarch, is this satisfactory?”

I nodded. He continued, “Then I’ll return to the station. There are still many cases to handle.”

“All right. Go ahead,” I replied.

With a final nod, Lin Fang left the hospital. The crowd burst into applause. I even heard shouts of approval:

“Well done! Scum like that deserves what he gets!”

“Yes, exactly! People like that aren’t fit to be called human!”

The voices overlapped, echoing in the hall. The director raised his hand to address the crowd, “Thank you all for upholding justice. If you have appointments or need treatment, please proceed—let’s not waste your valuable time.”

With his words, the crowd gradually dispersed. The director turned to Master again, “Brother Tan…”

Master waved him off, “No need for more words. Since it’s settled, let’s leave it at that. As for their medical bills, what do you say?”

“Ah, well, to make it up to everyone, there will be no charge for treatment this time. Look at the lovely child—should he ever fall ill in the future, bring him here and there will never be a charge.”

“Enough, now you’re tempting fate. Old Han, get back to work. We’ll be going,” Master said, patting the director on the arm.

Laughing, the director nodded and saw us out. We got into the car and drove Old Zhou’s family home. As the three of them got out, they thanked us repeatedly. Master simply smiled, “No need for thanks. Go inside and don’t let the child catch cold. Remember what I told you—if you forget, you can find me at the Full Flavor Dumpling House opposite Yunshan Community.”

“Wait, benefactor, do you run a dumpling restaurant?” Old Zhou asked, puzzled.

Master shook his head, “No, but once you’re at the restaurant, my house is a hundred meters diagonally across the street.”

Old Zhou finally understood and nodded, watching as we drove away before leading his family upstairs.

“Master, why did you give Old Zhou our address?” I asked curiously in the car.

Master replied, “No particular reason. He’s a good man—honest and decent.”

I nodded, finding his answer pleasantly surprising.

When we got home, I sat on the sofa and said, “Master, since we have a holiday tomorrow, where should we go for fun?”

Master took a sip of water and looked at me. “Already a holiday? Fine, where do you want to go?”

I thought for a moment but couldn’t come up with anywhere interesting, so I said, “Let me think about it and tell you later.”

Master smiled and nodded.

That night, lying in bed, I still couldn’t think of anywhere fun to go. My thoughts wandered until I was nearly asleep. In the morning, I took two slices of bread from the bread maker and, munching, scrolled through my phone. There didn’t seem to be any interesting news until a headline caught my eye: “Is the Xiangxi Corpse-Driving Ritual Real or Fake? The Last Corpse-Handler Takes You into Xiangxi’s Secrets.”

Curious, I clicked it open. Among the text, one line fascinated me most: “The reporter visits the home of Cheng Quanguang, the last corpse-handler, to uncover his legendary story.” There was even a video beneath the text.

I watched the video. After a few minutes, I was half-believing, half-doubting the stories of corpse-driving and corpse-handlers. Still, since I’d already ventured into the underworld and even encountered zombies, surely corpse-handlers were no stretch of the imagination!

I set my phone aside, a bold idea forming: why not visit Xiangxi for a trip? The thought excited me. I dashed upstairs and woke my master, who was still sleeping. He drowsily let me pull him up and said, “What’s the matter? Can’t you see your master is sleeping?”

Ignoring his protest, I exclaimed, “Master, I know where we should go!”

He swayed on his feet, eyes still closed, as if he might collapse back into bed any moment. Seeing no response, I shouted, “Master, there’s a ghost!”

“A ghost? Where? Let me deal with it!” Master’s eyes shot open, and he leapt out of bed, looking around.

I suppressed my laughter. A moment later, he realized there was nothing there and, catching me grinning, scolded, “You rascal, making things up! Where’s the ghost?”

I shook my head, cleared my throat, and said, “If I hadn’t shouted about a ghost, would you have gotten up? Master, I really know where to go now.”

He sighed and, shuffling to the wardrobe, began picking out clothes. “So, where do you want to go? Looks like you’ve been thinking about this since yesterday.”

I chuckled. “Let’s visit Xiangxi, Master. I heard the scenery is beautiful. I want to see it for myself.”

“Xiangxi? Why would you want to go there? Let me think,” he said, holding up a shirt.

“Oh, please, Master! I’ve never traveled out of province before,” I pleaded.

After much persuasion, Master finally relented. “Fine, fine, if you want to go, hurry and pack! Now out, out! I need to change my pants.”

He shooed me out, and I stuck out my tongue before running off. Behind me, I heard him laugh, “Hmph, acting cute at your age? Haven’t you heard—acting cute is disgraceful!”