Way of the Devil

What about the bad guys who were perfectly healthy?

That was easy. He would make them sick.

Lu Sheng felt that his own logic was normal. The greatest requirement for a patient with a chronic disease was to rest. Not only was he able to correct the common practice of society, he was also improving the society’s order in a roundabout way. He enabled more financial resources to be channeled to the people who needed them.

He was the person who needed them.

Lu Sheng stroked his chin. Then, he quickly treated the remaining patients before standing back up.

Beside him, De Yun had finished treating all his patients as well, albeit being slightly slower.

“Junior Apprentice Brother, are you sure you can do it?” De Yun knew that Lu Sheng had outstanding medical skills.

He was slightly worried. The old man was a famous gangster in the area. Usually, he appeared gentle, but he was actually a cold-hearted person. He would kill off an entire family just because of a disagreement.

Just because his son was a Grand Formation Master in the main city, he did as he liked in the surrounding area. Nobody could stop him.

If they were not careful and could not treat his illness, they would be in deep trouble.

“His son is a Grand Formation Master. Please be careful, Junior Apprentice Brother,” De Yun warned him. “If you’re not confident enough, we can just reject him.”

Lu Sheng raised a hand and shook his head slightly.

“Although he’s not a model citizen, as a doctor, I cannot allow myself to look on while a life ebbs away before me. He might be heartless, I cannot be unjust.”

As De Yun looked at his righteous air, he immediately felt a sense of respect for him.

After giving it some thought, he again proceeded to ask, “But… isn’t it better for us to call Teacher back here?”

“Teacher is treating the epidemic there, his mission is more important. We shouldn’t disturb him. Besides, I don’t think teacher will have a greater confidence than I have,” said Lu Sheng confidently.

This was not a confidence in his own medical skills. This was an absolute confidence in his transplanting art and healing art, which were both at their highest levels thanks to the modifier.

De Yun had nothing to say to that.

At this moment, Chenchen walked out of the inner room. The two of them discontinued the topic.

Early next morning, the old man came back as expected.

He appeared paler.

“Quick, bring the old man in!” When Lu Sheng saw him, he appeared slightly shocked. He quickly went up and supported the old man.

However, his hand was swatted away by a young girl.

“Where’s Tu Jin?! Bring him here, now! Can you take responsibility if the old man’s condition gets any worse?!” the girl spoke with a furious expression.

Lu Sheng was not angered even though his hand was swatted away. He merely frowned and took two steps backward. He glanced at the girl.

“I’m afraid… this poison is contagious…”

“Pooh!”

De Yun nearly spat out the mouthful of water he was drinking. He hastily ran into the inner room. He took out a black red-patterned joss stick and ignited it. He stuck it into a built-in incense basin on the wall.

That was to prevent contagious diseases from spreading.

The old man’s guards and family members acted the same way. The moment they heard the word “contagious”, they retreated simultaneously. The girl who spoke angrily before this was the only one who managed to stay where she was, though her hand was shaking slightly.

Otherwise, the old man would have fallen to the floor.

The old man’s eyelid jumped. He saw the reactions of the others. He said nothing about it. He merely spoke to Lu Sheng in deep voice, “Little doctor, name your price. How much is needed to cure me of this poison?”

“Initially, I had a confidence of 60% to completely rid you of this disease. However, since we last met, sir… you seem to have used some other medication… something that nourishes your body…” Lu Sheng spoke slowly with a frown.

“You’re really amazing!” The old man widened his eyes. “You can tell so much without even having to take my pulse! You’re right. I did go to the best doctors and apothecaries in the nearby cities and took some antidotes and nourishing broths… Don’t tell me… something’s wrong?”

Yesterday, he had been completely tortured by this poison. Not only were the medicines useless, his illness seemed to have worsened.

Hence, out of helplessness, he had no choice but to return to the Tu residence.

“There is, and it’s a huge problem!” Lu Sheng’s expression was grim. “The poison hasn’t spread before this, but the nourishing medicines you took has increased the circulation of your blood and essence. Now… the poison has spread all over your body… I’m afraid…”

“Afraid, what?!” the old man asked hastily.

At this moment, he was not the only one. The other guarding girls around him appeared tense as well.

Lu Sheng wept his gaze across them. He wore a helpless expression.

“I’m afraid… that it can no longer be completely treated… You’ll have to be on continued medication after this…”

“Huh?!”

The old man’s mouth hung open slightly. He sighed heavily in relief.

“That’s alright. I thought that it can’t be treated at all… It’s fine if it can be treated! I’m grateful enough for that already! Name your price, doctor.”

“There’s no need to rush. Let me give you a round of treatment first. Your condition cannot wait.” Lu Sheng wore a serious expression as he walked up to the old man. With lightning speed, he tapped the old man’s neck with his fingers.

The old man seemed to be completely at ease with him. A thin layer of protective Spiritual Essence was reflexively unleashed by the old man’s body. However, he quickly retracted it.

Lu Sheng tapped his finger lightly on the old man’s body several times and released his spirit-prompting threads into his body. He quickly stabilized the toxins within the old man’s body.

He was the one who injected the poison into the old man’s body in the first place. It was only natural for him to easily control it.

Lu Sheng muttered to himself for a while as he sat. When he felt that it was about time, he slowly removed his hand from the old man’s body.

Then, he grabbed a paper and a pencil, and he started jotting down the names of the medicine he needed.

He paused midway. He made some simple calculations regarding the biggest amount the old man could afford, and added two new items to the list.

“Here, you should take them once a month. Brew three cups every time, and you have to finish it in one go. It’ll suppress the poison in your body and enable you to coexist with it.” Lu Sheng passed the formula to the old man.

The old man received the list. He read the entire list without any change in his expression.

“No problem. About your payment…” He turned his head and gave a signal. A strong man behind him walked up. He placed a black bag of money on the table before Lu Sheng.

“A token of my thanks. Thank you for your great skills, little doctor. My surname is Shen, and you may call me Elder Shen.” The old man’s colors clearly returned. His breathing calmed down as well.

“My surname’s Lu. You may call me Little Lu, Elder Shen.” Lu Sheng displayed a warm smile.

“Not bad. I’ll have to depend on you after this, Little Lu.” Elder Shen patted Lu Sheng’s shoulder forcefully. He stood up and left with his men and the formula.

This group of people passed like thunder and moved like the wind. They were extremely swift in their business. In addition to that, they had a faint bloody smell on them. It was clear that they had claimed many lives. They surely were not kind people.

Lu Sheng waited until they left before he rummaged through the bag. To his amazement, there were three ingots of snow-white ice money.

De Yun saw the money in Lu Sheng’s hands as well. Surprised, he immediately exclaimed, “There’s about 1.5 kilograms, how generous!”

However, Lu Sheng remained expressionless. He had the feeling that the amount of money he tried to knock off the old man was too low. Judging by the look of Elder Shen just now, it seemed that the content on the list was more easily obtainable than he’d imagined.

When Tu Jin treated his patients, the payment would be around 100 to 150 grams of ice money. This Elder Shen had given him 1.5 kilograms in one go.

Elder Shen came back a few times after that. Lu Sheng gave him prescriptions and brewed the medicine for him according to the formula.

All in all, he obtained about five kilograms of ice money.

After that, Lu Sheng continued to treat the old and young who came for treatment. They were either poisoned or crippled, and needed immediate attention.

As the number of patients grew, some of the patients could not be saved, even by Tu Jin.

The fame of the Tu Style Healing Art gradually spread under Lu Sheng’s hands. The number of patients who came to see him increased as well.

Lu Sheng’s rules were also made known to more and more people. His treatment would cost more than in other places. The difference in cost would depend on the patient and the illness itself.

As time went by, Lu Sheng received more and more ice money. He contributed a small amount from that money to the Tu Style’s account while he kept the remaining portion.

Lu Sheng used part of his money to purchase an extension of his residence rights. The remaining portion was completely used to fund his experiments.

As his experiments progressed, he gradually mastered one of the secret skills of the Three Limits. The possibility of him using this skill was the highest.

At this moment, Lu Sheng decided to seriously explore the Tu Style Healing Art.

…..

Inside the underground cavern.

“Aurr!”

The immense black tiger monster roared furiously at Lu Sheng, who was less than one-tenth its size.

The cavern was only so big. However, the black tiger had its back against the wall. It dared not get close to Lu Sheng.

It was not the only one. A huge red ant which was more than six meters in length was at the side. The ant had transparent wings on its back and a long scorpion’s tail which flickered with red fluorescent lights behind it.

This huge ant behaved like the black tiger. It appeared extremely terrified of Lu Sheng. It tried it best to push its body as far backward as possible. It wanted to put more distance between Lu Sheng and itself.

Lu Sheng stood in the center of the cavern in his gray robes. He wore a brown, short vest over his sculpted body.

“Looks like the assimilation is very successful. After obtaining the secret art, the success rate has been raised to 30%.”

He scrutinized his two greatest masterpieces.

Lu Sheng spread his arms, and loudly spoke, “Both of you have strong bodies and abilities heavily gifted with natural endowments. If you can begin your cultivation path with this foundation, it’ll be a near-perfect beginning.”

The black tiger and red ant were started. They quickly moved backward again.

“Forget it… Are your spirits damaged? What a shame… The only thing that I can’t fix is the spirit. It seems like it’s still too early to call this a success…”

Lu Sheng fell silent.

“Deep Blue.”

It was time.

It was time to make this ancient healing heart shine with its true powers.

Lu Sheng looked at the light blue interface which popped up. Within the Tu Style Healing Art’s frame, the transplanting art and spirit-prompting thread were at their maximum levels already.

“It’s time to prove your potential. Let me see what kind of ultimate form can this healing art take…”

He pushed the derivation button. The entire interface shook slightly. Without waiting for the modifier to stabilize, Lu Sheng pushed the derivation button behind the Tu Style Healing Art.

The level-five healing art instantly blurred.