Chapter 193 Wang Shuyu

The tiles and beams are broken, and the eaves have collapsed.

The mudstone wall was cracked and filled with spider webs.

I saw a lizard clinging to the corner of the wall, and it quickly left when it sensed someone.

Li Daoxuan stood at the door and looked at the dilapidated house.

If he had not come here with the little girl, he might have thought that this was an abandoned house and would never have thought that there were people willing to live here. Nothing in this world is real.

"We're at my home, young master." The little girl put away her oil-paper umbrella and carefully wiped the rain off it.

She took out the key, moved some bricks from the side and put them under her feet, then stood on tiptoe to unlock the door, but she was not tall enough. After trying several times, she finally opened the brass lock on the door.

There was a click and the lock on the door opened.

When I pushed the door open, a musty smell came in. It was a very old musty smell, probably because the room had not been exposed to the sun for a long time.

Li Daoxuan couldn't help but frown when he smelled the smell. He fanned the dust off the tip of his nose with his hand and tried his best to keep himself awake.

Walking into the house, it was a small, dilapidated house, and the once compacted earthen ground had shown signs of loosening.

There is a cabinet at the front of the hall, a stove next to it, and firewood piled behind the stove.

There were pig sounds coming from the left side, which should be the place where pigs are raised. This house has one hall and two rooms, and the stove and the hall are together.

The left room is for raising pigs, and the right room is where people live.

This kind of house is also common in Lijia Village. Even pigs, cows, chickens and ducks are raised in the house, which can not only prevent theft, but also protect against wild animals such as foxes and weasels.

In a corner of the room, there were piles of farm tools, including hoes and shovels, and on top of them was a piece of hemp rope with a towel hanging to dry.

On the shelf in the hall, there is a statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva sitting, and below it are utensils, which are the bowls and chopsticks used for daily eating.

Li Daoxuan remembered that he had lived in this kind of house when he was a child in his previous life, but he did not expect to see the same place in the late Qing Dynasty.

Just as his thoughts were drifting, he heard a cough coming from the bedroom on the right.

"Mom!" the little girl shouted, then ran into the right room. Li Daoxuan followed her and went in.

The room was dim, with no windows on any side. Made of sand, gravel and mud, there were rarely any dedicated windows. The light that came into the room came either through an open door or through the skylight on the roof, which made it very uncomfortable on a rainy day like today when there was no sun.

Li Daoxuan looked at the environment in the right room. There was only a wooden bed in the dim bedroom. The bed board was padded with hay and there was a mosquito net on top of it. Insects and ants could not get in on a normal day, and it could also prevent bites from rats, snakes, centipedes and the like.

The little girl rushed to the window, lifted the mosquito net and saw a woman. The woman had a pale face, no blood at the corners of her lips, and black eye sockets, like a zombie ghost in the movie.

She forced her eyes open and saw Li Daoxuan standing behind the little girl.

His originally tired and dim eyes were startled at first, but then he calmed down after taking a closer look.

She reached out and touched the little girl's face. A smile appeared on her face, and her voice was very hoarse, as if she had not spoken for a long time: "Yuan'er, who is this little brother?"

"He is a young master from a wealthy family." The little girl replied quickly.

"The eldest son of a wealthy family? The son of Mr. Li?" After hearing what the little girl said, the woman seemed very surprised, then she propped herself up and saluted Li Daoxuan. Seeing that Li Daoxuan seemed to be only about ten years old, she said, "Young master, I am not in good health, please forgive me."

"Sister-in-law, don't force yourself. I heard this little girl talk about you, so I came here to see you. I have learned some medical skills from my master, so maybe I can help you with the situation." Li Daoxuan said with a smile and explained his purpose.

After hearing this, the woman's face showed a trace of confusion because she was even more surprised. Then she smiled bitterly and said, "I'm afraid my body is not going to make it. Yuan'er has also found a doctor for me, but there is no cure. How can I trouble you, young master, to come for this child?" "It doesn't matter. I'll take a look. Maybe I can do something." Li Daoxuan said very politely, then waved his hand and walked forward, ready to take the woman's pulse.

Seeing this, the woman didn't say anything else, but just stretched out her wrist and let him take her pulse.

"I wonder what my sister-in-law's name is?" Li Daoxuan pinched the woman's wrist to check her pulse. He took a look at the woman's palm and felt something strange.

Unlike ordinary women, this woman's palms were obviously whiter and more delicate. There were no calluses on her palms, and her wrists were as soft as egg whites. She didn't look like a farm woman who worked hard every day. Her face was pale but pretty, with light eyebrows, a straight nose, and a face like an egg. She was a beautiful woman, not a farm woman in Lijia Village.

Li Daoxuan frowned slightly, feeling puzzled.

"My surname is Wang, and my name is Wang Shuyu. If you don't mind, you can just call me Sister Yu." Wang Shuyu told Li Daoxuan her name with a forced smile.

"Sister Yu." Li Daoxuan responded immediately, trying to get closer to her.

He felt the woman's pulse, nodded thoughtfully, then let go of her wrist, looked at Wang Shuyu and said, "Sister Yu's body has been affected by the cold, so her uterus is weak and her kidneys are weak. She will easily get sick if she is exposed to the wind on weekdays. What happened these days that caused the cold air to enter her body?"

"I usually pay more attention to keeping warm, but as for catching a cold, it hasn't been a big deal." Wang Shuyu's pretty brows were slightly worried. She thought carefully about her recent behavior, shook her head and sighed softly.

"The cold entering the body that I am talking about is not the ordinary cold. Sister Yu, please think about it carefully. Have you really never encountered any unlucky things? Or anything weird?" Li Daoxuan knew that Wang Shuyu had misunderstood, so he added.

"Unlucky thing? There is one." Wang Shuyu said as if he remembered something.

"Don't worry, Sister Yu, just say whatever you want."

"That day." Wang Shuyu told Li Daoxuan what happened. It was the day when the old village chief's grandson died. She was helping to pack up the child's belongings at the old village chief's home. Later, a man dressed as a wizard came in. The waving of his sleeves made her look dazed. She didn't remember much after that, but from that day on, her body became weaker and weaker.

"It's the old village chief again?" Li Daoxuan was puzzled. He felt that the old village chief was really a man of many problems. It seemed that all the strange things in the village were related to him. Could it be that this Yinshui well and the old turtle that guarded the pond were also related to him?
"Grandpa Cheng, don't mess around."

Thinking secretly, Li Daoxuan nodded towards Wang Shuyu: "I know a lot about Sister Yu. It won't be difficult to cure her illness."

"Really?" Wang Shuyu smiled happily. Her dry eyes stared at him closely, fearing that she would hear some bad news the next moment.

"Of course it's true, but Sister Yu needs to answer me a few questions so that I can prescribe the right medicine." Looking at Wang Shuyu, Li Daoxuan's eyes flickered slightly. He concealed a trace of apology on his face and smiled.

"You tell me, and I will tell you everything I know." Wang Shuyu nodded quickly, as if he had grabbed a life-saving straw.

"What is Sister Yu's birth date?"

"It was February of the ninth year of Emperor Xianfeng's reign."

Wang Shuyu then reported her birth date and time. Li Daoxuan secretly calculated in his mind that she was born in the spring, which was a combination of wood and the year of Jiwei, the month of Mao, and the day of Hai. She was born in the spring, which was a combination of Quzhi, Renshou, and the month of Maolu Jianlu, which meant she was born rich and noble.
While Li Daoxuan was calculating, he was secretly a little surprised, but he did not stop talking and continued to ask.

"Sister Yu is not from Lijia Village, right?"

When "I" mentioned this question, Wang Shuyu fell silent.

She lowered her head and didn't utter a word for a long time.

Li Daoxuan thought to himself that it was true, so he chose a way to comfort her: "Even if Sister Yu is not from Lijia Village, I don't mind. Please tell me the truth, Sister Yu, and don't lie. If there is any unavoidable situation, I will also help Sister Yu."

"Really?" Wang Shuyu suddenly became agitated when she heard this, and asked while grabbing Li Daoxuan's wrist.

"Seriously." Li Daoxuan nodded at her affirmatively.

(End of this chapter)