Ye Ning ran towards Xiao Ren’s side. She looked at him up and down. “Are you alright walking on your own like this? Do you feel any pain or something?”

Xiao Ren shook his head. It was just a few steps, so he didn’t really mind. Besides, they should be able to reach the physician’s house soon.

“Brother, you should help Brother Xiao instead of me.”

“Fine, fine.” Ye Lei sighed at his sister’s concern to Xiao Ren. He only left the wounded man alone because he could see that the thugs were aiming for his sister. Of course, he would not leave him alone.

However, Xiao Ren refused the help as they continued to walk. Ye Ning looked around, trying to decipher the logo in front of the house. Since she could not write and read, she was not totally sure what was the name of the place.

Xiao Ren stopped in front of a house. He could read the nameplate, so he knew that this was Physician Hong’s house.

“Why do you stop?”

Xiao Ren pointed to the house before him. Seeing that the two of them didn’t understand, he pointed to the nameplate and mouthed out, ‘Physician Hong.’

“Xiao Ren, you’re literate?” Ye Lei asked in surprise. He was thinking of asking people here and there about the physician’s house, but Xiao Ren had already found it even before he could start.

A young man in his twenties walked out of the house. Dressed in brown robe, he looked like a young scholar if not for his slightly rugged appearance. He looked at the three people in front of the house. “Is there anything I can help?”

“Is this Physician Hong’s house?” Ye Lei asked respectfully and cupped his hand. His posture was a bit bad since he didn’t know proper etiquette, but it was still the proper one.

“Yes. Physician Hong is inside.” The young man looked at their ragged appearance and frowned. Those who wanted to come here were all patients most of the time, but many of them usually couldn’t pay the treatment. Looking at how shabby their appearance was, he could guess that they must have come from village.

Ye Lei smiled. “Is it possible for us to meet with him?”

“Physician Hong is currently checking on another patient. You can wait inside if you want, but let me remind you that Physician Hong will not check patient for free.”

“Ah…” Ye Ning’s face flushed red. It was then she remembered that their clothes were shabby, which made it hard to believe that they had enough money for treatment. After all, the two of them lived in village for a long time while Xiao Ren had to make do with Ye Lei’s clothes since his own was torn after battles.

The man’s face darkened when he saw their reaction. “Just find some doctor in your village if you don’t have money. Don’t waste our time here!”

Hearing the man’s words, Xiao Ren frowned. He knew that some doctors were thinking so highly of themselves to the point that they were unwilling to treat ordinary people. He didn’t expect to meet one so soon here.

“We have money!” Ye Lei quickly said. “Can you let us in?”

“Do you think I’ll believe…”

“Dai, what are you doing?” Another man around 20 years of age came out of the house with a frown on his forehead. He was wearing similar robe with the first young man and had slightly bigger built. From his appearance, it was clear that he didn’t look like he was happy with how the man named Dai treated people.

Dai turned around and pointed to the three people behind him. “Some countryside people are trying to get treatment for free again.”

The young man sighed. “Just let them in first.”

“What? Are you serious Jun?” Dai asked in exasperation. “The medicines are expensive! If Master keep on treating people for free, we wouldn’t be able to eat….”

“Dai,” Jun interrupted. His tone was solemn. “Master’s rule was to let everyone inside and talk about payment later.”

“Ugh! You’re such a softy, Jun! If you wish to not have any food again….”

Bang!

The door was flung open and a group of people walked out. Xiao Ren’s eyes narrowed as he pulled the other two to make way. He had lived in capital city for some time, so he could recognize their clothing. It was the clothes of some influential noble in the northern area.

Commoners wouldn’t be able to afford offending nobles. No matter who was the one at fault, the nobles were at the advantage. Unless they have enough power, it would be impossible to win against them.

“Jun, Dai, are you arguing again?”

Xiao Ren raised his head when he heard this low voice. He could see a man who didn’t seem to look any older than 20 years old walking out of the room. His physician robe clearly told other people his identity as Physician Hong.

“Master!” The two of them greeted right away.

Physician Hong sighed and turned to look at the man. “Sorry about my disciples. They’re a bit rowdy.”

The man, who was in the group, laughed. “No worry. I’ll come again in a few days, Physician Hong.”

“Yes, please take care.”

Physician Hong waited for the group to leave before he turned his head to look at the three people. The two disciples were still kneeling on the ground, and Physician Hong didn’t seem to care about them in the slightest bit.

Xiao Ren could see the faint aura around Physician Hong when he was looking at the two disciples. It was easy to say that the two disciples held their master in high regard and would not dare to step on their bounds when they were facing their master. As the master, Physician Hong was also clear of his disciples’ temperament and ignore them as a lesson.

‘He’s not a bad person,’ Xiao Ren thought to himself.

Ye Lei quickly cupped his hand. “Physician Hong, my friend is wounded. Can you please treat him?”

Physician Hong raised his hand and looked at Xiao Ren. It was as if he knew that the one who was wounded was Xiao Ren. “Come inside. It’s quite a miracle that you can still walk with such heavy wound.”

Xiao Ren’s eyes widened. He was still standing straight, but for the physician, he was like a piece of paper that was so open and easy to see through. It was amazing how the physician managed to know his wounds even though he was hiding them very well.

‘If I had met someone like him in the army before, it’ll be my end.’

While Xiao Ren was a bit cautious, the two siblings were delighted and ushered Xiao Ren to come inside.

As they walked, the two disciples were still on the ground. They would not stand up until their master left or instructed them something. However, Xiao Ren could faintly sense the hatred from the young man named Dai before.

‘I guess, only his disciple is such a narrow minded person.’

The house was spacious with several decorations. The floor was layered with a thin rug, but it couldn’t help much as they still could feel the cold ground. There were several chairs in the middle, which must have been used for patients.

Physician Hong pointed to the chair and sat down on the chair beside it. “Sit down. Let me take your pulse. Aside from some muscle pain, what else do you need to tell me?”

Ye Lei looked at Physician Hong and replied. “Xiao Ren can’t speak after he got drowned in Huang River. Do you have any medicine to resolve this, Physician Hong?”

“You were drowned?” Physician Hong frowned. He was still checking Xiao Ren’s pulse and looked towards the young man before him.

Xiao Ren nodded.

“Very well. I know how to treat you, but it’ll take time. Do you have any business to attend to?”

Xiao Ren arched his eyebrows. He wanted to return back to the North Border to check on his soldiers. However, if he couldn’t speak, he wouldn’t be able to communicate with them too. Not all of them could read and write.

“You do, didn’t you?”

Slowly, Xiao Ren nodded.

Physician Hong pondered for a moment. “I’ll give you medicine that you have to drink every day. In addition, I need to dress your wounds again because it’s not done properly.”

On the side, Ye Ning’s face turned crimson red. She was the one who took care of Xiao Ren’s wound when he first came, so she felt embarrassed when Physician Hong bluntly told her that her work was not good.

Xiao Ren nodded again. He didn’t really have any other choice.

“Where do you live?”

“We live in Village Rustic, not far from Huang River,” Ye Lei replied.

Physician Hong went silent for a moment. There were a lot of small villages, so he was unable to remember all the names. However, the word near Huang River could only signify that it was quite far from here.

“In that case, you can stay here for the time being. My house is quite large.”

The three of them were shocked. They had seen Physician Hong’s house had several quarters. However, it was out of their expectation that he would willingly volunteer to let them stay over.

“Is that… alright?” Ye Lei asked cautiously.

Physician Hong laughed. “There’s no need to worry about it. You can come inside and have some rest. I’m going to prepare the medicine for you. Dai, Jun, bring the patients to the guest quarters number two.”

“Yes, Master.”

Xiao Ren was stunned. They hadn’t even said that they would stay, but Physician Hong had already decided that for them. However, it was clearly the best option rather than finding an inn to stay and came here every single day.

“This…”

“Please come this way,” Jun walked in and smiled politely.

The two siblings looked at one another before they turned their head to look at Xiao Ren. Seeing that Xiao Ren nodded, they decided to follow the arrangement.