Author's statement: After writing the first three chapters, book friends who read carefully have probably found that there is a conflict between the plot and the prequel - Dr. Shi in the prequel has not seen Xiao Nan in three years since the "ceremony", and the current plot trend, the meeting between the two is inevitable, is the author mistaken? Yes and no. In the original plan, Dr. Shi was a person with a story, and she would intersect with some characters in a fiction of a biography and experience life and death together...... This is a very long story, but judging from my current situation, I will be thankful that I can finish the novel itself, where do I have the energy to write any biography? In this case, it is better to survive by cutting off the tail, giving up the unnecessary plot, going straight to the point, and finishing Cheng Xiaonan's story seriously is the most important thing. The current plot direction is actually the tone that was set before I went to Hainan at the end of last year, when I was still happily announcing in the book friend group that I had found a shortcut to the end of the book...... Considering that I am getting busier and busier at work, I don't know how long it will be delayed, I still decisively chose to take a shortcut, after all, the prequel is easy to change, and even without a prequel is no problem (after all, the novel is completely separated from the prequel), and it is obviously more important to ensure that the book is completed. Of course, you can also help me think of what better way to do both, you can leave me a message, thank you for your long-term support!

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Since the hospital was goodbye, Dr. Shi has never seen Xiao Nan again, but she has not completely forgotten this "customer" with a lot of personality. This is not only that she is very curious about what the consequences of that unexpected "ceremony" will have, but also that she has a strong interest in Cheng Xiaonan herself, the so-called love that she once no longer believed in, but re-recognized because of Cheng Xiaonan and Xiaoting, and how far this little couple can go together in the future.

Therefore, after separating from Xiao Nan, Dr. Shi did not follow her previous practice and immediately cut off all ties with the client and "evaporated from the world", but silently paid attention to Cheng Xiaonan in secret. However, after Cheng Xiaonan returned home to recuperate for many days, he suddenly drove away on a broken scooter and disappeared in the vast sea of people, and the connection between Dr. Shi and Cheng Xiaonan was interrupted.

Originally, he was only interested in it for a while, but after the connection was interrupted, Dr. Shi gradually left things about Cheng Xiaonan behind, and even if he remembered it by chance, he just sighed secretly. However, today she was suddenly found in her hiding place, and reported Cheng Xiaonan's name, a name that was about to be forgotten by her, so that Dr. Shi, whose life was like a pool of stagnant water day after day, had inexplicably made waves in his heart.

However, the two young people in front of her, whether they were young people who pretended to be casual on the outside, or young women who were so anxious and excited that they were almost incoherent, the news they brought, almost every word, was like a meteorite smashed into the heart, completely shocked and shattered Dr. Shi's imagination - even if she was engaged in unscientific witchcraft, she was always the only one to challenge the imagination of others, but this time, she had to admit that the outlook on life and worldview she had spent more than 20 years building up was crumbling... …

"Please wait a minute......" Doctor Shi had to wave his hand to interrupt Xiao Ting's eager narration. "The amount of information you just said is too much, I have to digest it a little......"

Xiaoting was talking about the key point, and was choked by Dr. Shi so much that she couldn't get up or down, not to mention how uncomfortable she was. Fortunately, Dr. Shi took advantage of the time to digest the information and made a cup of black tea with sugar for her and Huzi, and the hot tea entered her throat, and the feeling of anxiety was slightly better.

"Boys turn into girls...... It's incredible, I really want to run over and see that kid now......" Dr. Shi said with interest.

"You can't see anything when you go, you're so badly injured, you're covered in bandages and splints like mummies......" Huzi said in a rather unhappy tone. "Let's talk about how to save her...... I asked the doctor......" He glanced at Xiaoting, sorted out the wording a little, and said, "The doctor said...... Even if he can save his life, he is likely to ...... It's just to save his life...... That's it......"

"I understand...... Doctor Shi nodded: "You came to me because you want me to repeat my old tricks and use that 'ritual' to save Cheng Xiaonan again, right?"

"Yes!" Xiaoting and Huzi said almost in unison.

"So, who will be the 'knight' this time?" Doctor Shi looked at the two of them and asked rhetorically.

"Knight, what knight?" Xiao Ting and Huzi looked at each other when they heard this, and they didn't know what to say.

"Yes...... I've never told you the ins and outs of this ceremony......" Dr. Shi put down the teacup in his hand and looked at the anxious young men and women on the sofa opposite, his tone gradually becoming solemn. "Although I know that you are both anxious, but the stakes are high, so you had better calm down and listen to me......"

"You say, you say!" Xiao Ting and Huzi hurriedly said in unison: "Let's listen carefully!"

"That's right...... The so-called 'ritual', in the ancient tradition of our witch doctor, has lost its true title, only that it was originally from ancient times, and it is about ...... The period in the history of the matriarchal society is called the matrilineal society...... A method used to give dying clan leaders a new lease of life...... The specific way to do this is to use a sorcerer to preside over a 'ritual' to establish some kind of supernatural connection between a person's life and the leader, so that they can share the ...... of life."

Dr. Shi took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and continued: "In the long history that followed, the 'ritual' also evolved on the basis of inheritance and improvement, and by the end of the Shang Dynasty, the 'ritual' gradually became fixed......

"Knights and princesses?" Xiao Ting felt an inexplicable uneasiness in her heart when she heard this. "Can you elaborate on what this means?" she asked eagerly.

Doctor Shi seemed to have seen through Xiao Ting's thoughts, sighed softly, and said, "To put it simply, it's a man, and a woman...... Men are knights, women are princesses – as the name suggests, knights are servants, devotees, princesses are lords, beneficiaries ......"

Xiao Ting felt her heart tremble violently! What Dr. Shi said was really what she was secretly afraid of in her heart! "Can't you do it the other way?" she forcibly stabilized her chaotic mind and asked in a trembling voice. "Or it's the same sex, the woman's ...... to the woman's."

"No, you can't. Dr. Shi's answer was categorical. "Although our witchcraft cannot be explained by science so far, it also has its own rules and limits...... 'ritual' has been passed down from the prehistoric matriarchal society to today for nearly 10,000 years, it has undergone countless attempts and improvements by witch doctors over the ages, and the master-servant relationship between the 'knight and the princess' cannot be changed, which has been proven again and again by history......

"Then what should I do...... Xiao Ting seemed to be drained of all her strength in an instant, and her body collapsed on the sofa at once, tears of despair burst out of her eyes. That's right, she made up her mind from the beginning to save Xiao Nan the way she saved her in the first place...... Although she herself felt that things would definitely not be so simple, she never thought that Dr. Shi would completely extinguish all her hopes with just one sentence.

Xiaoting sat on the soft and wide sofa, but she felt as if she had fallen into an endless abyss, her soul was constantly falling, and she would never fall to the bottom. The light faded from her eyes, slowly turning into a tiny point of light, and finally into pitch black......

At this moment, she suddenly heard a voice that seemed to come from outside the sky, it was a young man's voice with chest resonance, and he said in a calm but firm tone, "Then ...... Let me be Xiao Nan's knight!"