When they came to the entrance of the village, they met an old woman. Ah Xian asked with concern: "Grandma He, is your leg okay lately?"

"It's okay, it's okay..."Grandma He nodded blindly, her expression a little sluggish.

After she passed, Ah Xian whispered to Zhiming: "Her legs were paralyzed for no reason half a year ago, and then she asked Master Daoren to treat her. After the master performed a dharma on her, she miraculously stood up, but from then on, she became a little demented. The master said that this is neuroencephalitis caused by paralysis, and although the legs and feet have regained their dexterity, the nervous system is not as sound as before. ”

"Really?" Although Zhiming did not understand medical skills, he did not believe that paralysis could lead to mental disorders.

Venerable Daoren said, "This is my third visit to the West Village, and the old man was the first patient I treated here. ”

"The second is my neighbor, Uncle Wang," Ah Xian said, "it was his wife who introduced me to you." ”

"Oh, so you're neighbors?" said Michihito, slightly surprised.

"Yes. Ah Xian pointed to the front and said, "The front is my home." ”

Ah Xian led everyone into the house. The idle mother was lying sick in bed, and the illness made her gray-haired and haggard, not like a middle-aged woman, but like an old man who was about to wander through the immortals. A middle-aged woman was sitting next to the bed, feeding her medicine.

Ah Xian said: "Mother, I'm back, Aunt Li, thank you for taking care of my mother every day." ”

"You're welcome. "Aunt Li went out after feeding the medicine.

Zhiming noticed that Aunt Li's neck had been scratched, and he was puzzled.

Seeing so many people coming in, Xian's mother's lips twitched: "Xian'er, who are these people?"

"Mother, I specially invited a mage today, he has strong mana, and he should be able to cure your illness. Ah Xian took Master Daoren to the sickbed and said, "Mother, you should have heard of this Master Daoren, right? Uncle Wang's spondylitis next door was cured by him." ”

"I heard about it, Aunt Li told me. ”

"Hello, auntie. Venerable Daoren said to her, "I heard that your condition is very serious, so I have come to see you." ”

"I'm sorry for you, Master. "The idle mother looked weak when she said every word.

"You're welcome. Gen Daoren sat on the edge of the bed and took her pulse.

After taking the pulse, he said with a sense of urgency: "The disease is indeed very serious, the virus has invaded the brain, if the medical treatment is delayed any longer, it will affect the nerve center of the brain, and you will become a vegetative state." At present, some of your brain cells are in a state of necrosis. ”

"What then?" asked the idle mother, although she didn't understand the medical term, but the overall meaning was quite clear.

"Don't panic, it's still too late to heal, fortunately Ling Lang came to me in time. Gen Daoren looked at her and said, "You have a dark spot on your forehead, presumably a scar from that long-standing illness. ”

"Master, please think of a way!" Ah Xian was very anxious.

"Don't worry, I'll do it for her right away to get rid of the disease. Master Daoren turned his head and said to his apprentice, "Shiqing, Yuanqing, prepare to raise the altar!"

Shiqing and Yuanqing were immediately busy. After the altar was erected, Master Daoren took out a peachwood sword, inserted a yellow talisman on the tip of the sword, closed his eyes tightly, and read something seriously, like a mosquito and a fly.

Zhiming looked at him and felt very ridiculous. He had heard Master say that those wizards and mages in the folk are all deceitful, and those who really have the ability are low-key or hidden, and it is impossible for them to be so high-profile, let alone use this as a means of collecting money. Master also said that Zhang Jiao Shi Fushui, the leader of the Yellow Turban Party, was also fake in treating the people back then, with the purpose of deceiving the people and accumulating sufficient personnel reserves for the Yellow Turban uprising. From this point of view, the so-called master in front of him is only in vain, but how can he cure so many people's diseases? Could it be that he is a magician? Zhiming vows to find out the truth.

"Heavenly spirits, earth spirits, all demons are bulldozed......" Master Daoren said with words.

After all the nonsense, he began to play with his sword. The posture of his sword is also similar, like a master of swordsmanship, it seems that he has practiced hard for a long time, and the yellow talisman on the tip of the sword also flutters with the sword, and the phosphor coated on the surface of the spirit rune looks like a ghost fire at night.

After playing with the sword, the mage pulled out the yellow talisman from the tip of the sword, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it into the brazier prepared on the altar.

The mage held the sword upside down in his right hand, made a gesture of chanting with his left hand, closed his eyes tightly, muttered a few incantations in front of the brazier, and then placed his palm on the brazier. The fire was immediately extinguished, and only a pile of paper ashes remained in the basin.

The onlookers let out an exclamation. An imperceptible smile flashed at the corner of Master Daoren's mouth, but it was still captured by Zhiming's eagle eye. He thought that this must be the usual trick of the charlatans, who had applied some kind of substance to extinguish the fire in their palms in advance. He suddenly felt that the tricky master in front of him had some kind of connection with the White Tiger Team, but for now, he could only wait and see what was going on and think of countermeasures.

Venerable Daoren placed his sword flat on the altar, put his palms together, and closed his eyes and recited the incantation. His mouth opened and closed, and outsiders couldn't hear what he was reading.

After reciting, he pointed his palms at the brazier and made a gesture. He stared at the brazier, his palms trembling slightly.

Suddenly, he raised his head to the sky and shouted, and then he picked up the peachwood sword and danced in front of the altar, and then thrust the sword into the ground. The tip of the sword dug deep into the dirt.

In a few moments, he drew his sword and swirled it, shaking off the dirt from the tip of the sword.

Master Daoren wiped the dirt off the sword with a white cloth and put it back into its sheath. He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's it." Shiqing, bury the ashes in the brazier into the soil; ”

Shiqing buried the ashes in the soil. Everyone didn't understand what they meant, but only Zhiming understood in his heart: this was a consistent trick to trick the mystery, using abnormal measures to arouse everyone's curiosity.

Venerable Daoren, Ah Xian, and Zhiming entered the house. The villagers wanted to know the outcome, and they all poured in to watch.

"Auntie, how do you feel? I just gave you a trick, and normally speaking, you should feel better. Master Daoren deliberately asked the idle mother loudly so that everyone around him could hear it.

The idle mother tried to move her legs, and said, "It seems to be a little better... But it doesn't seem to get any better... Master, when will I be all right?"

"Don't worry," Master Daoren smiled, "The disease will not give up easily, but after what we have done just now, it has subdued somewhat. Don't worry, I'll take a pill for you to eat, and I'll make sure that the medicine is cured. ”

"Really?" said the idle mother, who had not been outside of bed in years.

Ah Xian was afraid that his mother would be too excited and would die early, so he hurriedly said: "Mother, don't be excited, be careful of your body." Master, take out that pill quickly. ”

Master Daoren took out a golden box from his satchel, took out a small red pill from it, carefully handed it to Xian Mu, and said, "This is an elixir, it can cure all diseases, and it is refined by the poor Dao himself, no matter what disease he has, as long as he eats it, he will be fine immediately." This is a one-of-a-kind panacea, and you must take it well. ”

The idle mother took the "elixir" with a trembling hand, sniffed it, and there was a strange smell.

"The taste is a little weird, but the medicine is very strong, and it is good immediately after eating. "Master Daoren's face is caring.

Zhiming was very puzzled: Since this kind of "elixir" can cure all kinds of diseases, why did he raise the altar just now? Isn't it redundant? No, all this is a mage acting to deceive people's minds and deceive the people.

Ah Xian brought a bowl of warm water, and the idle mother took the "elixir" in public. Within seconds, she was leaping out of bed, completely ill.

The crowd was amazed and applauded, and Venerable Daoren was overjoyed.

Ah Xian kowtowed in public to thank him, and said excitedly: "It is really a blessing for this city to have a mage here!"

Venerable Daoren helped him up and said, "You don't have to be polite, it's my duty to heal the sick and save people." ”

Zhiming fell into deep thought: "What kind of mystery is hidden in this pill?"

Ah Xian said to his mother: "Mother, the master has cured your illness, why don't you say a word?"

Xian Mu looked straight at Master Daoren and said, "Thank you, Master." ”

This expression caught Zhiming's attention, and he remembered the Grandma He he had just met at the entrance of the village, and Ah Xian said that she had been mentally disturbed since she recovered from her illness. He thought, "Could it be that the 'elixir' has side effects? It can cure people's physical diseases, but at the same time make people's spirits abnormal?"

"Since the eldest lady is fine, let's take our leave first. "Master Daoren is about to leave.

"Wait, wait. Ah Xian asked them to stay and said to Zhiming, "Brother Lei..."

"I understand, rest assured. "Zhiming gave Master Daoren a reward of fifty taels of silver. Although he was deeply suspicious of his so-called spells, he could not break his promise once he had promised Ah Xian.

After deliberately refusing, Master Daoren accepted the money and walked out of the door. Villagers crowded around.

Ah Xian thanked him: "If it weren't for Brother Lei's help, my mother wouldn't have been able to regain her life! Thank you Big Brother for saving your life!"

Zhiming helped him up and said, "It's nothing, everyone is Han Chinese, so we should help each other." ”

After Ah Xian settled his mother again, he sent the three of Master Daoren to the entrance of the village. There were countless villagers who followed along the way, and everyone knew that this mage who had rejuvenated his hands had cured the diseases of three people in his village, and all of them were diseases that ordinary doctors could not cure.

After the three masters and apprentices left, Zhiming asked Ah Xian: "Uncle Wang, who lives next door to you, did he have any abnormal behavior after he recovered from his illness?"

Ah Xian thought for a while and said: "It's strange to say, since he was cured by the mage, Uncle Wang has become a little weird, sometimes he speaks incoherently, sometimes he has great mood swings, he is moody, and he loves to scratch people with his nails, as if he has fallen into an evil spirit." Because he lives next door to my house, I know very well that Aunt Li often comes to my house to complain... By the way, it can't be a coincidence, why do people who have been cured by the master have such a situation? Brother Lei, what do you think?"

Hearing this, Zhiming can basically be sure: this so-called mage is ostensibly curing the people's diseases, but in essence there is some kind of conspiracy hidden behind it, maybe he is just a puppet at the mercy of others, because with his strength, he will never be able to create an "elixir", and someone must be manipulating everything behind the scenes. He vowed to find out the truth as soon as possible and find out who was behind the scenes, so as not to harm more innocent people.

Seeing that Ah Xian finally had the opportunity to immerse himself in the joy of his mother's "recovery", Zhiming couldn't bear to tell him the truth, so he said, "I guess it's a coincidence." Anyway, my mother's illness has been cured, hurry up and go back to take care of her, she needs your company the most now. ”

"I will. What about you, big brother?"

"I'm leaving, I have important business. You don't have to pay back the money, count me as the one who helped you, and we'll meet again. Remember, you must find a proper job, and don't steal anymore, your mother doesn't want you to do this even if she starves to death on the streets. ”

"Well, I see. Ah Xian said firmly, "Brother Lei, I have decided not to wash my hands, I want to work hard to earn money! Even if I go to beg on the streets, I vow to take good care of my mother by myself, so as to comfort the soul of my deceased father in the sky!"

"Okay!" Zhiming patted him on the shoulder, "If only all thieves thought like you, society needs such positive energy." Since you have the determination to wash your hands, you should have the courage to be a new person. I wish you a good way out soon, take care!"

"Take care, Brother Lei!" Ah Xian reluctantly waved goodbye.

Zhiming just took a few steps, turned back again, took out some silver and gave it to him, and said, "Let's have a fate, you can use this money to buy some supplements for the eldest lady to eat." ”

"It's... No..."Ah Xian didn't dare to accept it, he felt that he owed the other party too much.

Zhiming forced it into his hand and said, "Take it, don't push it if it's a brother." ”

Ah Xian's eyes were wet, and he looked at the silver ingots in his hand that weighed as much as Mount Tai with teary eyes, and said, "Brother Lei, I really don't know when I will be able to repay your kindness to me!"

"As long as you change your ways, it will be considered a reward for me. Remember, be an upright man!" Zhiming patted him on the shoulder and left.

Ah Xian looked at his distant back, tears flickering.

On the way back to the city, Zhiming quickly sorted out his thoughts and believed that the next steps of action should be: 1. Find out the truth about Master Daoren's use of the elixir to cure the disease, prevent it from continuing to harm living beings, and find out the manipulators behind the scenes, so as to eliminate harm for the people; 2. On the premise of ensuring his own safety, go to Wuhu Mountain to investigate the details of the White Tiger Team; 3. Return to Xinye.

He decided to infiltrate Gen Daoren's village tonight to listen to their conversation and get some important information from them to decide on his next move.