Song Yan patted his shoulder and said earnestly, "Anyway, in this Chu Imperial City, my medical skills are definitely not the worst."
This time, he wasn't lying.
Before entering this profession, he had looked into it.
Now, with his so-called "quack" level, he could still rank mid-level in the Chu Imperial City.
His medicines neither caused deaths nor delayed or worsened ailments, and they never drove anyone to bankruptcy.
Hearing the shopkeeper speak this way, what else could Pan Yu say? He just kept sighing.
It wasn't until Song Yan assured him, "No matter how the clinic's business is, you'll get your due money," that Pan Yu thanked him profusely. But upon leaving, he was still sighing continuously.
He needed to provide for his family and wanted a stable job.
Looking at the current situation, he honestly didn't know how much longer Changchun Hall could remain open.
Seeing that it was already late, Song Yan prepared to close up.
At this moment, hurried footsteps suddenly approached from afar.
Pan Yu ran over from the alley, pale-faced. Upon seeing that Changchun Hall was still open, he stumbled and fell, then scrambled and crawled his way over the threshold of the clinic.
Song Yan quickly helped him up.
Pan Yu was so terrified he could barely speak, only repeatedly looking at the door, saying, "Close...close..."
Song Yan hastily shut the door.
After a while, Pan Yu caught his breath a little and said, "A monster...a monster, so terrifying."
Song Yan asked, "What kind of monster?"
Pan Yu stammered, "A fox head, devouring people, and it lifted its face to me, blood dripping all over its mouth."
Song Yan shivered.
Both of them fell silent.
Song Yan squinted into the distance.
If even his honest assistant encountered a Fox Demon, it meant last night's events had indeed had repercussions; at least, the demons in this area were stirring.
And though the local sect, the Thousand Crane Sect, didn't boast the "high moral standards" of the Nanwu Sword Sect, being based in the Chu Imperial City entailed a certain "National Guardian Sect" duty.
A Fox Demon disturbance warranted their intervention.
'It seems some old cultivator got seriously injured last night. The Fox Wolf is testing the waters to see if they're still capable,' he thought.
"Xiao Pan, don't go home tonight."
"But my old mother, wife, and kids are at home. How can I not go back?"
"I'll escort you," Song Yan sighed. At times like this, if Xiao Pan went out alone, he might be eaten by the Fox Demon and never return.
"How...how can that be?"
"Stop fussing. Let's go. We'll try a different route."
"Doctor Li, aren't you afraid?"
"I am."
"Oh...oh...I'm scared too..."
Soon, Song Yan supported his assistant, hoisted a lantern, and they trembled their way out the door.
He didn't even need to deliberately avoid danger or extend his Divine Sense; just relying on Perception, he could evade the dangers in the streets.
Upon entering the Purple Mansion Realm, one transcends the mortal realm both in Divine Soul and physical form, so how could such minor dangers pose a threat?
He escorted Pan Yu to the door; Pan Yu thanked him profusely, with but one thought in mind: to stick with this shopkeeper, ensure Changchun Hall remains open even if it means earning slightly less!
Song Yan turned and left.
In his hand was a blood-red lantern.
The lantern swayed in the deep winter night's breeze.
Perhaps in the alley separated by a mere wall, demons ran rampant, and there was Jianghu strife.
Yet the path he took remained utterly peaceful and unperturbed.
On his way, Song Yan sensed many little demons, confirming his earlier supposition: the Fox Wolf...had made a move.
...
...
Several days later, late at night.
Song Yan, having just finished making pigskin jelly, was lying in his room when he suddenly heard an evil laugh resounding from above the sky outside, followed closely by a man's voice enveloping the area.
"Tonight, I, Tang Fan, shall go against the heavens. What is your Thousand Crane Sect even worth!"
Then there was the thunderous sound of fighting.
Song Yan ran to the courtyard, watching the distance with great interest.
The Fox Wolf's tactics truly boiled down to three hammer blows indeed.
Was he starting to use the Illusion Technique to impersonate Tang Fan?
He watched for a while, then returned indoors to fetch the Qi Observation Pearl and observed from afar.
He saw the red cloud growing richer in hue.
Yet this richness was due to layering.
This meant that all the Crimson Palace cultivators in the Chu Imperial City were converging in one direction.
Naturally, that direction was the Thousand Crane Sect.
Presumably, Tang Fan was heading there too.
'Afraid that they have the same idea as I do, wanting to use the Thousand Crane Sect as a buffer to resist the Fox Wolf,' he mused.
Seeing fish flocking to the net, Song Yan was quite pleased, but he wasn't in a hurry, so he did nothing, instead getting a peaceful night's sleep amidst the rumbles of combat.
...
...
The next day...
The Celestial Fragrance Tower was so terrified it didn't open for business.
Naturally, business at Song Yan's Changchun Hall was also extremely poor. Xiao Pan stayed at the clinic for a while before being sent home by Song Yan while it was still daylight.
This situation persisted for several days.
One day, at dusk, Song Yan collected some silver taels and went to buy pigskin at the butcher's shop. Having walked only a few steps, he saw a familiar figure at an alley corner.
A tall, graceful figure, wrapped in a sapphire blue jacket, stood at the alley exuding a putrid odor.
In her hand, she held a basket of coarse grain buns.
In the alley, there seemed to be someone else.
Song Yan approached and looked in, seeing five small beggars, all dark-skinned, indistinguishable between boys and girls.
The one offering coarse grain buns to the beggars was none other than the Young Mistress Shuang Yun.
Seeing someone approaching, the little beggars were startled, and the slightly larger one at the forefront even drew a knife without a handle from his waist.