Qin Qiaoqiao froze and turned her head. "What do you mean, wrong person?"
"The miracle doctor your aunt invited—it's not him. That one is outside the manor right now," the middle-aged man explained.
"What?"
Qin Qiaoqiao's eyes snapped back to Xu Mu. "You're not the doctor my aunt called for?"
"I'm no miracle doctor," Xu Mu said calmly. "Senior Qin Ju asked me to come."
"My grandpa?"
Qin Qiaoqiao looked doubtful but quickly scowled again, pointing a finger at him. "You brat! Just wait and see!"
Then she stormed off toward the manor gate.
Xu Mu still didn't fully understand what was going on, but at least one thing was clear—she'd mistaken him for someone else.
Since the gate wasn't far, he shoved his hands in his pockets and wandered over to have a look.
The moment he arrived, his gaze sharpened—Chen Xuan!
Everything clicked instantly.
Someone in the Qin family must be gravely ill, and Qin Ju's daughter had invited Chen Xuan, the "divine physician," for treatment.
But Qin Qiaoqiao clearly didn't want him involved.
Xu Mu knew this kind of story far too well.
Qin Qiaoqiao would mock Chen Xuan's medical skills, he'd cure the patient right in front of her, she'd feel guilty and indebted—and then inevitably become one more heroine in his harem.
"Get out! The Qin family doesn't welcome you!" Qin Qiaoqiao shouted, jabbing a finger at Chen Xuan's face.
Just then, an older woman walked out from the estate.
She looked a little over forty, with permed hair and a lean figure—gracefully aged, without much trace of time on her face.
Her posture, however, told Xu Mu at once that she was a martial artist as well.
"Qiaoqiao! What are you doing?" the woman called from afar.
"Auntie, I should be the one asking you that!" Qin Qiaoqiao snapped coldly. "Foreign and domestic experts couldn't help, and you went to some village healer to treat my father?"
"He's not just a healer—he's a divine doctor. Everyone within ten li knows his name," Qin Yanzi said as she approached.
"Within ten li?" Qiaoqiao scoffed. "Every doctor we hired before was world-renowned. You're not curing my father—you're trying to kill him!"
"Qin Qiaoqiao, watch your tongue! Your father is my own brother—I care about him no less than you!"
Qin Yanzi glared, then turned toward Chen Xuan. "Mr. Chen, please come with me."
"No way! As long as I'm here, no one goes in!" Qiaoqiao blocked the doorway.
"Miss Qin," Chen Xuan said, hoisting his fertilizer sack onto one shoulder, smiling faintly, "if you hadn't offered such a high price, I wouldn't have come down from the mountain. But let me make this clear—I don't do refunds."
Xu Mu stood off to the side, hands in pockets, watching the drama unfold.
From what the Divine Eye had revealed earlier, he already knew Chen Xuan's background.
An orphan raised in the mountains by a mysterious elder. Many powerful figures had visited that old man, and over time they'd taught Chen Xuan a variety of skills—making them all his half-masters in a sense.
After his benefactor's death, Chen Xuan had guarded the man's spirit tablet for three years. During that period, he treated several widows in the village and built a reputation.
Eventually, anyone within ten li with a difficult or strange illness came seeking him.
So Qin Yanzi had been the one to invite him out of seclusion.
While they argued, a black Hongqi Guoya sedan rolled up and stopped outside the gate.
From the rear seat stepped an elderly man in coarse linen robes.
He had a white beard and his once-wild hair was slicked neatly back.
"What's all this noise at the gate?" Qin Ju asked pleasantly as he approached.
"Grandpa!"
Qin Qiaoqiao ran forward and buried her face in his chest.
"Dad, you're back?" Qin Yanzi added.
"What happened here?" Qin Ju asked, smiling.
"I'll explain!"
Qiaoqiao quickly recounted the entire incident.
When she finished, Qin Ju turned toward the man carrying the fertilizer sack.
"You know medicine?" he asked.
"More or less," Chen Xuan replied lightly. "Every widow in my village—one diagnosis, one cure."
"Come in, then."
Qin Ju said this and began walking inside.
"Grandpa—"
"Your aunt means well," Qin Ju interrupted kindly. "Besides, it doesn't hurt to let him take a look."
He patted Qiaoqiao's head with a smile, then walked toward Xu Mu. "How long have you been here?"
"Just arrived," Xu Mu said with a small smile.
Only then did Qin Yanzi notice there was another unfamiliar face present.
"Come along, all of you," Qin Ju said cheerfully.
Xu Mu followed the group toward a villa farther inside the estate.
"Hey, buddy—you look kinda familiar," Chen Xuan said, eyeing him.
"I think we met on the plane," Xu Mu replied.
"Oh, right," Chen Xuan muttered, glancing away. For some reason, he found the man a bit irritating—too composed, too handsome, maybe too tall.
Under Qin Ju's lead, they entered a first-floor bedroom. A middle-aged man lay on the bed inside.
His face was pale, his body emaciated—nothing but skin and bones.
"To tell you the truth," Qin Ju said with a heavy sigh, "this is my son, Qin Wu. Our Qin family has always been upright, yet somehow we've been cursed. My two eldest sons died one after another, and this youngest one fell unconscious on a trip and became a vegetable."
Now Xu Mu finally understood why Qin Ju had called him here.
He'd once told the old man he knew some medicine—so clearly, Qin Ju wanted him to try healing his son, just like Chen Xuan.
"Which of you will take a look first?" Qin Ju asked, glancing between them.
Qin Yanzi and Qiaoqiao turned toward Xu Mu—so he was here to treat the patient as well.
"You go ahead," Xu Mu said to Chen Xuan. "Medicine isn't my strong suit. I only know a little."
"In that case, I'll gladly oblige."
Chen Xuan set down his sack, feeling a spark of pride.
That girl Qiaoqiao had dared look down on him—he'd show everyone here what true skill looked like.
He stepped forward, took Qin Wu's wrist, and began reading the pulse.
After a long while, he finally spoke. "This isn't an illness. It's an injury."
Qin Ju's eyes narrowed. "But his body shows no signs of trauma."
"Quack!" Qin Qiaoqiao snapped.
"It's an internal injury," Chen Xuan said calmly. "Something foreign is inside his body. This won't be easy to treat. To be honest, there aren't many people in the world who could cure him—I'm one of them."
Qin Ju's face lit with surprise. "Then how do we treat him?"
"It'll be troublesome," Chen Xuan said, folding his arms. "We'll need rare heavenly treasures—and of course, you'll have to provide them. Oh, and Qin Miss—your payment isn't enough. If you want me to treat him, you'll have to pay the proper price."
Qin Ju thought for a moment, then turned toward Xu Mu. "Why don't you have a look as well?"