Bab 6: Quack Doctor

After they left the theatre house and were walking back to the carriage, as they passed by Doctor Lou's shop, Lei Xing stopped and looked at the entrance for a while.

{...Might as well, you never know...}

"Xiao Ting, you head to the carriage first...I'm just going to quickly check on something..." Lei Xing said and quickly walked away before Xiao Ting could protest, one of the guards followed her. Xiao Ting stood for a while and watched her sister leave and then continued on as she was instructed.

When they got to the shop, the guard stayed outside and Lei Xing went in. She was grateful to see there were no customers around and happily walked up to the old man sleeping at the reception desk and knocked on the desk.

"Oy, Doctor Lou I'm back."

The old man moaned, frowned and raised his forehead a bit, squinting at the intruder, when he saw who it was, he perked up with widened eyes and said, "Young miss, you came back...?"

{...Should I not have?...}

"Ah...yes, so..."

"So what kind of poison do you want? Who do you want to poison? Do you want fast-acting or slow poison? How much do you want them to suffer?"

Lei Xing inwardly rolled her eyes and flatly said, "...I don't want to kill anyone, I want to find out methods to test for poison..."

"Test for poison..." Doctor Lou repeated, seemingly disappointed in her purpose.

"So do you know any methods, I know of the silver testing method...but other than that one, do you know any?"

The old man looked at Lei Xing skeptically, "Why?"

"Why? Why what?" Lei Xing was confused by his question

"Why do you want to test poison?" Doctor Luo shrugged his shoulders and looked at her, waiting for her answer.

"To protect myself."

"From?"

"Poisoning."

"By whom?"

Lei Xing shrugged, "No one in particular."

Doctor Luo squinted his eyes and scrutinized her and she looked blankly back at him.

"Looking at you...you must be a daughter of a noble house...a minister?" Doctor Luo looked at her bright-eyed, feeling smug.

"Okay."

{...Can you just answer my inquiry and stop wasting my time? -_-)...}

"So...you must be entering the palace tomorrow, right?" He smirked and wiggled his eyebrows at Lei Xing.

Lei Xing's lips twitched, she was fed up with his games, "Can you help me or not?"

"Ahh, so that's why you want to test for poisons...for one so young, you sure think far..." He said, folding his arms and nodding his head solemnly.

"Okay...so do you have any method?" Lei Xing asked again, she was already fed up and was ready to turn and leave but she held out on the possibility that he had a solution.

{...You never know...he may be the weird, wise old man that always seem to exist in the novels...}

"I have...but..." Doctor Luo slowly moved his head from left to right, then repeated it again and continued. Lei Xing looked at him, getting more irritated.

{...What's up with the suspense? Do you have it or not?!...}

"How much do you want?" Lei Xing asked, looking at him skeptically, ready to bargain for his information.

Doctor Lou stopped moving his head, looked at her and scratched his head, "How much...? Hmm...I haven't thought of a price...hmmm, a price?" Doctor Lou finished and resumed moving his head, this time tapping a finger on his chin.

{...*sigh* Is he messing with me? -_-)...}

Doctor Lou suddenly stopped moving, then creased his eyebrows and seriously looked at Lei Xing's face, she was taken aback and slightly moved her shoulders back and stared back at the old man skeptically ...then he burst out laughing. Lei Xing frowned.

{...He's definitely a crazy quack...I should leave before I lose my mind too...}

As Lei Xing was finally about to turn and leave, Doctor Lou regained his composure and said, "I have a device that can detect poison and alert you, without even touching the poison too, as long it nears poison, it will react, isn't it the perfect item for you?" He asked with a smirk.

Lei Xing raised an eyebrow and looked at him disbelieving, Doctor Lou noticed her disbelief and made a shocked expression, as if she was the abnormal one here as he asked, "You don't believe me?!"

{...Who would? Do I look like an idiot? -_-)'...even in modern times it'd still have to somehow make contact with the poison to react, there's nothing like that and there doesn't seem to be magic in this world either...but even if there was magic I don't think I've heard of a poison seeking device that works without even touching it, isn't he just delusional?...but then again...who knows, the world...worlds...universe is large and mysterious, so I guess it could be possible...maybe?...}

"Hmph! If you don't believe me then I'm not talking to you anymore." Doctor Luo dismissively said, turning his head away from her.

"It's not that I don't believe you...but you have to show proof for something like this..." Lei Xing explained in a coaxing tone.

"Hmm, I guess that is somewhat reasonable..." Doctor Lou murmured...

"..."

{...-_-)'...}

Doctor Lou reached into a drawer and then pulled out a ring, with a sky blue jewel attached, and held it towards Lei Xing. Lei Xing looked at it, then at his expectant face...

{...Um, a topaz, I think?...}

After a while of prolonged silence, Lei Xing's eyes roamed around and then went back at Doctor Lou holding the ring and said, "Um, it looks good..."

"Just good? This is a masterpiece! It took thousands of years to create it!" Doctor Lou roared, he was offended that Lei Xing did not understand the magnificence of his precious creation, he withdrew his hand and pet the ring, as if it got hurt by her words and needed comfort.

{...Okay, crazy confirmed, next thing he'll start going "my precious"...}

Lei Xing was confused by his outburst and was irritated at the course of events and flatly said, "...O-kay...?" Doctor Lou shot darts at her with his eyes and then turned away.

"So about the poison, can you show me the item?" Lei Xing asked, trying to steer the conversation back to the main issue at hand.

Doctor Lou glared at her and mimicked her flat tone, "I just did, but you being blind could not see..."

Lei Xing raised an eyebrow then scrutinized doctor Lou and the ring in his hands, "Ah I see...not everyone has an extraordinary sight like you." Lei Xing said with a sarcastic tone.

"That is true." Doctor Lou said, nodding his head proudly, he obviously missed her sarcasm and continued to "enlighten" her, "This jewel has been soaked in the essence of all the poisons in this world, so it can detect the aura of any poison as it gets close enough to it."

{...All poisons? What sort of dumb ad campaign is this? Even a small child wouldn't believe it...}

"All poisons? How is that possible?" Lei Xing

"The stone has been exposed to and consumed the essence of all the poisons in the world..." Doctor Lou continued to explain.

"Do you know all the poisons in the world? Have you been everywhere in the world? Even if you want to say it is powerful, at least remain within the realms of reason...and say all known poisons or something like that...making such a grand claim is absurd."

Doctor Lou frowned at the interruption, and his lips twitched, "Fine, say whatever you want, at the very least, I assure you that this is more reliable than some stupid silver."

{...If this quack's ring really works, then that would definitely be much better than using silver...it's not like I could stick a silver pin or needle into everything I eat...especially in a public setting, honestly, I would seem like such a paranoid weirdo doing that...}

"...If it doesn't work, you can have my head..." Doctor Lou continued.

{...Won't it be too late to collect your head when I'm dead? -_-)'...}

"Okay, it would definitely be more reliable if it works...so show me proof of its magnificence."

Doctor Lou nodded and got up and went to the cabinets behind him and returned with some herbs, put them on the table, then went to the back of the shop and retrieved some roots, then went again for some seeds.

After several trips, he had laid down all sorts of plants, roots, bark, dried plants, seeds, little bottles, and some other stuff on the table.

Lei Xing guessed that they were probably poisonous items, she could recognize some of them such as apple seeds, the morning glory petals, and the lily of the valley flowers.

She had some passion for photography and always appreciated nature's beauty, and those two flowers had caught her eye, and she had come across the info of them being toxic.

After he was done, he walked over to Lei Xing and stretched out his hand holding the ring, "Here, wear it."

Lei Xing took the ring and slid it onto the middle finger of her right hand, then looked back at Doctor Lou, who was looking at her hand wearing the ring with a satisfactory smile.

Lei Xing looked at him warily, doctor Lou looked up and saw her looking at him and blinked then laughed, "hahaha...just reach for any of the items on the table and watch the ring."

Lei Xing set aside her reservations about the weird doctor and did as he instructed. As she reached for one of the items, the light blue color of the jewel changed to a deep blue, her eyes widened, and she withdrew her hand and it went back to the sky blue color.

She scrutinized the ring and reached forward again towards another item and saw the color change to a greenish-blue color, she retrieved her hand again.

She did this several times towards different items on the table, and the jewel showed different ranges of blue for the different items.

Her hand stopped on one of the bottles, which contained some sort of tiny crystals, the jewel had turned completely black.

{...Is that? This is perfect! it can even detect physical objects...I remember watching a drama where someone drank something with crushed diamonds or some jewel in it and it shredded his stomach...he died a slow painful agonizing death...}

"Is this really real?" Lei Xing said to herself, in disbelief of her luck in stumbling on this. She walked away from the table and headed to the shelf on the side with drawers of other plants and products. She opened them one by one and hovered the ring over the items in it to confirm the ring's legitimacy and it did not react to anything...

"Those are not poisonous...of course, I'm not stupid enough to place poisonous substances in the open for customers to access."

Lei Xing, still in awe, looked at the ring on her hand again, wondering how this could possibly work.

{...It doesn't make sense, how could this possibly exist?...but then again, here I am, a transmigrated soul...if I told people, they would probably say I didn't make any sense either, that it was impossible and call me crazy...}

"The more toxic the substance, the darker the color of the jewel, the lighter it is, the less toxic...it won't kill you...with this, your safety in the palace is assured...well, at least from poisons, hidden daggers still exist." Doctor Lou explained and finished his last sentence with a laugh.

"How much for it?" Lei Xing asked, still examining the ring, she really could not wrap her mind around how it works.

"How much? I haven't thought of a price." Doctor Lou said with a yawn. Lei Xing looked at him closely, trying to figure out his game.

"Sell it to me. Give a price." Lei Xing said firmly.

"Hmm...it can be considered a family heirloom, a generational masterpiece...I really can't put a price on thousands of years of work..." Doctor Lou said shrugging his shoulders, and went back to sit on his chair behind the reception.

Lei Xing was at a loss.

{...If you're not going to give a price... how can I buy it?...}

"What do you want for it?" Lei Xing asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"What do I want?...hmm? I don't really want anything in particular." Doctor Lou said and started moving his head from left to right again.

{...This old man...he must be really bored -_-)...}

Lei Xing quietly watched him, thinking about how to persuade him to sell it. After a while, Doctor Lou suddenly stopped his head movement, beamed a smile at her and said, "How about I just give it to you?"

{...HUH?! for free? O_O)...}

Doctor Lou looked at Lei Xing's furrowed eyebrows and said "...yes, you can have it...anyway, I have no use for it...what is the point of enshrining it? It should be put to use to be called valuable."

Lei Xing was skeptical, "You just said it was a family heirloom, a generational masterpiece...and you're given it to me for free?"

{...There's nothing like free handouts in the world, there is always a tradeoff somewhere...especially for something so valuable...}

"I said it can be considered one, not that it is..."

Lei Xing narrowed her eyes at him.

{...What's the difference? -_-)'...}

"...I have no use for it, no one tries to poison me, and then again my skills are so good that I can tell poison from its look and smell so..."

"Oh, good for you." Lei Xing said flatly and then continued, "...okay, you have no use for it, but why not sell it and make some profit? It makes no sense, why not make a profit of it if you're going to give it away?"

"Is money that valuable to you?"

Lei Xing was taken aback by his question. She had often been asked this question in her past life, as she was the perfect definition of a workaholic, not that she particularly liked any of her jobs during school.

But as long as there was money to be made, she was there to work. She often got lectured on how there were much more important things in life...hearing him ask this, gave her flashbacks to her past.

{...I had managed to accumulate a small fortune by graduation, 25 and free, I was ready for my future to take off...having money gave me security and the control I needed to live my life however I wanted...money is reliable, you either have it or not, you don't have to second guess anything with it, it's easier to handle than people, as long as I worked hard there would always be a payoff...

...My money! I feel aggrieved thinking about it now T_T)...oh well, at least I didn't end up begging on some street somewhere... that would have truly been a situation to grieve, and as long as I play my cards right here, I can guarantee a successful long life of comfort here...}

Lei Xing snapped back to the present and found doctor Lou looking at her weirdly.

She nervously smiled, somewhat embarrassed she had spaced out for a bit, she seemed to do that a lot these days...but who could blame her, it's not every day someone dies and finds themselves alive again in a strange place.

"I can't take it for free..." Lei Xing said regaining her composure, she had always felt uncomfortable receiving things from people, even from her parents...she never asked for anything from them and always just did things for herself. If she wanted something, she went out to work and got it herself.

She hated owing people, so whenever someone gave her something, she always felt a need to reciprocate and had to give something of equal, if not more, value. It felt like an obligation to her.

"Hmm..." Doctor Lou scratched his head for a while, "how about this? since you're entering the palace... and going to the top, don't forget this doctor..." He said with a laugh.

"You want to work in the palace?"

"No, not necessarily...hahaha I'm too lazy too...just occasionally using my skills and getting some recognition should be okay."

Lei Xing raised an eyebrow at him, considering his words, "What if I don't make it to the top...?"

{...All bases must be covered to ensure reasonable expectations are set for a beneficial contract...}

"...Hmm, what happens then?... Anyway, you wouldn't really have a use for it if you're not in the palace, right?...So you can return it then, or we can discuss a price then if you want."

Lei Xing was still skeptical about this deal, for something like this, some would kill for it. He could get a fortune for it, yet he was virtually giving it away for free and only asking for some recognition in return...this seemed too good to be true.

{...And when something seems too good to be true, it usually is...}

Doctor Lou looked at her and said, "Fine, if you don't want it...you can just leave it...I don't want anything and I've told you what I need from your end...if you don't want it, give it back."

He stretched out his open palm towards her, asking for the ring back. Lei Xing put her hand behind her.

"I didn't say I didn't want it." Lei Xing said smiling.

{...Even though this feels sketchy, I don't really have a choice here...I don't lose anything by taking it, and with its value, I really can't turn my back on this deal simply because I feel uncomfortable with the exchange...}

"You're sure you don't want anything more for it...?" Lei Xing asked, looking at doctor Lou with searching eyes.

Doctor Lou looked at her and seemed to be searching for something too, but did not respond.

"Okay, I'll take it...if you change your mind and have a price or something you want...as long as it's within my capabilities and within reason, you can let me know, and I will do my best to fulfill it, or I will return the ring to you...Thank you." Lei Xing finished and bowed in gratitude.

"Okay, Okay...that sounds reasonable too..." Doctor Lou said nodding his head.

"Okay, it's a deal then...I will be taking my leave now, take care." Lei Xing said and turned to walk away.

"Good luck in your endeavors!" Doctor Lou said in an excited voice...

Lei Xing turned back to him, "Goodluck in your endeavors too..." she said in a flat, slightly sarcastic voice, smiled and left the store.

"...Always so cheeky..." Doctor Lou whispered and pushed the items on the table aside to create some room on the table, and used his arms as a pillow and went back to sleep.

Lei Xing walked back to the carriage with a renewed sense of hope for the future, although she was still suspicious, she had stumbled onto a gem, literally.