The next day.
Early in the morning, Evan Lin and Warren Wu got up, quickly tidied themselves, and headed downstairs.
"We need to find the mule-driver over here, then take the donkey cart all the way to Fisherman’s Pier. There are quite a few Medicine King Valley spies along the way, Master Lin—better keep a low profile."
Warren Wu quietly reminded Evan Lin as they walked together.
Downstairs at the hotel entrance, they ran into Lucy Lu and her group again.
Lucy Lu saw Evan Lin and gave him a small wave as a greeting.
But she didn’t dare say much more to Evan or Warren, worried that Terence Liao and Harvey Liao would cause trouble again.
Queenie Tong looked worried and tired—she hadn’t slept well last night. She didn’t even glance at Evan or Warren, just hurried forward to catch up with Harvey Liao, respectfully asking, "Harvey, how much longer until we reach Medicine King Valley from here?"
"Two days at most. Today we’ll reach Fisherman’s Pier, and if nothing goes wrong, we’ll enter the Valley tomorrow," Harvey Liao replied coolly.
Terence Liao grinned at Queenie Tong, "Miss Tong, you don’t need to worry. With my uncle here, nothing will go wrong."
"Mm."
Queenie Tong nodded.
Beside them, Warren Wu kept his head down and sped up, trying to slip past Harvey Liao.
Deep down, Warren actually hoped Harvey would annoy Evan Nine Mysteries and get crippled by him, but even more than that, he worried that if Evan showed his hand too early in Medicine King Valley territory, things could get dangerous fast.
If the Valley’s masters all came out, both Evan and Warren might end up dead right here.
"Hey, Doctor Wu, what’s up? We’re old acquaintances, and you’re heading to Medicine King Valley too, right? We’re going the same way—so why are you in such a rush to run off?"
Harvey Liao shifted his gaze, stepped forward, and grabbed Warren Wu by the collar, lifting him up like a toy and eyeing him with amusement.
"I’m not running, I swear." Warren’s face turned awkward as he struggled twice but couldn’t break free. To bystanders, he looked like an old turtle caught by the shell.
Harvey dragged Warren forward, with Terence Liao beside him, occasionally kicking Warren’s backside as they walked.
"Pathetic," Queenie muttered. She didn’t like Evan or Warren much, especially Warren, who struck her as a total charlatan.
Lucy Lu glanced at Evan Lin, looking a bit helpless. To ease the tension, she came over and asked, "By the way, didn’t you say you have an old Chinese-medicine master for a teacher? The really skilled one—could you ask him to help take a look at Queenie’s sister’s illness?"
Lucy remembered what she hadn’t finished saying last night. Her intuition said the boy beside her wasn’t as simple as he looked, but if she had to pinpoint what was special, it was just that he seemed more pleasant to look at than most.
Hearing Lucy’s words, Queenie turned her head and gave Evan a cool glance. "No need. We’re not far from Medicine King Valley anyway. We’ll just ask their people for help when we get there."
As soon as Queenie finished, Harvey Liao turned and shot Evan a scornful look. "How good could a teacher of his possibly be? Medicine King Valley is packed with miracle doctors, and I’ve heard the Valley Master himself can bring the dead back to life. That’s real skill."
"Queenie’s choice is right. Plus, her sister’s a superstar—if some mountain-village doctor messes things up, it’ll be a disaster."
Lucy gave Evan an apologetic look after hearing Queenie and Harvey’s words.
She just wanted to smooth things over. Harvey clearly didn’t get along with Doctor Wu, and she worried Evan might get dragged into unnecessary drama.
But after weighing their words, Lucy still leaned toward trusting Medicine King Valley over Evan’s mysterious master. After all, the Valley was famous for its medical skills.
Evan’s gaze was calm as he nodded to Lucy. "My master’s always roaming the world. Ordinary people basically have zero chance of meeting him. If Medicine King Valley’s elders and the Valley Master were to kneel and welcome him, maybe they’d barely qualify to invite him out."
"As for any other idle riff-raff, don’t bother."
Idle riff-raff?
Those four words made Queenie Tong frown and shoot Evan a displeased look.
Up ahead, Terence Liao heard this and let out a cold laugh. "Kid, you’ve got a big mouth. You want the Valley Master and elders to kneel for your teacher? You must have a death wish."
"If we weren’t about to head off to Medicine King Valley, I’d teach you a lesson on behalf of the Valley’s brothers!"
Terence looked down on Evan and kept toying with Warren Wu like he was a plaything.
Evan stayed calm and emotionless, while Lucy Lu felt a faint worry deep down.
Soon the group reached the edge of town, where a large donkey cart waited. It looked big enough for more than ten people, and already had five or six passengers.
The donkey itself was massive, its muscles bulging—it looked unusually strong at a glance.
A white-clothed youth stood nearby, holding a bamboo basket and leaning against a tree. He glanced at the group and said flatly, "Seats are a hundred thousand each."
"A hundred thousand?!"
Even though Lucy had mentally prepared herself, she was still startled. Queenie, on the other hand, calmly took out a bank card she’d prepared in advance and handed it over.
The white-clothed youth pulled out a portable POS machine from somewhere, swiped the card, then frowned. "You’ve got six people, but only four hundred thousand on the card?"
"Those two aren’t with us."
Queenie glanced at Evan and Warren, her tone flat.
Terence Liao burst out laughing and looked back at Evan. "What’s wrong, kid? Pay up! Forget about your teacher—if you don’t have money, you won’t even find Medicine King Valley’s gate!"
"I’ve got it, I’ve got it!"
Seeing Terence ask Evan for money, Warren hurriedly pulled out his bank card.
Just as he was about to hand it to the mule-driver, Terence reached out and intercepted it mid-air.
Warren’s face changed.
Terence ignored him, turned to Evan, and raised his eyebrows. "This card’s mine now. If you want to go to Medicine King Valley, come up with your own cash. If you can’t, go back to wherever you came from!"