White Snake: 1-2 Troubles Lie Ahead

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Suzhen stumbles across Xu Xian, who's applying the medical skills he secretly learned yesterday to heal the plague patients. She is about to approach him when she hears some gossip. Xu Xian invites the two sisters to attend to a mysterious old lady.

Info

Style: Event Logs: Betting, Tongue-ripping Hell Recommended: Fated Reincarnation Perfect Score: ~319 Rewards: 3,000 , 600 , 3 , 1 , 1 , Golden Dewdrops, Blueprint: Gardenia Glory

Gardenia Glory

Dialogue Choices

Xiaoqing's fists are trembling. She's about to lose her temper.

• Yield to Xiaoqing
  • Xiaoqing's Goodwill will rise
  • Unlocks event log "Tongue-ripping Hell"
• Stop Xiaoqing
  • No change

Transcript

Expand for script.

• I'm at the Bai Apothecary the next day by dawn, staring eagerly out the door at the morning market.

• Xiaoqing: I don't know what's gotten into you. It's too early...

• You: We didn't have any patients yesterday, so I think we should try harder today.

• Xiaoqing: At this hour, the gamblers who were betting all night are being taken home by their families.

• Xiaoqing: As for the peddlers, porters, flower and vegetable vendors, and breakfast stall owners, they do come out early, but...

• Xiaoqing: ...they're busy as bees, working hard to make a living for their families.

• Xiaoqing: They'll endure any pain or illness until the market closes, before they consider seeking medical advice.

• You: But there are many in this neighborhood...

• Xiaoqing: Most of them are still sleeping.

• Xiaoqing: So who'd come to an apothecary at this hour?

• You: You have a point...

• You: Since we're here anyway, why not play a game of chess? So our time doesn't go to waste. I'll beat you this time!

• Xiaoqing: Okay, but I won't go easy on you.

• Xiaoqing and I set up the chess board, and time slips away between the chariots, horses, cannons, and pawns.
• It's late morning when we finally finish the game.
• I feel guilty for getting lost in the game as I put away the board, straighten my dress, and get ready to receive patients.

• Xiaoqing: Something's not right. We were playing all morning, but not even a sparrow disturbed us, let alone a patient.

• Xiaoqing: Let me take a look outside.

• I feel a little uneasy when I think back on the strangeness of the last two days.

• You: (Am I a bad physician? Has my reputation in the neighborhood soured?)

• I remember checking the medical merit record book last night.

• You: (No, that can't be true. I remember every patient I've cured.)

• You: (I've treated at least three or four hundred patients.)

• You: (Maybe I'm not a great physician, but I'm at least good enough to teach Xu Xian, and he's from a medical family...)

• Xiaojing rushes in and pulls me to my feet before I can get further lost in my thoughts.

• Xiaoqing: Quick! Come with me to the Xu Apothecary!

• You: Why do you suddenly want to--

• Xiaoqing: That ignorant Xu Xian is using the medicine you taught him to treat patients!

• Xiaoqing: I could let it go if he was just stealing your medicine, but I saw many of our regulars at his apothecary.

• You: But based on how Xu Xian behaved yesterday, it doesn't seem like--

• Without waiting for me to finish, Xiaoqing pushes me to the other side of the screen so that I can change.

• Xiaoqing: If you don't believe me, put on a light dress and come see what's going on.

• Xiaoqing: If you're worried you've misunderstood Xu Xian and our reputation will be spoiled in the neighborhood, we can get to the bottom of things by asking the patients ourselves.

• I hesitate for a moment, then nod.

• I get ready and head out with Xiaoqing, my heart heavy with doubt.

• We arrive at the Xu Apothecary and it's crowded with people inside and out, a different scene than from days past.
• The patients waiting to be seen are chattering noisily about the Xu Apothecary.
• I slow down and gently take Xiaoqing's hand to stop her and get her to listen with me.

• Courier: You were making such a fuss the other day, and now you're back for a consultation?

• Courier: I even heard you say that if the Xu family continued to let Xu Xian run the apothecary...

• Courier: ...he would probably have destroy the business and disgrace the family name.

• Courier: And now you seek treatment from that bungling scamp?

• Old Man: The past is in the past. I knew what he was like before, but I didn't expect him to make such incredible progress.

• Courier: What was he like before?

• Old Man: There's something you don't know. When Xu Xian was just a child, I often saw him play on this street.

• Old Man: He hated studying classics and wasn't any good with medical texts, either.

• Old Man: Every time he took an exam, his father would sigh all day...

• Xiaoqing leans down to whisper.

• Xiaoqing: This old man seems to know the Xu family and their apothecary well, Suzhen.

• Xiaoqing: Why don't we talk to him and find out what he has to say?

• I nod and try to remember what Xiaoqing taught me about striking up a conversation.

• You: Excuse me, sir, but you seem to know the Xu Apothecary well.

• You: I'm not feeling well, and I'm new to your lovely neighborhood, so I'm not sure which apothecary is most trustworthy.

• You: But I just heard you say that this Xu Xian is no good, and that has me worried...

• Old Man: There's no need to worry.

• Old Man: Xu Xian has recently made much progress and is kind and thoughtful. He's practically a different person.

• Old Man: I came to thank him for curing my wife's chronic shoulder and back pain with acupuncture.

• You: (Shoulder and back pain? Isn't this what Xu Xian asked about when he came for advice a few days ago?)

• I wonder how to inquire further, but Xiaoqing laughs bitterly.

• Xiaoqing: What he did for your wife, was it something like this?

• Xiaoqing uses her wrists to massage my shoulder and back, and then taps my body with her fingertips to demonstrate acupuncture for the old man.

• Old Man: Yes, it was just like that. How do you--

• Without giving me time to answer, Xiaoqing takes my hand and we squeeze through the bustling crowd like two boats rowing against the current.

• Xiaoqing: Let's go!

• Xiaoqing: Let's confront that smarmy fraud!

• In the blink of an eye, we've made it to the front of the line. Xu Xian is prescribing medicine to a patient.

• Xu Xian: Half an ounce of poria cocos, one ounce of licorice, and for angelica... Oh, no, scratch the angelica!

• Xu Xian: Five qian per dose. Boil it in one and a half cups of water. When it's done, remove the herbs and drink it while it's hot. The herbs can be used again. Combine the boiled herbs of two doses and boil it again. Remember to drink it on an empty stomach.

• Xiaoqing: I told you his visiting and groveling at our apothecary every day wasn't motivated by good intentions.

• Xiaoqing: Well, shall we expose him now?

• The patient who requested the prescription for the plague thanks Xu Xian several times before leaving. A young woman comes forward with a sick child.

• You: There are too many patients. And some of them may need prompt treatment.

• You: We should wait until these patients are treated, and then we can have words with him.

• Xiaoqing: You are such a softie. This room is filled with patients. How many familiar faces do you see?

• I run my eyes over the crowded room. As Xiaoqing said, about half of the people in this room were regulars at our apothecary.
• But thanks to my physician's instinct, I notice something more important...

• You: Have you noticed the patients have mostly similar symptoms, Xiaoqing?

• Xiaoqing: About eighty percent of them have flushed faces and persistent coughs. These are symptoms of the plague.

• You: And these are just the patients who are willing to visit a physician. Think about all those who are unwilling or can't afford it...

• Patients with the plague came to our apothecary from time to time over the past two weeks.
• I didn't expect the plague to spread so much in just a few days.
• I can hear Xu Xian asking the sick child's mother some questions. It seems that the rapid spread of the plague hasn't escaped his notice either.

• Xu Xian: Has your child been to a tea house in the last few days? Or played outside the city?

• Woman: I took him outside the city to see the peach blossoms.

• Xu Xian: Did you meet anyone coming to Hangzhou on the way?

• Woman: We met an out-of-towner that day. He gave my child a rattle drum to play with.

• Xu Xian ponders for a moment, and then writes down a prescription and hands it to the woman.

• Xu Xian: He can only drink hot water and eat cooked food for several days. Don't let him drink well water directly. And prepare separate tableware for him at mealtimes.

• Xu Xian: Also, don't let him visit others. Got it?

• The woman offers her thanks, politely takes the prescription, and squeezes out past the crowd. Several more patients immediately rush forward.
• Some patients have grown impatient waiting in line.

• Patient A: The Xu Apothecary is so busy. Why don't they hire an apprentice?

• Patient B: If you don't want to wait in line, the Bai Apothecary next door doesn't have any patients. But it seems you don't want to go there?

• Patient A: Ha,ha. Very funny. I wouldn't dare set foot in that apothecary no matter how sick I was.

• Their conversation hints at something left unsaid, and I want to find out what it is.

• You: I'm also growing tired of the wait in this apothecary. I think I'll go to the Bai Apothecary. Let's go.

• Patient B: Take my advice. Don't go there.

• You: Are the physicians really so terrible? Do their patients die from being treated incorrectly?

• Patient A: It would be better if it was just that. That place is inhabited by an evil demon!

• You: (When and how did we expose our identity?

• I'm shocked and I try to remember when we could have let anything slip in the past few months.
• But I pretend to be calm and continue to probe.

• You: What? I didn't know that. What kind of demon?

• Patient B: The apothecary is just a facade!

• Patient B: The demon disguises herself as a physician during the day and sucks the souls of her patients.

• Patient B: At night, she reverts to her true form and returns to the forest to cast wicked spells.

• You: You speak with such certainty! Do you mean you've seen this with your own eyes?

• Patient A: If I had, do you really think I'd be alive to tell the tale?

• You: Has she killed anyone?

• Patient A: Not that I've heard. But this demon excels at seducing men.

• Patient A: When she meets a young, handsome man, she becomes attentive and considerate.

• Patient A: Who knows if she's killing people or taking their souls to cultivate her Tao magic.

• I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Is it wrong for physicians to be attentive to their patients? Besides, I treat all my patients equally.
• Xiaoqing's face is turning red. She must want to find the gossipmonger responsible and teach them a lesson.

• You: (They're jumping to conclusions based on hearsay. How deplorable!)

• You: (But the room is full of people. If something happens, it won't end well.)

• You: (Yet if these rumors spread further, it will be even more difficult for us to practice medicine here.)

• Patient A: I heard the demon calling itself Bai Suzhen is very charming. No wonder men die at her hands...

• Xiaoqing's fists are trembling. She's about to lose her temper.

Yield to Xiaoqing

• Xiaoqing: You scoundrels deserve to go to Tongue-ripping Hell! How dare you call the Bai Apothecary physician a demon! You're worse than demons yourselves!

• Patient A: Why do you speak so rudely, young lady? What does the Bai Apothecary have to do with you?

• Xiaojing: You slandered others based on nothing but a ridiculous rumor. You do not deserve politeness.

• As the argument gets louder, patients turn their heads in our direction, including a tall monk supporting an old lady.

• I pull Xiaoqing by her cuff, willing her to restrain herself, but someone is already screaming.

Stop Xioqing

• I mutter a few words to the furious Xiaoqing and pull her through the crowd with my head down.
• I bump into a tall monk as we cross the threshold.

• You: I'm sorry, could you please make way--

• The monk is supporting the old lady beside him. He nods with a smile and steps aside.
• Before we can make it outside, however, someone grabs me by the cuff.

• Patient D: Demon! Demon! The demon from the Bai Apothecary!

• In a flash, the patients scatter and the room is almost empty.
• Of the patients, only the monk and the old lady remain...
• Xiaoqing, Xu Xian, and I are the only other people in the room.

• Xu Xian: I was so busy I didn't notice you two. When did you arrive?

• Xiaoqing: Just in time to hear you prescribe the medicine you learned from us yesterday. You have an awfully good memory.

• Xiaoqing: When are you going to pay your tuition fee?

• Xu Xian: I'm afraid I made myself look like a fool with my efforts to treat patients, Miss Xiaoqing.

• Xu Xian looks embarrassed. When he sees the old lady coughing, he quickly invites her to sit down.

• Xu Xian: Miss Suzhen, you are far more skilled as a physician than I. Since you're here, perhaps you could treat this patient.

• Xu Xian: Please take a seat.

• I hesitate when I think of how people derided the Bai Apothecary, and how they ran from us. If this woman were to reject me as well...
• I size up the old lady apprehensively. She looks ill, but I sense a gentle friendliness in her.

• Old Lady: My body has long been weak, and I caught a cold on the street the other day. It seems like it's getting worse.

• Old Lady: There's no need to be polite, miss. If you think my days are numbered, just say so.

• You: No, please, you misunderstand! I think you will live a long and happy life!

• I sit down and examine the old lady.
• The monk who supported her stands to one side in silence.

• You: What should I call you, ma'am?

• Old Lady: Just call me Qing Lan.

• You: Your accent isn't from Hangzhou, right?

• Qing Lan: I've recently come back after living as a wanderer for a long time.

• Qing Lan: But if not for this kind venerable monk, I would have succumbed on the journey.

• ???: Please don't say that. We walked the same path, so I offered to help her here.

• You: Where did you come from? You look fatigued. It must have been a long and difficult journey.

• Qing Lan: Have you heard of Mount Emei? It's a sacred mountain in Bashu.

• You: I've never heard of it.

• ???: It is where I took my vows. When I was coming down the mountain, I met this lady.

• Qing Lan: I had become gravely ill and I troubled this venerable monk to help me find a physician.

• I look the monk up and down. He has a handsome brow and starry eyes, and looks dignified and righteous.

• You: (He must be a chivalrous man...)

• I chat with the woman a while longer before writing her a prescription and explaining which foods she should avoid.
• The monk waits quietly, his smile never waning.
• But I feel that when he looks at me and Xiaoqing, there are hidden emotions surging behind those calm eyes...
• Avoiding Xiaoqing's gaze, Xu Xian invites the monk to sit down and asks him some questions.

• Xu Xian: Has someone sent you here, Venerable Monk? To perform a religious rite, perhaps?

• ???: It's more of a favor.

• Xu Xian: Did a noble family invite you for a wedding or funeral ceremony?

• The monk brushes off his questions. Xu Xian tries to ask more, but Xiaoqing starts to get annoyed.

• Xiaoqing: What does it matter what he's doing in town?

• Xiaoqing: If you have time for idle chit-chat, you have time to read medical texts. Then you wouldn't have to steal other people's medical recipes.

• Xu Xian: Sorry, I shouldn't have made so much noise and disturbed Miss Suzhen's work.

• Xu Xian: I just thought it might be helpful to make conversation and liven up the atmosphere.

• Xiaoqing: Are you blaming us for driving away your customers?

• Xiaoqing: They say we're demons who prey on young scholars. Are you not afraid?

• Xu Xian: Those people are talking nonsense.

• Xiaoqing: How do you know they're talking nonsense?

• Xiaoqing: Maybe we'll turn into demons tonight and swallow you whole, you thief!

• I worry that Xiaoqing will say more awful things, so I hurriedly prescribe Qing Lan the medicine and say goodbye to Xu Xian. I pull Xiaoqing along with me.