Am I a Kamen Rider or the real young master who was switched at birth?

Ye Yang and his two companions followed Zhou Dafu along the main road of the town.

Zhou Dafu walked at the front, turning sideways as he introduced the town to the three of them, occasionally pointing to a building by the roadside, and saying with a hint of pride:

"That's the town's primary school. Even though our town is remote, there are a lot of children. Every morning, the streets are full of little kids with their schoolbags."

"That red brick building over there is a clinic, but since Dr. Song came, the clinic has basically only been responsible for administering vaccines. Everyone goes directly to Dr. Song if they have a headache or fever."

He then pointed to a huge old locust tree by the roadside, "That's the feng shui tree in our town. It's said to be over two hundred years old. My great-great-grandfather used to play under that tree when he was a child."

Long Aotian followed behind him, tilting his head slightly to listen, but his eyes kept glancing casually at both sides of the street.

Most of the houses in Hessen are old-fashioned wooden structures, quite old, but well-maintained.

A few pedestrians occasionally walked by, and they would glance at the three unfamiliar faces, but their eyes were mostly filled with curiosity.

An elderly woman selling vegetables squatted by the roadside, with several bunches of dark purple wild vegetables in front of her that she didn't know the names of. When she saw them coming, she looked up and called out something in her local accent.

Ye Yang smiled and waved at her, and the aunt grinned, revealing a gold tooth.

Just then, Long Aotian paused slightly.

His gaze lingered on a two-story villa by the roadside.

There was a blue and white police motorcycle parked there, and two uniformed police officers were standing at the door. One of them was taking notes in a notebook, and the other was bending over and talking to a middle-aged woman.

The woman was probably in her forties. She was wearing a faded floral dress, her hair was tied haphazardly at the back of her head, and a few stray hairs were stuck to her cheeks by tears.

Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, and she gripped the policeman's sleeve tightly with both hands, saying in a broken voice, "He never does this—he always comes home at night—"

Long Aotian subconsciously slowed his pace, his brow furrowing slightly. He then turned to Zhou Dafu: "Mayor Zhou—what happened to that family?"

Zhou Dafu followed his gaze and recognized the Western-style building. His smile faded slightly, and he sighed softly.

He didn't answer immediately, but took a few steps forward and waited until he was a distance away from the building before speaking.

"Last night, her child suddenly disappeared. The child is nineteen years old, named Chen Bing, and he's known as a notorious troublemaker around here."

"He drank, smoked, fought, and harassed women—he did it all. People in town avoided him. He had a modified motorcycle that he rode around town all day, revving the engine, and he wouldn't stop until the middle of the night."

"Unfortunately, his mother spoils him a lot. You heard it too, she still refuses to believe that anything could have happened to her son."

Zhou Dafu shook his head, a hint of helplessness in his voice, and said, "He probably rode off somewhere on that motorcycle last night. The Black Forest is so big; if he really rode in there, it'll be a real hassle to find him. The police have already sent people to search; let's see if we get any news today."

Long Aotian watched the woman being helped into the house by the police, remained silent for a few seconds, then looked away without asking any more questions.

As Ye Yang walked beside Long Aotian, the word "missing" automatically brought to mind the photo taken at the town entrance.

He subconsciously reached into his pocket and touched the edge of the photo.

"Mayor Zhou, I just saw a woman sitting under a big tree at the town entrance, staring blankly in the direction of the Black Forest. She seemed a bit unwell. Is she a resident of the town?"

Chow Tai Fook, who was walking at the front, noticeably slowed down.

He lowered his head, sighed again, and even his shoulders slumped a little: "Ah—that girl, she's a pitiful person."

He raised his hand and rubbed his temples with his rough fingers. "It seems she has some kind of mental illness. Sigh—it's an old problem. I heard she suffered some kind of trauma in the past, and her mind isn't very clear anymore."

"However, she can maintain her health with medication. When she is lucid, she is just like a normal person and even helps her neighbors with needlework. She also has a very good husband. He is a strong and kind young man who is always willing to help anyone in the town. Everyone in the town likes him."

Zhou Dafu paused here, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, "Unfortunately—a few days ago, he went missing while entering the Black Forest, and we couldn't find him anywhere. The town government organized a search and rescue team to search the entire forest, but they didn't find even a trace of him."

"The old folks in town all say that there are some places in the Black Forest that you can't get out once you go in, so they told us not to look any deeper. After the girl's man went missing, she just sat under that big tree, staring blankly at the forest. Sometimes she wouldn't go back even when it got dark, and her neighbor had to come and get her."

Ye Yang nodded.

"She had been missing for several days, and the search and rescue team found no trace of her. She sat under a tree every day looking at the forest."

He silently processed this information in his mind, saying nothing on the surface, before casually continuing to ask, "In which area did her husband go missing?"

"It's near that old forest in the northwest of the town." Zhou Dafu raised his finger and pointed to a dark mass of tree shadows in the distance.

"That forest is very dense, and the ground is full of swamps and mud, so locals don't go there much. The police station has also put up warning signs, so I guess the young man went too far and accidentally got stuck in the mud."

Ye Yang nodded and didn't ask any more questions, but he glanced a few more times at the black forest in the northwest.

After walking for about five or six minutes, Chow Tai Fook stopped in front of a wooden door.

Above the door hangs a clean wooden plaque with the four characters "Song Family Medical Clinic" written on it.

The four large characters are written in a neat and orderly style, which contrasts sharply with the crooked "Buwen Medical Hall" sign at the entrance of Qin Buwen's clinic.

Several ivy plants climbed the walls on both sides of the gate, their lush green leaves neatly trimmed.

A straight osmanthus tree stands by the entrance, with a rattan rocking chair and a small tea table placed beneath it.

On the coffee table sat a purple clay teapot, several teacups, and an ashtray, but it was spotless, without a single cigarette butt.

Through the half-open wooden door, you can see that the courtyard is paved with bluestone slabs, and the gaps between the slabs are clean and free of weeds.

"We're here," Zhou Dafu said with a smile. "This is Dr. Song's clinic. Look at this courtyard. Dr. Song is a very particular person; his courtyard is the cleanest in the whole town."

Long Aotian stood at the door and surveyed his surroundings.

He recalled his master's courtyard, which was piled high with medicinal herbs, covered in moss, and had a crooked plaque with characters that were almost illegible. His lips twitched slightly: "I live much cleaner than my master."

Zhou Dafu didn't hear Long Aotian's mutterings. He walked to the door and knocked three times.

Then he cupped his hands to his mouth and called out into the room in a familiar tone, as if greeting an old friend: "Old Song! It's me, Old Zhou! Someone's here to see you for a medical checkup. Three young men! They came in an SUV! Open the door and let them in!"

The courtyard was quiet for a moment, then a series of footsteps could be heard.

A few coughs were mixed in with the footsteps; the coughs sounded very soft, as if someone was trying to suppress something.

The wooden door was pulled open from the inside.

Standing at the door was a man who looked several years older than Qin Buwen.

He was wearing a dark gray long gown, his back was slightly hunched, and his shoulders were pulled inward, making him look thinner than he actually was.

His hair was completely white and extremely thin, with his scalp clearly visible. His face was covered with deep wrinkles, and he looked as if something had drained a lot of vitality from his body.

A gentle smile played on his lips as he nodded to Chow Tai Fook.

"Old Song! These three young people said they came to see you for a medical consultation, so I brought them over. Look—they specifically came to see you. I ran into them at the town entrance, and as soon as they heard they were looking for Dr. Song, they asked me to show them the way. I figured you haven't been out much these past few days, so I brought you some business."

Chow Tai Fook rubbed his hands together with a smile, his tone tinged with pride.

Song Zhiming clasped his hands in a fist and bowed slightly to Zhou Dafu, saying sincerely, "Then thank you very much, Mayor Zhou, for your patronage of my business. There have indeed been fewer visitors these past few days due to the bad weather; everyone has been staying at home."

Zhou Dafu waved his hand, then took two steps back: "What are you thanking me for? You're a miracle doctor! We're the ones who have received your help. You cured my chronic back pain last year, otherwise I wouldn't even be able to walk now."

"Okay, I've brought the person to you. I still have things to do at the town office. We need to coordinate the data regarding the search for Chen Bing. I'll head back now."

"If you three young people need accommodation, there's an inn in town, in the alley behind the clinic. Just mention my name."

After saying that, he turned around and walked back the way he came with small, quick steps, soon disappearing around the street corner.

After watching Zhou Dafu leave, Song Zhiming turned around, smiled at the three of them, and gestured for them to come in.

"Please come in—it's not convenient to talk standing at the door. My place may be simple, but it has all the necessary medicinal herbs. You've come from out of town? You must be tired from your journey."

After he finished speaking, he turned around and walked into the courtyard first.

Ye Yang was the first to step across the threshold.

His gaze hadn't left Song Zhiming since the moment the door opened.

He noticed that when Song Zhiming clasped his hands together, all ten of his fingernails were missing.

Only a layer of dark red skin remained on the bare fingertips.

The skin was slightly sunken, with extremely irregular edges, like a trace of healing after something had corroded it from the root.

Long Aotian followed Ye Yang across the threshold.

He had just lifted his right foot to take a step when his left foot instinctively tripped on the threshold, causing him to stumble forward.

Just as he leaned forward, Ye Yang and Song Zhizhi simultaneously reached out their hands.

Ye Yang grabbed his wrist from the left, while Song Zhizhi held his hand from the right.

When Song Zhiming's fingers grasped Long Aotian's hand, his brows furrowed slightly.

Then he gently flipped Long Aotian's arm up slightly, placing his fingers on his pulse point. He only held it for a moment before releasing his hand.

"Brother—are you a pure Yang body?" Song Zhizhi looked up at Long Aotian, his voice carrying a hint of surprise.

"And he's practiced martial arts? His pulse is strong and powerful, his yang energy is abundant, and there's a dragon's breath flowing between his internal organs and meridians. This isn't a physique that ordinary people can have. We haven't seen a pure yang body in this area for many years."

Long Aotian turned to look at Song Zhizhi, a hint of surprise flashing in his clear eyes: "You could feel it? Just like that?"

Song Zhizhi waved his hand, his voice carrying a hint of self-deprecating amusement, and said:

"Oh dear—it's just a little trick I learned from my senior brother. I'm just saying it casually, so please don't take offense, young man. Our school emphasizes observation, listening, questioning, and palpation. We look at complexion, listen to voice, ask about symptoms, and feel the pulse. Feeling the pulse is the most basic skill; it's nothing special."

"However, a pure Yang body is indeed rare. I could feel it as soon as I touched your pulse. The Yang energy is burning hot, like touching a hot stone. My master only felt this kind of pulse once or twice back then."

When Long Aotian released Song Zhiming's hand, he also gently brushed his fingers against the back of Song's hand.

He couldn't quite put his finger on what the feeling was, but Song Zhiming's skin temperature seemed unusually low.

It's noon, the sun is shining brightly, a living person's hands shouldn't be this cold.

Ye Yang took half a step forward, clasped his hands in a fist salute, bowed slightly, and said respectfully:

"Uncle-Master. To be honest, we are Qin Buwen's disciples. My name is Ye Yang, this is Long Aotian, and this is Lin Ying."

"Master said you've lived here for many years and are most familiar with the Black Forest. We've come to collect some ingredients needed for a medicinal prescription, and we hope you can lend us a hand."

After he finished speaking, he took out the densely written list from Qin Buwen's pocket and handed it over with both hands.

Song Zhiming took the list and looked down at it. He first saw the first few lines of proper names of medicinal herbs, and a knowing smile appeared on his lips.

Then, when he saw the items "Three catties of wild mushrooms from Black Forest", "Roasted rabbit from Black Forest", and "One jar of glutinous rice wine from Black Forest", he shook his head helplessly.

He chuckled softly, folded the list, and handed it back to Ye Yang: "This old rascal—he's still as greedy as ever. These local specialties are all from our town; I'll prepare them for you. We'll discuss the medicinal herbs inside. You've come all the way from your senior brother's place, so you must eat here."

As he spoke, he turned and led the three of them across the courtyard into the house.

Song Zhiming walked at the front, his back to the three of them, his steps slightly dragging.

But from an angle where Ye Yang and the other two couldn't see, the gentle smile on his lips slowly spread out in the shadow cast by the osmanthus tree.

It was as if something I had been waiting for for a long time had finally been delivered to my door.