Starting with a beautiful woman's private doctor

"Xiaoran!"

Xu Yi's face turned deathly pale instantly.

Chu Nan grabbed Xu Ran's wrist and placed his fingers on her pulse.

"She's been cursed again. The exact same curse as before—before the medicine could take effect, the other party cast the curse again, and the two forces collided inside her body, forcing out this mouthful of black blood."

"So what do we do now?"

Xu Yi's voice finally began to tremble, "I've already taken the medicine and I'm still under a curse, is this medicine even effective?"

Chu Nan did not answer. He used his true energy to create a lotus again to dispel the curse from Xu Ran's body, then withdrew his hand. "Curses are different from medicine. Medicine takes time to take effect, while curses take effect instantly."

"The other party may have used some kind of continuous spellcasting method, casting a spell every once in a while, regardless of whether the previous spells have been broken."

"With this back-and-forth pulling, the person casting the spell might only expend some true energy, but Xiao Ran's body simply can't withstand it."

"Each time she is cursed, her meridians are damaged, and this cycle repeats itself—"

Chu Nan didn't finish his sentence, but his meaning was already quite clear.

Xu Yi clenched his fist. "Isn't there any other way?"

Chu Nan remained silent for a moment, then placed his hands above Xu Ran's body and slowly activated his true energy.

Golden true energy surged from his palm and seeped into Xu Ran's body.

"I will now temporarily leave some of my true energy in her meridians and heart meridians to protect her vital points from the erosion of the curse power, and then put her into a state of semi-dormancy."

"From an external perspective, this state is very similar to the aura of someone under a curse, which may be able to deceive the other party's senses. If the person casting the curse thinks that the curse has taken effect, they may stop."

After a series of actions, Xu Ran's body gradually calmed down.

Her breathing became long and steady, and the abnormal flush on her face slowly faded.

But Chu Nan knew this was only temporary; the opponent's curse could be activated again at any time, and the portion of true energy he had left in Xu Ran's body wouldn't last long.

"This method only addresses the symptoms, not the root cause," Xu Yi also realized.

Chu Nan nodded. "Whether it's medical skills or magic, they both originate from ancient shamanism, and there is a strong connection between the two."

"My approach was correct in the right direction, but the problem is that the medicinal herbs are not old enough."

"If we can find an old medicine that is over a hundred years old, I can use my true energy to transform it when Xu Ran takes it, which will instantly activate the medicine's effects and completely change her constitution. At that time, I won't need to do anything, and the curse won't be able to touch her."

Xu Yi immediately ordered his steward to search for century-old medicine overnight.

The butler was extremely efficient, and in less than an hour he handed over a list of the medicinal herbs that the Xu family could mobilize.

Xu Yi took the list and glanced at it. His expression was solemn. There were very few century-old medicines on the list, and even with those less than a century old, it wouldn't be enough to meet Chu Nan's needs.

Just as Xu Yi was at a loss, the butler suddenly spoke up, "Master, a medicinal herb conference is currently being held in Hai Nei County."

"That place is a well-known medicinal herb town in the Great Xia Dynasty. Every year at this time, a large number of rare medicinal materials are traded here."

"This century-old medicine is not available on the market, but you might come across it at a medicinal herb fair."

Xu Yi suppressed his thoughts and said, "Alright, let's set off at daybreak!"

"I'll go with you."

Chu Nan just looked at them, and many of those so-called century-old medicines didn't even reach a century age.

Xu Yi is rich but doesn't know much about the business, so he might just be scammed.

After all, the medicinal herb fair is a mixed bag, unlike in the city where there are shops and it's all one-off transactions.

If you can't buy genuine, high-quality medicinal herbs, you can only accept the loss.

Xu Yi saw through Chu Nan's thoughts and, with a grateful expression, didn't say much.

After a night of commotion, the sky outside the window was beginning to lighten.

Inside the presidential suite, the young master stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the city bathed in the morning light.

Xue Jiu strode in, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "Young Palace Master, we have news about that item—it's in Hai Nei County!"

"Oh?"

A glint flashed in the young palace master's dark eyes. "Elder Yu, let's... set off!"

The old man behind him bowed and said, "Yes, Young Palace Master."

Hainei County is not far from Beihai City; it only takes a little over two hours to drive there.

Before even entering the county town, a strong smell of traditional Chinese medicine was already wafting through the air.

The fields on both sides of the road are not planted with crops, but with large areas of medicinal herbs.

Astragalus, angelica, and codonopsis are planted one after another, and the aroma of the herbs wafts in through the car window when the wind blows.

Upon entering the county town, both sides of the road were lined with traditional Chinese medicine shops, one after another, with signs that read "Centennial Old Shop" or "Ancestral Medicine Shop".

Most pedestrians on the street carry medicine baskets or medicine bags on their backs. Occasionally, you can see a few medicine merchants wearing long gowns, holding a handful of herbs in their hands, smelling them again and again.

Xu Yi parked his car in front of a teahouse and made a phone call.

A moment later, a round-faced middle-aged man strode out of the teahouse, wearing a dark blue short jacket, his eyes narrowing into slits when he smiled.

"Mr. Xu! Long time no see! What brings you here?"

This man, surnamed Wang, had been doing medicinal herb business in Hainei County for over ten years. He was also involved in some shady dealings and was known as Snake King.

"Snake King, I've come to ask for your help this time."

Xu Yi briefly explained his purpose for coming.

Snake King frowned after hearing this. "A century-old medicine? This stuff is extremely rare. But since it's President Xu who asked, I'll definitely do my best."

"Come on, let me take you to a few well-established pharmacies to try your luck."

Xu Yi asked Chu Nan what specific medicine he wanted to buy, and Chu Nan said the type didn't matter, as long as it was aged longer.

Xu Yi was somewhat puzzled, and Chu Nan explained, "That curse devoured Xiao Ran's life force. The reason she was repeatedly cursed was because her vital energy was too weak, like a house without a door, allowing anyone to break in."

"Using the medicinal power of century-old medicine to make up for her congenital deficiencies and improve her vital energy is the only way to prevent external pathogens from invading."

Snake King led the two to three old pharmacies.

The first shopkeeper said they didn't have any. The second shopkeeper said they originally had two 100-year-old Ganoderma lucidum plants, but they were bought last night. The third shopkeeper was even more direct, saying that all the medicinal herbs in the shop that were over 50 years old were gone.

Snake King's face grew increasingly grim. "I say, Manager Liu, this is ridiculous. The medicinal herb conference has only just begun, and all the century-old herbs are already gone? You..."

"Who are you trying to fool? Are you trying to hide it from me because you don't respect me, Mr. Wang?"

The shopkeeper waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "Boss Wang, it's not that I'm being stingy. It's just that a woman came last night. She wasn't very old, but she had quite the airs. She bought up all the century-old stock in my shop at three times the market price!"

"It wasn't just my shop; she went through every single shop on this street that had a century-old medicine!"

Snake King has been in Hainei County for over a decade and is considered a big shot.

Today, I took our distinguished guest to three different places, but we didn't find a single usable medicinal plant. Where can I put my face now?

He turned his head sharply, shoved the shopkeeper back onto the counter, and clenched his other hand into a fist.

"Bullshit! The medicinal herb fair only happens once a year. Who would come here to buy everything at this time? Do you think I'm a three-year-old? If you don't bring out your goods, believe me, I'll smash up your shop!"