Ultimate Village Doctor

Chapter 6: 6: Prison Turmoil

Chapter Six

Long Dashan frowned upon hearing Long Shuixian's scolding and sighed, "Xiaoshan, what are you doing? Don't you know that your Aunt Shuixian can talk the dead back to life? By offending her like this, if she starts spreading bad rumors about you, it'll be hard for you to find a wife in the future."

"Dad, why talk about this? It's too early for me to think about marriage," Long Xiaoshan said, unconcerned.

Long Dashan's lips twitched slightly.

If it were before when Long Xiaoshan was still a top student at Shuimu University, it would indeed be early for a twenty-one-year-old, but now that he had become a reformed criminal, at his age in the village, it was high time to start thinking about marriage.

But considering the current situation at home, Long Dashan sighed, his stooped figure seeming to bend even further...

"Brother!" A timid voice rose.

Long Xiaoshan quickly turned his head and saw a young girl in a white-washed blue dress standing at the door, her black and thick hair simply tied into a ponytail, her young face pure and beautiful like a lotus flower emerging from water.

"Little sister!" Long Xiaoshan exclaimed happily, spreading his arms.

Looking at her brother, who was lean and tall, standing there with the familiar warm smile.

Long Xiaoling felt the strangeness from not seeing her brother for so many years vanish in an instant as she threw herself into Long Xiaoshan's embrace like a swallow returning to the forest, her big eyes instantly brimming with tears, her small red lips quivering as if they held countless grievances she wanted to tell her brother, but ultimately she didn't say a word.

Long Xiaoshan's heart ached; going from a proud Shuimu University student to a convict, he knew his family must have endured immense pressure from gossips and whispers.

And with today's visit from Long Shuixian and others for a marriage proposal, how could Long Xiaoling not know about it?

"Don't worry, now that your brother is back, no one will dare to bully our little Ling," Long Xiaoshan comforted her, wrapping his arms around Long Xiaoling and patting her thin back while a cold light flashed in his eyes.

"Brother..." Long Xiaoling lifted her face, her eyes bright with tears of joy.

"By the way, where's mom?" Long Xiaoshan asked, surprised. Since his little sister had come out, why hadn't his mother appeared yet?

He suddenly saw a look of sadness flash across Long Xiaoling's face and felt a sinking feeling; he hurriedly asked, "What happened to mom? Did something happen?"

"Brother, mom, she..."

"Xiaoshan, your mom went to the mountain to pick wild tea a few days ago, but she accidentally fell down the hill and broke her leg. It's all my fault, my body is failing..." Long Dashan, knowing he could not hide the truth any longer, simply spoke up.

Long Xiaoshan quickly walked to the back room.

As he entered and saw He Xiangyue lying on the bed, Long Xiaoshan's eyes welled up with emotion as he knelt by the bed and called out, "Mom."

He Xiangyue, worn out and haggard, her hair half-white at just over forty years old, struggled to sit up upon seeing Long Xiaoshan, a look of immense joy in her eyes as she said, "Xiaoshan, have you come home?"

"Yes, mom, I'm back, please don't move," Long Xiaoshan urged He Xiangyue back down onto the bed. He examined her foot, which was merely splinted with wooden boards and not even cast in plaster.

He worriedly asked, "Mom, why didn't you go to the hospital with a leg like that?"

"What's the big deal with this injury? Lying down will heal it. Why waste unnecessary money at the hospital?" He Xiangyue said indifferently.

Long Xiaoshan felt a profound sadness; he was no fool.

If it wasn't for extreme difficulties at home, they certainly wouldn't have neglected hospital treatment even for a broken leg.

They talked about Long Xiaoshan's years in prison and Long Xiaoling's studies, hearing that Long Xiaoling got into the county's top middle school. Long Xiaoling said she didn't want to study anymore and wanted to work instead. Long Xiaoshan glared at her, almost making Long Xiaoling cry, and told her to obediently study and aim for university; he would figure out the money issue.

The night grew deep.

Long Xiaoshan returned to his room but felt no sleepiness; his eyes were wide open and bright.

Right now, the main issue at home was poverty.

As long as they had money, many problems could be solved; therefore, he had to get money. Only right now, he was completely clueless about how to go about it. Should he call Xu Feng and the others?

This thought crossed Long Xiaoshan's mind.

Remembering his life in Lingxi Prison, no one knew how he had endured those three years, especially the first year he was thrown into jail.

Long Xiaoshan's days were like hell, constantly targeted and tormented by others.

Back then, Long Xiaoshan was just a college student from a farming background, simple and honest. Being imprisoned had already felt like the end of the world, and it only got worse. Each day brought inventive tortures and beatings. Any resistance would lead to even fiercer beatings, leaving him on the brink of death, breathing only by a thin thread.

Under inhumane torment, Long Xiaoshan often thought of ending his life, but a stubbornness innate in him pulled him back from the brink of death again and again. He didn't want to die; he was framed, and dying there would only please the person who had framed him.

Until he met Elder Chang.

Elder Chang was a gloomy old man in the prison, rumored to have been locked up in Lingxi Prison for decades, with no visitors and no one daring to provoke him, shrouded in mystery.

Once, as Elder Chang squatted in front of Long Xiaoshan, who had been beaten until he couldn't move, he claimed he could teach him a skill, "The Art of Immortality". Whether or not he could master it depended on his fate.

It was said to be a skill, but it was actually just making him sit and practice breathing during specific times of the day, at the Midnight Hour and midday.

There weren't any impressive techniques.

Long Xiaoshan practiced for a long time without developing the legendary Inner Strength. The only benefit was that he became slightly quicker in reaction time, his eyes grew brighter than the average person's, his mind sharp and his memory improving.

Eventually, he managed to cultivate a warm energy inside his body, and Master Chang began to teach him medical skills.

Long Xiaoshan still took beatings, but whereas a beating once meant lying down for ten days or half a month, after practicing "The Art of Immortality" and improving his medical skills, the time he spent down diminished, from ten days to a week, to three days...

Long Xiaoshan became more resilient to beatings, and his fights grew fiercer. Once, he even gouged out the eye of a bully who used to torment him the most...

Another year passed, and Long Xiaoshan transformed from a little fellow who got beaten every day into one of Lingxi Prison's most fearsome bullies.

Nobody dared provoke him anymore, and under his wing, he gathered a group of people who had often been bullied in prison.

The Xu Feng Long Xiaoshan had considered earlier was one such person, once a big boss from the city. He nearly died when he came to prison, saved by Long Xiaoshan, and he had followed him ever since. Xu Feng was released early and had told Long Xiaoshan to look for him when he got out.

There were many others like Xu Feng.

But when Long Xiaoshan was released from prison, he hadn't sought anyone out.

The thought passed, and Long Xiaoshan dismissed it—he wanted to rely on himself. If push came to shove, he would go to the county talent market to find a job. He refused to believe that, as an adult man, he couldn't overcome the obstacle of money.

Unbeknownst to him, the time reached midnight.

As the moonlight poured in like mercury from outside the window, Long Xiaoshan sat cross-legged on the bed, beginning his daily practice, a routine that hadn't changed for years. Although the warm energy he gained from "The Art of Immortality" hadn't grown much in two years, he was accustomed to it. He hardly slept and got by on his practice overnight, feeling as energetic as a dragon the next day.