Ninth In the World

There were six people sitting in the large hall of the Ji Family’s mansion on Taiyue Island, excluding the owner of the mansion, Ji Baishan.

Ji Baishan’s expression was solemn, and his eyebrows were furrowed.

After a long pause, he eventually said, “There is still no news about Doctor Di, although we have been searching for him for a month. My grandson, Ji Xiaoting, has been denied proper treatment for too long. If we are unable to find Doctor Di in the next couple of months… I guess the Ji Family will be left with no heir…”

Yu Jianfu was just as anxious, as he had been the one to recommend Di Jiu to the Ji Family. The Ji Family had returned the favor by appointing him as Director of their private hospital. However, if Di Jiu was not to be found, how would he be able to treat Ji Xiaoting?

“Doctor Lin, you were present twice when Doctor Di was treating the patient. Did you learn anything from him that could possibly save my son?” asked a middle-aged lady sitting beside Ji Baishan. She was Ji Xiaoting’s mother, Li Xuehua, who had aged considerably ever since her husband had gone missing on the Fairy Planet and her son had slipped into a poisoning-induced coma. Even her sideburns had turned white.

Even though she knew that it was impossible for Lin Bo to master Doctor Di’s medical skills, she could not help but try her luck. Li Xuehua was willing to exhaust every possibility in order for her son to get better.

Lin Bo blushed. If he had the ability to save Ji Xiaoting, he would have already done so when the Ji Family had invited him over.

“Xuehua, the poison Xiaoting consumed is extremely rare. Even Doctor Di may not be able to cure him. There is still a month until the Fairy Planet Treasure Auction. We will go to the auction and see if there are any medicinal herbs that could neutralize the poison…” a middle-aged man sitting beside Ji Baishan consoled her, saving Lin Bo from this awkward situation.

He was Ji Xiaoting’s uncle, Ji Tangfei, who was the only member of the Ji Family that worked for the government.

Hu Qianli frowned when he heard Ji Tangfei’s words. He would have stood up to refute his suggestion, had Ji Xiaoting’s life not been on the line.

Yu Jianfu was the one who had told the Ji Family about Di Jiu, so the Ji Family had invited him over to ask more about Di Jiu. However, he did not know why Di Jiu had not approached them.

Ji Baishan had gained a lot of wisdom through the years, so he could easily see through Hu Qianli’s dissatisfaction.

He turned to Hu Qianli with a smile and said, “Qianli, just like your name suggests, you came to visit the Ji Family from afar. We hope that you can excuse us for distracting you from your work. We would also like to thank you for recommending Doctor Di to our family. Did Doctor Di mention where he was going next or when he was going to depart?”

Hu Qianli immediately reassured them that they were not a hindrance to his work. He was lost in thought for a while before he replied, “No, he only mentioned that he was planning on going to an auction. Judging by the tone of his voice, he must have wanted to visit the Fairy Planet.”

“I have sent men to watch the Swallow Capital Alliance Aerospace Airport. We will find out if Doctor Di goes there. The thing that worries me, is that he might have been turned away by a gatekeeper.” Ji Baishan sighed. He had ordered the gatekeepers to prevent anyone who offered their medical services without an invitation from the Ji Family from entering the family’s yard.

“Can’t we round up all the gatekeepers and ask them, Father?” Ji Tangfei asked.

Ji Baishan shook his head and said, “It would be no use. I’ve asked them before, but there have been about 100 self-proclaimed doctors who have come here recently. The gatekeepers can’t remember them all…”

Ji Baishan, who was suddenly reminded of something, turned to Lin Bo and asked, “Doctor Lin, could you give me a photograph of Doctor Di, so that I can ask them to check the surveillance camera at the entrance?”

“I do not have a photograph of Senior Di, but the Human Resources Department of the Ai Bo Hospital might have a copy of his ID,” Lin Bo said awkwardly.

“That would do…” Ji Baishan said as a tanned lady walked in with a crutch.

The woman’s hands were also bandaged.

“Maybe you should drop out of the Institute of Martial Arts, Xiaorong…” Li Xuehua walked forward hurriedly to support the tanned lady when she saw her walk in.

The woman who had just arrived was Ji Xiaoting’s younger sister and Li Xuehua’s daughter, Ji Xiaorong. Li Xuehua’s husband, Ji Tanghong, who had visited the Fairy Planet right after Ji Xiaoting had been poisoned, had gone missing right afterwards. Her daughter, Ji Xiaorong, had enrolled at the Swallow University’s Institute of Martial Arts in hopes of saving her brother and finding her father. However, Ji Xiaorong was unfortunately not talented in martial arts. Although she had been studying at the Swallow Capital University for two years, she still did not qualify to enter the advanced class, let alone travel to the Fairy Planet.

This time, Ji Xiaorong had pushed herself too hard and ended up getting injured during practice, so she’d had no choice but to return home and nurse her injuries.

“I know, mom.” There was a hint of gloom in Ji Xiaorong’s eyes. She knew that her journey at the Institute of Martial Arts would end there. She was indeed not talented in this field, as her strength had still not exceeded 110 kilos.

“You should head upstairs and rest.” Li Xuehua did not want anything to happen to her daughter. What was the purpose of living a lonely life after all?

Ji Xiaorong shook her head and said, “No, I can help. Aren’t you and grandfather looking for a doctor who can work miracles? I could post some relevant information online. I’m sure that someone could find him.”

“Please don’t do that. Senior Di does not like to draw attention to himself. If you posted his information online, it would only discourage him from coming here.” Lin Bo stood up immediately and objected to Ji Xiaorong’s absurd idea.

“Senior Di?” Ji Xiaoting was suddenly reminded of the scammer who had approached her at the Swallow Capital University. “What’s his actual name?”

“Senior Di’s real name is Di Jiu…”

“Di Jiu?” Ji Xiaorong could not help but gasp in surprise. This was not the first time she had heard this name.

When Ji Baishan heard his granddaughter’s tone, he realized that she must have met Di Jiu before. “Have you met Di Jiu before, Xiaorong?” he asked immediately.

Ji Xiaorong suddenly had a bad feeling. “Yes, I have. He came to the Swallow University’s Institute of Martial Arts to find me. He told me that he could heal my brother, but I thought that he was a scammer…” she replied hurriedly.

“Where is he?” Ji Baishan asked her as he stood up. His voice was trembling slightly.

He knew why Ji Xiaorong had thought that Di Jiu was a scammer, as Lin Bo and Hu Qianli had mentioned that Di Jiu did not look like a doctor that could perform miracles. In fact, he was too young to be taken seriously.

Hu Qianli suddenly stood up with a pale face and said, “Doctor Di’s medical expertise is the best that I’ve ever seen. If it wasn’t for him, my son would still have been tormented by that disease, or he might even have died. I may not know much about the other things that you have said, but I’m infuriated that you would think that Doctor Di is a scammer.”

Li Xuehua, who was also agitated, immediately apologized, “I’m sorry. Xiaorong did not mean it that way. Xiaorong, tell us where you met Doctor Di. Quick!”

Xiaorong felt that something was wrong, so she replied right away, “Di Jiu came to find me at the martial arts hall. He claimed that he could heal my brother. He looked very young, but I still stopped and listened to him. However, when I asked him about the medicinal uses of Styrax, he could not answer. That’s why I thought that he was a scammer.”

This time, even Lin Bo frowned. Even though Styrax was rare, it was not an exotic herb. He knew that Styrax dispersed a sweet warmth that could refresh the mind and ward off radical Qi, as well as neutralize internal toxins.

It was normal for Ji Xiaorong to know about Styrax, as it was possible that Ji Xiaoting had been poisoned by an Evil Qi. However, it seemed impossible that Di Jiu would not know about it. Could the Di Jiu that Ji Xiaorong had mentioned not have been the real Doctor Di?

As this thought entered his mind, he immediately asked, “Miss Xiaorong, did Di Jiu mention anything else about himself?”

Ji Xiaorong hesitated for a while before she replied, “He said that he had saved a girl named Yumu from a poisonous snake bite on the Wang Chuan Mountain and revived a person lying in the mortuary of the Ai Bo Hospital. Isn’t it obvious that he was lying? Someone lying in the mortuary couldn’t be…”

Ji Xiaorong paused. She felt that something was not right. Everyone was staring at her with a strange expression on their faces.

“Xiaorong, the person who approached you was the very doctor we are looking for. Where is he now? We have to bring him here immediately,” Ji Baishan said in a grave tone.

“Ah…” Ji Xiaorong’s arm started trembling and her crutch fell to the floor. She finally realized that the person she had asked to leave had been the very person the Ji Family was desperately looking for. It had been Doctor Di.