Chapter 1

"Ahem," "ahem"…

Shen Luo suddenly woke up from his bed with a series of unconscious, hurried coughs. He hurriedly opened his mouth to take a few deep breaths, then quickly pulled out a small bottle from under his pillow, took out a yellow pill the size of a bean, and swallowed it.

After sitting motionless on the bed for a while, he felt the chest tightness and coldness gradually subside, and only then did he let out a long sigh.

Shen Luo gave a bitter smile, slowly put on the neatly folded clothes on the chair beside him, and habitually glanced at the desk in the corner.

A light yellow, old book was quietly placed on the desk, with five neatly written black characters on its cover: "Spring Splendor Oddities Record".

Shen Luo frowned, then withdrew his gaze and slowly opened the door to leave the room.

"Master."

Outside the door, a young servant boy, about twelve or thirteen years old, was standing guard. Seeing Shen Luo come out, he hurriedly came forward to greet him.

In the distance, a large cluster of houses could be seen, with red tiles and white walls, and there were about forty to fifty rooms of various sizes in total.

"Did I cough at all last night? Was there any other commotion?" Shen Luo glanced at the servant and asked indifferently.

"Master, you coughed thirteen times last night, and there was no other noise," the servant replied with dark circles under his eyes, showing a hint of fear towards Shen Luo.

Shen Luo nodded and did not ask any more questions, walking past the servant and moving forward. The young servant followed him tactfully.

After passing through several long corridors and a garden that covered about an acre, Shen Luo arrived in front of a main hall.

Two maidservants standing in front of the hall hurriedly came forward to greet him, their expressions also showing some fear towards Shen Luo.

"Lu'er, you're here. How did you rest last night? Come in quickly and have some ginseng soup. I just had the servants prepare it for you," a man's concerned voice came from inside the hall.

"Thank you, Father, I rested well last night," Shen Luo's expression changed slightly, and he replied, then entered the hall.

Inside the hall, a round table was set with a variety of dishes, and several people were seated around it. The main seat was occupied by a middle-aged man in his forties, with slightly graying hair, looking somewhat prematurely aged.

This middle-aged man was Shen Luo's father, Shen Yuange, who was now looking at Shen Luo with a happy expression.

"Lu'er is up! Xiao Cui, bring the ginseng soup quickly. Didn't you hear Master's order?" A beautiful woman with a head full of jewelry, sitting next to Shen Yuange, managed to force a smile when she saw Shen Luo.

"Thank you, Second Mother."

Shen Luo nodded coldly at the woman.

"Brother."

"Brother."

The young man and young woman sitting next to the woman also stood up and greeted Shen Luo. They were about fourteen or fifteen years old, with faces that resembled Shen Luo's to some extent. They were his half-siblings, Shen Ci and Shen Mumu, born from the same mother.

The two were twins, but their reactions to Shen Luo were quite different.

Shen Ci's gaze was evasive, similar to the servants' expressions.

Shen Mumu, after greeting Shen Luo, looked restless and curious, as if she wanted to ask her brother something but hesitated when she saw Shen Yuange.

Shen Luo sat down, drank the ginseng soup served by the maid, and ate a few bites of the dishes. Then he frowned, put down his chopsticks, and stopped eating.

"Lu'er, since you're done eating, come to the study with me. I have some business matters to discuss with you," Shen Yuange, seeing this, became even more worried but said this.

Shen Luo nodded, politely excused himself to the woman, and followed Shen Yuange out of the hall.

The woman's face turned sour at the sight of this.

Shen Ci could not hide his envy, while Shen Mumu pouted her red lips, clearly unhappy that her father and this "brother" had finished eating and left so quickly.

…

"Lu'er, did everything go well last night?" Shen Yuange asked Shen Luo with concern as soon as they sat down in the study.

"Father, don't worry. Everything was fine last night. That 'thing' didn't happen again. However, my health has deteriorated further. Even with the 'Jin Xiang Yu' I personally formulated, I probably won't last a few more years. My body can't be treated with ordinary medicine," Shen Luo shook his head and replied.

"Alas, Lu'er, you have indeed suffered a lot. Your mother's pregnancy was difficult, making you weak and sickly from a young age. Last year, you were also plagued by evil spirits, which left you with such a serious illness. If anything happens to you, how can I face your mother in the afterlife? I promised her that I would take good care of you," Shen Yuange sighed deeply, a look of pain on his face.

"Father, think positively. If I hadn't become a doctor due to my long-term illness and formulated 'Jin Xiang Yu' and other medicines, how could the Shen family have built such a large business? We can consider it a blessing in disguise," Shen Luo said with a smile.

"That's true. Now, when people in Chunhua County mention the Shen family clinic and pharmacy, who doesn't know us? Even County Magistrate Wang looks favorably upon us," Shen Yuange's spirits lifted slightly upon hearing this.

"That's also because Father is good at socializing. You gave a bottle of 'Jin Xiang Yu' to Magistrate Wang, curing his son's tuberculosis. Otherwise, with our current wealth, we would have encountered some trouble long ago," Shen Luo flattered his father subtly.

"Ha ha, that's because we, father and son, work together to build such a large business for the Shen family. Unfortunately, you don't want to be famous, so I had to attribute the formulation of these medicines to an ancient recipe I found by chance. Only you and I know about this. Even your Second Mother and siblings don't know anything about it. So, if your Second Mother offends you, I hope you can overlook it for my sake. She comes from a humble background and lacks insight," Shen Yuange laughed heartily, then hesitated and added.

"Father, how could I hold a grudge against Second Mother! Besides, if I'm not around, the Shen family will need my younger brother to support it. My greatest wish now is to drive away the evil spirits from my body. Otherwise, I won't last a few more years," Shen Luo fell silent for a moment, then couldn't help but give a bitter smile.

"Since you say that, I'm relieved. No matter what, a harmonious family is the key to success. How is your health now? I remember you had an episode seven days ago," Shen Yuange's expression relaxed, but he quickly became worried again.

"Yes, the last time I had an episode, I almost strangled that Huang Daxian. Last year, I beat the so-called Golden Light Monk, who claimed to be a reincarnated Arhat, half to death after an episode. They have no real magic, just a bunch of frauds," Shen Luo replied with a hateful tone, his face darkening.

"But Huang Daxian and the Golden Light Monk are the most famous exorcists in the surrounding counties. Others are even more fraudulent. Shouldn't I send someone to the state capital to look for an exorcist?" Shen Yuange also felt helpless upon hearing this.

"No need. The state capital is too far, and we don't know anyone there. Even if we find an exorcist, they are likely to be frauds like Huang Daxian. My episodes are getting more frequent, and I can't wait that long," Shen Luo refused without hesitation.

"Then what do you mean, Lu'er?" Shen Yuange, who knew his eldest son well, was somewhat surprised.