Fairy Doctor Zufu had his own little house and office within the Blue Flower Palace. It was built within the rock wall of the mountain on the first floor and had a wide room for the entrance and several smaller rooms in the back.

The main entrance was where herbs and medicines were stored in tiny wood cabinets that lined the walls from top to bottom (a ladder was used to access the ones near the ceiling). The back rooms included resting areas for himself, his assistant, and extras for severely injured patients that required long term care. There was also a room dedicated to experimenting and creating new drugs, as well as a library for all the medicine books and journals he’d collected over the years.

On top of all of these, there was a secret exit in the very back. Originally, it had been designed as a last-ditch escape route out of the palace by the architect who’d created the place. But in practical use, it’d become a second entrance to the palace used by woodland creatures of all shapes and sizes.

They preferred using the back entrance as using the front meant having to pay homage to their Lord and Lady (despite neither requiring it). And if things were rushed, taking the time to do that was inconvenient. So the Doctor had, with Jin’s permission, opened the “secret escape route” for the mountain residents’ use.

Currently, his assistant/midwife, Zumu, was looking after the place. As they functioned as a pseudo-hospital for the entire mountain range they always kept their doors open for potential patients. If Zufu left, Zumu stayed, and the other way around as well. The only exception was if they were both specifically called by Lord Jin.

When Doctor Zufu entered, Zumu was sitting at a desk, processing herbs. When she heard him come in, she immediately put what she was doing aside and hustled over to him. He had left in a whirlwind of a rush, only telling her that Lady Mei Hua had been seriously injured and nothing else.

“You’re back!” She took his satchel, placing it on the nearby desk, and saw the child in his arms. Her white eyebrows rose slightly. “This is a child, not our Lady.”

“I have treated Lady Mei Hua as well as I can for now. This is a witness. I have done the preliminary care required to keep her alive.” He then handed the child over to his Assistant. Zumu blinked, then peered into the face of the burden he’d given her.

As a midwife, Zumu was soft towards children in a way that the Doctor was not. This was why when babies and children were involved, besides performing the necessary care, Doctor Zufu left Zumu to do the talking and smaller tasks.

“What has been done to this child?” She said after giving her a careful examination. Severe malnutrition was evident and there were old scars still visible in strange places.

“The witness was meant to be used as a human sacrifice.”

Zumu went rigid from shock.

“Beg... beg your pardon, but could you repeat that?”

“I said, the witness was to be used as a human sacrifice.”

“…as in… she was meant to die? For some strange ritual?”

“En.”

“Oh… oh!” Zumu held her bundle more tightly. “What on earth is the world coming to outside the mountains?”

“The gods only know, and maybe some devils too.” Doctor Zufu had already begun unpacking and putting things away. “They’ve got a poison that hurt our Lord and almost killed that troublemaker Ye. That same poison is now festering in our Lady.”

“WHAT?!”

“Yes, I’ll tell you all about it but first get the witness in a room, if you please. Information is our most valuable commodity, and Master Yan Li believes this little one will have something to tell us.”

“Of course, give me a moment.” Zumu brought the child to one of their “kid friendly” rooms, which had smaller beds and more soothing colors. When she came back she said anxiously, “Even if we heal that child of her physical problems, her mind may take some time to recover from the trauma.”

Doctor Zufu’s eyes narrowed slightly. “If she remains silent, she’s no good to us. I will not keep a patient who can not pay. And that witness only has information to give me. If she will not talk, what was the point of saving her? I will throw her out if she can’t make herself useful to our Lord.”

Zumu’s face puckered as if she’d eaten something sour.

“Even if she can’t give you information, she could work for her care. You’ve allowed for that in the past. There’s is no need to be so heartless.”

“This is a matter of family, not a regular patient. If it were just some child lost on the mountain that I needed to care for, I wouldn’t mind. But information is critical. What I want is not labor, I want information. So does Lord Jin. You know this as well as anyone Zumu. Family trumps all else.”

Hearing this, Zumu went silent for a long moment and then sighed.

“I understand. Leave her in my hands then. I have confidence I can get her to open up, but you must not interfere, understand? I don’t want your grumpy face scaring her into deeper silence.”

“There’s nothing wrong with my face.” He harrumphed while rubbing the side of his cheek self-consciously. “But you are better with children, I won’t deny… anyway, let me tell you what I know. Inform everyone else too once I leave.”

“Of course!”

Doctor Zufu then told his Assistant everything he knew and left to check on Lady Mei Hua. About half way there, he sensed Lord Jin’s call. Tilting his head, he went to answer.

His Lord wasn’t in the Palace as he’d expected, but a bit to the south. Once he arrived at the mountain in question, Ye met and guided him to an entrance he’d never seen before. Inside the mountain things had dramatically changed, it was now a series of paths that intersected to a confusing degree.

When he arrived to where Jin and Shi Ji were located, he saw the trash on the floor. He raised an eyebrow while bowing respectfully.

“How may I serve you, my Lord?”

Jin quickly explained their problem of the unknown magic circle and then added, “We hoped you had some ideas.”

Doctor Zufu lowered his head and stroked his beard, deep in thought. After a while he finally spoke up.

“If you don’t mind, I’m curious about what element this magic circle is absorbing?”

“Metal element.” Shi Ji answered.

“Metal… metal… let me think…” Zufu considered what he’d read about the elements in his books and journals. Doctors were expected to know how to cure more than just physical ailments, but also some spiritual ones as well. Thus, there tended to be an overlap between nature and religion in the information he’d received.

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The metal element was an energy conduit that dealt with change and transition. If these circles used elements to create something new, but still related, what could absorbing the metal element possibly do?

“There are some possibilities for what metal can be used for, based off Master Shi Ji’s experience and my own knowledge. It may be used as a conduit for energy, for strengthening, regeneration, and transformation. In medicine, it associates with the lungs, large intestines, nose, and skin. It’s good for healing in most cases, but if it were to be used for death… perhaps, lightning? Or perhaps it does something to the lungs and large intestines? The lungs will kill someone fast. But the intestines, nose, and skin are a slow death. So it depends on what the end goal is…”

Jin gave an impressed snort.

“You really know your stuff.”

“Anything to support my Lord and his family.” Doctor Zufu said modestly, though he was secretly pleased at the praise.

“With all those possibilities though...” Shi Ji grimaced. “Without knowing which thing it’s going to do...”

“May I get a closer look at the circle?”

Jin nodded and the Doctor came over to examine the trash’s back. The fact that the room was totally void of light didn’t bother him at all. He examined the tattoo intently for several minutes.

“Oh, I recognize some of the words, here and here.”

Jin and Shi Ji jolted in surprise with a “really?!” from Ye.

“Hm… my medical books and journals come from all over the world. I’ve learned quite a few languages and writing systems just to be able to read the more obscure ones. How curious. It looks like they’ve combined several different writing systems in an effort to obscure the meaning of what’s written from outsiders. I only recognize a little over half, so I’m not sure how accurate my reading will be…”

Shi Ji pressed close to the Doctor, eyes bright with interest, “What do the parts say that you understand?”

“Well… the most important part I can read says that this circle is a one-time use. The next part is that its target is the person with the tattoo. Ah, this part is saying something about limits and triggers, but I can’t read what either are, unfortunately. The rest seems to be something like a formula, which makes no sense to me. I could translate the parts of the formula I can read, but I’m afraid it won’t make any sense without the entire thing and someone to explain it.”

Shi Ji continued rubbing his neck, “…if it activates only once and the target is the trash, then…”

Jin finished his son’s conclusion: “It’s definitely meant to kill him. All the random poison on his body I got rid of was deadly. The one in his tooth was clearly meant as a method of suicide. It seems like this guy really wants to die, and if all else fails, he has a circle to do it for him.”

“Arg, this stupid trash! We’re just trying to torture him,” Ye huffed in annoyance. “Why’s he making it so difficult?!”

“Maybe he’s got all these methods of suicide because there was a possibility someone like Ye might catch him.” Shi Ji gave a quick smile at his Fairy Uncle, who gave a wicked chortle in agreement.

Jin squatted down and tilted his head. “If it only works once… that means as long as the trash survives whatever this circle does, it won’t be a problem a second time, right?”

Doctor Zufu nodded. “If I’m understanding this correctly.”

“I’m not inclined to sit around and wait to see what triggers this circle when he finally wakes up. Nor am I patient enough to try and figure out how to disarm it with that little knowledge we have. So…” His face went cold and he placed a hand right on top of the tattoo. “Blunt force seems like the best option.”

Jin did two things at the same time: he created a thin net of his own qi around the trash’s spirit and body and ‘grounded’ it to the floor, while at the same time, piercing the tattoo with energy. Not unexpectedly, the circle immediately activated. It attempted to electrocute the trash from the inside out, aiming at the trash’s lungs and spreading from there.

For a singular moment, trash died from the shock. Even as the electric current ran through its body, attempting to fry trash’s nerves, Jin’s energy was there to absorb the worst and repair the rest. It was a sloppy repair job, with Jin neglecting parts of the body he thought were unnecessary, like the legs, but the heart, lungs, and major organs he got functional again before finally letting go.

Jin shook his hand, a trail of smoke dissipating as he did, and then flexed his fingers.

“Done.”

“Wow.” Shi Ji and Ye said, impressed.

“Sometimes I forget that you’re actually really powerful and decently intelligent when you try,” Ye commented, staring at the scorched hand print Jin had left over the now defunct magic circle.

“…Uncle, please don’t pick a fight with Father. It’s really not the time.” Shi Ji hastily inserted, seeing his Father’s eye start to twitch.

“My Lord,” Doctor Zufu further interrupted. “I take it you mean to keep this trash alive?”

Jin, who’d been about to gloat about his son siding with him, nodded. “Until I get all the useful information I can out of it, yes.”

“Then, if you like, I can take care of keeping it alive for you.” The Fairy Doctor gave a slight scowl. “Its spirit is quite filthy and I wouldn’t want my Lord to deal with it any more than necessary.”

“How thoughtful, I would appreciate it.” Jin turned two icy eyes onto the now thoroughly beat up man. “It seems that this trash really planned ahead. I suspect when it wakes up, it won’t just accept its fate and may try something else to end its life.”

“Indeed. Even injured like it is,” The Fairy Doctor commented, “it could still find ways to kill itself.”

Jin sighed. “Bothersome, so very bothersome… we can’t have it killing itself before we get any information out of it.”

“In that case, I think I have some medication that might be useful.”

“Really?”

“I have a drug that’s a relaxant. I use it in conjunction with pain medication for surgeries. It won’t force a person to tell the truth, but it will make them so relaxed that they won’t be worried or fearful. They are so relaxed they don’t have the urge to fight or flee. And they’re more than willing to talk. In fact, getting them to shut up becomes a problem.”

“But won’t that interfere with torturing?” Ye pointed out. He really wanted to make this human trash feel unending pain for what he’d done to MeiMei.

“Hm… yes, but this trash won’t likely kill itself under the effects of the drug. Even if he tried, his senses will be muddled and you should be able to stop him in time. You could… talk to it, at least. And if it chooses not to be useful, you can wait until the drug wears off to torture. If you stick something in its mouth, bind its legs and feet, that should keep it from suiciding. Then drug it up again and see if it will talk. Go back and forth until this trash finally gives up.”

“….well… I guess that’ll do…” The Leaf fairy grumbled, not entirely pleased with the solution given.

“Are you really alright with letting him get tortured?” Shi Ji asked the Doctor.

“Hm? Why would I be bothered?”

“Well, you’re usually very insistent on protecting and saving life so I thought—”

“Ah, that,” The Fairy Doctor waved his hand dismissively. “What does it matter what happens to trash? And anyway, even if this trash were, perchance, a person, I’m not torturing him. I am keeping him alive, fixing him up when he’s hurt. My drug will take away his distress and he won’t be harmed while under it. So you could say that I’m keeping him alive and improving his quality of life in this dungeon while I’m at it.”

Ye chuckled evilly. “Told you he’d find a loophole.”

Shi Ji could only think that fairies really knew other fairies.

“The Fairy Doctor’s idea will work for now.” Jin said, patting his hands as though shaking off dust. “I need to clean off this trash’s stench, and then I’ll return to Mei. Doctor…”

“Yes, my Lord?”

“You have a good grasp on human biology. Do what you think needs to be done and advise anyone else who comes here.”

“Oh? Do you plan on letting others come?”

“Of course. This trash will not get any rest until I squeeze something useful from it. But I don’t have any intention of devoting my attention to it entirely either. Mei needs my attention and she’s more important. If others would like to have their fun with the trash while I’m away, that would be fine by me. But it can’t be allowed to die and it must be able to talk. I will depend on you to make sure whoever pays this thing a visit doesn’t take it too far. Understood?”

“Very well, Lord Jin. I will definitely keep him from dying.” Doctor Zufu then turned to Shi Ji with a gentle expression, as if he hadn’t just agreed to do something horrifying. “See, Young Master Shi Ji. My knowledge will keep this trash alive for much longer than he would naturally be allowed. I’m saving him from death.”

“R-right.” Shi Ji responded. That had been an amazing leap of logic.

“Fairy Doctor, before I go, I wanted to give you this.” Jin reached into his inner shirt and pulled out the trash’s qi marble and handed it over to the Doctor.

“Hm?” The elderly look man took it and held it up curiously.

“It’s from this trash. I don’t know if it’ll be use to you, but I figured it’d be better in your hands than in his spirit.”

“Interesting. I will see what I can do with it and get back to you.”

Jin nodded then remembered something else. He pulled out a blue eye and handed it to Shi Ji. The younger man took it and was thankful they were inside the mountain without any light so he didn’t get nauseous.

Gingerly, he popped his eye back in and felt a wave of relief. Who knew you could miss an eyeball so much?

“Meet up with me later to discuss my wife’s health, Fairy Doctor. I’ll take my leave from you all then.” Jin nodded and turned to go, then stopped. “Oh, and Ye…”

Ye had taken a few steps towards the prisoner and paused.

“Yeah?”

“If you plan on torturing it while I’m away, tie it up so it can’t kill itself when you wake it up.”

Ye clapped his hands with malicious glee, a wicked smile spreading across his face.

“Finally, an order I can get behind!”