Free Web NovelChapter 7: Chapter 7—Zhen Pharmacy
Chapter 7—Zhen Pharmacy
Lei Cheng dashed out of the kitchen. The servants behind him exchanged bewildered glances, unable to make sense of the Young Master’s behavior.
He activated the Illusion Intent and shifted into the appearance of an ordinary servant. Then—for the first time since his transmigration—he stepped out of the Lei household.
Cold air brushed against his face.
For a brief second, he let go of his worries.
---
The Lei household sat in the west, inner region of Azure Cloud City. The courtyard stretched several kilometers wide—as befitting the wealthiest clan in the city, its scale matched its reputation. The streets outside were paved with smooth blue stone, neat rows of beautiful plants lining both sides of the road. City guards patrolled in slow circuits.
Lei Cheng moved fast.
A few hundred meters past the Lei courtyard, an open garden stretched out before giving way to another courtyard—smaller than the Lei’s, but still substantial.
"Halt!"
A young city guard stepped forward, planting his spear across the path. Lei Cheng raised his head. The sun was just beginning to rise, painting the sky a deep, beautiful red.
"What are you doing out so early?"
The guard’s spear glowed with faint red energy.
’A martial artist.’ Lei Cheng raised his eyebrows.
The pressure wasn’t strong.
But it was enough to remind him—this world truly belonged to cultivators.
Lei Cheng calmly drew a small emblem from his sleeve. "I am a servant of the Lei Courtyard."
The other guards who had been moving in paused and pulled back. The young guard’s grip wavered. He lowered the spear.
’They want money.’
Lei Cheng clicked his tongue inwardly. It was common for city guards to shake down anyone who looked poor—particularly those in rough clothes. The inner city was the domain of high-class citizens and powerful clans. City guards knew their marks well. Those who served wealthy clans typically lived in the outer city and only entered the inner during working hours, making them easy targets. His current disguise—average face, hemp robe with faint scratches—looked every part the poor servant. And the problem ran deeper than appearance. Even a poor person with an extraordinary bearing would be left alone, but Lei Cheng’s natural temperament radiated nothing remarkable— neither of his two lives had given him the bearing of someone important.
The old guard stepped forward instead, half his hair gone gray and his eyes sharp and unimpressed.
"So what if you’re from the Lei Clan—"
A silver coin landed in his palm before he could finish. It bore a five-clawed dragon on one side and the name Qin engraved cleanly on the back.
"I am on Young Master Lei Cheng’s business," Lei Cheng said, glaring coldly at the old guard. "If the Young Master hears his errand was delayed—you are on your own."
"Cough!" The old guard stepped aside without another word.
---
Lei Cheng moved swiftly through the streets, passing courtyard after courtyard. Some had large trees with branches stretching over their walls, adding quiet beauty. He cut through several turns and entered the southern section of the inner city.
Stalls lined both sides of the road. Between them, tall multi-story pavilions rose above the rooftops. He turned down a few more streets and stopped in front of a pavilion bearing the name Zhen Pharmacy.
He stepped inside.
Two beautiful assistants, clad in yellow robes, appeared immediately at the entrance, professional smiles on their faces. Lei Cheng surveyed the main hall—enormous, over a hundred people within lined in it, yet filling barely a quarter of the space. Many physicians in front were treating them while aided by servants. The two assistants took one glance at his plain servant’s clothes, pursed their lips in visible disdain, and one walked off without a word.
He simply wasn’t worth serving.
’As expected. The poor get no courtesy here.’
He could have come in his own form—but he hadn’t dared. ’The Xiao Clan had almost certainly stationed people to watch the Lei household after yesterday’s events.’ He hadn’t spotted them, but he knew they were out there.
"What can I do for you, young... mister?"
The remaining assistant adjusted her greeting at the last moment.
’Mister.’ Lei Cheng noted with a dry, slight grin. ’Not worthy of being called Young Master in this form.’ ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
He shook his head. No time for that. The Zhen Pharmacy was the largest pharmacy in all of Azure Cloud City—people from the slums, the outer city, and the inner city all came here when illness struck. The main hall was reserved for those with no money. Those who could pay were taken upstairs to private rooms with skilled physicians. As for the wealthy inner-city families, their physicians made house calls. They would never set foot in a public hall.
"I need to identify the purpose of this prescription."
He held out the folded yellow paper. She unfolded it, scanned the list of herbs, and her expression shifted.
"It is a concoction made from multiple herbs. Wait one moment." She turned and hurried up the staircase at the far end of the hall.
While waiting, Lei Cheng surveyed the room.
Screaming drew his attention. Several people with severe visible injuries—fingers, legs, and hands sliced clean through, blood still seeping through hastily wrapped cloth bandages stepped in. The pharmacy servants rushed over and bandaged wounds roughly, without even applying basic antibacterial herbs or blood-clotting compounds.
’Thugs.’
A young man in a hemp robe laughed through gritted teeth, voice raw with bitterness. "Bamboo Snake Gang—I will remember this debt." A deep sword slash ran down his chest, blood leaking out as a servant hastily slammed bandages over it. Lei Cheng glanced at the symbol stitched onto his robe—a black dog.
’Hungry Dog Gang.’
He scanned the rest of the injured. The same symbol repeated on several robes. ’A gang war.’ He folded his hands behind his back. ’Not a single member of the Bamboo Snake Gang in sight.’ They would never avoid a place their enemies occupied—that would be an indirect admission of weakness, and face was everything in this world. They would only stay away if they already knew treatment would be refused to them here.
’So the Zhen Pharmacy has ties to the Hungry Dog Gang.’
Gang members kicked ordinary people aside as they moved through the hall toward the front, where they would receive proper treatment from a real physician instead of a servant. A middle-aged woman in tattered clothes, holding a sleeping infant, was shoved aside by a thug coughing blood.
But she moved back quickly and held on tight to her position.
"My life is more important than trash." Thud! He kept kicking her.
No one stepped forward.
Guards, other people, none.
Slum and poor people just moved aside from the thugs blankly.
"I’ll won’t..." The woman shook, tears streaming down her face as the blows continued.
When the thugs came to Lei Cheng, who had been brought to the front by an assistant, he simply pulled out the Lei emblem—exquisite and golden-orange, with the Lei character at its center. They backed away without a word.
’I cannot help you.’ He shook his head. He had to save himself first.
After a few more hits, the thug left her.
Then Lei Cheng’s gaze snagged on something nearby, and he grinned despite himself.
Thugs were getting treated the same way by the pharmacy physicians. Shoved aside after wrapping herbal pastes and bandages.
Then he turned towards the woman as her baby was finally getting checked.
A young pharmacy physician—barely more than a boy—was taking the pulse of an infant in the arms of a trembling woman, his expression utterly blank.
"This would need two silver coins."
"Two sil...ver co...ins..." The woman’s voice broke.
"The baby needs medicine," the boy said flatly, disdain visible in his eyes. "We have something new, actually..."
"Okay." The woman nodded, eyes fixed on her infant.
"But it could be dangerous," the boy added coldly.
The woman’s arms shook. "Dangerous..."
But her grip on the child never loosened. Not even once.
"Even without it, the baby might not survive." His lips curved upward. He pulled a form and slid it forward. "I need your thumb impression here."
"What is it for?"
"It means the pharmacy is not responsible if the baby dies," he said slowly, chillingly calm.
"No—" Before the woman could refuse, he cut her off. "Medicine—do you want it or not?"
The woman glanced down at her infant once, then reached for the ink box on the side.
’They’re testing new medicine.’ Lei Cheng frowned. ’Human test subjects? In my previous world, that would have been difficult—but here? The poor hand over their own bodies for the smallest glimmer of survival.’
He walked over and threw five silver coins on the ground before the woman’s thumb could touch the paper.
Ring! Ring!
Several eyes snapped toward the silver instantly.
Sharp. Greedy.
Like wolves.
"Cure her baby," he hissed.
Before the boy could bark a response, Lei Cheng pulled out the Lei Clan emblem. The thugs and people who had started drifting over at the sound of coins glanced at it and backed off immediately.
"Okay." The pharmacy boy nodded quickly and led the woman toward the staircase.
Just then, the assistant returned, leading an old man down the stairs. Long white hair tied neatly, long beard, clad in white robes. His eyes were sharp and alert despite his age, his temperament unhurried and calm.
"Are you—"
The old man cut Lei Cheng off before he could finish. "I am Physician Jin." He snapped open the prescription paper. "This prescription—where did you obtain it?" His voice sharpened. "Did you steal it?"
"No." Lei Cheng shook his head. "I serve Young Master Lei Cheng. He wishes to understand its effects."
The physician’s expression softened. "Ah. Young Master Lei Cheng." He flicked the paper with his finger. "This prescription is a dangerous one."
The atmosphere around Physician Jin shifted subtly.
For the first time since arriving, Lei Cheng felt genuine caution from him.
"Is it poisonous?" Lei Cheng asked immediately, studying Physician Jin’s face carefully for any shift in expression. ’I don’t even know how long Yun Che has been mixing this into my food.’
